Tag: donald trump

Auto Loan Delinquencies Surge 50% As Cracks Deepen Across U.S. Credit Markets

A month after bankruptcies of subprime auto lender Tricolor and auto-parts supplier First Brands, new cracks emerged in U.S. credit markets. This week, Zions and Western Alliance disclosed they were victims of loan fraud tied to funds investing in distressed commercial real estate. The revelations come amid broader credit trouble, and shifting our focus back to autos, there’s new data this morning about credit products tied to the riskiest consumers that have seen a 50% surge in delinquencies. 

Bloomberg cites data from the credit-scoring company, VantageScore, which reveals that delinquencies among the low-tier consumers have surged 50% since 2010. Fueling the delinquencies is a perfect storm of record-high car prices, elevated interest rates, longer loan terms, and monthly payments that average nearly as much as rent for some folks. 

Since 2019, new vehicle prices have jumped over 25% to $50,000, while average monthly payments reached $767, with 20% of borrowers paying over $1,000 per month. Loan rates now exceed 9%, worsening the affordability crisis.

Notably, prime and near-prime borrowers are now defaulting faster than subprime consumers, as lenders tightened standards for the lowest-credit segment, according to the report. The average auto loan balance has risen 57% since 2010, and many borrowers are “upside-down”, owing more than their cars are worth.

“We’re seeing the cost of cars and the cost related to car ownership increase enormously,” VantageScore chief economist Rikard Bandebo said in an interview. “In the past five years, it has increased even faster.”

Bandebo continued, “That’s a double… You’ve been hit by the increased cost of the car and then the financing cost of the car.”

“Consumers now are in a more precarious position than they’ve been since the last recession,” Bandebo said. “We’ve seen this growing trend over the last several years of more and more consumers struggling to make ends meet, and it’s looking like that trend is going to continue into next year.”

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Democrats Fear the Loss of Their Municipal Monopolies

President Trump’s deployment of federal forces threatens Democrats’ municipal monopolies on political power. This is why they so strenuously object to federal assistance in cities’ law enforcement. Without overwhelming city vote totals, Democrats’ political control in states across America would collapse.

President Trump has repeatedly injected federal resources into city law enforcement – Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Memphis, and now Portland and Chicago – where he has deemed crime to be out of local authorities’ ability or will to control it. At each intervention, national Democrat leaders have loudly protested – even in Washington, where Mayor Bowser acknowledged crime was down.

Apart from playing to their national base, Democrats’ protests rest on the reality that their power depends on maintaining their monopoly grip on cities’ huge vote totals. Of America’stop 20 cities, Democrats control 18; of the top 40, Democrats control 32; of the top 100, Democrats control 66. Notably, America’s 33rd largest city, Fresno, California, is the largest to have a Republican mayor in a Blue state.

For Democrats, control of cities’ huge populations means control of the states in which these are located. As examples: New York City makes up 44.3% of New York state’s population; Chicago is 21.6% of Illinois’ population; Albuquerque is 26.5% of New Mexico’s; Portland is 15.3% of Oregon’s. And these are just single-city examples; in some states, control of several big cities (e.g., Minneapolis and St. Paul are 12.8% of Minnesota’s population; Denver and Colorado Springs are 20% of Colorado’s population) make for similarly overwhelming percentages.

Why this is so important for Democrats nationally can be seen from 2024’s presidential election results. Between the coasts, Democrats were barely competitive, losing over 70% of the electoral votes cast outside California, Washington, New York, and Massachusetts.

Even winning the less than 30% the electoral votes Democrats won between America’s coasts required them to win states like Illinois, Minnesota, Colorado, and New Mexico – states where Democrat-controlled city populations were significantly larger percentages of their populations than the popular vote percentage that separated Kamala Harris from Donald Trump in them. Even New York, a Democrat bastion (the last Republican presidential victory there was Ronald Reagan’s in 1984) is a dramatic example: While New York City is 44.3% of New York state’s population, Harris beat Trump by only 12.6 percentage points there: She did so by winning 67.7% of New York City votes – almost 1 million more than Trump and almost her entire margin of victory in New York state.

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WE VOTED FOR THIS: BlueSky Leftists Lose Their Minds After Trump White House Invades Their Safe Space and Savagely Trolls Them with This EPIC Video

Team Trump set the internet on fire on Friday after invading the Left’s top social media safe space and sending them into hysterics by posting an amazing video.

As TGP readers know, over-the-hill leftists have decided to mark Saturday as a day of protests across America against President Trump, whom they see as a dictator. The protest, known as “No Kings Day,” is being funded by radical billionaires like George Soros.

The White House decided that on the eve of “No Kings Day,” they would join BlueSky and serve up a little reminder of everything the left is needlessly protesting.

“What’s up, Bluesky? We thought you might’ve missed some of our greatest hits, so we put this together for you,” the White House team wrote.

“Can’t wait to spend more quality time together! ❤️”

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US Will Not Adhere to Global Carbon Tax on Shipping: Trump

The United States will vote “no” to a global carbon tax proposed by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) on Oct. 17, President Donald Trump said on Truth Social.

“I am outraged that the International Maritime Organization is voting in London this week to pass a global Carbon Tax,” he said in the post on Oct. 16, urging others to reject the proposal.

“The United States will NOT stand for this Global Green New Scam Tax on Shipping, and will not adhere to it in any way, shape, or form.

“We will not tolerate increased prices on American Consumers OR the creation of a Green New Scam Bureaucracy to spend YOUR money on their Green dreams.”

The net-zero framework proposal that was put before the U.N. agency specializing in regulating marine transport would require ships to comply with a global fuel standard for large oceangoing vessels, 5,000 tons or larger, to force the shipping industry’s greenhouse gas emissions down to net zero by 2050.

The president’s opposition to the tax proposal follows a statement his administration made on Aug. 12.

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Report: At Least One US Strike on Boat in The Caribbean Targeted Colombians

At least one of the US military strikes on boats in the Caribbean over the past month and a half targeted Colombian nationals, CNN reported on Wednesday, citing two people briefed by the Pentagon.

The report said that a US strike in the region on September 19 targeted a boat that left Colombia. In a statement on the bombing, which marked the third on a vessel in the region, Trump claimed without evidence that the boat was carrying drugs and that it killed three “narcoterrorists.” He said the attack was carried out in US Southern Command’s area of responsibility, which includes the Caribbean and most of South America.

Notably, the September 19 strike was the only time Trump announced the bombing of a boat in the region and didn’t mention Venezuela. The CNN report said the boat was “suspected of carrying Colombians affiliated with Colombian terrorist organizations,” but the Pentagon was “unable to determine the individual identities of each person on the boats before they struck them.”

The lack of identification suggests that the US War Department doesn’t have the evidence to back up its claims about who it is targeting in the Caribbean. According to a report from The Associated Press, the Pentagon hasn’t provided Congress with any hard evidence to support its allegations about the vessels it has been bombing.

After the September 19 strike, Colombian President Gustavo Petro suggested that the strike may have targeted Colombians. “If the boat was sunk in the Dominican Republic, then it is possible that they were Colombians. This means that officials from the US and the Dominican Republic would be guilty of the murder of Colombian citizens,” he said.

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More on the Delusional Thinking of Western Zionists

If you think that Donald Trump is the only one living in a fantasy land when it comes to the genocide in Palestine and the war in Ukraine, think again. The following quotes come from an ardent Zionist who has enjoyed financial success in his life and holds at least one post-graduate degree. After you read and absorb this man’s analysis you will understand that money and education does not guarantee one’s competence to comment on geopolitical events.

Let’s start with Trump’s bizarre signing of Sharm El-Sheikh Peace Plan for Gaza, which excluded the two combating sides. My Zionist acquaintance wrote:

Today changed everything. Arrayed behind Trump in Egypt were all of the key leaders in the world other than Putin and Xi. Trump has achieved something nobody thought possible. In the process he has isolated Iran, but just as important, he now made Putin look isolated when the rest of the world is trying to end wars and create peace and prosperity.

Think about that for a moment… He considers clowns like Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron, and Frederich Mertz key leaders? Those three combined could not lead hungry Palestinians to a bread line. The fact that neither Xi, Putin nor Modi participated in this charade underscores that this was not a serious effort to peacefully end Israel’s genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people. The presence of the Arab and Muslim sycophants at the ceremony, who are not wildly popular figures in their own countries, was a further reminder that US influence in the region is eroding, not expanding. Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed Bin Salman had the good sense to stay away.

After convincing himself that the Sharm El-Sheikh photo op had isolated Putin, my Zionist acquaintance waded into the war in Ukraine;

Putin will be under a lot more pressure to end the war now. At the same time, he is not winning the war, and is losing thousands more casualties just when there are severe labor shortages, and the economy is headed to further deterioration. The attacks on the energy facilities is having real impact and a continuation of these attacks and attacks on rail lines will serve to cause much additional economic decline over the winter.

Paying men to go die is beginning to not work. It is very expensive and more men are fleeing. Winter is about here and so the fighting season is ending soon and the trees will no longer provide cover from drones. Putin can try to go on for a long time but the longer he does the worse the economy and the energy situation. The more isolated Putin becomes from the Mideast and other parts of the world who are now working together to build the economic growth the world needs.

He is regurgitating the Ukrainian propaganda that continues to appear in the mainstream media in the West. The reality is the exact opposite… Ukraine is suffering dramatic and substantial economic and military damage. According to a recent Time Magazine report:

2024 has seen wave after wave of basic infrastructure hit with previously unknown accuracy and ferocity. The biggest target is now the country’s power sector, and specifically, its ability to generate electricity. . . . Some 60% of Ukraine’s power generation has been knocked out, as Russian precision bombs, drone strikes, and rocket attacks increasingly home in on power plants and energy infrastructure. The country is now suffering the worst rolling blackouts since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Ukraine’s ability to regenerate and rebuild has now been overwhelmed, at least for the immediate future. Over 9 gigawatts of power generation alone has been taken out just since March. More hydroelectric plants have been destroyed, including the Dnipro station, the largest that was still working. Solar power facilities, too. Every single one of the thermal—coal and natural gas burning—plants has been hit, and of the original 13 no more than two are still operational. DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private power company, has lost 90% of its generation capacity. The current national power deficit is approximately 35%.

What my Zionist acquaintance, as well as most in the Trump administration, fails to grasp is that Russia is not isolated… BRICS is not a novelty nor a flash-in-the-pan. The economic ties between India, China and Russia — which represent three of the top four economies in the world — are growing, and new financial systems of payments and trade are being created. In fact, of the 27 countries that attended the Sharm El-Sheikh ceremony, six of them are members or partners of BRICS and boast GDP growth rates in excess of 4%, while the US and its NATO allies face massive debt burdens and are growing at rates less than 2%.

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Siege of Venezuela Escalates With Strategic Bombers Over the Caribbean, as Trump Administration Reportedly Unleashes CIA Covert Operations on Venezuela, Including Lethal Action

The conflict is in the air, in the sea, and in the shadows.

Today (15) was an eventful day in the Caribbean Sea, where the Naval siege on Venezuela keeps a steady pressure on the Socialist country.

During the morning, three United States Air Force B-52H Strategic Bombers were spotted over International Waters off the coast of Venezuela.

U.S. BOMBERS FLEX NUCLEAR MUSCLE NEAR VENEZUELA

In a sky-shattering flex that screams regime-crushing thunder, 2 USAF B-52H Stratofortress behemoths blitzed the southern Caribbean just 100~240 miles from Caracas.

“In a sky-shattering flex that screams regime-crushing thunder, 2 USAF B-52H Stratofortress behemoths blitzed the southern Caribbean just 100~240 miles from Caracas. They orbited for hours in a blatant missile drill that has Maduro’s dictatorship sweating apocalypse. Venezuelan F-16s scrambled like cornered rats, echoes of Trump’s anti-narco hammer.

Launched from Barksdale AFB with a shadowy tagalong, the 60-year-old nuclear titans, modded for cruise-missile hellfire, ghosted over Cuba and Mexico before locking onto Venezuela’s coast. They vanished in transponder blackouts that screamed stealth strike simulations, only to resurface gunning south in loops off La Orchila military isle.

The flight drew 5,000 trackers and ignited global panic as Caracas screamed ‘provocation!’ The Pentagon stonewalls it as ‘routine training’, but insiders whisper Trump’s lethal boat strikes, 5 dead last week, 6 this month, are escalating the shadow war.

The B-52s’ 1,600-mile AGM-86 Armageddon range puts Maduro’s palace squarely in the crosshairs.”

That led Caracas to scramble F-16s from El Libertador Air Base to respond to US B-52 bombers’ presence.

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Trump Admin Withholds $41 Million From California Over English-Language Trucking Rules

The Trump administration is withholding $40.6 million in transportation funding from California after an investigation found the state failed to comply with the federal English language proficiency requirement for truck drivers, officials announced on Oct. 15.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will keep $40.7 million in federal grant funding for California from the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program (MCSAP). The funding is awarded to states to conduct roadside inspections, traffic enforcement, safety audits of trucking companies, and public education campaigns.

“The Golden State thinks it’s OK to ignore [the U.S. Department of Transportation’s] English language requirements for truckers,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy posted on X. “You can play all the games you want, but not at the expense of American lives.”

Duffy announced this summer that he would enforce the Trump administration’s new English language requirements for truck drivers, threatening to withhold the grant funds for states that did not meet the standards.

California, Washington, and New Mexico were given until Sept. 26 to comply with new federal rules requiring truck drivers to be proficient in the English language. States that failed to comply were told they risked losing up to 100 percent of their MCSAP grants.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s spokeswoman Diana Crofts-Pelayo denied the federal government’s accusations.

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President Trump Authorizes CIA To Conduct Lethal Covert Action in Venezuela

The Trump administration has authorized the CIA to take covert action inside Venezuela, including lethal operations, The New York Times reported on Wednesday, as the administration’s push toward regime change heats up.

President Trump later confirmed that he authorized the covert action and said the US was considering attacks on Venezuelan territory. “We are certainly looking at land now, because we’ve got the sea very well under control,” he said.

US officials told the Times that the authority allows the CIA to take action against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro or his government, either unilaterally or in conjunction with the US military. The report said it is not known whether the CIA is currently planning operations inside Venezuela or if the authority will be used for future plans.

The US military has been drawing up plans to launch strikes on Venezuelan territory and potentially capture strategic ports and airfields, actions that would almost certainly lead to a full-blown war. The US military campaign in the region has so far involved a buildup of warships and about 10,000 US troops in the Caribbean and strikes on five boats that the US has claimed, without providing evidence, were running drugs.

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Trump Says He Will Make ‘Determination’ on Whether Ukraine Can Launch an Offensive

President Trump said on Wednesday that he will make a “determination” on whether Ukraine can launch an offensive, something he will discuss with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on Friday.

“We’ll be talking about the war with him. They want to go offensive. I’ll make a determination on that. But they would like to go offensive, you know that, and we’ll have to make a determination,” the president told reporters in the Oval Office.

A report published in The Wall Street Journal last month said that President Trump was made aware of Ukrainian plans for an offensive that would require US intelligence support. He learned of the plans before writing a post on Truth Social, where he claimed Ukraine could retake all of the territory Russia has captured since the invasion.

US War Secretary Pete Hegseth warned on Wednesday that the US would “impose costs” on Russia if it doesn’t end the war. “If there is no path to peace in the short term, then the United States, along with our allies, will take steps necessary to impose costs on Russia for its continued aggression,” he said.

The rhetoric from Trump and Hegseth suggests the Trump administration is preparing to abandon its efforts at reaching a peace deal and continue the proxy war indefinitely. The administration is also considering providing Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles, which are nuclear-capable and have a range of over 1,000 miles, which would make a significant escalation and increase the chances of the war turning into a direct confrontation between Russia and NATO.

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