GOV/MIL Main "Great Reset" Thread

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Dear Leader Biden’s Treasury Nominee: China Is a ‘Shining Example’ of ‘Smart’ Economic Policy

by Jordan Schachtel
November 14, 2021

Dear Leader Biden's Treasury Nominee_ China Is a 'Shining Example' of 'Smart' Economic Policy

A top Biden Administration Treasury nominee wants to model America’s economic system after the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) centralized control platform.

Saule Omarova, the Biden Administration’s pick for comptroller of the currency, recently praised the Chinese government’s monetary system for its “shining example” of “smart pro-innovation policy.” Yes, she couched the language in “critics of” format, but it’s clear, given her background and published work, that this is her personal view.

1636959036155.png

Omarova is a true radical, according to her published work and biographical background. Educated at Moscow State University when it was under Soviet control, she wrote her dissertation on Karl Marx and communist economics, but the university has reportedly helped bury her thesis from public view. Moreover, Omarova has removed any reference to this work in her Cornell Law School CV.

The Biden Treasury nominee has long advocated for a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) system that allows the federal government to reward what it deems “productive” behavior. The CBDC system, the Western version of China’s Corporate Social Credit System (CSCS), grants the government the ability to digitally and instantly remove the wealth of any non-compliant citizen.

1636958989110.png

Omarova influential academic paper, “The People’s Ledger,” (the communist jargon is no coincidence) is her seminal work on the subject matter. It drives home the idea that there must be no separation between the government and its ability to control a country’s monetary system.

View: https://twitter.com/i/status/1459213417764556812
.51 min

In recent weeks, she has exposed her economic extremism for the world to see. Omarova has stated her intent to destroy massive American industries to accommodate the Green-Red eco-radical agenda.

1636958907502.png

Given the declining state of the American economy, there remains a fascinating debate over whether the Biden Administration is purposely nuking our economic system.
I remain uncommitted to a full embrace of either position. In my view, it’s probably a combination of the Idiocracy and leftist ideologues at work. I wrote about it in detail on Friday.

Article cross-posted from Jordan’s Substack.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Sunday Talks, Head of Minneapolis Federal Reserve Says Inflation Will Get Worse and Prices Will Never Come Down
November 14, 2021 | Sundance | 173 Comments

Neel Kashkari is head of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve. If you know the financial lingo, you can see the dire forecast behind the opaque language. In plain-speak, Kashari is saying when it comes to prices and inflation, “we’re screwed“…

In this interview with CBS talking head Margaret Brennan, Kashkari admits inflation is still going up, and it will get worse. Keep in mind, the lingo of the inflation conversation is discussing “percentages of change.” Kashkari claims the percentages of change will start to slow in a few years, but the prices will never return to their former level.

The percentage of inflationary change (this year vs last year) will continue going up, as prices continue to skyrocket over almost every sector. CTH points out this issue, because as the Fed continues printing current money, the value of future money drops and the price of goods continues to climb. The fast-turn goods rise in price quickest (now recorded at 6.2%), and the inflation on slow-turn durable goods lags but hits even harder.

Current real inflation inside the ‘total’ economy, the cumulative snowball that is coming down the mountain, is over 20% and still growing. This situation puts the forecast prices of 2022 goods at an alarming level. WATCH:

View: https://youtu.be/CJAgCjGY4WE
6:24 min

The fed has no tools to slow the rate of current inflation, as interest rates are disconnected {Revisit The New Dimension in Modern Economics} from the cost of goods produced. The only thing the Fed can do is to stop purchasing debt (Quantitative Easing), stop purchasing our own bonds, at a slower rate.

Despite being a progressive himself, even Neel Kashkari is telling congress to stop spending money.

fed-inflation-2-1024x600.jpg

.
Maybe you don’t have kids at home, maybe you don’t pack lunches or care what the cost of a pound of bologna will be, maybe you are retired and the stove hasn’t been operated all year as you prefer to dine out…. but I can assure you, to a demonstrable certainty, that almost all middle class working Americans will be making decisions on what food products they can afford. Head lettuce at $4 to $5 each, eggs at $3/doz, milk around $6/gal, butter around $8/lb, and citrus so expensive getting an orange in your Christmas stocking will be a trend again in 2022.

The background conversations in the raw material, processing, manufacturing, wholesaling and food contract networks are enough to make you lose sleep.

[…] Tyson sent a letter to at least two regional distributors last month in which it said that prices on Ball Park, Hillshire Farm, Jimmy Dean, State Fair and all deli meats will increase by a range of 5% to 10.2% beginning Jan. 2 for “all retail customers.” … “We continue to face accelerating levels of extraordinary inflation,” Tyson said in the letter. “The sustained duration and significant impact of the inflation necessitates additional pricing action.” (link)

The traditional net terms at 30, 60 or 90 days are right now a hot topic, as producers and suppliers in the food supply chain can no longer commit to contractual prices for future goods delivered. The upstream price increases are so large, the downstream suppliers will not contract on fixed prices, EVEN for the big box retailers.

Only those who know the scale of Walmart buying office pressure and dominance can appropriately contextualize a current WM supplier telling the behemoth to “go spit” if they don’t like the fact that price guarantees are no longer part of the equation. Yeah, it is THAT bad.

We are only a few months away from seeing massive inflation that will fundamentally change the way everyone looks at food shopping, or highly consumable purchases, and what the middle class formerly considered to be “luxury” purchases. Inflation, in the background, is going to come through the supply chain like a thundershock…. and it’s not just food.
This recent insider comment caused me to do some digging, and this is 100% accurate:

“I am an executive in the detergent chemical industry that supplies all of the major pharmaceutical companies, and am in charge of pricing and purchasing of large quantities of raw materials – both commodities, and surfactants, which are the main ingredients in detergents. Here is a brief overview of the situation.

Commodities, such as sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), sodium carbonate (soda ash), and other basic additives that adjust pH, thickness, anti-redeposition, rinseability, and other properties are up around 10-15% on a raw material cost basis from February. Not a single material is unaffected.

Citric acid is up nearly 40-50% when it can be found, at minimum. There is a nationwide allocation, which means that they give material to whom they feel like. One of the major domestic manufacturers of these materials shut down production of citric acids and other acidulants due to maintenance. Many companies in my industry are paying nearly 300% (not a typo – three hundred percent) increases on citric acid.

Domestic primary surfactants, which are made by a handful of companies such as Stepan Company, Solvay, Huntsman, and many more, are up 15-20%, due mainly to oil cost, transportation, etc.

Domestic specialty surfactants, specifically of a class called ethoxylated surfactants, are nearly gone. Not hard to get, not difficult to find – gone. In February, the ice storm took out piping and power lines along the entire gulf coast. The two towns that got hit hardest were Houston, TX, and a little town called St. Charles, LA. St. Charles is where all ethoxylation takes place in the USA for everyone from Dow to Sasol to BASF, and is the key process to make these specialty ethoxylated surfactants. Then, after 4 months of shutdowns, just when everything was getting back into swing, Hurricane Ida wrecked everything all over again.

Dow, one of the largest companies in the world, only restarted production at their facility there in early October.

The crisis of transportation and at the ports is only adding to this crisis of manufacturing in the chemical industry. News to everyone? It was never covered, not even once, on the news.

If truckers are going to be forced to be vaccinated come January, there will be even less trucks than there are now.

The wheels of the world are being purposefully and deliberately ground to a halt. We’d be better off with the mafia back in control of the ports worldwide.

This is going to get so much worse before it gets any better, and the administration in office is doing everything in their power to make sure it is as bad as possible.” (link)

And this onIndustrial Price Increases“:

Industrial-Price-Increases-1.jpg


Kamala Harris is worried about feeding children of the world, while we are literally weeks away from millions of working class, non-subsidized Americans being worried about feeding their own kids. Infuriating is an understatement.

Please prepare yourselves and your families accordingly. The proactive window to prepare for what’s coming in the short term is approximately 60 days from today; and then spending options begin to diminish quickly.

Yes, the rate of price increase may indeed level off. However, we will not see prices dropping or returning to their prior position even after this is over. The price of goods is climbing, will continue to climb and will eventually reach a point that they stop climbing – if policies change and/or the 2022 mid term election gets rid of the communists who are spending the money; but those prices are not going to come back down, ever.

A current loaf of bread, widget or (fill_in_the_blank) at $4.69 will climb to near $6.00 in 2022, and that will be the new normal price of that widget, bread or item from that moment into the future. If you accept that behind you is a massive price increase about to hit on almost everything you purchase, anything you can do now to offset the impact to your household budget when the full weight of these price increases hit is going to be well worth doing.

This is all being done by design.

inflation-november-2021-1024x497.jpg
build-back-better-2-927x1024.jpg
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Chuck Schumer Calls on Biden to Release Oil Reserves – And Then Kill Off US Oil Companies (VIDEO)

By Jim Hoft
Published November 15, 2021 at 9:00am
schumer-kill-oil.jpg


Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called on President Biden to make use of emergency petroleum reserves in an effort to lower gas prices ahead of the holiday season.

Analysts have said that making use of the reserves would provide only a short-term solution and wouldn’t increase the country’s production capabilities.

Schumer then added that once the oil reserves were released it was time to end oil production in the US — to hell with them.

For some reason, the fake news mainstream media is omitting this from their reports?

Chuck Schumer: We need immediate relief at the gas pump and the place to look is the Strategic Petroleum Reserve… I’m urging the administration to tap that reserve, get the prices down, and then we have to embark on a full-time campaign to get us away from carbon fuels altogether.

In other words — Kill off the gas and oil companies and eliminate their hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Democrat insanity is killing America.


Rumble video on website .47 min
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Psaki: “We are Not in the Middle of an Historic Economic Crisis Right Now” (VIDEO)

By Cristina Laila
Published November 15, 2021 at 2:24pm
IMG_7349-1.jpg


White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Monday claimed we are not in the middle of an economic crisis right now.
  • Highest inflation in 30 years
  • Highest gas prices in a decade
  • Record supply chain crisis and empty shelves
  • 100,450,000 people are not in the labor force and not even looking for a job
  • People losing jobs over illegal vaccine mandates
But the Biden Regime says we aren’t in the middle of an economic crisis.

“We are NOT in the middle of a historic economic crisis right now,” Psaki said with a straight face.

VIDEO:
View: https://twitter.com/i/status/1460331648117923846
.15 min
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Biden Effect: Gas Prices in California Reach All-Time Record High at $4.68 per Gallon

By Jim Hoft
Published November 15, 2021 at 8:08am
biden-lost-5.jpg

Success.

Joe Biden and Democrats promised to rid the US of fossil fuels and they are doing it.
And what that means is higher energy costs for you.

Gas prices in California today reached an all-time high at $4.68 per gallon.

US oil prices have surged by more than 65% this year during Joe Biden’s first year.

CNN reported:
California gas prices hit $4.682 per gallon on Monday, setting a new record for the state for a second day in a row, according to the American Automobile Association.
Monday’s price for regular unleaded was six-tenths of a cent higher than the Sunday average reported by AAA, which broke the all-time record of $4.671 previously set in October 2012.

America’s largest state by population has the highest gas prices in the country. The national average ticked up slightly to $3.415 Monday.

AAA said heavy rainstorms in Northern California have pinched production capacity, which then trickled down to Southern California — just what happened in Louisiana with Hurricane Ida.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Tim Pool snaps… Red pill activated…
Posted by Kane on November 14, 2021 10:07 pm

View: https://twitter.com/i/status/1459471051080060933
1:43 min
Tim Pool went viral yesterday with this clip and was trending #1 for most of the day.

More on James O’Keefe in this stemwinder…
View: https://twitter.com/i/status/1459559026233073668
1:11 min

View: https://youtu.be/29CKzDYU85k
14:42 min

1637016105403.png
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Biden's Baffling Oil Policy Faces Backlash From All Sides

MONDAY, NOV 15, 2021 - 07:00 PM
Authored by Irina Slav via OilPrice.com,
  • President Biden is in a tight spot when it comes to energy
  • The White House continues to face critique from both environmentalists and the oil and gas industry
  • If energy demand continues to grow at the current pace, switching from pragmatism to an all-out renewables agenda will be a huge challenge


President Joe Biden and his administration hardly planned for everything that happened this year. In fairness, no administration could have planned for it: soaring oil and gas demand, tight supply, rising prices fueling inflation that has quickly gone from nothing to worry about to the biggest worry for many.

Yet that's not the worst of it for the Biden administration. The president came into office with the pledge to set the United States on a course towards a lower-carbon energy future. This would have been a challenging task even under the best of circumstances, the U.S. being one of the biggest polluters in the world. With the energy crunch, the task becomes almost impossible.

It is no wonder, then, that when Biden started calling on OPEC to boost crude oil production, nervous about rising gas prices at American filling stations, he instantly attracted accusations of hypocrisy. After all, he was pushing an energy transition agenda, he was clearly not in favor of boosting domestic oil production, and one of the first executive orders he signed was the one that killed the Keystone XL pipeline.

The White House's climate envoy, John Kerry, got asked about Biden's energy policy at the COP26 summit in Glasgow last week. How could the president urge OPEC to pump more oil while campaigning for the phase-out of fossil fuels, the media asked Kerry.
"He's asking them to boost production in the immediate moment," Kerry said in response, as quoted by the Wall Street Journal.

"And as the transition cuts in, there won't be that need as you deploy the solar panels, as you deploy the transmission lines, as you build out the grid."
Kerry's statement is in line with Biden's own defense of his latest moves in the energy area.
"On the surface, it seems like an irony," Biden said earlier this month, referring to his call on OPEC+ to add more oil production while heading for COP26 to discuss the reduction of global emissions.

"But the truth of the matter is ... everyone knows that idea that we're going to be able to move to renewable energy overnight ... it's just not rational."
Recognizing that the renewable energy transition will not—cannot—happen overnight is a commendable demonstration of pragmatism. It is also a recognition of the fact that people need energy right now, and they must get it from any available source. That the sources at this moment are mostly fossil fuels is an unfortunate fact of life that we simply have to accept and continue working to reduce the demand for these fossil fuels.

This seems to be the line the Biden administration is following, and even its critics would likely agree that it is a pragmatic one. The thing is, however, that pragmatism and hypocrisy are not mutually exclusive. Biden's energy policy has already sparked protests from climate activists, calling for an end to U.S. fossil fuel exports and a ban on fracking. Interestingly enough, a group of congressmen also recently called on the White House to ban oil exports but for a different reason: the legislators argued a ban on exports would ensure a more adequate supply for the domestic market.

President Biden is in a tight spot when it comes to energy. When he took office, the plan was to steer the U.S. towards a lower-carbon future using the Democrats' majority in Congress. In reality, the majority is so flimsy that passing any climate-related legislation has been a challenge that has involved a lot of compromises. And then came the energy crunch, which nobody expected. Suddenly, the U.S. needed more of all fossil fuels.

It is an ironic twist that the first year of Biden's presidency is also the first year in which coal consumption in the country is set for a rise since 2014. And it will be a substantial rise:
the Energy Information Administration has forecast the U.S. will consume 20 percent more coal than last year.

Yet using coal to generate electricity more affordably is a pragmatic move even if it leads to a rise in U.S. emissions. The rise, the administration would probably argue, will be a temporary problem, and once the crunch is over, we'll go back to our low-carbon agenda.

Yet this is where the bigger problem flashes a fin. The current energy crunch is not only a result of supply shortages. It is also a result of rising energy demand. U.S. producers appear to be unwilling to ramp up production of crude oil to levels that would lower prices at the pump. Gas producers are having a field day exporting a record amount of their product to Asia, where buyers are looking for a bargain—and U.S. gas is a bargain.

If demand continues to grow at the current pace, switching from pragmatism to energy transition will continue to be a challenge.
Over the short term, the challenge will be especially tough: inflation is driving up the prices of renewables, too, and threatening a lot of planned capacity addition projects with cancellation because of surging material and component costs.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Did COP26's "Humiliating Failure" Mark The Beginning Of The End Of UN's Climate Crisis Agenda?

MONDAY, NOV 15, 2021 - 05:00 PM
Authored by Paul Homewood via NotALotOfPeopleKnowThat blog,

The UN’s climate agenda has finally hit the buffers in Glasgow.



It almost happened in Copenhagen 12 years ago, when developing nations refused to limit their economic growth to satisfy the West.

It was only the promise of hundreds of billions of dollars that persuaded them to come along for the ride.

The can was kicked down the road again in 2015 at Paris, when developing countries were given carte blanche to carry on increasing emissions.

But sooner or later, the time would come for action, not talk.

And when it came to the crunch, the developing nations rebelled, led by India, China, South Africa and Iran. The touchpaper was this clause in the Draft Agreement, which was presented to the conference yesterday:



India along with a host of like minded countries knew that they could not run their economies without coal and other fossil fuels, never mind grow them and relieve poverty. Faced with the whole Agreement being lost, Alok Sharma and the UN organisers backed down, and replaced the words “phase-out” with “phase-down”. Just one word changed, but its effect was devastating for the Agreement.

Given that there is no obligation to do any of this (hence the term “Calls”), and no timescales are mentioned, India and the rest can interpret this clause any way they want. (Unabated coal, by the way, means where the carbon is not captured). In short, they will be able to carry on burning all the coal they want, for as long as they want.

The rest of the Agreement is pretty weak and ineffectual as well. It is full of terms such as “urges”, “requests” and “invites”, which mean there is no obligation on anybody to do anything.

And all COP26 has really agreed on is to meet up again next year and discuss things again.

In terms of Mitigation, ie reducing emissions, countries who have not yet submitted new plans are requested to do so next year. But if they have not done so yet, it is hardly likely they will come up with anything meaningful next year.

The Agreement inevitably “reaffirms” the 1.5C target. It would have been politically impossible to do otherwise. However, 1.5C was never an option, and was effectively kicked into touch at Paris, when it was acknowledged that emissions would carry on rising till 2030. According to the science, emissions would need to be cut in half in this decade to hit 1.5C, something which is clearly not remotely possible now.

Parties are also requested to come back next year with strengthened targets. But again, are countries that have just submitted new targets this year going to propose anything significantly different next year?






Then, of course, there is the money. There is a lot of “urging” and “requesting” developed countries to cough up:



But already the bar is being raised, with the third world demanding ever more. One significant item introduced at COP26 is the demand by developing nations that finance for adaption to climate change should be ramped up at the expense of mitigation.

In other words, they don’t want money for solar panels. They’d rather have it for building resilience against climate change (by which they mean weather!).

One further blow to those demanding western money has been the neutering of their Loss and Damage agenda. This is the ludicrous claim that all weather disasters are due to global warming, and that rich countries should therefore pay poor ones every time there is a bit of bad weather.

That was too much for even Joe Biden to accept, as it would leave the West on the hook for ever. The Glasgow Pact has effectively kicked this into touch, just promising more talks at some time in the future.

Naturally supporters of the UN agenda, such as the BBC, have tried to make the best of a bad job, claiming that “progress has been made”. The absurd Matt McGrath calls it “ambitious” and “progressive”.

Some have even claimed that the 1.5C target is still alive. Chris Stark, Chief Executive of the Committee on Climate Change, for instance stated:


Source: BBC

This shows just how out of touch he is with reality. Living in his little bubble, he seems to think the rest of the world shares his obsession with climate change.

But as the Climate Action tracker reaffirms, emissions will carry on growing, despite the new plans submitted to COP26:


Source: ClimateActionTracker

The end of the road.
In my view, we have seen the beginning of the end for the UN’s climate agenda.

There will no doubt be many more COPs to come. And there will be annual warnings from Prince Charles that we have 12 more months to save the planet.

But the writing is now on the wall. Developing countries around the world are standing up and refusing to cut back on fossil fuels, because they know they have no alternative if they want to grown their economies and give their people a better life.

They have got off the Climate Train.

So should we.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

The Big Green Push To Get Rid Of Coal Had The Opposite Effect

MONDAY, NOV 15, 2021 - 06:30 AM
Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

An alleged big win to eliminate coal turned into a bust and then some...



Investors Pushing Mining Giants to Quit Coal is Backfiring
Bloomberg has an interesting story on how Environmentalists Pushing Mining Giants to Quit Coal has backfired.
It was supposed to be a big win for climate activists: another of the world’s most powerful mining companies had caved to investor demands that it stop digging up coal.

Instead, Anglo American Plc’s exit from coal has become a case study for unintended consequences, transforming mines that were scheduled for eventual closure into the engine room for a growth-hungry coal business.

And while it’s a particularly stark example, it’s not the only one. When rival BHP Group was struggling to sell an Australian colliery this year, the company surprised investors by applying to extend mining at the site by another two decades — an apparent attempt to sweeten its appeal to potential buyers.

Now, after years of lobbying blue-chip companies to stop mining the most-polluting fuel, there’s a growing unease among climate activists and some investors that the policy many of them championed could lead to more coal being produced for longer.

BHP may end up holding on to the Australian mine it was battling to sell, Bloomberg reported last week. Earlier this year, Glencore Plc sounded out a major climate investor group before announcing it would increase its ownership of a big Colombian coal mine, according to people familiar with the matter.
Not Just China
India now burns more coal than Europe and the U.S combined and miners are betting on rising demand over the next decade from countries such as Vietnam, Bangladesh and Indonesia, although pollution concerns and cheaper alternatives threaten to derail those plans.
Tough to Eliminate Coal
The push to abandon coal made selling the mines difficult. So companies chose to extend their life.

Developing countries that invested in coal-powered electrical plants that have many years of useful life want reparations to develop new plants.

New wind and solar plants are cheaper but unreliable. And they are not cheaper than plants already built.

Moreover, wind can die for days and solar has on average 12 hours a day of outages.

This places additional capital investment requirements for countries to build energy storage facilities.

Still Building
China alone is currently building or planning coal power plants that are the equivalent of six times Germany’s entire coal burning capacity.



It's tough to get rid of coal when you build more coal plants than you retire.

COP26
COP26 has concluded. I will do a separate report a bit later.

There were some alleged successes including a watered down pledge at the last-minute to “phase down” rather than “phase out” coal.

This is considered a "success" because after weeks of bickering no statement at all regarding coal was expected.

Credit India, with backing of China, for the watered down pledge on coal. That alone should tell you what you need to know.

The biggest failure also relates to coal.

Rich countries did not make clear pledges to finance developing nations to the tune of what developing nations demand.

Instead, nations promised to continue talking about funding for “loss and damage associated with the adverse impacts of climate change”.

That means developing nations will not make much if any effort to get off coal
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Complicit’: A Field Guide to the Lack of Infrastructure Funding, Leftist Carveouts in the $1.2 Trillion So-Called Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill

232
President Joe Biden signs the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act as he is surrounded by lawmakers and members of his Cabinet during a ceremony on the South Lawn at the White House on November 15, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Alex Wong/Getty Images
SEAN MORAN15 Nov 2021942

Despite its moniker as a “bipartisan infrastructure bill,” the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act contains no conservative victories but has many leftist carveouts.

President Joe Biden signed the $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into law, marking Biden’s most significant legislative victory since Congress passed his coronavirus rescue plan in March, the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan.

This infrastructure bill serves as one part of Biden’s infrastructure agenda. The other bill, the $1.75 trillion reconciliation Build Back Better Act, would fund “human infrastructure,” expanding American welfare programs and climate change policies.

Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and other Democrats have compared his Build Back Better legislative agenda to the New Deal and the Great Society programs even though Democrats have scaled down the Build Back Better Act from $3.5 to $1.75 trillion.

U.S. President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi leave a meeting with House Democrats at the U.S. Capitol on Capitol Hill October 28, 2021 in Washington, DC. President Biden will meet with House Democrats on Thursday morning to try and secure a vote on the Senate-passed bipartisan infrastructure bill and discuss his multi-trillion social policy spending bill. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi leave a meeting with House Democrats at the U.S. Capitol on Capitol Hill on October 28, 2021, in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

The passage of the so-called bipartisan infrastructure bill would not have been possible without the support and advocacy of 19 Senate Republicans and 13 House Republicans.

The 19 Senate Republicans who voted for the bill in August include:
  1. Dan Sullivan (R-AK)
  2. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV)
  3. Mike Crapo (R-ID)
  4. Roy Blunt (R-MO)
  5. Richard Burr (R-NC)
  6. Deb Fischer (R-NE)
  7. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
  8. Rob Portman (R-OH)
  9. Thom Tillis (R-NC)
  10. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
  11. Jim Risch (R-ID)
  12. Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
  13. Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
  14. Kevin Cramer (R-ND)
  15. Roger Wicker (R-MS)
  16. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
  17. John Hoeven (R-ND)
  18. Susan Collins (R-ME)
  19. Mitt Romney (R-UT)
The 13 House Republicans who voted for the bill include:
  1. John Katko (R-NY),
  2. Don Bacon (R-NE),
  3. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ),
  4. Fred Upton (R-MI),
  5. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL),
  6. Don Young (R-AK),
  7. Tom Reed (R-NY),
  8. Chris Smith (R-NJ),
  9. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY),
  10. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY),
  11. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA),
  12. Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH),
  13. David McKinley (R-WV)
While these 32 Republicans helped shepherd the bill into law, other conservatives have railed and messaged against the bill for months.

Woke Victories in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), the Republican Study Committee (RSC) chairman, noted that only $110 billion of the $1.2 trillion in spending would fund roads, bridges, and other projects that most Americans would consider infrastructure.

The RSC wrote that it would include $66 billion in funding for Amtrak while preventing any taxpayer accountability for the railway service.

The bill would fix “racism physically built into some of our highways,” as Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has claimed.

1637041044270.png1637041089053.png

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found that the bill would add $256 billion to the deficit, and the Penn-Wharton Budget Model said the bill would add no “significant” level of economic growth.

The bipartisan infrastructure would also advance leftist priorities:
  • Defines “gender identity” as a protected class.
  • Doles out “digital equity” grants partly based on racial or ethnic minority status.
  • State-mandated carbon reduction program
  • Contains funding for “zero-emission vehicles”
  • Addresses “over-the-road bus tolling equity”
  • Contains the word “equity” 64 times
  • Provides roughly $2.5 billion to help the U.S. government expand the border processing stations used by migrants from poor Central American nations and other regions around the world.
  • Contains a $10 million grant to create a Vehicle Miles Travelled Tax (VMT) Pilot program, which many conservatives argue could lead to a permanent VMT tax.
  • A $1 million per state grant to encourage children to walk to school.
Sen. Cassidy, a chief advocate for the bipartisan infrastructure bill, claimed in early August that the bill does not contain provisions advancing critical race theory (CRT).

However, as Breitbart News and others noted, it would in fact advance CRT.

Christopher Rufo, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, responded to Cassidy, noting lines in the bill asserting “race and gender-neutral efforts are insufficient to address” issues surrounding “disadvantaged business enterprises.”

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 11: U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) raises concerns about current COVID-19 guidelines during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing to discuss the ongoing federal response to COVID-19 on May 11, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Greg Nash-Pool/Getty Images)
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) speaks during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing to discuss the ongoing federal response to COVID-19 on May 11, 2021, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Greg Nash-Pool/Getty Images)

Another provision would “encourage women to enter the field of trucking” to address the alleged gender inequity of the trucking industry.

The bipartisan infrastructure bill includes the Digital Equity Act that expands broadband communities that lack internet connectivity due to poverty, lack of infrastructure, or status as a rural community.

Part 1 of 2
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment
Part 2 of 2

However, as Breitbart News’ John Binder noted, the legislation would dole out funding to blue, more diverse districts, to the detriment of Republican, whiter communities:
… the broadband expansion will be partially based on how many nonwhite residents and newly arrived immigrants a particular community has. Communities with large foreign-born populations and are majority-minority will be first in line for the expansion.

In effect, the less white an area is and the more immigrants who reside there, the quicker that community is to secure broadband expansion. Because Democrats tend to represent these communities, Republican votes for the bill serve to penalize their constituents for their region’s demographic makeup.
No Conservative Victories in the So-Called Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill
Most Americans would believe that a bipartisan bill would also contain victories for Republicans as well as Democrats.

However, the so-called bipartisan infrastructure bill does not contain any nominally conservative victories.

For instance, the legislation approves zero funding for the border wall.

The legislation calls for a study to review the potential impact of revoking the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, even though it does not restore the job-creating project.

The bipartisan infrastructure bill requires 180 days after the legislation’s enactment to ensure that “none of the funds made available for” each infrastructure project “may be obligated … unless all of the iron, steel, manufactured products, and construction materials used in the project are produced in the United States.”

However, the bill contains a provision that allows the heads of federal agencies to bypass the requirement if it is “inconsistent with the public interest” and “does not meet “satisfactory quality,” or if they believe buying American will increase costs.

Cryptocurrency Regulations that Send American Jobs Overseas
The bipartisan infrastructure bill contains two regulations of cryptocurrencies that many conservatives and industry officials have criticized as threatening American liberties and could result in the offshoring of American jobs.

One regulation, proposed by Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) and the Biden White House as a $30 billion “pay for,” would require that any broker that transfers any digital currencies would need to file a tax return under a “modified information reporting regime.”

President Joe Biden speaks outside the White House with a bipartisan group of senators after a meeting about an infrastructure deal June 24, 2021, in Washington, DC. From left to right are Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH), Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT). (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
President Joe Biden speaks outside the White House with a bipartisan group of senators after a meeting about an infrastructure deal on June 24, 2021, in Washington, DC. From left to right are Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH), Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT). (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH) told Breitbart News in late July, “This was either skillfully crafted or maliciously ignorant. Few policies could be so bad for America and good for big banks.”

“Crypto has been around for over a decade without proper regulation, but it only took two days for the Senate to use crypto as a pay-for in this bad infrastructure deal,” the Ohio conservative added.

The so-called bipartisan bill also has a provision that could put Americans up to five years in jail for failing to report receipt of cryptocurrency assets.

Abraham Sutherland wrote a report for the Proof of Stake Alliance that noted the so-called bipartisan infrastructure bill contains a provision to amend tax code 6050I that would make it a felony if one did not report receiving digital assets, whether it be cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ethereum, Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), or any other digital assets.

Sutherland noted, “Miners, stakers, lenders, decentralized application and marketplace users, traders, businesses and individuals are all at risk of being subject to this reporting requirement, even though in most situations the person or entity in receipt is not in the position to report the required information.”

“Congressional Democrats have a completely antiquated view of cryptocurrency and that has led them to add yet another burdensome hurdle to everyday crypto investors. The United States needs to be leading the world in the digital asset space instead of overregulating it and pushing it overseas,” Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC) told Breitbart News during an exclusive interview in September.

Carveouts and Benefits for Republicans who Voted for the Bipartisan Bill
Many Republicans who voted for the bipartisan infrastructure bill voted also received carveouts benefitting their state as well as their campaigns.

The United States Chamber of Commerce, which traditionally supported Republicans and Republican legislation, backed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Breitbart News’ Binder reported that all but nine House and Senate Republicans who voted for the bipartisan bill received donates from the Chamber.

Binder noted:
Tillis, representing the swing state of North Carolina, received $15,000 from the Chamber’s official political action committee (PAC) in recent election cycles, the most of any of the lawmakers.

Sullivan, Blunt, Graham, Portman, McConnell, and Collins each have taken $10,000 from the U.S. Chamber PAC in recent election cycles from 2015 to this year. Cassidy, Capito, Burr, Fischer, Murkowski, and Risch have each received $5,000 from the PAC, while Grassley last received money, $1,500, from the PAC in 2016.

In the House, Katko, Bacon, Garbarino, Fitzpatrick, and Gonzalez each received $6,000 from the U.S. Chamber PAC between 2020 and this year. Upton and Reed each took $5,000 while Van Drew and Young each accepted $2,500 checks from the PAC.
The so-called bipartisan infrastructure bill also doubled the funding of the Appalachian Regional Commission, on which Gayle Manchin, Manchin’s wife, sits as the co-chair.

McConnell bragged that Kentucky would receive $4.6 billion in infrastructure funding from the bipartisan bill.

Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill and Build Back Better Inherently Tied Together
Republicans supportive of the so-called bipartisan infrastructure bill have frequently claimed that the so-called bipartisan bill is not tied to the progressive Build Back Better Act to excuse their support for the bill.

Despite their claims, the two bills are inherently linked.

Moderate Democrats such as Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) have negotiated with more progressive Democrats to support the bill, which would lead to the moderates supporting the progressive bill.

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., center, joined from left by, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., speaks to reporters just after a vote to start work on a nearly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, July 28, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) speaks as Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) looks on, just after a vote to start work on a nearly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, July 28, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The $3.5 trillion budget resolution, which serves as the legislative vehicle for the $1.75 trillion Build Back Better Act, contains legislative text that allows for House Budget Committee Chairman John Yarmuth (D-KY) to make changes to the bipartisan bill as he sees fit.

The section reads:
In the House of Representatives, the chair of the Committee on the Budget may adjust the allocations, ag- gregates, and other budgetary levels included in this con- current resolution to reflect changes resulting from the en- actment of an infrastructure bill or joint resolution, in- cluding legislation implementing the INVEST in America Act or a bipartisan infrastructure agreement.
This would appear to prove Senate conservative’s arguments that backing the bipartisan bill would only enable and further the partisan infrastructure bill.

In July, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) told Breitbart News that Republicans who backed the bipartisan infrastructure bill would be “complicit” in enabling the $1.75 trillion Build Back Better Act.

Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT) told Breitbart News that the 32 Republicans who voted for the so-called bipartisan infrastructure not only enabled the leftist carveouts in the bipartisan bill but only supported the Build Back Better Act.

“This $1.2 trillion so-called infrastructure bill is a trojan horse filled with billions of dollars to fund leftist objectives and add over $400 billion to our national debt,” Rosendale told Breitbart News exclusively. “We need to invest in hard infrastructure in America. Our focus should be on roads, bridges, critical water systems, and broadband. What we don’t need are far-left priorities such as grants for electric vehicles, Green New Deal programs, and social justice initiatives—which make up a large portion of this bill. It’s extremely disheartening to see some of my Republican colleagues vote in favor of this legislation and pave the way for Democrats’ upcoming $1.75 trillion ‘Build Back Broke’ boondoggle. These Republicans are responsible for the consequences of not just the so-called infrastructure bill they supported, but the disastrous reconciliation bill as well.”
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Biden Admin Plans To Make Gas Even More Expensive Because You’re Not Poor Enough Yet

NOVEMBER 15, 2021 By Elle Reynolds
“Did you ever think you’d be paying this much for a gallon of gas?”

That’s apparently what Joe Biden wants to know, while he and the rest of his administration do their best to make sure you’re paying even more every time you fill up the tank.

Biden’s latest play is a plan to block oil and gas drilling within 10 miles of New Mexico’s Chaco Canyon, citing the canyon’s cultural significance for local American Indian groups. Chaco Canyon National Historic Park is roughly 30,000 acres.

View: https://twitter.com/i/status/1458554235340136458
.07 min

But banning oil and gas leases near Chaco Canyon is only the most recent in a long list of moves by the Biden administration that will hurt you at the pump.

Targeting American Pipelines
On his first day in the White House, Biden pulled the permit for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, leading to the project’s termination in June. Meanwhile, Biden green-lighted the Russian Nord Stream 2 pipeline, a project of Putin-affiliated Matthias Warnig.

Earlier this month, Biden’s Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre signaled that the administration was preparing to target another pipeline: Michigan’s Line 5.

“The Army Corps of Engineers is preparing an environmental impact to look through this,” Jean-Pierre said last week. Line 5 provides 65 percent of propane demand to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and 55 percent of propane for the entire state.

Fueling Inflation
Consumer prices jumped by 6.2 percent in October compared to a year before, the most staggering inflation hike Americans have seen in 30 years. Meanwhile, in the same one-year period, producer prices grew by 8.6 percent.

The Biden administration has continued to try pumping more money into the economy with multitrillion-dollar social spending plans, while the market wobbles under a growing supply chain crisis due in large part to Democrats’ attempts to shut down the economy for months.

Mandating Vaccines
Biden’s coercive press release-turned-bureaucratic mandate forcing companies with 100 or more employees to require the COVID-19 shot has caused staffing shortages across industries, exacerbating supply and production crises nearly everywhere.

“American frackers, already struggling to hire enough workers, are concerned that the coming U.S. vaccine mandate will worsen the situation at a time of rising oil and gas prices,” reported the Wall Street Journal in September.

Federalizing Land to Ban Energy Production
After using promises to end drilling on federal land as a campaign issue, Biden signed executive orders on his first week in office directing the interior secretary to stop any new oil and gas leases on federal lands.

“Penalizing the oil and gas industry kills good-paying American jobs, hurts our already struggling economy, makes our country more reliant on foreign energy sources, and impacts those who rely on affordable and reliable energy,” American Exploration and Production Council President Anne Bradbury told CNBC at the time.

A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against Biden’s plan in June, but the political fight remains ongoing.

Threatening Tax Hikes
Biden has long planned to include numerous repeals of tax breaks in his massive budget that would amount to billions of dollars of new taxes on natural gas and oil companies.

But while the White House goes out of its way to raise costs for American families, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki brushed concerns and responsibility aside, simply using Americans’ worries about rising gas prices to pump the administration’s green agenda.

View: https://twitter.com/i/status/1459239313607176192
.24 min
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Build Back Better Cost Would Double with Extensions
NOV 15, 2021 | OTHER SPENDING

We estimate the House Build Back Better Act includes roughly $2.4 trillion of spending and tax cuts along with roughly $2.2 trillion of offsets. However, the bill relies on a number of sunsets and expirations to keep the official cost down. If the plan's temporary policies were made permanent, we find the cost would increase by as much as $2.5 trillion. As a result, the gross cost of the bill would more than double from $2.4 trillion to $4.9 trillion.

The Build Back Better Act relies on a number of arbitrary sunsets and expirations to lower the official cost of the bill. These include extending the American Rescue Plan's Child Tax Credit (CTC) increase and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) expansion for a year, setting universal pre-K and child care subsidies to expire after six years, making the Affordable Care Act (ACA) expansions available through 2025, delaying the requirement that businesses amortize research and experimentation (R&E) costs until 2026, and setting several other provisions – from targeted tax credits to school lunch programs – to expire prematurely.

Excluding changes to the state and local tax (SALT) deduction, we estimate the Build Back Better Act would cost $2.1 trillion as written. We estimate making all of these temporary policies permanent would cost roughly $2.2 trillion, more than doubling the gross cost of the bill to $4.3 trillion through 2031.

Gross Cost of Build Back Better Act (2022-2031)


PolicyOfficial CostExtension CostPermanent Cost
Increase the Child Tax Credit amount for one year$130 billion$1.00 trillion*$1.13 trillion*
Expand the EITC for one year$15 billion$120 billion$135 billion
Support child care and pre-K for six years$390 billion$410 billion$800 billion
Expand Affordable Care Act through 2025$125 billion$405 billion$530 billion
Delay R&E amortization until 2026$5 billion$145 billion$150 billion
Other spending and tax breaks$1.44 trillion'~$100 billion$1.54 trillion
Gross Cost of Build Back Better Excluding SALT Cap Changes$2.10 trillion$2.18 trillion$4.29 trillion
Raise SALT cap to $80,000 through 2025^$285 billion$340 billion*$625 billion*
Gross Cost of Build Back Better with SALT Cap Changes'$2.39 trillion$2.52 trillion$4.91 trillion
Memo: Deficit Impact Assuming No Further Offsets$200 billion$2.82 trillion^$3.02 trillion
Sources: White House, Congressional Budget Office, and Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

*These figures assume elements of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that expire after 2025 are extended in separate legislation, including the CTC increase and $10,000 SALT deduction cap.

Under a stricter interpretation of current law, extending the CTC would cost $1.5 trillion instead of $1 trillion, while extending the SALT deduction cap of $80,000 would cost roughly $50 billion instead of $340 billion from keeping the cap at $80,000 rather than the proposed $10,000 in 2031. 'The Build Back Better Act would also extend the SALT deduction cap (which expires under current law after 2025) through 2031 and raise $300 billion relative to current law; we count this in our offsets in our base scenario and assume this revenue disappears under our "full extension" scenario. 'This cost could be somewhat lower depending on CBO estimates of spend-out rates and immigration provisions. ^Includes the $2.5 trillion cost of making provisions permanent and removes $300 billion of offsets from imposing the SALT deduction cap.

The most expensive provision to extend -- the one-year, $1,000 increase in the CTC for children six and up and $1,600 increase in the credit for children under six – would cost roughly $1 trillion to make permanent (full refundability is permanent in the underlying bill). We estimate that extending universal pre-K and the child care subsidies beyond 2027 would cost over $400 billion on a combined basis. Continuing the ACA expansion, which temporarily extends the American Rescue Plan's insurance subsidy expansions and offers subsidies to those in the Medicaid coverage gap, would cost another $400 billion to extend beyond 2025. Meanwhile, making the expanded EITC permanent would cost another $120 billion over a decade and repealing rather than simply delaying the implementation of R&E amortization, which requires businesses to write off R&E expenses over time instead of immediately, would cost $145 billion.

Incorporate proposed SALT cap relief increases these costs further. The legislation already extends its five-year increase in the SALT deduction cap from $10,000 to $80,000 through 2030 (it sets the cap at $10,000 in 2031). However, this actually represents a $300 billion tax increase on paper relative to current law since the SALT deduction cap and other parts of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) expire after 2025. Assuming the remainder of the TCJA is extended separately – as we did in the case of our child tax credit estimate – this $300 billion savings would be erased and replaced with an additional $340 billion of costs. Inclusive of this tax change, we estimate extending expiring parts of the Build Back Better Act would cost over $2.5 trillion, increasing the total cost of permanent extension of the bill to above $4.9 trillion.

To be sure, lawmakers may choose not to extend some or all of these provisions. However, if they do, they would need to more than double current offsets in order for the bill and the extensions to be paid for. The alternative would be a substantial increase in the debt.

As written, we estimate the Build Back Better Act would increase deficits by $800 billion over the first five years and a total of $200 billion through 2031 (it would reduce deficits by roughly $600 billion in the second five years). The actual figures could be somewhat lower depending on the Congressional Budget Office’s scores of the immigration provisions and the spend-out pace of appropriated funds. If the legislation were made permanent without additional offsets, it would add nearly $1.5 trillion to deficits over five years and increase deficits by $3 trillion through 2031.

BBB framework true cost.jpg
BBB%20framework%20true%20cost_6.jpg


This $3 trillion potential deficit impact includes $200 billion of borrowing from the bill itself, $2.5 trillion from extending expiring provisions, and $300 billion from removing the claimed savings from extending the SALT cap beyond 2025. The estimate effectively assumes remaining parts of the TCJA will be extended on a separate track. If we instead assume large parts of the TCJA are allowed to expire as scheduled, the potential deficit impact of the Build Back Better Act with extensions and without offsets would be $2.9 trillion (extending the CTC would be more expensive and SALT cap relief would be less costly).

The Build Back Better Act relies on a substantial amount of short-term policies and arbitrary sunsets to reduce its cost, raising the possibility of deficit-financed extensions in future years. A more robust and fiscally responsible package would not rely on these gimmicks to achieve deficit neutrality.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx-J536LIL0
8:26 min

How Biden’s infrastructure bill IGNORES everyday Americans

Nov 16, 2021


Glenn Beck


Some Americans are struggling SO much with increased gas prices that they fear they soon won’t be able to afford driving to work. Yet, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki recently said we are NOT in the middle of a historic economic crisis. Everyday Americans likely feel differently, but the $1 trillion infrastructure bill Biden just signed proves even further how ‘out of touch’ the Biden administration truly is. In this clip, Glenn details some of the bill’s contents that will do little to alleviate the struggles so many of us currently face…
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Coal Demand Booms Under Biden As Prices Hit 2009 Levels

TUESDAY, NOV 16, 2021 - 05:51 PM

US coal is experiencing a massive boom under President Biden despite the administration trying to kill fossil fuels by touting net-zero goals at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow.

On Monday, S&P Global Market Intelligence released data that showed prices for coal from Central Appalachia jumped more than $10 last week to $89.75 per ton, the highest level since 2009.



The reason for the surge has been the increasing amount of coal distributed to power stations across the US grid is expected to increase a mindboggling 20% to 521m short tons, according to the US Energy Information Administration. This means the dirtiest fossil fuel will surpass nuclear as the second-biggest source of US power, after natural gas.

Awkwardly for Biden, who has promoted a carbon-free grid by 2035, the US wasn't on the list of more than 40 countries at the UN meeting to phase out coal. "It's very disappointing because the science is quite clear that we have to turn sharply away from coal this decade if we are going to meet our climate goals," said Rachel Cleetus, policy director at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
"We need very clear signals that orientate the US towards clean energy," Cleetus added. "The climate crisis is too dire to just wait for coal to fall out. It's just another signal of the sway the fossil fuel industry still has over US politics."
Coal's return is due to power plants transitioning from natural gas to coal because rising prices have made it uneconomical to produce electricity. Idled rigs and slashed drilling has dampened US crude production that is putting a bid under crude prices.

Another positive development for coal has been new weather models forecasting below-average temperatures for the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast through the end of the month. We noted a seismic shift in temperatures was upon us last week, though it wouldn't begin to play out until after the mid-point of this month.

1637108958035.png

December might be even worse.

View: https://twitter.com/i/status/1460060424980811779


President Biden's ambitious target of decarbonizing the power grid is already becoming an issue as power plants demand coal. With more natural gas plants burning coal this year, all those virtue-signaling Tesla owners will have very little to talk about as they will soon realize some of their power to charge their vehicles will be derived from coal.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Biden's New Infrastructure Czar Is 'Strategic Adviser' To Group Partnered With Chinese Influence-Peddlers

TUESDAY, NOV 16, 2021 - 02:19 PM
On Saturday, US President Joe Biden appointed former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu (D) to coordinate and oversee the $1.2 trillion in infrastructure spending he just signed into law.



Now, according to the Washington Free Beacon's Chuck Ross, we learn that Landrieu is a top adviser to the Heartland Association - a trade organization that seeks Chinese investments in American infrastructure. [emphasis mine]

The Heartland Association 'supports cultural and business exchange between China and 20 states in the American heartland,' according to the report. What's more, they have frequently partnered with CCP front groups operating abroad.
Landrieu's position with the Heartland Association could raise eyebrows given the organization's promotion of Chinese investment in domestic infrastructure projects. American officials have expressed concern that the Chinese government and state-linked companies use infrastructure investments in foreign countries to influence policy abroad. Heartland Association chairman Bob Holden, the former Democratic governor of Missouri, this year urged Chinese investment in U.S. infrastructure, saying it presents a "win-win" for both sides. -Free Beacon
According to Heartland Group Executive Director Min Fan, Landrieu is an unpaid adviser, and added that the association's advisers are "are all Governor Holden's friends who agreed to be consulted when we need their advice." Export-Import Bank nominee Reta Jo Lewis is also an adviser to the group.

1637112221083.png

Landrieu, who notably oversaw the rebuilding of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, will supervise spending on roads, bridges, ports, and other infrastructure across the country - which may raise questions over exactly what level of influence he'll have over steering contracts, and to whom they may be steered.

More on the Heartland Association
There are at least two CCP 'front' groups that the Heartland Association has worked closely with; the China-United States Exchange Foundation, and the Chinese People's Association for Relations with Foreign Countries - the latter of which has one executive working on the Heartland Association's board.
CIA director William Burns testified this year that in his previous role as president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, he severed ties with the Exchange Foundation because of its efforts to influence American policymakers. Former secretary of state Mike Pompeo last year cancelled a diplomatic event sponsored by the Chinese People's Association for Relations with Foreign Countries, saying the group sought to "malignly influence" state and local leaders to advance China's foreign policy goals. -Free Beacon
Maybe Hunter Biden can compare notes with Landrieu on prospective CCP investors?
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

This Is How They Intend To Get Us To "You Will Own Nothing And Be Happy"

TUESDAY, NOV 16, 2021 - 06:30 AM
Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,

The pieces of the puzzle may fit together in ways that you do not expect. For years, the global elite have been openly telling us that one day we will all own nothing, we will have no privacy, and we will be extremely happy with our new socialist utopia. But exactly how do they intend to transition to such a society? Are they going to come and take all of your stuff?

Needless to say, there are millions upon millions of very angry people out there that aren’t just going to hand over their stuff to a bunch of socialists. So how are they going to overcome that obstacle?



Well, the truth is that they don’t need to take your stuff to implement their goals.

All they need to do is to destroy the value of your money.

If your money becomes worthless, you will start descending into poverty and it won’t be too long before you become totally dependent on the government.

And as the stuff that you have right now wears out, you won’t be able to replace it with the worthless money that you are now holding.

Eventually, you will own virtually nothing, but you probably won’t be very happy about it.

So high inflation is actually a tool that the global elite can use to further their goals.
The good news is that I do not believe that the global elite will ever be able to achieve their utopia.

The bad news is that they won’t be able to achieve their utopia because western society is going to completely and utterly collapse during the times that are ahead.

But for now, inflation is going to be one of the hottest political issues as we head into 2022. On Friday, Vice-President Kamala Harris acknowledged that higher prices are having a huge impact on American families…
“Prices have gone up and families and individuals are dealing with the realities of the bread costs more, the gas costs more, and have to understand what that means,” she said. “That’s about the cost of living going up. That’s about having to stress and stretch limited resources.”
Harris said that is a “source of stress for families” that is “not only economic, but is, on a daily level, something that is a heavy weight to carry.”
Of course her “solution” is to get Joe Biden’s agenda through Congress, and she knows that all of that spending will inevitably create even more inflation.

The socialists over at NBC News are trying to help the Biden administration by putting a positive spin on the inflation crisis. In fact, NBC’s Stephanie Ruhle is trying really hard to convince everyone that inflation is not a problem because we all have more money to spend these days.

But as I demonstrated last week, the truth is that inflation is rising much faster than our paychecks are, and that means that our standard of living is going down.

And inflation is one of the big reasons why the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index just hit the lowest level since 2011
At the same time, the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index tumbled to 66.8 for November, according to a preliminary reading Friday. That was the lowest since November 2011 and well below the Dow Jones estimate of 72.5. October’s reading was 71.7, meaning that the November level represented a 6.8% drop.
If you are among those that think that things are bad now, just wait, because they will soon get even worse.

At this point, even Neel Kashkari is publicly admitting that inflation is going to continue to rise in the months ahead…
Minneapolis Fed Chair Neel Kashkari on Sunday said inflation in the U.S. will likely see “higher readings” before numbers taper off, as Americans grapple with rising prices nationwide.
“The math suggests we’re probably going to see somewhat higher readings over the next few months before they likely start to taper off,” Kashkari said during an appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
The Federal Reserve has lost control, and 2022 is going to be a very “interesting” year from an economic standpoint.

On Sunday, we learned that the average price of a gallon of gasoline in California has almost reached five dollars
California gas prices hit an average of $4.676 Sunday, beating its previous record average price of $4.671 for regular gasoline set in October 2012, according to AAA.
Gasoline prices are going to continue to move higher, and that is really bad news.
Just about everything that we buy has to be transported, and so higher gasoline prices are going to fuel even more inflation.

Sadly, those that are on the bottom of the economic food chain are the ones that are being hurt the most. At this point, many food banks are really struggling to purchase enough food because price hikes have become so severe
America’s largest food bank struggles to feed people amid a perfect storm of surging food prices and supply chain woes.

Katie Fitzgerald, COO of Feeding America, a nonprofit organization that operates more than 200 food banks across the country, told AP News that her network of food banks is already stretched thin due to the unprecedented demand spurred by the virus pandemic downturn in the economy last year. She warned that it has become more difficult for her organization to absorb food inflation, resulting in fewer families being fed this holiday season.
Used farm equipment is another area where inflation is hitting really hard.

According to one index, the price of used farm equipment was up 22 percent during the first nine months of 2021…
The index is up 22% in the first nine months of the year and poised to make its biggest gains yet in the fourth quarter, a boom that’s turning a normally quiet corner of the farming market into Exhibit A of the inflation surge coursing through the U.S. economy. The market has all the ingredients fueling inflation in industries like cars and TVs — soaring demand from cash-flush buyers, the semiconductor shortage, congested ports and rails — with the added irritant of the labor stoppage at the world’s largest farm-machine maker.

The match “is now lit,” Peterson says, “and it’s lit while there’s a John Deere strike.”
So many problems have converged all at once.

Some have used the term “a perfect storm” to describe what we are facing, and I think that is definitely quite appropriate.

If you are waiting for life to “get back to normal”, you are going to be waiting for a very long time. As MN Gordon has noted, pre-2020 prices are now gone forever…
Pre-2020 prices, much like pre-1965 prices, are gone forever. Deficits of $5.9 trillion over the 24 months ending September 30, 2021, and a Fed balance sheet expansion of nearly $5 trillion over the same period, have irrevocably damaged the entire pricing structure of the financial system and the economy.

Price inflation is on the move. Reality can no longer be covered up with Washington’s lies. We expect this episode of inflation will be one for the history books.
I wish that I had better news for you.

I really do.

But sooner or later, this is what socialist regimes always do.

They tell us to study hard, get a good job and work as hard as we can.

And then they give our money to people that haven’t done any of those things.

Eventually they run out of other people’s money, and so then they just start wildly creating more.

Unfortunately, every time that this has been tried throughout history it has always ended in disaster, and now it is our turn.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

California Gas Prices Reach New Record High

TUESDAY, NOV 16, 2021 - 07:25 PM
Authored by Christopher Burroughs via The Epoch Times,

The average price of a regular gallon of gasoline in California reached a record high on Monday as sticker shock continues to anger drivers paying more at the pump.



Today’s average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas in California rose to $4.687, according to the American Automobile Association. The price broke the previous record of $4.671 set in October 2012.



Mid-grade unleaded gasoline also rose to an average price of $4.868. Premium unleaded gasoline reached an average of $4.997, with diesel at $4.816.

The jump is most noticeable when compared with gasoline prices one year ago. In California, the average price at the same time in 2020 was just $2.125 per gallon for regular unleaded fuel.
The prices also make California, the most populated state in the nation, the state with the highest average gas prices in the nation, according to the data.



The Automobile Club of Southern California noted the price increases come as millions of people across the state prepare to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday.
“The Auto Club is projecting 4.4 million travelers for the Thanksgiving holiday, with 3.8 million of them driving to their holiday destinations,” Auto Club spokesman Jeffrey Spring said.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Friday that increased gas prices show the federal government needs to invest more in green energy alternatives.
“Our view is that the rise in gas prices over the long term makes it an even stronger case for doubling down our investment and our focus on clean energy options so that we are not relying on the fluctuations and OPEC and their willingness to put more supply and meet the demands in the market. That’s our view,” Psaki said.

“We’ve asked the FTC to look into the need for OPEC to release more—that are the larger issues here and that’s why we’ve been focused on those options,” she added.
While some have suggested supply chain issues or other problems are to blame, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) believes the Biden administration is intentionally working to increase gas prices.
“Most notably, more and more people tell me that they’re not even able to fill their pickup truck tank up for the entire week,” Cotton told Breitbart.

“They’ve got to fill up half a tank and hope that the price comes down by the end of the week. That, in particular, is the intended effect of Joe Biden’s energy policy. It’s not unintended or some accident. They want gas to cost $4 a gallon because they want all of us to get out of pickup trucks and SUVs and get into small electric compacts or bicycles or scooters or whatever else Pete Buttigieg takes to work,” he added.
And just in case you hoped for relief, San Diego Democrats have a better idea... tax you more....

View: https://twitter.com/i/status/1460651786730049541
.55 min
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Exclusive — Conservatives Sound the Alarm: Chuck Schumer Trying to Inject Weak China Bill Laced with Critical Race Theory into Defense Bill
1,188
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) appears at a news conference following a Democratic strategy meeting at the Capitol in Washington, on October 26, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File
MATTHEW BOYLE16 Nov 2021Washington, DC315

Top U.S. House conservatives are circulating a memo warning that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is attempting to lace the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) with a radical bill that includes dozens of Critical Race Theory (CRT) provisions contained within his plan that purports to but does not actually counter the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The explosive memo obtained exclusively by Breitbart News and currently circulating among House conservatives exposes that Schumer’s plan would spend millions of taxpayer dollars forcing the National Science Foundation to hire a “Chief Diversity Officer” and spend $5 million on things like “establishing a strategic plan for diverse participation” in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. Schumer’s plan would also force the National Science Corps to establish a pilot program for things like “advancing equity.”

“The China bill filled with CRT is like cocaine laced with fentanyl,” a senior House Republican aide told Breitbart News. “Together, they’re a deadly combination. Now, Schumer is trying to inject this mix into our annual defense bill and poison us all.”

“No one serious about confronting China would write a bill laced with CRT,” the senior aide added.

These revelations come in the wake of the Virginia governor’s race, where Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin — a Republican — defeated Democrat former Gov. Terry McAuliffe in large part by zoning in on Critical Race Theory. Since the political potency of this issue has been demonstrated there, conservatives have made a renewed effort to expose CRT in Democrat-backed plans, and these talking points circulating among top House conservatives aides say are likely to start appearing in public comments by conservative House and Senate members working to stop Schumer’s plot.

The background of this fight is that the Democrat-controlled U.S. House has already passed its version of the NDAA — which does not contain these provisions. The Senate, at Schumer’s direction, has stalled on taking up the must-pass defense authorization plan, leading even Democrat House Armed Services Committee chairman Rep. Adam Smith (D-CA) to raise concerns with Schumer over it. Reports last week surfaced about Smith trying to reach Schumer to press him on when the Senate would be considering the NDAA and Schumer avoiding his phone calls.

Meanwhile, the Senate has already passed a bill called the United States Innovation and Competition Act (USICA)—previously named the Endless Frontier Act. The bill purports to counter Chinese aggression in academia, research, business, and technological advancement fields—but in reality, just spends a whole bunch of money on special interests Democrats have. Some Republicans like Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) joined Schumer in pushing the bill through the Senate earlier this year over the objections of people like Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) in the Senate and Republican Study Committee committee chairman Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) in the House.

1637122023454.png
1637122081822.png

After the Senate passed USICA, it languished and has not gone anywhere in the House. Schumer has now decided to announce in a letter this week that the Senate will take up the NDAA now and may add USICA into it—a massive alteration to the House-passed defense bill—as an amendment.

1637122134580.png
1637122180898.png

Smith, the Democrat defense bill lead in the House, has since come out and said he is “wide open” to possibly including the USICA in the NDAA. However, Smith — again, a Democrat — says that House Democrats have real concerns with parts of Schumer’s proposal.

1637122234089.png

“There’s a lot of people in the House who have different concerns with different pieces of USICA,” Smith said, per Bloomberg, adding, “We’ve got to get to good on that in order to figure out what we can include.”

Now, some conservatives on Capitol Hill are sounding the alarm about the proposal, uncovering new never-before-reported-on provisions, including a wide-scale implementation of Critical Race Theory throughout Schumer’s bill.

Previous GOP criticisms of the USICA focused squarely on Schumer’s bill’s lack of safeguards to prevent the very research the U.S. would be funding under it from falling into the hands of the CCP, as has been the case with many U.S. academic and other technological advancements in recent years. Rubio, for instance, back in the spring in an exclusive On The Hill long-form video interview with Breitbart News, bashed Schumer’s plan as “crazy” to not have those in place.

“But imagine if you’re trying to say, ‘ok, so America is now going to spend $150 billion on research through universities that we already have our claws in. That’s great. We’ll just steal it.

Go ahead and spend your money, and we’ll steal your research. We get it for free,'” Rubio said then. “It’s crazy. It’s nuts. So that’s the problem we’re having, these things of that nature. And the reason it’s happening is because universities have ins with the administration, and they’re saying, ‘hey, don’t put in a lot of restrictions or safeguards because it’s going to slow down our research.’ Well, that’s crazy. It would be faster for me to get on an airplane if I didn’t have to go through TSA too, but we have to do it. We have to have safeguards. So what’s that they sense.”

1637122301731.png

Banks, back in October of this year, the last time the Democrats tried to revive Schumer’s bill, called the lack of safeguards against China stealing U.S. research funded in the USICA plan “insanely weak” and “feckless.”

But now, this conservative memo that Republican offices in the House and Senate are circulating includes several new lines of attack from the right against Schumer’s plan. In addition to the “Chief Diversity Officer” at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and funding for “advancing equity” in the National Science Corps, the memo exposes Schumer’s plan’s push to force the NSF “to collect and report demographic information like gender and race for patent inventors.”

In section 6112 of the bill, per the memo, it also requires states to implement woke CRT leftist programs to even get some of the money.

“In order for states to be eligible for some grants, the state will have to enact a plan to address ‘inequity’ by giving subgrants to close ‘equity gaps’ and boost enrollment in computer science education coursework for students facing ‘systemic barriers,'” the memo says.

What’s perhaps most astonishing about these revelations about CRT being laced throughout the plan is that a group of Republican senators helped Schumer get this across the finish line.

Indiana’s Young, for instance, was not the only GOP senator to push the bill through and support it on final passage. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) led the establishment GOP cave to the bill laced with Critical Race Theory back in the summer, despite warnings from several Republicans like Rubio and Banks that the bill was bad. Now, it is becoming even clearer just how much worse the bill was than anyone expected—putting those Republicans who backed the CRT-packed Schumer plan on blast for even worse votes than were realized at the time.

In addition to McConnell and Young, Sens. Roy Blunt (R-MO), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Susan Collins (R-ME), John Cornyn (R-TX), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Steve Daines (R-MT), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Lisa Murkowski (R-IN), Rob Portman (R-OH), Jim Risch (R-ID), Mitt Romney (R-UT), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Ben Sasse (R-NE), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Roger Wicker (R-MI) were the other Republicans who voted for this Schumer monstrosity back in June.

All Democrats voted for it, too, except one notable exception: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), an independent who caucuses with Democrats. Sanders had raised concerns with a provision in the legislation, first exposed by Breitbart News, that would give a carveout for a moon landing contract to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, whose space company Blue Origin lost out on a separate contract to Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The bill, thanks to an amendment included during committee markup from Washington Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), whose state includes Amazon’s and Blue Origin’s world headquarters, would create a second multibillion-dollar contract that would presumably pay off Bezos’s company for losing in the first bid to Musk.

In addition to the new CRT provisions exposed in this conservative memo, the memo also details several other wasteful provisions in the USICA that would presumably get shoveled into the NDAA if Schumer succeeds in combining his pet project into the national defense bill.
“Wasteful spending” highlighted in the memo includes these bullet points, as quoted directly from the memo:
  • Pumps $81 billion into the National Science Foundation—the largest increase for the NSF since its launch 70 years ago—who have historically doled out the cash for frivolous and wasteful research projects.
  • NSF has previously spent $357,000 on “Cocaine and Risky Sex Habits of Quail.”
  • NSF has previously spent $1.6 million for researching “Lizards on a Treadmill.”
  • NSF has previously spent $250,000 of taxpayer dollars to send kids in Pakistan to Space Camp and Dollywood.
  • NSF has previously spent $700,000 to investigate whether astronaut Neil Armstrong used the word “a” after landing on the moon and delivering his well-known “one giant leap for mankind” quote.
  • NSF has previously spent $3 million studying if humans would eat insects as a means to combat climate change.
  • Plus, the U.S. already spends 93% more on research and development as compared to China.
It remains to be seen what happens next, but with action coming on the so-called “Build Back Better” bill carrying most of President Joe Biden’s agenda, as well as looming government shutdown and debt ceiling deadlines, Schumer playing hardball with the NDAA—another must-pass bill—could seriously complicate matters for Democrats in the winter and make for a long holiday season on Capitol Hill.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

CBO Gives a Warning About the Score That May Sink the Build Back Better Bill

By Nick Arama | Nov 16, 2021 10:00 AM ET

928d86c1-5c94-4cc3-a07b-308770272b0e-860x475.jpg
AP Photo/Evan Vucci

This week is the week that the House was supposed vote on the Build Back Better bill after information from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) came in.

However, there are problems with whether that’s going to happen.

According to the NY Times, the CBO score now isn’t anticipated to come in until Friday, Nov. 19, which doesn’t leave a lot of the week left to get it done. According to CNN, it’s the end of the day Friday but that’s also when the House is scheduled to go into recess.

1637126610402.png

1637126647431.png

But the bigger and probably more overarching problem for Joe Biden and the Democrats is what they’re going to reveal — that the bill isn’t paid for as Joe Biden claimed. Gee, who would have guessed that they were lying? I mean besides everyone who wasn’t gullible. But that’s why some of the moderates were likely hanging fire waiting on the score — they wanted a real assessment and didn’t trust Biden. They want the bill fully financed.

From NY Times:
But the director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said on Monday that the I.R.S. proposal would yield far less than what the White House was counting on to help pay for its bill — about $120 billion over a decade versus the $400 billion that the administration is counting on. [….]

The White House has begun bracing lawmakers for a disappointing estimate from the budget office, which is likely to find that the cost of the overall package will not be fully paid for with new tax revenue over the coming decade.
So how is the Brandon-Kurtenbach Administration handling this information? Don’t listen to that gold standard of the CBO score, they’re already arguing — believe us instead.
Senior administration officials are urging lawmakers to disregard the budget office assessment, saying it is being overly conservative in its calculations, failing to properly credit the return on investment of additional I.R.S. resources and overlooking the deterrent effects that a more aggressive tax collection agency would have on tax cheats.

“In this one case, I think we’ve made a very strong empirical case for C.B.O. not having an accurate score,” Ben Harris, Treasury’s assistant secretary for economic policy, said in an interview. “The question is would they rather go with C.B.O. knowing C.B.O. is wrong, or would they want to target the best information they could possibly have?”
You already had the moderates bristling over the price tag and some of the provisions, and that’s with the claim it was paid for. This news isn’t going to go over well with them, especially folks like Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ). In order to pass this, the Democrats need every Senate vote and they can’t lose more than three votes in the House, according to the Times.

So now it’s going to really be fish or cut bait time for the moderates. They can take the CBO and stand on it against the bill, using it as a further argument as to why passing this bill makes no sense. Are they going to stick to their guns and not push through this pork-laden piece of something that’s going to drive up inflation and the deficit? Or are they going to cave to the progressives and the party?

Once again, this says a lot about Biden’s honesty…or the lack thereof.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

The kids are definitely not alright…
Posted by Kane on November 17, 2021 1:14 pm

View: https://twitter.com/i/status/1460940795897389056
1:43 min
Teenagers show interest in computer made virtual influencers.

1637197821922.png



Full story here…


'New world order': Asia's virtual influencers offer metaverse glimpse
Digital character Ai-Ailynn is one of a tribe of 'Made in Thailand' virtual influencers borne from COVID-19 pressures (AFP/Handout)

Sporting neon hair and flawless skin, Bangkok Naughty Boo is one of a new generation of influencers in Asia promising to stay forever young, on-trend, and scandal-free -- because they are computer generated (AFP/Lillian SUWANRUMPHA)



1 / 4
'New world order': Asia's virtual influencers offer metaverse glimpse

Digital character Ai-Ailynn is one of a tribe of 'Made in Thailand' virtual influencers borne from COVID-19 pressures (AFP/Handout)

Dene-Hern CHEN, Jing Xuan TENG in Beijing
Tue, November 16, 2021, 6:14 PM·4 min read

Sporting neon hair and flawless skin, Bangkok Naughty Boo is one of a new generation of influencers in Asia promising to stay forever young, on-trend, and scandal-free -- because they are computer generated.

Blurring the lines between fantasy and reality, these stars are hugely popular with teenagers in the region and will yield increasing power as interest grows in the "metaverse", industry experts say.

"I'm 17 forever, non-binary, with a dream of becoming a pop star," Bangkok Naughty Boo -- who uses they/them pronouns -- said in an introductory video sent to AFP.

Created by fashion designer Adisak Jirasakkasem and his friends, who envisioned a gender-fluid persona to hang the ideals of the artist community, the character is one of a tribe of "Made in Thailand" virtual influencers borne from COVID-19 pressures.

In September, Ai-Ailynn made her debut -- she was created after her agency became frustrated by the "limitations on human influencers" during COVID-19 lockdowns.

Virtual influencers "are suitable for the new normal," SIA Bangkok told AFP.

Artificial intelligence creations are establishing a foothold worldwide in the lucrative influencer market, which is expected to be worth $13.8 billion in 2021, according to data giant Statista.

But industry analysts say Asia is where the industry will really boom in the coming decade.

"We think Asia will be an area of rapid growth in the sector of virtual influencers. Generation Z is the largest group of internet users in Asia, and it is a digitally adept generation that is highly familiar with social media and all things virtual," explained Nick Baklanov, a marketing specialist with Hype Auditor.

- 'First metaverse inhabitants' -

The number of virtual influencers has more than tripled to 130 in two years, according to Baklanov, who predicted Facebook's investment in the metaverse -- dubbed a VR version of the internet -- will mean an industry boom.

"Virtual influencers are better suited to the role of the first inhabitants of the metaverse than anyone else," he added.

The biggest virtual earner is believed to be Lil Miquela, the LA-based "robot It-Girl" who has worked with Prada and Calvin Klein, and makes an estimated $7,000 per post.

The World Health Organization recruited Knox Frost, a 21-year-old AI "universal adapter" from Atlanta, to spread coronavirus safety messages to his 700,000 followers.

In Asia, computer-generated pop stars including Japan's Hatsune Miku and Luo Tianyi from China, as well as virtual K-Pop groups Eternity and K/DA, have paved the way for newer "stars" as technology improves.

To create Bangkok Naughty Boo, Adisak photographed a model in different locations across the Thai capital before creating the character's face online.

He merged the computer-generated face and the real life model's body to make his virtual idol.

Bangkok Naughty Boo has already been signed to a leading Thai -- human -- modelling agency, while Ai-Ailynn has already secured a deal to be the face of a major mobile operator.

"Influencers yield more power in the East and provide more lucrative brand and engagement opportunities, as the idol and fandom concepts are more rooted in culture," Saisangeeth Daswani, a fashion and beauty industry analyst at market intelligence company Stylus, explained.

- Scandal-free, controlled lives -

With trouble-free pasts, a round-the-clock work ethic, and easily controlled public personas, the fictional avatars are also respite for companies weary of reputational damage.

"Some brands enjoy the safety of associating with (virtual) influencers who have a pre-defined backstory and future," commented Christopher Travers, the founder of Virtual Humans, a website tracking the industry.

And with authorities in some Asian nations policing freedom of expression, businesses may prefer the ability to control everything.

"The Chinese government's recent crackdown on exorbitantly paid, 'vulgar' and 'immoral' influencers is likely to further boost the appeal of virtual influencers," explained Chen May Yee, APAC director for Wunderman Thompson Intelligence.

"They won’t make impolitic comments or be embroiled in sex scandals."

SIA Bangkok say there has been huge interest in Ai-Ailynn with businesses in pandemic-ravaged Asia looking to "innovation and a new world order".

A shake-up of the status quo may have some flesh-and-blood content creators worried, but human influencer Mutchima Wachirakomain welcomes the newcomers.

"They are freaking cool," exclaimed the 25-year-old, who shares glamour shots alongside "no filter" makeup-free looks to her 21,100 followers on Instagram.

"People still yearn for authenticity, the realness of a real-life influencer," she said as she prepped for a shoot at an avocado-themed cafe.

"The characters can't replace the intimate connections humans have with each other."
But Bangkok Naughty Boo is prepared to try.

Their Instagram is a mix of cheeky ensembles shot against the backdrop of Thailand's concrete jungle capital as well as daily life snippets like getting a first vaccine shot and spilling bubble milk tea.

"I hope I can meet you all in person one day. Love you!" they told AFP, signing off with a kiss.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment
I think it has more to do with the Metaverse (virtual world) and how younger generations are getting sucked into "living" in a virtual reality.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Warren on Increased Gas Prices: ‘This Isn’t About Inflation’ – It’s Price Gouging

IAN HANCHETT17 Nov 2021188

On Wednesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “The ReidOut,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) argued that if “this were just ordinary inflation, we might see prices go up. But prices at the pump have gone up,” because the increase in gas prices “isn’t about inflation. This is about price gouging for these guys.”

Warren said, “We know exactly who the oil companies — what the oil companies pay attention to. What is their number one priority? Profits. And so, think about it this way, if we really — this were just ordinary inflation, we might see prices go up. But prices at the pump have gone up, why? Well, let me give you a hint, Chevron, Exxon have doubled their profits. This isn’t about inflation. This is about price gouging for these guys. So, I get it. When we see prices go up, we’re all concerned and the Republicans want to come in and just try to hammer on one theme about this economy, but we’ve got to pay attention to the fact that folks like the oil companies say, I think it’s just another opportunity to make profits and we need to call them out on that.”

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[COMMENT: Another case where Dems show that they have no concept of cause and effect as pertains to policy.]
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

HUGE EXCLUSIVE: Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò Calls on People of Faith to Unite in a Worldwide Anti-Globalist Alliance to Free Humanity from the Totalitarian Regime (VIDEO)

By Joe Hoft
Published November 17, 2021 at 9:46pm

AAEF29B6-9393-41DE-93DD-A170759DA8F2-scaled.jpeg

Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò appealed to Catholics, Christians, and people of Faith to unite against the dark forces of globalism.

Archbishop Viganò sent The Gateway Pundit his video and Appeal for an Anti-Globalist Alliance.

Please watch his moving call for unity, courage, strength, and faith.


Archbishop Viganò shared this moving text and video with us on Wednesday. The video and text are an international call for the creation of an anti-globalist alliance to defeat the evil elites who wish to enslave free men and women and promote a “Religion of Humanity that cancels Faith in Christ.”

From Archbishop Viganò:
“This Anti-Globalist Alliance will have to bring together the Nations that intend to escape the infernal yoke of tyranny and affirm their own sovereignty, forming agreements of mutual collaboration with Nations and peoples who share their principles and the common yearning for freedom, justice, and goodness. It will have to denounce the crimes of the elite, identify those responsible, denounce them to international tribunals, and limit their excessive power and harmful influence. It will have to prevent the action of the lobbies, above all by fighting against the corruption of state officials and those who work in the information industry, and by freezing the capital used to destabilize the social order.”

(…)
The whole pandemic issue is instrumental to the Great Reset, and it is the latter that we must fight. I think that, at this moment, it is most appropriate to create a movement of the people that calls together, in an Anti-globalist Alliance, Catholics, Christians, and people of goodwill. This is the first appeal I make to that effect.

…If the attack is global. The defense must also be global.
Here is a text of Archbishop Vigano’s message (see video of the same message below).
scribd doc on website
1637212689559.png
Download this PDF

Appeal Anti-Globalist Alliance by Jim Hoft

Watch Archbishop Viganò deliver his important call of the faithful.

EXCLUSIVE: Archbishop Vigano Appeals for a Worldwide Anti-Globalist Alliance - MUST WATCH

EXCLUSIVE: Archbishop Vigano Appeals for a Worldwide Anti-Globalist Alliance - MUST WATCH 10:55 min
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

“McConnell Is a Fool and He Damn Well Better Stop Their “Dream of Communism Bill”” – President Trump Goes Off On Corrupt Deep State Senator McConnell and Communist Democrats

By Joe Hoft
Published November 17, 2021 at 6:56pm

trump-mcconnell-600x311.jpg

President Trump simply destroys old fool and corrupt Deep State crook Mitch McConnell.
President Trump shared a statement on “Broken Old Crow, Mitch McConnell” today who is giving the communist Democrats their all they ever asked for:
When the Broken Old Crow, Mitch McConnell, agreed to a two-month extension, he allowed the Democrats to get their act together and pass the $1.2 Trillion “Non-Infrastructure” Green New Deal Bill, which is a disaster for America in that only 11% of the money will be spent on REAL Infrastructure, with most being spent on Green New Deal nonsense, with big tax increases. Its actual cost is over $2 Trillion, but the bigger disaster is yet to come in the next, much larger version of the Green New Deal, which some people say will be $5 Trillion.

This was all allowed by Mitch McConnell’s incompetence and now I understand that a couple Republican Senators may get on board so that they can have yet another and even bigger victory, for the Democrats, while at the same time ensuring massive Inflation and the destruction of our Country as we know it.

This is what happens when you allow a guy who lost an Election to take over the Office of the President. He obviously had no mandate, but they’re changing our Country and everything it stands for. Mitch McConnell couldn’t stop the first Bill so 19 Senators, including himself, joined in. That’s what he does—if you can’t beat them, join them. If he wasn’t so stupid and didn’t give the two-month extension, he could have stopped it all. Now he and his RINO friends will allow a much bigger and far worse Bill to pass, ruining our Country while giving the Democrats a great political lift, all at the same time.

People, with the help of the Fake News Media, have already forgotten about the horrendous Afghanistan withdrawal, an economy and jobs that are in shambles, and so many other things. The good news is, they can’t forget about Inflation because it’s hitting them right in the face. This is the Broken Old Crow’s fault. He could have won it all using the Debt Ceiling—they were ready to fold. Now the Democrats have a big victory and the wind at their back. McConnell is a fool and he damn well better stop their “Dream of Communism Bill” and keep his Senators in line, or he should resign now, something he should have done a long time ago. Use the Debt Ceiling like it should have been used, you Old Broken Crow, to do so would hurt our Country far less than this horrible Bill. Any Republican in the House or Senate who votes for this Bill will never ever get a Trump Endorsement. Thank you, and good luck!
McConnell and the RINOs can’t fool anyone anymore. They are not for the common man in America. They are for themselves. They take advantage of their positions and fight for table scraps while spitting on their constituents.

This isn’t the first time President Trump pointed out McConnell’s corrupt ways.


America deserves much better than these clowns and needs more from our politicians to protect us from the Democrats who are imploding into communist villains.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Media Declares 'Climate Lockdowns' A "Conspiracy Theory" As India Prepares To Impose Climate Lockdown

WEDNESDAY, NOV 17, 2021 - 10:20 PM
Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Summit News,

While the media declares the notion of ‘climate lockdowns’ to be a fake news “conspiracy theory,” India is preparing to impose a climate lockdown to reduce pollution.


Yes, really.

NPR reports the details of the lockdown under the headline ‘New Delhi’s air pollution is so bad, officials are calling for a citywide lockdown’.
“India’s Supreme Court is calling for a lockdown in the capital, New Delhi. It’s because of a health emergency, but it’s not about COVID-19. It’s about air pollution,” states the piece.
Authorities are set to ban all nonessential travel on roads in the national capital region while ordering tens of millions of people to work from home.

Construction sites are also closing along with schools, many of which only recently opened after the COVID-19 lockdown.

Delhi’s chief minister is also calling on neighboring states to impose similar measures.

1637213532357.png
Air pollution has gotten so bad in New Delhi that India's Supreme Court is calling for a citywide lockdown.

Schools in the area are already closed this week.New Delhi's air pollution is so bad, officials are calling for a citywide lockdown
— NPR (@NPR) November 15, 2021
The announcement is timed perfectly given that UK broadcaster Sky News just published a lengthy article claiming that ‘climate lockdowns’ are a fake news conspiracy theory invented by COVID-19 deniers.
“The most common green conspiracy is the claim of an upcoming “climate lockdown”, where countries will be locked down for long periods to meet climate change targets,” states the article, labeling the idea a “”fake theory.”
The article quotes Callum Hood, from the Center for Countering Digital Hate, who says conspiracy theorists are pushing the false idea of climate lockdowns as a means of “justifying their conspiracy theories about the COVID pandemic.”
“As many COVID restrictions are lifted, some of these groups are instead claiming that ‘climate lockdowns’ will be used to achieve the same goals,” said Hood.
So you’re a dangerous conspiracy theorist for suggesting that ‘climate lockdowns’ may be used by governments as a tool of population control…while India is literally rolling out plans to do precisely that.

Note once more how the media and state-backed censors ring fence ideas by declaring them to be “conspiracy theories” and ‘fake news’ even as the second-most populous country in the world is literally about to implement that very agenda

View: https://youtu.be/-LiebtlAErM
4:16 min
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

It's Begun – Get Ready To Pay Much Higher Prices For Meat From Now On

WEDNESDAY, NOV 17, 2021 - 05:40 PM
Authored by Michael Snyder via TheMostImportantNews.com,

The era of cheap meat is over. For those that are carnivores, that is really bad news. For decades, Americans have been able to count on the fact that there would always be mountains of very inexpensive meat at the local grocery store, but now those days are gone and they aren’t coming back. As I was writing this introductory paragraph, it struck me that what is happening to meat prices actually parallels what I wrote about yesterday. Just as the left doesn’t want us to use traditional forms of energy because they believe that doing so is “bad” for the climate, so they also detest that a lot of us like to eat a lot of meat because the production of meat causes levels of certain greenhouse gases to rise.



Sometimes we joke about the methane that comes from “cow farts”, but radicals on the left take this stuff deadly seriously. And at the same time that gasoline prices are soaring into the stratosphere, the exact same thing is happening to meat prices. In fact, we just learned that the price of beef in the U.S. has risen more than 20 percent since last October…
Behind unleaded gasoline, beef prices have risen the most on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) since October 2020, rising 20.1% in the past year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
An increase of over 20 percent in one year is deeply alarming.

Unfortunately, it isn’t just the price of beef that is soaring. Tyson Foods just released some new numbers which show that beef, pork and chicken prices are all rising dramatically
The biggest meat company by sales in the United States has announced significant price rises for the fourth quarter, as the impact of the highest inflation for 30 years continues to be felt.
Tyson Foods, based in Springdale, Arkansas, announced on Monday that chicken prices rose 19 percent during its fiscal fourth quarter, while beef and pork prices jumped 33 percent and 38 percent, respectively.
During the early portion of this crisis, Tyson Foods was reluctant to pass increasing costs along to consumers, but now we are being informed that they don’t intend to make the same mistake again
Stewart Glendinning, the chief financial officer of Tyson Foods, said that they have been slow to increase their prices, in line with inflation, but are now making up for the delay.
‘We expect to take continued pricing actions to ensure that any inflationary cost increases that our business incurs are passed along,’ he said, on the company’s quarterly earnings call.
Sadly, this is just the beginning. The price of meat is only going to go higher from here, and eventually it will get to a point where meat prices become exceedingly painful.

Of course there are many that would argue that we are already there.

As food prices continue to climb, those that help the needy are going to have a much more difficult time trying to do so.

For example, the Salvation Army is projecting that it will need 50 percent more funding than last year as it feeds more Americans than ever before…
The Salvation Army is planning to serve more meals than in 2020’s record year, and will need around 50% more funding to meet the buoyed demand, Hodder said. He expects rental and utilities assistance to lead the pack of requested aid.

“We’re fearful of what we’re calling ‘pandemic poverty,’” Hodder said.
The price of gasoline continues to shoot up as well.
On Tuesday, the average price of gasoline in California set a new record high for the third day in a row
Gas prices in California have broken a new record with an average price tag of $4.687 for a regular gallon as of Tuesday morning, according to the American Automobile Association.

It was the third day in a row the state has recorded record breaking prices as Monday’s average gas price was $4.682 and Sunday’s was $4.676 which broke the previous state record of $4.671 in October 2012.
Needless to say, the price of gasoline is quite a bit higher than that in certain urban areas.

In downtown Los Angeles, one unfortunate motorist ended up paying more than six dollars a gallon on Monday…
Brian Sproule squinted against the sun on Monday as he examined the price board at a Chevron station in downtown Los Angeles, where a regular gallon of gas was $6.05.

Sproule, 37, is a mobile notary who spends much of his time in his car. He said he’s used to spending about $40 to fill his tank, but by the time he capped off his Hyundai Elantra, the meter displayed a whopping $71.59.
Can you imagine paying that much for gasoline?

Don’t think that it can’t happen where you live. Eventually, everyone in the entire country will be seeing such prices.

As “Bidenflation” makes headlines day after day, U.S. consumers are becoming increasingly pessimistic. Just check out the latest consumer confidence number released by the University of Michigan
The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index fell to 66.8 in November – down sharply from the October reading of 71.7 and well below economists’ forecast for a reading of 72.4.

“Consumer sentiment fell in early November to its lowest level in a decade due to an escalating inflation rate and the growing belief among consumers that no effective policies have yet been developed to reduce the damage from surging inflation,” Richard Curtin, the survey’s chief economist, said in a statement.
Americans haven’t been this negative about the economy in a really long time.
And it is becoming increasingly clear that things are going to get even worse in the months ahead. Our leaders continue to promise that they will make progress on the problems that we are facing, but those problems just keep on escalating. In fact, the number of giant container ships waiting off the coast of southern California just hit another new record high
On Friday and Monday, yet another record was set for the number of container ships stuck at anchor or in holding patterns off the ports: 83. The average wait time at anchor for ships arriving in Los Angeles hit yet another fresh peak on Tuesday: 16.9 days.
That really surprises me.

Despite all of the national attention, and despite the fact that the Biden administration has gotten directly involved, the nightmare at the ports in southern California just continues to intensify.

If we can’t even figure out how to get stuff unloaded and moved across the country in a timely manner, what hope do we have of properly addressing our more complex economic problems?
As our economy is shaken by crisis after crisis, millions upon millions of families all over the nation are deeply suffering.

But of course not everyone is doing badly these days. It turns out that the vaccine manufacturers are laughing all the way to the bank
The People’s Vaccine Alliance (PVA), an international non-profit working to close the global vaccine disparity, analyzed the earnings reports of Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna and found that the companies will make a combined $34 billion in profit this year.

When broken down, that is $93.5 million a day, $65,000 a minute and more than $1,000 every second of profit.
When I look at those numbers, they literally make me want to vomit.

The greed that we are witnessing has reached a level that is absolutely breathtaking.

But this is what happens when the moral foundation of a society completely collapses.
In about a month and a half, 2021 will be over and 2022 will be here.

2021 has been bad, but I believe that 2022 will be even worse.

So I would encourage you to make preparations for a very rough year, because the days ahead are not going to be pretty
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

When The Global Monetary Reset Happens, Don't You Dare Forget Who To Blame

WEDNESDAY, NOV 17, 2021 - 05:00 PM
Submitted by QTR's Fringe Finance
"What you know you can't explain, but you feel it. You've felt it your entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I'm talking about?"
-Morpheus, The Matrix

Not unlike the movie The Matrix, when Morpheus makes this now-famous speech to Neo, many people in the U.S. are walking around feeling the same type of intangible that Neo carried with him before being introduced to the matrix.

Many of these people, myself included, know deep down that something went horribly askew when we were taken off the gold standard in 1971.

And today, many people witnessing soaring inflation are starting to feel their spider senses tingle even more: something is definitely wrong with “the system”.

But not everybody can put their finger on exactly what is wrong. This is what makes our system so nefarious to begin with: its complexity. It’s also why I try to explain these feelings for people in podcasts like my most recent one discussing why now must be the time we start to discuss inflation seriously.

Source: Forbes

Left unchecked by gold, it took us less than half a century to destroy our currency, run production out of the U.S., become reliant on importing almost everything we use on a daily basis, turn the country into a third world country and run up a nearly $30 trillion national tab, all while the Fed has stacked almost $10 trillion in subprime crap onto its balance sheet.

Along our merry way we have also pissed on and/or made a mockery of almost every safeguard (like the debt ceiling) we once put in our place for our own future good.

Holy shit.

Source: Forbes

Make no mistake about it: we have become severely addicted debt and spending junkies, horrifyingly misinformed at best and nefariously negligent to the consequences of our actions at worse.

And now, the train is officially off the tracks.

Tea leaf reading isn’t my specialty and I’m hardly the world’s greatest analyst, but I like to think that I’m not totally numb to common sense and certain signs that pop up during my day-to-day.

For example, I was one of the first to point out that it was just common sense that Covid would be a big deal in the U.S., and I also pointed out that it was just common sense that the lab leak theory was the most likely theory. Other “bold” predictions that I’ve made - like that President Biden won’t finish his first term - to me, fall into the realm of common sense, too. Much of my macro analysis is also simply just common sense.

And so common sense tells me that a Bloomberg headline like this one, from August 17 of this year, shouldn’t be overlooked:
FED'S POWELL: COVID IS STILL WITH US, LIKELY TO BE THE CASE FOR A WHILE. WE'RE NOT SIMPLY GOING BACK TO THE PRE-PANDEMIC ECONOMY
Read it again: “We’re simply not going back to the pre-pandemic economy…”

And here’s AP’s version: "There's no returning to the pre-pandemic economy"

Read it again: “There’s no returning…”

Now, read this part of the Bloomberg headline again, by itself:
WE'RE NOT SIMPLY GOING BACK TO THE PRE-PANDEMIC ECONOMY
The statement looks so different when you take it out of an hour long mishmash of Powell’s testimony in front of Congress, doesn’t it?

When you parse out this line and write it out, like a lawyer looking at a transcript after a deposition, the words carry a different weight than they did when it was one of 1,000 sentences replete with backtalk and jargon being read in monotonous fashion.

Statements like this and other “tea leaves” have been ubiquitous - surely you’ve heard of the World Economic Forum’s Great Reset already, right? It’s a plan that has been slid right under your nose - a plan to reset the entire global economy while blaming decades of abuse by the powerful and the elite on Covid.



And I have no doubts: a great reset of any sort isn’t going to benefit the average citizen of Earth. Rather, it’s going to bail out and then redistribute power to those in charge.

Think of our various monetary bailouts and how they’ve widened the inequality gap - then multiply the intensity by a factor of the entire globe.

Whether it comes from directly stealing purchasing power from the everyday citizen, like central banking already does without people noticing , or if it comes from an invasion of privacy (digital money tracking what you spend, vaccine passports, etc.) anytime we “progress” and “move forward” according to the government, we wind up surrendering some of our civil liberties.
“You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.”
- Rahm Emanuel
As a result, our quality of life may move incrementally lower and we may wind up with less civil liberties, but there will still be a large chunk of our country - and the globe - that mindlessly advocates for these policies as part of the belief that everything government does for me is in my best interest.

I think it’s safe to say that most of my readers are not in that group. They’ve either been red-pilled already or I am helping them along the way at this very moment. Most of my readers understand that once you lose civil liberties, you never get them back. Most of my readers understand how precious civil liberties and freedom from government truly are.

Ask Australia how it has felt to lose the right to bear arms while the government essentially keeps the populace in a prison state right now. I’d be willing to bet that one or two people who advocated for giving up their guns wouldn’t think it’s such a bad idea for them to have them back right now.

The point of this article is to remind you that even worse than losing your civil liberties and/or your quality of life right under your nose is why it’s going to be happening. I’m writing to remind us, for as long as this blog stays on the web, to never forget where the blame should go.

I get this feeling that when the “Great Reser” does happen, no matter how it is pitched to us, many people are simply going to move forward with their heads down, do what they’re told and not question why things have happened to begin with. In other words, they will be happy to adopt whatever they are told is best for them without questioning it – you can spot these people nowadays by searching for the people walking outside in the park, hundreds of feet from other human beings, with three masks on.

The point of this article is to offer a stark reminder: when this reset does happen, regardless of whether or not you immediately find the faults in it, just remember what got us here: decades of arrogance from power-hungry politicians and elites that would’ve rather kicked the can down the road like cowards than do the patriotic thing and truly embrace how damaged our monetary system has become.

And this isn’t just a United States issue – it’s a global elite issue – but my focus is on the United States because that’s where I live.

Photo: ABC

For decades, our government, its officials and career politicians have refused to play it straight and do the honorable thing by informing our citizens about what truly needs to take place in order for our country to rectify its deteriorating financial system.

We spent decades lying to ourselves and imagining that we were still living in a prosperous 1950s and 1960s, where the country was productive and experienced its last true boom before the money printer was turned on and while we still had sound money. Politicians chose to pretend that was still happening for decades even as we went off the gold standard and started to embrace quantitative easing. Back then, it would be easier to make the argument that they just didn’t know what kind of negative consequences their actions would have. Now, in an era of bloated Fed balance sheets and soaring inflation, that argument is clearly ridiculous - even to those without backgrounds in finance.

Make no doubt about it, there have certainly been times where politicians had the chance to level with the American people and tell them that the country needs to address its debt, produce more, spend less, and protect the integrity of our currency.

However, cowardly elected officials almost always arrive at the conclusion that it’s not in their best interest to do so because an unpopular message doesn’t help them get elected.

So instead of somebody – any ****ing body - along the way trying to stand in the way of the power-hungry elites that want to assert power and are arrogant enough to think that they can usurp economic laws, we have now broken the system so badly that talk of a great reset is inevitable.

The system, for lack of a better term, is FUBAR.


Given that context, comments like Jerome Powell‘s last summer read in an entirely different light than most people would think.
WE'RE NOT SIMPLY GOING BACK TO THE PRE-PANDEMIC ECONOMY
To the average observer, his words were scattered commentary about economics.

To anybody paying attention, it’s an admission that the road of monetary policy and fiscal policy disaster that we have willingly traveled down has finally come to an end.

Just one government official or elite that chose to speak out against what was an obviously flawed path could’ve changed the course of history in our country. And so when it’s time to place blame decades from now and we look back, these people are a great place to start looking.

In conclusion, the point is this: when the reset happens – whatever it entails - and you go to be vocal about your first gripes or raise your first questions about why this was ever pitched to be a good idea in the first place, just remember how we got here.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

'Build Back Better' Methane Fee Means Higher Costs For Heating Oil, Natural Gas

WEDNESDAY, NOV 17, 2021 - 01:30 PM
Authored by Chris Woodward via InsideSources.com,

Environmental activists call it a “methane fee.” The energy industry calls it a “natural gas tax.” Either way, energy consumers are likely to feel the effects in their pocketbooks.



The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote this week on its version of the budget reconciliation bill — also known as the “Build Back Better” bill — which includes increased fees on methane emissions. Methane is a byproduct of oil and natural gas production, and as a result, the fee would be an increase in the cost of production.

Environmentalists say reducing methane is essential to the fight against climate change.

At the COP26 meeting in Scotland last week, the United States announced it will participate in the Global Methane Pledge to cut methane emissions 30 percent by 2030.
“Methane has more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide over the first 20 years after it reaches the atmosphere,” says Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) on its website.
“Even though CO2 has a longer-lasting effect, methane sets the pace for warming in the near term.”
As National Geographic reports, “Whereas carbon dioxide persists for centuries, most methane converts to carbon dioxide or gets cycled out of the atmosphere within about a decade.”

Meanwhile, two of the world’s biggest methane emitters — China nor Russia — refused to sign the Global Methane Pledge.

And energy producers point to America’s surging costs to heat their homes this winter and the wider inflation problem as evidence that this is the wrong time to add costs to consumers’ utility bills.
“This is nothing more than a tax on natural gas at a time when policymakers should be focused on solutions that support affordable, reliable energy while reducing emissions,” says API Senior Vice President of Policy, Economics and Regulatory Affairs Frank Macchiarola.
“We must continue to drive down methane emissions without adding new burdens on American families and businesses,” added Karen Harbert, President and CEO of the American Gas Association.
“Our analysis indicates that the proposed tax could increase natural gas bills from 12 percent to 34 percent, depending on the variation of the proposal assessed.”
Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat representing natural-gas producing West Virginia, has been reluctant to support legislation with a tax or fee on methane. As a result, House Democrats have been trying to find ways to change the terminology and get Manchin’s blessing once the bill is approved in the House and sent to the Senate. Democrats’ have a razor-thin majority in both chambers and need the support of every Democrat in the Senate.

Winning over Manchin has not been, and will not be, easy.
“Major oil and gas companies are actively investing in, developing, and using new technologies to detect and repair leaks, which are known to be a public health risk and contribute to climate change,” Manchin said in August 2020.
Meanwhile, API’s Macchiarola says methane is already being regulated.
“The direct regulation of methane by the EPA is the most impactful way to build on the downward trend of methane emission rates in key producing regions rather than a duplicative and punitive natural gas tax that would only hurt American consumers and undermine the economic recovery,” says Macchiarola.
Gordon Tomb, senior adviser to the CO2 Coalition, does not see a need for the regulations.
“Methane makes up a minuscule portion of the atmosphere — less than two parts per million — and together with carbon dioxide contributes an estimated 0.012 degrees C a year — an amount too small to even measure,” says Tomb.
“Regulating emissions of either gas has no basis in science and imposes an unnecessary burden on businesses and the people who buy their products.”
And, Tomb added, “When politicians are talking about regulating methane, they are usually talking about taxing methane that gets leaked to the environment during production operations, treating that methane as a pollutant,” says Tomb. “Of course, methane is put into the atmosphere from all kinds of sources, and in the scheme of things the amount in the atmosphere is quite small irrespective of where it is coming from.”

The Marcellus Shale Coalition has also warned that taxes or fees would be bad for everyone.
“Layering more taxes on strongly regulated domestic energy production increases costs for those who produce and rely on these essential resources, with low-and fixed-income families shouldering the disproportionate share of the tax hike,” the group wrote in a September letter that included the Gas & Oil Association of West Virginia and the Ohio Oil & Gas Association.

And while organizations including the Sierra Club say fossil fuel organizations do not care about the environment, Marcellus Shale Coalition begs to differ.
“Our members are fully committed to improving air quality and further reducing all emission sources, particularly methane since it is the very product we sell, through leveraging best available technologies and practices.”
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

BEWARE: Biden's 'Build Back Better' Socialism Bill IS the 'Great Reset'

Renee Nal
November 17, 2021

BBBBiden-1200x630.png


The mission of “Build Back Better” is to grow government and to dismantle “capitalism” – and is directly related to the “Great Reset.”

With the help of corrupt republicans, the radical left has managed to pass horrific spending legislation under the guise of “infrastructure.” But despite the major win for socialism and inflation, progressives are doubling down to pass the so called “Build Back Better” (BBB) bill.

On Tuesday, Joe Biden assured his globalist masters that the Build Back Better bill will be passed “within a week”. “I am confident that the House is going to pass this bill,” he said during a speech. “And when it passes, it will go to the Senate. I think we’ll get it passed within a week,” he continued.

The mission of “Build Back Better” is to grow government and to dismantle “capitalism”. Build Back Better is directly related to the vision of the “Great Reset.”

The litany is repeated ad nauseum: the pandemic laid bare the supposed structural deficiencies of capitalism, and so in order to create a socialist globalist utopia, the planet must come together for a “great reset.” The idea is to crush capitalism, to recreate the private sector and to erase borders.

“To build back better, we must reinvent capitalism,” declares an article posted at the World Economic Forum:
“A true recovery from COVID-19 will not be about putting things back together the way they were: we need to ‘build back better’, to ‘reset’, if we are to address the deep systemic vulnerabilities the pandemic has exposed.”
The radical left leaders clearly are coordinating their messaging:

Rumble video on website 1:53 min

The globalist United Nations has also embraced “Build Back Better”. Whether the springboard is climate change or the pandemic, the goal of global socialism is the same:

Rumble video on website 1:25 min

How the Left Intends to ‘Build Back Better’ in America
The left has become quite adept at printing taxpayer money for the global socialist agenda, which empowers them to vastly skip over debate in Congress. Massive spending bills are dreams for those who want government control of the people, as the radical left can sneak all kinds of things into the legislation without real debate.

“The BBB includes progressive priorities we have been fighting for,” the Clinton-tied group Indivisible gushed in an email sent to supporters on Tuesday, “including climate action, paid leave, universal pre-k and affordable child care, investments in affordable housing, elder care, and more.”

RAIR Foundation USA readers likely do not need to be told that these massive government entitlement programs are unconstitutional and dangerous. The entire point of the founding fathers’ vision of limited and representative government and self rule is to thwart the federal government from gaining too much power.

The Great Reset is not worried about limited government, and it is certainly not interested in borders or sovereignty of nations. “To ‘build back better,’ we need a broad-based recovery that leaves no one behind,” an article posted at the World Economic Forum website explained in September. “We need to build a more resilient, inclusive society,” the author continued.

Democratic Socialists of America front group “Our Revolution” is naturally also fighting for the BBB act. In fact, they likely helped to write the legislation. Yesterday, they told supporters in a mass email that they are “sustaining pressure on corporate Dems to uphold their commitment to pass the Build Back Better Budget Bill in the House no later than this week.”

It should be pointed out that “corporate Dems” is a derisive term for democrats who dared to simply ask questions about the socialist BBB bill. In this case, the targets are Reps. Ed Case (HI-01), Jared Golden (ME-02), Stephanie Murphy (FL-07), Kathleen Rice (NY-04), Kurt Schrader (OR-05), and Abigail Spanberger (VA-07), because they wanted a score from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) before they made a decision.

Radical left groups supporting the “Build Back Better” legislation include Indivisible, MoveOn.org, Center for Popular Democracy, Democratic Socialists of America, Progressive Democrats of America, the Socialist Alternative, Communist Party USA to name just a few.

Watch this great description at Sky News Australia of how the “Build Back Better” canard is directly related to the “Great Reset”:

'Build Back Better' IS the 'Great Reset' 13:01 min

Read selected articles at RAIR Foundation USA:
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Retired FBI Agents: Democrats are Deconstructing America so they can 'Build Back Better' According to Marxist Utopian Ideas

By Leo Hohmann, 16 November, 2021

Please go to Mypillow.com and use the promo code WVW to save up to 66% off and Mike Lindell will give a generous percentage back to WVW-TV to support our free broadcasts.

Retired FBI Agents: Democrats are Deconstructing America so they can 'Build Back Better' According to Marxist Utopian Ideas

Brannon Howse of WVW TV hosted a four-hour special report on Nov. 14 featuring a symposium of distinguished retired FBI agents discussing what they believe is an ongoing Marxist revolution in America.

The reason the revolution continues to plod forward is because so few in politics today are willing to call it what it is, said Terry Turchie, who spent 29 years in the FBI and authored the book, In Their Own Words: The Democratic Party's Push for a Communist America.

"It's time we made our voices heard," he said. "There was a day when they warned in Congress about the perils of communism. You don't see that anymore. And we are concerned about that."

Turchie was one of four retired agents participating in the symposium, moderated by Howse. The others were Cecil Moses, David Baldovin and Brian Shephard.

"We're not from the Democratic Party, the Biden campaign or even the Republican Party," Turchie said. "We are speaking from experience... We saw firsthand what is going on because we were following people and heard what they were saying and heard from counter-intelligence informants so we know what they're up to."

Turchie said the communists worked a completely different strategy on the U.S. than they did in Russia or Cuba. Instead of fomenting violent revolution, they infiltrated the U.S. government, the schools and major institutions to accomplish a revolution using a long-term strategy of attacking the culture.

"People will laugh at that. Certain people will say we're all from the McCarthy era," he said, adding that's just a deflection tactic.

"We don't have to back away from that because in fact McCarthy was right."

He urged those who viewed the symposium, in person or online, to take the information and boldly share it with their friends. Because that's the only way most Americans are going to learn about the infiltration.

"And one of the things is kindergarten through third grade. They're teaching certain things in those grades but not the awareness of communism," he said.

"We're going to show you in their own words going back in time and how this comes together."

Turchie said the FBI is not what it once was.

"We want to highlight for you what has happened in the FBI. One of the perspectives is that, yes, the FBI has kinda fallen. Maybe it's not even a matter of 'kind of.' You'll have to make up your mind on that. The problem is our entire government and institutions have started falling to the critical race theory, the woke crowd. Critical race theory and the whole woke strategy is nothing more than Communism 2021."

The sickness that has infected the FBI has infected the entire U.S. government, he said.
He said the words on the bureau's seal, "fidelity, bravery and integrity," should be replaced by "diversity, equity and inclusion."

Moses joined the FBI in 1957 and served under eight presidents starting with Eisenhower and ending with George H.W. Bush.

"I sat on a wiretap for Gus Hall for months," Moses said, referring to the Communist Party USA leader who ran for president four times in the 1970s and 80s.

Moses said he learned from that wiretap, "How they were planning to infiltrate all of our institutions back in the 1960s. This was the same Gus Hall who [former CIA director] John Brennan voted for a few years later [in 1976]."

Shephard worked for the FBI from 1972 to 2006. He began working cases on Soviet nationals in the United States.

"I ended up working a case involving Archer Daniels Midland in the Midwest, a case that ended up becoming a movie called The Informant with Matt Damon," Shephard said.

Baldovin started his career in the bureau in 1969. He surveilled Klan meetings throughout the South in the 1970s and later focused on white collar crime.

One of the cases Turchie had been working resulted in an arrest on Aug. 23, 1986, of a Soviet KGB officer named Gennady Zakharov, who was working under the auspices of the United Nations in New York City as a physicist.

"He started to run and we had a scuffle on the subway platform," Turchie said. "That was the last time we actually arrested a KGB officer."

About a week later on Sept. 2, 1986, an American journalist, Nicholas Daniloff, was "coincidentally" arrested by the Soviets while on a Russian subway platform. "He was no spy," said Turchie.

President Reagan responded by deporting at least 65 suspected KGB operatives from the Soviet diplomatic corps.

"And the Soviet Union collapsed a few years later. They underestimated President Reagan," Turchie said. "That decade of the 80s was what we called the decade of the spy."

Flash forward 34 years and the FBI is "taking a knee" to the Marxist Black Lives Matter movement during the summer riots of 2020.

"Agencies that used to fight communism are now promoting it," Howse said. "As I pointed out in my documentary, Siege the Movie, in 1933 a group of Marxists came here from Germany at the invitation of John Dewey."

Dewey, known as the father of modern education, believed education was not about teaching kids academics but rather to help them "find their place in the world" – a place of the government's choosing, Howse said.

"So we have an army of managers and assign every person to their proper place. But when they came here in 1933 they couldn't call it what it was, Marxism or communism, and launch a revolution. So they decided they would attack the culture instead," Howse explained. "Their goal was to infiltrate education and other institutions and turn the values of the culture so that eventually, within the culture of the American people themselves, they would have a cognitive dissonance between the anti-American values they now held and the values of their own country. So the people themselves would call for, be a part of and carry out, the destruction of the nation in open revolution."

Just last week, the FBI raided the home of Project Veritas journalists, hunting for a copy of Biden's daughter's diary.

"What if one of Trump's kids had a diary and it was stolen by CNN, and then Trump uses the FBI to go after the media?" Howse asked. "We saw what the FBI did to Gen. Flynn and to Roger Stone because they wouldn't lie. Now they're going after James O'Keefe [of Project Veritas]."

"Well we can certainly say this," added Turchie. "They went after James O'Keefe a lot faster than they went after Hunter Biden's laptop."

This double standard of justice has become "a real major concern," Turchie said.

"If it happened once, twice, maybe you dismiss it as a mistake. But this has become a pattern, so you have to start asking questions. And if the mistake is always on the side of the Democratic Party you should really be asking questions."

He said the FBI has been veering from its mission for at least 20 years.

"It was always supposed to be independent. And after Robert Muller left, we got James Comey. He at one time had a personal debate with himself as to whether he should be a communist or a capitalist. Then finally Christopher Wray. So we've had 20 years of this. So the first question is: Is it we the people who are the problem? How did we go in one decade from what Tom Brokaw called the greatest generation to the racist generation?"

Howse played a clip from a John F. Kennedy speech in 1961.

"In the long history of the world only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility, I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other nation. .... And so my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. Ask not what America can do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man."

Turchie asked: Could you imagine a Democrat president today speaking like that?

Then he pulled a quote from the 1974 pamphlet by the communist Weather Underground movement, which read: "We need a Revolutionary Communist Party in order to lead the struggle, seize power and build the new society."

In 2016 Bob Avakian, founder of the Revolutionary Communist Party of America, told his fellow communists to vote for the Democrat, Joe Biden, against Donald Trump.

Emile Schepers, a leader of the Communist Party USA, said "Biden is no socialist, no anti-imperialist, no consistent friend of the working class... but Trump is more dangerous on all fronts and must be defeated on Nov. 3.... So I'm voting for Biden and urge you to do so too."

This marked a historic change in strategy.

For the first time, the Communist Party in America urged its members to vote for one of the two major party candidates and did not field a candidate of its own in the presidential election.

They didn't need to. The values of the Communist Party and of the Democrat Party had now become one in the same.

"Why? Because they're reading from the same script," Turchie said. "They're both reading from the Weather Underground script, thus the name of the book, In Their Own Words.

"I have this feeling, and maybe it’s a good feeling, that people are starting to figure this stuff out."

Turchie asked the audience to think about the Democrats' current slogan, Build Back Better.
Not only does this slogan come from the World Economic Forum, the United Nations and other globalist institutions, but its underlying meaning is a dead giveaway to what they have planned.

"Think about the slogan, build back better," Turchie said. "Building back assumes you've destroyed something before you've built it back. They want this so they can build a new society."

"So you're fine. Your thinking is right," he added. "JFK sounds just like we do... he was a passionate fighter for freedom. They have changed, we haven't changed."
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

There's a 'Build Back Better' Song, and It's as Bad as You Can Imagine

BY CHRIS QUEEN NOV 17, 2021 3:33 PM ET

Picture1-1-730x0.png
Twitter/CareinActionUS

Remember Schoolhouse Rock? Back in the ’70s and ’80s, when Saturday morning TV was worth watching, Gen X kids like me along with some late Baby Boomers learned their math, science, grammar, and history by watching cartoons.

One of the most memorable Schoolhouse Rock cartoons was the one that explained how a bill becomes a law:

View: https://youtu.be/OgVKvqTItto
3:01 min

Schoolhouse Rock was so effective that you’ll see it invoked in so many places. Back in 2014, Saturday Night Live even parodied “I’m Just a Bill” to make fun of Barack Obama’s propensity to govern via executive order.

View: https://youtu.be/JUDSeb2zHQ0
3:30 min

View: https://twitter.com/i/status/1460994696306700292
.30 min

Thank God the song is only 30 seconds long. With lyrics like “I’m a bill with critical and historical investments in child care, health care, climate care, immigration, and more,” it’s not exactly a barn burner. I don’t think kids will remember this one fondly when they grow up. And let’s not mention how horrible the animation is.


Yes somehow, somebody thought this song was a good idea.

Who does Care in Action think will watch this video and change their minds on Build Back Better? That part’s unclear, but at least the left is giving us something to laugh about with this lame song and its accompanying video. Especially when Build Back Better itself is no laughing matter.
 
Top