February 19, 2025

16 thoughts on “Op-Ed: On Biden’s Rigged ‘Green’ Game

  1. Thank you for saying this out loud. I don’t always agree completely with the Mirror but I have to respect the attempts they make to be honest and bring to light subjects that most media try to protect. This is a well written piece and thank you.

  2. And thank you for your kind comment.

    It is appreciated!

    And while there certainly can be some light-heartedness and outright cheekiness in here, which I appreciate, I look at the CCM as the only venue here in America where someone like myself without financial resources or political clout can bring forth what I consider to be a serious subject and have my voice heard, which is why I refer to the CCM as a grand palladium of liberty in the same sense as those publications in America during the debates on the Constitution that brought forth both federalist and anti-federalist views for the purpose of informing and educating the public as to the issues!

  3. To put things in their proper perspective here, and by the way, with respect to Joe Biden’s “CLIMATE CRISIS,” there was ice on my windshield this morning caused by Joe’s “GLOBAL WARMING” which is going to kill us all unless we bankrupt the nation paying for Joe’s massive “climate change” measures, let us go back to the Reuters article above titled “U.S. government posts $378 billion deficit in March” on April 12, 2023 and focus on this first sentence, to wit:

    (Reuters) – The U.S. government recorded a $378-billion budget deficit in March as outlays outpaced revenues, the Treasury Department said on Wednesday.

    end quotes

    Outlays, of course, are the money the federal government is spending, which in turn takes us to this sentence, to wit:

    The March deficit brought the year-to-date fiscal deficit to $1.1 trillion, up 65% from a year earlier.

    end quotes

    And from there, let’s drop back to October 21, 2022, and “Remarks by President Biden on Historic Deficit Reduction,” where we are treated to the following Orwellian “doublethink” (a process of indoctrination in which subjects are expected to simultaneously accept two conflicting beliefs as truth) from Joe, as follows:

    THE PRESIDENT: Good morning.

    I ran for President to rebuild the backbone of the middle class — this country — that’s the backbone — to build an economy from the bottom up and the middle out and for — make sure the economy was stronger than it was before the pandemic.

    end quotes

    Except it is not stronger and in fact is getting weaker, thanks to Joe and his BIDENFLATION, which is crushing not only those on the bottom, but those in the middle, as well, which takes us back for more Joe, as follows:

    And the price of gas at the pump is coming down.

    end quote

    Actually, the price of gas up here where I am is going up, and was $4.20 per gallon for 89-octane just the other day, up from $4.10 a week before, but in Joe’s world, down is really up, which again takes us back to Joe, to wit:

    And today, we have further proof that we’re rebuilding the economy in a responsible way.

    Today, my administration announced that this year the deficit fell by $1.4 trillion — the largest one-year drop in American history — $1.4 trillion decline in the deficit.

    Let me repeat that: the largest-ever decline in the federal deficit.

    Let me be clear: This record deficit reduction includes the cost of my student loan plan and everything else we’re paying for.

    The deficit is down $1.4 trillion this year, even after accounting for 30 years of debt relief paid in advance.

    You know, this — this follows last year’s drop of $350 billion in the deficit.

    end quotes

    Which takes us right back to the Reuters article from April 12, 2023 where we are told the deficit actually went up to $1.1 trillion, up 65% from a year earlier.

    Going back to Joe, we have as follows:

    You know, we’re going from a historically strong economic recovery to a steady and stable growth while reducing the deficit, building an economy where everyone does well, where the poor have a ladder up, the middle class does well, and the wealthy do very well.

    They’re not hurt by it.

    And this is the economic vision I’ve had for America and the reason I ran — one of the reasons.

    Republicans in Congress have a very different vision.

    Now, listen to me closely: Congressional Republicans love to call Democrats “big spenders,” and they always claim to be for less federal spending.

    But let’s look at the facts.

    The federal deficit went up every single year in the Trump administration, every single year he was President.

    They’re the facts.

    And one big reason for that is Republicans voted for $2 trillion tax cut — a Trump tax cut — which overwhelmingly benefitted the wealthy and the biggest corporations.

    And that racked up the deficit sig- — significantly.

    On my watch, things have been different.

    The deficit has come down both years that I’ve been in office.

    And I just signed legislation that’s going to relu- — going to reduce it even more in the decades to come.

    end quotes

    Which takes is to a Reuters article titled “TREASURIES-1-month Treasury yields rise from Oct. lows as debt ceiling worries grow” by David Randall on April 24, 2023, where we have as follows with respect to Joe’s miracle economy:

    U.S. tax collections are currently trending roughly 30% below last year’s level, raising the possibility that the United States will reach its borrowing limit as soon as the first half of June rather than later in the summer, according to Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research.

    end quotes

    Think about that, people, and then think about all the tax breaks Joe is handing out to big corporations in connection with his infrastructure plan, his CHIPS act and his inflation reduction act, which is causing inflation and ask yourself if there could be any connection between the two, and ask yourself this further question of what are we, the people getting out of any of this, besides royally screwed!

  4. By way of review, if we go back to the original post and the CONGRESSIONAL DECLARATION OF NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY in 1960, Sec. 101 [42 USC § 4331], we have in relevant part as follows, to wit:

    (a) The Congress, recognizing the profound impact of man’s activity on the interrelations of all components of the natural environment, particularly the profound influences of population growth, high-density urbanization, industrial expansion, resource exploitation, and new and expanding technological advances and recognizing further the critical importance of restoring and maintaining environmental quality to the overall welfare and development of man, declares that it is the continuing policy of the Federal Government, in cooperation with State and local governments, and other concerned public and private organizations, to use all practicable means and measures, including financial and technical assistance, in a manner calculated to foster and promote the general welfare, to create and maintain conditions under which man and nature can exist in productive harmony, and fulfill the social, economic, and other requirements of present and future generations of Americans.

    end quotes

    Parsing through there, we find these particular words directly related to all of Joe Biden’s massive spending programs, which he maintains will have no impacts on the “human environment,” defined in 40 CFR § 1508.1(m) as “comprehensively the natural and physical environment and the relationship of present and future generations of Americans with that environment,” to wit: “the profound impact of man’s activity on the interrelations of all components of the natural environment, particularly the profound influences of industrial expansion.”

    The profound influences of industrial expansion relates directly to all of Joe’s programs to include his $1.85 Trillion Build Back Better Act, which is paid for by borrowed money we and future generations of Americans are on the hook for, his $280 billion CHIPS act, which is again paid for by borrowed money we are on the hook for, and his so-called Inflation reduction Act, which raises inflation, which the Wall Street Journal estimates will cost $1.2 Trillion.

    And that takes us back to NEPA where the Congress declared that it is the continuing policy of the Federal Government to use all practicable means and measures in a manner calculated to foster and promote the general welfare, to create and maintain conditions under which man and nature can exist in productive harmony, and fulfill the social, economic, and other requirements of present and future generations of Americans.

    That, people, is what went out the window and down the toilet as a result of Joe Biden unilaterally and dictatorially declaring that all of this massive spending will be good for the American people, and America, which is not at all true, as we have been discussing above, where according to a Reuters article titled “TREASURIES-1-month Treasury yields rise from Oct. lows as debt ceiling worries grow” by David Randall on April 24, 2023, U.S. tax collections are currently trending roughly 30% below last year’s level, raising the possibility that the United States will reach its borrowing limit as soon as the first half of June rather than later in the summer, according to Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research.

    And why, pray tell would that be, and how could it be, the answer to which question is quite simple – it is because of the MASSIVE TAX BREAKS joe Biden is providing BIG BUSINESS through these acts, which shifts the burden to those of us in the lower economic classes in America, not to mention through the inflation caused by Joe’s massive BORROW AND SPEND, and make no mistake whatsoever – INFLATION IS A TAX THAT IS PAID FOR BY WE, THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, including the so-called “middle class,” which takes us to a Reuters article titled “US consumer confidence hits nine-month low; housing market bottoming out” by Lucia Mutikani on April 25, 2023, where we have as follows, to wit:

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. consumer confidence dropped to a nine-month low in April as worries about the future mounted, further heightening the risk that the economy could fall into recession this year.

    The drop reflected a deterioration in expectations for consumers under 55 years and households earning $50,000 and over annually, suggesting a broadening in concerns about the economy beyond low income households.

    The share of those planning to buy household appliances over the next six months dropped to 41%, the smallest since September 2011, from 44.8 in March.

    The proportion planning to buy motor vehicles was the smallest in nine months.

    The share of those planning to go on vacation was the smallest since last June.

    Fewer consumers intended to purchase a home.

    end quotes

    Then google “causes of GREAT DEPRESSION” and look for the obvious comparisons, and believe me, having studied the subject at length, they are there.

    As the cost of goods goes up, and the cost of credit likewise goes up, demand goes down, which is not a hard equation to grasp, although it is far beyond the ken of Joe Biden, “TOODLES” Yellen and all of Joe’s “economic” advisors, who all thought inflation was transitory.

    And Joe just announced yesterday that he wants four more years to finish the job he has done on us since he came into office.

    If you are as insane as Joe, and want to see our economy totally destroyed, and it may already be too late to stop that train wreck, give Joe your vo9te, because he is your man to do just that!

    Talk about disgusting, this takes the cake!

  5. And staying for the moment with the empty words of NEPA above here, empty because they are totally disregarded by Joe Biden, his administration and the Congress itself, which body today is responsible for Joe’s MASSIVE BORROW HUGE AND SPEND LAVISHLY ON CORPORATE WELFARE programs, as to what has gone out the window and down the toilet to our detriment as taxpayers and citizens of this nation who have been completely stripped of the protection of law thanks to Congress and Joe Biden, what we see first is that while a past Congress in a different century and millennium declared that it to be the continuing policy of the Federal Government to use all practicable means and measures in a manner calculated to foster and promote the general welfare, what is being promoted today is the welfare of giant corporations and America’s richest citizens, not to mention the welfare of politicians like Nancy Pelosi and members of the extended Biden family, and for an example, let us go to a Reuters article titled “Bosch buys US semiconductor foundry to expand EV chip output” by Joseph White and Stephen Nellis on April 26, 2023, where we have as follows with regard to CORPORATE WELFARE by this Congress and the Biden administration, to wit:

    DETROIT, April 26 (Reuters) – Germany’s Bosch Group has agreed to buy key assets of California chip manufacturer TSI Semiconductors and invest $1.5 billion to expand U.S. production of silicon carbide chips for electric vehicles.

    The investment “will be heavily dependent on federal funding opportunities” through the CHIPS act as well as state subsidies, Bosch said in a statement.

    end quotes

    For the record, according to figures supplied by Bosch, in 2022, the company generated sales of 88.4 billion euros which equals out to $97,412,380,000.00 US dollars, so it is obscene that wee, the struggling American people should have to subsidize them, but you know what – Joe Biden and this Congress do not give a damn whether we are struggling or not, and that is just the way it is, which takes us back to this from NEPA, which also went out the window and down the toilet, to wit:

    Congress declares it to be the continuing policy of the Federal Government to use all practicable means and measures to fulfill the economic requirements of present and future generations of Americans.

    end quotes

    As we see from Joe Biden’s massive corporate welfare programs, it is now the policy of the Federal Government to use all practicable means and measures to fulfill the economic requirements of global corporations like Bosch and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited, and if we, the American people are beggared and bankrupted in the process to support them with corporate welfare, so be it, it is what we deserve for being American citizens, at least as far as Joe Biden and the Congress are concerned.

    As to inflation and the massive and ever-growing budget deficits we are saddled with today thanks to Joe Biden and Congress, in “Democracy in Deficit: The Political Legacy of Lord Keynes” by James M. Buchanan and Richard E. Wagner written in 1998, the authors state as follows, and consider that we are now 25 years further into the future since then, to wit:

    A regime of permanent budget deficits, inflation, and an increasing public-sector share of national income — these seem to us to be the consequences of the application of Keynesian precepts in American democracy.

    Increasingly, these consequences are coming to be recognized as signals of disease rather than of the robust health that Keynesianism seemed to offer.

    The juxtaposition of Keynesian policy prescriptions and political democracy creates an unstable mixture.

    The economic order seems to become more, rather than less, fragile — coming to resemble a house of cards.

    end quotes

    Disease and a house of cards, indeed, people, and we are the ones who will pay that price, and soon, big time which takes us to Chapter 5 of that work, again written in 1998, wherein was forecast the future we are now in, because like it or not, chickens ALWAYS come home to roost, to wit:

    Assessing the Damages – Inflation, Budget Deficits, and Capital Investment

    We do not need to become full-blown Hegelians to entertain the general notion of zeitgeist, a “spirit of the times.”

    Such a spirit seems at work in the 1960s and 1970s, and is evidenced by what appears as a generalized erosion in public and private manners, increasingly liberalized attitudes toward sexual activities, a declining vitality of the Puritan work ethic, deterioration in product quality, explosion of the welfare rolls, widespread corruption in both the private and the governmental sector, and, finally, observed increases in the alienation of voters from the political process.

    end quotes

    Does that strike a chord with anyone out there listening in on this conversation?

    It certainly does with me, anyway.

    And here once again, I will pause to let you all come to your own conclusions before resuming with inflation as a tax and causes of the last GREAT DEPRESSION which Congress and Joe Biden and the idiotic federal reserve, which knows nothing and learns nothing, being nothing more than a political tool and lackey, are creating all over again with the federal reserve monetizing all the debt Joe Biden and Congress have already created, with a raise in the debt ceiling now looming large on the horizon!

  6. By way of review, 25 years ago now, in “Democracy in Deficit: The Political Legacy of Lord Keynes” by James M. Buchanan and Richard E. Wagner written in 1998, the authors stated as follows, as to what they saw coming in their future, which happens to be where we are right now as I write these words, to wit:

    A regime of permanent budget deficits, inflation, and an increasing public-sector share of national income — these seem to us to be the consequences of the application of Keynesian precepts in American democracy.

    Increasingly, these consequences are coming to be recognized as signals of disease rather than of the robust health that Keynesianism seemed to offer.

    The juxtaposition of Keynesian policy prescriptions and political democracy creates an unstable mixture.

    The economic order seems to become more, rather than less, fragile — coming to resemble a house of cards.

    end quotes

    Those words, prophetic as they were, were written in 1998.

    Now, fast forward to today, and this Reuters article titled “Pressure grows for regulatory intervention as US bank rout deepens” on May 4, 2023, to see that the HOUSE OF CARDS ECONOMIC ORDER that has been constructed by Joe Biden, Janet “TOODLES” Yellen, the federal government including the House and Senate, and the federal reserve since then as the sole support for Joe Biden’s RIGGED GREEN GAME seems to be trembling in the wind like Aspen leaves in a scenario reminiscent of 1929, to wit:

    WASHINGTON, May 4 (Reuters) – Pressure is growing on U.S. regulators to take more steps to shore up the country’s banking sector as a renewed rout in regional lenders’ shares forced PacWest Bancorp to explore options to bolster its balance sheet.

    Wall Street executives and bank analysts called for regulators to quickly provide more protection for bank deposits and consider other backstops, arguing only an intervention could stop the crisis — which saw several regional lenders’ shares plunge more than 10% on Thursday — from spiraling.

    It was unclear, however, if the authorities would immediately step in.

    “Investors are clearly continuing to focus on remaining players that are deemed the weakest,” wrote UBS banking analyst Erika Najarian on Thursday.

    “To stop the cascade before the market literally drives more bank failures, we wonder if it’s time for the Treasury and the Fed to step up and potentially create some sort of backstop,” wrote Najarian.

    Shares of Los Angeles-based PacWest slumped more than 40% in Thursday afternoon trading — a record low — after the lender confirmed a Reuters report that it was exploring strategic options, including a potential sale or capital raising.

    Western Alliance’s shares pared losses after plummeting by nearly 60% on a Financial Times report, which it categorically denied, that the lender was exploring strategic options.

    Major U.S. banks also lost ground on Thursday, with the S&P 500 Banks index falling nearly 3%.

    Activist investor Nelson Peltz told the Financial Times that deposit insurance should be extended, echoing billionaire investor Bill Ackman who on Wednesday tweeted that regulators’ failure to expand the insurance regime “hammered more nails in the coffin.”

    Peter Orszag, CEO of financial advisory at Lazard Ltd, on Wednesday called on officials to at least signal their intention to guarantee uninsured deposits for a six-month period.

    Some regulatory experts, including former FDIC chair Jelena McWilliams, warned that increasing deposit insurance could encourage risk-taking, while others noted regulators have fewer tools to support banks following the 2008 financial crisis.

    The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday said it was continuing to “closely monitor” market developments, but “the banking system has substantial liquidity and deposit flows are stable.”

    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) did not respond to a request for comment.

    CONTAGION

    The latest crisis began in March when runs on Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank led to their abrupt closures, leading depositors to move their cash to bigger banks.

    To stem the contagion, regulators took emergency steps to reimburse all customers at the two banks, while the Fed offered lenders additional liquidity.

    The markets appeared to calm late last month.

    But over the weekend, California-based First Republic became the third bank to fail.

    Regulators hoped its sale to JPMorgan would draw a line under the crisis, but the deal revived investor fears.

    On Monday, the FDIC floated possible reforms, including potentially raising the current insurance cap of $250,000 per-person per-bank, but such a permanent change would require congressional approval.

    “Congress does not appear ready to exercise this option at this juncture.”

    “So if a change to FDIC coverage limits is not happening, then the risk is that we may be stuck with a structural headwind,” said Carl Riccadonna, chief economist at BNP Paribas.

    Major banks and private equity firms have balked at offering lenders capital infusions without a government backstop because of concerns about booking losses.

    Raymond James analyst Ed Mills said regulators may also consider other options, including sending a signal that bank equity holders may be protected, or additional Fed funding, but added they were unlikely to move “unless things significantly deteriorate.”

  7. Above here, I took a pause before resuming with inflation as a tax and causes of the last GREAT DEPRESSION, a subject that used to be taught in high school, so let’s go back to “Democracy in Deficit: The Political Legacy of Lord Keynes” by James M. Buchanan and Richard E. Wagner, written in 1998, where we have as follows on inflation as a tax on us, the citizens of this country, as the federal reserve effectively acts like a “tax farmer” for Janet “TOODLES” Yellen’s treasury department, to wit:

    We do not, of course, attribute all or even the major share of these to the Keynesian conversion of the public and the politicians.

    But who can deny that inflation, itself one consequence of that conversion, plays some role in reinforcing several of the observed behavior patterns.

    Inflation destroys expectations and creates uncertainty; it increases the sense of felt injustice and causes alienation.

    end quotes

    Is there anyone out there besides Joe Biden, who in addition to being a CLIMATE DENIER is also an INFLATION DENIER, denying that his policies are a cause of inflation, who can argue against that last statement above here?

    Going back to “Democracy in Deficit,” we have more on the subject of inflation as a tax, to wit:

    It prompts behavioral responses that reflect a generalized shortening of time horizons.

    “Enjoy, enjoy” — the imperative of our time — becomes a rational response in a setting where tomorrow remains insecure and where the plans made yesterday seem to have been made in folly.

    As we have noted, inflation in itself introduces and/or reinforces an antibusiness or anticapitalist bias in public attitudes, a bias stemming from the misplaced blame for the observed erosion in the purchasing power of money and the accompanying fall in the value of accumulated monetary claims.

    This bias may, in its turn, be influential in providing support to political attempts at imposing direct controls, with all the costs that these embody, both in terms of measured economic efficiency and in terms of restrictions on personal liberty.

    Even if direct controls are not imposed, however, inflation may lend support for less direct measures that discriminate against the business sector, and notably against private investment.

    Central governments possess an alternative to debt as a means of financing budget deficits.

    They can create money which may be used directly to cover revenue shortfalls.

    In fact, much of what is ordinarily referred to as “public debt” really represents disguised monetary issue by central banks.

    How does this institution affect our analysis of budget imbalance?

    In the non-Keynesian world, the inflation generated directly by the money created to finance a budget deficit is analytically equivalent to a tax, and many economists have examined it in these terms.

    In terms of the fiscal perceptions of citizens, however, inflation does not seem at all equivalent to a tax.

    No explicit political discussion and decision takes place on either the source or the rate of tax to be imposed.

    Individual citizens are likely to be less informed about the probable costs of an “inflation tax” than they are about even the most indirect and complex explicit levy.

    The tax signal under inflation is overwhelmed by the accompanying noise which takes the form of rising prices, at least under prevailing institutional arrangements.

    Psychologically, individuals do not sense inflation to be a tax on their money balances; they do not attribute the diminution of their real wealth to the legalized “counterfeiting” activities of government.

    Rather, the sense data take the form of rising prices for goods and services purchased in the private sector.

    The decline in real wealth is attributed to failings in the market economy, not to governmental money creation.

    It is a rare individual (not one in a million, according to Keynes) who is able to cut through the inflation veil and to attribute the price increases to government-induced inflation produced by the monetary financing of budget deficits.

    Inflationary finance, then, will generally produce an underestimation of the opportunity cost of public services, in addition to promoting a false attribution in the minds of citizens as to the reason for the decline in their real wealth, a false attribution that nonetheless influences the specific character of public policies.

  8. And yes, people, causes of the GREAT DEPRESSION, which takes us back, for a moment, to July 19, 2021 and “Remarks by President Biden on the Economy,” where we have Joe spewing forth about how utterly great he is, and how he is the best president we have ever had, and we ought to be very thankful we have Joe in there fighting for us, 24/7/365 to create for us a MIRACLE ECONOMY based on BIDEN-O-NOMICS, which is really Marxist economics by a different name, that is from the bottom up and the middle out, where the rich do quite well by feeding off those in the middle class as well as those at the bottom who are getting crushed by Joe Biden’s INFLATION TAX, as follows:

    THE PRESIDENT: Well, good morning.

    Tomorrow marks exactly six months since my administration began.

    I think it’s a fitting moment to take a look at our economy — where we were six months ago, what we’ve achieved since then, and what I believe we’ve — I believe where we’re headed.

    Before I took office, there was a lot of folks out there — a lot of folks out there making some pretty bold predictions about how things would turn out.

    You might remember some of the predictions.

    That if I became President, we’d, quote, “see a depression the likes of which we’ve never seen.”

    end quotes

    Now, Joe scoffs at that prediction because he is not only convinced of his greatness, but more to the point, in addition to being a CLASSIC CLIMATE DENIER who denies that his policies are a cause of climate change, and indeed are drivers of climate change, Joe is a CLASSIC INFLATION DENIER who denies that his fiscal policies are a cause of inflation and a driver of inflation, which takes us back to July 19, 2021 and “Remarks by President Biden on the Economy,” where we have more spew from Joe on the subject of inflation, as follows:

    THE PRESIDENT: We also know that as our economy has come roaring back, we’ve seen some price increases.

    Some folks have raised worries that this could be a sign of persistent inflation.

    But that’s not our view.

    Our experts believe and the data shows that most of the price increases we’ve seen are — were expected and expected to be temporary.

    Economists call all of these things “transitory effects.”

    end quotes

    And every day of the week, economists are dead wrong in their predictions, just as they were with that “transitory” bull**** Joe was spewing there on July 19, 2021, which takes us to a Reuters article titled “White House closely tracking commercial real estate – White House economist” by Andrea Shalal on April 18, 2023, as follows, to wit:

    On the issue of inflation, Bernstein conceded that the Biden administration’s use of the word “transitory” had not been helpful and had left open questions of how quickly inflation could be expected to start easing.

    Still, he conceded that inflation had lasted longer than when the term “transitory” was first used.

    “The word is not a helpful term.”

    “It’s too ambiguous,” he said.

    end quotes

    And we here at the CCM who do not have our heads in our ***** knew that all along, that Joe Biden and “TOODLES” Yellen and the morons on the federal reserve were feeding us pure bull**** with that “transitory” horsecrap!

    And since we have that article up, and since we are talking about whether or not Joe Biden can actually live up to the prediction that under Joe Biden, we are going to “see a depression the likes of which we’ve never seen,” which I think Joe can actually pull off, let’s go back to the article to see if maybe there are some warning signs in there we should perhaps heed, given that according to the article, Joe’s own White House is saying that it is closely tracking developments in commercial real estate after recent strains in the banking sector, given that many smaller and mid-sized banks have “non-trivial” holdings in commercial real estate, and Jared Bernstein, a member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), was telling a Senate Banking Committee hearing that occupancy rates in commercial real estate were well below pre-COVID levels and delinquencies had risen a bit recently, to wit:

    “The issue is very much on our watchlist,” Bernstein said during a hearing on his nomination to head CEA, when asked by Democratic Senator Mark Warner about the impact of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) on the sector.

    Warner noted that close to $6 trillion in outstanding commercial debt was related to the real estate market, and a “massive dislocation” was under way.

    end quotes

    So, people, given we are on the subject of whether or not Joe Biden can lead us into a GLOBAL DEPRESSSION, which I think he can, and given that that $6 trillion in outstanding commercial debt related to the real estate market is very much on Joe Biden’s watchlist, should it be on ours, too?

    And there for the moment I will rest, leaving behind the thought that before the stock market collapse occurred in 1929, starting the GREAT DEPRESSION, a period in American history known as the ROARING TWENTIES occurred, with the GREAT DEPRESSION following on the heels of, so that if one is searching for causes of the GREAT DEPRESSION, one looks to the ROARING TWENTIES before 1929 for the causative factors, not after 1929.

  9. And while we are on the subject of Joe Biden being a CLASSIC INFLATION DENIER, denying that his MASSIVE CORPORATE WELFARE PROGRAMS where Joe is handing out fistfulls of greenback dollars, let’s go back once more to July 19, 2021 and “Remarks by President Biden on the Economy,” where we have more INFLATION DENIALISM from Joe Biden, to wit:

    If we increase the availability of quality, affordable childcare, eldercare, paid leave, more people will enter the workforce.

    These steps will enhance our productivity — raising wages without raising prices.

    That won’t increase inflation.

    It will take the pressure off of inflation, give a boost to our workforce, which leads to lower prices in the years ahead.

    So, if your primary concern right now is inflation, you should be even more enthusiastic about this plan.

    end quotes

    How Joe does that math is a mystery to me, and I strongly suspect it is a mystery to Joe Biden, as well, and as to our productivity since Joe Biden has been in office, let’s go to a Reuters article entitled “US labor market defies rate hikes, posts strong job gains” by Lucia Mutikani on May 5, 2023, where we have as follows:

    The pick-up in business output early in the second quarter and the rise in hours worked bodes well for a bounce-back in productivity, which surged right after the pandemic in 2021, but has declined on a year-over-year basis since then for five straight quarters, the longest such stretch since the government started tracking the series in 1948.

    end quotes

    So instead of productivity under Joe Biden going up, it has gone down, instead, and as to inflation not being a problem let’s go back to that same Reuters article where we have this to consider:

    Wages increased 4.4% on a year-on-year basis in April after climbing 4.3% in March, coming close to alignment with other measures such as the Employment Cost Index and the Atlanta Fed’s wage tracker.

    Wage growth is too strong to be consistent with the Fed’s 2% inflation target.

    end quotes

    So while Joe is saying one thing, reality is saying something entirely different which brings us to a CNBC article titled “Inflation rate eases to 4.9% in April, less than expectations” by Jeff Cox on May 10 2023, to wit:

    A widely followed measure of inflation rose in April, though the pace of the annual increase provided some hope that the cost of living will head lower later this year.

    end quote

    Which takes us back to Joe on July 19, 2021, to wit:

    I’ve said it before, and it’s true: This is a blue-collar blueprint for building an American economy back.

    Simply put, we can’t afford not to make these investments.

    And we’re going to pay for them responsibly as well, by ensuring that our largest corporations and the very wealthiest among us pay their fair share by reforming our international tax system with a minimum global tax, which we’ve led the world to agree to.

    Let me close with this: When I arrived in office, it had been a long time since the government had worked for the people.

    Things had been great for big corporations and folks at the top.

    Those 55 major corporations that paid zero in income tax while making billions in profits, they had no complaints.

    But when I took office, I made a commitment — a commitment to the American people that we were going to change that paradigm so working families could have a fighting chance again to get a good education; to get a good job and a raise; to take care of the elderly parent or the child with the disability and still be able to go out and earn a good living; to stop losing hours of their lives stuck in traffic because the streets are crumbling; or waiting for slow, spotty Internet to connect them to the world.

    That’s what the economy we’re building is all about.

    That’s why we passed the American Rescue Plan.

    And that’s why we need the investment of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework and my Build Back Better plan.

    Our economy has come a long way over the last six months.

    We can’t slow down now.

    We can make this boom we’re experiencing today one that will ensure that all Americans have an opportunity to share in it for years to come.

    And we can show the world that American democracy can deliver for the people.

    I look forward to continuing to build this economy.

    And I’m incredibly optimistic about what we’re going to be able to build together in the next six months and the years to come.

    Thank you all for listening.

    May God bless you.

    end quotes

    And there for the moment I will rest.

  10. Staying with Joe Biden’s RIGGED GRREN GAME, let’s once more go back to July 19, 2021 and “Remarks by President Biden on the Economy,” where we have Joe saying, as follows; to wit:

    I’ve said it before, and it’s true: This is a blue-collar blueprint for building an American economy back.

    Simply put, we can’t afford not to make these investments.

    And we’re going to pay for them responsibly as well, by ensuring that our largest corporations and the very wealthiest among us pay their fair share by reforming our international tax system with a minimum global tax, which we’ve led the world to agree to.

    end quotes

    So is it really true that this is a blue-collar blueprint for building an American economy back?

    Let’s go to a Reuters article titled “US weekly jobless claims hit 1-1/2-year high; inflation subsiding” by Lucia Mutikani on May 10, 2023, where we have as follows on that subject, to wit:

    WASHINGTON, May 10 (Reuters) – The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits jumped to a 1-1/2-year high last week, pointing to cracks in the labor market as demand slows, potentially giving the Federal Reserve room to halt further interest rate increases next month.

    Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 22,000 to a seasonally adjusted 264,000 for the week ended May 6, the highest reading since October 2021.

    Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 245,000 claims for the latest week.

    The four-week moving average of claims, considered a better measure of labor market trends as it strips out week-to-week volatility, rose 6,000 to 245,250, the highest level since November 2021.

    Layoffs, which were initially concentrated in the technology and housing sectors, appear to be spreading to other industries as companies gear for weak demand.

    end quotes

    And there we have that term “weak demand” again, which takes us back in time to the GREAT DEPRESSION where we have this from Britannica, as follows:

    The fundamental cause of the Great Depression in the United States was a decline in spending (sometimes referred to as aggregate demand), which led to a decline in production as manufacturers and merchandisers noticed an unintended rise in inventories.

    end quotes

    And what about Joe’s statement that we are going to pay for his MASSIVE CORPORATE WELFARE SYSTEM responsibly as well, by ensuring that our largest corporations and the very wealthiest among us pay their fair share?

    To see if there is any truth whatsoever in that assertion, let’s go to a Reuters article titled “U.S. government posts smaller $176 bln April surplus as revenues shrink” by David Lawder on May 10, 2023, where we have as follows, to wit:

    Corporate tax receipts also fell 11% to $85 billion and the Federal Reserve again had no earnings in April, after contributing $10 billion to April 2022 receipts.

    April interest on the federal debt rose 27% from a year ago to $76 billion.

    The Treasury reported a $925 billion deficit for the first seven months of the 2023 fiscal year, a 157% increase from the $360 billion deficit a year earlier.

    Year-to-date receipts totaled $2.687 trillion, down 10% from the record $2.986 trillion in the year-ago periods.

    Outlays for the first seven months totaled $3.611 trillion, up 8% from the $3.346 trillion in the prior-year period.

    end quotes

    Given that those are the government’s own figures, it would appear that Joe Biden was lying to us when he told us these programs would be paid for responsibly, which takes us to a Washington Examiner story titled “The federal deficit rose by 63% in one year. Why is Biden resisting spending reforms?” by Tiana Lowe Doescher on 9 May 2023, where we have a reality check on Joe Biden’s specious claim, to wit:

    Without a drawdown of the federal deficit, a debt ceiling increase would only delay the inevitable.

    At the government’s current rate of spending competing against inflation, a default on our national debt is a matter of “when,” not “if.”

    The latest release from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office puts it in stark terms.

    In just the first seven months of fiscal 2023, the federal budget deficit reached almost $1 trillion — a 63% increase from the $568 billion deficit recorded in the first seven months of fiscal 2022.

    And if not for a few timing quirks that pushed payments for this fiscal year back into the last, the deficit increase would have actually reached 74% from fiscal 2022 to 2023.

    On the other side of the equation, federal spending rose by 8% in the first seven months of the fiscal year.

    Much of the increase resulted from higher interest costs on paying down the national debt — up 40% thanks to the Fed’s interest rate hikes, again a consequence of inflation.

    Despite the pandemic being over and Democrats having already achieved the “full employment” they have always dreamt of, we’re on track to spend nearly $2 trillion this fiscal year.

    From the cost of borrowing to our dismal labor force participation rate, the federal government has managed to worsen every element on both sides of the equation.

    end quotes

    So, every story paints a picture, don’t it, and this picture looks very much like a picture from 1929!

    So, can Joe Biden dish us up a depression like never seen before?

    Stay tuned!

  11. On July 19, 2021, in his “Remarks by President Biden on the Economy,” we had Joe Biden saying as follows; to wit:

    We can’t go back to the old, failed thinking.

    We need to grow the economy from the bottom up and the middle out, as I’ve said before.

    end quotes

    And for a vivid example of what Joe calls growing the economy from the bottom up and the middle out so that the rich and wealthy do quite well, which is the way it should be, because it is the right thing to do, let’s go to a CNBC story titled “Consumer debt passes $17 trillion for the first time despite slide in mortgage demand” by Jeff Cox on May 15, 2023, where we have as follows on that very subject, to wit:

    Total consumer debt hit a fresh new high in the first quarter of 2023, pushing past $17 trillion even amid a sharp pullback in home borrowing.

    The total for borrowing across all categories hit $17.05 trillion, an increase of nearly $150 billion, or 0.9% during the January-to-March period, the New York Federal Reserve reported Monday.

    That took total indebtedness up about $2.9 trillion from the pre-Covid period ended in 2019.

    end quotes

    When Joe Biden talks about growing the economy from the bottom up and the middle out, there is exactly how he is doing it – pushing those at the bottom and in the middle further into debt, making them in essence debt slaves, so that Joe’s upper class, the rich and wealthy the Democrats and Joe Biden rely upon for political contributions, do well for themselves, and so, have some extra coin to contribute to Joe and the Democrats, which takes us back to that story, as follows:

    That increase came even though new mortgage originations, including refinancings, totaled just $323.5 billion, the lowest level since the second quarter of 2014.

    The total was 35% lower than in the fourth quarter of 2022 and 62% below the same period a year ago.

    New home loans peaked at $1.22 trillion in the second quarter of 2021 and have been falling since as interest rates have increased.

    The higher rates helped push total mortgage debt to $12.04 trillion, up 0.1 percentage point from the fourth quarter.

    end quotes

    And here, while we are also on causes of the GREAT DEPRESSION, let us consider the following, and as I have said before, this used to be a topic taught in high school in America so we would know the difference, to wit:

    Q: What is the connection between the consumerism of the 1920s and the Great Depression?

    A: Consumerism was a culture that dominated the 1920s.

    It resulted in people buying things they didn’t need and taking on debt they couldn’t afford, which ultimately led to the stock market crash.

    end quote

    Which takes us back to Joe on July 19, 2021, to wit:

    Our economy has come a long way over the last six months.

    We can’t slow down now.

    We can make this boom we’re experiencing today one that will ensure that all Americans have an opportunity to share in it for years to come.

    And we can show the world that American democracy can deliver for the people.

    I look forward to continuing to build this economy.

    And I’m incredibly optimistic about what we’re going to be able to build together in the next six months and the years to come.

    end quotes

    Which takes us back to the CNBC article to see more of what Joe was talking about there, to wit:

    Delinquency rates for all debt increased, up 0.6 percentage point for credit cards to 6.5% and 0.2 percentage point for auto loans to 6.9%.

    Total delinquency rates moved up 0.2 percentage point to 3%, the highest since the third quarter of 2020.

    Student loan debt edged higher to $1.6 trillion and auto loans nudged up as well to $1.56 trillion.

    end quotes

    Which takes us back to causes of the GREAT DEPRESSION, to wit:

    Q: What happened to consumer debt between 1920 and 1930?

    A: Consumer debt more than doubled between 1920 and 1930.

    Q: How was consumer debt a cause of the Great Depression?

    A: Economist Irving Fisher explained in 1933 that to keep up with their house, auto, and other debt payments, people cut back on their spending.

    This, he said, was the major reason consumer demand dropped, which caused more price and wage deflation, less investment, falling output by companies, and layoffs.

  12. And while we are on the subject of the Federal Reserve, which is supposed to be, but isn’t, an independent body from the administration of Joe Biden, going back to the original post on that subject, we have as follows:

    As Joe Biden pours money out the door for his INSANE GREEN DREAM like a modern-day MAD KING LUDWIG of Bavaria, it is our descendants who are getting the bill, and are getting royally screwed in the process, which takes us to a Reuters article titled “NY Fed report sees several more years of balance sheet contraction” by Michael S. Derby on April 11, 2023, as follows:

    As part of the annual report for its System Open Market Account for 2022, the bank (the federal reserve) said that Fed holdings, which now stand at $8.7 trillion, will likely fall to around $6 trillion by the middle of 2025 before holding steady for around a year.

    Holdings are then expected to grow to maintain balance with the growth of the economy and tick back up to $7.2 trillion by 2030.

    end quotes

    In other words, the federal reserve is monetizing the debt Joe Biden is incurring with his INSANE GREEN DREAM with its windmills and electric cars and solar farms by buying the debt Joe is issuing in the form of bonds, and we are paying the federal reserve interest on those bonds they hold, and to put that in its proper perspective, consider that as of March 2023 it costs we, the American people $384 billion to maintain the debt, which is to say, pay the interest due, which is 12% of the total federal spending.

    And for what?

    What exactly are we getting for our money?

    end quotes

    What we are getting, of course, is screwed, unless we are a rich and wealthy Democrat political contributor, in which case, we are doing just fine, but since we are talking about the supposed political independence of the Federal Reserve, which under Joe Biden is barely given lip service, let alone substance, given Joe needs the Federal Reserve to monetize his massive GREEN DREAM debt for him, let’s drop back in time a year to May 31, 2022, and a Reuters article titled “Biden emphasized Fed independence in meeting with Powell – aide,” where we have the following to consider, to wit:

    WASHINGTON, May 31 (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden told Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday that he will give the central bank the space and independence to address inflation as it sees fit, according to a top aide.

    “The president underscored to Chair Powell in the meeting what he has underscored consistently, including today, that he respects the independence of the Federal Reserve,” said Biden’s top economic adviser, Brian Deese.

    end quotes

    Now, consider that if U.S. President Joe Biden was telling Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell a year ago in May of 2022 that he would give the central bank the space and independence to address inflation as it sees fit, in Joe’s mind, if one looks at those words rationally and logically, what Joe is really saying is that he has the power to take that space and independence away, which in turn takes us back to July 19, 2021 and “Remarks by President Biden on the Economy” where we in fact have Joe Biden clearly violating that supposed Federal Reserve independence by exacting a promise from Powell to in fact monetize Joe’s massive debt, as follows, to wit:

    THE PRESIDENT: Well, good morning.

    As I made clear to Chairman Powell of the Federal Reserve when we met recently, the Fed is independent.

    It should take whatever steps it deems necessary to support a strong, durable economic recovery.

    But whatever different views some might have on current price increases, we should be united on one thing: passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework, which we shook hands on.

    We shook hands on it.

    end quotes

    Yes, people, they clearly did shake hands on it, which is to say, they colluded on it, and today, a little less than two years later, we, the American people are the ones paying the price for that collusion, and that process, as we have been seeing above, is only just beginning!

  13. So, here we have a benchmark date in this sage of Joe Biden’s RIGGED GREEN GAME that we, the American people are getting stuck with the bill for, along with the INFLATION TAX we are being forced to pay as a consequence of all the borrowed money Joe Biden is plowing into the economy, and that benchmark date is July 19, 2021, when in his “Remarks by President Biden on the Economy,” we had Joe Biden stating as follows with respect to Joe exacting a promise from Powell to in fact monetize Joe’s massive debt, as follows, to wit:

    THE PRESIDENT: As I made clear to Chairman Powell of the Federal Reserve when we met recently, the Fed is independent.

    But whatever different views some might have on current price increases, we should be united on one thing: passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework, which we shook hands on.

    We shook hands on it.

    end quotes

    So using that date of July 19, 2021 as our benchmark, we can then search the internet to see if we can find any references from either Joe Biden or Jerome Powell as to what they did shake hands on, which first takes us to a CNBC article dated January 20, 2021, six months earlier, and titled “The Fed under Biden: New mandates, a close White House tie and big challenges ahead” by Jeff Cox, where we had as follows with respect to the relationship between Joe Biden and Jerome Powell, who is supposed to be independent from Joe Biden, but clearly is not, to wit:

    The Federal Reserve is likely to enjoy a more cordial relationship with President Joe Biden than it did with Donald Trump, who once called central bankers “boneheads.”

    end quote

    A more cordial relationship, people?

    How does that fit in with the concept of an independent Federal Reserve?

    And was Trump wrong, given the abysmally poor record of the Federal Reserve, to call the central bankers “boneheads?”

    Keep an open mind on that thought, considering where the Federal Reserve, in colluding with Joe Biden to finance his INSANE GREEN DREAM has brought us to, which takes us back to that CNBC article, where we have more on the incestuous relationship between the Biden administration and the Federal Reserve under Biden pet poodle Jerry Powell, to wit:

    “He will respect the office.”

    “Biden’s an old-fashioned guy,” said Christopher Whalen, a finance veteran and head of Whalen Global Advisors.

    However, the Fed under Biden likely will be pushed toward addressing racial inequality and climate change.

    “Above all else, what the Fed wants to do is to keep as much power as they can, and the way in which they keep their power is to keep the party in charge happy,” policy expert Ed Mills said.

    end quotes

    And right there goes any pretense that the Federal Reserve is independent of partisan politics right out the window, which is important for we, the American people to know, which takes us back to CNBC, to wit:

    There likely will be no nasty tweets in the middle of the night excoriating the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates.

    Nor will its officials be called “boneheads” should their actions not be in keeping with President Joe Biden’s wishes.

    But that doesn’t mean the U.S. central bank won’t face pressure as it looks to navigate its way through a new administration.

    Challenges ahead include the coronavirus pandemic, as well as demands for a more inclusive economy and a stronger approach toward social issues, such as racial equality and climate change.

    There also will be an interesting new dynamic, where Treasury Secretary nominee Janet Yellen will, if confirmed, have the added benefit of being a former Fed chair.

    Broad monetary policy changes are unlikely ahead.

    Biden likely will enjoy the same low interest rate environment that the last two holders of the office have held.

    end quotes

    And let us stop right there for the moment with that statement from January 20, 2021 that Joe Biden likely would enjoy the same low interest rate environment that the last two holders of the office have held, because there is the fatal flaw in Joe Biden’s INSANE GREEN DREAM that has come back around to bite we, the American people right in the ***, because thanks to the inflation caused by Joe’s INSANE GREEN DREAM, it is no longer a low interest rate environment and that, people, spells danger down the road for us, so stay tuned for more on that very subject, courtesy of the Cape Charles Mirror!

  14. And while we are on this subject of Joe Biden colluding (cooperate in a secret or unlawful way in order to deceive or gain an advantage over others) with fed chair Jerome Powell to monetize the MASSIVE DEBT represented by Joe Biden’s RIGGED GREEN GAME, which is corporate welfare on steroids, let us go back for a moment to the CNBC article titled “The Fed under Biden: New mandates, a close White House tie and big challenges ahead” by Jeff Cox on January 20, 2021, six months before Joe Biden in his “Remarks by President Biden on the Economy” on July 19, 2021 stated “As I made clear to Chairman Powell of the Federal Reserve when we met recently, the Fed is independent, but whatever different views some might have on current price increases, we should be united on one thing: passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework, which we shook hands on, we shook hands on it,” where we have as follows, to wit:

    For his part, Biden won’t be nearly as vocal as Donald Trump was when the ex-president hectored the Fed for even lower rates.

    But all presidents watch the Fed closely, and Biden won’t be an exception as he looks to get through the current crisis.

    Most everyone in public office likes low rates, and Biden won’t be an exception.

    end quotes

    Except as stated above, this is no longer a low-rate environment, and it isn’t a low-rate environment any longer precisely because of the federal reserve being forced to raise interest rates in order to try to stem the inflation caused by Joe’s MASSIVE SPENDING, which takes us to December 1, 2021, five months after Joe Biden’s “Remarks by President Biden on the Economy” on July 19, 2021, and OVERSIGHT OF THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT’S AND FEDERAL RESERVE’S PANDEMIC RESPONSE – HYBRID HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL SERVICES – U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, where we have Congressman McHenry from North Carolina speaking on the record with regard to the inflation caused by Joe Biden’s MASSIVE SPENDING that has caused interest rates to rise, to wit:

    Mr. McHenry: Thank you, Madam Chairwoman, and Chair Powell,
    congratulations on your renomination.

    It is the Fed’s job to look at and evaluate the macroeconomic picture.

    It is not their job to respond to each and every variant.

    But it is not just the pandemic that is posing a threat to our full recovery.

    It is Democrats’ bad fiscal policy decisions that are driving inflation.

    end quotes

    That was on December 1, 2021, and today 535 days later, to see where we now are with respect to that same inflation, let’s go to a CNBC article titled “Dallas Fed President Logan says current data doesn’t justify pausing rate hikes yet” by Jeff Cox on May 18, 2023, where we have as follows:

    Dallas Federal Reserve President Lorie Logan said Thursday that the economic data points so far don’t justify skipping a rate increase at the central bank’s next meeting in June.

    While noting some progress in bringing down inflation and cooling the labor market, Logan said the Fed still has work to do in achieving its goal for price stability.

    “We haven’t yet made the progress we need to make.”

    “And it’s a long way from here to 2% inflation,” Logan said, referring to the Fed’s longer-run goal.

    She noted that the Fed’s preferred inflation data point, the core personal consumption expenditures price index, ran at a 4.9% annualized pace in the first quarter.

    That was higher than the 4.4% pace in the fourth quarter of 2022.

    end quotes

    And that, of course, is the inflation that Joe Biden told us in CNN article titled “Biden takes on inflation concerns as domestic agenda hangs in the balance: ‘These disruptions are temporary'” by Phil Mattingly and Kate Sullivan on July 19, 2021 was “transitory,” as follows:

    (CNN)President Joe Biden on Monday directly addressed concerns that his sweeping economic agenda will serve as an accelerant to inflation amid growing concern about price hikes across the economic spectrum.

    “We also know that as our economy has come roaring back, we’ve seen some price increases.”

    “Some folks have raised worries that could be a sign of persistent inflation.”

    “But that’s not our view,” Biden said, speaking from the White House.

    But Biden also used the occasion to attempt to disarm a line of attack that has resonated in recent weeks as inflation has hit its highest point in 12 years and the US economy continues its emergence from what was essentially a total freeze as the pandemic swept the country.

    It comes as economists in both parties have signaled the data is serving as a flashing warning sign about inflation, and as a Marist poll last month for NPR and the PBS NewsHour showed that inflation has surpassed wages and unemployment as the public’s top concern about the US economy.

    The White House economic team has been closely monitoring the numbers and officials say it still firmly believes the data is both transitory and more a result of the uneven emergence of the economy from a once in generation supply-side shock — one that has created a series of bottlenecks in the supply chain and supply and demand mismatches that continue to linger.

    “The overwhelming consensus is it’s going to pop up a little bit and then go back down,” Biden said last month.

    end quotes

    And with that said, let’s take a pause!

  15. Recapping events in here, this was American dictator and autocrat Joseph Robinette Biden, Junior on July 19, 2021 in his “Remarks by President Biden on the Economy,” where we had from Joe as follows, to wit:

    I’ve said it before, and it’s true: This is a blue-collar blueprint for building an American economy back.

    Let me close with this: When I arrived in office, it had been a long time since the government had worked for the people.

    Things had been great for big corporations and folks at the top.

    Our economy has come a long way over the last six months.

    We can’t slow down now.

    We can make this boom we’re experiencing today one that will ensure that all Americans have an opportunity to share in it for years to come.

    And we can show the world that American democracy can deliver for the people.

    I look forward to continuing to build this economy.

    And I’m incredibly optimistic about what we’re going to be able to build together in the next six months and the years to come.

    Thank you all for listening.

    May God bless you.

    end quotes

    And this is economic reality today in America for those of us who are not rich and well-to-do Democrats, to wit:

    MoneyWise

    “US household debt just hit a record high of $17 trillion — while credit card balances are up nearly 20% compared to last year.”

    Story by Serah Louis

    21 MAY 2023

    U.S. household debt surged to a record $17.05 trillion, with consumers owing $986 billion on their credit cards in the first quarter of 2023, the New York Fed reported May 15.

    Credit card balances are also up nearly 20% from last year, according to a separate report from credit reporting company TransUnion on May 11.

    “As inflation rose to near 40-year high levels, many consumers have used credit to help manage their budgets, leading to record- or near-record high balances,” Michele Raneri, vice president of U.S. research and consulting at TransUnion, said in a press release.

    ****************

    MarketWatch

    “Americans are not paying off their credit-card debt. We should be concerned.”

    Story by Quentin Fottrell

    21 May 2023

    Credit-card balances hit $986 billion in the fourth quarter last year and remained largely unchanged in the first quarter of this year, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said in its most recent quarterly report on household debt.

    It looks increasingly likely that credit-card debt is on track to hit the $1 trillion mark this year, and experts say that this number could be an indicator of a looming economic downturn.

    This has raised eyebrows among some observers, because people typically pay off their debts from the holiday season in the first quarter of the year.

    That did not happen this year.

    “Although inflation is slowing and wages are starting to rise, inflation is still squeezing people’s budgets,” said Mary Eschelbach Hansen, a professor of economics at the American University in Washington, D.C., and author of “Bankrupt in America: A History of Debtors, Their Creditors, and the Law in the Twentieth Century.”

    “It seems likely that part of the fourth-quarter run-up in balances went towards groceries and other everyday bills rather than holiday expenditures, and folks are having a harder time paying that back,” she said.

    Others shared her concerns.

    “I see several worrying trends here,” said Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst at Bankrate.com.

    “Credit-card debt is something that’s easy to get into and hard to get out of.”

    “More people carrying balances at higher rates for longer periods of time is definitely a bad combination.”

    “We’re seeing more people financing day-to-day essentials on credit cards.”

    Interest rates are also making it more difficult for people to pay off their cards.

    “The average credit card charges a record-high 20.33%,” Rossman noted.

    “We also see more people carrying balances and holding onto them for longer periods of time.”

    “All of this says a lot about the K-shaped economy: Basically, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.”

    end quotes

    Exactly as Joe Biden planned it, people – we are nothing more than cash cows to be milked for all we are worth.

    But stay tuned because this sad story of the fleecing of the American people does not end there!

  16. We common folks in America have become used to the fact that when Joe Biden says something, pretty much anything, for that matter, the actual meaning is the opposite of the words Joe is actually uttering, so that on July 19, 2021, when in his “Remarks by President Biden on the Economy,” Joe said “I’ve said it before, and it’s true: This is a blue-collar blueprint for building an American economy back,” what Joe was really saying was “this is a blueprint for building an American economy on the backs of the blue-collar workers of America,” which takes us to a Reuters article titled “Inflation has eroded US households’ financial security, Fed survey shows” on May 22, 2023, where we have what Joe is talking about in technicolor, to wit:

    May 22 (Reuters) – The inflation wave that crested at a 40-year high last year and remains elevated has eroded U.S. households’ sense of financial security, the Federal Reserve reported Monday, with many saying they had reduced their savings to make ends meet, felt less secure about retirement, and had delayed purchases or swapped into cheaper products as they shopped.

    end quote

    Said the way it should be said, the MIRACLE BIDEN ECONOMY is looting their savings, leaving them poorer than they were before Joe came along to rob them, which takes us back to Reuters, as follows:

    In an annual survey showing the corrosive effects of inflation on Americans’ economic confidence, the Fed said the percentage of respondents who said they were doing “at least okay financially” in 2022 tumbled by 5 percentage points – the most since the survey was launched a decade ago – to 73%.

    It had stood at a record high the year before.

    The share of those saying they were worse off shot up 15 points to 35%, the highest level by far since the Fed first started asking that question in 2014.

    end quotes

    They are worse off thanks to Joe Biden making them that way, which again takes us back to Reuters, to wit:

    Those who considered their retirement savings “on track” fell to 31% among those not yet retired, compared to 40% in 2021.

    With a 2024 presidential campaign already in its early stages, the survey also suggested Americans’ souring mood about their own finances carried over to their view of the national economy.

    Even though the unemployment rate has been low, below 4%, since January of 2022, only 18% of respondents rated the national economy as “good” or “excellent,” down from 50% as of 2019.

    Fifty-four percent of adults said that their budgets had been affected “a lot” by price increases, with parents of children under 18, Black and Latin American adults and those with disabilities ranking among the most likely to report an impact from inflation.

    Indeed, overall one-third of households cited inflation as their main financial challenge, up more than fourfold from 2016.

    A question meant to measure households’ wherewithal to overcome a modest financial emergency showed fewer thought they had the ability to meet an unexpected $400 expense using cash or the equivalent, such as a credit card expected to be repaid in full at the next statement.

    end quotes

    And from there, let’s go to a Fox News article titled “Inflation pummeled US household finances last year, Fed survey finds” by Breck Dumas on 22 May 2023, where we have more on Joe building his economy which benefits rich Republicans on the backs of blue-collar workers in America, to wit:

    Historically high inflation took a notable toll on Americans’ finances last year, when rising prices outpaced wage gains and chewed into household budgets, according to newly released Federal Reserve data.

    The central bank’s 2022 Survey of Household Economics and Decision Making (SHED) report released Monday, which was fielded from October 2021 through November 1, 2022, found the share of U.S. adults who reported they were worse off financially than a year earlier jumped from 20% to 35% – the highest level since the question was first asked nearly a decade ago.

    The share of adults who reported spending less than their income in the month before the survey fell below pre-pandemic levels, while the share of Americans who reported their credit card debt increased rose.

    The Fed said “inflation affected people’s spending and saving choices in several different ways,” pointing out that nearly two-thirds of adults stopped using a product or used less because of higher prices, 64% switched to a cheaper alternative, and more than half (51%) of Americans reduced their savings due to their budgets being squeezed.

    Working adults also showed greater anxiety about being able to afford to retire.

    Only 31% of non-retirees reported that their retirement savings plans were on track last fall, a nine-point drop from 2021.

    The Fed has raised interest rates 10 consecutive times to the highest level in 16 years in its most aggressive tightening campaign since the 1980s as it battles to bring prices down, but another survey released Monday shows America’s top economists do not expect the central bank to reach its 2% goal any time soon.

    The National Association for Business Economics (NABE) outlook survey found just 2% of business forecasters said they believe inflation will have slowed to 2% by the second half of 2023, while a 59% majority don’t believe inflation will decline to the Fed’s target level until 2025 or later.

    end quotes

    Bottom line, people, we are going to be paying Joe Biden’s INFLATION TAX for some time yet to come.

    And that right now is the latest news about Joe Biden’s MIRACLE ECONOMY for the rich, but stay tuned because it does not end there!

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