Category: Commerce

Inflation Surges Beyond Expectations, Undermining ‘Bidenomics’ Narrative

The Consumer Price Index report for December, released today, reveals an annual inflation increase of 3.4%, surpassing expectations. Core inflation, which factors in food and energy prices, rose by 3.9%. Ed Sidell, CEO and Chief Investment Advisor at EGSI Financial, discusses with OAN's Alicia Summers how the uptick in inflation challenges the mainstream narrative, suggesting that the fight against it is not as robust under 'Bidenomics.'

Biden Has Already Allowed the Houthis to Win~Biden Blocked ‘Additional Military Response’ to Houthi Attack on US Navy~UK retail giant and others warn of shipping delays due to Houthi attacks on Red Sea merchant ships

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Playing defense against Islamic terrorists doesn’t work.

Playing defense against Islamic terrorists doesn’t work. The terrorists, at least initially, don’t need to win, they just need to take your society hostage and force you to constantly be on the defensive. Parts of your economy get shut down and you’re always on alert.

The Houthi Jihadists in Yemen, backed by Iran, have taken a crucial waterway hostage. Biden responded by playing defense, responding to Houthi attacks on shipping but without making a concerted effort to take out the terrorist infrastructure.

And so here we are.

Biden’s Red Sea Coalition responds defensively to attacks on shipping.

U.S. Navy helicopters returned fire and sank three small boats carrying Houthi militants in the Red Sea on Sunday, after U.S. warships responded to a distress call from a merchant vessel, military officials said.

A Maersk container ship, the Singapore-flagged Hangzhou, issued a distress call at about 6:30 a.m. local time, U.S. Central Command said in a statement on Sunday. The merchant vessel said four small boats were attacking it.

“The small boats, originating from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen, fired crew-served and small-arms weapons at the Maersk Hangzhou, getting to within 20 meters of the vessel, and attempted to board the vessel,” Central Command said.

Helicopters from two U.S. ships — the USS Eisenhower and the USS Gravely — responded and issued verbal calls to the small boats, U.S. officials said.

While the helicopters were “in the process of issuing verbal calls to the small boats, the small boats fired upon the U.S. helicopters with crew served weapons and small arms,” Central Command said.

Service members aboard the Navy helicopters returned fire and sank three of the four small boats, killing the crews, U.S. officials said. The fourth boat fled the area.

Read between the lines here. US Naval personnel were only allowed to fire on the Houthis when fired on.

They did not have authorization to fire when the Houthis were firing on the Maersk Hangzhou or on what were clearly enemy vessels, but only defensively in response to attacks on the US Navy.

Is it any wonder that Maersk is calling it a day?

Shipping and logistics behemoth A.P. Moller-Maersk said Tuesday that it’s suspending its shipping operations through the Red Sea until further notice as it investigates an attack on one of its ships by Iran-backed Houthi rebels this past weekend.

Biden has demonstrated that he’ll only react defensively to clear attacks. That’s not going to secure the Red Sea for shipping.

So Biden has handed the Houthis a victory. They don’t need to actually seize ships, they just need to demonstrate that the area is unsafe for vessels (unless they covertly pay protection money to the terrorists) and that America isn’t going to make the threat go away any time soon.

This is how we lose and the terrorists win.

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US Navy personnel were only allowed to fire on the Houthis when fired on.

Yesterday I wrote that Biden had allowed the Houthis to win by refusing to take any affirmative action against the Iran-backed Jihadis operating in Yemen and attacking shipping in the Red Sea.

“US Naval personnel were only allowed to fire on the Houthis when fired on. They did not have authorization to fire when the Houthis were firing on the Maersk Hangzhou or on what were clearly enemy vessels, but only defensively in response to attacks on the US Navy.”

An NBC News account of inside deliberations in the Biden administration reveals that Biden refused to approve any follow-up response.

“According to the officials, U.S. Central Command provided Defense Department leaders with options for an additional military response after the incident, and the Pentagon sent those options to senior White House officials. Biden, who was on vacation in St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, did not approve an additional military response.”

Military leaders probably wanted to at least carry out some minimal strikes on Houthi bases. Nope.

Now the Biden administration and its Red Sea coalition issued yet another threat warning of “consequences.”

We hereby reiterate the following and warn the Houthis against further attacks…

“Let our message now be clear: we call for the immediate end of these illegal attacks and release of unlawfully detained vessels and crews. The Houthis will bear the responsibility of the consequences should they continue to threaten lives, the global economy, and free flow of commerce in the region’s critical waterways. We remain committed to the international rules-based order and are determined to hold malign actors accountable for unlawful seizures and attacks.”

Accountable and consequences. Words to terrify any bureaucrat. Not so much international terrorists.

Biden has pledged nothing, committed to nothing and therefore threatened nothing. Instead, he’s allowed Iran to hold the world’s shipping hostage.

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The Houthis are Iranian proxies who support Hamas. They have been escalating attacks in the Red Sea against merchant ships traveling to and from Israel. They have also launched missiles against Israel. For this reason, Biden created a naval coalition, called “Operation Prosperity Guardian,” to stop them. The motto for Houthis and their supporters: “Allahu akbar. Death to America, death to Israel, curse for the Jews, victory for Islam.” That motto is consistent with Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Palestinian Authority and virtually every violent and stealth jihadist entity. Few, if any, would have foreseen that the Houthis, from one of the world’s poorest countries, would blockade one of the busiest trade corridors in the world, the Red Sea, disrupting merchant ships and even attacking them, and causing impact on businesses worldwide.

Britain’s multinational retail giant Next has now announced a two-and-a-half week delay in stock delivery times for products coming through the Suez Canal.

“Next warns of stock shortages if Red Sea shipping problems continue,” by Jabed Ahmed, Independent, January 4, 2024:

Retail giant Next has warned supplies of its products could be delayed if attacks on container ships in the Red Sea continue.

Attacks by Yemeni Houthi rebels on ships in the Bab-el-Mandeb Straight of the Suez Canal have seen the world’s largest shipping firms halt shipments through the Red Sea, with the diversions adding thousands of miles to journeys, driving up costs and leading to delays.

The attacks have forced a number of companies to reroute cargo around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, which adds 3,000 to 3,500 nautical miles to journeys connecting Asia with Europe — adding about 10 days to journeys, according to the Dutch bank ING.

Next is not the first company to warn of issues in the supply of products. Last month furniture giant Ikea said some of its products could also be delayed due to attacks.

According to a CNBC’s Stock market and business report:

Drone and missile attacks by Yemen-based Houthi militants have upended shipping through the Red Sea and Suez Canal, a narrow waterway through which some 10% of the world’s trade sails.

The effects of the jihad against Israel are expanding globally — from antisemitism and intimidating pro-Hamas protests to the latest impact on businesses due to Red Sea attacks. In an update, the American-led naval coalition, which has grown to 13 countries including the US, has just vowed consequences if the Houthis continue attacks in the Red Sea. The Sydney Morning Herald stated that missile sites in Yemen may be targeted and struck. The participating countries in the Red Sea coalition are: America, Britain, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Singapore and New Zealand.

Israel-Hamas war: Israeli Govt. on hostage operations, murdered bodies held captive

The Israeli Government provided an update on the 129 hostages being held captive by Hamas. Israeli Government Spokesman Eylon Levy says Hamas is holding the bodies of hostages that have been murdered. The government says Hezbollah has launched an anti-tank missile from inside Lebanon at the Greek Orthodox Church, injuring a civilian.

Pentagon Declares U.S. Warship, Commercial Vessels Under Attack In Red Sea

The guided-missile destroyer USS Carney in Souda Bay, Greece. The American warship and multiple commercial ships came under attack Sunday, Dec. 3, 2023 in the Red Sea, the Pentagon said, potentially marking a major escalation in a series of maritime attacks in the Mideast linked to the Israel-Hamas war. “We’re aware of reports regarding attacks on the USS Carney and commercial vessels in the Red Sea and will provide information as it becomes available,” the Pentagon said. (Petty Officer 3rd Class Bill Dodge/U.S. Navy via AP)

The guided-missile destroyer USS Carney in Souda Bay, Greece. The American warship and multiple commercial ships came under attack Sunday, Dec. 3, 2023 in the Red Sea, the Pentagon said, potentially marking a major escalation in a series of maritime attacks in the Mideast linked to the Israel-Hamas war. (Petty Officer 3rd Class Bill Dodge/U.S. Navy via AP)

OAN’s Elizabeth Volberding
10:25 AM – Sunday, December 3, 2023

SEE: https://www.oann.com/newsroom/pentagon-declares-u-s-warship-commercial-vessels-under-attack-in-red-sea/;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

The Pentagon announced that a United States warship and several commercial vessels are under attack in the Red Sea.

On Sunday, the Pentagon declared that an American warship and several commercial ships have come under attack in the Red Sea.

Yemen’s Houthi Rebels, which is a Shia Islamist political and military organization, announced attacks on two ships that they claimed were linked to Israel, but did not recognize targeting a U.S. Navy vessel.

The strike might have been a significant escalation in a sequence of maritime assaults in the Middle East connected to the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

“We’re aware of reports regarding attacks on the USS Carney and commercial vessels in the Red Sea and will provide information as it becomes available, later,” the Pentagon announced. 

The Houthi rebels, who are backed by Iran, have been launching drones and cruise missiles in recent weeks at the USS Carney, a guided-missile destroyer of the Arleigh Burke-class. 

As a result, the Houthi rebels have taken credit for the strike on Sunday. The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) is anticipated to provide an update shortly.

Additionally, the British military earlier mentioned that there had been an anticipated drone attack and several explosions in the Red Sea, but did not elaborate further. 

The Pentagon failed to disclose where it believed the fire originated. However, as the Jewish state fights Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Yemen’s Houthi rebels have been attacking ships in the Red Sea and firing missiles and drones at Israel.

A U.S. authority, speaking about intelligence-related topics while maintaining anonymity, announced that the attack started at approximately 10:00 a.m. in Sanaa, Yemen, and went on for about five hours.

Houthi military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree also announced the attacks, explaining that the first vessel was struck by a missile and that the second was hit by a drone while in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait that is connected to the Red Sea near the Gulf of Aden.

Additionally, Saree did not acknowledge any American warship being included in the attack. He stated that the attacks will continue “as long as Israel continues its war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.”

Even as a temporary ceasefire brought the Israel-Hamas war to a halt and Hamas exchanged hostages for Palestinian prisoners, global shipping has become an increasingly prominent target of the conflict.

However, the likelihood of the seaborne attacks returning had increased with the breakdown of the truce, the restart of the Israeli airstrike, and its ground offensive.

U.S. forces in the Middle East have been struck approximately 75 times since the middle of last month. However, the Pentagon does not count attacks on American warships at sea in this amount.

Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts

Turkey: 1,000 boats filled with Leftists head to Gaza to try to disrupt maritime trade coming into Israel

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SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2023/11/turkey-1000-boats-filled-with-leftists-head-to-gaza-to-try-to-disrupt-maritime-trade-coming-into-israel;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

“Among the 1,000 vessels would be 313 boats filled with Russian activists, and 104 filled with Spanish activists…”

Once again, these self-righteous useful idiots have no idea what they’re enabling. Or if they do, it would be even worse.

“1,000 boats said set to leave Turkey for Gaza waters in new ‘Freedom Flotilla,’” by Gianluca Pacchiani, Times of Israel, November 21, 2023:

Approximately 1,000 boats will gather in Turkey on Wednesday before heading toward Gaza in an attempt to break the Israeli blockade and disrupt maritime trade coming into Israel during the war with Hamas, in an apparent repeat of similar attempts from over a decade ago.

In an interview with Turkish news website Haber7, Volkan Okçu, one of the organizers of the protest, indicated the boats will carry 4,500 people from 40 countries, “including anti-Zionist Jews.”

Among the 1,000 vessels would be 313 boats filled with Russian activists, and 104 filled with Spanish activists, he said. Only 12 Turkish vessels will join the flotilla, he told Haber7.

However, Okçu said in a later tweet that he expected the number of Turkish vessels to be much higher, at least 1,000, and insisted that the initiative is not associated with the Turkish government. He did not explain the discrepancy in numbers.

The activist indicated to Haber7 that the flotilla is scheduled to leave Turkish coasts on Thursday. The maritime convoy is set to make a first stop in Cyprus before continuing toward the Israeli port of Ashdod. Some participants in the flotilla will also reportedly take their spouses and children on board.

Okçu said that the main objective of the operation would be to cause disruption in international waters off the Israeli coast to the maritime trade heading for the port of Ashdod, in order to interrupt the supply of goods to Israel for a week or even up to 10 days….

Target Hasn’t Learned Its Lesson, Doubles Down on Grooming Kids

MATT MARGOLIS | 11:42 AM ON NOVEMBER 17, 2023

SEE: https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2023/11/17/target-hasnt-learned-its-lesson-n4924015;Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

AP Photo/Seth Wenig
This summer, a few short months after Bud Light destroyed its brand by partnering with Dylan Mulvaney, retail giant Target also experienced the wrath of consumers for not only offering merchandise and clothing with trans-friendly slogans and books pushing radical leftist gender ideology to children but also placing these displays front and center in their stores. A boycott ensued, and the company lost billions in market value.

Target’s situation wasn’t much different from Bud Light’s. After angering its consumer base by partnering with Mulvaney, Anheuser-Busch tried to walk back its disastrous partnership with him, which only angered LGBT activists, prompting them to boycott the company as well. Target similarly tried to contain the damage of the child-grooming merchandise scandal by moving its pride displays to the back of a handful of stores in select markets, causing a similar outrage from LGBT activists.

But the company didn’t really learn a lesson from it all and continues to push woke merchandise. Images on social media show that Target is selling a disabled black Santa Claus in a wheelchair ornament and LGBTQ pride nutcrackers.

Santa Claus in a wheelchair? Last time I checked, the incline of your typical gabled roof isn’t ADA-compliant.

As for the pride nutcrackers, a search of Target’s website shows they have several variations.

"Show your love and support for the LGBTQIA+ community with this Pride Nutcracker Figurine from Wondershop™,” the product description for one of the nutcrackers reads on the Target website. “This charming nutcracker figurine with a light purple beard and hair wears a blue and white jacket with golden trim and rainbow lapels, black and blue dress pants, and a rainbow hat, and it also holds a Pride flag in hand. Supported on a flat base with embossed ‘2023' for easy placement on any flat surface, it makes a great option for displaying on your mantel, shelf, or tabletop, either alone or as part of a larger holiday display."

Yeah, no thanks.

It actually isn’t all that surprising that Target is still pushing woke products despite the backlash it experienced for its transgender attire for children. After the initial backlash, Target CEO Brian Cornell insisted that he thinks that going woke is good for the company, and Christina Hennington, the chief growth officer for Target, said that the company believes it can simply wait out the storm and that eventually the backlash will die down.

“We anticipated some of the headwinds at play throughout the second quarter, including the continued pullback in discretionary spending,” Hennington said in an earnings conference call. “Other headwinds were incremental, including the strong reaction to this year’s pride assortment.”

Target’s stock prices haven’t recovered from the initial backlash yet, so clearly, they haven’t gotten the message. Here at PJ Media, we’ll continue to expose the woke grooming efforts of companies like Target — even when doing so puts us at risk of being censored or demonized. The good news is that you can help us survive the censorship by becoming a PJ Media member today. 

VIP members have access to a wealth of exclusive content. VIP Gold subscribers get even more. With VIP Gold, members can access all of the VIP content across the Townhall Media family (Townhall, RedState, PJ Media, and more) and participate in live chats — a nearly $300 value.

With your support, we can continue exposing the truth about these woke corporations that are trying to groom our children. Use the promo code WOKE for a 25% discount today.

A Crackdown on Pro-Hamas Nonprofits in the US Begins

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SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2023/11/a-crackdown-on-pro-hamas-nonprofits-in-the-us-begins;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

“Make your US tax-deductible donation today”

The emphasis is on ‘starting’. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Here at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, we developed an extensive list of tax-exempt and other terror-funding ‘charities’.  The one that has appeared in multiple articles, the Alliance for Global Justice, including in a recent roundup of pro-Hamas attack charities, is now finally being cut off by the Ford Foundation and other leftist megadonors.

The Alliance for Global Justice, founded to support Marxists in Latin America, in addition to sponsoring a variety of extremist leftist groups, including BLM chapters, served as a fiscal sponsor for Samidoun, a terror front group banned in Israel and recently banned in Germany, which makes no secret of its backing for Hamas.

New Venture Fund and Windward Fund, two charities managed by the Democratic-linked dark money consultancy Arabella Advisors, announced this week they will not be donating anymore to Alliance for Global Justice, a nonprofit organization that has faced congressional scrutiny and legal pressure for its ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terror group. Now, the Ford Foundation, which reported a staggering $20 billion in assets on its most recent tax forms, is doing the same.

The revelation comes as various organizations, including an LLC called Arnold Ventures funded by ex-Enron executive and retired hedge fund manager John Arnold and his wife, former Cobalt International Energy lawyer Laura Arnold, seek to distance themselves from Alliance for Global Justice following the deadly Hamas terrorist attacks in early October against the Jewish state of Israel. PayPal, Stripe, Salsa Labs, and Deluxe have all stopped processing payments in 2023 for Alliance for Global Justice — which has crippled the group’s fundraising operation.

A source close to the Schmidt Family Foundation, which was founded by ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt and his wife, Wendy Schmidt, told the Washington Examiner the group has no plans to keep supporting Alliance for Global Justice and opposes antisemitism. It gave hundreds of thousands of dollars in 2020 to Alliance for Global Justice, tax forms show.

Samidoun’s response to the Hamas atrocities was a round of applause.

Samidoun responded to the Hamas attacks by promoting banners featuring “solidarity with Al Aqsa Flood”, the name of the Hamas operation, a rally calling for “solidarity with the heroic resistance”, and another one urging “let’s celebrate”.

Samidoun’s support for Hamas atrocities, including the kidnapping of Israeli women and children, was made clear in its Instagram post boasting that, “the resistance” is “seizing occupation settlers” and hailed the “resistance operation, titled the Al-Aqsa Flood by Mohammed Deif, commander in chief of the Izz el-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas”.

Samidoun does not bother to disguise what it is. It describes terrorists as “resistance fighters” and “martyrs”, and urges support for the “resistance”. The cheerleading for terrorists is accompanied by a call, “Make your US tax-deductible donation today, and donate safely and securely from around the world.”

The IRS however has still failed to pull AFGJ’s nonprofit status. However, in Virginia, Attorney General Jason Miyares is taking action against another group, American Muslims for Palestine.

Attorney General Jason Miyares today announced that the Office of the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Section has opened an investigation into AJP Educational Foundation, Inc., also known as American Muslims for Palestine, for potential violations of Virginia’s charitable solicitation laws.

The Attorney General’s Office has reason to believe that the organization may be soliciting contributions in the Commonwealth without first having registered with the Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. In addition, the Attorney General will investigate allegations that the organization may have used funds raised for impermissible purposes under state law, including benefitting or providing support to terrorist organizations.

As Discover the Network’s profile of AMP shows,

In April 2016, Jonathan Schanzer confirmed and expanded upon IPT’s revelations when he reported that seven current AMP officials and/or affiliates were former members of groups that had been shut down or held civilly liable by the U.S. government for funneling money to Hamas.

FDD’s research further shows that AMP’s donor list includes groups and entities whose members, affiliates, or associates maintained ties to various terrorist groups including the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Qassam Brigades (Hamas’s military arm), and al-Qaeda.

This is a small beginning, but it’s more than we’ve had since the Holy Land Foundation era. Leftist megadonors are starting to pull back and state investigations can get results where the feds won’t.

Biden Offshore Drilling Plan Is the Most Restrictive In US History

If it’s taken you a month to recover from all the whoppers contained in the first “Biden 2024” ad – especially its claim that ol’ Joe engaged in “passing laws” that “make us more energy independent” – get ready for another Biden-created insult to your intelligence and attack on your wallet.

How Bad Is Crime in Philadelphia? Bad Enough for a Cheesesteak Joint to Hire Armed Security

By Michael Cantrell 3:39 PM on September 18, 2023
How Bad Is Crime in Philadelphia? Bad Enough for a Cheesesteak Joint to Hire Armed Security
Whenever someone gears up to pay the historic city of Philadelphia a visit, one of the first things they want to know is which establishment makes the best cheesesteak sandwiches. The age-old question was usually decided by whether or not you wanted Cheeze-Whiz or provolone on it. Nowadays, with the skyrocketing crime rate in the city, thanks to disastrous soft-on-crime policies instituted by Democrats, the best cheesesteak joint is the one with armed guards. Tragic, that this is what the City of Brotherly Love has become in Biden’s America.

According to a new report from TheBlaze, Jim’s West Steaks and Hoagies has hired armed guards to provide protection for customers who come to their establishment for the simple pleasure of a good sandwich. It’s absolutely atrocious this is now necessary. But hey, what do you expect when officials in our country’s major cities push for shorter prison sentences, defunding police forces, and all manner of bills that favor criminals? The whole point of having a legal system is the protection of the innocent and discouraging the bad guys from doing bad things that harm society.

If the consequences for doing bad things that harm society consist of slaps on the wrist, we should not be surprised when our deterrent no longer deters.

One of the main reasons the restaurant decided to hire armed guards is because they are a super popular place that usually has lines of people going down the block, which leaves them open to assault and other forms of crime while waiting in line.

The chief financial officer of Jim’s West spoke with local media outlet WPVI-TV, saying, “The violence has spiked. It goes up and down. You want people to feel safe and be safe. So when they come out and eat, they don’t have to worry about no type of harm.”

The owner of Presidential Protection Services, Kevon Darden, has actually gotten out on the streets in front of the famous hoagie establishment and guarded customers. He said that the guards protecting patrons have been certified by the State of Pennsylvania to perform the duties required of security professionals. Many of these individuals have either military or law enforcement backgrounds. In other words, these aren’t random dudes off Monster or Indeed. These are guys who know exactly what they are doing and perform at the highest level of their industry.

Landers commented that the threat of violence on the street is so pervasive right now that many local businesses are being forced to drop a load of extra cash to try and keep both workers and their customer base safe. This is money that many of these smaller companies can’t really afford to part with. So, in light of that, they are forced to offset the cost, which means raising prices for goods and services. And that’s a drain on the bottom line, as it will inevitably reduce business and profit. Reduced profits mean jobs being cut. The company downsizes instead of expanding. The economy of the whole city takes a punch to the gut.

All of this is because leftists, desperate to remain in power, are doing their best to ensure criminals get off lightly for their behavior so they can ultimately restore their right to vote and fluff up their voter rolls. Gross, right?

Related: Far-Left Philly Lawyer Shocked, Shocked to Discover His Son Is Accused Terrorist

The Philly Voice stated in a recent report that, back in 2015, Jim’s West was the target of several armed robbers who ended up only getting $215 in cash out of the register and from customers who were patronizing the establishment at the time.

One of the customers weighed in on the armed guards, saying, “If it deters it (crime), I can’t complain. I’m not a big fan of guns, but I get it.”

Another individual, likely a bonehead liberal, said that seeing an armed guard “walking around with a machine gun, it’s not family-friendly.”

I hate to break it to this person, but given the crime rate in Philly, I’d say the whole city is no longer “family friendly.”

Auto Strike is Threatening the Economy & Inflation~Biden is destroying the auto industry~Vehicle Prices Could Increase~Ex-Chrysler, Home Depot CEO Speaks to Bartiromo

Former Chrysler and Home Depot CEO Bob Nardelli explains why he thinks the UAW strikes will 'go on for a while.'

'ACTIONS NOT WORDS': UAW president withholds Biden endorsement

Former Michigan gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon discusses the ongoing UAW workers' strike, Biden's self-described role as a 'pro-union president', and voters' concerns that Biden isn't healthy enough to serve.

Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., discusses the United Auto Workers strike's impact on the economy and his support for a continuing resolution to avoid a government shutdown.

‘Circumstantial but Devastating’ Video Resurfaces of Joe and Hunter Biden Talking Business With Potential Clients

By Matt Margolis 12:27 PM on September 16, 2023
‘Circumstantial but Devastating’ Video Resurfaces of Joe and Hunter Biden Talking Business With Potential Clients
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
A potentially devastating video from 2005 has resurfaced showing Hunter Biden socializing with then-senator Joe Biden and potential clients, discussing “the weather.” I’m just kidding. They weren’t talking about the weather; they were talking business.

The video, which was taken after a speech in South Carolina, was recently featured on Newsmax’s “Greg Kelly Reports,” and it captures a moment where Hunter Biden stands on the sidelines while Joe Biden interacts with attendees, “working the room,” as Kelly describes it. After waiting patiently for the right moment, Hunter eventually joins the conversation to greet a couple with whom he had apparently discussed a potential business opportunity linked to his lobbying firm.

“At the right time, Hunter moves, all right, Hunter moves in as soon as it turns to business. Watch and listen here,” Kelly observed, before showing the exchange that occurred.

“Maybe we can work something out,” Joe Biden says to the couple in the video.

“Yeah, yeah, that is what we will do,” the woman excitedly replies.

“Hunter was just telling me about his law firm in Washington, his law firm,” replies the man next to her.

“Yeah,” Joe Biden says, clearly not surprised.

“Do you have a [business] card by any chance?” the man asks Hunter.

“I don’t, but I’ll give you my, uhh—” Hunter replies.

“Well let me give you mine,” the man offers.

“Yeah, then I’ll give you my [inaudible]… I gave ’em all away,” Hunter explains.

At this point, the woman starts engaging with Joe, while Hunter and the man go off to the side to have a separate conversation that the camera can’t pick up.

“You see it right there. That’s how it worked,” Kelly observed. “Circumstantial but devastating.”

Related: The Hunter Biden Indictments Are a Ruse. Here’s Why.

This took place while Joe Biden was a senator. He wasn’t even vice president yet, and it appears that he and Hunter had been working political events for years to make business deals. For sure, business only got better when Joe Biden became vice president and yielded more influence. That they were doing this out in the open with a camera on them tells you how little shame they had and leaves me wondering how many more deals were done similarly out of sight of the cameras or behind closed doors for years.

While the new impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden involves influence-peddling during his time as vice president, it’s quite clear the shady Biden family business was going on well before that.

Biden Admin Agrees To Prisoner Swap Deal With Iran, Releases $6 Billion In Frozen Iranian Funds

Biden Admin Agrees To Prisoner Swap Deal With Iran, Releases $6B In Frozen Iranian Funds

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - FEBRUARY 11: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at a joint press conference of the Quad Foreign Ministers meeting at the Park Hyatt on February 11, 2022 in Melbourne, Australia. The foreign ministers of Australia, the United States, Japan, and India are meeting to discuss the countries cooperation in areas including the economy, security, and the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at a joint press conference of the Quad Foreign Ministers meeting at the Park Hyatt on February 11, 2022 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

OAN’s James Meyers
3:32 PM – Monday, September 11, 2023

SEE: https://www.oann.com/newsroom/biden-admin-agrees-to-prisoner-swap-deal-with-iran-releases-6b-in-frozen-iranian-funds/;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

The Biden Administration announced on Monday that they have agreed to a deal with Iran to swap prisoners and in exchange release $6 billion in frozen Iranian funds. 

In the deal, Iran will release five American citizens detained in Iran and the U.S. will release five Iranian citizens who are being held in the U.S. 

Additionally, the deal will create a blanket waiver for international banks to transfer $6 billion in frozen Iranian money from South Korea to Qatar without fear of U.S. sanctions.

This comes after Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed off on the sanctions waivers last week, which was a month after U.S. and Iranian officials said an agreement in principle was in place. 

However, Congress was not informed of the waiver decision until Monday, according to the notification obtained by The Associated Press. 

The transfer of the $6 billion was the key part of the deal, which saw four of the five American detainees transferred from Iranian jails into house arrest last month. 

Several European countries stayed away from the deal, due to multiple U.S. sanctions on foreign banks that engage in transactions aimed at benefiting Iran. 

According to Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies who focuses on Iranian security, he said that this new deal “will only feed Tehran’s appetite to keep taking hostages.” 

“And as the case of the recently revealed Swedish diplomat illustrates, dual-nationals and foreign citizens are not the only targets. Tehran even intends to extort foreign government officials!” Taleblu said. 

Experts of the deal anticipate that the detainees will be released sometime next week. 

The American prisoners involved in the deal include Siamak Namazi, who was detained in 2015 and was later sentenced to 10 years in prison on internationally criticized spying charges. Emad Sharghi, a venture capitalist sentenced to 10 years, and Morad Tahbaz, who was arrested in 2018 and given a 10-year sentence, and the fourth and fifth prisoners were not identified in the deal. 

“To facilitate their release, the United States has committed to release Iranian nationals currently held in the United States and to permit the transfer of approximately $6 billion in restricted Iranian funds held in (South Korea) to restricted accounts in Qatar, where the funds will be available only for humanitarian trade,” Blinken wrote. 

The sanctions waiver applies to banks and other financial institutions in South Korea, Germany, Ireland, Qatar, and Switzerland.

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Biden Touts Job Report As Unemployment Rate Rises

Biden Touts Job Report As Unemployment Rate Rises

US President Joe Biden arrives to board Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, on September 2, 2023. Biden travels to Florida to visit communities ravaged by Hurricane Idalia. (Photo by Stefani Reynolds / AFP) (Photo by STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
US President Joe Biden arrives to board Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, on September 2, 2023. (Photo by STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

OAN’s Roy Francis
1:28 PM – Saturday, September 2, 2023

SEE: https://www.oann.com/newsroom/biden-touts-job-report-as-unemployment-rate-rises/;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

President Joe Biden delivered a speech on Friday, remarking on the number of jobs that have been added to the job market.

The president said that the United States is in one of the “strongest job creating periods in our history,” after the recently released Bureau of Labor Statistics report said that 187,000 jobs were added in the month of August, an increase from the 157,000 in July.

“We came to office determined to build the economy in a different way, from the middle out and the bottom up, not the top down,” Biden said. “While I’m proud of the historic legislation my administration has passed and the policies we’ve enacted, the real heroes of this story are the American people, average Americans. They’re the ones getting up every day, putting their heads down, going out that door and going to work.”

However, while the amount of jobs that have been added has increased, the unemployment rate rose as well in the month of August to 3.8%, bringing the number of people without employment to 6.4 million.

The current rate of unemployment is the highest that the country has seen since February 2022, according to the Labor Department.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics also showed that rent, transportation, food, and gas prices have all been on the rise as well.

Meanwhile, according to a recent LendingClub report, 61% of adults say that they are living paycheck to paycheck. Almost three-quarters of consumers that earn less than $50,000 annually, and 65% of those who earn between $50,000 and $100,000, have also been living paycheck to paycheck.  

While touting “Bidenomics,” Biden slammed President Donald Trump for leaving office with “fewer jobs than when he entered.”

“It wasn’t that long ago that America was losing jobs,’ he said. ‘In fact, my predecessor was one of only two presidents in history, who entered his presidency and left with fewer jobs than when he entered.”

However, the previous administration had seen massive job growth until the economic shutdown across the country due to COVID-19 forced people home, leading to a stall in economic growth.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the industries that saw the most job growth in August were health care, leisure and hospitality, social assistance, and construction.

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Team Biden Continues Two-Pronged Assault on 2nd Amendment and Small Businesses

By Stephen Kruiser 3:35 AM on September 01, 2023
The Morning Briefing: Team Biden Continues Two-Pronged Assault on 2nd Amendment and Small Businesses
AP Photo/Haven Daley

Top O’ the Briefing

Happy Friday, dear Kruiser Morning Briefing friends. Ertenzo felt most purposeful when adding a secret fourth bean to his three-bean salad for the annual Cornhole Club picnic.

The commie puppet masters who run Joe Biden’s brain have made no secret of their contempt for the Second Amendment and law-abiding American gun owners. They’ve had their senile mouthpiece babbling about “assault weapons” almost from the moment he was installed in the Oval Office.

Democrats don’t have a lot of luck with sweeping gun control legislation for a couple of reasons. First, they keep passing laws that make gun owners who have adhered to the law criminals overnight. These laws eventually find their way to a judge or a court that says, “Yeah…no.”

The other reason — and this is the big one — is that there are a lot of Democrats who own guns and are fond of their Second Amendment rights. Most of them are in flyover country, which is why a lot of the D.C. Dems are out of touch with reality.

Team Biden is nothing if not relentless in its pursuit of an anti-American agenda, however. Instead of the legislative process, the bureaucracy is being used to choke the life out of the Second Amendment, which Catherine wrote about yesterday:

The Biden administration, failing to get enough congressional cooperation to trample on the Second Amendment, continues its war against gun dealers.

Bingo.

As we examine the story further, it’s important to remember that Democrats have contempt for small business owners. People who can’t be forced into unionizing and stuffing the coffers of the Democratic Big Labor slush fund are useless to them.

Here’s more from Catherine’s post:

I previously wrote a VIP post about how hundreds of gun dealers suddenly lost their licenses to Biden’s ATF, in what the gun industry says is a back-handed way of undermining gun rights (if you’re not already a VIP subscriber, join today!). Some dealers informed the media that the federal government is hurting a major ally in identifying “suspicious gun buyers” by targeting legitimate gun dealers. But the Biden administration is successfully hurting gun dealers’ business. “We were making $1 million a year, now it’s less than $100,000,” gun dealer Anthony Navarro told the Wall Street Journal. “This policy is designed to be a backdoor violation of the Second Amendment.” Now there’s the new ATF rule, also aimed at gun dealers.

I’m an Arizona resident. Rules regarding private gun sales are practically nonexistent. Both parties have to be Arizona residents and after that, YOLO. The Grand Canyon State has functioned with minimal gun laws for a very long time. My grandfather owned a gun store when I was a kid, so I know whence I speak (write). What the feds want to do now is get their fascist little fingers all over the transactions between individuals, which Ryan Petty explains at our sister site Bearing Arms:

The White House outlined that under the suggested guidelines, individuals would be expected to obtain a federal license and conduct background checks if they meet one or more of several conditions. These include frequently selling firearms shortly after purchasing them, offering guns in near-new condition, selling multiple units of the same gun model, or selling business inventory as a previously federally-licensed dealer without transferring it to a personal collection for at least one year, effectively targeting the so-called fire sale loophole. The proposed rules would establish criteria around the frequency and type of gun sales by unlicensed sellers, along with the condition of the firearms.

The Second Amendment infuriates leftists because the federal government hasn’t been able to wrest control of it from the states. It’s a perfect example of how the country is supposed to work. My good friend, colleague, and “Unwoke” podcast co-host Kevin Downey Jr. once asked me if all of my guns were legal. I replied, “In this state they are.” Were I to move back to California, the story would be different.

The anti-2A crowd is fond of saying, “We don’t want to take away your guns.”

They do, of course, but until they can, they’d like to make the legal acquisition of firearms so onerous that people just give up.

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