The Public’s Top if not ONLY Concern…


Armstrong Economics Blog/Inflation Re-Posted Aug 20, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

INFLATION

The public is not concerned about “Russian aggression,” the Trump inditement, or even the MSM wrench about aliens. No one cares — the average person is struggling to keep up with the rising cost of living. Homelessness is on the rise as people cannot afford shelter. The blank checks to Ukraine are a slap in the face of those begging for help at home. These politicians need to work for us. No one campaigning is going to make a dent in the polls unless they clearly detail how they plan to address INFLATION! And no, the problem is not limited to America. The solution cannot be a universal income, currency, or Great Reset. The economy was strong before they attempted to BUILD BACK BETTER.

Judge Howell’s Most Outrageous Order By Any Judge in History


Armstrong Economics Blog/Rule of Law Re-Posted Aug 17, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

District Court Judge in Washington DC, Beryl Alaine Howell,  is clearly out to get Trump and imprison him to interfere with the 2024 election. This person will most likely contribute to the separatist movement and the collapse of the United States. She was also the judge supervising the grand jury for special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. Grand Jury proceedings are supposed to be secret. That did not matter to her.

On October 25, 2019, she bent over backward and ruled in favor of the House Judiciary Committee, seeking to impeach Trump by handing them the grand jury minutes. To pretend it was legal, she ruled that the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump was a judicial proceeding when Congress is not a judiciary. That violated the Separation of Power to transform Congress into the Judiciary constructively. She amended the Constitution of the United States without any such authority.

But in this newly unsealed document, not only did she deny President Trump any right to due process and to challenge the Twitter turnover order, which the DC Court of Appeals disgracefully upheld, but she also ordered Twitter to turn over the names of everyone who ever even click on a Trump post saying they liked it. This is so outrageous. She has violated everyone in the entire country of both Due Process of Law and their First Amendment Right to Free Speech. Allowing the government to now create lists of everyone in the country who clicked “like” with any of his posts that had nothing to do with the January 6th event is no longer a free country. Anyone who at any time clicked a like on any Twitter post by Trump has been prejudiced. Your civil rights have been flat outright violated. There should be a class action suit filed against her – NOW!

Howell should be impeached, as with every Court of Appeals Judge that upheld her. This is totally outrageous and NOT what anyone would expect from a non-Communist free democracy.  Enough is enough. This is disgraceful, and civilization ONLY survives when the rule of law prevails. She is out to imprison Trump, and to think that this will not result in major civil unrest is just ludicrous. Our computer has been projecting massive civil unrest on the horizon.

Personally, it is now starting to come into focus how dangerously close we are flirting with the decline and fall of the United States. EVERY Republican prosecutor and judge will now see a green light to do the same to Democrats. This is all becoming insane! This is also how Rome fell – one general against another general. Postumus split the Roman Empire and issued this coin restorer of Gaul. They separated from Rome, which they, too, saw as corrupt and unable to defend all the people. I was wondering why the model pinpointed 2023 10 years in advance. I guess we now know.

NIH Experts Received $325 Million in Big Pharma Royalties During COVID


Armstrong Economics Blog/Corruption Re-Posted Aug 15, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Two weeks to slow the spread was simply not enough time for the elite to steal as much power and wealth as possible. OpenTheBooks recently revealed over 1,500 records showing those at the head of the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases quietly profited from COVID-19 and their recommendations to “slow the spread.” Two faces of the pandemic propaganda, Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Francis Collins secured 58 royalty payments out of a total of $325 million in royalties set aside for the NIH.

Sen. Rand Paul confronted Fauci for accepting bribes in June 2022. “The NIH continues to refuse to voluntarily divulge the names of scientists who receive royalties and from which companies over the period of time from 2010 to 2016, 27,000 royalty payments were paid to 1800 NIH employees,” Rand Paul said. “We know that. Not because you told us, but because we forced you to tell us through the Freedom of Information Act. Fauci refused to answer the senator or admit if he received and royalty payout for his voluntary work.

Paul dug deeper, “Here’s what I want to know. It’s not just about you, everybody on the vaccine committee, have any of them ever received money from the people who make vaccines?” Paul asked. “Can you tell me that? Can you tell me if anybody on the vaccine approval committees ever receive any money from people?” Fauci claimed that he was not legally required to admit to receiving payments. “First of all, according to the regulations, people who receive royalties are not required to divulge them, even on their financial statement, according to the Bayh-Dole act,” Fauci told Paul. Fauci took it a step further and said that the only royalties he received were for his lab. “My royalties ranged from $21 a year to $700 a year. And the average per year was $191 and 46 cents,” the doctor insisted.

We know that Fauci was lying about receiving kickbacks. Santa Cruz Biotechnology, a company that produces medical research instruments, paid Fauci 15 times. Ancell Corp. sent Fauci 14 separate payments. Chiron Corp., later bought by Novartis in 2006, paid Fauci on eight occasions. On top of all of these payments, Fauci became the highest-paid government worker in America in 2022, with an annual salary of $480,000.

Clearly, this man was unable to make unbiased decisions when Big Pharma was lining his pockets throughout the entire pandemic. The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) found 34 Chinese entities were among the agencies paying off American “scientists.” Pokrov Biologics Plant, a Russian-based animal vaccine manufacturer that is said to be a front for bioweapon production, also paid off NIH scientists. Fauci claimed he would donate all of his royalties to charity but that too seems to be a lie. The people at the top profited from our pain and prioritized profits over the people.

Christians Barred from Fostering Children in Massachusetts


Armstrong Economics Blog/WOKE Re-Posted Aug 15, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

I reported in April that Oregon’s Department of Human Services announced it would prevent some Christian families from adopting children due to their “extreme views.” Potential adopters now receive an ideological litmus test to ensure that parents adhere to the woke agenda and will agree to let their child transition to any gender at whim.

Planned Parenthood performed 374,155 abortions last year, amounting to 1,200 abortions per day. The same organization is also funding gender-affirming care for the youth. Only 1,803 women placed their babies up for adoption last year, and it is notoriously hard to adopt in America. These agencies are profiting on selling children to parents and do not prioritize the well-being of the children. The woke ideology must be at the forefront.

Massachusetts has joined Oregon in preventing Christians and other religious couples from providing homes to children. One couple from Massachusetts has taken the Commonwealth to court (Burke v Walsh) after they were denied the right to foster at-risk children. Mike and Kitty Burke were deemed unfit caregivers solely because they believe in the Catholic faith. “After months of interviews and training, and after years of heartbreak, we were on the verge of finally becoming parents,” said Mike and Kitty Burke. “We were absolutely devastated to learn that Massachusetts would rather children sleep in the hallways of hospitals than let us welcome children in need into our home.”

The Department of Children and Families (DCF) admits that they have 1,500 children displaced children awaiting forever homes. The state has no room to house these poor children temporarily and has resorted to leaving these vulnerable children in state hospitals for weeks at a time. The Burke family wanted to welcome at least one child into their home.  “Their faith is not supportive,” the social worker deemed, citing their views on gender dysphoria and sexual orientation. Perhaps the state of Massachusetts will allow the Burke family to foster a migrant military-aged adult male since that is of top priority. The entire woke agenda is hurting thousands of children, and we must begin to question why we are permitting this blatant religious discrimination to occur.

Dating in America


From Armstrong Economics Posted Aug 14, 2023

COMMENT: Mr. Armstrong, You are so right about this country being totally screwed. I dated a girl three times. Everything seemed OK. We had similar goals and interests. Then I mentioned the Trump indictment. Suddenly, she just said, oh, you are a Trump supporter. The conversation turned cold, and suddenly, I saw a look of hatred in her eyes. It is an understatement to say I got the check, and that was it. I asked her about war and Biden’s Crime Family. The war was justified because Putin supported Trump. As for the Biden Crime Family, that was a right-wing conspiracy theory. There was nothing left to talk about.

I cannot say enough. Socrates has pegged our future correctly. There was no talking to her, even on a polite level. I do not see how this country can stand as one. We are too far gone. There is no basis for the compromise of you to leave me alone, and I leave you alone. They really do not tolerate even our existence. We have no right to disagree.

I just had to say my experience firsthand.

EK

REPLY: Perhaps you should lead with that – state your political belief FIRST. That appears to be the #1 criterion for dating anymore.

The media has spun such hatred. They think this is like a football game. They score a goal and win. This is real life. What they have done to America is no different from what they did to the Jews in Germany. They had their Kristallnacht, and we will see the same outcome here—wait for the 2024 election. Human nature can turn really violent.

British Lose Confidence in Banks


From Armstrong Economics Aug 14, 2023

Britain’s four largest banks have reported that clients have withdrawn £78 billion, marking the steepest bank run since 2018. NatWest, Barclays, Lloyds, and HSBC all reported significant withdrawals in the 12 months leading up to June 2023. Worsening matters, the House of Commons Treasury Committee accused the four banks of “blatant profiteering” and “squeezing higher profits from their loyal savings customers.” The people simply have lost confidence in the banks.

The Bank of England (BoE) all but admitted the UK was officially in a recession back in September 2022. Bank Governor Andrew Bailey stated there was nothing the central bank could do to prevent a recession at that stage. The central bank raised rates for the 14th time at its last meeting, bringing the borrowing rate to 5.25%, which marks the highest level since February 2008. Those with two-year mortgages have felt the pressure as the average fixed rate now sits at 6.85% compares to 3.95% last August. Bailey said “depending on what the evidence on the economy indicates, we might need to raise interest rates again but that’s not certain,” worsening confidence in the central bank.

The big four, as they are known, have passed their costs onto the consumers and then some. Unite analysis found in March 2023 that these institutions managed to profit an additional £7 billion due rising rates. Yet, the ONS found that households were spending 1.5 percentage points more on financial services, a cost that continues to rise. The financial sector is coming out as the winner in all of this as workers in the sector have seen their incomes nearly triple since 2021. Additionally, the big four have seen a 42% rise in profits since the pandemic and have been aided by government tax cuts.

Unite’s analysis concluded:

“Unite’s research shows how the banks have already made billions in extra profit from interest rate rises. If the MPC raises rates again they stand to gain even more. Banks treat these rises as a licence to pick the pockets of householders across Britain. “Unbridled profiteering is taking billions of pounds away from workers and communities and putting it into the hands of corporate Britain. Last year, the profits of the big four banks soared to an eye watering £33 billion.  Politicians need to wake up. It’s only by taking on runaway profiteering that we can end the cost of living crisis.”

Smart money is simply moving out of the banks. People are shopping around at smaller institutions that offer a competitive advantage and/or placing their money where it will not continue to decline in value. It will only become more expensive for consumers to keep their money in these institutions as rates rise since inflation is far from under control. So far, the banks are not worried about liquidity, but watch out if this becomes a trend.

Americans Tapping into 401Ks amid Private Debt Crisis


From Armstrong Economics Posted Aug 14, 2023

Credit card balances in the US have surpassed $1 trillion for the first time, with balances up almost 20% from a year ago. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported that total credit card debt stood at $986 billion in the first quarter of 2023, unchanged from the record hit at the end of 2022. The average credit card interest rate offered in the US over the last three months of 2022 stood at 21.6%, according to WalletHub, a jump from about 18% a year prior. Americans are now tapping into their retirement funds to make ends meet.

Hardship withdrawals allow employees to pull money out of their 401K for an “immediate and heavy financial need.” No one would recommend doing this unless the situation was dire. Bank of America reported that 15,950 employees enrolled in 401K programs made a hardship withdrawal during the first three months of 2023, a 36% rise from Q2 22. Individuals must show evidence that the money will be used for a major hardship in order to avoid the 10% early withdrawal fee imposed for those under 59.5.

It costs more money to borrow thanks to rising interest rates. The majority of Americans do not have money stashed away for a rainy day, and those who do are rapidly draining their accounts to keep up with Biden’s economy. The CPI report in June showed a rise of 3% YoY, but look around, absolutely everything is more expensive. Shelter costs have reached an all-time high and the price of food is on the rise, especially with wheat price manipulation going on using the war in Russia as a guise. Why are we sending hundreds of billions to a foreign nation when our own people cannot afford to live? The masses need to wakeup and get mad at their current predicament before the next election if we even have one.

Land of the Free & Home of the Brave


Armstrong Economics Blog/CENSORSHIP Re-Posted Aug 12, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

COMMENT: Hi Martin,

For months now, I don’t receive about half of your blog emails, most of the time the ones that are politically the most sensitive.
For example, these last few days, I didn’t receive “Massachusetts residents… “ and “FBI carry out hit…”

Have a great day

P

REPLY: We are getting similar emails about Canada censorship. These are only stories reporting the news – not advocating an agenda.

Welcome to the land of the free and home of the brave – some restrictions may apply … void where prohibited. This has been the most popular T-Shirt we handed out at a WEC.

Here We Go – Garland and Weiss Throw Bag Over Hunter Biden Investigation with Declaration of Special Counsel Status


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

Oh, there will be voices who will proclaim this is the beginning of the end for Joe and Hunter, but that’s nonsense.  We don’t do pretending on these pages.  What happened today was an agreement between USAO David Weiss and US Attorney General Merrick Garland to fortify a silo of protection around the Biden family.

The shift in David Weiss from an investigative US Attorney to an officially appointed Special Counsel [SEE pdf HERE], is nothing more than loading the new color spray paint into the cannister.  Pesky House Oversight Committee inquiry now hits the block of an “ongoing investigation,” a purposeful deployment of a DC replay we have seen repeatedly in the last several years.  The cancer of corruption is institutionally metastatic.

We know the specific motives of USAO David Weiss as a result of the conflict between his public statements, letters to congress and the private statements he gave in meetings with IRS investigators.  Toward the public, Weiss said he had full autonomy and power to investigate Hunter Biden; however, in private he told four investigators the decision-making was not his.  The public statements were refuted and affirmed by two investigators who were witness to his private statements and gave testimony under oath.

As a result, the intent and institutional alignment of David Weiss is clear. This is the cold hard truth of the matter, and it will not change regardless of how much disingenuous concrete they pour around the walls of the silo Main Justice has built.  Ignore any voice who would demand us to pretend the reality is not self-evident.

Here’s the SILO as presented by Garland:

Dept of Justice – “Attorney General Merrick B. Garland announced today the appointment of U.S. Attorney David Weiss to serve as Special Counsel for the ongoing investigation and prosecutions referenced and described in United States v. Robert Hunter Biden, as well as for any other matters that arose or may arise from that investigation. Mr. Weiss was nominated by the former president in 2017 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2018. In 2021, he was asked to remain as U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware, where he led this ongoing investigation. On Tuesday, Aug. 8, Mr. Weiss requested to be appointed as Special Counsel, and today the Attorney General made that appointment.

“On Tuesday of this week, Mr. Weiss advised me that in his judgment, his investigation has reached a stage at which he should continue his work as a Special Counsel, and he asked to be so appointed,” said Attorney General Garland. “Upon considering his request, as well as the extraordinary circumstances relating to this matter, I have concluded it is in the public interest to appoint him as Special Counsel. This appointment confirms my commitment to provide Mr. Weiss all the resources he requests. It also reaffirms that Mr. Weiss has the authority he needs to conduct a thorough investigation and to continue to take the steps he deems appropriate independently, based only on the facts and the law.”

The Attorney General also said, “As Special Counsel, he will continue to have the authority and responsibility that he has exercised previously to oversee the investigation and decide where, when, and whether to file charges. The Special Counsel will not be subject to the day-to-day supervision of any official of the Department, but he must comply with the regulations, procedures, and policies of the Department … Today’s announcement affords the prosecutors, agents, and analysts working on this matter the ability to proceed with their work expeditiously, and to make decisions indisputably guided only by the facts and the law … I am confident that Mr. Weiss will carry out his responsibility in an even-handed and urgent matter, and in accordance with the highest traditions of this Department.” (more)

Poland & Niger


Armstrong Economics Blog/Uncategorized Re-Posted Aug 9, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION: Mr. Armstrong, We met when you came to lecture here in Poland. Everything you warned about has unfolded right down to a dollar high in 2022, followed by a low in 2023. The majority now are against the government. We, too, fear that the election may be rigged later this year. Putting all these troops on the border with Ukraine, which includes 40,000 Americans, has raised grave concerns that our government will cross the border in hopes of getting Russia to attack our troops to justify NATO invoking Article V. Some are starting to wonder if our government needs to get Russia to attack us to suspend elections as Zelensky has done in Ukraine.

What do you see for Poland ahead?

Aleksy

ANSWER: Yes, it has been quite a while. Thank you for recommending Krakow. It was beautiful. Loved the architecture and vast square. I know the concerns there about the upcoming elections. We have a Panic Cycle in November. I am also aware of the idea of Polish troops crossing the border and taking the Western portion of Ukraine, which used to be their territory. Putin has warned about this, but the Western press calls it misinformation and Russian propaganda. Then you have Yevgeny Prigozhin in Belarus with his eyes on Poland. Your government is indeed pushing the envelope.

The risk remains that the greenback will rise into 2027, which seems to be more on the threat of war. You have Poland, Lithuania, and Estonia with severe concerns about Russia retaking the region. The Russian people are not really interested in that. Much of that propaganda has been spread by the ISW and NATO, which is desperate to remain relevant.

I think Zelensky’s days are numbered. If he is assassinated, it will be for what he has done to Ukraine. The social media in Ukraine shows funerals and images of the dead. The kill ratio is 5 Ukrainian soldiers to even one Russian and that comes from Ukraine – not Russia.

Ukraine is losing badly. That is my concern that the Polish/American Troops will cross the border begging for Russia to attack them so they can indeed invoke Article V. The share market is going to roll over. Closing below last week’s low should spark a correction, and the volatility should start next week.

Insofar as this election being rigged, I appreciate the concern. Poland will reach a critical turning point on October 26th, 2023, which is now 34 years from the overthrow of communism on June 4th, 1989. There should be a shift in politics; ideally, the present government should lose. That remains to be seen.

We seem to be begging to start another proxy war against Russia in the middle of Africa. There was a coup overthrowing the government, and you have people chanting chanting “Wagner” and raising Russian flags. The whole problem has been the Neocons and their private propaganda machine, the ISW, keep projecting that Russia is weak and they can take it down. Russia can manufacture all the weapons it needs, and it is one of the wealthiest countries on the planet regarding natural resources. These people are putting out fake news to encourage war, telling everyone the West can win.

This is more akin to the US Civil War, where the North had all the capacity to manufacture weapons, and the South had been primarily an agrarian society. The South needed money and supplies from Europe.

Secretary of State William Henry Seward (1801–1872) for the North was deeply concerned that no foreign nation would intervene in the conflict on behalf of the Confederacy. Russia came to Seward’s aid to protect the US from a European invasion. Russia sent its warships to protect New York City and San Francisco in 1863 against the British and French, who perhaps considered the American Civil War an opportunity to conquer the United States.

In contrast, the Confederate diplomats desperately attempted to convince the stronger European countries to come to their aid and intercede on their behalf. These diplomats were successful in helping to convince Great Britain and France, two European countries that had much at stake in the outcome of the American conflict, to legally confer belligerent status upon the Confederacy, which recognized it as a nation engaged in war. In other words, they recognized the South as independent. In contrast, today, the West refuses to grant that to the Donbas in Ukraine despite the Minsk Agreement and the fact that the people there are Russian, while Ukraine outlaws their language and their religion.

In fact, Abraham Lincoln drew his Emancipation Proclamation taking the actions of Tsar Alexander II (b: 1818; 1855–1881), who issued his own Emancipation Manifesto on March 3rd, 1861, emancipating 23 million Russian serfs. American abolitionists cheered his action and pushed for Lincoln to do the same, which he finally did on January 1st, 1863. Russians were actually shocked when the American states descended into armed conflict over the issue. In Russia, the serf owned nothing, and they were not happy. They embraced Marxism, and the first Russian Revolution followed in 1905, 43 years later (8.6/2).