Tag: economy

Biden/Harris Commerce Secretary When Asked About Impending Strike With Huge Implications: ‘I Have Not Been Very Focused on That’

Gina Raimondo, the Biden/Harris commerce secretary, was recently asked on CNBC about the impending port worker strike and declared that she has not been focused on that. What exactly does this woman do all day, other than campaign for Kamala Harris?

Raimondo was in the news last week for suggesting that Democrats should ‘extinguish’ Donald Trump. She also has a track record of being shockingly unfamiliar with issues that are directly related to her job.

Financial experts are warning that this strike could cost the U.S. billions of dollars a day and severely slow the transport of goods across the country.

The FOX Business Network reports:

Biden-Harris commerce secretary says she is staying out of potential port worker strike

Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Monday that she “hasn’t been particularly involved” on the potential strike of port workers that has some experts worried that it could cost the U.S. economy billions every day…

“I would say, look, it’s not a secret that this would be, depending on how long it lasts, could be incredibly disruptive to commerce,” Raimondo, who appeared as a surrogate for Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign, responded.

She added that she hopes the parties come together to an agreement because if not, the effects on the economy could be “very disruptive.”

Quick followed up by asking what the effects would be if the strike lasted longer than a week.

“I have not been very focused on that. I would refer you to the White House or the transportation secretary,” Raimondo responded.

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45,000 Dock Workers From Maine to Texas Go on Strike — Nation Braces for Inflation Spike and Supply Chain Chaos — Experts Warn U.S. Faces $5 Billion Loss a Day

Americans are now staring down the barrel of another crisis — this time, a strike involving 45,000 dock workers from Maine to Texas.

The result? A looming economic catastrophe that could cost the U.S. a staggering $5 billion in just one day while Americans brace for another skyrocketing inflation and severe supply chain disruptions.

The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), representing workers at 36 ports from Maine to Texas, has made clear that the strike is not only about wages but also about job protection in the face of creeping automation.

The strike began early Tuesday morning as the contract between the ILA and the  United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) expired without a resolution.

“The Ocean Carriers represented by USMX want to enjoy rich billion-dollar profits that they are making in 2024, while they offer ILA Longshore Workers an unacceptable wage package that we reject”, the ILA said in a statement.

“ILA longshore workers deserve to be compensated for the important work they do keeping American commerce moving and growing. It’s disgraceful that most of these foreign-owned shipping companies are engaged in a ‘Make and Take’ operation: They want to make their billion-dollar profits at United States ports, and off the backs of American ILA longshore workers, and take those earnings out of this country and into the pockets of foreign conglomerates. Meanwhile, ILA dedicated longshore workers continue to be crippled by inflation due to USMX’s unfair wage packages.“

“In addition, the shippers are gouging their customers that result in increased costs to American consumers. They are now charging $30,000 for a full container, a whopping increase from $6,000 per container just a few weeks ago. In just a short time, they went from 6K, to 18K, then 24K and now $30,000. It’s unheard of and they are doubling their $30,000 fee stuffing the same container from multiple shippers. They are killing the customers,” the ILA concluded.

The union’s demands include a 77% pay raise over six years, a fair request considering the astronomical cost of living increases under Biden regime, and no automated machinery.

Workers began picketing at the Port of Philadelphia and Port Houston, among other locations, carrying signs that read, “No Work Without a Fair Contract.”

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Mystery Of Upward GDP Revision Solved: You Are All $500 Billion Richer Now According To A Revised Biden Admin Spreadsheet

Something strange happened yesterday when the Bureau of Economic Analysis released the final estimate of Q2 GDP data: as part of the release, Biden’s Dept of Commerce run by Gina Raimondo, which also runs the BEA, reported that GDP in since 2020 had been revised markedly higher (with the exception of H2 2023) …

So what happened?

Recall that about a year ago, questions started to swirl around the record divergence between Gross Domestic Product (GDP, or also known as Gross Domestic Output) and Gross Domestic Income (GDI), which unlike GDP also captures various interest payments, mostly to and from the Federal Reserve.

Ironically, back in September 2023, JPMorgan expected that GDP would catch down to GDI, resulting in a much weaker GDP print. That did not happen, because the Biden admin came up with a last minute sticksave that revised historical data to make it seem the US was stronger than previously thought.

Fast forward to this week, when Goldman was looking at the same gap, and also at the divergence between various GDP components as reported and their revisions, and also expected that historical GDP would be revised much lower (also catching  down to GDI). That too did not happen, because the Biden admin… well, it pretty much did the same thing again.

What did happen, is that not only was GDI revised sharply higher, effectively closing the record divergence between the two series by boosting various interest income assumptions of GDI.

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The Vampire Fiat Money System: How It Works and What It Means for Your Wealth

Who doesn’t know them: the blood-sucking vampires, the eerie undead, immortalized in countless films, and inspired primarily by Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula (1897). Just think of iconic movies like the silent film Nosferatu – A Symphony of Horror (1922), Dracula (1958) with Christopher Lee, Roman Polanski’s parody The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967), or Nosferatu – Phantom of the Night (1979), starring Klaus Kinski as Count Dracula. 

Vampires are demons who rise from their graves at night, seeking to drain the blood of innocent victims. Not only do they steal the life force that sustains them, but they also spread their curse. Many victims, bitten by vampires, are “turned,” becoming undead themselves, thus joining the vampire’s dark domain.

The enemies and hunters of vampires face a formidable challenge: vampires can disguise themselves, transforming into creatures like wolves or bats, and often display immense, superhuman strength. They can only be repelled by traditional defenses—garlic cloves, rosaries, holy water, or the Christian cross. But truly destroying a vampire requires decapitation, driving a wooden stake through its heart, or bright sunlight that turns them to dust.

The vampire is an ancient and widespread myth. The image of a blood-sucking undead creature, or similar concepts, has existed across many cultures. This demon embodies superstition—acting as a projection of primal fears, the inexplicable, and evil as the counterpart to good. The notion of a creature that emerges at night, drains its victims’ blood, and draws them from light into darkness is undoubtedly a profoundly threatening one. 

When you reflect a little longer on the horror story of the vampire demon, you will inevitably begin to see parallels (or at least points of contact) with the fiat money system that exists worldwide today.

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Why Kamala Harris’ $25,000 down payment program is just like the electric vehicle boondoggle

Kamala Harris’ $25,000 down payment plan for first-time homebuyers should remind people that we don’t want government to try to solve free-market problems. Because it can’t.  

In 2021, the Biden-Harris administration passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which included $7.5 billion to build 500,000 public charging stations for electric vehicles across the country to boost clean energy. 

And the functional charging stations have reached an eye-popping number of eight. Yes. Eight!  

Now Kamala wants you to believe the government can help build 3 million affordable housing units over the next four years?

We don’t even know who will qualify for this $25,000 down payment assistance in terms of income levels. But certainly for those staring down the barrel of the median $425,000 home price in America, this sum of money is a far cry from getting them out of private mortgage insurance and getting into an affordable monthly mortgage payment.  

Instead, we should be looking at the groundbreaking ideas germinating in the free market that may shed some light on how we can fix the affordable housing crisis in America. 

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Real estate investor explains why Kamala Harris is the candidate who ‘does not understand housing’

One of the most outspoken real estate investors in America is aiming to set the record straight on what the real estate industry might look like under a future Harris-Walz administration.

“Kamala Harris is either financially illiterate, incompetent, or she believes that her voters are. Her plans come up every week as something new,” real estate investor, private equity fund manager and 10X co-founder Grant Cardone said Wednesday on “Mornings with Maria.”

“Kamala does not understand housing,” he continued, “and I can tell you why.”

Vice President Harris has rolled out a list of actions she would take to tackle the affordable housing crisis in the U.S. if she wins the presidency, including the expansion of President Biden’s proposal earlier this year to provide $25,000 in down payment assistance to first-time homebuyers.

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Kamala Harris is stumped by question about crucial part of her economic policy during MSNBC interview

Vice President Kamala Harris gave a long pause during her interview on MSNBC when she faced a question over how she would pay for her economic plans. 

The moment came early in the interview where Harris batted away slow-pitch questions such as ‘can we trust you?’

Interviewer Stephanie Ruhle asked Harris, who was giving her first network TV interview since securing her party’s nomination, how she would pay for her economic plans. 

‘If you can’t raise corporate taxes or if GOP takes control of the Senate, where do you get the money to do that,’ her interviewer asked, after Harris outlined some of her plans like a $6,000 credit for young couples or subsidies for new small business ventures.

Republicans stand a decent chance of taking the chamber from the narrow Democratic majority, with a Montana Democratic-held seat growing increasingly vulnerable.  

‘But we’re going to have to raise corporate taxes,’ Harris told her after a pause.

‘And we’re going to have to raise – we’re going to have to make sure that the biggest corporations and billionaires pay their fair share. That’s just it,’ Harris said.

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The Kamala Harris Plan To Create More Housing Shortages

If you want more shortages, then artificially stimulate demand. That’s exactly what Harris proposes, following the lead of AOC.

The Kamala Harris Plan

The National Low Income Housing Coalition discusses the Harris Campaign Plans to Lower Housing Costs.

To address the housing shortage and bring down prices for renters and homeowners alike, the Harris campaign’s plan calls for a historic expansion of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) and the first-ever tax incentive for homebuilders who build starter homes sold to first-time homebuyers. Building upon the Biden-Harris administration’s proposed $20 billion innovation fund, the campaign proposes a $40 billion fund that would support local innovations in housing supply solutions, catalyze innovative methods of construction financing, and empower developers and homebuilders to design and build affordable homes.

The campaign plan cites the Biden-Harris administration’s ongoing actions to support the lowest-income renters, including its actions to expand rental assistance for veterans and other low-income renters, increase housing supply for people experiencing homelessness, enforce fair housing laws, and hold corporate landlords accountable.

To make homeownership attainable, Vice President Harris’s proposal would provide up to $25,000 in down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers who have paid their rent on time for two years. First-generation homeowners – those whose parents did not own homes – would receive more generous assistance.

China’s top economist disappears after criticizing Xi Jinping

China’s top economist, Zhu Hengpeng, criticized Chinese President Xi Jinping in a private chat. At first, he was detained and removed from office, and then he disappeared, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Sources report that in the spring of 2024, Zhu Hengpeng made several “impolitic remarks” about China’s weakening economy and indirectly criticized Xi Jinping in a closed chat on the Chinese messaging app WeChat.

As a result, a case was opened against Hengpeng, leading to his detention and dismissal from the Institute of Economics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, where he had worked for 20 years, including the last 10 as deputy director.

Additionally, references to him were removed from the online staff list of one of Tsinghua University’s centers.

It is unknown where the economist is now and what happened to him. His name has also disappeared from the CASS staff lists, and he has not responded to emails from the Wall Street Journal and The Guardian. No one answered the door at his apartment in Beijing. The Chinese agency handling media inquiries has not responded to requests for comment.

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Kamala Spokesman Refuses To Answer question “Are Americans Better Off Now Than Four Years Ago?”

A spokesman for the Kamala Harris campaign repeatedly refused to answer the simple question “are Americans better off than four years ago?”

It is the same question Harris couldn’t provide a coherent response to during the debate.

During a CNN interview, Ian Sams was persistently asked to provide an answer, and skirted around the question the entire time.

Host Pamela Brown noted “the bottom line here, when you look at a metric like grocery prices, they’re up still 20 percent compared to four years ago.”

She continued, “And Harris was asked recently on the debate stage whether she thinks Americans are better off now than four years ago, and she didn’t directly answer that question. So I will ask you, does she think Americans are better off now or not?”

Sams immediately attempted to pivot the topic to blaming “the mess that we inherited when President Trump left office” and Trump’s “total mismanagement of COVID” for the poor state the economy is in.

He then went straight to the one talking point Harris’ people all go to, the idea that she will “take on corporate price gouging.”

“I’m just going to follow up on the question again,” Brown interjected, prompting Sams to state “she’s going to keep talking about her plans to bring down those grocery costs, while Donald Trump is going to explode them.”

The point is she isn’t providing ANY substance.

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