- Corrupting The Presidential Pardon Power
Corrupting The Presidential Pardon Power
Authored by Ron Faucheux via RealClearPolitics,
The U.S. Constitution gives presidents the power to grant pardons and commutations for federal crimes. This unique, unchecked power was meant to be used sparingly, as a last resort to correct injustices in the system. Pardons shouldn’t be gifts for friends, donors, and relatives who happen to be lawbreakers. It’s intended to right wrongs, not cause new ones.
Not all presidents have misused the pardon power, but some have. How you see it often depends upon your politics. To paraphrase an old saw: One man’s shady pardon is another man’s pursuit of justice.
President Gerald Ford’s pardon of predecessor Richard Nixon was roundly criticized at the time, and may have cost Ford the 1976 election. Nixon had picked Ford to be vice president, which led to Ford’s accession to the presidency when Nixon resigned.
President Jimmy Carter granted amnesty to Vietnam War draft evaders – keeping a promise he made during his campaign. He wanted to move the nation beyond a grim moment in history, similar to what Ford did with Nixon’s pardon.
Shortly before he left office, President George H.W. Bush pardoned Reagan administration officials who had been involved in the Iran-Contra scandal, including former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger. Bush’s connection to these officials, as vice president in the same administration, raised eyebrows. Was he just trying to protect colleagues, or worse, himself? But because the pardons came after the 1992 election, which Bush lost, it never became a campaign issue.
In 1999, President Bill Clinton commuted sentences for 16 members of FALN, a Puerto Rican paramilitary group that set off 120 bombing attacks in the United States. Clinton’s action was supported by archbishops in New York and Puerto Rico – but condemned by the FBI, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the U.S. attorney’s office and a big majority of Congress. Some critics saw it as a political gambit to boost Hillary Clinton’s Senate candidacy in New York, a state with a large Puerto Rican population.
On his last day as president, Clinton pardoned dozens of federal offenders, including billionaire fugitive Marc Rich, whose wife contributed big money to the Clinton Library and Hillary Clinton’s campaign, and Susan McDougal, who refused to testify about the president’s role in the Whitewater scandal. He also pardoned two convicted felons who paid $400,000 to Hillary Clinton’s brother, attorney Hugh Rodman, to represent them. His half-brother, Roger Clinton, and two former Democratic congressmen were also on the clemency list.
President Donald Trump’s use of the pardon power to keep allies out of prison has been unusually barefaced. His first pardon went to a prominent supporter, former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio. Later, he pardoned his former national security advisor, retired General Michael Flynn, and his own daughter’s father-in-law, Charles Kushner.
Trump additionally granted clemency to a slew of former political advisers and supporters, including Paul Manafort, Steve Bannon, and longtime counselor Roger Stone. Democrats in Congress questioned whether Stone’s pardon was a reward for protecting Trump; Sen. Mitt Romney called it an act of “unprecedented, historic corruption.”
In the 2024 campaign, Trump said that during a second term he’d likely pardon some of those involved in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
The most recent clemency controversy was President Joe Biden’s “full and unconditional pardon” of his son Hunter Biden, which covered a 10-year period of possible federal offenses. He had previously said he wouldn’t do it. Biden also commuted sentences for 37 of 40 convicts on death row in federal prisons, which was largely a policy statement against capital punishment.
There isn’t much that can be done about dubious pardons – it’s a constitutional grant of power. But two things may help clean up the process.
First, make pardons a bigger campaign issue. The news media should start asking presidential candidates about their clemency policies – and get them on record. Will they pardon friends and relatives? Political supporters? Witnesses in legal matters? It’s amazing how rarely these questions are asked.
Second, change the Constitution to prevent pardons and commutations during the last 100 days of each four-year presidential term. This means no clemency after mid-October of election years.
During Thanksgiving, presidents usually grant pardons to turkeys – for laughs, of course. But when the turkeys are well-connected criminals, it’s not so funny.
Ron Faucheux is a nonpartisan political analyst and pollster. He’s the author of “Running for Office” and publishes a national newsletter on public opinion, LunchtimePolitics.com.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 01/17/2025 – 23:25 - In Her Last Official Act, Yellen Warns US Will Hit Debt Ceiling One Day After Trump Inauguration
In Her Last Official Act, Yellen Warns US Will Hit Debt Ceiling One Day After Trump Inauguration
Back in the last week of December, when the stock market was desperately trying to reverse the slump of the Santa rally which prevented stocks from closing 2024 at an all time high, we warned that a bigger threat than a modest 1% market drawdown was looming: the countdown to the next debt ceiling crisis. We quoted Democratic operative – and the only US government official who has personally overseen total debt increase by a staggering $15 trillion under her watch at both the Fed and Treasury – Janet Yellen…
… the said the United States would hit its statutory debt ceiling around the middle of January, at which point the Treasury would resort to “extraordinary measures” to prevent the government from defaulting on its obligations.
While it may not feel like it, we are now in mid-January, and late on Friday, Janet Yellen, in what is almost certainly the last ever official announcement of her long and undistinguished political career, said that the US would hit its debt ceiling the day after President Trump is inaugurated, and that the Treasury will launch “extraordinary measures” to stave off the threat of a national default.
After a previous 20-month suspension of the debt limit expired earlier this month, Yellen wrote in a letter to bipartisan congressional leaders Friday she was advising them “of the extraordinary measures that Treasury will begin using on January 21.” That will be a day after the Biden administration leaves office. “I respectfully urge Congress to act promptly to protect the full faith and credit of the United States.”
The letter marked the second notification in the latest tussle over the debt limit, which kicked back in as of Jan. 2, and the last ever for Yellen before the Trump administration takes office Jan. 20. Congress had suspended the ceiling in 2023 after a close-fought battle by lawmakers to avert a default on federal obligations. The limit is currently set at about $36 trillion.
While some strategists anticipate an easier path to an agreement to suspend or lift the cap given Republicans’ unified control of Congress and the White House once Trump takes office again on Jan. 20, until that action is taken the Treasury will need to deploy measures used repeatedly over the decades to avoid breaching the limit.
As Bloomberg reminds us, during his Senate confirmation hearing, Trump’s nominee to succeed Yellen as Treasury chief, Scott Bessent, vowed that there’d be no default on his watch… which is glaringly obvious. Which nominee for Treasury secretary would ever say out loud: “Yes, I fully intend on watching the US default under my watch.”
While nothing new to those familiar with the periodic song and dance when the US enters its debt ceiling crunch, Yellen advised that the Treasury’s extraordinary measures would begin by redeeming a portion of, and suspending full investments in, the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund. It will also suspend additional investments of amounts credited to the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund. Those funds will be made whole after Congress acts on the debt ceiling, Yellen said. She gave no indication how long the accounting measures and Treasury’s cash balance would last.
“The period of time that extraordinary measures may last is subject to considerable uncertainty, including the challenges of forecasting the payments and receipts of the US government months into the future,” she wrote.
One thing we do know, is that the Treasury currently has $680 billion in cash in the Treasury General Account which will now be drained at an accelerated pace, and potentially hit $0 by the summer, until a new debt ceiling deal is reached (it will be, it’s just a matter of when). What is just as notable is that as we first described it at the start of 2021, this rapid drain of Treasury cash serves to goose risk assets aggressively, and according to some strategists, has an even greater impact on prices than the Fed’s QE, since there is no new net debt issuance for the duration of the debt ceiling suspension.
And speaking of debt issuance suspension, total US debt will now remain frozen at around $36.2 trillion for the next ~6 months, until the next debt deal is reached, at which point the debt issuance will “catch up” to where it was supposed to be, and surge by almost $2 trillion overnight.
The above assumes of course that after the requisite fire and brimstone, a new debt deal will be reached. Naturally, should the Treasury become unable to issue fresh debt and then run out of cash, the US government would be in danger of defaulting on some financial obligations. Wall Street is already trying to handicap how long the US government has before it’s unable to pay its bills because of the newly re-imposed debt ceiling. That so-called X-date has been estimated by some strategists as looming around July or August.
In the event of congressional standoffs, investors tend to dump the Treasury bills most vulnerable to a potential default in favor of securities maturing before or after the X-date, creating a kink in the curve. Right now, though, the bill market is showing no signs of angst, given the uncertainties about the outlook.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 01/17/2025 – 23:17 - South Korea Looks To Boost American Oil & Gas Purchases To Appease Trump
South Korea Looks To Boost American Oil & Gas Purchases To Appease Trump
South Korea is looking at a plan to purchase more US oil and gas to diversify its energy sources, and also ‘potentially head off the threat of President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs,’ Bloomberg reports.
The possible move would be aimed at reducing the trade surplus with America, as well as improving the country’s energy security, according to Thursday comments in Seoul from Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, Ahn Duk-geun. The country is also considering additional government support for companies so they can import more oil and gas from countries outside the Middle East.
“Other countries are all talking about how they need to ease the growing trade deficit under the Trump administration,” said Ahn. “We are pretty much in the same situation so we are thinking about increasing energy imports, and there’s also a need to diversify supplies to improve energy security.”
Ahn Duk-geunPhotographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg South Korea is heavily dependent on exports to drive its economic growth – with the US being one of its top trading partners.
The move comes after Trump promised an array of protectionist policies – including universal tariffs – to try and reduce an out-of-control US trade deficit with other nations.
South Korea, the world’s third-largest buyer of liquefied natural gas, follows several other nations who are looking at boosting their purchases of US fossil fuels, including Taiwan, Vietnam and the EU.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 01/17/2025 – 23:00 - DeSantis Chooses Florida AG Ashley Moody To Replace Rubio In Senate
DeSantis Chooses Florida AG Ashley Moody To Replace Rubio In Senate
Authored by T.J. Muscaro via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Jan. 16 announced that Ashley Moody, Florida’s attorney general, will replace Sen. Marco Rubio in the U.S. Senate, praising her as someone who will deliver results in step with the incoming administration’s America-first agenda.
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody speaks at a press conference, in a file photograph. Joe Raedle/Getty Images “Florida deserves a senator who stands unapologetically for conservative principles, supports law enforcement, has a strong record of combatting illegal immigration, and is ready to deliver on President Trump’s agenda. Attorney General Ashley Moody’s exemplary track record shows her commitment to these principles,” DeSantis said.
Rubio is expected to resign from his seat upon receiving Senate approval to become the next U.S. Secretary of State, and DeSantis said Moody will quickly fill the vacant seat.
Joining DeSantis for the announcement, Moody accepted the appointment and promised to bring “the same persistence and passion and tenacity” to her role as a senator that she brought to her role as attorney general.
“You better believe, as a United States Senator, I will work for you, those that stand on that thin line between chaos and order, between safety and crime,” Moody said. “I have got your back … and we will all work to protect the American people and make all of our cities and states stronger and safer together.
“And so I have one message right now to President Trump and to my new colleagues on the United States Senate: America first, let’s get it done.”
DeSantis praised Moody for the work she’s done in the past six years as Florida’s attorney general, stating, “I’m happy to say we’ve had an attorney general who has been somebody that has acted time and time again to support the values that we all share.”
He summarized her track record, touting her tough-on-crime stance and her work fighting against issues such as illegal immigration, the opioid and fentanyl crisis, anti-Semitism, influence and land ownership by communist China, and federal government overreach by agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
He praised Moody for taking legal action against the Federal Emergency Management Agency for alleged discrimination, urging the Supreme Court to remove illegal immigrants from voter rolls before the last election, speaking out against the now-failed state Amendments 3 and 4, and fighting to ban transgender surgeries for minors.
Moody said that what angered her most as a state attorney general was the past four years of having to fight against federal government overreach.
She promised to work to give power back to the American people.
“The only way to return this country to the people, the people who govern it, is to make sure we have a strong Congress doing its job passing laws and actually approving the regulations that these unelected bureaucrats are trying to cram down on the American people,” she said.
She pointed out that she has already served in the judiciary and executive branches of government, and joked that she might be the only senator to serve in a third branch.
She also stressed that she is a trained accountant and could “shrink the bloat of the federal government.”
DeSantis said he won’t appoint Moody’s replacement as Florida’s attorney general before the position is available, but he expects to appoint his Chief of Staff James Uthmeier.
“James Uthmeier is kind of like Ashley,” he said. “He’s proven himself in these fights.”
DeSantis added that he thinks Moody is leaving “big shoes to fill,” but that Uthmeier would do a good job.
Rubio has not yet submitted his resignation, although DeSantis anticipates that Moody will likely take office on Jan. 20.
“I want to thank Senator Rubio for his service in the United States Senate,” DeSantis said. “I think he will serve the country ably as Secretary of State, and we need it, because the last four years has been a total disaster.”
Florida’s other senator, Rick Scott, celebrated Moody’s appointment on social media platform X, welcoming her to the Senate.
“Ashley has done an incredible job fighting for Floridians and keeping our communities safe as Attorney General,” he wrote. “I have no doubt she will do an incredible job as senator.”
DeSantis said that he notified Moody the night before the announcement. He praised the array of choices he had to choose from at both state and federal levels.
He specifically called out Florida Representatives Cory Mills and Kat Cammack, as well as Florida’s Secretary of State Cord Byrd, and State Senator Jay Collins.
Byrd and Collins both congratulated Moody on X shortly after the announcement, and expressed their gratitude to the governor for considering them.
DeSantis also said he “got a kick out of” speculation that he would appoint himself, but said that it was better to “hold the fort down” in Florida, saying that his team can be very helpful to President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda.
“I think we can play a good supporting role when senators like Ashley Moody are fighting for us, and we can be there in support for some of those policies to bring power back to the states,” he said.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 01/17/2025 – 22:35 - Pakistan's Imran Khan Sentenced To 14 Years In Prison, Supporters Want Trump To Free Him
Pakistan’s Imran Khan Sentenced To 14 Years In Prison, Supporters Want Trump To Free Him
The unfortunate saga of Pakistani state persecution against former Prime Minister Imran Khan continues, as a Pakistani court on Friday sentenced Khan and this wife to 14 and seven years in prison after finding them guilty of corruption.
He had already been held in jail for a couple years, despite many months of huge protests in various places by supporters demanding his release, after he and his wife were accused of accepting a gift of land from a real estate tycoon in exchange for laundered money, amid many additional pending graft investigations.
Via Reuters Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party reject the allegations, and the former prime minister had pled non-guilty in the case.
“Whilst we wait for a detailed decision, it’s important to note that the Al Qadir Trust case against Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi lacks any solid foundation and is bound to collapse,” PTI’s foreign media wing asserted in a statement.
PTI plans to challenge the verdict in higher courts, with Khan pledging after this conviction: “I will neither make any deal nor seek any relief.”
Khan has meanwhile insisted that his arrest in 2023 was simply politically motivated, designed by his rivals and enemies to keep the popular politician from power. According to a review of the last couple years of turmoil which has gripped Pakistan over Khan’s fate:
While imprisoned, Khan has been facing dozens of cases ranging from charges of graft and misuse of power to inciting violence against the state after being removed from office in a parliamentary vote of confidence in April 2022.
He has either been acquitted or his sentences suspended in most cases, except for this one and another on charges of inciting supporters to rampage through military facilities to protest against his arrest on May 9, 2023.
His supporters have led several violent protest rallies since the May 9 incidents.
He’s gotten some international support and backing amid the saga, with a United Nations panel of exports having announced last year that his detention “had no legal basis and appears to have been intended to disqualify him from running for political office“.
During Trump’s first term in office, via AFP Importantly, Khan’s supporters are expressing hope that Trump will use his influence to free him. According to the NY Times on Friday:
Supporters of Imran Khan, the imprisoned former prime minister, are now pinning their hopes on getting him freed — however fanciful — on the wild card among the three: the incoming administration of Donald J. Trump.
Mr. Trump has said nothing publicly to indicate that he plans to intervene in Mr. Khan’s case. Once he is sworn in as president on Monday, Pakistan is unlikely to rank high among Mr. Trump’s foreign policy priorities.
But a series of posts on social media by one of Mr. Trump’s close allies has inspired almost messianic certainty among Mr. Khan’s followers that the once and future American president will help secure his freedom.
I’ll say it again, @geonews_urdu:
Free Imran Khan. pic.twitter.com/z4Uxdejc2O
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) December 16, 2024
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
PTI had made a better than expected showing in February 2024 parliamentary elections and had decried that this was all a conspiracy to prevent his return to office by the military-run deep state. There are ultimately a whopping 170 legal cases against Khan.
Current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who emerged victorious in the last elections while Khan had languished in jail, was seen more as the “military’s man” in Islamabad, while Khan’s legacy has sought to be erased by those same elite powers.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 01/17/2025 – 22:10 - Pete Hegseth Is The Leader Our Military Needs
Pete Hegseth Is The Leader Our Military Needs
Authored by Horace Cooper via American Greatness,
This week, Pete Hegseth appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee for his confirmation hearing to be secretary of defense. Some Senate Democrats tried to make the process as grueling as possible, following months of allegations and character assassination since his nomination. They didn’t succeed.
The dawn is breaking. The left took their best shot and missed, and now Pete Hegseth looks to be headed for a successful confirmation. His political opponents weren’t able to build enough opposition to stop him and Senators Hirono and Warren’s feigned moral outrage was no match for his poise and take-charge style. In fact, he’s likely to get some bipartisan support.
Mr. Hegseth, like many of President Trump’s nominees, represents a break from the status quo. His nomination directly challenges the internal culture, decision-making process, and politicization of the Department of Defense that the Biden Administration has propagated for the last four years. This leadership, experience, and commitment to reform make him a threat to the status quo, which is why progressives have tried to do whatever it takes to stop him.
After graduating from Princeton in 2003, Pete Hegseth was commissioned as an infantry officer in the Minnesota National Guard. After being stationed in Guantanamo Bay, Hegseth would go on to have a storied career, earning two Bronze Stars during his time in Iraq and Afghanistan, obtaining a master’s degree from Harvard, and serving as CEO of Concerned Veterans for America.
But, like many Americans who have dedicated their lives to serving in the armed forces, he was ultimately betrayed by the very system he spent his career defending and consequently left the service for good.
While serving with the D.C. National Guard in 2021, Pete Hegseth was pulled from his unit assigned to protect Joe Biden’s inauguration. A fellow service member had reported Hegseth’s Jerusalem cross tattoo as a “white supremacist” symbol, and he was subsequently flagged as an insider threat. Just the whisper of such a smear was sufficient to tar him.
But this incident revealed more about the decline in our military than it did anything about Pete Hegseth. As detailed in Hegseth’s book, “The War on Warriors,” politics has been injected at every level of our nation’s armed forces, from the Pentagon all the way down to the military academies, ultimately harming troop morale and recruitment numbers.
Under Joe Biden, DEI initiatives, racial quotas, and diversity have become the central focus and the new standard of success in our nation’s military. Merit and lethality, the rules and standard measurement of any fighting force, have been displaced by progressive ideology. So much so that one of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s first actions leading the DOD was a branch-wide witch hunt for white supremacists in their ranks.
This waste of resources had repercussions across the board. For soldiers looking to make a career in the military, the traditional values of commitment and excellence have been entirely overshadowed by racial considerations. This shift is exemplified by Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., who was a vocal proponent of DEI and race-based hiring in the military before being promoted to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs.
Hegseth, like many of us, sees this changing culture as a betrayal both of the typical soldier and the American taxpayer. The prestige, importance, and opportunity that come from service have been entirely lost to a neo-Marxist crusade to remedy racial injustice, ultimately resulting in our war-fighting capacity being diminished and precious budget resources also wasted in the process.
As a result, recruitment numbers have continued to decline under the Biden Administration. In 2023, the Army failed to meet recruitment goals for the second year in a row, leaving it with the smallest active-duty force since 1940. In the Air Force, rather than addressing their failed recruitment efforts, leadership simply axed its standards on body fat composition and, worse, began accepting recruits who tested positive for illegal drugs (previously a permanent disqualification).
At a time when Russia is helping to accelerate North Korea’s nuclear program, China is expanding its sphere of influence across the globe, and tensions in the Middle East are at all-time highs, the strategic pitfalls of a US military at war with itself are deeply concerning.
Our nation’s military needs a leader who can reorient the strategic mission of our armed forces, rebuild military readiness, and restore America’s position as the world’s preeminent fighting force. Pete Hegseth brings the experience needed to lead and a first-hand understanding of the challenges plaguing our armed forces today.
He’s spent his career serving in the military, advocating for its Veterans, and being an open critic of its flaws. Hegseth also understands the realities of serving in combat and the profound impact that poor decision-making by career bureaucrats can have on the lives of everyday soldiers. But most importantly, his confirmation will lead to a recruitment bonanza and restore trust in a corroded institution.
This week’s confirmation hearing was a pivotal moment for our nation’s military. Under Pete Hegseth, who has been entrusted by Trump and the American people to lead our armed forces, we have the opportunity to face America’s challenges on the global stage and prevail. The Senate must confirm Pete Hegseth and give our military the leader it needs.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 01/17/2025 – 21:45 - Israel 'Confiscates' Thousands Of Abandoned Weapons, Including Tanks, From Syria
Israel ‘Confiscates’ Thousands Of Abandoned Weapons, Including Tanks, From Syria
Something unprecedented is happening in southern Syrian areas being occupied by Israel’s military. In the wake of Bashar al-Assad’s overthrow, Israel is actually stealing or in its words “confiscating” former Syrian Army weaponry and heavy equipment, even tanks.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) acknowledged in a statement Wednesday that soldiers operating in Syria have taken more than 3,300 weapons and other gear belonging to the Syrian Army. An IDF statement on X featured video of transporting an abandoned tank from Syria.
⭕️Over 3,300 weapons have been confiscated from Syrian territory so far.
Our troops continue their mission of frontline defense in Syria to ensure the safety and security of Israeli residents. Syrian Armed Forces tanks, anti-tank missiles, RPGs, mortars and observation… pic.twitter.com/mXAqUFkZt9
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) January 15, 2025
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Assad fled the country as the al-Qaeda linked group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham entered the environs of Damascus on December 8 of last year.
Since then Israel has mounted literally hundreds of attacks degrading and destroying former Syrian military complexes, bases, and weaponry. Israeli officials have explained that this is to prevent Syria’s advanced weapons from ever being used against Israeli again, or from falling into the hands of the Iranians or their proxies.
Israel has also been taking and occupying Syrian villages and territory, including the Syrian side of Mt. Hermon, and reportedly positioning forces a mere 20 miles from the Syrian capital.
Syria analyst Charles Lister, who has long been in support of radical armed groups which sought to topple Assad, has commented that “Israel hasn’t just been destroying Syria’s military infrastructure and heavy weaponry in recent weeks, it’s also been taking it, intact, back to Israel – tanks, missiles, rockets and more. All of this via a de facto invasion of sovereign territory.”
Most of the equipment is reported to be Russian-made. Another regional analyst, the University of Oklahoma’s Joshua Landis has written, “Israel picks up lots of second-hand military equipment from its new conquests on Syria’s front lines.”
Indeed Israel appears to be positively boasting about this in its official social media postings. But Syria no longer has an army to deal with it, so essentially the IDF is now acting with complete impunity in southern Syria and the Golan region. Assad once had the most advanced air defense systems in the Middle East, but Israeli warplanes have destroyed all the anti-air batteries at this point.
Weapons of the former Syrian Armed Forces seized by Israeli military, Jan. 15, 2024. Source: IDF Any future Syrian government which emerges is left with nothing at this point. Forces of the IDF’s 210th “Bashan” Division have continue operations inside Syria to “provide security and protection for the residents of Israel and the Golan Heights in particular,” according to the IDF’s official statements justifying the land and equipment theft.
The Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham has of late urged Washington to pressure Israel to withdraw from the extended Golan buffer zone as well as Mt. Hermon. But post-Assad Damascus has zero leverage, as there’s no military infrastructure left to speak of.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 01/17/2025 – 21:20 - Pillaged By Paper Money
Pillaged By Paper Money
Authored by Jeffrey Tucker via The Epoch Times,
The American people are going to be paying a high price for the 2024 U.S. presidential election and probably for years. I’m not speaking of the results which astonished the world; I’m speaking of the attempt to game the intended results that began more than a year earlier.
It won’t come in the form of higher taxes. It will be inflation, which is another form of taxation.
The problem of dollar devaluation could have been over by now but no. All evidence is that the Biden administration, in service of larger interests and in accommodation of Congressional spending, deployed the printing presses starting in 2023 as a means of assuring its reelection chances. It did not work and now we are stuck with the bill.
To be sure, there was never an overt policy but what I said above is a reasonable interpretation of why the Federal Reserve reversed its stance on the money spigot in 2023 and following.
There was never an excuse to do so. Inflation had already ravaged producers and consumers. The first priority was getting it under control. Instead, they went the other way, thus risking a second wave, which might just be getting going.
The latest producer and consumer price reports look simply awful, a full-on reversal of downward trends to reveal a renewed problem.
Now that Trump is taking office, the corporate media and the Bureau of Labor Statistics is suddenly being more forthcoming about the problem. Inflation is running at 3 percent or 50 percent above target. The low-end estimate of purchasing power losses since 2020 is 23 cents on the dollar. The real-time estimates are closer to 30 cents. The reality depending on what you buy is far higher.
Let there be no confusion about the source of the problem.
It is not gouging grocers. It is not greedy consumers. It is not opportunistic suppliers. It is not even restrictions on energy production.
It is the money printers in D.C. who have deployed their powers to print in service of a Congress that has spent without limit, as if the resources will all appear just like magic. The flood of debt has granted the Fed an enormous portfolio available for playing politics.
Again, one only needs to observe the relationship between M2, the most accurate rendering of the money stock we have, against the CPI. The relationship is impossible to deny both in terms of the data and also the theory. It’s not complicated really but requires just a bit of thought.
Thomas Massie gives the example of 10 apples and 10 dollars, in an economy where all money is spent. Each apple costs a dollar. If the money stock is doubled, each apple costs two dollars. And so on. It’s a simple example but gets the point across. In the real world, there is a lag of the effect, between 12 and 18 months. In this case, the lag hits the 12-month mark almost exactly.
(Data: Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED), St. Louis Fed; Chart: Jeffrey A. Tucker)
None of this is a mystery. Hatred of paper-money printing traces to the very foundation of the nation. Thomas Paine wrote about it extensively. He was an opponent of tyranny and a very thoughtful and brilliant person. He read extensively on history and economic theory as it stood in his time. He stated very clearly:
-
“I know not why we should be so fond of paper money; it has no intrinsic value, and is not money, but a promise to pay money.”
-
“Paper money is like dram-drinking, it relieves for a moment by deceit.”
-
“The evils of paper money have no end. It is a swindle upon the people, and the foundation of all other swindles.”
His views were shared widely among the Founding Fathers. When the Constitution was written, it included a clause requiring states (which managed money) to use only gold and silver in coinage. That clause was long adjudicated by the courts and eventually the proponents of paper money found a means around it, via various emergency declarations and suspensions. The gold standard was restored following the Civil War but suspended again and again. Eventually, the specie backing was removed entirely.
For a long time, between 1933 and 1974, it was illegal even to own gold for investment purposes. That changed and then the United States started minting gold coins again but not as part of official money. They are collectibles, very beautiful but not usable as legal tender. The link between U.S. monetary policy and gold is entirely broken.
Ideally it would be restored. Problem: no one really knows how this could happen. There is no real viable plan to get from here to there. The United States would have to own vast quantities of gold and there would need to be a fixed ratio of exchange, and this would have to pertain not only in the United States but also abroad. The decision alone would cause a mass repatriation of dollars and exhaust the gold stock in a day.
In short, the practical problems associated with restoring a genuine gold standard are inconceivably huge. An even bigger problem is mustering the political will to do it. Both parties benefit from the paper-money system and the flexible monetary policy, for which the U.S. citizen ultimately pays the highest price.
There are other paths toward sound money. The money stock could be instantly frozen, but that would induce deflation on a scale that would be seen as intolerable. I happen not to think this would be a bad thing. A growing purchasing power of money would benefit the people. But the expert class disagrees, warning of a terrible recession. And the reality would likely back that prediction.
The trouble is that the U.S. economy and, really, the world economy, are deeply addicted to debt finance. Putting a stop to that would be very painful. The political will to do that simply is not there.
The genuinely constitutional solution would be to return all responsibility for monetary policy to the states alone, abolishing the central bank entirely. The U.S. Treasury could mint its own currency but that poses dangers of its own. Whether and to what extent those dangers would be as bad as the Fed now is another question.
In the near term, the solution is simply to force the Fed to stop playing politics with its monetary powers. The interest rates should be completely set free from Fed intervention. Open market operations and debt buying and selling should stop entirely. The rest would take care of itself.
Economists I respect suggest a quantity rule that would tie monetary policy to output. While that solution looks good on paper, measuring output accurately is no longer such an easy task. The GDP numbers as they stand are very sketchy and so are the numbers on the inflation rate itself. Without accurate numbers, the capacity of the Fed to conduct monetary policy in any scientific manner pretty well evaporates.
Let us hope that the new Trump administration eventually gets around to dealing with the problem of paper-money inflation. It might have to do so given the genuine risk of a second wave of inflation that could literally doom its political legacy.
I hope someone in the Trump administration is listening: at minimum the Fed must stop its quantitative easing and commit itself to a policy of monetary stabilization at the very least. Yes, we could face a technical recession and that is politically dangerous. But a continuation of inflation is even more so.
Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 01/17/2025 – 20:55 -
- Progressive Congressional Staffers Throw Tantrum, Demand 32-Hour Work Week
Progressive Congressional Staffers Throw Tantrum, Demand 32-Hour Work Week
With many Americans working two jobs to make ends meet, mollycoddled progressive staffers on Capitol Hill are now demanding 32-hour workweek.
In a letter to top House and Senate leaders Thursday, the Congressional Progressive Staff Association proposed establishing a rotating 32-hour workweek on the Hill, claiming that reduced hours could “improve worker satisfaction, increase staff retention in Congress, and model a more sustainable approach to work on a national level,” Politico reports.
Under the proposal, congressional staffers would still work long hours when their boss is around. But when Congress is in session, district office staffers would be entitled to an abbreviated, 20-percent-lighter schedule, and when it is not, D.C.-based staff would have a lighter week.
“We do not want a 32-hour workweek to just be another special benefit for Congressional staff,” the group said in its letter requesting the special benefit. “We hope that by adopting this policy, Members of Congress can help to advance the discussion around a more sustainable workweek as a national priority and model how it can work for private and public employers across the country and the world.”
Ah – so by granting rich-kid, connected staffers their 32-hour workweek (and we assume therapy ponies are next), they can set an exaaaample (Michael Savage voice) for the rest of the country – and the world.
Socialists are ecstatic at the idea:
It’s an idea that’s gained some traction on the left, with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introducing legislation to implement a 32-hour workweek nationally. But those on the right and some corners of the left immediately panned the plan when it was released Thursday.
That said, others think it’s a terrible idea:
For some Democrats, the cusp of Trump’s inauguration was the wrong time to pitch working less. Said Tim Hogan, a Democratic communications consultant and former Hill staffer: “lol read the room guys.” -Politico
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) mocked the idea on X, posting “Why not be bold and ask for a 0-hour workweek? I wonder how blue-collar Americans would feel about white-collar workers demanding a 32-hour workweek.”
Republicans also mocked the idea, suggesting that it was a good one as long as they scale back their salaries to match.
“Progressives should opt in. Easy place to cut 20%+ @elonmusk,” posted Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) on X.
The rich kids slapped back, with group spokesperson Michael Suchecki saying “The frustration about this initiative comes from a fundamental misunderstanding. CPSA is not calling for Congress to jeopardize its productivity with a new office schedule. We believe — and researchers agree — that implementing a rotating 32-hour work week will not maintain existing levels of productivity and work quality, but increase them.“
Tyler Durden
Fri, 01/17/2025 – 20:30 - Steve Witkoff: The Real Estate Investor Who Sealed The Gaza Ceasefire
Steve Witkoff: The Real Estate Investor Who Sealed The Gaza Ceasefire
On Saturday, Gaza ceasefire talks were down to the wire, and President-elect Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy wanted to hash out the deal once and for all with Benjamin Netanyahu, but the Israeli leader’s office said he could not be roused during Shabbat.
Steve Witkoff allegedly gave a “salty” reply, making it clear he didn’t care if it was the Sabbath, the Jewish day of rest. In the words of one report from Haaretz, Witkoff said Trump expected Israel to agree to the ceasefire, and “things that Netanyahu had termed life-and-death issues…suddenly vanished.”
Steve Witkoff stands onstage with President-elect Donald Trump during a campaign rally, via Reuters So, who is Witkoff, Trump’s new man in the Middle East?
Witkoff is a Republican and a billionaire Jewish-American real estate developer. His soft, slightly nasally voice masks his reputation as a hard-charging negotiator who developed the nerve for leveraged loans as a teenager betting at the racetrack. When he was starting off in the cut-throat world of New York City real estate in the 1990s, he wore a handgun strapped to his ankle, according to a Wall Street Journal expose from the time.
Witkoff has been praised for pushing the ceasefire across the finish line. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani credited him in a speech announcing the deal on Wednesday, albeit one usurped by Trump’s earlier proclamation that an “EPIC” ceasefire had been reached. It is important to note that Witkoff was mentioned before the sitting Biden administration’s envoy, Brett McGurk.
The New Yorker turned south Floridian has no official training as a diplomat and his appointment epitomizes Trump’s disdain for traditional bureaucrats and policy wonks, who are steeped in area expertise and boast graduate degrees in international relations but lack private sector experience.
“We have people that know everything about the Middle East, but they can’t speak properly…he is a great negotiator,” Trump said at a press conference in January, praising his friend.
There, Trump reiterated his now infamous pledge that “all hell will break out” in the Middle East if the hostages held in Gaza were not freed by the time he takes office on 20 January. “You know what that means, do I have to define it for you,” he barked at a journalist, who pressed for details.
Witkoff may not have Trump’s bravado, but the two golfing friends go back nearly forty years.
Fix, lease, sell…or refinance
Witkoff first met Trump in 1986 when he was a young real estate lawyer at a white-shoe law firm where the future president was a client. Associates say Witkoff was inspired to ditch his corporate job and enter real estate because of Trump.
Witkoff started out by buying small tenements in the Bronx and Harlem during the 1987 real estate crash. His early deals were a far cry from globe-trotting ones he would strike later in the Gulf. He relied on a small regional bank called M&T in Buffalo, New York, for loans.
To cut costs, he performed the labor on his buildings himself – even reportedly leaving a 1992 New Year’s Eve dinner party to dig a sewage trench.
Like Trump, his real estate empire was based on debt and a close-knit circle of family, friends, and their relatives – some of whom he hired when they were out of work. “We fix buildings, lease them up, and then sell or refinance them,” Witkoff told The Wall Street Journal in a 1998 interview.
By then, Witkoff was a proper player in New York real estate with bodyguards and a sprawling empire of office buildings. Witkoff Group’s portfolio comprises properties in New York, southern Florida and Los Angeles. One of his latest projects is Shell Bay, a luxury golf development near Miami, where one-bedroom condos start at $1.9m.
Praise on Gulf states
Like the Trump organixation, Witkoff’s firm has done business with the energy-rich Gulf.
In 2023, he sold Manhattan’s swanky Park Lane Hotel to the Qatari Investment Authority, the country’s sovereign wealth fund, for $623m. Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund also took a stake.
Trump has tapped a slew of Middle East experts for senior government positions, often those who have been critical of Qatar and Islam.
Witkoff’s incoming deputy, former State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus, said she converted to Judaism in Saudi Arabia, where people “hate Jews”.
Trump tapped Eric Tagger, a Republican Senate staffer who has slammed Qatar for its alleged ties to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, as the top official overseeing the Middle East at the National Security Council. However, Witkoff has rarely waded into the details of Middle Eastern culture and religion or debates on groups like the Muslim Brotherhood. He is all business and has been universal in heaping praise on Gulf states.
At Qatar’s 20204 Economic Forum, he praised Qatar, calling it “very, really impressive”, adding, “whoever they had who master planned here did a really good job…this is solid government. The hotels here are magnificent.”
Witkoff has expressed similar admiration for the UAE’s pro-business agenda. In December, he took the stage at Bitcoin MENA, a cryptocurrency conference in Abu Dhabi. Witkoff and Trump’s sons are cofounders of World Liberty, a crypto company.
Witkoff doesn’t speak much in public, but when he does, he is measured and deliberate. Appearing on Fox News in January, he said Trump’s “strong stance, his certitude in asserting that ‘all hell would break loose’ is moving people,” when asked about the ceasefire talks.
He added: “They (the hostages) are living in terrible conditions, and it’s time for everybody to come back.” His remark that “There will be plenty of Palestinians who will be released as a result of this and they will go home to their families,” did not elicit a response from Fox News host Sean Hannity.
With Trump saying he will use the hostage deal to expand the 2020 Abraham Accord agreements, Witkoff is likely set to delve deeper into the world of Gulf politics and the Israel-Palestine conflict.
He has also said he wants to solve tensions with Iran over a nuclear weapon “diplomatically…if people are willing to adhere to their agreements,” but, ever the negotiator, he did not show too much of his hand: “We are not going to have a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.”
Tyler Durden
Fri, 01/17/2025 – 20:05 - 11 Year Old New York Schoolgirl "Burst Into Tears" After Being Falsely Arrested For Being A Car Thief
11 Year Old New York Schoolgirl “Burst Into Tears” After Being Falsely Arrested For Being A Car Thief
An 11-year-old New York girl burst into tears when deputies mistakenly handcuffed her for several minutes, believing she was a car thief.
Video footage shows the girl was walking home from Brighton Academy Middle School in Syracuse with friends when Onondaga County deputies stopped her, just five blocks from where teens had abandoned a stolen Kia, according to the NY Post.
Video from her cousin showed that the deputies detained her for seven minutes, citing her pink puffer jacket, camo pants, and white sneakers as matching the description of a suspect.
The other children repeatedly told deputies they had the wrong person, but the officers insisted she was the suspect, even showing them a photo for comparison, the footage shows.
“Girl, you gonna tell me this ain’t you?” an officer says to the girl. Another added: “It is what it is. If you’re honest, it will make it easy.”
Photo: NY Post The girl’s cousin pointed out that the suspect had lighter skin and longer hair.
The NY Post report says that when more deputies arrived, the 11-year-old began crying as the situation sank in. After nearly seven minutes, deputies realized their mistake, released her, and apologized.
“I’m sorry about it, but you matched the description pretty clearly,” the officer later said.
“That was the only freedom she had, and it’s now gone,” the girl’s mother said, referring to her walk to school. “I can’t make sense of it. I couldn’t even finish watching the video. Even if it wasn’t my child, I wouldn’t be able to finish watching the video because that’s not how you handle children.”
The stolen Kia led to a brief chase before four occupants fled. Police arrested three boys, but the suspect in the pink coat remains at large.
The sheriff’s office defended detaining the girl, citing her clothing and location, and stated handcuffing is standard for control. Sheriff Tobias Shelley, after meeting with the girl’s mother, promised to notify parents when juveniles are detained.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 01/17/2025 – 19:40 - Nearly Half Of Federal Employees Say They Plan To Resist Trump's Incoming Administration; New Poll
Nearly Half Of Federal Employees Say They Plan To Resist Trump’s Incoming Administration; New Poll
A poll conducted by RMG Research reveals a startling number of federal government managers who say they will actively oppose the incoming administration when Donald Trump is inaugurated on January 20.
The Daily Signal reports that RMG Research polled three separate segments of the population including what it calls the “Elite 1%” with postgraduate degrees, earning more than $150,000 annually and live in highly populated areas, “Main Street Americans” who represent roughly 75% of the U.S. population and, finally, federal managers who live near the nation’s Capital city and earn $75,000 or more annually.
When asked if they would most likely be supporting or resisting the Trump administration over the next four years, government managers were almost evenly split with 44% saying they would support the administration and 42% saying they would resist.
But the divide between those federal managers who would resist and those who would support the incoming Trump administration grew much sharper when respondents were questioned along party lines.
89% of Republican federal employees said they would either “somewhat support” or “strongly support” the administration, while 73% of Democrat bureaucrats surveyed said they would either “somewhat resist” or “strongly resist.”
Removing bad or insubordinate employees from federal service has become more difficult over the years with truly bad employees typically being promoted or transferred to less visible positions while retaining their employment.
Given the incoming Trump administration’s stated goal of finding and cutting out wasteful and abusive use of taxpayer dollars, there may be a price to be paid by those employees who draw too much attention to their resistance after taking an oath of service.
🚨 POLL: 50% of Feds Plan to Resist Trump—But Will They Resist Unemployment Too? 🤔
Half of federal employees are apparently gearing up to “resist” Trump. Bold move for folks who get paid to… do what the boss says.
Here’s the thing: If you’re on the taxpayer dime, your job is… pic.twitter.com/B41mz7tuQ5
— Joe Portman (@RealJoePortman) January 13, 2025
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
The survey also revealed that the so-called Elite 1% and Main Street Americans showed considerable alignment on issues like the economy and immigration.
Federal government managers who were polled placed a higher priority on guns and crime, equality and climate change – issues that registered far lower importance among most other Americans.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 01/17/2025 – 19:15 - Russia & Iran Sign 20-Year Defense, Energy Pact 3 Days Before Trump Inauguration
Russia & Iran Sign 20-Year Defense, Energy Pact 3 Days Before Trump Inauguration
President Vladimir Putin of Russia and President Masoud Pezeshkian of Iran on Friday signed a 20-year pact between their countries at the Kremlin, just three days before Trump’s inauguration.
Dubbed the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty, the Kremlin is hailing it as bringing relations with the Islamic Republic to a new level, enshrining the two countries’ status as strategic partners. Putin hailed the “real breakthrough, creating conditions for the stable and sustainable development of Russia, Iran and the entire region.”
The presidents of Russia and Iran sign 20-year pact at the Kremlin three days before Trump’s inauguration pic.twitter.com/4nLITw72gF
— Lucas Tomlinson (@LucasFoxNews) January 17, 2025
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Russian media has described it covers all spheres, including defense, counter-terrorism, energy, finance, transport, industry, agriculture, culture, science and engineering.
The allies are also working on linking their national payment systems: “According to the Russian leader, in 2024, the share of transactions in Russian rubles and Iranian rials exceeded 95% of all bilateral trade operations,” TASS noted.
Putin further said in a press conference with Pezeshkian, “Our countries firmly uphold the principles of the supremacy of international law, the sovereignty of states, non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries.” As for Pezeshkian, he said the following:
“We witness a new chapter of strategic relations,” the Iranian president said, adding that the countries were set to expand trade ties and also boost the “level of security cooperation.”
The pact is heavily focused on defense and security cooperation. “It will confirm the parties’ desire for closer cooperation in the field of defense and interaction in the interests of peace and security at the regional and global levels,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had earlier stated.
Already, the two sides cooperate closely on drones. Russia has since the Ukraine war’s start been using Iran-produced ‘Shahed’ kamikaze drones against Ukrainian cities, and Iran has reportedly set up a major UAV production facility on Russian soil at Moscow’s invitation.
Moscow and Tehran early last month lost a key Middle East ally upon the fall of Bashar al Assad, after Islamic insurgents rampaged across the country and the demoralized and underpaid Syrian Army quickly collapsed. Turkey was widely seen as supporting the insurgents with intelligence and equipment, and likely other NATO states played a background role as well.
Via Associated Press As for Iran, it sees the treaty as further safeguarding independence and national sovereignty:
Discussing the specifics of the deal, Jalali told Iran’s state-run Young Journalists Club (YJC), “The independence and security of our country, as well as self-reliance, are crucial elements, and we are not particularly inclined to align ourselves with any specific bloc.”
“National independence is of great importance to the Islamic Republic of Iran. After all, we have been paying the price for it for 45 years,” he added in an article published Saturday.
But both countries have come under far-reaching US and EU sanctions for what’s happening in Ukraine. Western intelligence has warned against the transfer of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia in the context of the Ukraine war as well. While there have been some reports suggesting this has happened, there’s as yet no definitive evidence.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 01/17/2025 – 18:50 - China's Refining Output Dips For First Time In Over Two Decades
China’s Refining Output Dips For First Time In Over Two Decades
Authored by Tsvetana Paraskova via OilPrice.com,
Weaker fuel demand and depressed refining margins in 2024 resulted in the first annual decline in China’s refinery throughput in over 20 years, excluding the pandemic lockdown year of 2022, government data showed on Friday.
Chinese refiners processed on average 14.13 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil last year, down by 1.6% compared to the record 14.7 million bpd processed in 2023 when China emerged from the pandemic lockdowns, per data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics cited by Reuters.
Oil demand in China was lackluster in 2024, with consumption growth slowed, due to weaker economic performance and a shift to electric vehicles (EVs) and LNG-fueled trucks.
Although some of the weakness is attributable to weaker economic performance, the shift toward EVs and LNG trucks is removing some road fuel demand permanently, analysts say.
The rise of electric vehicles and the growing use of LNG in trucking have combined with slower-than-expected economic growth and activity to dent China’s oil demand growth and undermine earlier forecasts of global oil demand for 2024.
Crude oil imports into China also declined last year, for the first time in some 20 years, excluding the pandemic lockdown period. The average import level stood at 11.04 million bpd in 2024, down by 1.9% from 2023, customs data showed earlier this week.
It bears noting that in 2023, Chinese crude oil imports ran at a record pace after the end of the lockdowns, with the daily average at 11.28 million barrels.
The growth rates of the last 20 years, however, are unlikely to return as China’s economy moves to a more measured pace of growth as it matures.
Both China’s state energy giants CNPC and Sinopec have predicted peak oil demand growth on the horizon, with CNPC forecasting it for this year and Sinopec sees the peak coming in 2027.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 01/17/2025 – 18:25 - Watch: Last Blinken Presser Overshadowed By Chaos As Journalists Dragged From Briefing Room
Watch: Last Blinken Presser Overshadowed By Chaos As Journalists Dragged From Briefing Room
Blinken’s final news conference Thursday, which came hours after the announcement of a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel, was a bit of a disaster given no less than two journalists were forcibly removed from the US State Department briefing room.
First, veteran journalist Sam Husseini was accused of ‘heckling’ the outgoing top US diplomat. That’s when US State Dept police were called upon to violently drag him out. “You pontificate about a free press!” Husseini told Blinken as he was taken away by several uniformed officers. Some pundits pointed out the double standard given Blinken routinely lectures countries like China, Russia, and Iran on freedom of the press issues. Watch the incident unfold below:
BREAKING Let everyone know this is what the US State Department does to a journalist asking real questions and this is what’s coming for anyone doing the same thing.
You won’t see this in China, Russia or Iran though. @samhusseini pic.twitter.com/YaEleHmXUm
— Fiorella Isabel (@FiorellaIsabelM) January 16, 2025
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
“I am asking questions after being told by [spokesman] Matt Miller that he will not answer my questions,” Husseini continued as he was roughly escorted out. “I’m a journalist not a potted plant,” he also said.
Blinken had told Husseini to “respect the process”. He had responded, “Everybody from Amnesty International to the ICJ [International Court of Justice] is saying that Israel is doing genocide and extermination, and you’re telling me to respect the process?”
“Criminal! Why aren’t you in The Hague?! Why aren’t you in The Hague! Why aren’t you in The Hague!” Husseini yelled while being carried out of the room by security.
Fuller video clip:
What stood out for me was not the actions of journalist @samhusseini but those in the room who fell in line, as he was forcibly removed.
“I’m a journalist not a potted plant.”
– Sam Husseini, January 16, 2024 pic.twitter.com/Hr87ZFJF4A— Samira Mohyeddin سمیرا (@SMohyeddin) January 16, 2025
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Journalist from The GrayZone Max Blumenthal also went off on Blinken. “Why did you keep the bombs flowing when we had a deal in May?” he asked. “Why did you allow my friends’ homes in Gaza to be destroyed?”
Blumenthal charged Blinken with “sacrific[ing] the rules-based order on the mantle of your commitment to Zionism.” “You helped destroy our religion, Judaism, by associating it with fascism,” he said.
For this, Blumenthal too was quickly detained and taken out of the room by State Dept police.
Blumenthal going out with a bang, as the Biden admin spokespersons go out with a whimper and a smirk…
My final words for Tony Blinken, Secretary of Genocide, and his smirking press secretary, Matt Miller pic.twitter.com/DuLnepSwDl
— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) January 16, 2025
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
The incident involving the pair of journalists overshadowed the whole press conference, and even seeped into mainstream media coverage.
Both Blinken and Matthew Miller looked visibly upset and uncomfortable as the whole spectacle unfolded and as the accusations flew.
Reporter @samhusseini was just physically dragged from Blinken’s briefing. “Why aren’t you at The Hague?” he asked. pic.twitter.com/Nvs10aFjgh
— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) January 16, 2025
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Miller could be seen with his characteristic smirk, while Blinken’s face looked grim amid the fracas.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 01/17/2025 – 18:00 - Newsom Does Damage Control After Awkward 'Trump-Proofing' Ploy
Newsom Does Damage Control After Awkward ‘Trump-Proofing’ Ploy
Via Headline USA,
California Gov. Gavin Newsom joined a handful of Republican governors this week in ordering his state to fly the U.S. flag at full height on Inauguration Day, despite President Joe Biden’s order to keep government flags at half-staff because of the death of former President Jimmy Carter.
Flags at the U.S. Capitol and state buildings across the country are expected to remain at half-mast for a 30-day mourning period following Carter’s death.
President-elect Donald Trump, however, has argued the flags should be returned to full height for his inauguration ceremony next Monday.
“The Democrats are all ‘giddy’ about our magnificent American Flag potentially being at ‘half mast’ during my Inauguration,” Trump wrote on Truth Social earlier this month.
“They think it’s so great, and are so happy about it because, in actuality, they don’t love our Country, they only think about themselves.”
He claimed his inauguration would be the “first time ever” the U.S. flags at the U.S. Capitol building would be flown at half-mast.
“Nobody wants to see this, and no American can be happy about it,” Trump added.
In response, several Republican officials, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, announced they would return their state buildings’ flags to full height before Inauguration Day.
Newsom is the first Democrat to join them in the decision.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) announced on Tuesday that flags will fly full-staff at the U.S. Capitol for Trump’s swearing-in ceremony, with the flags being lowered back to half-staff after the event.
The Democrat’s announcement comes just one week after Newsom rallied Democratic state legislatures to pass $50 million in funding to “Trump-proof” the state.
Newsom claimed the funding, passed during a special legislative session, was necessary to “safeguard California values and fundamental rights in the face of an incoming Trump administration.”
He immediately faced blowback from frustrated Californians, who argued Newsom should be focusing on “fire-proofing” the state instead.
“You’re talking about Trump this, Trump that. He’s not even president,” actor Michael Rapaport said last week.
“Get the f*** out of here!”
Last week, Newsom wrote a letter to the president-elect and said he should visit fire-ravaged areas in Los Angeles to “meet with the Americans affected by these fires”
“Join me and others in thanking the heroic firefighters and first responders who are putting their lives on the line,” he said.
Newsom will likely have to rely on federal assistance from the Trump administration to deal with the aftermath of the fires.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 01/17/2025 – 17:40 - Trans City-Councilor Takes Month Off To Recover From Being Misgendered
Trans City-Councilor Takes Month Off To Recover From Being Misgendered
A trans Massachusetts city councilor is taking a one-month leave of absence, citing feelings of being unsafe after allegedly being “misgendered” by the mayor and another councilor, and being referred to as “it” by a third city official.
The soap opera starring that councilor, Thu Nguyen, erupted at Tuesday night’s meeting of the Worcester, Massachusetts city council, where members held a public hearing over whether it was appropriate for council members like Nguyen to attend meetings remotely. Once again appearing remotely, Nguyen blamed the mayor and peers for the routine failure to show up in person, saying, “Under your leadership, I have felt unsafe around this council body. I have faced transphobia with being misgendered and recently learned that I have been dehumanized to a point where I’m being referred to as ‘it’ by my colleagues on this council.”
Worcester city councilor Thu Nguyen during a rare in-person appearance for city business Heralded as the “first openly nonbinary lawmaker” in Massachusetts history — a title we’re sure Paul Revere and Samuel Adams would be totally impressed with — Nguyen has held office on the Worcester city council since 2022. Nguyen’s preferred pronouns are “they/them.”
The day after the hearing, Nguyen posted a statement saying “I am…sad to announce I will be taking a month to prioritize my mental and emotional safety,” so he could recover from having allegedly been misgendered by Mayor Joseph M. Petty and Councilor-at-Large Kathleen Toomey, and called “it” by Councilor Candy Mero-Carlson. Nguyen filed a complaint with Worcester’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, urging the prompt launch of an investigation, adding that is was unfortunate to do so at the very same time that “we transition under a Trump administration and exponential increase of fear experienced by the LGBTQ+ community.”
On Thursday, the city clerk confirmed that Nguyen will continue receiving a $2,641 monthly city stipend while providing nothing for Worcester other than melodrama.
On the defensive and careful to say the right things for liberal Massachusetts society, Petty said, “We are in a time of uncertainty, where members of the LGBTQIA+ community face real fears and challenges in simply being their authentic selves…I would never knowingly say anything harmful.” He says Nguyen’s accusation of misgendering goes all the way back to 2022 — Nguyen’s first year — when the mayor forgot to use “they/them” before correcting himself and apologizing. Toomey said she’s made a similar “honest mistake” during Nguyen’s rookie year, saying “there’s never, ever been any attempt on my side to misgender them.”
Alleged “it” girl Mero-Carson issued a more assertive statement. “While I do not recall making the statements in question, I acknowledge that it was a challenging and emotional week where difficult conversations took place…It is deeply troubling that Councilor Nguyen has chosen to distort the narrative and weaponize these accusations for political purposes,” noting that Nguyen has the “the lowest attendance record of any City Councilor.”
Worcester is home of the College of the Holy Cross, a Jesuit school and alma mater of disgraced Dr. Anthony Fauci (Holy Cross photo) As you might expect, Nguyen’s council profile is loaded with woke leftist blather like this gem: “Invested in the notion of social justice, they [sic] commit their time and efforts in…navigating the intersectionality of identity, systems and openings for collective care and healing.” Nguyen concludes by touting a trio of identity-politics point-makers: “They [sic] are proud queer, Vietnamese, nonbinary refugee.”
Since announcing the month off from work, Nguyen has been active on Facebook, basking in support pouring in from “allies,” such as LGBT group MassEquality, which condemned the “bullying” Nguyen has experienced. Nguyen is also wallowing in victimhood, posting the text of “hate emails” like this:
“Don’t confuse my speaking the truth to you here with hate or some kind of phobia…Your petty, emotional, shrill, fake outrage about being misgendered is not helping you or trans people. It’s what keeps you down….Taking a month off. LOL! Who wants to have to put up with childish, petulant temper tantrums like that? No one. No one wants to work with you now and even though you will scream ‘transphobia’ it won’t be that. It will be idiot-phobia.”
Tyler Durden
Fri, 01/17/2025 – 17:20 - Mexico's Tijuana Declares Emergency In Anticipation Of Mass Deportations
Mexico’s Tijuana Declares Emergency In Anticipation Of Mass Deportations
Authored by Kimberley Hayek via The Epoch Times,
The city council in Tijuana, Mexico, a border city located 20 miles south of San Diego, unanimously passed an emergency declaration on Jan. 13 to allocate city funds for the anticipated arrival of deportees from the United States after President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20.
Trump made mass deportations an integral part of his campaign platform and said in November 2024 that he would declare a national emergency to carry them out.
The council voted on the additional funds in a virtual meeting, the office announced in a statement on social media.
Tijuana Mayor Ismael Burgueño said the city is working closely with Mexico’s federal government.
“We knew that at some point, we could quickly face challenges in infrastructure, public services, as well as security and more,” he said during the meeting, referring to receiving potentially thousands of people in the city in a short amount of time.
The mayor said the declaration would guarantee the city has the conditions and resources to receive the influx of deportees.
“Once they are deported, they are guaranteed to be treated with dignity with full respect for their human rights,” Burgueño said in Spanish, adding that as they return to their country or state of origin they should feel protected and supported.
The emergency funds are expected to be used to hire security personnel, leasing facilities, utilities, and legal services. The declaration also frees the city up to apply for federal funds.
Tijuana earlier this month announced plans to open a shelter with enough space to house 10,000 deportees. Burgueño said at a Jan. 9 press conference that the shelter could be increased to house 30,000 people if needed.
“We want to give deportees the best possible space available,” he said.
Tijuana officials aim to avoid a return of street encampments, which cropped up in the city during past migrant surges, such as during a migrant caravan in 2018, as well as in 2021 and 2022. In 2022, Mexico’s National Guard was deployed to clear an encampment.
“Public spaces should not be used to house migrants,” Burgueño said.
He added that the declaration would also seek to protect the people of Tijuana from interference in their daily life.
“We want for those of us who already live here in Tijuana to be able to continue using these spaces and not have any changes around their homes or communities.”
In addition to preparations being made by Tijuana, Mexico’s state and federal governments are establishing plans to deal with the anticipated arrival of deportees.
Baja California Gov. Marina del Pilar Ávila announced last week new shelters in Tijuana to house deportees before they would be returned to their place of origin with the goal of opening the shelters before Trump’s inauguration.
At the federal level, Mexico has been preparing for Trump’s immigration enforcement plans with a particular focus in Mexico’s northern states that sit on the border of the United States.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who took office last fall, said in December that Mexico would only allow Mexican citizens to be sent into the country as part of Trump’s deportation efforts. She later amended her position, stating Mexico would be open to collaborating with the United States to return the illegal immigrants to their country of origin.
Mexico’s efforts at the federal level to prepare for mass deportations also include the development of a cellphone app for Mexican citizens in the United States illegally, which would assist them in contacting their families and the local Mexican consulate should they face deportation.
Mexico also opened a 24-hour call center to field questions from Mexican citizens who are in the United States illegally.
Mexico, which has a population of approximately 128.5 million, also increased its consular staff and legal aid resources to assist illegal immigrants with navigating the deportation process.
According to the Office of Homeland Security Statistics, there were about 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States as of January 2022.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 01/17/2025 – 17:00 - CBO Projects US Debt To Soar By $24 Trillion Over Next Decade, And Then It Gets Much Worse…
CBO Projects US Debt To Soar By $24 Trillion Over Next Decade, And Then It Gets Much Worse…
The Congressional Budget Office may claim it is apolitical and/or bipartsian, but in reality they have few reservations in throwing under the bus any politician(s) that are not viewed as part of the establishment inner circle, and “kitchen sink” them with all the accumulated financial troubles that have piled up in the US. That politician is Donald J. Trump, who is about to be inaugurated as the 47th US president, and who will soon see US debt – already at a ridiculous $36.2 trillion – really explode during his second administration, Musk’s pet project DOGE notwithstanding.
According to the latest CBO budget and economic outlook for the decade 2025 to 2035 the situation is hopeless and getting worse, and even though the budget office doesn’t use those actual terms, it does get pretty close.
While the economic picture presented by the CBO is hardly shocking, if as ridiculous as always, with zero recessions expected over the coming decade when the CBO projects GDP growing at a 1.8% annual pace, with inflation magically flat at 2.0%, unemployment rate a sticky 4.4% and a 3.2% fed funds rate (translating into 3.8% 10Y yield)…
… it gets more exciting when looking at how all this growth is going to be funded. And the answer, of course, is through trillions more in unsustainable deficits, although according to the CBO these are perhaps sustainable since they never seem to end.
So starting with the deficit projection, the CBO expects a 2025 federal deficit of $1.9 trillion, a number which grows to $2.7 trillion by 2035. And while it amounts to 6.2% of GDP in 2025, and then drops to 5.2% by 2027 as revenues increase faster than outlays, this modestly beneficial trend quickly reverses and in later years, outlays once again increase faster than revenues, and by 2035, the deficit once again equals 6.1% of GDP, a number which according to the CBO is “significantly more than the 3.8 percent that deficits have averaged over the past 50 years.” It goes without saying that the actual deficit number will be far, far greater because even a modest recession will assure a surge in government spending (i.e., much more debt-funded deficit) which however will not result in faster growth.
It gets better. In an attempt to entrap Trump, who will very extend extend the expiring TCJA, or Trump tax cuts, the CBO amusingly enough cuts its long-term deficit forecast by $1 billion, but not because of higher growth or anything like that, but because it forecasts “increases in projected revenues from individual income taxes” even as “legislative changes and technical (that is, neither economic nor legislative) changes boosted projected deficits.” As a result, the cumulative deficit from 2025-2034 is expected to decline by $1 trillion, from $22.1 trillion to $21.1 trillion.
That way, in one year when the Trump tax cuts are extended, the CBO will throw the book at trump and blame him when it once again revises its deficit forecast dramatically higher.
As for the real reason why the US deficit is about to go exponential has little to do with taxes, and everything to do with the stratospheric levels of US debt, or rather interest on that debt, we find that while things are more or less normal for the next 3 years, then they go vertical, to wit:
“Federal outlays in 2025 total $7.0 trillion, or 23.3 percent of GDP. They remain close to that level through 2028 and then rise, reaching 24.4 percent of GDP in 2035 (if adjusted to exclude the effects of shifts in the timing of certain payments). The main reasons for that increase are growth in spending for Social Security and Medicare and rising net interest costs.”
Unfortunately, there is no such hockeystick effect to US government revenues which total $5.2 trillion, or 17.1% of GDP, in 2025, then rise to 18.2% of GDP by 2027, which according to the CBO is “because of the scheduled expiration of provisions of the 2017 tax act”, which obviously will not expire and instead will be extended, meaning revenues will not increase and while the CBO knows this, it will instead wait for 6-12 months before letting the hammer fall in its next, far uglier forecast.
But even without the 2017 tax act, the CBO projects that revenues as a share of GDP will then decline over the next two years, falling to 17.9% in 2029, and flatline around 18.3% in 2035. In reality, this number will be far lower, perhaps around 15% if note worse, due to the extension of the Trump tax cuts which means that the next CBO forecast will be substantially worse than the current one.
Alas, this one is also a disaster, and one has to look no further than the CBO’s debt forecast to see that. That’s because while debt held by the public (which conveniently excludes debt used to fund Social Security), is currently at $28.2 trillion, this number nearly doubles by 2035, when it is expected to hit $52.1 trillion.
But wait, wouldn’t debt only increase as GDP also increased, with the relative ratio improving? Actually no, because as the infamous CBO “chart of doom” shows, as debt held by the public rises each year, it does so at a faster pace than GDP; in fact, from 2025 to 2035, debt/GDP swells from 100% to 118%, an amount which as the CBO admits, is “greater than at any point in the nation’s history.”
Now the reason why the CBO published a report that saw a modest improvement in the US fiscal picture over the next decade is not because the US fiscal picture is actually improving, but on the contrary, was to entrap Trump and republicans. As ABC notes, “the analysis paints a difficult picture for an incoming Republican administration bent on cutting taxes in ways that further widen deficits unless they’re also paired with major spending cuts.” Indeed, Trump’s proposed extension of his 2017 tax cuts that are set to expire after this year along with new cuts could easily exceed $4 trillion and his nominee to be treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, warned Thursday that the economy could crash without them.
“We do not have a revenue problem in the U.S.,” Bessent insisted at his confirmation hearings. “We have a spending problem.”
He’s right, but the even bigger problem is that cutting any spending, whether discretionary or mandatory, would lead to unprecedented economic devastation for a country that is used to issuing debt and spending it like a drunken sailor.
While tax revenues as a share of the total U.S. economy are close to the 50-year average, government spending is poised to continue growing, largely because of the unprecedented $1.2 trillion in gross interest expense, a number that will almost certainly never go down again, because even if interest rates do drop briefly, the total amount of debt will just keep rising, more than offsetting any rate decline. Meanwhile, discretionary spending on national security and social programs will account for $1.85 trillion next year. The CBO already has spending in these categories on a downward trajectory as discretionary spending would equal 5.3% of GDP, down from the half-century average of 7.9%.
CBO Director Phillip Swagel told reporters at a press conference Friday that net interest costs are a major contributor to the deficit and “in the coming years, net interest costs are projected to be similar to the amounts of discretionary spending for either defense or non-defense” programs.
And all of that is, of course assuming no recession and a demographic picture that remains unchanged; alas both assumptions are ludicrous.
With an aging population, government spending would largely increase because of Social Security and Medicare — two programs popular with voters that many Republicans and Democrats alike have vowed to protect, despite clear signs that they’re on an unsustainable path.
Swagel said. “We’re already an aging society and the aging of our society is driving mandatory outlays.”
And as American women wait later in life to have children and have fewer of them, “the change of fertility sometimes accelerates that pattern of the aging of our society,” he said.
Michael Peterson, CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation — which among other things tracks the federal debt — said in a statement that “as lawmakers consider the range of expiring tax policy at the end of the year, they should make a commitment to at least ‘do no fiscal harm’.”
“They should avoid budget gimmicks and base their assumptions on neutral, nonpartisan estimates like this one from CBO,” he said.
Unfortunately for the US, it is now way too late to change the inevitable outcome of an existence that has been driven by exorbitant debt-funded spending. Indeed, when it comes to normalizing or “doing no fiscal harm” that ship has sailed, and as much as we would like for there to be some happy ending, we are terrified at what will happen when the brightest minds in the room admit that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been a failure, and that nothing can prevent the inevitable US implosion.
More in the full CBO bidget forecast.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 01/17/2025 – 16:40
Digest powered by RSS Digest
Saving...
