Spendaholics Put America In Debt Ceiling Crisis

• America's debt is $31.5 trillion and growing by $102 million every hour of every day
• Interest on the nation's debt is projected to skyrocket to $1.2 trillion by 2032
• Washington has spent a record $13 trillion in the last two fiscal years
• Runaway government spending fuels inflation and cripples the economy

The kerfuffle over raising the ceiling on the country's debt is Washington theatre at its best.  Biden Administration officials are indignant over the House of Representatives plan to slow the Bataan-like march of federal government spending in exchange for increasing the debt amount.

The media, led by The New York Times, are sounding alarms about financial Armageddon. Failing to lift the debt ceiling "would prevent Congress from doing the basic tasks of keeping the government open, paying the country's bills and avoiding default on America's trillions of dollars in debt," the Times wrote.

Scare mongering is a tactic that has often been used by both parties in discussions about the debt limit.  This time is no different as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen raised the specter of military veterans going without benefits; no payments to Social Security recipients; and, pulling the plug on Medicare.

Yellen keeps reminding the public the debt limit increase is needed to pay for money already spent by the government as if that precludes reining in spending. No Republican (or Democrat) will vote to end entitlements, despite the babbling statements from the White House press secretary.   

Congress has never failed to lift the debt ceiling.  This Congress will do the same. Although President Biden insists there will be no negotiations with the House, his former boss President Obama reached a budget deal to avoid a shutdown in 2013 after a protracted battle with the GOP-controlled House.  

While the debt issue elicits hysteria, there was no outrage from the media or the administration when the federal government broke all spending records in fiscal year 2021 by doling out $6.8 trillion. The Democrat controlled Congress followed that gusher with a near-record $6.27 trillion in fiscal year 2022.

In the madcap dash before the new House could be seated, Congress agreed to a $5.8 trillion budget.  The limitless spending helps explain why the current national debt is $31.5 trillion and growing $102 million every hour.  Yellen's solution? Just raise the debt limit to accommodate more reckless spending.

The mountain of debt has risen so fast that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects government spending will result in multi-trillion dollar deficits stretching through 2032, adding $15.7 trillion to the national debt.  

Current debt is 124% of the nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). That puts the U.S. in company with countries such as Bahrain, Zambia and Sir Lanka.  For comparison's sake, U.S. debt averaged 65.2% of GDP from 1940 until 2022.  

The CBO has repeatedly warned since the last decade "the current trajectory of federal borrowing is unsustainable and could lead to slower economic growth in the long run as debt rises as a percentage of GDP. " Their admonition has fallen on deaf ears in Congress.  

In fiscal year 2021, just the interest on national debt reached $562 billion.  Last fiscal year, it soared to $724 billion, an increase of 30% in a single year.  The CBO estimates the interest on national debt will skyrocket to a record $1.2 trillion by 2032, representing 3.3% of GDP, the highest ever recorded.

Too often Americans fail to take notice of the debt.  It doesn't effect them directly, they falsely believe.  As debt grows, it will sap growth of the economy.  That directly impacts jobs and pay.  An economy in decline effects those who can least afford to ride out a recession. 

Overheated federal government spending also fuels inflation, which raises the prices of goods for all Americans. Inflation last year was 8.7%, making it harder for Americans to make ends meet. Deficit budgets will inevitably lead to tax hikes on average earners to pay for the excessive spending.

Every American has a vested interest in this squabble over the debt and spending. 

Irregardless of what politicians think, Americans aren't being fooled by the rhetoric,  A Scott Rasmussen National Survey found that 45% of Americans think the debt ceiling should only be raised on the condition there are spending cuts. Sixteen percent say the debt ceiling should not be raised at all. 

The prudent course is for Congress and the administration to reach a deal to increase the debt level in exchange for spending cuts.  Just bowing to the president's demand for no negotiations is an act of surrender.  Unchecked spending is the biggest threat to the economy, not the debt limit.    

Racial Quotas Are Another Form of Discrimination

Racial preferences in American college admissions are anathema to those who share the views of Dr. Martin Luther King. The civil rights icon preached judging people on the content of their character not the color of their skin. Yet most colleges today use some form of race-based formula to admit students.

Perhaps, the most egregious example is that Ivy League bastion Harvard. Students for Fair Admissions (SFA) sued Harvard in 2020 for using "racial classification" to discrimination against Asian Americans. In that case, the U.S. attorney general for civil rights argued before the First Circuit Court:

"Harvard monitors the evolving composition of the class by race at evert stage in the process. The application summary sheets used by admissions officers use race. First readers use race, second readers use race, subcommittees use race. The overall rating Harvard assigns each applicant uses race."

In the quest to achieve equity, Harvard's rules discriminate against primarily Asians, but whites too. Colleges continue to argue for racial preference based on the discrimination against African-Americans 60 years ago. Institutions cling to the rationale that blacks are unable to compete on a level playing field. 

Harvard's race-based policies are unambiguous. Here's the racial make-up of Harvard 2026 class: 42.5% white; 14.4% black; 27.6% Asian; 11.9% Hispanic and 3.6% Native American or Hawaiian.  The university's de facto policy is to exclude Asian applicants because they are overrepresented.  

Harvard, despite its liberal reputation, has a shameful history of discrimination,  In 1925, students of Jewish faith represented 27.6% of the campus.  Their numbers had increased from 10% in 1909.  The university decided it had a "Jewish problem" and was determined to limit admissions to Jews.

In 1926, the university discarded its academic admissions standard and changed its policy to focus on "character," a subjective tool to exclude "brilliant scholars."  It was a charade based on its desire to lower standards to admit more non-Jewish students of "average intelligence."  

Harvard and other universities believe without subjective admission policies, blacks would fail on their merit. This is demeaning to African-Americans and blatant racial discrimination. This isn't equality. It's the height of hypocrisy that universities embrace Critical Race Theory yet practice discrimination. 

This year the U.S. Supreme Court will take up racial allotments when it hears arguments involving the Harvard case and one associated the University of North Carolina.  The court has the opportunity to overturn a precedent set in 1978 when the justices first ruled on affirmative action in higher education. 

This should be a slam dunk decision for the court based on the 14th Amendment and the Civil Rights Act.  Racial preferences violate Title VI of the Civil Rights act of 1964.  The 14th Amendment prohibits the denial of any person "the equal protection of the laws." 

But the court has shied away from overturning racial preferences because justices fear being branded anti-African American. The high court also is reluctant to overturn precedence set in past decisions upholding affirmative action. 

Public opinion supports an end to racial preference. A Pew Research Center poll in 2020 found 73% of Americans did not believe that race or ethnicity should be a factor in college admissions. Majorities of white, black, Hispanic and Asian respondents agreed. Pew ran the same poll this year.  The numbers had not changed.

Dr. King passionately championed equality for all races, black or white or brown.  He abhorred the idea of favoring one race over another. He believed America should stand for equality for all.  That concept should overcome whatever case precedent has been established by the Supreme Court. 

Cover-Up Of the Classified Documents Fiasco

Make no mistake about it.  Attorney General Merrick Garland's appointment of a special counsel is about politics not justice. His action gives the White House cover to deflect any questions about President Biden's mishandling of classified documents. No information is the new Biden transparency.

The president's press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre rebuffed any reporter's questions about the president's lapse in protecting classified information in his possession, referring the media to the special counsel.  Of course, she knows the special counsel cannot comment on an ongoing investigation.

Because a sitting president cannot be charged with a crime, Biden anticipates the outcome will be a slap on the wrist.  Meanwhile, the special counsel will dither for 18 months to keep the lid on the scandal.  As the president's wingman, Garland did the president a solid by naming a prosecutor.

By now the whole world knows about the four batches of classified documents Biden took from the White House after his term as vice president ended. Those documents were removed by Biden from his office six years ago.  What took his lawyers so long to suddenly discover the government records? 

The answer should be obvious to all but Democrat partisans,  The first tranche of documents were uncovered by lawyers November 4, four days before the mid-terms.  The White House pollsters knew the Republicans were poised to take the House and launch probes of the president.

A White House team had already been assembled months before to prepare for a full court press by the House for Biden's documents. The team sent lawyers scurrying first to the Penn Biden Center located in Washington. Americans are supposed to believe Biden didn't tell his lawyers where to search.

Once Biden's crony Garland learned of the first batch of documents he asked the FBI on November 9 for an assessment. He did not order an FBI raid on Biden's residence. The FBI didn't snap photos of Biden's classified documents to distribute to the media. Double standards are Garland's idea of justice.

According to multiple news sources, the documents found at Penn Biden were top secret intelligence reports on Ukraine and Iran.   

When the story broke, the media immediately wrapped Biden in a protective cocoon.  The Penn Biden Center documents were not the same as the cache at President Trump's private residence.  Then classified documents were found at Biden's private residence.  Bet Karine didn't see that coming.

The media oligarchy did what it always does--dredging up former President Trump to defend Biden.  Poor old Joe just forgot he had these classified documents.  Trump deliberately took documents and locked them in his Florida residence.  Mean, bad Trump.  Joe gets a pass because he's "honest."

What a crock. The media is right about the difference in the two cases.  Biden went six years before the documents came to light. Documents were haphazardly squirreled away in four locations at Penn Biden and his residence. No one knew he had the documents. The FBI knew the location of Trump's cache.

After the raid on Trump's home, Biden told CBS that it was "irresponsible" for the former president to keep classified documents in his private residence.  Biden's words came back to haunt him after documents were uncovered in his private residence in three different places, including his garage.

But the documents also cast a spotlight on Biden's relationship with the University of Pennsylvania, raising more questions about the president's ethics.

With his classified documents in tow, Joe's Penn Biden Center gig proved to be very lucrative.  Biden's tax returns show the University of Pennsylvania paid Biden $911,644 between 2017 and the spring of 2019, when he stepped aside to formally announce his bid for the presidency.  

Biden's China connections from his time as vice president handsomely benefited the university. A review of Department of Education records shows Penn collected more than $67.6 million in donations from China between 2013 and 2019. The majority, $47.7 million, flowed during the years Biden was at Penn.

To shroud the identity of donors, Penn says it collected $20 million from anonymous donors.  Those donors should be disclosed by the university.  Just releasing a press statement acknowledging the money came from China is not transparency.  Did the university collect money from "foreign agents" of China?

Surely, this is a coincidence and has no connection to the former vice president's role in China under the Obama Administration.  Not to mention his son Hunter's extensive business dealings with Chinese firms. After all, Americans should trust Joe because well, he's honest. Nothing to see here.

Those coincidences are piling up because it has been discovered the Chinese money and grants to Penn, courtesy of the Biden connection, had a purpose.  After the FBI became concerned about Chinese money targeting American academia, Garland quietly reversed the bureau's initiative.  

But look, President Biden would never be involved in a quid-pro-quid with China.  If he had known he had classified documents, including some designated top secret, he would have turned them over to the National Archives.  He's just average, honest Joe, his media acolytes assure the public. 

Every day seems to expose another Biden scandal. Soon it's bound to permanently damage the president and end his hopes of running for a second term. Biden defenders will be left to crying, "But Trump was worse." Biden is president not Trump.  He should be judged on his own unethical behavior. 

Nearly Guaranteed Top 12 Predictions For 2023

No one is shedding a tear over the end of 2022.  Sharp inflation. Record food price hikes. Highest ever gasoline prices. Worrisome product shortages. Rising interest rates. Steep stock market losses. A porous border. Runaway federal government spending.  War in the Ukraine.  Good riddance to 2022. 

No even Nostradamus could have predicted the gloom of 2022.

When the calendar flipped to 2023, forecasters with short memories are peddling cheery news about everything from the stock market to inflation.  Optimists claim the new year will make Americans forget 2022.  Not so fast.  My occasionally reliable, highly unpredictable crystal ball is blinking red.

1. The country sinks into a recession, as predicted by a majority of economists and large banks.  The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will be negative for at least two straight quarters this year.  The Biden Administration will avoid using the "r" word, referring to the crisis as a "temporary retraction." 

2. The economy will shed 1.1 million jobs as more major companies in the technology sector and big firms are forced to layoff employees in the face of less consumer spending.  First time unemployment claims increase each month.  Expect the unemployment rate to climb to 4.5% by year's end.

3.  Adding to the economic woes consumer credit card debt and personal loan delinquencies surge in the new year.  Consumers have been on a spending binge the last two years seemingly immune to inflationary prices.  A consumer retrenchment will negatively impact corporate earnings. 

4.  After the worse market since 2008, equities managers are clinging to history that shows markets tend not to experience two negative years in a row.  Equities bounce around early on before gaining momentum. Stocks finish the year strong with the S&P (+20%) outperforming the NASDQ and Dow. 

5. Home sales will reach their lowest point since the 1980's as interest rates make real estate less affordable, especially for first-time buyers. The good news is that the overheated increases in prices will abate except in a few markets where demand for high-end homes flourishes such as Texas and Florida.

6. The Federal Reserve, as promised by Jerome Powell, will continue to raises rates in the new year as inflation persistently refuses to fall lower than 5.8%. Food and energy prices leap higher than the CPI. Eventually, Fed hikes dampen growth, prompting Powell to forego a rate hike in fourth quarter.

7.  COVID infection rates soar past 70% in China after the Communist nation abandons its COVID Zero policy. New highly infectious variants develop as the virus rages, killing 1 million Chinese.  Chinese travelers spread the virus globally, leading to worldwide outbreaks.  

8. The Supreme Courts ends its temporarily halt of Title 42, which allows the expulsion of illegal immigrants under pandemic-era restrictions. The move unleashes a torrent of border crossings, prompting the forced resignation of Alejandro Mayorkas.

9. More fast food restaurants will join the robot revolution as testing by Chipotle, White Castle and others proves diners are satisfied with food prepared by robots.  The fast food industry will move quicker to adopt robots and AI as wage increases and the difficulty hiring workers persist.   

10.  The collapse of FTX Exchange, once a $32 billion enterprise, prods the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to issue regulations for the cryptocurrency industry.  As more crypto exchanges and lenders file for bankruptcy, the new rules clamp down on the industry, softening currency demand.    

11.  The Chinese will not launch an invasion of Taiwan instead increasing menacing militaristic tactics to cower the island.  When the U.S. fails to intervene, China finds an excuse to encircle the island with a naval armada.  China threatens a blockade unless Taiwan makes concessions.  

12. Trying to speculate on Putin's strategy in Ukraine is a fool's pursuit.  But the most likely scenario is the European Union will push for a settlement as energy supplies dwindle, sapping economic growth. Ukraine is pressured into a diplomatic solution when EU/US commit billions to rebuild the country.   

Print this column and wave in your prognosticator's face at the end of 2023.  However, if you have your own predictions you would like to share, I would like to read them.  After all, the prediction business is full of people who get it wrong every year.  And that has never stopped anyone, including me.