Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness Bribe


Armstrong Economics Blog/Education Re-Posted Aug 26, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

While many are praising Biden for maintaining his campaign promise to cancel student debt, others are furious that the costs will be passed on to the taxpayers. Even Mitt Romney accused Biden of bribing voters before the midterms. “Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan may win Democrats some votes, but it fuels inflation, foots taxpayers with other people’s financial obligations, is unfair to those who paid their own way & creates irresponsible expectations,” the perhaps most liberal Republican senator wrote on Twitter.

Under the plan, borrowers earning under $125,000 annually will receive a $10,000 debt cancelation, while Pell Grant recipients will see a $20,000 reduction. The Penn Wharton School conducted a study in which they believe this program will cost the average taxpayer $2,000. The study found:

"We estimate that a one-time maximum debt forgiveness of $10,000 per borrower will cost around $300 billion for borrowers with incomes less than $125,000. This cost increases to $330 billion if the program is continued over the standard 10-year budget window. Eliminating the borrower income limit threshold produces a 10-year cost of $344 billion. Increasing the maximum amount forgiven to $50,000 per borrower increases the total cost to as much as $980 billion."

Yet, this does nothing to prevent predatory lending, albeit dismissing some interest on loans. This does not reinstate Glass Stegall, the provision that Bill Clinton erased to make student debt non-dischargeable in the case of bankruptcy. In fact, Clinton’s top financial advisor, Larry Summers, believes that this measure will increase inflation. “It consumes resources that could be better used helping those who did not, for whatever reason, have the chance to attend college. It will also tend to be inflationary by raising tuitions,” Summers wrote on his Twitter page. He also warned against continuing the moratorium of benefits expected to last until the end of the year.

Some state that we should be happy for those who are receiving relief, but the true culprits are the predatory lenders offering asinine interest rates and the universities that continually raise their fees. It also causes a disconnect between classes as those who chose trade school or blue-collar roles to avoid college fees will not be too fond of this initiative. It certainly will not help America’s plea to recruit more military personnel either. This is a temporary solution to a deeper problem.

Tucker Carlson and Harmeet Dhillon Discuss Facebook Suppression of Hunter Biden Laptop Story


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on August 25, 2022 | Sundance

During a segment on his broadcast this evening, Fox News host Tucker Carlson interviewed Center for American Liberty founder and lawyer, Harmeet Dhillon about how Facebook censored and supressed he Hunter Biden laptop story just before the 2020 election. {Direct Rumble Link} – WATCH:

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Interesting, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Implies FBI Told Platform to Intercept Hunter Biden Laptop Story


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on August 25, 2022 | Sundance

During a discussion with Joe Rogan, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was asked about the removal of content, specifically citing the example of the pre-2020 election Hunter Biden laptop story.  In his response Zuckerberg says the background context is important because the FBI came to Facebook and told them Russian disinformation was about to drop, just before the New York Post article was published.

This discussion comes on the heels of an FBI whistleblower approaching the Senate Judiciary Committee with evidence the Washington DC field office was specifically working to coverup any discoveries around the Hunter Biden laptop (per Chuck Grassley).   Add the Zuckerberg statement to the whistleblower claim and the resounding implication is the FBI taking advanced proactive measures to stop information they deem adverse to the interests of democrats.  The issue surfaces at 05:00 of the video below.  WATCH (prompted):

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Two Florida Residents Plead Guilty in Federal Court in New York to Stealing Ashley Biden Diary


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on August 25, 2022 | Sundance 

The reason the FBI raided the home and office of Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe, was to discover the source of the Ashley Biden diary.  The feds then went to work on prosecuting the suspects who “stole” the diary, and a guilty plea in New York was entered today.  [Ashley in green shirt below]

[Creepy Joe] Look carefully, everything about this narrative presentation by national media is sketchy; including two Florida residents being prosecuted in New York, when the claimed illegal action, the theft,” took place in Florida.

Also, the “stolen” goods aspect is suspect, despite the plea.  As previous wide-spread discussion outlined, the Ashley Biden material was left behind in a rental home and discovered by the next occupant.  It looks like the admission of “theft” is a Main Justice pressure angle to support a “stolen” narrative.

The Florida residents, Aimee Harris and Robert Kurlander, plead guilty to “conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property.”  The creepy and disturbing content of the diary is now obscured.

(New York) – […] The president’s daughter, Ashley Biden, had stored the items in question (including a “highly personal” diary, “tax records, a digital storage card containing private family photographs, and a cellphone, among other things”) in a Florida home where Harris later took up temporary residence, Fox News summmarizes, per court documents. Harris then reportedly stole the items, and asked Kurlander to help her sell them.

Kurlander’s plea deal also includes cooperating with the Justice Department’s investigation into how Project Veritas obtained the diary, notes The New York Times. The conservative group maintained in a statement that their “news gathering was ethical and legal.”

“I know what I did was wrong and awful, and I apologize,” Kurlander said in court. “I sincerely apologize for any actions and know what I did was illegal,” Harris added. (read more)

DOJ Submits Proposed Redactions for Mar-a-Lago Raid Affidavit


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on August 25, 2022 | Sundance

The DOJ had until noon today to submit their proposed redactions to the search warrant used in the Mar-a-Lago raid in order for the documents to be made public.  Highlighting the effort of Main Justice to delay any sunlight, the DOJ waited until the last moment to submit their filing.

With the DOJ submission in hand, Florida Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart will now review the proposal and decide which, if any, parts of the affidavit will now be released to the public.   Judge Reinhart was the judge who originally signed-off on the search warrant.  It is likely he will go along with the redactions, although there is a slight possibility, he may propose an alternative.

Lawyers for media have requested the full unredacted release of the affidavit, and representative of President Trump have also requested a full unredacted release.  Unfortunately, that scenario is extremely unlikely.

Democrats discuss hunger problem in US


One America News Network Published originally on Rumble on August 24, 2022

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others gathered in San Francisco to discuss the issue of hunger in the US. One America’s James Meyers has more.

The Last Two Neutral European Countries


Armstrong Economics Blog/War Re-Posted Aug 25, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

It seems as if everyone is supplying Ukraine with money and weapons. I would not blink if I saw Russia itself had provided Ukraine with weapons as everything has become so absurd. Yet, nothing seems to be enough. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called out the two European countries that have not supplied weapons for the proxy war. “With the exception of Hungary and Austria, the supply of weapons to Ukraine is not a taboo for any other European country, although it was (before),” said Kuleba.

Levente Magyar, Hungary’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, explained their reasoning for staying neutral. “Unlike many Western partners, we have experienced for ourselves what it is like to confront this huge Eastern state. At the same time, Hungary itself will not supply weapons — this is our strategic position. However, third countries can use our territory,” Magyar noted. Hungary simply does not wish to engage in war with a large Eastern power. They are protecting the Hungarian population living in the far-western Transcarpathia region from Russian attacks.

Austria has also committed to neutrality and has made that clear since the beginning of the war. First, Austria is not officially a NATO country and does not have that protection. According to Al Jazeera, 80% of Austrians do not want any involvement in the Western alliance. We all know of a certain dictator who grew up in Austria and started the last world war. Austria attempted to act as a diplomat between the East and West, with Chancellor Karl Nehammer visiting Moscow earlier in the year. The trip produced no results.

Both nations have offered humanitarian resources or opened their borders to Ukrainian refugees. They should not be shamed for steering clear of war. Look at their not so distant histories. The oldest generations have experienced untold suffering. There is no benefit for either country to become involved in a growing global conflict.

The World According to Schwab?


Armstrong Economics Blog/Economics Re-Posted Aug 25, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION:  Dear Mr. Armstrong,
First, thank you for all the wonderful work you do. I have been following your blog for many years and am always amazed at your insight and historical knowledge. I had a question regarding your assertion that the WEF/ Globalists will not win. I am assuming you mean that their vision of a worldwide Chinese-style technocracy run by the United Nations will not take hold. But if we are also looking at the certain breakup of the United States from which there is no turning back, a defeat in WWIII with China and Russia as they win and rise to be the main players on the world stage, are we not losing everything, anyway?
How will we ever hope to restore peace, liberty, democracy, and prosperity as most American citizens understand it if China and Russia end up controlling everything, and our country is left permanently fractured and therefore weaker?
Again, thank you for everything you do to help people understand what’s coming down the road. Your insight is always invaluable.

EM

ANSWER: All we can do is look at history. As my mother used to say, There’s a time and place for everything.” What we are looking at is simply the natural cycle of the rise and fall of nations. Schwab will fail with Soros, and their dream of a one-world government is absolutely stupid, and it illustrates that both are totally ignorant of history or humanity. Just look at Congress. They vote on party lines. There is no agreement, and you really expect that the world can be brought to a one-world government?

The EU is not working, and that was the very same theory. The old tensions and distrust go back centuries in Europe. The Germans refused to join if all the debts were combined, and now you have countries complaining that one pays more in interest rates than another. Here is the former head of France stating in Parliament that the entire idea of the EU was that this one-European government would end all European wars. This was pushed by Schwab and Soros.

The EU Commission came to our 1997 WEC in London. I warned them that this would fail without the consolidation of the debts. They said that they just had to get the euro in and then worry about the debts later. I tried to explain the crisis to Kohl, but he would not listen. He would not even put joining the euro to a vote, knowing that the German people would reject the whole idea.

When Rome fell, it broke up into fiefdoms. The barbarians issued coins that imitated that of Rome. They pretended to be Roman, for they wanted the air of that civilization. There was no unity — all separated enclaves. It was not until Charles Martel (c. 688–741), who established the Caroline dynasty, where Charlemagne (747–814 AD) was eventually crowned as Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire by the Pope. Do you see the trend to create unified states once more?

Therefore, following the collapse of Rome, it was the typical cycle of 31.4 x 8.6 years = 270 years before we began to see the rise once again of formal civilizations. Europe had broken apart into simple fiefdoms that were not united. The unification came only because the Arabs began to seek the conquest of Europe and Charles Martel began to rise up to defend when became Europe once again after the Battle of Tours. He unified the Franks into a nation-state.

When Charles died, he divided Francia between his sons, Carloman and Pepin. Charlemagne came to power under Pepin. Pepin’s death opened the door to civil war as the conflict between his heirs and the Neustrian nobles who in turn sought their own political independence.

While the silver denier became the coin of Europe during the 8th century, it was not until the 13th century that we see gold reemerge as coinage. In actual Europe, that took nearly 800 years to pass before gold coinage reappeared.

However, after the Great Monetary Collapse of gold in the Byzantine Empire in 1092, it took 172 years for good gold to reappear in Europe. When Constantine founded Constantinople in 330 AD and moved the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to his new city, which is now Istanbul, the seat of power shifted from Byzantium back to Europe. That interval was again about 800 years.

Columbus was trying to get to India, which was the financial capital, for it moved to Asia after the fall of Byzantium. That is why he calls the Americans “Indians.” He chose the wrong Greek mathematical who thought the world was round but smaller than it actually is. Columbus’ discovery of America was by sheer accident.

The West will fall and fragment. I do not see the US being occupied by Russia and China. There will be no one-world government. That is NEVER going to take place. Even in the aftermath, when the West has fallen, you will then see Russia and China become foes. Cycles are inevitable. So the world, according to Schwab, is the dream of a fool who ignores human nature and history.

Tucker Carlson Interviews Ron DeSantis After Massive Wins in Florida Primary Races


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on August 24, 2022 | Sundance

Fox News host Tucker Carlson interviews Ron DeSantis following the Florida primary election on Tuesday. Governor DeSantis notes the excellent statewide results from schoolboard races that were a big part of his focus for the primary season.

Governor DeSantis will now head into the November election facing former Florida Governor Charlie Crist. WATCH:

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Horrific Biden Consequence, 20 Million American Households Behind on Electricity Bills, Pending Shutoff


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on August 24, 2022 | Sundance

Long-term CTH readers might remember in 2014 when President Obama claimed U.S. families had been paying too little for electricity for too long.  As soon as Joe Biden took office, he began implementing the Green New Deal energy policy that, (a) directly forces higher costs for energy; and (b) is now creating massive problems.

In July I noted my own electricity bill had jumped 28% in a single month.  That bill was followed by another almost identical increase this month.  A review of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for July [Data Here] shows that nationally the same thing is happening.  The year-over-year electricity price has increased 15.2%. However, worse still, the July increase alone was 1.9%, which figures to an annualized rate of 22.8%.

When the growth rate of monthly increase is exceeding the year-over-year result, that means future higher prices are coming.  This is a serious problem that cannot be overstated. Already struggling with a doubling of gas prices, massive food price increases at the grocery store and the pain of all costs for goods far outpacing any rate of wage increase, this type of uncontrollable increase in price of electricity is going to hit the middle class hard.

Steve Cortes calls this the backside of the Biden created inflation hurricane.  The backside of a hurricane is the worst because it hits from the opposite direction upon already weakened infrastructure.

The hurricane metaphor is apt because any increase in energy costs will be accompanied by the simultaneous arrival of another wave of food inflation, as the massive increases in field and crop prices start to feed into the food supply chain headed to our forks next month.

Making matters that much worse, Bloomberg is now reporting that 20 million households are now behind in their utility bills, specifically electricity bills, and the moratorium on shut offs has ended.  [Paywall Article]  Steve Cortes has written about the issue on his substack [Here].

One in six U.S. households, that is tens-of-millions of Americans, are now facing having their electricity turned off due to lack of payment.  It is certainly understandable how this horrific outcome would happen. Joe Biden’s energy policies are destroying working class families with unsustainably higher prices.

20 million households is a catastrophic level of utility default.  This is a serious issue with major social implications created by the desperation of those families.  Middle- and lower-income families cannot survive this level of financial pressure.

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Rents are behind. Mortgages are behind.  Car payments are behind. And now this report on utility bills.

Steve Cortes appeared with Steve Bannon to discuss {Direct Rumble Link} – WATCH: