Tag Archives: Corporations (special interest group) write the legislation

Sep 21 2022

Biden Angers China Yet Again


Armstrong Economics Blog/China Re-Posted Sep 21, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

As Americans, we are accustomed to our dementia-ridden commander-in-chief misspeaking and provoking war with major world powers. He nearly declared war on Russia, but the White House backtracked. The White House is now redacting almost everything that came out of Joe Biden’s mouth during his “60 Minutes” interview.

China is not going to let a comment by “Uncle Joe” pass without warning. Joe Biden said that US forces, men and women, would defend Taiwan if China invaded. This is worse than Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan as it completely disregards prior US-China relations and the One China policy. It does not matter if the US agrees with the One China policy, but it must respect it and maintain diplomatic relations with China, its top trading partner, while it restores its declining economy. This policy has been in place since 1979, and Joe Biden is the first to violate the agreement.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning reacted as expected to Biden’s threat. “The US remarks … severely violate the important commitment the U.S. made not to support Taiwan independence, and send a seriously erroneous signal to Taiwanese separatist independence forces,” Mao said. Mao said that China seeks a “peaceful reunification” with Taiwan. “At the same time, we will never tolerate any activities aimed at splitting the country, and reserve the choice to take all necessary measures.”

Joe Biden also gave Americans false hope by declaring that the pandemic was over. I think most of us realized it was over when the death rate was a nil 0.02%, and the vaccines did nothing to prevent infection or transmission. The White House came out to clarify that it has not changed its stance on COVID – emergency powers remain in place.

Sep 21 2022

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Responds to Criticism of His Transfer of Illegal Aliens to Massachusetts


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on September 20, 2022 | sundance

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has come under fire for his transfer of illegal aliens from Texas to Massachusetts, Martha’s Vineyard.   The Lawfare operatives within the leftist open-border community appear to be targeting DeSantis over technical elements in the Florida law he used to transfer 50 alien arrivals.

The legal maneuver being deployed to target the Florida governor, seems centered around his authority being limited to the movement of aliens who traveled to, or were residing in, Florida at the time of their transfer – as constructed in the Florida law used to authorize the use of taxpayer funding for his action. {LINK} As the argument is made, if the aliens were never actually in Florida, their legal transport would not be covered by the FL legislative authority that provided for their removal.

Today, during a press conference to announce state sales tax relief, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis fired back at those who are targeting him.  WATCH: 

.

The transport of the alien arrivals to Martha’s Vineyard was a great way to bring attention to the national border crisis.

Sep 21 2022

Don Lemon Uses Queen Elizabeth II Death to Propose Colonial Slavery Reparations, Gets Schooled on Who Ended Slavery


This is a little funny and a well-deserved embarrassment for CNN host Don Lemon. {Direct Rumble Link}

The intellectually deficient little nitwit from the fake news has no concept of true historic reference when he began advancing a narrative about the British monarchy paying reparations due to slavery.   However, the royal scholar being interviewed, Hilary Fordwich, has a solid understanding of history and used the opportunity to remind Don Lemon exactly which country was the first to end the practice of slavery and how many British patriots died battling against African tribal lords and kings who did not want to end it.

Don Lemon was left a befuddled mess…  LOL WATCH:

.

Sep 21 2022

The Great Pretending – Denial of Truth Allows Easier Trespass


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on September 20, 2022 | sundance 

I was asked recently, what I considered to be the biggest problem of the current moment, and how would I describe it to my future self.  My response was, we are living in an era of great pretending, and if you elevate yourself and pause its actually quite interesting to watch.

The pretending issue goes beyond politics, it’s everywhere.  Sure, there was always an era where reality was skewed in favor of one position or another by various groups, people and leaders, where denying the obvious was always odd.  However, this current state of our national and international disposition extends far beyond politics into almost everything.

A person would ordinarily expect to see cultural or social pretending as an outcome of political correctness.  Denying the underlying social construct behind the rules of the urban society has been the norm for several years.  However, the pretending has become so pervasive it has recently extended into finance and economics; places where reality -actual outcomes- used to inoculate facts and figures against pretense.

It is no longer uncommon, heck, it’s become almost standard in this new era, to see CEO’s, CFO’s and even entire boards of directors, maintaining a standard of pretense. It is quite weird to see it happening.

Yes, this era -for a host of reasons- has made delusion somewhat of a norm.

In the social sphere, cultural norms now claim men can have babies, people can choose their gender, labels and pronouns, and everyone else bears the responsibility to conform to the delusion.  While goofy, that part is somewhat a weird cultural phenomenon of this western era.   If we were not pretending people like AOC would have no career opportunities.

In the political sphere, the axiom of politics being downstream from pop culture is perhaps the reason the infection of pretense has overwhelmed congress and the professional bureaucracies of government.  The social pretending has metastasized from the federal level to the state level, and now we see efforts to counteract “wokeism” as a social priority for state and local leaders.   It’s weird to see so much time and effort being exhausted on combatting social pretense at every level.

But the more stunning development comes in the sphere of economics, where factual outcomes of transactions are matters of simple accounting.  A ledger of sales and profits would normally dictate whether a business was successful or failing, and in the bigger picture would show empirical evidence of the financial health of the community of customers who purchase goods and services.

Under all common norms of economics, if a business was operating at a higher cost than its income; or if the income was to shift or disappear quickly; people would seek to identify the underlying cause.  However, in this era of great business pretending, an economic mass formation psychosis has led to complete denial of the obvious.

Accepting the state of the Main Street economy as it is – not as we would pretend it to be, CTH shared several months ago that quarterly profits would be far below expectations, and we would see revised projections from just about every business entity who engages in selling durable goods.  People just are not buying stuff because the cost of living and buying energy, food, fuel and shelter, has become extraordinarily difficult.  It isn’t rocket science to connect economic dots.

As expected, at a macro-level, topline sales for businesses have dropped or collapsed.  Inventories of non-essential products are piling up. Consumers are stressed and/or hunkering down, and general economic activity has slowed dramatically.

None of what is happening is surprising.  However, what is surprising is that businesses -while faced with empirical results that describe the situation- would continue pretending.

Yahoo Finance – […] The auto giant Ford warned of a whopping $1 billion profit hit late Monday in the form of higher parts costs, with the company blaming vendor inflation. Ford now sees third-quarter adjusted operating profits in the range of $1.4 billion to $1.7 billion, well below Wall Street estimates for $3 billion.

Somewhat oddly in the face of the major warning, Ford reiterated its full-year operating profit outlook of $11.5 billion to $12.5 billion.

The mood on Wall Street is that Ford’s warning is generally a shocker given relatively upbeat comments on demand and the bottom line when second-quarter earnings hit in late July. Now, the Street is scrambling to mark down profit and valuation estimates on the company.

“Vehicles in transit will be seen as transitory, but surprise inflation is always worrying,” said Evercore ISI analyst Chris McNally in a note to clients, adding that he sees Ford’s stock trading down to about $13 off the quarterly letdown. Citi’s Itay Michaeli also appeared stunned by Ford’s warning. (read more)

The great pretending continues…..

Sep 20 2022

MTG Live: Christians Under Attack and a preview of this week in DC – 9/19/22


Right Side Broadcasting Network Published originally on Rumble on September 19, 2022

Marjorie Taylor Greene discusses the attacks by the woke left against Pat Sajak as well as attacks against Christians. Congresswoman Greene will also discuss a preview of the upcoming week in D.C.

Sep 20 2022

Denver Tests Basic Income on Homeless


Armstrong Economics Blog/Socialist Re-Posted Sep 20, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

Governments love to conduct social experiments on the masses. What would happen if we gave the most financially vulnerable in our population cash every month? The Denver Basic Income Project just approved a new general basic income program for a select number of homeless people who will now receive $1,000 per month in cash. The money came from the American Rescue Plan Act at the cost of $2 million.

Cash, as in the government is actually not tracing these purposes for a reason. They are targeting around 140 people, meaning this is an experiment. Do they plan to address why these individuals became homeless? Will there be mental health or drug evaluations? Will people have access to information and tools such as learning how to budget or re-enter society? Throwing money at problems is never the solution. Are there any tools to help people re-enter the workforce?

At worst, they will expand this program and continue to reward people not to work. Once they begin to hand out free cash, people will continue to expect free cash. We saw it with the COVID unemployment benefits, where people chose to leave the workforce as it was more lucrative than participating in society. The University of Denver’s Center for Housing and Homelessness Research plans to study this experiment funded by you.

Sep 20 2022

A One-Term President?


Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics Re-Posted Sep 20, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

The debate continues on whether Joe Biden will run for re-election in 2024. Any sane citizen clearly would not encourage him to continue ruining America. The Democrats have even voiced concerns over Biden’s effectiveness as a two-term president due to his frequent blunders and low poll ratings. His age and declining mental health have made him a difficult puppet to handle.

In a “60 Minutes” interview, Biden himself admitted he might not seek that second term. Or, perhaps, his handlers have not decided. Biden said he is relying on “fate” and that it is “much too early” to decide whether he is confident in his own ability as president. If he and/or his handlers were confident that he could be re-elected, legally or otherwise, Biden would be confidently stating his desire to continue his job.

Biden told CBS. In March 2021, Biden was confident that he was beginning a four-year term and told reporters he would run for a second term. Times have changed! In fact, Joe Biden said that previous statements about running again were simply intention statements. “Look, my intention, as I said to begin with, is that I would run again. But it’s just an intention. But is it a firm decision that I run again? That remains to be seen,”

The entire interview aired like an ad for the Republicans. This happens every single time he strays from his script, and it is why he rarely makes media appearances in comparison to past presidents. Biden yet again misspoke and threatened war with a major power after saying that the US would defend Taiwan if China invaded. Yet again, the White House back-tracked on Biden’s comments – a difficult puppet indeed.

Sep 20 2022

Jim Jordan Outlines Claims by FBI Whistleblower


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on September 19, 2022 | Sundance

Representative Jim Jordan appeared on Tucker Carlson’s evening broadcast to outline the claims by a DC Bureau FBI whistleblower.  {Direct Rumble Link} In his framing of the statements from the FBI insider, Jordan states the FBI are intentionally diverting resources to investigate claims surrounding the J6 narrative in an effort to give the appearance of a national domestic extremist threat.  WATCH:

.

The creation of a national narrative to inflate the appearance of Domestic Violent Extremists, would fall directly in line with the prior examples of the FBI politicizing their agency.

In semi-related news, Joe Biden quietly extended the 9/11/01 National Terrorism Emergency today. {LINK HERE} For 21 years the 2001 National Terrorism Emergency has been continued as a tool for the Dept of Homeland Security, through the FBI, to use powers not granted by congress.   Yes, twenty-one-years of continuous extensions.

Sep 20 2022

Joe Biden Responds to Inflation Question by Saying Things Could Be Worse


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on September 19, 2022 | Sundance 

Joe Biden’s economic policies, mainly driven by excessive spending and the Green New Deal climate change agenda, are the origins of massive inflation.

In an attempt to diminish the outcomes of his energy policy, the Biden administration has been releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, in an effort to curb gasoline prices.  However, that process is about to end as the SPR is becoming dangerously low and will need to be replaced (more spending).

When asked about the current status of inflation during a CBS interview, Biden responds by saying it could be worse, citing the last two months where the SPR spigot has been running at maximum release.  WATCH (48 seconds):

.

Sep 20 2022

Curious Article, House Republicans Planning to Investigate Chamber of Commerce?


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on September 19, 2022 | Sundance 

An unusual article in The Intercept is noted with the following headline: “House Republicans Planning to Investigate The Chamber of Commerce if They Take Majority.”  The article is framed around the statements of an unnamed congressman, who appears –from the sourcing inference– to come from the House Judiciary Committee.

If you have followed the deep political weeds, you know the CoC is the anti-MAGA element within the America-First economic battle.  However, it is also true the CoC and the Washington DC UniParty members they feed with lobbying dollars are peas and carrots, this includes the entire republican establishment apparatus.

The republican party investigating the CoC is never going to happen.  It would be a move akin to Adam Schiff investigating the origin of Barack Obama’s birth certificate.

The CoC is not only an organization made up of lobbyists for Wall Street, but the members within it are also the close personal friends of just about every influential GOP politician.

The framework for the investigation, as written in the article, surrounds the leftist Environmental Social Governance (ESG) outlook of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which is factually accurate.  The CoC is indeed an organization that is ‘all-in’ to position themselves for the benefits of climate change in the corporate sphere.  If there is money to be made from ESG economics, the CoC is the lobbying firm shaping legislation toward that benefit.

However, the CoC is too entrenched with republican party apparatus to ever have their agenda challenged by the “republican” politicians in DC.  So, what exactly is going on here?  A MAGA-minded republican within the House Judiciary Committee wants to investigate the CoC?

In a way I could envision someone like Jim Jordan (Ohio) wanting to do exactly that.  However, the internal republican elements in opposition to that goal would, unfortunately, still be too strong to allow something like a congressional investigation to take place.   Therefore, the article as written is best viewed as an agenda surfacing from within the republican ranks carrying some alternative purpose.

Despite the chamber positioning, opposing ESG is a no-brainer for the conservative base.

Any and all attacks against the ESG agenda are unifying efforts that bring conservatives and MAGA-minded America First voters together.

Unfortunately, that political reality also underscores the usefulness of ESG opposition as a political tool, to the professionally republican apparatus.   If you have followed the way DeceptiCons operate, now is the time to put on your Machiavellian hat.

The MAGA movement is -like the Tea Party that triggered it- essentially, at its core, a movement based on America-First economics.  The goals and objectives of the multinational corporations are against the interests of MAGA.  Hence, most corporate-aligned republicans (the establishment, per se’) are not supportive of the national MAGA movement.  Corporate republicans are paid by the interests that MAGA supporters despise.

There is one potential 2024 candidate who has pushed back against the ESG effort, at a state level.  Putting aside the substance of the pushback, a political talking point containing a history of action against the ESG effort is an arrow in the quiver of the Florida governor.  Unfortunately, at the same time as the ESG concern has become a point of policy reference, the Florida governor is taking massive amounts of money from the same people who benefit from ESG.

So, the question becomes: with DeSantis becoming increasingly visible as a corporate republican, is the identified anti-ESG outline of the article a way to enhance the America-First bonafide’s of DeSantis, by creating a unifying economic platform position?

The anti-ESG position would be a way to deflect from being a corporate republican.  In the aggregate this approach would diminish the concern of being a purchased corporate republican by giving the illusion of alignment with America First.

(The Intercept) – REPUBLICANS PLAN TO launch a variety of investigations into the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and many of its largest member corporations if they retake the majority in the House of Representatives this November. The probes, said a GOP member of Congress and multiple Republican operatives who requested anonymity to discuss plans that have yet to be made public, will marry Republicans’ newly formed hostility to the Chamber with the party’s mission to undermine the growth of the ESG investment sector.

The power of ESG — which stands for environmental, social, and governance — criteria to shape company valuations and behavior has become a major source of consternation among conservatives, who argue that companies that follow it are breaking with their fiduciary duty to maximize profits for investors.

The Chamber has infuriated Republicans by endorsing ESG criteria. “Today, for many companies, climate change and carbon emissions impact long-term value, thereby becoming a factor that retirement fund managers should take into consideration,” wrote a Chamber vice president in a typical statement in July 2020.

The congressman highlighted what he saw as the downfalls of that approach. Republicans accuse ESG advocates of using ESG criteria to punish American energy companies, only to then give an advantage to large, foreign energy companies over which the U.S. has little oversight anyways.

“How is it again that you can discourage investment in American energy when you own, or when you’re controlling board seats, of an American energy company, but you’re pushing it offshore to a Chinese energy company? Tell me you didn’t violate your fiduciary duty somehow,” said the congressman. “Then you throw that over into Judiciary [Committee hearings] and say, how do you reconcile this from an antitrust perspective? How can somebody actually be duty-of-care to the shareholders of one entity when you’re duty-of-care to the Chinese Communist Party’s-controlled energy company?”

“There is not going to be much to investigate,” said a Chamber spokesperson. “The Chamber is at the forefront of fighting the SEC climate, human capital and similar disclosures and believes fiduciaries must focus on maximizing return.” House Republicans, though, think the Chamber is having it both ways, criticizing the Securities and Exchange Commission rule but supporting the principle. (read more)

The lessons of the Tea Party being corrupted in 2011 and 2012 (collage reference below), through fraud and deceit by the republican establishment, should be the reference point for reviewing any DC centered effort to confront the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

“Unite the Right” is code speak for let your guard down.  We need to remove a lot more corporate republicans before we can lower our cynical guard….

…Battered Conservative, No More!