Social -vs- Economic Priorities


Posted originally on the CTH on April 13, 2023 | Sundance

Prior to the 2012 election and the rise of the Sandra Fluke free birth control narrative, we used to call them social issues; however, the usefulness of cultural wars has morphed into the larger war of wokeism.

In the big picture, keeping the base GOPe voter distracted from the economic expansion of multinational globalism, the corporate ‘masters of the universe’ (ie. the Big Club), need to keep pushing anti-wokeism as a political strategy.

The cultural issues are useful tools to keep control of an alignment of voters.  It has always been thus, and even more important now that people are starting to realize the expansion of the rust belt.

The rust belt, the diminishment of the U.S. economic manufacturing base, was an outcome of corporate control over politics.  Corporations and banks seek profit, those profits are inflated by a U.S. service driven economic model.  Skilled jobs require higher wages.

If the skilled jobs can be outsourced to lower cost labor nations, the subsequent lowered labor costs drive bigger margins.  Again, it has always been thus.

At the core of the U.S. political issue, you discover that both wings of the DC UniParty agree with this basic economic model.  Republicans and Democrats now use the catchphrase ‘service driven economy‘ with bipartisan frequency.

Many voters no longer have any reference to an economic system that is anything except a ‘service driven economy’, yet nothing about that system provides long-term value for U.S. voters or workers.

Within this very specific dynamic, you find the root of the support for Donald J. Trump.  A larger, formerly considered silent majority who comprise the baseline middle class workforce, find common understanding with President Trump because he sees the flaws in the economic model.

Not coincidentally, it is only Donald Trump who has ever discussed these economic issues. Factually, no national politician in the modern era prior to Donald Trump ever dared broach the subject of economic nationalism, economic globalism and the negative consequences therein.  Republican candidates who would disagree on economic policy would find themselves in the target field of the corporations who fund the political system.

A general platform more akin to a code of omerta covered the entire subject of republican economic policy.

As the pandemic years have shown, economic security is deeply tied to national security.  As an outcome, economic policy ultimately drives foreign policy.  When combined, the economic and foreign policy outlooks form the structural alignment of the UniParty platform.

Following the downstream effect of multinational corporate influence, modern Democrats support expansionist and interventionist foreign policy.  Meanwhile, modern Republicans, previously called “neocons” have always supported expansionist and interventionist foreign policy.

Leadership of both parties now align in a singular foreign policy outlook; thus, we see support for the Ukraine spending and intervention by both Democrats and Republicans. However, outside the DC bubble of multinational corporate influence, the support for the interventionist foreign policy doesn’t exist in the same scale and scope.

Voters inside both the Democrat and Republican base do not support U.S. foreign policy intervention at the same level as the political leadership of both parties.  There is a structural break between the priorities of voters and the priorities of the elected officials.  None of this is new discussion, we all accept this basic reality and we see it every day amid the headlines.

With political leadership of both parties supporting the same economic outlook, and both parties supporting the same foreign policy outlook, we find the source of opposition against U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Economic policy and foreign policy form the uniting bond that drives both parties to oppose Trump’s America First ideological outlook.

As long as Donald J Trump singularly represents the only counterforce against this UniParty globalist construct, he will continue to be targeted by the system of financial controllers who fund the political system.  For the sake of brevity this alignment of multinational corporate and financial economic interests is called “the big club.”

As part of the strategic political effort, the Republican wing of the Big Club needs to carve up the supporters of Donald Trump into smaller, easier to target, pieces.  This is where the value of the culture war, what is now considered as ‘wokeism‘, plays into the strategy of those who seek to control political outcomes and remove the threat that Trump represents to their financial interests.

In many ways, this is why we are seeing prominent Republican officeholders pushing the culture war as a tool for their own political advancement.  The same Big Club members who are directly fighting against the America-First economic agenda, are the same Big Club members who are funding the Republican politicians to push the culture war.

The corporations, billionaires and multinationals who are funding the Republican candidates do not have any vested interest in the culture war. For them the social issues are a tool, technique or insurance policy to guarantee security of the interest that does matter, their financial status.

There are trillions at stake, literally trillions.  Additionally, decades of their prior investment interests are contingent upon the ‘service driven economy’ being maintained.

Dollars drive the U.S. global trade and financial exchanges.  The multinationals, both corporations and banks, have pre-deployed investments all around the globe.  However, many of those investments are entirely contingent upon the retention of the U.S. economic system they pre-established before the investment was made.  President Donald J. Trump represents the threat to that entire financial system.

Once you understand this, then a great deal of the more nuanced and granular U.S. political moves, almost all of which are funded by the corporations and billionaires who are attached to the global investment process, begin to make sense.

Every non-Trump candidate, funded to create the opposition to America First, is part of this process to use anti-wokeism as a strategy.

With this level of money at stake, do not be surprised when you look at how much is being spent to construct the system that guarantees the continuation of globalism. The money spent in funding the Republican candidates to advance the distracting cultural war pales in comparison to the amount of money at risk in the 2024 election outcome.

That’s the baseline for this:

…“GOP leaders and candidates should take from this poll one important lesson: voters expect them to fight wokeness,” American Principles Project President Terry Schilling said. “Support for policies protecting families from gender ideology is off the charts, with the majority of the base showing a strong preference for tackling these issues. Meanwhile, approval of Republican establishment priorities was much more muted, with most of those surveyed even agreeing that GOP elected officials have given up too much ground in the culture war.”  

…“Any candidate who expects to win a Republican primary next year for any office needs to lead on cultural issues in order to win over voters,” Schilling said. “Perhaps the two most prominent leaders on these issues so far have been Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis, so it should be no surprise they are far and away the favorites in the presidential field. It’s time for the rest of the party to pay heed and set their priorities accordingly.” (more)

Candidate Donald Trump understands the real priorities of the Big Club extend beyond this useful cultural war, deep into the world of economics and foreign policy.

As each of the corporate funded Republican candidates hits the cultural war (wokeism) effort as part of the distracting political strategy, watch President Trump generally agree with the ‘social issues’, but then counter the distraction with arguments specifically targeting economic and foreign policy.

The entire field of Republican candidates will hold the same economic and foreign policy outlook (Ukraine example), with only Donald Trump representing an alternative.

Pentagon’s Leaked Documents Anger South Korea


Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics Re-Posted Apr 12, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

South Korea’s diplomatic policy dictates that it will not send ammunition to countries at war. The recently leaked documents from the Pentagon reveal that the US is bullying South Korea into breaking its policy to arm Ukraine. Worse, the documents reveal that US intelligence agencies have been spying on South Korea. This is an unfortunate start to President Yoon Suk Yeol’s meeting with President Joe Biden scheduled for April 26.

CIA personnel has been warning Washington not to speak to Seoul over the phone until they agreed to arm Ukraine. Former presidential secretary for foreign affairs Lee Moon-hee, named Yi Mun-hui in the documents, told former Director of National Security Kim Sung-han that South Korea would have two options. The first would be for the nation to change its stance. The second would be for South Korea to send weapons to Poland, using Poland as the middleman to avoid breaking policy as “getting the ammunition to Ukraine quickly was the ultimate goal of the United States.” The documents also reveal potential wiretapping against South Korea who is supposed to be an ally.

Yoon is under pressure from both the US and his own policymakers. Opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) floor leader Park Hong-keun is urging Yoon to demand an apology from Biden. “If confirmed, it is an unacceptable practice that cannot be tolerated in the 70-year alliance and a clear infringement of South Korea’s sovereignty that shatters bilateral trust … The U.S. government should be faithful to its ally and apologize to the South Korean public and the government, if those reports are true,” Park stated.

Why is the US risking its international alliances to fight a foreign war? The Biden Administration has completely abandoned domestic policy in favor of fighting a war on behalf of Ukraine. Countries previously yielded to the demands of the US as its military and economic power made it the key ally. Things have changed. Nations are increasingly distancing themselves from the US as the country spirals down a dark path that has already shaken its superpower status.

The U.S. Intelligence Leaks Confirm Active U.S. and U.K. Military are Conducting War Operations Inside Ukraine


Posted originally on the CTH on April 11, 2023 | Sundance 

Yesterday White House Spokesman for Strategic Communications, John Kirby, asked media not to report on the leaked classified intelligence that has been showing up on various social media platforms.  The classified intel was designated NOFORN, meaning the containment silo forbids sharing with any non-U.S. citizen; ergo the leaks came from inside our own Intelligence Community silos.

BBC is now reporting on part of the NOFORN leak as it pertains to Ukraine.  According to the classified intelligence, active U.K and U.S. military personnel are conducting the war effort inside Ukraine.  Congress has not authorized any active U.S. military involvement.  The White House has previously denied any active U.S. military involvement.

That said, we always suspected the U.S. military was operating inside Ukraine and the Pentagon and White House were just lying about it.  BBC is confirming that exact scenario with U.S. Special Forces operators inside Ukraine.

(VIA BBC) – The UK is among a number of countries with military special forces operating inside Ukraine, according to one of dozens of documents leaked online.

It confirms what has been the subject of quiet speculation for over a year.

The leaked files, some marked “top secret”, paint a detailed picture of the war in Ukraine, including sensitive details of Ukraine’s preparations for a spring counter-offensive.  The US government says it is investigating the source of the leak.

According to the document, dated 23 March, the UK has the largest contingent of special forces in Ukraine (50), followed by fellow Nato states Latvia (17), France (15), the US (14) and the Netherlands (1).

The document does not say where the forces are located or what they are doing.

The numbers of personnel may be small, and will doubtless fluctuate. But special forces are by their very nature highly effective. Their presence in Ukraine is likely to be seized upon by Moscow, which has in recent months argued that it is not just confronting Ukraine, but Nato as well.

[…]  The UK has been vociferous in its support of Ukraine, and is the second largest donor after the US of military aid to Kyiv.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the Department of Justice had opened a criminal investigation and he was determined to find the source of the leak.

“We will continue to investigate and turn over every rock until we find the source of this and the extent of it,” he said. (read more)

Macron Claims Innovation and Capitalism Is Needed While Decrying Economic Nationalism in the Nation State


Posted originally on the CTH on April 11, 2023 | Sundance 

French President Emmanuel Macron was in the Netherlands today speaking to an audience in the Hague about his vision for the future of Europe.  A remarkably disassociated speech was the outcome.

Speaking of the importance of innovation to maintain economic competitiveness, on his right-hand Macron cheers for capitalism as an outcome of competition from the only venue it exists, the nation state.  Yet on his left hand, Macron proclaims the importance of ‘globalism’ and economic socialism, which is the anthesis of creating innovation.

Economic nationalism is the only way competition between nation states succeeds. Innovation is born from competition, and without the nation state there is no baseline to maintain capitalism.  Globalism creates socialism, equity as the baseline for distribution of innovative outcomes.  Capitalism and socialism cannot coexist if innovation and competition is the goal.  The pillars which form the baseline for Macron’s view of a new Europe, collapse in his contradictory worldview.  Prompted to 10:55, WATCH:

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Macron’s solution to the problem of innovation lacking in ‘globalist‘ economic models, is to force citizens to produce and innovate.  This is what he means by “reforms” in the competitive agenda.  Forced innovation, is the worldview of totalitarians.   Capitalism relies on freedom, not coercion.

When the Body Bags Start Coming Home


Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics Re-Posted Apr 10, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

The Neocons are on both sides of the aisle. In the Republican camp, of course, we have Lindsy Graham, but there is also Marco Rubio who has the audacity to tell Europe they better pick sides. Then there is Michael McCaul of Texas. Based on reliable sources, the military has been instructed to prepare for war. This is inevitable.

The Democrats intend to beat the war drums to make sure the Republican Neocons will vote with them. Biden intends to Run in 2024. The Neocons need him because he is senile and will say what they write on his cue cards and sign whatever they put in front of him. Blinken is the leader of the Neocons in the White House. They are pushing for war BEFORE the 2024 election for these people looks at war and that typically the president in power is always reelected in times of war. So, hunker down. Hide your kids. It’s off to war we go so Biden can be reelected. They thought Trump would be the Republican and Biden could beat him. That remains to be seen when the body bags start coming home. These people have no respect for the people or human rights. It’s all just a chess game to them.

Interview: Can History Help Us Predict Market Cycles?


Armstrong Economics Blog/Armstrong in the Media Re-Posted Apr 10, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Visit Spotify or your podcast channel of choice for my most recent interview with TikMill.

Martin Armstrong, a true market maverick & innovator – ‘History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme’ M.Twain – a motto for the ages and closely linked to Martin Armstrong’s market and personal ethos, Martin’s Socrates platform is truly groundbreaking as is his Economic Confidence model, listen in and learn more – enjoy!

Poor Kids (documentary)


Armstrong Economics Blog/North America Re-Posted Apr 10, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

This documentary is extremely hard to watch but accurately depicts the hardships millions face in the modern industrialized world. We cannot turn a blind eye to the pain and suffering that poverty creates. This is happening today in the wealthiest country in the world.

Below is an update from the documentary that aired in 2012. There was a slight glimpse of hope when Obama left office and the economy improved under Trump. Still, the funds we send overseas are needed at home. Those with the least suffer the most when the economy turns down.

This a raw reminder to count your blessing on this Easter Monday.

About that New York Times Story Concerning the “Online Leak” of U.S. Ukraine and Geopolitical Plans


Posted originally on the CTH on April 8, 2023 | Sundance

By now people are familiar with a New York Times (original source) story of a leak of sensitive classified information regarding U.S. operations in Ukraine and other geopolitical efforts.  The New York Times was the first with the story, as shared with them by “senior Biden administration officials.”

WASHINGTON — Classified war documents detailing secret American and NATO plans for building up the Ukrainian military ahead of a planned offensive against Russian troops were posted this week on social media channels, senior Biden administration officials said. (more)

Now, let’s use this opportunity to expand our knowledge base, overlay the known frameworks that operate within our government, and simultaneously give a perspective that will not surface anywhere else.

First, the story surfaces from the New York Times.  What does that tell us?  It tells us the stakeholders in a background narrative surrounding the issue as constructed are domestic intelligence interests.  If there was a State Dept stakeholder interest, the story would have been presented by CNN.  If there was a U.S. foreign intelligence operation stakeholder interest, the story would have surfaced in the Washington Post.

The story surfaces in the New York Times, indicating a U.S. domestic intelligence interest; and the story is sourced directly to the White House via “senior Biden administration officials.”  What does that mean?  It means the narrative that flows from the story has a direction to shape opinion from the perspective of U.S. government domestic public relations.  It means the narrative is intended to sway a domestic audience with a motive toward something else.

Secondly, and in full alignment with the first point, the centerpiece of the story is focused on a leak that surfaces in “social media.”  This fits perfectly with the domestic intelligence stakeholders (DHS, National Security Council, etc).   We know domestic intelligence operates in the backbone of social media platforms.  An example is DHS and domestic Intelligence Community (IC) work as outlined in the Twitter files.

Put them together, a domestic IC product surfaced (being called leaked) into social media platforms containing portals controlled by domestic IC.

The domestic IC then report on the leaks to the outlet used by the domestic IC.   See how these fit?

If you follow the bouncing ball, what you immediately suspect is the domestic IC planted the ‘classified information’ in the platforms they can access, then turn around and report on the leak of the classified information to media they use for domestic narrative engineering.

♦ Motive – But why would the IC plant classified information, then turn around and report on the classified information they planted?  This is where you need to learn how the motives work, against a bigger picture.

The leak (planted information) and then the telling of the leak (NYT story) creates an opportunity for the domestic IC to frame a Russian dis/mis/mal-information narrative.

But why would the IC want to immediately stir up a misinformation or disinformation narrative against Russia?

♦ Answer: 18 hours before the leak/story construct.  Two Russian gremlins, perhaps state sponsored, or perhaps just state aligned, tricked former French President Francios Hollande into admitting the U.S. government and western alliance were behind all of the events in Ukraine after 2014, with the expressed intention to construct a proxy war against Russia using Ukraine.

Russian Pranksters Vovan and Lexus, posing as former Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko, got French ex-President Francois Hollande to admit the Minsk Accords were a NATO ruse to militarize Ukraine, and Western nations overthrew Ukraine’s democratically-elected government in 2014. (Full YouTube Conversation)

As noted by Gonzalo Lira, “François Hollande, former president of France, confirms that the 2014 coup d’etat in Ukraine was part of a long-term plan to have Ukraine fight a proxy war against Russia. The Americans have been preparing this war since the Obama administration—it is now confirmed beyond doubt.”

The admission by Hollande aligns with every element of the U.S. effort to use Russia as a bad guy, including the use of Russia against Donald J Trump.  A proxy war against Russia was in the works going all the way back to the Euromaidan efforts, the color revolution in Ukraine, as constructed by the U.S. State Department, and facilitated by U.S. allies in Europe.

This is the most explosive dose of geopolitical sunlight in years, and obviously these statements by Hollande were a serious issue for the White House and U.S. Intelligence Community.   Hollande was tricked by two Russian pranksters into spilling the real story about Ukraine and U.S. involvement therein.

Now do you see the need?  The Hollande admission is an urgent problem.

Less than one news cycle later, the IC has dropped the Ukraine counteroffensive strategy in the platforms the IC has access to (a purposeful leak).  Then the IC tells the story of the classified strategy leak to the New York Times and begins framing a Russian mis/disinformation campaign.   The intent is to mitigate any issues with the Hollande story, fall under the same claims of Russian mis/disinformation.

The leak of classified intelligence, and the attribution to Russian misinformation, is like a brushback pitch toward the heads of the media on the explosive Francios Hollande story.  It worked.  Have you seen the admissions by Francios Hollande in any MSM?   Unified UniParty interests at play.

That’s how the control agents operate.  Deflection and adverse information removal is what IC narrative engineering is intended to control.  This was a successful IC operation.

Once you see the strings on the DC marionettes, you can never return to that moment in the performance when you did not see them.

Donald Trump Will Be Convicted


Armstrong Economics Blog/Rule of Law Re-Posted Apr 7, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that the Democrats would have stooped to such a low position as they have indicted Trump. This is so in-your-face political and I can GUARANTEE that Trump will be convicted and the facts will NEVER matter. New York is the MOST corrupt legal system in perhaps the entire world. While the charges are a joke, the Judge is as corrupt as they come. He scheduled the next hearing for December 4th in clear violation of the Constitutional Right to a Speedy Trial. They will be roughly two months before the official start of the 2024 Republican presidential primary calendar.  It is now clear that the Judge intends to disrupt the 2024 election by constantly haunting Trump back to court to tie him up for the election.

                                                                                                                                                  Judge Richard Owen

In my own case, at first, I thought I was perhaps under stress and forgot things in court. They tried to throw me in prison on contempt to stop my Speed Trial Act motion claiming I went to my office where they had guards posted. I got past the guards and grabbed all the incriminating evidence, the guards chase me through a parking lot while I was carrying all these boxes, loaded them into my car in the middle of the chase, and go away. My lawyer, Richard Altman, was a friend. He called and said we had a contempt hearing tomorrow and told me these allegations and asked if I was crazy. I told him I was in New York, never went to the office, and to get in I would have had to use my security card twice. If it had been any other lawyer, they would never have believed me. The government is always right. I told him to call the security company. Richard called me back within 30 minutes and said do not worry, they confirmed nobody entered the building the night before.

We went to the contempt hearing and as the judge was still walking out, the government started claiming there was a mistake, someone moved boxes from one room to the next but nothing was taken. How that got to guards chasing me through parking lots and me outrunning them carrying all these boxes, somehow vanished. They spent 20 to 30 minutes back-tracking. They had been illegally tapping even my lawyer’s phones. So they knew we could prove their allegations were all false. That is when I got the transcript and 99% of all their explanation was removed. I asked the lawyer what was going on. He said welcome to New York. The judges can commit felonies by altering the court records and nobody will prosecute them. Even the Court of Appeals admitted that this was taking place and claimed they lacked the power to tell judges to obey the law.

They took my lawyers away and then they rig the game with court-appointed lawyers who lose every case to keep the government’s 99% conviction rate. The only “innocent” people are those who die before trial under mysterious circumstances. NEVER trust ANY court-appointed lawyer. I have NEVER met one who EVER defends a person. Knowing the law myself, I would submit my own briefs. I went through all the transcripts and submitted under penalty of perjury all the things the judge removed from the transcripts. When I went to court that day, there were hundreds of people there. When I asked what was going on, the court-appointed lawyers said it’s you. You cannot accuse a judge of committing a felony. I said you all admit this is taking place. They said, yes, but you cannot accuse a judge. There were so many people there, Judge Owen got scared. He admitted to changing my transcripts which is a felony and refused to recuse himself. When I tried to appeal. the Second Circuit Court of Appeals which is no better lost my appearance three times and refuse to ever docket the case.

5) SDNY Practice

The problem in the instant case has led lawyers on both sides to highlight a problematic practice in the Southern District of New York and has prompted one of them to ask this court to order that the practice be eliminated. See Leiwant Decl. at 2. According to lawyers for both the government and defense, as well as Bologna, the “standard practice” in the Southern District is for a court reporter to submit the transcript of jury instructions to the district court before releasing it to the parties. See id.; Pomerantz Affirm. ¶ 11; Bologna 4/99499 Aff. ¶ 3. The district court is free to alter the transcript, and any changes are incorporated in the “official” transcript without disclosing such changes to the parties. See Bologna 4/99499 Aff. ¶ 3. According to counsel, the Southern District is somewhat unique in this practice. See Leiwant Decl. at 2.

Courts do not have power to alter transcripts in camera and to conceal the alterations from the parties.11  Given the issues that arose in this case as a direct result of this practice, there appears to be little justification for continuing the practice in its present form. To be sure, a procedure that corrects obvious mistakes in transmission is useful, and the parties have little interest in closely monitoring such a procedure so long as the alterations are cosmetic. Monitoring by the parties, however, provides some assurance that only cosmetic changes will be made or, if not, that changes will correctly reflect what transpired in the particular proceeding. Moreover, there is little cost in informing the parties of cosmetic changes or at least of directing court reporters to give parties access to the original transcript when they request it.

Nevertheless, whether we have the power to order a change in such a practice is unclear.12  We review judgments, and our review of the convictions and sentences here may not be an appropriate vehicle for the fine tuning of this practice. However, we invite the judges of the Southern District to consider revision.

This is what Trump will face. New York is the most corrupt court in the United States if not the entire world. The Constitution means NOTHING to these people. This is April, and the Judge ignored the Speedy Trial Constitutional Right and made his next appearance on December 4th which is clearly to interfere with his running for president.

There is NO WAY this prosecution would have taken place WITHOUT the approval of the Democrats. This is total BS that they did not interfere. What is likely to now unfold is a political civil war. Every Republican Prosecutor should start indicting Pelosi, Hillary, Hunter, and Biden and keep going. Maybe this is what our computer has been forecasting with massive civil unrest.

The computer has called all the shots. It projected Trump would win in 2016 and even BRIXT would win when everyone forecast the opposite. We are looking at serious civil unrest. Quite frankly, this trial of Trump may expose how bad the courts really are and I am surprised the minorities have not stormed the courthouses in New York yet as the French did on Bastille Day in 1789. It will problem come in the not-too-distant future.

When the world sees firsthand how the American “JUS US” system really works, this will contribute to the collapse of governments in 2032.