BIDEN WATCH: 8.19.23 - Brace Yourselves/U.S. Economy

Brace Yourselves, Because What They Have Planned Is Going To Absolutely Devastate The U.S. Economy- by Michael Snyder - http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/brace-yourselves-because-what-they-have-planned-is-going-to-absolutely-devastate-the-u-s-economy/ Do you remember what happened in 2008? Many people believe that another historic financial disaster is coming and that it will absolutely devastate the U.S. economy. Earlierthis week, I wrote about an investor named Michael Burry that has actually bet 1.6 billion dollars that the stock market is going to crash. He made all the right moves in 2008, and he fully intends to be proven right once again in 2023. Of course current conditionsdefinitely resemble 2008 in so many ways. The residential housing market is so dead right now, and commercial real estate prices are plummeting at a very frightening pace. Unfortunately, officials at the Federal Reserve are making it quite clear that theyare not done strangling the economy. This week, mortgage rates jumped above the 7 percent mark to the highest level that we have seen in more than 20 years� Mortgage rates surpassed 7% this week, hitting the highest level in more than two decades. The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage increased to 7.09% this week, up from 6.96% the week prior, according to Freddie Mac�s release on Thursday. That�s thehighest point since the first week of April 2002 and marks just the third time rates have exceeded 7% since then. The last times were in October and November of last year, when the rate reached 7.08%. Needless to say, high mortgage rates have been crippling the housing market in recent months. At the midpoint of this year, existing home sales were down a whopping 18.9 percent from the same time in 2022� Total existing-home sales1 � completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops � receded 3.3% from May to a seasonally adjusted annualrate of 4.16 million in June. Year-over-year, sales fell 18.9% (down from 5.13 million in June 2022). There are certainly lots of people out there that would like to buy homes, but thanks to how high mortgage rates have become they simply cannot afford to do so. Housing has become extremely unaffordable in this country. According to Redfin, the percentage of teachers that can afford to buy a home close to the school where they workhas fallen to just 12 percent� The number of teachers who can afford a reasonably priced home in their school district nationwide has collapsed to just 12%, down from 17% last summer and 30% in 2019, amidthe worst housing affordability crisis in a generation, according to data from Redfin. Redfin�s analysis of median teacher salaries for 2022 across 50 major cities for over 70,000 PreK-12 public and private schools revealed no teacher in San Jose and San Diegocould afford homes within �commuting distances� to their respective school, which means home and work are 20 minutes during typical rush hour conditions. So much damage has already been done. But apparently officials at the Federal Reserve believe that even more carnage is necessary, because they are indicating that more rate hikes are on the table� Most Federal Reserve officials signaled during their July policy-setting meeting that high inflation still poses an ongoing threat that could necessitate additional interestrate hikes this year. Minutes from the U.S. central bank�s July 25-26 meeting released Wednesday showed that central bank officials observed that inflation remains well above the Fed�s 2% target � and that policymakers need to see �further signs that aggregate demand and aggregate supply were moving into better balance to be confident that inflation pressures were abating.� No. Don�t do it. Even if rates stay at current levels, we are headed for extreme pain. Raising rates even higher would just be suicidal. But it looks like they are going to do it anyway, and that could push mortgage rates up to the 8 percent level� Economists have predicted mortgage rates could go above 8 percent if the economy continues to show signs of strength and the US Federal Reserve decides to raise interest ratesagain. Mortgage Rates have not hit such levels since 2000, according to data compiled by Freddie Mac. Do officials at the Fed actually believe that our system can handle such high rates? Unless the Fed changes course, the housing market is going to absolutely implode. And of course the commercial real estate market is already imploding. The chaos that is already transpiring is putting an enormous amount of strain on our financial institutions, and Fitch is warning that we could soon see sweeping rating downgradesin the banking industry� A Fitch Ratings analyst warned that the U.S. banking industry has inched closer to another source of turbulence � the risk of sweeping rating downgrades on dozens of U.S.banks that could even include the likes of JPMorgan Chase. The ratings agency cut its assessment of the industry�s health in June, a move that analyst Chris Wolfe said went largely unnoticed because it didn�t trigger downgrades onbanks. In many ways, I feel like I am watching a repeat of 2008. Officials at the Fed can clearly see everything that is happening, but they just keep insisting on making things even worse. So I hope that you have been preparing for turbulent times, because things are going to get crazy. Sadly, the truth is that most Americans are not prepared for tougher times. In fact, one recent survey discovered that 72 percent of Americans are not financially secure� For many Americans, payday can�t come soon enough. As of June, 61% of adults are living paycheck to paycheck, according to a LendingClub report. In other words, they relyon those regular paychecks to meet essential living expenses, with little to no money left over. Almost three-quarters, 72%, of Americans say they aren�t financially secure given their current financial standing, and more than a quarter said they will likely never befinancially secure, according to a survey by Bankrate. Many of those people will lose their jobs during this new economic crisis, and because they don�t have any sort of a financial cushion to fall back on many of them will alsoend up losing their homes. Delinquency rates are already starting to move higher, and that should deeply alarm all of us. But what we have experienced so far is just the tip of the iceberg. So brace yourselves for what is ahead, because this ride is only going to get bumpier from here. ------------------------------- Some Parts Of America Are Already On The Verge Of Being Ungovernable As Rampant Lawlessness Spreads Like Wildfire- by Michael Snyder - http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/some-parts-of-america-are-already-on-the-verge-of-being-ungovernable-as-rampant-lawlessness-spreads-like-wildfire/ In order for a civilized society to function, most people have to willingly follow the rules of that society. If that happens, law enforcement authorities can deal with thefew that choose to be lawless. For generations, that is how things worked in America. There was a high standard of morality among the general population, and so the police were able to successfully handle the few bad apples that insisted on breaking the law. Butnow everything has changed. As a result of decades of extreme moral decay, lawlessness is rampant and there are vast multitudes of young people that openly flaunt the rules of our society. In fact, there are already some areas of the country that are literallyon the verge of being ungovernable. A perfect example of what I am talking about happened in southern California on Saturday. Dozens of lawless young thieves systematically looted the Nordstrom store at the Westfield Topanga mall, and they were able to get away with tens of thousands of dollars worthof merchandise… Shoppers at the Westfield Topanga mall in Canoga Park were in for quite a shock when dozens of thieves ransacked the Nordstrom inside the mall on Saturday, Aug. 12, smashingdisplays and stealing an estimated $60,000- $100,000 worth of merchandise, authorities said. The Los Angeles Police Department responded to the mall at around 4 p.m. after hearing reports that between 20 and 50 people ran through the Nordstrom grabbing merchandise,leaving some on the ground and taking armfuls with them. When I was growing up, this sort of thing simply did not happen. But now we are seeing mobs of looters go haywire all over the nation on a regular basis. This heist was obviously well coordinated, and not one of the thieves even showed a shred of remorse. WATCH: https://youtu.be/0Bva5C92hmY Apparently these young people are not exactly languishing in poverty, because a BMW and a Lexus were among the getaway vehicles that they used… After grabbing between $60,000 and $100,000 worth of goods, the crew fled in several cars including a BMW and a Lexus, cops said. At least one guard was doused with bear spray — which causes violent eye and respiratory irritation in humans. The guard was treated by paramedics. How are we supposed to respond to this? As I stated earlier, we are seeing robberies of this nature so often now. Several days earlier, dozens of young people looted the Yves Saint Laurent store in Glendale… Earlier this week a high-end designer store in Glendale, California was looted by dozens of people in another flash mob burglary on Tuesday. At least 30 suspects “flooded” the Yves Saint Laurent store in The Americana at Brand Tuesday afternoon and stole clothing and other merchandise before fleeing on foot andleaving the location in numerous vehicles, said police in a statement. The total loss is estimated to be approximately $300,000. Some people attempt to downplay the severity of these crimes by saying that these big corporate retailers can afford the losses they are experiencing. No, they can’t. Overall, U.S. retailers will lose more than 100 billion dollars due to theft this year alone. This has become a major national crisis, and as J. Lee Grady has aptly pointed out, we truly have become “the land of the free-for-all”… You’ve probably seen the videos of thieves filling trash bags with stolen merchandise from CVS or walking out of Home Depot or Wal-Mart with armloads of tools, laptops, detergentand athletic shoes they didn’t pay for. We used to call this shoplifting, and it was a crime. Today, it’s known as “inventory shrinkage”—and it costs retailers billions of dollars in losses. But many soft-on-crime politicians are treating criminals like victimsand allowing the crime wave to grow. Some retailers are locking items behind glass cases, but that hasn’t stopped brazen criminals who just smash and grab. Other retailers actually warn employees not to try tostop thieves—and they will even fire an employee for confronting a shoplifter. Welcome to the USA in 2023: We were once known as the land of the free; now we are the land of the free-for-all, where criminals can take whatever they want from store shelves knowingthat no one will stop them. A lot of of this theft is being fueled by the worst drug crisis in the entire history of our nation. Today, vast stretches of the city of Los Angeles have been transformed into giant homeless encampments that are filled with “zombie-like residents smoking drugs”… Shocking new photos lay bear the devastating homeless crisis tormenting downtown LA – where filthy ramshackle tent cities are plagued by zombie-like residents smoking drugs,while others hawk stolen goods on street corners. There are currently an estimated 42,260 people sleeping rough in the City of Angels – a startling 10 percent rise compared to just last year, Los Angeles Homeless ServicesAuthority reported. Just this week, it emerged that the city had resorted to sending mobile teams with oxygen cylinders to Skid Row in a desperate bid to prevent overdoses amid its cripplingopioid crisis. The same thing is happening in San Francisco. In fact, conditions have become so dangerous in downtown San Francisco that federal employees that work at “the Nancy Pelosi Federal Building” are being told to work fromhome for the foreseeable future… Officials at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services advised hundreds of employees in San Francisco to work remotely for the foreseeable future due to public safetyconcerns outside the Nancy Pelosi Federal Building on Seventh Street. The imposing, 18-story tower on the corner of Seventh and Mission streets houses various federal agencies, including HHS, the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Departmentof Transportation and the office of Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi. The area is also home to one of the city’s most brazen open-air drug markets, where dozens of dealers and users congregate on a daily basis. I find it perfectly fitting that “one of the city’s most brazen open-air drug markets” is operating right outside of a giant office tower named for Nancy Pelosi. Politicians such as Pelosi have been making horrendously bad decisions for decades, and that has been a major factor in getting us to this point. We are truly reaping what we have sown, and what we are currently experiencing is just the beginning. Eventually, conditions will deteriorate so dramatically in our core urban areas that our leaders will be forced to implement extreme measures in a desperate attempt to restoreorder. But ultimately you can’t govern vast numbers of people that have no intention of being governed. The fabric of our society really is coming apart at the seams, and we are going to see things happen in the years ahead that will completely shock all of us. --------------------------------- Dems destroying Jan 6 evidence - Bill Wilson � www.dailyjot.com This should come as no shock to anyone: The Democrats on the infamous January 6 Committee kangaroo court have destroyed vast amounts of information collected on its investigationinto what they called an �insurrection.� This is evidence that could have been used by President Donald Trump�s legal team to exonerate him and others. The horror in all this is that the Democrats put on a show trial, dictating a narrative, editing testimonyand video to support that narrative, and did harm to the American public to the tune of over $3 million. Now they destroyed any way to verify whether their statements were true. And they did so against the orders of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). As Breitbart News reports, �The committee conducted more than 1,000 interviews of witnesses who testified, usually under oath, in closed-door depositions. Only a few of thewitnesses were called to testify publicly at hearings that were scripted, with committee members reading from teleprompters. Videos and transcripts were made, but only a few clips were shown to the public, and only a few transcripts were released.� Severalwitnesses complained, according to Breitbart, �that testimony had been selectively edited to distort or even reverse its meaning, and that members of the committee had publicly accused them of wrongdoing, without evidence, and which they had denied in theirtestimony.� Republicans also suspected that the committee was in cahoots with the Biden White House and DOJ to censure information for future use. Georgia Republican Congressman Barry Loudermilk told Fox News Digital on August 8, �Nothing was indexed. There was no table of contents index. Usually when you conduct thislevel of investigation, you use a database system and everything is digitized, indexed. We got nothing like that. We just got raw data,� he said. �So it took us a long time going through it and one thing I started realizing is we don�t have anything much atall from the Blue Team [which was to have investigated security lapses].� Jan 6 Committee Chairman, Congressman Benny Thompson (D-MS), admitted in a letter to Loudermilk that the committee did not preserve information that was not used in the public hearingsor transcripts�this after telling CNN and the White House, that by law, all of the committee�s materials would be preserved. To anyone with any common sense this cannot appear anything less than a con job. Worse, the American public may never know the real truth behind the January 6 event becausethe Democrats in charge destroyed any evidence that didn�t support their narrative. Meanwhile, people have rotted in jail with no real due process as they were labeled insurrectionists, and a federal prosecutor has weaseled a Jan 6 indictment on Trump in aneffort to undermine his political campaign�and now the evidence that could exonerate all of them is destroyed. This is looking more and more like a third-world communist dictatorship and the Democrat leadership is leading it. Proverbs 12:22 says, �Lying lipsare abomination to the LORD: but they that deal truly are his delight.� Hard to find the truth these days because of all the, say it with me�Stupidocrisy. Sources: https://www.yahoo.com/video/cost-congress-january-6-committee-231101988.html https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/08/09/january-6-committee-destroyed-records-videos-trump-rights-violated/ https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/30/politics/mccarthy-january-6-committee-preserve-records/index.html# -------------------------------- Biden cracking down on China, really? - BillWilson � www.dailyjot.com On August 9, Joe Biden issued a very long and convoluted executive order (EO) that prohibits certain technology used for military purposes from being exchanged with China.The EO says, �The regulations issued under this section shall identify categories of prohibited transactions that involve covered national security technologies and products that the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce and, as appropriate,the heads of other relevant agencies, determines pose a particularly acute national security threat because of their potential to significantly advance the military, intelligence, surveillance, or cyber-enabled capabilities of countries of concern.� It namesChina, but does it mean what it says? On the surface, it would appear that Biden is getting tough on China, concluding �The regulations shall prohibit United States persons from engaging, directly or indirectly,in such transactions.� Biden makes it sound like this is a national emergency: �I therefore find that advancement by countries of concern in sensitive technologies and products critical for the military, intelligence, surveillance, or cyber-enabled capabilitiesof such countries constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security of the United States, which has its source in whole or substantial part outside the United States, and that certain United States investments risk exacerbating thisthreat. I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with this threat.� But if this is such a national emergency, why do the government agencies involved have a whole year to �asses� and determine what technologies fall under the EO? It says, �Within 1 year of the effective date of the regulations issued under section 1 of this order, the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce and, as appropriate, the heads of other relevant agencies, shall assess whether to amend the regulations,including whether to adjust the definition of �covered national security technologies and products� to add or remove technologies and products in the semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum information technologies, and artificial intelligence sectors.� Seems like the military experts should know right now what technologies are involved and should be able to ban them accordingly. To me, this seems like a bunch of smoke and mirrors. As America approaches the next presidential election, consider that Biden will use this executive order to offset thefact that he and his family have enriched themselves and compromised the office of the presidency by accepting millions from the communist Chinese. Picture a series of campaign commercials stressing how Joe cracks down on China on behalf of national security.All the while, nothing has changed because the executive order hasn�t even taken affect. Meanwhile, just four days later, Biden�s transportation department announced that flights to China will more than double beginning in September. As Psalm 36:3 says, �Thewords of his mouth are iniquity and deceit.� What appears to be on the surface may not be as it appears. Take heed that you are not deceived. -------------------------------