Tag Archives: TPP

Dec 13 2016

Is CIA Trying to Cover Its Own Hack or Accommodating Obama?


Armstrong Economics Blog

Re-Posted Dec 13, 2016 by Martin Armstrong

cia-seal

Obama’s parting shot across the bow is his order of a full review into hacking aimed at influencing US elections going back to 2008. Instead of targeting the CIA or the NSA, WikiLeaks has gone after an organization Democrats actually care about — the Democratic National Committee and exposed its internal corruption. If Obama could, he would declare Wikileaks a Terrorist Organization and anyone who published its stuff should be thrown in prison.

Nevertheless, this latest act by Obama is clearly a politicized action that seems more about widening the divide in the country and to continue to smear doubt over the election. The CIA claim that Russia hacked the DNC and gave the data to Wikileaks to help Trump against Hillary, is really questionable since there is no evidence of a hack. The FBI said that Hillary’s emails had been hacked by five foreign governments. They could not be 100% sure who, or what they got since the really classified stuff was omitted, but the CIA is now claiming it was Russia who hacked the DNC and got this collection of 19,252 emails and 8,034 attachments from the DNC. There is absolutely NO WAY that a professional hacker who leaves no concrete trace with Hillary’s emails, would be sloppy enough to leave such a trace at the DNC.

Furthermore, Julian Assange  came out and stated publicly it was a leak and not a hack but declined to say who was the leak. Backing up Assange, the former British ambassador to Uzbekistan, Craig Murray, confirmed he has met the person who gave the DNC emails to Wikileaks and said publicly it was not the Russians. That was reported by BizPac Review, which is a contributor to Google News. Additionally, there is just no hard evidence whatsoever. This is clearly a false flag report by the Obama Administration supported by the highly partisan Washington Post, which has lost all credibility during this election. Yes, Trump was correct, 77% of all press reporting during the election was negative against him according to a Harvard study.

There is absolutely no evidence that the votes were hacked in any state by Russia, China, Bangladesh or Canada just so Justin Pierre James Trudeau who have someone to talk to if Hillary won. So exactly how is this sinister hack supposed to have influenced the election? Oh, that’s right, it revealed that the Democrats conspired with the press to make sure Trump would be the pick because they thought they could demonize him and beat him easily. Then they conspired to stop Bernie take California and cheated to give that to Hillary to the point the head of the DNC had to resign. But hey! What Obama is really saying is if they DNC hack had not taken place, then the Democrats would have gotten away with it fair and square?

There is something else behind the curtain. That is, there were plenty within the FBI and the Intelligence Community who wanted Hillary indicted. There was talk that the hack of the DNC was home grown from within the CIA and handed to Wikileaks. So is the CIA now trying to cover its own trail? Or is Obama trying to set the stage for the next election saying Trump was really not the president? There cannot be any hard-core proof Russia was behind that hack. This seems to be a false-flag to clean the deck before leaving office and to try to shift the proof that the DNC was rotten to the core.

Dec 13 2016

Lobbying Moves into High Gear Against Fed Rate Hike


Armstrong Economics Blog

Re-Posted Dec 12, 2016 by Martin Armstrong

reserve-bank-india-rbi

The lobbying is off and running is super-high gear to stop the Fed from raising rates once again. Governments all over the world have a very myopic view and focused only on the next quarter, or the next election. The Reserve Bank of India also fears that the US Fed’s impending interest rise would affect the external value of the rupee. Again the IMF behind the curtain is on its needs. Any depreciation of the rupee as a result of capital outflows would only worsen the balance of payments for India and expose the insane policies of Modi who did not even consult the RBI before demonetizing the currency.

Anyone with half a brain in economics knows that the worst thin you can do to create a depression is cause the velocity of money to decline. If people hoard and do not spend, the economy implodes. Modi is trying to end the cash economy, but he has ensured unemployment will now soar because small businesses cannot pay their people.Expect at least another 400,000 people to lose their jobs and people are forced to use rice as money.

Additionally, a rate hike in USA will send the rupee down and that will be feeding inflation due to rise in prices of imported commodities. Inflationary expectations are real keeping food prices high posing a threat to domestic price stability and external value of rupee. The RBI declined to lower rates looking at the prospects that the USA may raise rates so high rates are necessary to try to stem the outflow of capital.

Dec 13 2016

McDonalds Leaves EU for Britain


Armstrong Economics Blog

Re-Posted Dec 12, 2016 by Martin Armstrong

mcdonalds

The EU is just insane. They cannot comprehend how to run an economy. The abuse on taxation assessments in the EU has led to McDonalds relocating its international headquarters from Luxembourg to the UK. The U.S. fast food chain announced last week that a new holding company was being established in the UK, where most of the licensing fees would come from stores outside the U.S. McDonalds is restructuring to save costs and the EU taxation is just anti-business.

Dec 12 2016

Traitors John McCain and Lindsey Graham JOIN DEMOCRATS to DELEGITIMIZE President-Elect Trump


McCain is way over the hill and has no clue about anything any more

Dec 12 2016

Senator Joe Manchin and Carly Fiorina Meet With President Elect Donald Trump…


There’s a few interesting decisions that may come out this week.  The Secretary of Energy seems a possibility, and names of Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Governor Rick Perry (TX) both surfac…

Source: Senator Joe Manchin and Carly Fiorina Meet With President Elect Donald Trump..

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Dec 12 2016

FBI Disputes CIA’s “Fuzzy And Ambiguous” Claims That Russia Sought To Influence Presidential Election


Tyler Durden's picture
by Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge Dec 12, 2016 9:44 AM

Since election day, Democrats have engaged in a panicked attempt to leverage their last couple of weeks in control of the executive branch to delegitimize the Trump presidency.  Obama has even gone so far as to order a “full report” on Russian tampering in the 2016 election cycle to be completed before he leaves office (see “A “Soft Coup” Attempt: Furious Trump Slams “Secret” CIA Report Russia Helped Him Win“).  Of course, we should simply ignore the fact that a true investigation of such allegations would take much longer than the one month that Obama has left in office because any delay could run the risk of a bipartisan/independent review and that’s just not how the Obama administration plays the game.

But at least one investigative agency, the FBI, isn’t buying the “fuzzy and ambiguous” assertions from the CIA that Russia “quite” clearly meddled in the U.S. elections on behalf of the Trump campaign.  Meanwhile, the FBI’s unwillingness to play along is infuriating Democrats.  Per the BizPac Review:

  The FBI did not corroborate the CIA’s claim that Russia had a hand in the election of President-elect Donald Trump in a meeting with lawmakers last week.

A senior FBI counterintelligence official met with Republican and Democrat members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in order to give the bureau’s view of a recent CIA report. The official did not concur with the CIA, frustrating Democrats.

The CIA believes Russia “quite” clearly intended to send Trump to the White House. The claim is a bold one and concerned Democrats and some Republicans who are worried about Trump’s desire to mend relations with an increasingly aggressive Russia. The CIA report was “direct, bold and unqualified,” one of the officials at the meeting told The Washington Post Saturday.

The FBI official was much less convinced of the claims, providing “fuzzy” and “ambiguous” remarks.

The Washington Post compiled the following comments from the weekend talk show circuit highlighting where various DC players stand on the Russia allegations.

 Meanwhile, the Washington Post also points out that the whole disagreement likely comes down to “cultural” differences between the FBI and CIA.  Apparently the FBI “wants facts and tangible evidence to prove something” while the CIA is “more comfortable drawing inferences.” 
 The competing messages, according to officials in attendance, also reflect cultural differences between the FBI and the CIA. The bureau, true to its law enforcement roots, wants facts and tangible evidence to prove something beyond all reasonable doubt. The CIA is more comfortable drawing inferences from behavior.

“The FBI briefers think in terms of criminal standards — can we prove this in court,” one of the officials said. “The CIA briefers weigh the preponderance of intelligence and then make judgment calls to help policymakers make informed decisions. High confidence for them means ‘we’re pretty damn sure.’ It doesn’t mean they can prove it in court.”

The FBI is not sold on the idea that Russia had a particular aim in its meddling. “There’s no question that [the Russians’] efforts went one way, but it’s not clear that they have a specific goal or mix of related goals,” said one U.S. official.

Well, that certainly seems reasonable…who needs “facts and tangible evidence” when the CIA can just “draw inferences“…they’re supposedly really smart so we should probably just believe them.

Dec 12 2016

Goldman President Gary Cohn Accepts NEC Director Role


Tyler Durden's picture
by Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge Dec 12, 2016 9:45 AM

As reported last week, Trump had offered Goldman Sachs president and COO the job of his top economic advisor, as Director of the National Economic Council Director. Moments ago CNBC reported that, as expected, Cohn has accepted the role.

From CNBC:

  Goldman Sachs executive Gary Cohn is expected to accept the directorship of the National Economic Council “at any moment,” a source told CNBC on Monday.

President-elect Donald Trump last week offered the key economic advisor position to Cohn, Goldman’s 56-year-old president and chief operating officer, sources told NBC News. Cohn has been at Goldman for 25 years and previously worked in commodities.

Cohn taking the post would add to Trump’s administration another veteran of the powerful firm he bashed during his campaign. Trump Treasury secretary pick Steven Mnuchin and senior advisor Steve Bannon also worked at Goldman Sachs, which Trump repeatedly attacked on the campaign trail.

He cited Goldman as evidence that corporate and financial interests have influence over politicians and criticized former opponent Sen. Ted Cruz for taking a loan from the firm.

The National Economic Council, which Cohn would lead, is meant to “coordinate policy-making for domestic and international issues, to coordinate economic policy advice for the president, to ensure that policy decisions and programs are consistent with the president’s economic goals, and to monitor implementation of the president’s economic policy agenda,” according to the office’s website.

 While we have no reason to doubt Cohn’ patriotism, we are confident that another motivating factor was the ability to sell some his $210 million or so in Goldman shares tax free, saving approximately $80 million in taxes simply for becoming officially a part of the US administration, instead of merely running the country from the shadows.

Dec 12 2016

‘Century’ Bond Collapse Continues As Belgian 2116s Crash 30% From Highs


Tyler Durden's picture
by Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge Dec 12, 2016 9:42 AM

While all the headlines have been about 10Y Treasury yields breaking above 2.50% briefly for the first time since September 2014, the bigger news for the world of bond traders is the utter bloodbath in ultra-long duration European bonds.

 

10Y Treasury yields broke above 2.50% this morning…

 

But while US 10Y Bonds have lost around 7% of their value fromn the August highs, it is the ultra-long duration bonds issued by various European nations over the summer that are collapsing…

 

Now back below its issuance price. The question

Dec 12 2016

Trump Slams “Conspiracy Theory” After John Bolton Suggests Russian Hack Was “False Flag” By Obama Administration


Tyler Durden's picture
by Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge Dec 12, 2016 9:40 AM

With the unconfirmed report of Russian hacking of the US presidential election to benefit Donald Trump, coupled with the ongoing crackdown against Russian propaganda “fake news”, dominating the US media today, overnight the former neocon ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, who has been floated for the possible second highest role in Donald Trump’s State Department supporting Rex Tillerson, poured fuel on the fire with questions about Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election, going so far as to suggest that the “Russian hacks” were in fact a false flag operation by the current administration.

“It is not at all clear to me, just viewing this from the outside, that this hacking into the DNC and the RNC was not a false flag operation,” he told Fox News’ Eric Shawn on Sunday.  Asked about the use of the phrase “false flag” and whether he was accusing the US government of involvement, Bolton said, “We just don’t know.”

While skeptics have been quick to tear apart his allegation, where he was accurate is his assessment that “intelligence has been politicized in the Obama administration to a very significant degree.”

The topic of Russian interference surged on Friday after a Washington Post story revealed that according to a “secret” CIA assessment, Russia intervened in the election to help Trump win the presidency. Curiously, the FBI – and many others – have disagreed; so far no evidence has been presented to substantiate the story.

Various entities have been identified who helped the Russian government leak hacked documents from Democratic sources, including the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, to WikiLeaks, according to the report. On Sunday morning, Trump assailed Democrats over the issue, saying it was “ridiculous” to think Russia interfered in the election to help him get elected, even as a bipartisan group of senators called for an investigation.

But, “if you think the Russians did this, then why did they leave fingerprints?” that led the CIA to its conclusion, Bolton questioned.

“We would want to know who else might want to influence the election and why they would leave fingerprints that point to the Russians. That’s why I say until we know more about how the intelligence community came to this conclusion we don’t know whether it is Russian inspired or a false flag.”

 

Meanwhile, moments ago Trump also joined the fray, tweeting “Can you imagine if the election results were the opposite and WE tried to play the Russia/CIA card. It would be called conspiracy theory!”

He followed this by adding “Unless you catch “hackers” in the act, it is very hard to determine who was doing the hacking. Why wasn’t this brought up before election?”

Dec 12 2016

China Flies Nuclear Bomber Above South China Sea In Response To “Ignorant Child” Trump


Tyler Durden's picture
by Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge Dec 12, 2016 9:17 AM

As reported earlier, China lobbed its diplomatic reaction to Trump’s Sunday interview, in which the President-elect hinted he would use the “One China” policy as a bargaining chip in negotiations with China to extract futures trade concessions.

China responded and expressed “serious concern”, warning Donald Trump that the two countries will have “nothing to discuss” if the US president-elect’s incoming administration decides to discard the four-decade old “One China” policy.

“Adherence to the One China policy is the political bedrock for development of [bilateral] relations,” Geng Shuang, a foreign ministry spokesman, said on Monday. If it is compromised or disrupted, the sound and steady growth of the China-U.S. relationship as well as bilateral cooperation in major fields would be out of the question.”

“We urge the new [US] leadership to recognise the sensitivity of the Taiwan question and to deal with it in a prudent manner,” Geng added. “Upholding the One China policy was America’s promise and we want them to fulfil this promise.”

As China’s CCTV tweeted, a sampling of the Chinese popular reaction to Trump’s comments was less than enthusiastic.

However, realizing that for Trump it may need to escalate beyond mere words, shortly prior to today’s latest escalation, China flew a long-range nuclear-capable bomber outside China for the first time since President-elect Donald Trump spoke with the president of Taiwan, two US officials told Fox News. The dramatic show of force was meant to send a message to the new administration, according to the officials. It marks the second time Beijing flew bombers in the region since Trump was elected.

The Chinese H-6 bomber flew along the disputed “Nine-Dash line” Thursday, which surrounds the South China Sea and dozens of disputed Chinese islands, many claimed by other countries in the region.

The Pentagon was alerted to the Chinese flight Friday. It was the first long-range flight of a Chinese bomber along the U-shaped line of demarcation since March 2015, according to the officials.  Over the summer, Chinese bombers flew over the South China Sea and the contested islands, but they did not fly nearly as far as this one, the officials said.

At various points in recent long-range flights, Chinese fighter jets provided escorts to the single Chinese bomber.

In recent days, U.S. intelligence satellites have spotted components for the Chinese version of the SA-21 surface-to-air missile system at the port of Jieyang, in southeast China, where officials say China has made similar military shipments in the past to its islands in the South China Sea.

Just as concerning for the Pentagon, China has been seen by American intelligence satellites preparing to ship more advanced surface-to-air missiles to its contested islands in the South China Sea.

 In February, Fox News first reported that China had deployed an advanced surface-to-air missile system, the HQ-9, to Woody Island, a contested island in the Paracel Island chain in the South China Sea, also claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam.

The HQ-9 is based on the Russian S-300 missile system and has a range of roughly 125 miles.

The Chinese SA-21 system, based on the more advanced Russian S-400, is a more capable missile system than the HQ-9.

It wasn’t just military posturing however: having largely ignored Trump’s verbal outbursts so far, today Chinese state media went on the offensive after Trump’s latest remarks, slamming the US president-elect for being “as ignorant as a child in terms of foreign policy” the SCMP reported.

Beijing added it would have no reason to “put peace above using force to take back Taiwan” if Trump abandoned the policy, which recognises Taiwan as part of China, stated the editorial in the Global Times, which is published by the People’s Daily.

And with these two responses, China has almost certainly assured further escalation from Trump, who is not known for leaving a heated back-and-forth such as this one, especially with such a prominent opponent, without getting some benefit from the exchange and without being able to claim the upper hand, especially coming from the position as leader of the world’s most powerful nation.