NY Times: Yes, Virginia, There Is NO Santa Clause

 Dear Editor:

I am eight years old.  Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.  Papa, says, "If you see it in The New York Times, it's so. Please tell the truth, is there a Santa Claus?

Virginia O'Hanlon

115 West 95th Street

Virginia, you did not include your gender or personal pronouns, so we at the prestigious and pompous The New York Times are in a quandary.  How do we address you?  Also, you may be eight but do you identify as a 10-year old?  You see the conundrum you have created with your brief letter.

Let me first say, I am surprised someone eight even has to ask the Santa Claus question.  Are you being home schooled?  Every third grader knows Santa Claus is just a ruse to allow greedy corporate titans to sell toys to overindulgent parents. Public schools teach the truth about the Santa myth.  

George Soros funded fact-checkers at The Washington Post gave five Pinocchios to your parents' claim about Santa Claus.  Supposedly, Santa Claus has been around for like a thousand years.  Really, Virginia, you would have to be as gullible as an FTX Exchange investor to believe that fairy tale. 

So, no, Santa Claus does not exist. Tell your parents they are enemies of the government for spreading misinformation.  I suggest you turn them into the new Disinformation Governance Board created by our Dear Leader Joe Biden.  It's not snitching if your loving, caring parents spread lies.  

Judging from your naiveté, I should warn you that crime in your New York neighborhood is not rising, no matter what your Dad says.  We have a saying around The New York Times, "Don't believe the official crime reports from NY Police.  Police are racists and Ultra Mega white supremacists."

Obviously you lead a sheltered life, so I suggest you question your gender identity.  Perhaps, you believe you are a girl, but you may actually be a boy trapped in a female body.  Or you could be non-binary.  In that case, you may get a government job in the administration of Our Dear Leader.

There are surgeries available to address gender fluidity.  Don't tell Mommy or Daddy but you can get counseling at your local public school.  Teachers will help you explore options for gender mutilation. You can go from Virginia to Vincenzo in one afternoon.  Exciting stuff, huh? 

Question everything your parents tell you. They may not have you best interests at heart.  I mean they have already lied about Santa Claus.  What other untruths have they told?  Surely, they didn't tell you there is a  God?  Rely on the federal government and the FBI for honest, truthful information.  

Above all, don't listen to your friends, especially those whose parents drive gasoline cars. They are squeezing the life out of our planet. Your home will be destroyed by rising seas. The polar bears in the New York Zoo will all die.  You will have to relocate to Mars.  You don't want that, right?

To save the planet we all must sacrifice, Virginia. Here are some things you can do. Use only one sheet of toilet paper in the bathroom. Don't eat beef because cows produce methane gas.  Eat plant-based steaks instead. Throw red paint on artworks at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  

You didn't mention your parents' race, Virginia. But I assume by your name they are lily-white.  No parent of color would burden their child with an alabaster name.  Your parents family probably owned slaves. That means you are racist and should shame your parents into paying reparations.

In closing, I want to invite you to a holiday Drag Queen Show just for youngsters hosted by The New York Times. This will open your mind to the wonderful world you live in.  Who knows, you have grow up to be a queen one day! The possibilities for someone your age are limited only by the government. 

Editor-in-chief

Author Saltburger Jr.

P.S. I don't recommend a career in journalism, Virginia. Slave laborers make more money than a Times reporter.  I should know, I set the pay scales around here. 

Crypto Billionaire's Democrat Connections

The stench of a scandal involving crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried is creating a stink for powerful Washington politicians. The beleaguered owner of cryptocurrency exchange FTX has been a mega-donor to the Democratic Party for years, pledging $1 billion in funding during the recent midterms. 

Democrats are rushing to return millions of dollars in donations to avoid the offensive whiff of ties with the bankruptcy of Bankman-Fried's crypto currency trading platform.  The 30-year-old crypto kingpin stepped down from FTX after its collapse. He's currently holed up in his penthouse in the Bahamas.

Unsuccessful Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rouke is giving back $1 million, joining Democrats Sen. Kristen Gillibrand (NY), Rep. Durbin (lIlinois) , Rep. Chuy Garcia (AZ), Rep. Lucy McBath (GA), Salud Carbajal (CA) and a host of other red-faced Congressional members scurrying for cover.

Although the mercurial billionaire bankrolled mostly Democrats, he tried to leverage two  Republicans on the Senate Agriculture Committee as part of his lobbying effort to put the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in charge of crypto regulation.  They each received $5,800. 

All those dollar signs are just a trickle of the gusher of cash that was unleashed by the crypto fraudster.  The majority of Bankman-Fried's largess was showered on Democrat campaign committees and so-called dark money organizations.  That money will never be returned. 

The political stampede began after Bahamian-based FTX filed for bankruptcy, sending shivers through the crypto industry and unnerving anxious investors.  A company document showed FTX has less than $1 billion in liquid assets and nearly $9 billion in liabilities.  The company listed 100,000 creditors. 

Questions are also swirling around the handling of customer funds at Alameda Research, a trading firm 90% owned by Bankman-Fried. Money allegedly was funneled from FTX to the trading outfit, disappearing into a black hole that investigators are trying to untangle.  

The epic crash of FTX conjured up similarities with the Bernie Madoff scandal.  Embarrassed U.S. regulators claimed there was no resemblance.  However, like Madoff, Bankman-Fried was hailed as a financial genius and  philanthropic champion with powerful friends in Washington. 

Bankman-Fried shoveled money like crop fertilizer throughout the halls of Washington, gaining access to top federal officials.  The crypto magnate donated $5.2 million to President Biden's 2020 campaign, according to OpenSecrets. That cash opened doors to top administration officials.  

Official records show Bankman-Fried visited the White House in June, where he made his $1 billion pledge, which he later reneged on.  The entrepreneur met with the White House counselor Steve Ricchetti in April and May, according to White House logs.  Ricchetti is a top Biden advisor.  

He powwowed with Charolette Butash, a policy advisor to the White House deputy chief of staff. At the time, FTX was lobbying Congress to shape crypto regulation. Crypto currency watchdog, Consumer Choice Center, warned that Bankman-Fried wanted to use regulation to strangle smaller competitors.  

Eight months before Bankman-Fried's empire crumbled, he joined s video call with top financial regulator Gary Gensler, according to The New York Times.  The former chief executive was seeking approval for exemption from the threat of fines for securities violations by cryptocurrency firms.

Gensler is the current chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which regulates the securities industry and protects investors.  He was appointed to this position by President Biden in 2021.  Now Gensler is under fire for his agency's lack of oversight of the cryptocurrency industry.

Money buys influence in Washington and no one used that lever better than Bankman-Fried.  The disgraced financier doled out $39.8 million in the midterms, all but $989,856 going to Democrats. He was the sixth largest midterm election donor, only dwarfed by George Soros' $128.4 million. 

Bankman-Fried doled out $6 million on the Democrat House Majority PAC. He shelled out $28 million to the Protect Our Future PAC in an effort to ingratiate himself with lawmakers weighing crypto regulations, according to an article in Politico.  

Bankman-Fried, FTX co-CEO Ryan Salane and Director of Engineering Nishad Singh collectively poured $70.1 million in the mid-terms, a staggering sum of money.  The amount is ten times more than FTX contributed in the 2020 presidential election, reports OpenSecrets.  

The list of Bankman-Fried's PAC donations stretch for two pages on the website for OpenSecrets, which uses filings with the Federal Elections Commission to compile its data.  Follow the money if you want to know who carries political clout in Washington.  

The question is how long will Joe Biden's Department of Justice and SEC dither until they charge Bankman-Fried?  When will he be expedited? Bankman-Fried apparently isn't worried.  He is making the media rounds, trying to restore his shattered reputation while apologizing for the FTX implosion. 

Investors want justice.  But Bankman-Fried paid for political protection and influence.  Washington politicians never eat their benefactors. That's why no one should expect a full investigation of Bankman-Fired's efforts to buy influence with Democrats and the administration.    

Biden And Media Prepare For Armageddon

For months Team Biden corralled lawyers and public relations experts to confront a day they hoped would never arrive. Their worst fears are now a reality.  When Republicans officially won control of the House, they signaled their first order of business would be an investigation of the president.

More than four months ago top White House officials huddled in the Roosevelt Room to prepare for this scenario.  Richard Sauber, former Biden campaign attorney, spearheaded the effort to build a war room to deal with expected GOP subpoenas and data requests, reports CNN. 

Sauber had been appointed Veterans Administration general council by the president in 2021.  Now his business card reads: special counsel to the president.  Sauber has experience with the Hunter Biden scandal. He squelched original reports about damaging information on Hunter's  laptop.  

Sauber was the least surprised when House Republicans made clear their plans to focus on linking President Biden to the foreign business dealings of his son, Hunter.  Rep. James Comer (R-Ky), slated to chair the powerful House Oversight and Reform Committee next year, fired the opening shot. 

Comer alleged the president "misused his public positions to further his financial interests." He backed up his claims with a trove of evidence recovered from Hunter's laptop and from documents that show the president participated in meetings and phone calls about his son's foreign business dealings.

The pro-Biden media cabal already had its marching orders.  After two years of calling the Biden laptop Russian disinformation, CBS pivoted this month and claimed forensic experts had verified the device belonged to Hunter. CBS pirouetted on November 22 after Comer's announcement.  

The news outlet was the last holdout of laptop deniers.  Their reversal followed flip-flops from NBC, ABC, CNN, The New York Times, The Washington Post and Politico.  Every single one of these Democratic Party propaganda organizations spent more than year debunking the veracity of the laptop.  

The New York Post broke the story three weeks before the 2020 president election about the laptop and printed reports detailing the contents on the device. Social media, led by Twitter and Facebook, censored the story under a flimsy pretense that the information on the laptop was unauthenticated.

The Post went to great lengths to verify the laptop belonged to Hunter and published details of its authentication process.  It didn't matter.  This was a coordinated social and news media blackout to preserve Biden's chances for election.  The White House orchestrated the censorship. 

In those days, Biden spokespersons repeatedly called the laptop Russian disinformation.  It cajoled a bevy of former government intelligence leaders to support the specious charge.  The scandal was embalmed and buried to protect Joe Biden. The censorship was part of a massive coverup. 

So why did the media have a change of heart about the laptop?

These not-so-clever media moguls decided to confirm the laptop verification in anticipation of the upcoming House hearings.  Now the cabal can claim emails, photos and other information on the laptop is old news.  There is nothing more to see. Disinformation and distraction are favorite media ploys. 

The Associated Press recently issued a dispatch that likely will be the media blueprint throughout the hearings. "Joe Biden has said he's never spoken to his son about his foreign business and nothing the Republicans have put forth suggests otherwise," the AP wrote mimicking the White House.

A blindfolded media just cannot see the connection between former Vice President Biden and his son flying on Air Force Two to China. After the trip, Hunter landed a sweetheart multi-billion dollar deal with a Chinese owned energy firm.  Only the naive believe the two never talked about the deal.

The Washington Post reported that entities controlled by Hunter Biden and this Uncle Jim Biden reaped $4.8 billion over 14 months from the Chinese government controlled firm. No wonder the Treasury Department issued at least 150 Suspicious Activity Reports related to Biden family transactions. 

There are emails on Hunter's laptop from Ukrainian and other foreign clients thanking Hunter for arranging meetings with his father.  There are photos from dinners and meetings which link the president to Hunter's partners.  One email specifies how to divvy up the funds with the "Big Guy."

There is enough evidence on the laptop to prove Biden knew of his son's foreign business dealings. An honest, unbiased media would have already connected the dots back to the president.  However, expect the unscrupulous cabal to ignore the hearings and to smear every Republican on the committee.  

Democrats are laughably lecturing the nation about the Republicans lack of seriousness because they want to investigate the president. Democrats spent four years probing and impeaching President Trump, including flogging a Russian collusion narrative that was not verified by anyone except Hillary Clinton.

There is imminently more evidence about Biden's knowledge and participation in Hunter's deals than there was about Russia collusion. Democrats can squeal all they want, but the GOP is just using the political strategy perfected by Democrats. Why can't the GOP play by Democrats' rules?

Democrats employed every polarizing precedent they could dream up to destroy the Trump presidency. In politics, payback is inevitable.  Is this sort of gamesmanship good for America? Of course, not. But Democrats ceded the high moral ground six years ago, therefore, their protests ring hollow.  

How Democrats Turned Red Wave Into Blue Foam

This year's midterm elections shattered every historical axiom.  Dating to World War II, the incumbent president's party has loss an average of 28 House seats and four Senate seats.  Losses are normally worst in times of economic distress.  Yet Democrats defied precedent, staving off deep losses.  

Never have so many experts been so wrong about an election. Republicans seemed poised to rack up big gains. Instead, voters shrugged off record inflation, a brutal stock market, rising crime and an influx of illegal immigrants. They voted Democratic in spite of their sour mood about the country's future.   

Even the political class cannot explain this conundrum.  Exit polls by the National Election Pool Survey found about three-quarters of voters rated the economy as weak and about the same number believed the country is headed in the wrong direction.  Voters, illogically, cast ballots for the party in power.  

In the aftermath, political pundits, party strategists and the news media gleefully named former President Donald Trump as the culprit. Trump, a habitual target, certainly deserves some responsibility  for the GOP's lackluster results.  But this knee-jerk analysis doesn't hold up under scrutiny.

Another popular view is the caliber of some candidates hurt the GOP. But an unbiased observer must admit there were more than a few clunkers on the Democratic Party side.  Exhibit A is John Fetterman in Pennsylvania, a stroke victim who hid from voters and reporters for most of the campaign.

No Republican wants to confront the reason for their embarrassing performance.  Democrats outsmarted, out spent and out maneuvered the GOP, managing to narrowly lose the House and hold the Senate. Here are a few insights into how the Democrats crushed the red wave.

• Democrats focused on mail-in ballot initiatives to build sizable margins, just as they did in 2020.  More than 40.7 million Americans voted either by mail or early in person. More mail-in and early ballots were cast in this election than in the 2018 midterm (36 million), despite record turnout that year. Republicans spent too much effort on turning out voters on election day.  Banking votes early is the best way to guarantee turnout. The GOP still hasn't learned that lesson, disdaining efforts to harvest mail-in ballots.
• Democrats intervened in GOP primaries, spending money on negative ads to smear candidates they deemed less extreme and therefore the toughest to beat.  The move triggered blowback within the party because it cut into funds in Democrat primary races.  But in the end, it worked. The GOP primary winners often had baggage that made them vulnerable to Democrat attacks.     
• A record $16.7 billion in campaign funds was spent in the midterms. By some estimates the Democrats outspent Republicans two-to-one in key races.  The GOP, especially in Senate races, spread the funds too thin, often depriving candidates of needed dollars.  Mitch McConnell, in particular, made funding decisions based on Senators who would back his candidacy as minority leader. Too many "out of favor" GOP candidates were starved for campaign funds that could have made a difference.
• More young people turned out to vote in the midterm election than anticipated.  Estimates are 27% of young people (18-29) cast ballots in the election.  It is the second highest youth turnout percentage in the past 30 years.  The National Election Pool Survey estimated 63% of youths voted Democratic.  Those votes swung key races in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Georgia.  Polling showed the top issues with young voters were student loan forgiveness and abortion. 
• Republican messaging was a an incoherent hodgepodge, ranging from crime to the border.  This election was about the economy stupid!  Inflation and the economy should have been the laser focus. Even when candidates talked about this issue, they offered few solutions.  Illegal immigration didn't resonate with voters outside border states.  And even in crime ridden areas, voters didn't trust Republicans to fix the issue.

Despite the appalling showing, Republicans can take some solace from a few positives that emerged. Based on CNN exit polls and the National Election Pool Survey, Republicans made inroads with suburban women.  Hispanics and African-Americans were more supportive of Republicans than in past elections. The GOP garnered 5 million votes more than Democrats in the election. Those are encouraging signs. 

Republicans had more advantages this election than they may ever have again. But still lost. Republicans have no one to blame but party leadership in the House, Senate and the GOP National 

Committee.  If the GOP insists on following the same script, they will be a permanent minority. 

Diesel Shortage Will Stoke Inflationary Fires

Inflation weary Americans are facing another shortage that will take a bigger bite out of their paychecks.  Supplies of diesel fuel are plummeting to historic lows, creating record spikes in the cost for distillate products. A perfect storm is brewing that threatens to ignite an inflationary inferno.   

Diesel prices have jumped 33% for November deliveries.  The national average price for a gallon of diesel is $5.37.  Oil experts expect the price to climb another 15 to 20 cents in the next few weeks. Diesel prices were $2.364 a year ago.  The record is $5.713 per gallon, which may soon be eclipsed. 

Households using heating oil will spend about $2,354 this winter, a 27% increase from 2021. This comes at the time when families are having a difficult time paying their electric and gas bills.  About one in six U.S. households are in arrears, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

The diesel crunch will ripple throughout the economy.  Air travel will be more expensive.  Propane, used to heat some households, will cost more.  Transporting goods by  diesel trains will soar.  Farmers cost of producing food will rise.  Prices for shipping via diesel trucks will surge.  

The result will be even higher costs for food and consumer goods.  As a result, American consumers will once again bear the brunt of the failed policies of the Biden Administration that are crimping the supply of fossil fuels and discouraging oil production.  

President Biden announced $13.5 billion in funding to help low-income households deal with high heating costs.  But the president offered nothing to relieve the shortage.  The administration's answer is to blame the refineries and oil companies for making windfall profits. That's not a solution.  

The petroleum industry is warning the nation has a 25-day supply. Pro-Biden media fact-checkers claim the industry is misleading Americans. Yet Biden's Department of Energy released data confirming the country has 25 days of diesel supply remaining.  Misinformation is a media staple.   

The fact is distillate inventories haven't been this low in November since the EIA began reporting the data in 1982.  This is a far worse than previous shortages, according to the EIA.  These low inventories are the reason prices are marching upward. 

The crunch is far worse in the New York/New England markets, which depend on heating oil during the winter.  Diesel inventories have plunged 50% since last year, the lowest level since 1990.  East Coast refineries are currently operating at 102% of capacity, however, supplies are running dangerously low.

The current diesel shortage can be traced to a number factors. The industry has shuttered 13 oil refineries which accounted for more than 1.4 million barrels of oil per day.  That is more than 7% of the country's entire capacity for refining gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.

Last month, Lyondell Basell industries announced it will close its 104-year old refinery by the end of next year.  That will result in the reduction of 263,000 barrels of production a day.   Since 2018, only three new refineries have opened as environmental regulations blunt the incentive to build more.  

Older refineries are closing because retrofitting the facilities to meet new regulations is not economically feasible.  Regulatory and environmental hurdles add substantial costs to plans for new refineries. Additionally, environmental lawsuits often derail projects before construction.  

Paul Doucette, a former energy transition and general manager at Baker Hughes, explained the disincentives for Forbes.  "The real questions for refineries right now is whether to invest billions of dollars on retrofitting old facilities.  You ask yourself, can I make money over the next 40-years? 

"The market is telling you that EV's are becoming more popular, that pressures to reduce emissions are more severe, that carbon prices or taxes may be coming in the near future, and that the environmental community may not want you there."

Complicating the supply issue, the U.S. has been exporting more than one million gallons of diesel to Latin American nations and Europe to help those countries stick to their pledge to buy no fuel from Russia. Latin America is the largest purchaser of American refined gasoline products.

The European Union needs to replace two million tons of diesel imports from Russia.  In addition, the International Energy Agency estimates the EU's demand for refined produces will increase by 300,000-500,000 barrels per day during winter to meeting heating demands.  

This administration can't truthfully claim they were caught flat-footed by this crisis.  Demand for distillate fuels (diesel, jet fuel, heating oil) historically leaps at this time of the year in the U.S.  It does every single year.  There is nothing nefarious going on. 

Unfortunately, there is no likely scenario where consumers win.  For his part, President Biden has shown no empathy for average Americans footing the bill for his misguided policies.  His plan is to destroy the fossil fuel industry no matter the costs to Americans or the damage to the economy.    

Mid-Terms Blues: A Referendum On President Biden

Democrats are scrambling for the lifeboats.  Despite months of election bravado, the Democrats are abandoning the sinking Titanic that is the Biden presidency.  The Biden media, sensing a midterm drubbing for Democrats, is cracking after more than a year of covering up for the gaffe-prone president.

USA Today, a reliable pro-Biden newspaper, called out Biden for a string of blunders, including a false claim that Congress approved the student loan forgiveness plan. At a recent event, the president called for the late Rep. Jackie Walorski to stand up.  She had died the previous month in a car accident.

"It also raises questions about Biden's mental acuity.  I don't fault him for growing older--he's turning 80 next month.  But if Biden can't remember such a sweeping legislative action, it makes me wonder if he isn't making these decisions, then who is?'"wrote USA Today columnist Ingrid Jacques.  

The abrupt shift in media coverage signals growing frustration with the president, whose job performance is undermining Democrats chances in the midterm elections.  Yet delusion Speaker Nancy Pelosi insists her party will hold the House and grow its lead in the Senate. 

The Supreme Court decision on abortion was supposed to juice the Democrat base and attract independents. Democrats quietly celebrated the ruling, convinced they had a seminal issue that would turn the tide.  However, polls reveal abortion is not a top of the mind issue with most Americans.

This election is about the economy, inflation and the rising cost of living under the Biden Administration. Pundits claim it's unfair to punish Democrats for the post-pandemic economic carnage. Unfair? Tell that to a family of four living paycheck to paycheck.      

An angry electorate blames Biden.  If you doubt this, consider the blowback even among Democrats as the president continues to flog his progress on the economy.  Some are openly warning that even talking about the economy risks sending voters fleeing into the waiting arms of Republican candidates.

Voters don't want to hear what the president and his party have achieved when each trip to the grocery store produces sticker shock. Spiraling inflation, which was supposed to be temporary, is a nightmare for the average consumer.  Abortions don't pay the bills for cash-strapped households. 

A poll by the non-partisan Pew Research Center reported 95% of Americans are either "very" or "somewhat" concerned about the cost of food and consumer goods.  Another 87% are anxious about the spike in housing costs.  And 70% are worried about "how the stock market is doing," the poll found.  

No wonder the stock market is a key concern. Americans' 401-K savings are now 201-K plans as the market has lost $7.6 trillion in value since Biden took office. Instead of empathy, Biden brushes off the market debacle because it "doesn't reflect the state of the economy".  He just doesn't get it.  

Another poll conducted for NBC news offers a dose of reality.  Nearly three in four voters (71%) say the U.S. is headed in the wrong direction.  Only 20% think the country is on the right track. One-half (50%) believe the economy will get worse, the highest number since the polling began in 1994.

The American mood is decidedly gloomy. That is a realistic predictor of the midterm election outcome.  Polls about  specific races for the House or Senate are just snapshots of a single moment in the election. These surveys are increasingly partisan and have wide margins for error.      

Even if the president and Pelosi seem oblivious to the sour mood of the country, Democrat pollsters and strategists are clearly aghast at the findings.

Fernand Amandi, a Democrat pollster who worked on Barrack Obama's presidential campaigns, offered this opinion:  "A month ago, it looked like not only were the Democrats poised to hold the Senate, the question was: Were they going to be able to get, you know, two extra seats.  Now, I think the hope is to just hang on."

Even that prospect looks in doubt.  Democrat strategist Mike Lux told "The Hill" that the party should have never downplayed inflation. "Working-class folks are getting hit hard by inflation," he said.  "And we need to make it clear that we understand what's going on."

What is President Biden's message to the electorate on inflation in the closing days of the midterm elections?

Blame meat companies.  Blame grocery wholesalers.  Blame corporate greed.  The president is clueless about what American consumers want to hear.  They do not give a wit about who's to blame. Voters want prices to fall. Inflation is eating into their savings and driving up household  credit card debt. 

All 435 House seats and 35 in the Senate are up for grabs. The "smart" political class rates both houses a toss-up.  This writer disdains wishy-washy predictions.  Republicans will have a 31 seat margin in the House and will win enough Senate races to regain the majority with 53 seats.

This election is a referendum on Joe Biden and that spells disaster for Democrats. 

Sanctimony Over Busing Illegal Immigrants

Swarms of illegal immigrants flooding across the Southern border have been deliberately ignored by the media to support the administration's lie about a secure border. But when 48 migrants arrived on a bus in the exclusive enclave at Martha's Vineyard, the news coverage was intensive and sanctimonious.   

All it took was a busload of 48 migrants for the pro-Biden media to condemn the exploitation of illegals as political pawns. The migrants spent 44 minutes on the luxurious island before they were whisked off by the national guard after residents discovered the illegals were not lawn service workers. 

Florida Governor Ron deSantis airlifted the illegals from Texas and then bused them to the exclusive vineyard. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has been busing illegals nabbed at his state's border to Chicago and New York City, both sanctuary cities.  Mayors in those two cities are apoplectic. 

The president's spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre condemned the governors for sending illegals to Democrat-run sanctuary cities.  "What they are doing is a legal stunt, is a political stunt.  It's really just disrespectful to humanity." Her words oozed with hypocrisy.   

Apparently, Jean-Pierre forgot the administration's busing of hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants to cities throughout the nation. Migrants were dropped off in Orlando, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, Florida.  Others were shipped to Houston and Dallas. There was no outrage.

Administration officials flew or bused immigrants to states and cities over their objections.  When the administration, dropped off 2,000 immigrants in Westchester County (N.Y.), even Democrat lawmakers questioned the move. Rep. Tom Suozzi griped the flights landed at night with no prior warning.

Dozens of flights shuttled immigrants from the Southern border to Jacksonville last year without prior notice.  In Iowa, the governor complained after two dozen immigrant children showed up in Des Moines, prompting law enforcement to investigate if they were victims of human trafficking.

Over the protest of Tennessee leaders, the administration began sending immigrants to their state. Four planes arrived in Chattanooga without prior notice.  These were not isolated incidents.  Many states had similar experiences.  Immigrants in most cases were unaware of their destination.  

Now that Governor DeSantis and Abbott are flipping the script it seems unfair to the political elitists responsible for the open border policy.  Biden has ignored the pleas of border states to fix the problem.  Democrats are begging Biden to sue Abbott and DeSantis instead of addressing the border crisis.   

Sanctimonious Democrats are denouncing the governors for treating the immigrants inhumanly.  Really? Every one of those immigrants paid a human smuggler from the Mexican drug cartel to get into the U.S. They weren't sent in an air-conditioned bus or an airplane. 

Fifty three illegal immigrants stuffed into a sweltering tractor trailer died earlier this year in Texas. Each put their lives in the hands of smugglers.  Just recently Border Patrol agents rescued more than a dozen migrants locked in a U-Haul truck.   This is what "disrespect for humanity" looks like  Jean-Pierre.

Biden's open border policy is inviting the cartel to exploit foreigners arriving in Mexico.  His policy is enriching drug cartels.  The Biden plan is inhumane and cruel.  

Thanks to Martha's Vineyard, more Americans are now aware the Border Patrol has apprehended more than 2 million illegal immigrants this fiscal year, which ends this month. The numbers do not include more than 500,000 getaways who avoided apprehension and escaped into the country. 

Think about that figure of 500,000.  The number of getaways are larger than cities such as Miami, Oakland, Tampa and Cleveland. Where have all those illegals gone?  The administration doesn't have a clue about their whereabouts or whether they are terrorists, gang members or drug runners. 

Open borders are facilitating a tide of lethal drugs into America. The Border Patrol  has seized 1,007 pounds of cocaine, 4,009 pounds of methamphetamine and 461 pounds of fentanyl at the border.  No one knows how many drugs swept undetected into the U.S. 

It is no coincidence that drug overdose fatalities are spiraling in the U.S..  More than two-thirds of overdose deaths involve fentanyl.  A trailer loaded with 1,337 pounds of meth, was recently seized. Meth is often mixed with fentanyl by the cartel. Two milligrams of fentanyl is considered a lethal dose.

It is open season for drug and human smuggling into Texas, Arizona and New Mexico. Democrats control Congress, yet refuse to even acknowledge the problem much less address it.  Instead, they criticize governors dealing with the catastrophic invasion every day at the border.  

Democrats often deflect the border issue by insisting on immigrant reform first.  Why haven't Democrats acted?  They have the votes. The answer is obvious.  They prefer an open border irregardless of the consequences for the country. Their policy is killing immigrants and Americans.  

Biden's Twilight Zone Presidency

There have been an avalanche of surreal events involving President Biden but none more bizarre than a White House celebration on inflation reduction on the very day his government announced an 8.3% hike in the cost of living.  It eerily resembled a Twilight Zone television episode.  

While touting the Inflation Reduction Act, Biden boasted that gasoline prices are down an average of $1.30 since the beginning of summer. However, the cost per gallon is still 25.6% higher than a year ago. Russia's Putin was blamed for the price hike, so, facetiously, does he get credit for the decline?

Gas prices are dropping because demand for fuel has faltered 4.4% this year.  Another contributing factor  is some states have suspended gasoline taxes which lowers the average cost of a gallon.  Industry experts expect prices to escalate again when the release of Strategic Petroleum Reserves ends this fall.

During his back-slapping speech, the president said; "We're getting other prices down."  Exactly which ones is he talking about?   A Department of Labor report released the same day recorded the largest food price increases since May, 1979--an 11.4% jump over the past year. 

Here's some examples of soaring food prices: Eggs, 39.8%; flour, 23.3%; milk; 17%; bread 16.2%; chicken, 16.6%; meats, 6.7%; pork, 6.8%, fruits and vegetables, 9.4%.  A industry report shows lower-income households in particular are skipping nutritional food items because of the inflated price. 

Utilities are rising, especially natural gas, which climbed 33% since last year. With winter coming, prices will spike. New vehicle prices are 10.1% higher than 2021 and rent continues to skyrocket: the nationwide average for a one-bedroom apartment has mushroomed 27.1%.

Asked if he was concerned about 8.3% inflation, the president responded: "No, I'm not because we're talking about one-tenth of 1%," an apparent reference to a dip in some prices. Be assured average Americans are not fist bumping in joy at the check-out counter at their local grocery store.

But, of course, he is not the only person in the administration that does not allow facts to stand in the way of dubious pronouncements. In an interview, Vice President Kamala Harris twice claimed the porous southern border is "secure." The sycophant reporter did not challenge her obvious falsehood.

She said the following in a television interview: "We have a secure border in that that (sic) is a priority of any nation, including ours and our administration."  You can't make this stuff up.  

The vice president's claim is particularly egregious considering she is the administration's official Border Czar.  She hasn't  personally visited the border, so she might be excused for knowing so little about the current crisis. Although you might surmise, she could find out if she wanted. 

Southwest border apprehensions in fiscal year 2022, which ends in September, have already hit 1.9 million arrests.  This is the highest number ever recorded since the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol began tracking apprehensions in 1925.  That doesn't fit the definition of security at the border.  

But Harris' statement pales in comparison to the whopper told by Biden's Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.  Questioned about border security, she replied: "It's not like people are just walking across the border."  What alternative universe is she living in? 

There is a large cache of videos showing immigrants not only walking across the border, but climbing fences, swimming and being ferried across the Rio Grande River in boats operated by Mexican drug cartel members. Swarms of illegals are coming because they know the border is open.   

Cue the Twilight Zone music.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen can always be counted to deliver a Rod Serling gem. (Serling was the creator of Twilight Zone.) She assured Americans for months inflation was temporary, even as the data showed the pressure on prices was continuing to mount. 

Then after two quarters of negative GDP growth, Yellen delivered a non sequitur by calling the economic decline a "transition" not a recession, ignoring the long-established definition.  Two quarters of negative growth denotes a recession.  

Now Yellen is backtracking again by admitting the country faces "a risk" of recession as it battles inflation.  Even if the third quarter delivers negative growth data, it would not surprise if Yellen updated the term to "extended transition." This administration knows no shame.

There are two conclusions that can be drawn from this Twilight Zone administration: Either President Biden and his team believe Americans are stupid or they are convinced their lies will be accepted as fact by a compliant media prone to echo the administration's narrative.

Whatever the conclusion, Americans are not entertained nor fooled by Washington's Twilight Zone episodes. 

Unjust DOJ Cracks Down On FBI Criticism

Criticism of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is now off limits. President Biden, the Department of Justice and the FBI's top official have deemed it dangerous to question the agency's integrity. Their puffed up outrage comes after the FBI raided the home of former President Donald Trump.

No one in the administration appears concerned about the chilling effect of dispatching more than 30 armed FBI agents to carry out an unprecedented search at the residence of Biden's chief political rival. All the facts in the case are still being sorted, but that hasn't stopped damaging DOJ leaks to the media.

After the raid, Republicans castigated the FBI.  Democrats acted as if criticism of the agency was an act of terrorism.  Apparently, they do not recognize their own hypocrisy. The party has often been critical of the FBI when it suited their politics. 

Democrats were indignant when then FBI Director James Comey sent a letter to Congress in 2016 about an investigation of Hillary Clinton's emails in the heat of a presidential election.  Comey was excoriated for attempting to influence and manipulate the election.  Clinton blamed Comey for her defeat.

Do you remember any Democrats grumbling that it is unpatriotic to critique the FBI?  Me neither.  The fact is the FBI's credibility already rests on thin ice. Just consider the agency's handling of former Secretary of State Clinton, who had classified emails on a server at her residence in New York state.

There were no armed FBI raids on her residence to seize the server. Perhaps there should have been. Clinton aides destroyed her mobile devices with a hammer and her attorney deleted about 32,000 emails which Clinton later claimed were "personal."  The FBI never examined those deleted emails.

Forget your Trump hated for a moment and ask yourself this question: Why did the FBI handle the Clinton and Trump cases involving classified information so differently?  Media fact-checkers have issued parsed explanations on why the two cases are not similar.  That doesn't answer the question about equal treatment by the FBI.

If this was the only example of politicized agents and questionable investigations, the FBI's motives might not be under extreme scrutiny. But it's not.  

The FBI and DOJ used opposition research from Hillary Clinton's campaign to gin up a bogus investigation about collusion between President Trump and Russia. The bureau issued warrants under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to spy on Carter Page, Trump's campaign manager.

In the wake of the Russian hoax, Former FBI Director Andrew McCabe was fired for misleading investigators about the Clinton connection and for perpetuating the fiction. McCabe was a top official, not some flunky.  

A couple of weeks ago GOP Senator Chuck Grassley revealed that whistleblowers inside the FBI had outed an agency employee who tried to discredit and shut down the investigation into Hunter Biden's business dealings.  The insiders allege the agent ran interference to halt further inquiries. 

Whistleblowers fingered high-ranking agent Timothy Thibault. FBI Director Christopher Ray called the allegations against Thibault "deeply troubling." He pledged that whistleblowers would be protected.  Apparently he didn't check with DOJ head Merritt Garland.

Within days, Merritt Garland issued a memo banning communications with members of Congress by Justice Department employees, including FBI agents. Garland's pretense was to protect the employees from "partisan or other inappropriate influences." No, his intent is to silence whistleblowers. 

Garland is clearly worried about leaks about his agency's bias against Republicans.  He has good reason to be after Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg revealed an attempt by FBI sources to quash stories about the Hunter Biden laptop during the 2020 election. 

A politicized FBI and Justice Department are imminent threats to democracy. Garland needs to reign in partisan FBI agents and avoid politicizing investigations.   If he refuses, the president should fire Garland and then clean house at the FBI and DOJ.  

Inflation Reduction Act: Another Biden Deception

Democrats' green energy boondoggle, disguised as the Inflation Reduction Act, unleashes $485 billion in new federal spending and tax credits in the middle of the highest inflation in 40 years. The legislation includes $468 billion in new taxes weeks after the nation officially plummeted into a recession. 

By enlisting the media's support, Democrats have successfully packaged the legislation as a climate game changer that will reduce the deficit.  The Democrats' political propaganda has been drummed into the national conscience.  Only one problem. It's mostly untrue.  

Here is a list of the most egregious examples of sleight of hand in the massive, 755-page bill that passed without a single Republican vote:

• Despite the administration claims, an independent review of the bill reveals the act will have "no meaningful effect on inflation in the near term." By reducing long-term economic growth, the bill may actually worsen inflation, according to another study.
• The act contains $80 billion in funding for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to double the size of the agency by recruiting and hiring of 87,000 new employees. Don't call these recruits "agents" because it offends the administration.
• Reforms in prescription drug pricing, billed as saving Americans billions of dollars, will have little or no impact for at least seven years. And it excludes those individuals with company provided insurance.  
• President Biden insisted the new minimum 15% tax on corporations was aimed at big firms that pay no federal tax. In actuality, the new law raises taxes on all corporations currently paying less than the 15% rate. 
• Hailed as revolutionary, the green energy section contains $386 billion in spending for so-called energy security and climate change.  Yet, $4.275 billion will go for rebate programs for consumers, including those on Indian Reservations, who install water pump heaters, electric stoves and ovens, insulation and ventilation.  

                                             Inflation Reduction

The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania estimates the Biden act will reduce inflation by around 0.1 percent by the middle of the first decade under this bill.  In addition, the new law would slightly "reduce GDP" in the first decade while  increasing economic growth by 2050. 

Deficit reduction is just a gleam in the eyes of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), especially after President Biden issued an executive fiat forgiving student debt for 43 million borrowers. Preliminary estimates are the costs will be about half-a-trillion dollars.  So much for deficit reduction. 

                                                IRS Spending

Originally, the president proclaimed the new IRS agents would go after greedy billionaires.  But when Forbes reported there were 735 billionaires, 87,000 new non-agents (insert laughter here) appeared to be overkill.  The new party line is the IRS recruits will zero in on taxpayers making over $400,000.

Anyone who believes the administration's "fact-sheet" that asserts the non-agents will collect $124 billion in new taxes knows nothing of IRS history.  In 2010, Congress showered millions on the IRS in hopes of raising $9 billion in new revenue.  The results were deplorable.

The bloated agency, which already has 78,661 employees, spent $574 million to collect $14 million in new taxes.  From fiscal 2015 to 2017, the IRS audited 73% of returns from taxpayers earning $200,00 and lower after stating its mission was to target high-earners. 

 

                                                Prescription Drugs

The American Medical Association (AMA) reviewed the bill's provisions for lowering prescription drug prices and praised the reforms. However, the top 10 drugs, which account for 40% of Medicare Part B drug spending, likely won't be eligible for negotiated prices until 2029.  That's not a typographical error.

                                                Corporate Taxes

The president initially claimed 55 corporations paid no federal taxes in 2021.  His statement had to be walked back.  Actually 26 companies in the S&P 500 and the Fortune 500 paid no taxes.  The 15% minimum would apply to hundreds of firms that paid federal taxes but at a lower rate.

Corporate taxes are ultimately paid by the firm's  customers. Companies pass along the cost in the form of higher prices.  

                                                        Green Energy 

Two of the beneficiaries of the $386 billion in climate spending will be electric car buyers and the solar industry.  Under the act, the business investment tax credit will be lifted to 30% for solar construction projects before the end of 2024.  Purchasers of pricy electric vehicles will receive generous rebates. 

The act changes the current law to give electric vehicle  purchasers an instant $7,500 credit on new cars and $4,000 on used EV's.  Under the old provisions, buyers applied for a tax rebate post-purchase. With the average cost of a new EV reaching  $66,000, few middle-income Americans will reap the benefits.

For an administration which thinks it needs a ministry of disinformation, the Inflation Reduction Act qualifies as misinformation. What little trust Americans had in government, has been ripped to shreds by this disguised legislation. Truth in legislation is an oxymoron in Washnington. 

Green Energy Runs Into Coal, Hard Facts

Washington is expected to spend $1 trillion to underwrite green energy production this year in an effort to reach the administration's goal of net zero emissions by 2050.  Even if the U.S. achieves its target, it might not reduce global emissions because coal plants are springing up like mushrooms everywhere.  

Although China is a signatory to the Paris Climate Agreement, its actions do not match its state-sanctioned support for the green agenda. China built more than three times as much coal plant capacity as the rest of the world in 2020.  This translates into more than one coal plant every week.  

A report by San Francisco-based think tank Global Energy Monitor and the Centre of Research on Energy and Clean Air documents China's thirst for coal power.  Research shows China grew its coal power by 29.8 Gigawatts (GW) while the rest of the world decreased capacity by 17.2 GW.

In 2021, China added more coal plants since 2016 as its power demands increased.  The world's most populous country has 1,100 coal fired power plants producing electricity.  That is nearly four times as many as the second-largest coal energy producer, India, which has 285 plants.  

Climate activists claim that because of the Paris agreement China has reduced its dependence on coal.  The country produces less of its total energy from coal than it did 10 years ago, dropping from 85% to 56%. But coal remains the chief energy source to power China. 

China not only is the biggest consumer of coal power, but the largest producer too.   China produced 4.7% more coal in 2021 than the previous year.  Coal companies churned out more than 3.7 billion tons.  The country's coal industry plans to significantly hike production this year, reports Chinese media.

Despite its efforts to reduce its dependence on coal, the Chinese are involved in building and funding more than 70% of all coal plants abroad.  Since 2013, China's Belt and Road Initiative has committed to $50 billion in financing for 26.8 Gigawatts of coal facilities in 152 countries. 

Chineses Banks are bankrolling 60 new coal plants across Eurasia, South America and Africa.  When those projects are completed, the coal facilities would emit about as much carbon dioxide as all of Spain. Ignore Chinese propaganda; the country is exporting pollution to other nations.

Carbon Tracker, a financial think tank, calculated that China, India, Indonesia, Japan and Vietnam plan to build 600 coal power plants. India with 285 coal plants generates more than 75% of its power needs through thermal coal. India has 39 thermal coal plants under construction with plans for more. 

No surprise to learn China is the world's biggest polluter.  The Communist nation contributed 21.4% of the world's greenhouse gasses, according to data from the World Resources Institute.  The U.S. ranks second with 12.5% of the global emissions.  India and the European Union are tied at 7% each.   

Weaning countries off coal is proving difficult because the demand for energy is soaring.  Electricity demand is projected to triple globally by 2050, a McKinsey report estimates.   Estimates are the electricity demand in the U.S. will jump 28.8% for the same period. 

With rising demand, America's push for green energy has paid dividends.  Wind turbines and solar accounted for about 20% of the electricity generated in 2021.  Including hydroelectric dams and nuclear, the total rises to nearly 40%.  But coal still produces 21% of electric power. 

Germany is a cautionary tale for adopting a green policy cold turkey without regard for the long-term impact on the economy.  Since 2000, the country shutdown coal plants, scuttled nuclear facilities and spent billions of dollars on renewable power, mostly wind and solar. 

However, those renewables are subject to intermittent output, meaning the country needs a dependable, alternative power source. For Germany, that has been Russian natural gas.  When Russia began cutting back supplies this year, Germany had no other option but to restart its coal fired plants.

Germany had planned to eliminate coal by 2030, but that target seems unachievable in light of the reactivation of coal plants.  The lesson of the German experience is that the shift to renewable energy cannot happen overnight and without fossil fuel backup power, electricity rationing is a certainty. 

With winter months away, officials in the country's second largest city Hamburg are warning warm water will only be available certain times of day. Across Germany, streets light are dimmed, water is rationed and swimming pools have been closed.  

Most Americans are on board with replacing fossil fuel electricity with green energy.  On the other hand, Americans want affordable, reliable energy.  This summer major electric grids across the nation are under stress sometimes because wind and solar are offline due to weather conditions.

America's appetite for wind and solar energy is growing, which is driving down the cost of each megawatt-hour of energy, making it more competitive with fossil fuels. But for the foreseeable future, fossil fuels will be required to meet the nation's rising energy demand.

GOP Overconfidence Spells Trouble in Midterms

Giddy Republicans are popping the champagne corks in celebration of a Red Wave in the midterm elections.  That over exuberance may prove their undoing in November.  While the GOP is in party mode, Democrats are building a war chest and sharpening their political rhetoric to pull an upset.

For months, President Biden's underwater poll numbers fed GOP confidence.  Scorching inflation, record gas prices, a porous border, and education issues foreshadowed a Red avalanche.  Early national polls showed voters preferred GOP control of the House and Senate. Happy times are here again. 

Republican also have history on their side.  The president's party usually loses 30 House seats in the midterms.  Democrats currently hold a thin majority in the House, 220-211.  If history repeats, the GOP would begin 2023 with a solid 241-180 majority.  But history can be fickle.  

Currently, the Senate is deadlocked 50-50, although Vice President Kamala Harris casts the deciding vote in the event of ties. There are 34 Senate seats up for grabs this year.  However, Senate control will likely hinge on closely contested races in 10 key states, where turnout will tilt the outcome. 

The latest Monmouth University Policy Institute poll offers a clear picture of voters issues. Inflation and gas prices are the chief concerns.  More than four in ten Americans told pollsters they are struggling financially.  Despite the Democrat drum beating, abortion is a priority for just 5% of voters. 

Beware: Some polls show abortion as a priority issue but those are not open-ended, where respondents select their own priorities. Democrat-sponsored research limits the choices for respondents, forcing survey participants to select from a narrow list of issues, which includes abortion.  

Irregardless,  Democrats insist the emotionally charged issue will motivate its voters to turnout in the midterms.  To up the ante, Democrats are disingenuously claiming the Supreme Court ruling on abortion also imperils gay marriage, racially mixed marriages and LGBTQ protections.

Democrats are also banking on smearing Republicans as extremists in the January 6 hearings.  Although former President Trump is the target, the House committee is crafting a narrative that many GOP House and Senate members were tangentially involved in the Capitol riots. Thus Republicans are fanatics.

As an extension of this strategy, Democrat fund raising committees are supporting Trump-endorsed GOP candidates in the primaries in hopes they will be easier to defeat in the midterms. Some Democrats are beginning to notice and are criticizing their party for being hypocritical. 

In light of the Democrat maneuvers, Republicans need to quit reading the polls and stop taking victory laps.  Elections are won in November and voters preferences can flip in a heartbeat. Instead of just regurgitating voter issues, the GOP must begin offering solutions.    

Voters want to know how Republicans will govern and what changes they will make.  This is especially important to woo independents as well as traditional Democrat voting blocs, such as Hispanics, Asians and African-Americans.  Voters are keen on a change of direction in the country.

Republicans need a clarion call that resonates with voters.  How about the American Prosperity Plan? GOP candidates for the House and Senate should rally around an action agenda that stirs voters passion. instead of just reminding voters who bad things are. Here are a few suggestions:

To deal with inflation, the GOP should vow to stop the Democrats inflationary spending.  Republicans should pledge to reject boondoggles with clever names, such as the Inflation Reduction Act. They should adopt a "no new spending" mantra and end government welfare for green industries.

Since the House controls the purse string, the GOP should argue for less spending on federal government agencies, which are expanding. Republicans should insist on across the board 5% budget  cuts at every Washington agency to reduce the federal budget.

Budget cuts would also be a way to reign agencies or in other cases reduce the size of regulatory bureaucracies.  A plan to eliminate the Department of Education, for example, would draw broad support. States have their own Departments of Education.  No need for another layer of bureauracy.

On taxes, Republicans should campaign on lowering tax rates for all Americans making less than $400,000 annually.  Such a promise would offer a stark contrast to the Democrats plans for raising personal and corporate taxes in the midst of an economic recession. 

The border issue reverberates in many key election states, such as Arizona.  Republicans should pledge to pass legislation to finish the border wall.  The suppliers and the construction materials have been paid, but President Biden halted construction.  No additional funding would be required. 

To address energy, Republicans would pledge to revive the GOP-backed Keystone XL bill that died in 2021 in the Democrat controlled House. The bill to authorize completion of the  construction on the oil pipeline, specified the project would not need a permit from the president. 

Health care costs are a factor in rising inflation.  Republicans, who had a chance to end Obamacare in 2016, should cap funding of subsidies for government health insurance, which enrich private insurers.  Another way to reduce health costs is to oppose further expansion of Medicare.

Some Democrats are no doubt shaking their heads in laughter. President Biden would veto any legislation that does not fit the Democrat agenda.  Actually, that would help Republicans draw a clear distinction between the parties on key issues for voters now and in the 2024 presidential election.

Listen Republicans.  Don't waste this opportunity by touting an investigation of President Biden and his son Hunter will be your first act.  That might fire up the base, but average Americans don't care. There will be a time to address the issue at some point.  For now, can the comments.

There will be a time for celebration.  But right now the priority is to unite GOP candidates under a broad agenda to restore American prosperity.  That's what voters want to hear.  

U.S. Economy Slips Into Recession Quicksand

The U.S. economy is sinking into a recession, a persistent, widespread contraction of economic activity.  It will not become official until July 28 after the government releases the data for the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).  However, the economic storm clouds have been forming this entire year. 

In the face of warning signs, economists, market analysts and the Biden Administration never wavered from rosy economic predictions. Even when the GDP declined 1.6% in the first quarter, they spun the news as a speed bump. The economy was poised for a rebound.    

There will be a rude awakening when the second quarter GDP data drops on Wall Streets this week. The Atlanta Federal Reserve, which tracks GDP weekly, is forecasting a 1.6% decline.  Negative growth in two consultive quarters meets the economic criteria for a recession. 

Experts assured Americans that inflation was only temporary.  The economy was just shaking off the cobwebs after the pandemic lockdown.  Recession was a distant chance. How did everyone from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to Fed Chairman Jerome Powell to Wall Street get it so wrong?   

The answer: They viewed the current economic conditions through the lens of past economic recoveries. 

There has never been a volcanic disruption as what occurred in 2020 with the exception of the Great Depression.  The U.S. sustained massive job losses, extensive business closures, broken supply chains and the shutdown of manufacturing. This was unlike any past economic jolt.  

For months, the recession-deniers have pointed to strong job growth as a sign the economy is rebounding from the first quarter GDP doldrums.  In the past, job growth indicated a growing economy.  But the job figures are not a reliable predictor in the wake of the pandemic that shutdown the economy. 

The American economy lost 22 million jobs from February to April, 2020.  By the end of that year, there were still more than 11 million unemployed Americans.  In 2021, the economy added 6.7 million jobs. This year the job gains stand at 2.74 million.  That's 9.4 million jobs in one-and-a-half years. 

For the most part, these gains reflect people returning to their former jobs after being laid off. Most are not new jobs created by innovation or business investment, which would indicate growth. Federal Reserve data shows the number of workers today are 500,000 below the level in February, 2020.

In the midst of reported job gains, 11 million job openings remain unfilled, despite six million unemployed workers.  During the economic boom of 2019, job openings averaged 7 million.  America's labor supply has been depleted because fewer workers are in the job market.

The labor pool shortage may be partially attributed to the 2.4 million workers who retired early in the first 18-months of the pandemic. Total retirements from March 2020 to July 2021 reached 4.2 million. Anecdotal evidence suggests some retirees are re-entering the workforce due to inflation. 

A phenomenon know as the "Great Resignation" is also roiling the job market.  The BLS reports 47 million workers voluntarily quit their jobs in 2021.  The trend is likely to continue.  A McKinsey study finds 40% of workers and the self-employed expect to leave their jobs in the next three to six months.

Many take time off to re-evaluate their career options and personal priorities. If they return to a job, it usually is for better pay, more opportunities for advancement, improved work-life balance and job flexibility.  This constant churn in-and-out of the workforce helps explain the 11 million job openings. 

Confronted with this evidence, experts cite the low unemployment of 3.6% as as sign a recession is unlikely. Bureau of Labor Statistics unemployment data does not count so-called discouraged workers or those "marginally" attached to the workforce who haven't sought a job in a month. 

Buried in the BLS statistical tables is a figure known as the U-6 data. The St. Louis Federal Reserve watches this number more closely than the headline figure generated by the government.  The metric measures real unemployment at 7.0%, by including discouraged and marginally attached workers.

Another measurement of economic activity is total retail sales, a key indicator of consumer spending.  Retail sales ticked up 1% in May, but adjusted for 1.3% price inflation for the month, sales actually declined.  

Consumer spending is the best barometer of the economy, because it accounts for about 70% of the GDP.   Looking back, the feverish spending of late 2021 and earlier this year was predictable. 

The average American had saved 33% of household income during 2020, building a financial cushion. Coupled with stimulus payments, consumers were flush with cash. After paying off $82 billion in credit card debt in 2020, credit availability shored up consumer confidence to keep shelling out money. 

However, as inflation heated up, soaring to 9.1% recently, spending began tapering off over time.  Stimulus payments dried up.  Enhanced unemployment benefits ended. Americans began dipping into savings to sustain spending.  Today households  are saving just 4.4% of income.   

The latest data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis shows credit card debt jumped 20% in April (the latest figure available) to a near record of $1.103 trillion.   The Fed reports revolving debt and credit card balances combined skyrocketed 19.6% from the previous year in April. 

In another harbinger of a slowdown, June saw a 20-year low for home mortgage applications as average home prices hit a record.  A spike in interest rates, orchestrated by the Fed, discouraged many first-time homebuyers from purchasing a home.  Homebuilders are are preparing for a downturn. 

Perhaps, the clearest clue of economic trouble is Americans are cutting back on driving.  Motorists purchased almost 10% less fuel in the week ended July 9 and an estimated 7.8% less in the week ended July 16.  Gas prices are falling because inflated prices are curbing demand.  

With the spending binge ending, consumers are in a gloomy mood. Consumer Sentiment data tracked monthly by the University of Michigan reveals confidence has fallen to 51.1% from 81.2% just a year ago. When people feel less confident, it influences their spending and saving habits. 

Businesses are grappling with uncertainty too.  Microsoft, Tesla, Netflix, Google and J.P. Morgan head a list of business firms either laying off workers or reducing hiring. In May, the latest figure available, 1.4 million workers were laid off and discharged.  Jobless claims in June were the highest since January. 

Once the government data confirms what consumers already know, don't expect an about face from the experts or an admission of failure to forecast the recession.  The usual suspects, Wall Street and the administration, will begin preaching a recovery is just a quarter away.

No doubt, at some point, the economy will begin to right itself.  But the lingering question is: "How long will that take?" Be forewarned that no one really knows that answer, however, you can bet there will be plenty of forecasters touting a turnaround soon.   

Unfriendly Skies For Airline Travelers

Airlines are flying into headwinds, stirring thunderous passenger turbulence. Thousands of flights are cancelled, leaving travelers stranded for days at a time.  Flight schedules are routinely scrambled. Airlines are scrapping routes. Flight delays are a daily occurrence. Turmoil shakes the skies. 

The downdraft in airline performance is documented by Department of Transportation data. Year-to-date, 430,444 U.S. flights have been delayed, a 250% increase from 2021.  A staggering 76,776 flights have been scrubbed, a 253% rise.  On-time performance is its lowest level since 2014.

Snarled flights are a nightmare for Americans ready to resume vacations after two years of pandemic bondage.  Hikes in travel bookings should be good news for airlines which weathered two years of crippling losses totaling nearly $200 billion.  Instead  it has created wind shears for airlines.

In the midst of this bumpy ride, passengers are paying more for worst service.   In the last year, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for airline tickets rose 25%, the largest jump since the Federal Reserve of St. Louis began tracking in 1989.  High prices and uneven service are unnerving passengers. 

The main issue for U.S. and global airlines is a shortage of pilots.  U.S. airlines are scrambling to hire 13,000 pilots this year, more than double the previous annual record.  For perspective, the industry hires about 5,000 to 7,000 annually, according to United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby. 

The pandemic exacerbated the shortage by scuttling new pilot training and hiring, while triggering a wave of early retirements. Despite a $100 billion government bailout, which included $54 billion for benefits and wages, the big commercial carriers offered pilots early retirements to cut labor costs.  

After a wave of offers, American Airlines lost 5,400 pilots; Delta 2,000; and United 450, plus 1,750 were furloughed. Airlines are now poaching each others pilots, with higher salaries and benefits. To stem losses, pay for senior pilots at United Airlines now top $450,000 annually.

Easing the shortage will be practically mission impossible.  About 5,5773 pilots a year are hitting the mandatory retirement age of 65 each year.  The number reflects the aging of the pilot labor pool. Seniority pay and benefits encourage pilots to work until retirement. 

Normally, the big carriers fill jobs by recruiting pilots from the cockpits of regional airlines. However, the number of regional pilots has dwindled from its peak of 19,000 to about 14,000, draining the talent pool of pilots for the large carriers.    

To retain pilots, American recently extended 50% pay premiums for regional pilots through August, 2024.  The military, a source for trained pilots, is struggling to find aviators. The Air Force reported a shortage of 1,650 aviators at the end of 2021. 

The Federal Aviation Administration, which certifies new pilots, handed out an average of 6,500 certificates annually in the past decade.  When the virus disrupted training programs, there were fewer certificates issued in 2020 and 2021.  Regional airlines are career entry points for newly minted pilots.  

The prognosis for solving the pilot shortage is cloudy. There is industry momentum for raising the retirement age to 67, a bandaid solution. Regional carriers are petitioning the Federal Aviation Administration to reduce the standards for flight hours by 50% for new pilots.

Both proposals raise safety issues which regulators have so far frowned upon. It means the pilot shortage will continue at least through 2029, according to industry executives. The problem won't be helped by the fact the U.S. carriers will lose about half of its pilots to retirement in the next 15 years.

Although it's hardly comforting, the U.S. isn't the only nation dealing with a dearth of pilots. Europe has not only faced pilot issues, but labor strikes and understaffing at airports. London's busy Heathrow Airport asked airlines to curtail schedules as mountains of baggage could not be handled.

Unless airlines can reach smoother air,  travelers may soon decide it is not worth the hassle to fly.  That would be a downburst to an industry recovering after two years of financial disaster.  The carriers must act with urgency and innovation to recruit and train the next generation of aviators.   

America Being Undermined By Marxist Ideology

America is under siege with rampant lawlessness.  Murders in Atlanta have spiked 43%.  Rapes have soared 236.6%. Los Angeles gun violence has jumped 40% since 2020.  Downtown shootings in Chicago have increased 64%.  New York City's crime index is up 27.8%.  

Lost in the data, is the cruel fact that 181 children aged one month to 11 years old have been murdered. Two year olds are gunned down while their mothers watch in horror.  A total of 681 teenagers have died in gun violence this year.  A least 36 policemen have been killed trying to protect citizens.

George Soros-backed district attorneys responsible for prosecuting violent offenders are instead releasing the thugs into society. Criminals with long rap sheets are set free, only to be arrested again. What kind of a society allows this to happen?  Sounds like Venezuela or Tijuana, Mexico.

Much of the blame for the upsurge belongs at the feet of politicians in big cities who refuse to back police.  During the riots of 2020, mayors stood by as buildings were torched, stores were looted, police were injured and bystanders beaten.  The current vice president offered to pay bail for the rioters.  

In the bloody aftermath, defunding the police became a battlecry for politicians who wanted to cozy up to Black Lives Matter, Antifa and other violent groups.  Police budgets were slashed.  Politicians issued new restrictions on policing,  leaving citizens and businesses at the mercy of criminals.

This lawlessness extends to the Southern Border with Mexico. An unprecedented flood of illegal immigrants are brazenly invading the U.S.  In fiscal year 2022, there has been a 78% increase in the number of crossings compared to the same period a year ago.

The crisis will only grow worse as Title 42 is expected to expire soon. The Trump Administration invoked the order to restrict migrants entry into the U.S., including those seeking asylum.  Whenever it is lifted, there will be a Tsunami of crossings.   

Estimates are the end of Title 42 will boost the number of illegal alien crossings to more than 3 million by the end of fiscal year 2022.  That's more than the population of Chicago (2.6 million). Even that projection likely understates the massive tide of illegals because it does not include "getaways."

The Customs and Border Protection agency estimates 220,000 illegal immigrants evaded Border Patrol capture in just a a four-month period from October 2021 to February 2022.  These so-called "getaways" were spotted on cameras and sensors at the border but the agency lacked manpower to capture them.   

Estimates of the total "getaways" range from 400,000 to 800,000, who have stole into America undetected since January, 2021, according to former Border Patrol brass.  Although no one can say for sure, Border Patrol agents suspect many are drug and human smugglers now operating in the U.S.  

This incursion is the handiwork of powerful Mexican drug cartels. While the Biden-controlled media focuses on the bedraggled masses, the news outlets ignore the fact that every single person who enters the U.S. illegally has paid a member of the drug cartel.

Human smuggling is the dirty underbelly the media refuses to expose. Smuggling rings in Central America recruit poor citizens and then exploit them by demanding money for a ticket to the U.S.  The immigrants then pay guards at the Mexican border before they are handed off to cartel traffickers

Drugs, including Chinese-made fentanyl, are being transported by immigrants who do the cartel's dirty work as payment for entry. U.S. fentanyl deaths are setting records.  Law enforcement officials know an undetermined number of drug mules link up with Central American drug gangs in the U.S. 

The smugglers operate with impunity in broad daylight.  Why is America impotent to stop this criminal activity?  Other countries around the globe have found ways to deal with the problem.  But the most powerful country on Earth is powerless to stop these cartel criminals?  That makes no sense.  

Beyond lawlessness, the Biden Administration has overseen cataclysmic economic disruption. Inflation is running at a 40-year high.  Gasoline prices are the highest ever. Fuel costs have rippled through the economy,  driving up prices of food and other goods. Empty grocery shelves are a new reality. 

Biden upset the economic equilibrium in 2021 when he embarked on a new green deal policy offensive. His decisions shackled oil production in the U.S., driving up gas prices 66% before the Ukrainian war. American consumers are bearing the brunt of this disastrous government policy.

A fair examination of today's biggest issues leads to the inevitable conclusion that these disasters, from lawlessness, to overheated inflation, are all self-inflicted by the Biden Administration.  It could still reverse course but there appears to be no sense of turning back for this deeply unpopular president.

Biden campaigned on the promise to fundamentally change America. Few voters realized that would  involve denigrating American values, reordering the economy, shrugging at lawlessness and importing a permanent underclass dependent on Washington for food, housing, healthcare and free education.  

His ideological approach has all the earmarks of Marxism, Communist or Socialism.  Today the media refers to those who support Biden policies as progressives.  That term was coined as a distraction.  What Americans are witnessing is the implementation of a new dogma linked to Marxism.  

To buttress that view, look no further than the government sanctioned indoctrination of American children in the nation's schools. Classrooms are being turned into re-education camps, which preach anti-American themes.  Kids are taught America is a racist, patriarchical country.

Critical race theory and gender identity are high on the list of today's educator tenets Children as young as five are being treated to drag queen shows as part of their learning.  Kids are being sexualized in an effort to replace parental upbringing with a government orthodoxy about families and gender.  

Communists are masters of indoctrination of children to make the state the most important parental figure for kids.  The breakup of families is a goal of Marxism.  Why are America's schools being overtaken by powerful teachers unions with a decidedly pro-socialist viewpoint?  

Next to indoctrination, a key strategy of Communists is a takeover of the distribution of information and news.  The state controls what citizens watch, listen and read.  America is getting closer as censors at social media platforms filter the information to fit an agenda supported by the administration. 

The big media cabal no longer ferrets out truth but falls in lock step with the Biden Administration. Journalism has long since died. Activist reporting is the new rule in newsrooms.  Reporters who don't adhere to doctrine are fired.  The truth may set us free, but the media will imprison our minds. 

The Biden Administration has its own plan to stamp out truth.  A group is being organized behind closed doors in Washington to implement censorship.  The Orwellian squad is called The Disinformation Governance Board.  Why does a democracy need a censorship board?

Biden apologists argue the board, operating under the aegis of the Department of Homeland Security, will target the spread of disinformation by agents of Russia, China and Iran.  Why does the country need a draconian Disinformation Governance Board to do that?  Why can't the FBI arrest these "agents"?  

Once the media outed the board, the Team Biden fired the director and announced a "pause."  Don't be deceived. There is no pause. There is an ongoing effort to spruce up the charter for the board to appear more supportive of free speech.  America does not need a Ministry of Truth. 

Americans routinely ask: Why is all this happening? They are stunned watching their country riddled with chaos and a loss of American values. What may seem like a coincidental confluence of crises is a deliberate breakdown of law and order and a reordering of the economy and education. 

Before democracies loose their freedoms, most undergo frenetic chaos.  That creates a power vacuum for tyrants to grab power. They control speech, control law enforcement, control the justice system, control drug supplies, propagandize the citizenry and control children's minds.   

America is reaching an inflection point.  If Americans do not get involved, then the country will simply drift into Marxism.  There is still time but the clock is ticking and each day brings more destructiveness. Soon the country could devolve into a period of unchartered anarchy.  

We the people are the last defense for the preservation of freedom and American values. Courageous citizens are suing their government, showing up a school board meetings, using their voices to call out Washington's overreach and becoming more politically active. We all must do our part.    

In Memory of Dean Patrick Roy

Among Dad's keepsakes was an old tattered, faux-leather photo album I inherited after he passed away. Tucked in a corner on the second page is a yellowed, barely one-inch newspaper article with the heartbreaking headline: Infant dies. It reads in part:

"Dean Patrick, infant son of Mr. and Mrs. Fernan Roy, died early Monday morning, 36 hours after birth. Funeral rites and burial were held Monday evening from (sic) the Iota (Louisiana) Catholic Church with Father Olan Broussard in charge. Burial was in the Iota Cemetery..."  

Dean Patrick Roy was born June 29, 1946 at 4:25 p.m. in Jennings (Louisiana) Hospital. I entered the world 15 minutes later.  We were identical twins. Dean tipped the scales at four pounds, four ounces while I was a puny four-pounder. We were born premature.  Our tiny bodies could fit in a shoebox.

Neonatal care of preemies at that era was primitive, especially at a small hospital in a city of less than 9,000.  Neonatal nurseries were in their infancy.  Dad describes the hospital's infant incubator as a small box-like crib with glowing heat lamp to keep his twins warm.  No oxygen hose in the crib. 

Dad paced outside the nursery keeping vigil over his boys.  He aired his concerns about the searing lamp to nurses several times during his visits.  Mom once told me: "Your Dad was insistent that the lamp would set fire to the blankets." His anguish must have gnawed at him every moment. 

Three days after our birth, Mom was sleeping in her hospital bed in Room 16 when a nurse gently touched her shoulder. She awoke with a shudder.  The nurse stood silent a moment before informing Mom one of her twins had died.  "Which one she asked?"  The shaken nurse answered, "Dean."

To understand her question, Dean and I looked so much alike that Mom admitted it was difficult even for her to tell us apart. In her confused mind, she tried to recall the image of Dean.  That just intensified her mental distress. 

I can only imagine the grief and heartache she felt.  Anyone who has lost a child understands the anguish and disbelief.  Rose Derveloy, Mom's mother, was there to comfort her unconsolable daughter.  I am unsure how Dad received the sad news.  But he, too, never forgot that night.

The memory of that evening haunted Mom for the rest of her life. Whenever she awoke during the night, a dread clung to her conscious. Had one of her seven children died?  The angst never subsided over her 96 years. The sudden loss of life of a child would be her nightly cross. 

A day after the tragic news, Mom fretted that Dean had not been baptized before his death.  The Catholic Church in that era erroneously taught unbaptized infants when to a Netherland called Limbo. It was a cruel man-law that nearly a half-century later was assigned to the dustbin of religious heresies.

A nurse, perhaps to comfort Mom, volunteered that she had indeed baptized Dean before he passed.  Although Mom was suspicious it was untrue, she chose to believe the kind nurse had acted out of compassion.  It soothed her to believe her little one received his baptism.    

Sadly, there are no photos of Dean. No footprints. The only testaments to his short life are a birth certificate, newspaper article and a grave in the Iota cemetery.  For many years, Dad and Mom drove to Iota to visit "the baby's grave." Nothing riled Dad more than to discover weeds growing near the grave.  

In Dad's album there is a a picture of Dean's grave in 2017.  The miniature grave had been restored to its alabaster white sheen and the grass was mown.  Dad snapped a picture of the grave and the memorial plaque. He framed the photo and displayed it prominently in their residence in El Campo, Texas.   

Dad and Mom never forgot Dean. Whenever he was asked how many children he had, Dad always replied eight.  Then would add, but one baby died. Once while I was with Dad, someone asked me my age. I replied, "I am 14, the oldest of seven."  Dad politely corrected me: "The oldest of eight."

Dianna and I named our firstborn son Dean in honor of my twin. Although they never voiced their approval, I know Mom and Dad were pleased.  They had a Dean in their lives again.  When they spoke the name, it was always with a touch of reverence for their lost son.   

As the years have rolled by I often wonder in my quiet moments what life would have been like if Dean had lived.  Would we have had the same interests and mannerisms? Would we still look alike?  Would we celebrate our birthdays together? How would my life be different? 

The answers will have to wait.  

As I turn 76 this year, I am entering the twilight of my earthly journey. The inevitable is creeping up on me.  I am unafraid because I can scarcely imagine the unutterable joy of seeing Dean for the first time. Twins reunited. What a glorious celebration it will be.

How Your Tax Dollars Helped Fuel Inflation

Ask Americans what's fueling inflation and the answers are predictable.  Gas prices. Food costs. Higher wages. Supply chain snarls.  Even Putin.  No one blames Washington's big spenders. They should. In a two year period, Congress shelled out a record $9.95 trillion dollars, contributing to inflation. 

The classic definition of inflation is too many dollars chasing too few goods.  Some modern economists prefer to define inflation as a general increase in prices and a fall in the purchasing value of money. That describes what transpired when the economy opened up in late 2020 after Covid lockdowns. 

Once the shackles of pandemic restrictions were lifted, Congress pumped a record $3.13 trillion in economic relief in 2020.  Then Washington's privileged class doubled spending to $6.82 trillion under Biden. The economy was flooded with money at a time when supplies of nearly everything was scarce. 

Economic experts, including Ben Bernanke and Larry Summers, sounded the alarm in early 2021 about the spending gusher.  No one listened.  The priority of every Washington sewer dweller is to get re-elected by showering their district or state with pet projects or sending checks directly to voters.

Mr. Biden's $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan in 2021 triggered  an avalanche of dollars cascading into the economy. Checks for $1,400 rolled out to Americans.  Unemployment insurance increased. Child tax cash payments replaced credits. Cities and states were the beneficiaries of billions of dollars. 

Both parties share the shame.  That's why they are looking for scapegoats like Putin. Congress is responsible for approving the annual budget and directing spending. In recent years, Washington has employed budget smokescreens to hoodwink the public while it continues the spending rampage. 

Congress last passed an annual appropriations budget bill in 1996. Since then, Congress has junked the time-honored appropriation process and resorted to a series of massive appropriation bills.  In addition, Washington's aristocracy uses so-called continuing resolutions to fund the government.

This budget chicanery is a deliberate charade to hide the gargantuan amount of taxpayer dollars spent in a single year.  This process led to a $2.2 trillion Cares Act in March 2020. It provided cover for a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill.  And the the mother of all spending, a $2.3 trillion appropriations bill in 2021.

Granted COVID lockdowns created a unique economy quandary: How to jumpstart the feeble economy?  A Tsunami of billions of dollars were dispatched to airlines, small businesses and stimulus payments to Americans.  All that spending, however,  led to a bloated supply of dollars in the economy. 

But Washington's nobility just kept doubling down on spending. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) estimates that more than "$1 trillion in pandemic relief and aid approved over the last year remains unspent."  Washington's bureaucracy cannot spend as fast as Congress appropriates money. 

While your tax dollars are idling, they get wasted by your federal government. The GAO, a government watchdog agency, presented its annual report in May identifying $552 billion in government waste and redundancy. Those dollars will never be refunded to the taxpayers who forked over the money.

That is just the tip of a Titanic iceberg. Non-partisan groups estimate that overall fraud in the COVID Paycheck Protection Act (PPA) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program reached $84 billion.  The money was stolen by criminals.  It was inevitable given lax reporting requirements.

Congress did that.  In its rush to prime the pump, it sent billions to the Small Business Administration which spent it as if money was candy at Halloween.  The Department of Justice has promised to find and prosecute criminals.  But taxpayers get nothing. Now the administration stumps for higher taxes.

Oh, and at a time when the White House was requesting more COVID relief funds this January, an enterprising report by a budget think-tank uncovered that the $1.9 trillion relief package had $800 billion remaining in unspent funds.  The appropriation had been approved in 2021.   

As your blood pressure spikes, the latest Federal Fumbles compiled by Oklahoma Senator James Lankford contains some doozies. Two billion dollars were frittered away by not finishing the border wall. Contractors were paid the money by the government not to build the wall.  Say what?

The U.S. Grant Presidential library in New Jersey received $500,000 for an art wall.  This is the penultimate of pet project payoffs to New Jersey's senators and Congressional representatives. Another $500,000 was dished out to the Nansen Ski Club in New Hampshire. Nice, huh?

But there's more.  A total of $2.65 million was conveyed to China for their health programs. The fisherman's co-op in Guam snagged a nifty $3 million. The government handed out safe smoking kits at the cost of $30 million. And, golly, $569,000 was doled out for lobster pot removal.

The gigantic levels of government spending over nearly three years injected trillions into the economy. Direct payments to Americans left them with money to spend after they returned to their jobs. To the untrained eye, it appeared to be just the tonic to boost the economy.

However, the mammoth government spending of your tax dollars created the perfect economic storm.  Supplies of goods were tight. Service firms were just getting back on their feet.  Trillions of dollars were sloshing around the economy. Too many dollars were chasing too few goods.

The Federal Reserve made matters worse by artificially holding down the funds rate to near or just above zero.  That encouraged more borrowing, more stock market speculation, more consumer debt. The Fed dawdled  too long, before finally inching up interest rates in the midst of record inflation.

The Fed's so-called accommodation recklessly added to the nation's supply of money at a time when Congress was on a spending frolic.  It was a double-whammy that poured gasoline on the fires of inflation. Yet the "smart" Washington noblesse told us inflation was only "temporary."

Congress and the Fed agreed the engorged spending would help the people who needed it most. But the people suffering the most today are those at the lowest rungs of the economic ladder.  They are making gut wrenching decisions about putting food on their tables and gas in their cars.  

That's why it is so disingenuous to hear Mr. Biden haranguing oil companies about inflationary prices. Biden, the Fed and Congress need to look in the mirror.  Start pointing the finger where the blame belongs.  Washington did this.  They own this crisis. Don't let them dodge accountability.