Category: Federal Reserve

Inflation Jumps in August As Warning Signs Blink Red at the Fed

By Rick Moran 12:32 PM on September 13, 2023
SEE: https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/rick-moran/2023/09/13/inflation-jumps-in-august-as-warning-signs-blink-red-at-the-fed-n1726707;Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

Inflation Jumps in August As Warning Signs Blink Red at the Fed
AP Photo/Tony Dejak
The Biden administration may have been hoping that inflation would continue its fall from a 2022 high. But the Consumer Price Index jumped half a percentage point from 3.2% in July to 3.7% in August.

While gas prices accounted for about half of the increase, there were worrying signs in other sectors of the economy as well, signaling to the Federal Reserve that, despite the steepest rise in interest rates since the early 1980s, inflation has yet to be beaten back.

Airline fares jumped nearly 5% in August, driven by higher jet fuel prices. And the 10.6% rise in gas prices was the result of OPEC+ maintaining its cuts in production.

Joe Biden tried to adorn the pig with a deep shade of red lipstick.

“Today’s report provides more evidence that core inflation is trending down toward pre-pandemic levels at a time when employment remains strong,” he said in a statement.

“I know last month’s increase in gas prices put a strain on family budgets. That’s why I remain laser-focused on cutting energy costs, including by investing in clean energy to bolster our energy security.”

Earth to Joe: “Investing in clean energy” will not — repeat not — cut energy costs immediately. The only way to cut energy costs is to bring more oil to market. It didn’t help that you just closed off 13 million acres in the Arctic from being developed.

Related: Drill, Baby, NOT! Biden Bars Oil Exploration on 13 Million Acres of Arctic Wilderness
Some food prices were lower, bringing overall food inflation to 0.2%, while meat, poultry, fish, and eggs increased 0.8%. But it’s gas prices that have hit the hardest and will no doubt continue to give the consumer a headache.

New York Times:

Prices at the pump remain well below their peak in June 2022, when a gallon of gas cost more than $5 on average. That spike was largely the result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Mr. Biden has since sought to reduce price pressures through a variety of measures, including releasing millions of barrels of oil from the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Prices fell steadily last summer, a development that Mr. Biden celebrated.

Administration officials continue to tout that progress, using last June as a benchmark. “If you look at what we’ve been able to do from last summer to this summer — lowering gas prices by a dollar twenty cents, that is because of the work that this administration has done,” Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, told reporters last week.

We are by no means out of the woods yet on prices. And as far as interest rates, the other shoe has yet to drop. In order for interest rates to work, the economy is going to have to slow down. That hasn’t happened much yet, and until it does, inflation will remain an ever-present threat.

The Federal Reserve raised interest rates from 5.25% to 5.5% at its July meeting, marking 11 rate increases in the last year. The thinking on the street is that the Fed will hike rates another quarter point at its meeting on September 19.

But there’s much uncertainty, both in the U.S. and globally. Has the Fed gone too far? Will the rising interest rates lead to bank failures or a stock downturn? Stay tuned for the next thrilling episode.

MONICA CROWLEY: What are the dangers of a digital dollar?~A threat to all our freedoms!

‘The Monica Crowley’ podcast host Monica Crowley warns about the push to adopt a digital currency across the western world on ‘Kudlow.’

Powell is deep in ‘monetary madness,’ ex-Fed board member warns~US recession will hit ‘everywhere all at once,’ economist warns~Home Depot co-founder calls for Fed resignations~Maria Bartiromo: The Federal Reserve is ‘walking a fine line’

US recession will hit 'everywhere all at once,' economist warns

Macro Mavens President Stephanie Pomboy and former Reagan admin economic adviser Art Laffer analyze potential market reaction to the Fed's rate hike decision Wednesday.

‘BRUTAL’ TRUTH: Home Depot co-founder calls for Fed resignations

Home Depot co-founder Ken Langone makes a 'draconian' suggestion for the entire Federal Reserve board to resign.

Maria Bartiromo: The Federal Reserve is 'walking a fine line'

What are CBDCs? Central Bank Digital Currency~Ron DeSantis Unveils Plan To Oppose ‘Big Brother’s Digital Dollar’

Ron DeSantis Unveils Plan To Oppose ‘Big Brother’s Digital Dollar’

FedNow launched in midst of a banking crisis, is it a precursor to CBDCs, 'totalitarian' control?

Richard Werner, Economics Professor and Author of "Princes of the Yen," and Michelle Makori, Editor-in-Chief and Lead Anchor at Kitco News, discuss the Federal Reserve's FedNow instant payments system, and whether it will be used to usher in Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), digital tokens issued and controlled by central banks. Werner explains what CBDCs are, and warns that they will be used to bring about 'totalitarian' control and a surveillance economy. He also proposes that the recent banking crisis and consolidation of banks could be used as an excuse to bring about CBDCs, and suggests political solutions that might prevent CBDCs from being implemented.  Werner's book at Quantum Publishers:

https://quantumpublishers.com/

Bank Bailouts Leading to Government-controlled Banking

Bank Bailouts Leading to Government-controlled Banking

BY DAVID KELLY

SEE: https://thenewamerican.com/bank-bailouts-leading-to-government-controlled-banking/;

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

Federal regulators moved quickly on Friday to take over the insolvent Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), as customers withdrew billions from accounts in an apparent bank run. Then over the weekend regulators did the same with New York-based Signature Bank, potentially sending a ripple effect across the American financial industry.  

Over the weekend, President Biden, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, and National Economic Council Director Lael Brainard began working with bank regulators to ease concern over a potential repeat to the 2008 banking crisis.  

Biden praised the team working on the bank failures, saying in a statement on Sunday, “I am pleased that they reached a prompt solution that protects American workers and small businesses and keeps our financial system safe. The solution also ensures that taxpayer dollars are not put at risk.”  

To help ease fears, Biden reassured the nation, stating, “The American people and American businesses can have confidence that their bank deposits will be there when they need them. I am firmly committed to holding those responsible for this mess fully accountable and to continuing our efforts to strengthen oversight and regulation of larger banks so that we are not in this position again.” 

But by Monday, as more information came out as to what caused these banks to fail, confidence that all would be well began to wane. Americans from financial experts to the man on the street started to understand that government intervention would definitely lead to taxpayer dollars being used to shore up the billions lost. 

SVB and Signature Bank accounts were covered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) for up to $250,000. However, on Monday, Biden announced that the FDIC would cover all of the deposits, including uninsured deposits at the two banks. 

Biden declared in a statement, “All customers who had deposits in these banks can rest assured — I want to — rest assured they’ll be protected, and they’ll have access to their money as of today.” He then reiterated, “No losses will be — and I want — this is an important point — no losses will be borne by the taxpayers. Let me repeat that: No losses will be borne by the taxpayers. Instead, the money will come from the fees that banks pay into the Deposit Insurance Fund.”  

The Washington Times reported that the two banks combined had “$240 billion in uninsured deposits” that the government will cover with Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) monies. Paying out coverage for these deposits will be the largest payout since the 2008 banking crisis. The DIF is funded by fees from banks and from the government’s earnings on interest from bank investments in Treasury securities and bonds — and those fees are usually funded by depositors. Or, in other words, taxpayers.  

“Joe Biden is pretending this isn’t a bailout. It is. Now depositors at healthy banks are forced to subsidize Silicon Valley Bank’s mismanagement. When the Deposit Insurance Fund runs dry, all bank customers are on the hook. That’s a public bailout,” said former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, now a Republican presidential hopeful, as reported by the Washington Times.  

Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.), ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, released a statement on Sunday seeking answers to the bailout. He said: 

Building a culture of government intervention does nothing to stop future institutions from relying on the government to swoop in after taking excessive risks. I remain committed to bringing accountability and answers to the American people, both from the banks and our regulators. We deserve to know what exactly happened and why.

Adding to the concern that Senator Scott and Nikki Hailey shared on this bailout, the Washington Times reported, 

Steve H. Hanke, a professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University who served on President Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers, said it moves the banking sector closer to a public utility or government-backed entity. 

“With the Biden bank bailout, and it is a bailout, banking is becoming a government-backed business — if that’s what you call a business,” he said.  

The recent actions by Biden and the Treasury are designed to give Americans confidence that their federally insured deposits are safe and that banks are secure. But the truth is that this administration is willing to, as stated above, allow the banking sector to become a government–backed entity. And with that, the taxpayers know all too well that they will ultimately be paying the bill. 

GOP rep. exposes ‘underlying cause’ of SVB’s collapse~Biden admin is ‘built upon a lie’ causing ‘disasters everywhere’~Why The US Banking System Is BREAKING UP!!!~BANK Stocks COLLAPSE After Biden Says Banking System ‘Sound’

Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., discusses the impact of Silicon Valley Bank's collapse and slams President Biden’s response on ‘Mornings with Maria'.

Biden admin is 'built upon a lie' causing 'disasters everywhere'

DR. STEVE TURLEY: Why The US Banking System Is BREAKING UP!!!

BANK Stocks COLLAPSE After Biden Says Banking System 'Sound'

LYING, CORRUPT President Biden makes a statement after Silicon Valley Bank purchased by HSBC, FOR 1 POUND, WHICH HAS A LONG HISTORY OF CORRUPTION AS WELL

LYING President Joe Biden makes a statement after HSBC buys the UK arm of collapsed Silicon Valley Bank

SEE: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/svbs-u-k-arm-bought-for-1-by-hsbc-after-treasury-and-bank-of-england-lead-negotiations-76781145

British officials worked throughout the weekend to find a buyer for the UK subsidiary of the California-based bank. Its collapse was the second-largest bank failure in history. HSBC’s capture of SVB U.K. came in competition with a Middle Eastern buyer, according to the Financial Times, and bids from British banks OakNorth and the Bank of London.

WOKE Silicon Valley Bank GOES BROKE as Liberalism IMPLODES!!!

HSBC: Tax Evasion, Money Laundering for the Mafia & Currency Manipulation | HSBC Scandal Documentary

Drug Cartels And Opium Wars: How HSBC Hid Dirty Money In Hong Kong

PLEASE WATCH ON YOUTUBE FOR EVEN MORE CORRUPTION AT HSBC:

If HSBC were a country, it would be the fifth world economic power. Founded during the golden age of the Opium trade to enable the British Empire to access the Chinese market, it has created a unique network to move dirty money around the world. From tax evasion to money laundering for the mafia and manipulation of currency, “this bank had done everything bad that a bank can possibly do.” In 2012, HSBC nearly lost its license to operate in the US for laundering the money of the Mexican and Columbian drug cartels. Criminal charges were filed and HSBC’s executives were hauled before a Senate committee. But George Osborne, UK’s then Chancellor of the Exchequer, wrote to his counterpart in America and to the Chairman of the Federal Reserve to plead for leniency. He claimed that if HSBC received a harsh punishment, it would have serious repercussions on the world’s financial and economic stability. The letter worked and HSBC was fined 2 billion euros. The equivalent of one month’s profits. As the center of international finance moves to Asia, HSBC is in a prime position. It is the most Chinese of Western banks and the most European of Chinese banks. Protected by London, blessed by Beijing, who would dare attack it? This documentary was first released in 2017.

Expert issues 'bloodcurdling' warning over SVB collapse

The Bear Traps Report founder Larry McDonald argues current market conditions 'guarantee' a recession.

How The Federal Reserve Plans To Control and Surveil You Using Digital Currency

BIDEN SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER TO EXPLORE FEDERAL DIGITAL CURRENCY

Dr. Michael Rectenwald, author, Distinguished Fellow at Hillsdale College, and former NYU Professor. He is the author of “The Great Reset and the Struggle for Liberty: Unraveling the Global Agenda” Michael discusses the various components of the Great Reset, including the economic system it establishes, the deep history of the World Economic Forum (WEF), the population control "ethics" of the WEF and related globalist organizations. You can find Michaels’ book here: The Great Reset and the Struggle for Liberty: Unraveling the Global Agenda.

DIGITAL CURRENCY WILL LEAD TO MASS SURVEILLANCE

Republicans Demand Spending Cuts Before Raising Debt Ceiling

Republicans Demand Spending Cuts Before Raising Debt Ceiling

BY DAVID KELLY

SEE: https://thenewamerican.com/republicans-demand-spending-cuts-before-raising-debt-ceiling/;

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

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the new Republican-controlled Congress were given an extension by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen earlier this month to remedy the debt ceiling by June to avert a catastrophic default on U.S. debt. That gives them less than five months to find an agreeable solution. 

The United States reached its debt limit of $31.4 trillion on January 19, with the Treasury Department using “extraordinary measures” to ensure the federal government will not default on its obligations. Both Congress and President Biden will need to agree to raise or suspend the statutory debt limit before June to keep the government solvent. 

The Republicans, who have a slim majority in the House, are demanding spending cuts as part of any deal to raise the debt ceiling. But they face a difficult challenge, as Biden has already rejected the possibility of linking increasing the debt ceiling with cutting federal spending. Administration officials believe the debt ceiling should be raised as part of a clean vote, without other conditions attached.  

Being fiscally responsible and making spending cuts is easy to talk about, but the real conundrum Republican lawmakers are facing is what and where to find these spending cuts. Coming up with a solid plan is making life difficult for McCarthy and the narrow majority. 

NBC shared,  

“There’s gotta be cuts in spending. That has to happen,” said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., an ally of McCarthy, R-Calif., and the far right.  

But she declined to get specific when she was asked what should be cut.  

“I haven’t really formulated an exact list,” she said. 

There are many general areas of government spending that Republicans would love to cut, but they are divided on specific programs, including Medicare, Social Security, and military funding. They are willing to cut domestic non-defense spending, although it’s a small part of the overall budget and most likely won’t make much of an impact on balancing the budget. One thing they all agree on is that there should be no new tax revenues to reduce the debt.  

Speaker McCarthy will need to find a way to avoid another defiant stand by GOP representatives who will not budge from their core principles if he is to get a debt-ceiling bill passed and Biden’s signature. Those members of the House who sought concessions during McCarthy’s run for the speaker’s seat will pose the greatest challenge to his leadership.  

NBC continued:  

“I have said since I first ran that I would not vote for a debt ceiling increase apart from the cuts in spending that would put us on a path to fiscal responsibility,” said Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., who declined to elaborate on what specifically that would look like. 

Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., who landed a seat on the powerful Rules Committee, said he wants to see “a downward trajectory” in long-term spending as part of any increase in the debt ceiling. 

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., another of the 20 initial McCarthy holdouts, said a debt limit bill should have an amendment to balance the budget over 10 years to win her vote.

Luna said she wants to do it without tax increases or Social Security or Medicare cuts. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” she said. 

Adding to McCarthy’s challenges within his own party is knowing that Biden is defiant and setting the stage for a long, drawn-out battle over the debt ceiling.  

The Hill reported:

“If Republicans want to work together on real solutions and continue to grow manufacturing jobs, build the strongest economy in the world and make sure Americans are paid a fair wage, I’m ready,” Biden said in remarks on the economy in Springfield, Va. “But I will not let anyone use the full faith and credit of the United States as a bargaining chip…. The very notion that we would default on the safest, most respected debt in the world is mind-boggling.” 

If an agreement can’t be reached in time, the consequences of default could include a stock market crash, a recession, higher interest rates, a weaker dollar, and a government unable to meet all its obligations — from funding the military to providing Social Security benefits. 

No one knows what Congress will eventually offer up as a solution, but it is apparent that the battle lines have been drawn and all sides are digging in, hopeful to win the day. The bottom line here is that no matter what happens with the debt ceiling, it will be the American taxpayer who will once again have to pay for our fiscally irresponsible government.  

Yellen Tells Congress the U.S. Will Exceed Its Debt Limit on Thursday

Treasury Secretary Yellen Tells Congress the U.S. Will Exceed Its Debt Limit on Thursday

BY RICK MORAN

SEE: https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/rick-moran/2023/01/14/treasury-secretary-yellen-tells-congress-the-u-s-will-exceed-its-debt-limit-on-thursday-n1661716;

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

Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen sent a letter to Congress warning that the United States will exceed its statutory debt limit this Thursday and that the Treasury Department must begin employing “extraordinary measures” at that time to stave off default.

“Failure to meet the government’s obligations would cause irreparable harm to the U.S. economy, the livelihoods of all Americans, and global financial stability,” Ms. Yellen wrote.

Meanwhile, Republicans are insisting that any increase in the debt limit must be accompanied by a reduction in spending. Joe Biden and the Democrats are saying no negotiations will be entertained. The impasse sets up potentially the most consequential and bruising fight between the executive and legislative branches in decades.

For our VIPs: Is the Debt Ceiling Fight a Hill Republicans Should Die On?

“The American people are the ones that are demanding the cut in spending,” Rep. Jason Smith, a Missouri Republican and the chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, said Friday on Fox News. “We have to have fiscal reforms moving forward. We cannot just give an unlimited credit card.”

The new rules adopted by the House last Monday eliminate an easy path to raising the debt limit. The new Congress dropped the so-called Gephardt rule that in the past has allowed Congress to automatically increase the debt limit without a vote.

The White House is banking on an ad-hoc, bipartisan group of lawmakers to bypass the House leadership and pass a new debt limit.

The New York Times:

That group includes the entire Democratic caucus in the House and Senate, plus a handful of Republicans needed to pass bills in both chambers. Such a coalition could employ a rare tactic in the House, called a discharge petition, to force a floor vote on raising the limit. But the move would take weeks or even months to produce a bill that Mr. Biden could sign into law, which could threaten default if lawmakers misjudge the date when Treasury can no longer pay the nation’s bills.

The uncertainty surrounding that date is what’s going to make the next few months a free-for-all. With Democrats insisting there will be no negotiations and Republicans insisting there won’t be an increase in the debt limit without them, which side is going to blink first?

Republicans are carefully preparing the battlefield. They’ve developed a plan to tell the Treasury Department what to do if no deal on the debt limit is reached before whatever deadline is given by the Treasury Department.

Washington Post:

In the preliminary stages of being drafted, the GOP proposal would call on the Biden administration to make only the most critical federal payments if the Treasury Department comes up against the statutory limit on what it can legally borrow. For instance, the plan is almost certain to call on the department to keep making interest payments on the debt, according to four people familiar with the internal deliberations who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations. House Republicans’ payment prioritization plan may also stipulate that the Treasury Department should continue making payments on Social Security, Medicare and veterans benefits, as well as funding the military, two of the people said.

What about Medicaid or air traffic control?

Such a move would be unprecedented and hugely controversial, and even releasing the plan could turn into a major political liability for the GOP. A hypothetical proposal that protects Social Security, Medicare, veterans benefits and the military would still leave out huge swaths of critical federal expenditures on things such as Medicaid, food safety inspections, border control and air traffic control, to name just a handful of thousands of programs. Democrats are also likely to accuse Republicans of prioritizing payments to U.S. bondholders — which include Chinese banks — over American citizens.

“Any plan to pay bondholders but not fund school lunches or the FAA or food safety or XYZ is just target practice for us,” a senior Democratic aide told The Post.

This is a recipe for disaster, which is why Republicans aren’t really serious about this. Lawmakers and the White House will eventually sit down, if for no other reason than to calm financial markets that, if history is any guide, are going to go crazy the closer we get to a “drop-dead” default date. As far as a debt prioritization plan, the Democratic Senate will never agree to it, so in the end, it’s just an exercise in PR.

Yellen said in her letter that the date when all “extraordinary measures” are exhausted will probably be in early June. That’s not a lot of time for Congress to remake the federal budget and cut hundreds of billions of dollars in future spending.

YOUR MONEY IS NOT SAFE! – Cashless BAIL-INS & What It Means For You!

Josh Sigurdson talks with Kirk Elliott Ph.D. about the most recent moves to destroy financial freedom as we see a massive global currency shift for the history books in 2023 and the creation of a cashless society.

As the Federal Reserve moves to launch its digital currency this year, we also see members of the FDIC openly calling for misleading the public about their lack of actual funds as well as pushing for bail-in regimes where they could essentially just empty your bank account to pay for their debts. This is an alarming development for most, but for many of us, it is simply a vindication of what we've been warning about for years.

Tie this in with a new world reserve currency system like BRICS and the energy crisis teamed with a supply chain crisis and inflation and it's the perfect monetary storm.

In this video, Kirk Elliott Ph.D. breaks down the dangers and the solutions to this epic problem and what people should know right now to save themselves from what's to come.

How the Fed’s digital currency could END ECONOMIC FREEDOM

Right before Thanksgiving, when Americans were distracted with travel plans and family feasts, the Federal Reserve announced it is testing its own CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency). Carol Roth, former investment banker and author of ‘The War On Small Business,’ joins Glenn to detail how this CBDC is the OPPOSITE of decentralized cryptocurrencies that interest millions of Americans. Yet, the Fed is trying to confuse Americans into believing the two kinds of digital currencies are just alike: ‘It’s a new scheme to maintain power and control.’ Plus, Roth explains how this CBDC — if it becomes the norm — WILL END our economic freedom...

1 2