Senator Joe Manchin Not Convinced to Vote For Massive Build Back Better Spending Bill – Curiously WaPo Launches Investigation of Joe Manchin Finances


Posted originally on the conservative tree house December 13, 2021 | Sundance | 132 Comments

I’m not confident that Joe Manchin will ultimately hold the line on more spending; however, it is interesting that on the same day Manchin is reported to be casting doubt on more Joe Biden social spending {LINK}, the Washington Post published a hitjob on him around his family finances {LINK}.

Accepting there are no coincidences in politics, it would appear the intelligence agencies are firing a warning shot against Senator Manchin based on his financial connections to the West Virginia coal industry.

(New York Times) – WASHINGTON — Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, the most prominent Democratic holdout on President Biden’s $2.2 trillion social safety net, climate and tax bill, cast fresh doubt on Monday on his party’s plans to speed the measure through the Senate before Christmas, saying he still had grave concerns about how it would affect the economy.

Mr. Manchin outlined his skepticism before speaking by telephone about the bill with Mr. Biden, a discussion that aides to both later characterized as positive. After the call, Mr. Manchin, who represents West Virginia, did not rule out the possibility of supporting the measure this month. He said that “anything is possible here” when asked about a vote before Christmas, and that he was still “engaged” in conversations with the White House.

But in a 50-50 Senate where Democrats would need all of their party’s votes to push through the legislation over unanimous Republican opposition, Mr. Manchin’s reluctance to embrace it has helped freeze the measure in place. (read more)

Every article written about the Build Back Better/Social Spending/Green New Deal bill, carries a totally different price tag.   The New York Times says $2.2 trillion.  Politico said $1.6 trillion, and other media like CBS have put the figure around $3 trillion. Regardless, Joe Manchin has reservations about it.

Those reservations have apparently triggered the ‘six ways to Sunday‘ deep state….

(Washington Post) – In Sen. Joe Manchin III’s hilly West Virginia home county, his family’s business has made millions by taking waste coal from long-abandoned mines and selling it to a power plant that emits air pollution at a higher rate than any other plant in the state.

That enterprise could have taken a hit under a key part of President Biden’s climate agenda, a $150 billion plan to push coal plants toward cleaner energy. One lawmaker, though, played a central role in killing that proposal: Manchin, who has earned hundreds of thousands of dollars annually from the family coal company while using his role as a Democratic swing vote in a 50-50 Senate to dictate Biden’s policies.

When pressed about whether he has a conflict of interest, Manchin bristles. “I have been in a blind trust for 20 years. I have no idea what they’re doing,” the senator told reporters in September, referring to his family’s coal firm. “You got a problem?”

But contrary to his public statements, documents filed by the senator show the blind trust is much too small to account for all his reported earnings from the coal company, as of his latest financial disclosure report, which covers 2020 and was filed in May. (read more)

Nice investment portfolio you have there Joe, it’d be a shame if something happened to it.

U.S. Consumer Survey Expectations of Inflation at Least Doubling Wage Gains – Middle Class Storm Building


Posted Originally on the conservative tree house on December 13, 2021 | Sundance | 156 Comments

The New York Federal Reserve survey reflects the obvious.  Consumers see staple food and energy price increases far outpacing any wage gains, and the outlook moving forward does not show signs of improvement.

The distance between the inflation line and the wage line is the intensity of the hurricane coming our way.

We are in this very weird place where the politically motivated Fed cannot stop purchasing debt created by legislative spending.  At the same time, the political Fed is going to have to raise interest rates or we will enter an impossible spiral of policy caused inflation.  There are three options:  (1) stop buying debt; (2) increase interest rates; or (3) deploy some COVID mechanism to shut down people and hit the demand side.

Considering that Omicron didn’t work, and further panic pushing does not seem politically viable, that only leaves the two options of the Fed stops buying debt, and/or the Fed raises interest rates. Now, considering that these same political ideologues will not stop pushing the Build Back Better legislative agenda, that means the Fed cannot stop buying debt.  That leaves one option remaining, increase interest rates.

Dec 13 (Reuters) – U.S. consumers’ short-term inflation expectations pushed higher in November and expectations for future earnings growth dropped, suggesting they anticipate price increases will outpace wage gains at an even faster rate in the near term, according to a survey released on Monday by the New York Federal Reserve.

Prices for food and other goods are rising at the fastest pace since 1982, according to data released by the Labor Department last week, posing political challenges for President Joe Biden’s administration and cementing expectations the Fed will raise interest rates next year.  (read more)

Loyalty – Family or Government?


Armstrong Economics Blog/Police State Re-Posted Dec 13, 2021 by Martin Armstrong

America’s sweetheart, Dr. Fauci, would like to divide families this holiday season by urging people to ensure their relatives and friends are vaccinated. Fauci said only vaccinated groups should gather so that “vaccinated people can feel comfortable.” So tell your grandfather with the pacemaker to stay home alone this Christmas. Perhaps tell your cousin not to bring her unvaccinated baby too. “That’s the reason why people should, if they invite people over their home, essentially ask and maybe require that people show evidence that they are vaccinated,” Dr. Fauci actually said out loud.

This is exactly what the Stasi did in former East Germany until the Ministry for State Security (Stasi) was abolished in March 1990. The Stasi encouraged people to spy on neighbors, friends, and relatives. Children were expected to turn their parents into the state. Under their premise, your loyalty should stand with the state first and foremost.

Snowden’s leak stated that today’s NSA can compile 5 billion mobile records per day, and 42 billion internet records per month. The FBI recently released a document stating they can hack into iMessage and WhatsApp within 15 minutes. The advancement in technology has paved the way for a police state to control the public far beyond anything the Stasi pulled. The government is not your family.