Debt Ceiling – American Conservative Movement https://americanconservativemovement.com American exceptionalism isn't dead. It just needs to be embraced. Wed, 21 Jun 2023 15:54:01 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2 https://americanconservativemovement.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/cropped-America-First-Favicon-32x32.png Debt Ceiling – American Conservative Movement https://americanconservativemovement.com 32 32 135597105 After the Debt Ceiling Deal: Look for Liquidity Problems in the Markets https://americanconservativemovement.com/after-the-debt-ceiling-deal-look-for-liquidity-problems-in-the-markets/ https://americanconservativemovement.com/after-the-debt-ceiling-deal-look-for-liquidity-problems-in-the-markets/#respond Wed, 21 Jun 2023 15:54:01 +0000 https://americanconservativemovement.com/?p=193824 Everything seems to be lining up perfectly for individual investors with Joe Biden and Kevin McCarthy making a debt ceiling deal. In fact, a sentiment poll reflects an ebullient investor class. According to an Investors Intelligence article titled “Assume the Positioning” (reprinted in Almost Daily Grant’s, June 1, 2023), “Just 23.3 percent of respondents are bearish on stocks, the lowest since January 2022, [when] the market scaled the summit of the everything bubble.”

But that same debt ceiling fix will unleash a torrent of US Treasury issuance that will overwhelm the markets leaving stock investors in its wake. Cem Karsan of Kai Volatility Advisors told Maggie Lake on Real Vision, “By most estimations . . . we’re going to have to issue $1.4 trillion in debt before the end of the year. That is a massive sucking sound out of asset markets.”

“There’s got to be buyers of that debt,” Karsan said, stating the obvious, “which means that money is going to come from somewhere. And if that means interest rates go higher, as that supply comes on the market, demand has to be met. That means equity markets or somewhere else, some other risk asset has to reduce liquidity.”

Another expressing concern about liquidity is Eurodollar University‘s Jeff Snider who says those who think the Fed is just printing money are missing the real story. Snider told Raoul Pal on Real Vision,

Nobody ever stops and thinks about what are these bank reserves and what do they actually do? Are they actually a form of base money? And the answer is no. And they haven’t been in decades. In fact, this was a major problem that Paul Volcker confronted in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Banks had found different ways of doing money in liquidity that didn’t involve these bank reserves.

The hyperfocus on the size of the Fed’s balance sheet and in turn that its increase obviously means more money has been created is wrong, says Snider, who points out that people don’t see the money destroyed in the shadow system. He also points out that it’s not the amount of the money stock that’s important but the circulation of money and credit in the real economy.

This year money is leaving the banking system and not returning. According to Reuters, “The FDIC said the $472 billion in deposit outflows in the first quarter was the largest it had recorded since it began collecting such data in 1984.” This deposit exodus in search of higher yields likely continued in the second quarter.

While we’re left believing that the Fed has printed a bunch of money that’s highly inflationary, in certain circumstances—especially 2008, 2009, and to a degree 2020, 2021, 2022, and now 2023—we know that there’s more deflation in the monetary system than whatever the Fed might have created in terms of bank reserves. Snider says banks are supposed to do intermediation as well as money creation but haven’t done either since 2008. Banks, he says,

want to just hold to the safest and liquid assets, and just try to pick up as many nickels as they can. Understanding that whether it’s in a couple months or a couple years, they’re going to go through another liquidity problem again, and have to worry more about safety and liquidity than they do about risk-taking.

In the simplest terms, banks just haven’t created enough money. Murray Rothbard explained how banks create money in The Mystery of Banking. Banks create money by lending to individuals and businesses, not, for instance, by parking money at the Fed’s reverse repo facility, where balances have grown from zero in March 2021 to over $2.1 trillion currently, earning 4.3 percent.

So, in Snider’s view, “Even though the Fed is creating all these trillions of bank reserves, there isn’t enough bank money around in the Eurodollar system which leaves it susceptible to what should be nothing. The smallest little thing can set off this major issue, because it’s that fragile.” Banks aren’t taking risks, and neither are money market funds, which are looking for safety before return.

If this reminds you of 2008, it should. According to Snider,

The 2008 crisis wasn’t really about subprime mortgages. That’s just where it began. And once it started to infect all of these major functions in the banking system, it led to the situation that we’re confronting now, where money didn’t circulate freely throughout the global Eurodollar system, which led to all sorts of problems.

Likewise, falling commercial real estate prices are infecting other things, leading to disruptions in the market, which leads to a lack of liquidity and more risk aversion. And more risk aversion means more lack of liquidity in these markets. Don’t count on the Fed to fix this mess. As Snider said, “The Federal Reserve and central banks are always looking backwards. They don’t see these things coming so there’s no help from them either. And pretty soon before you look around, markets are illiquid. Banks are struggling for funding. Some more of them are failing.”

Lyn Alden is another who is being kept up at night worrying about liquidity. She tweeted on June 1, “However, now that the Treasury cash drain is finished, and we start looking ahead past the debt ceiling, we are potentially encountering the next period of negative liquidity (rather than sideways liquidity).”

She wonders what will break next. Last September it was the United Kingdom gilt market and nearly the US Treasury market. In March a few regional banks with unusually high duration exposure and uninsured deposit exposure failed, and now she says we have to watch the small banks and the Treasury market.

Jeff Snider has his eye on September for a liquidity crisis. “So, if you’re thinking ahead, there’s probably a really good chance that something happens in September, if not beforehand.” Karsan echoes that view: “It’s not a coincidence that mid-August into mid-September is often a scary time.”

You can talk with your registered investment advisor about your stocks’ fundamentals, but as Karsan says, “It hasn’t been about fundamentals for decades now. That’s the narrative you hear on CNBC.” It’s liquidity that moves stock prices.

Stock investors—danger lurks, and Uncle Sam is going to crowd you out.

About the Author

Douglas French is President Emeritus of the Mises Institute, author of Early Speculative Bubbles & Increases in the Money Supply, and author of Walk Away: The Rise and Fall of the Home-Ownership Myth. He received his master’s degree in economics from UNLV, studying under both Professor Murray Rothbard and Professor Hans-Hermann Hoppe.

Article cross-posted from Mises.

]]> https://americanconservativemovement.com/after-the-debt-ceiling-deal-look-for-liquidity-problems-in-the-markets/feed/ 0 193824 Biden’s Boy: 46 of 51 Democrat Senators Pass McCarthy’s Debt Debacle With Help From 17 RINOs https://americanconservativemovement.com/bidens-boy-46-of-51-democrat-senators-pass-mccarthys-debt-debacle-with-help-from-17-rinos/ https://americanconservativemovement.com/bidens-boy-46-of-51-democrat-senators-pass-mccarthys-debt-debacle-with-help-from-17-rinos/#respond Fri, 02 Jun 2023 05:22:33 +0000 https://americanconservativemovement.com/?p=193180 It’s official. There are only two possible scenarios. Either Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy is a closet Democrat or he got completely owned by them and the Biden-Harris regime.

The debt deal he made with the White House passed the Senate Thursday night thanks to Democrats. Only five of them voted against the deal while 46 got it passed with the help of 17 RINOs. 31 Republicans led by Senator Mike Lee voted against the deal that will suspend the debt ceiling until 2025 when Joe Biden signs it.

As Senator Lee noted on Twitter:

The McCarthy debt-ceiling bill got far more love from Senate Democrats than from Republicans, with 46 Dems and only 17 Republicans voting for it. Meanwhile, 31 Republicans and just 5 Dems voted against it. This has been unifying for Dems. Quite the opposite for Republicans.

Ever since the deal was announced last week, McCarthy has been attempting to claim that he outmaneuvered Biden and got the historic debt deal Republicans wanted and Democrats hated. But either he was completely delusional and monumentally stupid or he’s been the ultimate pawn for the Uniparty Swamp all along.

These two possibilities are not mutually exclusive. They both may be true.

Now, Americans must contend with a federal government that has officially been unleashed. Without a debt ceiling and zero risk of default, they can start printing money like drunken sailors who have commandeered the U.S. Treasury Department’s Bureau of Engraving and Printing.

This is not your average case of kicking the can down the road. Considering the tenuous position the national and global economies have been in since the pandemic lockdowns decimated financial standards, removing one of the main tethers to fiscal responsibility means full-blown economic collapse is more likely than during any other moment of modern history.

Buckle up and stay frosty. We’re in for some massive turbulence in the years, months, and even weeks ahead.

]]> https://americanconservativemovement.com/bidens-boy-46-of-51-democrat-senators-pass-mccarthys-debt-debacle-with-help-from-17-rinos/feed/ 0 193180 Kevin McCarthy Betrayed His Party and Country by Producing a Debt Ceiling Deal the Democrats Adore https://americanconservativemovement.com/kevin-mccarthy-betrayed-his-party-and-country-by-producing-a-debt-ceiling-deal-the-democrats-adore/ https://americanconservativemovement.com/kevin-mccarthy-betrayed-his-party-and-country-by-producing-a-debt-ceiling-deal-the-democrats-adore/#comments Thu, 01 Jun 2023 10:01:55 +0000 https://americanconservativemovement.com/?p=193147 Remember when RINO Speaker of the House said Democrats hated the debt deal he cut with Joe Biden? As it turns out, he got rolled. Hard. Democrats hated the deal so much that they outvoted Republicans in the House to get it passed with ease.

In total, nearly a third of the Republican caucus voted against the bill. It should have been more. McCarthy loyalists lined up to kiss the ring, but considering the minimal concessions Republicans got in exchange for suspending the debt limit for 19 months, it’s unfathomable that any conservative who voted for it actually liked what they saw.

As Senator Mike Lee noted:

The Biden-McCarthy Debt Expansion Act just passed the House. To those who thought this was a Republican bill, the numbers don’t lie: 165 Democrats voted for it, and only 149 Republicans joined them. Those voting against it included 71 heroic Republicans and only 46 Democrats.

Lee further predicted fallout for Republicans who supported it, posting, “Once the Biden-McCarthy deal is fully understood, it will be about as popular with Republican voters as Bud Light … purchased on sale at Target.”

It’s time for a motion to vacate.

Conservatives on Twitter noticed the odd vote counts.

Yes, it’s time for a motion to vacate.

]]> https://americanconservativemovement.com/kevin-mccarthy-betrayed-his-party-and-country-by-producing-a-debt-ceiling-deal-the-democrats-adore/feed/ 2 193147 Motion to Vacate: McCarthy Gave Democrats Secret Concessions in Exchange for Debt Ceiling Votes https://americanconservativemovement.com/motion-to-vacate-mccarthy-gave-democrats-secret-concessions-in-exchange-for-debt-ceiling-votes/ https://americanconservativemovement.com/motion-to-vacate-mccarthy-gave-democrats-secret-concessions-in-exchange-for-debt-ceiling-votes/#comments Thu, 01 Jun 2023 09:21:18 +0000 https://americanconservativemovement.com/?p=193141 Kevin McCarthy denies it. Hakeem Jeffries denies it. But everyone in Washington DC knows that McCarthy and Jeffries cut a secret deal to secure enough Democrat support to pass the debt ceiling deal Wednesday night.

In fact, it would behoove McCarthy to come clean about the secret concessions. Otherwise, he’d be admitting that his first major act as Speaker of the House was to pass a LEFTIST debt ceiling deal as more Democrats in the House voted in favor of it than Republicans.

Axios reported on four Democrats who claim there was a deal made between the two leaders of their parties in the House to secure the votes:

Spokespeople for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) disputed four Democratic sources who told Axios the two leaders had cut a deal for Democrats to help advance the debt ceiling bill to a final vote.

Why it matters: The 52 Democratic votes on a measure to bring the debt ceiling bill to the floor were necessary for the bill’s survival after 29 Republicans had voted against moving it forward Wednesday afternoon. The bill eventually was approved on a 314-117 vote.

What we’re hearing: Four Democratic lawmakers said they had been told of a deal, with two saying they believed it involved boosting federal funding for projects in Democrats’ districts — known as earmarks or “community project funding” — if Democrats voted to advance the bill.

What they’re saying: McCarthy had told reporters after the initial afternoon vote that he had not cut a deal to ensure the Democratic votes. A spokesperson later told Axios that there was “absolutely no deal” — and that suggestions to the contrary by Democratic lawmakers were “not accurate.”

The context: The GOP resistance in the procedural “rules” vote was an unusual breach of norms — typically the majority party alone is considered responsible for putting a bill on the floor on those votes.

This is clearly grounds to remove McCarthy as Speaker of the House. As noted in an article about the passage of the bill itself, Republicans got essentially nothing of value from the deal while the White House got to avoid their dreaded default. For McCarthy to need more Democrats than Republicans to vote to pass his deal is an unambiguous indicator that he either got rolled, is not really a Republican, or both.

It’s time for someone to file a motion to vacate.

Congressman Matt Gaetz said if a majority of Republicans voted against the deal, then he’d file the motion. But just because a majority of Republicans voted in favor of the bill doesn’t mean McCarthy should get to keep his job.

Here’s Gaetz issuing the warning ahead of the vote:

Kevin McCarthy didn’t just kick the can down the road like his predecessors. He handed Joe Biden and the Democrats a 20-month hall pass to turn the money-printing machines on full blast. #MotionToVacate

]]> https://americanconservativemovement.com/motion-to-vacate-mccarthy-gave-democrats-secret-concessions-in-exchange-for-debt-ceiling-votes/feed/ 1 193141 “Fiscal Irresponsibility Act” Passes House, Setting Stage for Debt Limit Suspension in Huge Victory for Uniparty Swamp https://americanconservativemovement.com/fiscal-irresponsibility-act-passes-house-setting-stage-for-debt-limit-suspension-in-huge-victory-for-uniparty-swamp/ https://americanconservativemovement.com/fiscal-irresponsibility-act-passes-house-setting-stage-for-debt-limit-suspension-in-huge-victory-for-uniparty-swamp/#comments Thu, 01 Jun 2023 01:06:04 +0000 https://americanconservativemovement.com/?p=193129 Republicans who backed Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy’s debt deal with the Biden-Harris regime expect you to believe that they got huge wins in spending cuts in exchange for suspending the debt limit until 2025.

The Uniparty Swamp got what they wanted without having to give up, well, anything. It was all theater to set the stage for the House of Representatives to pass the comically named “Fiscal Responsibility Act” while maintaining the illusion of battle. In reality, only a few staunch conservatives and their radical leftist counterparts were opposed to it.

This will pass in the Senate on Friday and hit Joe Biden’s desk just in time to usher in 19 months of unfettered Big Government spending.

Here are the “victories” McCarthy got with the exceptional leverage he went in with at the start of negotiations:

  • Debt Ceiling Suspended: This is, of course, not a victory at all as it will balloon the national debt by at least $4 trillion, but hey, at least we won’t suffer the dreaded default that Janet Yellen wielded deftly for fearmongering effect.
  • Caps on Non-Defense Spending: They rolled back spending to fiscal 2022 levels and “only” allowed for 1% annual growth over the next six years. This is not a victory. Fiscal 2022 was way too high already. Rolling it back to those levels is like saying we’re going to cut back on heroine use to three times a day instead of four. As an unnamed White House official noted, “It’s flat. It’s a difference of about $1 billion. In a divided government, we’re not going to get the kinds of [nondefense discretionary] increases that we would hope to get.”
  • Expand Work Requirements for Food Stamps: Of all the various aspects of Kabuki Theater the Uniparty Swamp engaged in, this is the most ridiculous. It drew plenty of headlines as corporate media and Democrats bemoaned this “attack” on the needy. But both they and the Republicans who generally ignored it hoped Americans would hear the words “expanded work requirements” and form an opinion without knowing the details. Those details: Raising the age of “able-bodied adults” who need to work in order to get food stamps from 49-years-old to 55-years-old. Yes, all the drama was over a six year bump.
  • Rescind Leftover Covid-19 Funds: $28 billion will be rescinded. That’s good. But it’s a drop in the $4 trillion bucket, and it shouldn’t have needed to be part of the debt ceiling negotiations. In fact, why was this not covered already? Did McCarthy save it as a “card” to play for theater? Yep.
  • 2% Cut to IRS Spending: Don’t get me started. This is a joke. We should have cut IRS spending down to 2%, not by 2%. In fact, we should have abolished the “service” altogether.

There’s more to it, but those are the highlights. Meanwhile, the Uniparty Swamp had fun on Wednesday pretending to fight each other.

And by “pretending” to fight, let’s briefly mention what everyone should already know. The votes were already set before floor debate. Nobody changed their mind today. Again, this is all part of theater, in case you’re one of the people watching the show.

McCarthy Caved and Forced RINOs to Cave With Him

The saddest part about all this is that McCarthy had the leverage to make real changes in Washington DC. There is no scenario in which corporate media and their puppet masters in the Democrat Party could have spun a default as completely McCarthy’s fault if no debt deal was done.

The economy would have seen major challenges, perhaps even massive ones. It likely would have hit the stock market hard and sent us into a deeper recession. This is why McCarthy could have pressed for far more than he got. The people generally blame the party in the White House when hard times come and the Biden-Harris regime knows this.

McCarthy had the leverage. He gave away the farm. He could have forced meaningful cuts.

Instead of going to the right, McCarthy decided to head to the murky middle knowing he would upset fiscal conservatives and much of the GOP base. He knew America First Republicans wouldn’t vote for it, so he went far closer to the center than he needed to so he could get Democrats to vote for it.

As Senator Mike Lee noted:

House Republicans concerned about the Biden-McCarthy deal had the votes to kill it—until 52 House Democrats rushed to the bill’s rescue and saved it. How exactly is this a Republican bill?

The only thing “Republican” about this bill is that it demonstrates the GOP is officially the RINO wing of the Uniparty Swamp. Those conservatives in the minority are essentially powerless.

This is a horrible deal for Americans. Unfortunately, we’ve grown accustomed to constant disappointment from Capitol Hill regardless of who is allegedly in control.

More Democrats voted in favor of the Fiscal Irresponsibility Act than Republicans. That should tell you all you need to know about Kevin McCarthy.

]]> https://americanconservativemovement.com/fiscal-irresponsibility-act-passes-house-setting-stage-for-debt-limit-suspension-in-huge-victory-for-uniparty-swamp/feed/ 1 193129 ‘Buy the Dip’ Takes on Special Meaning With Debt Ceiling Elimination https://americanconservativemovement.com/buy-the-dip-takes-on-special-meaning-with-debt-ceiling-elimination/ https://americanconservativemovement.com/buy-the-dip-takes-on-special-meaning-with-debt-ceiling-elimination/#respond Tue, 30 May 2023 10:00:23 +0000 https://americanconservativemovement.com/?p=193083 “Buy low, sell high,” they often say when it comes to investments. But the rule doesn’t always apply when it comes to retirement accounts because Americans generally do not move their long-term savings in and out of markets based on short-term activity. Retirement is for the long-haul so making too many moves and accruing charges makes little sense when investments are designed for years or decades.

One strategy that clearly does apply to retirement accounts is “buying the dip” when there are reasons to transfer or rollover, such as the current economic situation. As more Americans have decided to move their retirement accounts to self-directed IRA’s backed by physical precious metals, it has come down to a matter of timing. The best way to make the switch as beneficial as possible is to move accounts that are currently invested in various markets into investments that are now low but expected to rise. Physical precious metals are currently positioned in what many economists believe to be a low point.

The debt ceiling deal represents such a catalyst when Americans should consider making a move very soon. Economists have been talking about this “sweet spot” for over a month, but they were basing their predictions on the assumption that either the debt ceiling would be raised or that the U.S. government would default. Neither happened. Instead, the debt ceiling was essentially eliminated until January, 2025.

This poses a tremendous problem for many markets, but few are recognizing the threat yet. By kicking the debt ceiling debate down the road, Joe Biden and Kevin McCarthy have set the stage for another “blank check” incident. With no ceiling, all it will take is a triggering event for the money printers to start cranking out U.S. Dollars, devaluing it while causing precious metals to go through the roof.

It’s important to note two things. First, we are not financial advisors and offer insights for information purposes only. Second, we have precious metals sponsors that benefit us when our readers purchase from them.

It would have been simpler to read the financial tea leaves if the debt ceiling had been raised or if default was allowed. Temporarily eliminating the debt ceiling means we are in a dip for gold and silver today that could reverse itself very quickly in the near future. It all depends on whether a major event such as another pandemic or war breaks out between now and when the debt ceiling conversation gets started again in a year-and-a-half.

If the last three years are any indicator, the odds of a triggering event are high. If current sentiment is to be believed, moving retirement accounts to a self-directed IRA backed by physical precious metals may make sense for some Americans.

We work with Our Gold Guy and Genesis because they love America and are properly positioned to help concerned citizens through these tumultuous times. Contact either or both to find out if your current situation calls for a transfer or rollover of retirement accounts.

]]> https://americanconservativemovement.com/buy-the-dip-takes-on-special-meaning-with-debt-ceiling-elimination/feed/ 0 193083 The Suffering Is Off the Charts https://americanconservativemovement.com/the-suffering-is-off-the-charts/ https://americanconservativemovement.com/the-suffering-is-off-the-charts/#comments Tue, 30 May 2023 01:09:15 +0000 https://americanconservativemovement.com/?p=193095 Things have taken a turn for the worse.  In recent months, economic activity has been dropping all over the nation, and that decline appears to be accelerating.  We just learned that gross domestic income has now fallen for two quarters in a row, and the Conference Board’s index of leading economic indicators has now been plummeting for 13 consecutive months.  Unfortunately, when economic conditions deteriorate it is the people at the low end of the economic pyramid that get hit the hardest.

Thanks to our rapidly rising cost of living, we are seeing a dramatic explosion in the number of “working homeless” that are living out of their vehicles on a daily basis even though they are currently employed.

In particular, the RV “communities” that are springing up from coast to coast are starting to get quite a bit of attention…

The owner of a party bus company, Rikers Island prison guards and an Amazon worker are just some of the eclectic bunch who have formed a community of ‘working homeless’ people living out of RVs in the Astoria section of Queens, New York.

Similar communities have formed across the US from New England to California where people have chosen a nomadic lifestyle amid a national cost of living crisis.

Most of these people get up and go to work in the morning.

In fact, the Daily Mail spoke to one man that actually “works for a New York City hospital”…

Resident Paul Reevers described himself as ‘working homeless.’ He said that he has a job but the rent went up too high and he could not longer to afford a an apartment.

Reevers, who works for a New York City hospital, said that he took out a loan and bought his RV.

If you work at a hospital, you should be able to afford a place to live.

But this is our country now.

We are absolutely destroying the middle class, and as a result we now have a massive homelessness crisis on our hands…

Insider Monkey, a finance website, revealed a list of the top 30 cities worldwide with the highest homeless population. Notably, a handful of the US cities on the list are governed by progressive leadership, which may not surprise readers. While it is evident that some unfortunate individuals are facing homelessness, a trend exacerbated by recent inflationary pressures and a drug addiction crisis, some liberal policies have enabled others to sustain their nomadic lifestyles with taxpayer funds.

Insider Monkey found New York City is number 5 on the list, with a homeless population of about 69,000. Next is Chicago, at number 7 with 65,611. Washington, DC, is number 8 with 57,416, Los Angeles number 13 with 41,980, and San Fransisco number 14 with 38,000.

No matter what you or I are facing right now, at least we aren’t sleeping in the streets.

So we should count our blessings.

Hunger is also rapidly growing all over America.  Right now, record numbers of people are coming for help at one food bank in the Seattle area…

Since March, the food bank has broken its record three times for the highest number of people served in a day since 2019, when the organization started allowing three visits a month. More and more, people like Jones who haven’t been to the food bank in years, are showing up, Christian said.

“That’s hard on them; they felt they had moved above the poverty line, got some stability but, ‘Here it is 2023 and here I am back in the food line asking strangers for help,’” Christian said.

And in Boston, the line for food on one recent weekend morning “stretched the length of two football fields”…

The line outside Boston’s American Red Cross Food Pantry on a recent Saturday morning stretched the length of two football fields.

The number of people filing into the red-brick industrial-zone warehouse on some days now exceeds the worst periods of the pandemic economic crisis and in April it had the second highest monthly traffic since it opened in 1982, according to David Andre, the director.

We are witnessing so much suffering all over the country right now.

And there are so many more people that are living right on the edge of disaster.

According to one recent survey, approximately 38.5 percent of U.S. adults experienced “some form of difficulty in covering expenses between April 26 and May 8”…

A large swath of American consumers are facing financial hardship as they grapple with elevated living costs, record-high credit card use, and two years of negative real wage growth. This perfect storm could decimate financially fragile households in the next downturn.

As many as 89.1 million American adults (or about 38.5%) were found to experience some form of difficulty in covering expenses between April 26 and May 8, according to Bloomberg, citing new data from the Household Pulse Survey. This is up from 34.4% in 2022 and 26.7% during the same period in 2021.

Of course this is just the beginning.

As I keep warning my readers, things will eventually get much worse.

One thing to watch for this week is whether or not the debt ceiling deal is able to get through Congress.

Kevin McCarthy is confident that he has the votes that he needs to get the deal through the House, but some conservative Republicans are pledging to do all they can to stop it…

Elsewhere within his party, Rep. Chip Roy from Texas called the agreement a ‘turd-sandwich’ and said he had spoken to a number of his colleagues who were not intending to vote on the agreement.

Rep. Ralph Norman, a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus from South Carolina, called the deal ‘insanity’ and said he was ‘not gonna vote to bankrupt our country’.

If the debt ceiling deal is defeated, I will be quite impressed.

But it would also throw our economy into a tremendous amount of short-term chaos. It will be very interesting to watch and see what happens.

In any event, whatever happens in Washington is not going to fundamentally alter our long-term trajectory, and that means that much more suffering is coming in the days ahead.

Michael’s new book entitled “End Times” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

Article cross-posted from The Economic Collapse Blog.

]]> https://americanconservativemovement.com/the-suffering-is-off-the-charts/feed/ 1 193095 ‘Totally Inadequate’: DeSantis Blasts McCarthy Over Budget Deal for ‘Careening Towards Bankruptcy’ https://americanconservativemovement.com/totally-inadequate-desantis-blasts-mccarthy-over-budget-deal-for-careening-towards-bankruptcy/ https://americanconservativemovement.com/totally-inadequate-desantis-blasts-mccarthy-over-budget-deal-for-careening-towards-bankruptcy/#respond Mon, 29 May 2023 19:09:49 +0000 https://americanconservativemovement.com/?p=193077 Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida ripped House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Monday over the debt ceiling deal, calling it “totally inadequate” when it came to addressing spending.

“Prior to this deal, Kayleigh, our country was careening toward bankruptcy and after this deal, our country will still be careening toward bankruptcy,” DeSantis said to “Fox and Friends” guest host Kayleigh McEnany.

“To say you can do $4 trillion of increases in the next year and a half, I mean, that is massive amount of spending,” DeSantis continued. “I think that we’ve gotten ourselves on a trajectory, really since March of 2020 with some of the COVID spending and totally reset the budget and they are sticking with that and I think that is totally inadequate to get us in a better spot.”

McCarthy released the text of the Fiscal Responsibility Act on Sunday evening, which increases the debt ceiling through Jan. 1, 2025, taking it past the 2024 presidential election. The House is expected to vote on the legislation on Wednesday, following a 72-hour period for members to read the bill, a provision of the rules changes proposed by the Freedom Caucus and agreed to by McCarthy prior to his election as speaker.

The law freezes discretionary spending on non-defense budgetary items at Fiscal Year 2022 levels, adds reforms to permitting for energy projects and places new work requirements on some welfare programs.

Many of those provisions were in the Limit, Save, Grow Act, which passed the House of Representatives by a 217-215 vote on April 26.

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]]> https://americanconservativemovement.com/totally-inadequate-desantis-blasts-mccarthy-over-budget-deal-for-careening-towards-bankruptcy/feed/ 0 193077 Worse Than Anyone Realizes: Eliminating the Debt Ceiling Is the Catalyst for Our Nation’s Demise https://americanconservativemovement.com/worse-than-anyone-realizes-eliminating-the-debt-ceiling-is-the-catalyst-for-our-nations-demise/ https://americanconservativemovement.com/worse-than-anyone-realizes-eliminating-the-debt-ceiling-is-the-catalyst-for-our-nations-demise/#respond Mon, 29 May 2023 09:29:36 +0000 https://americanconservativemovement.com/?p=193074 For the last two years, I’ve been watching minions of the powers-that-be to see when they would make their big move. They installed Joe Biden for a reason and it isn’t just because he has been the most compromised man in Washington DC for at least a decade. They needed someone who they could fully control with no reservations.  If the handlers assigned to him by the globalist elite cabal told him to nuke Moscow, there would be Trident IIs in the air within minutes, no questions asked.

Knowing that since at latest the 1970s (and likely much earlier than that) the cabal has been pushing for a multipolar world ruled by ten regional powers that answer to centralized leadership, it behooves us to uncover their plans to eliminate America. A huge part of those plans include Modern Monetary Theory that would not only end the U.S. Dollar’s status as the world reserve currency, but would simultaneously propel multitudes of Americans into a state of complete dependency on government.

If the debt ceiling deal passes this week, it would be fairly safe to assume that this is it. This is the next big piece of the puzzle to take down America. To understand this, we have to examine the dynamic that’s now in play. The vast majority of people who are paying attention assumed that there would either be a debt ceiling increase or default. As it turns out, neither is the case. Instead of raising the debt limit, Kevin McCarthy and the Biden-Harris regime removed the debt limit altogether until January, 2025. Once this debt deal is signed, there will be no cap to how much government can spend.

As long as they keep printing money, they can keep spending money. As long as they keep spending money, they’ll keep printing money. The door is being opened for Modern Monetary Theory to take hold in America now.

Oddly, only a handful of conservative lawmakers, independent journalists, and patriotic social media influencers are even talking about the fact that the debt limit will be effectively eliminated. Most of those who have noticed are looking at it from the wrong angle. They’re generally saying that this move by McCarthy and Biden is for the sake of public relations so they don’t make headlines about raising the debt limit by $4 trillion. But that’s just icing on the cake, at least from the perspective of the globalist elite cabal. The real reason McCarthy, Biden, and the Uniparty Swamp are supporting this is to prepare for the next phase of “The Great Reset.”

Go ahead and grab your tinfoil hat if necessary as I’m about to go into “fringe” thinking about what’s happening.

Eliminating the debt ceiling for 20 months does two things. First, it streamlines the Uniparty Swamp’s ability to carry out the spending needs of the powers-that-be. All it will take is another Plandemic, war at any level, more banks failing, a so-called “climate change crisis,” or some other “emergency” for them to instantly turn the money printing presses to ludicrous speed.

The second thing this does is give us “conspiracy theorist” a date before which their machinations will be ramped up to overdrive. We’ve already had some ideas of the timeline because of Agenda 2030. Now we have a moderate level of confidence that they will do something massive in 2024. They might even do it in 2023.

What is “it”? That’s hard to tell. These demonic types are quite clever. As I noted before, I didn’t even consider options outside of raising the debt ceiling or defaulting. While I was busy gaming out how either scenario would play, the powers-that-be were busy throwing the ultimate economic curveball.

We must fight this.

For now, we need to make sure the assumed “good guys” in DC who are trying to stop this are aware of just how bad this might be. Congressmen Chip Roy and the House Freedom Caucus come to mind. Senator Rand Paul appears to be opposed to it. Alert them that it’s not just about giving McCarthy and Biden the ability to “spend like drunken sailors,” a phrase I’ve seen used several times on  social media the last couple of days. This is far worse.

It’s important to understand that this is very different from past episodes of government kicking the can down the road. The Uniparty Swamp with access to unlimited money can do massive amounts of damage in a month or two. Unfortunately, they don’t need to rush because with this debt deal, they’ll have until January, 2025, to collapse our economy.

Arguably the biggest roadblock to making people see what’s really going on is the false belief that there simply can’t be THAT many people in Washington DC who are involved and in-the-know. Those who think this way give far too much credit to our politicians. The vast majority of them have no idea what’s really going on. They’re doing as they’re told by their own globalist elite cabal handlers and they’re doing so uncritically. The same can be said for corporate media.

Another roadblock to seeing this for what it really is falls on our inherent instincts to support what our tribe supports and oppose what the enemy tribe endorses. This is why McCarthy and others went on shows to claim the Democrats are mad about this deal. Other than some of the more outspoken radical leftists, we haven’t really seen a lot of objections from their side. The limited objections we are hearing from some Democrats and corporate media work to keep the masses ideologically herded. If most Republicans on Capitol Hill are in favor of the plan while Democrats like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are against it, then it must be good, right?

Wrong.

We need to take a stand. Unfortunately, there isn’t much time. Use whatever channels you have available to you to alert people. Call on patriotic representatives in DC to act on America’s behalf. Help get this message out to those who need to hear it and anyone else who is willing to listen.

It’s not hyperbole when I say this could be the catalyst for our nation’s demise. We can pray that it isn’t. We can hope for the best. But either way we need to fight the good fight any way we can. Hopefully, some will step up and try to make an impact before it’s too late.

]]> https://americanconservativemovement.com/worse-than-anyone-realizes-eliminating-the-debt-ceiling-is-the-catalyst-for-our-nations-demise/feed/ 0 193074 House Freedom Caucus Sounds Alarm on Debt Ceiling Agreement https://americanconservativemovement.com/house-freedom-caucus-sound-alarm-on-debt-ceiling-agreement/ https://americanconservativemovement.com/house-freedom-caucus-sound-alarm-on-debt-ceiling-agreement/#comments Sun, 28 May 2023 19:50:52 +0000 https://americanconservativemovement.com/?p=193057 Some members of the House Freedom Caucus said that a proposed deal announced by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to raise the debt ceiling for two years ahead of a possible federal government default doesn’t go far enough.

Negotiators are now racing to finalize the bill’s text. McCarthy said Saturday that House will vote on the legislation on Wednesday, giving the Senate time to consider it before June 5, the date when Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said the United States could default on its debt obligations if lawmakers did not act in time.

But Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.), one of the House Freedom members, wrote that he would pass on the proposed deal. “A $4 trillion debt ceiling increase? With virtually none of the key fiscally responsible policies passed in the Limit, Save, Grow Act kept intact? Hard pass. Hold the line,” he wrote on Twitter Saturday.

“I listened to Speaker McCarthy earlier tonight outline the deal with President Biden and I am appalled by the debt ceiling surrender. The bottom line is that the U.S. will have $35 trillion of debt in January, 2025. That is completely unacceptable,” Rep. Ken Buck (R-Texas) wrote on Twitter, echoing statements made by other caucus members.

“A $4T debt ceiling increase with virtually no cuts is not what we agreed to. Not gonna vote to bankrupt our country. The American people deserve better,” wrote Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) on the social media platform, while Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) wrote Sunday that the proposal includes “ZERO claw back of the $1.2 Trillion ‘inflation reduction act’ crony giveaways to elite leftists for grid-destroying unreliable energy.”

The agreement would keep non-defense spending roughly flat in the 2024 fiscal year and increase it by 1 percent the following year, as well as provide for a two-year debt-limit increase—past the next presidential election in 2024, an anonymous source told The Associated Press over the weekend. The final details of the proposal have not yet been released to the public.

Some conservatives expressed early concerns that the compromise does not cut future deficits enough, while Democrats have been worried about proposed changes to work requirements in programs such as food stamps.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (L) and Vice President Kamala Harris (C) attend a Rose Garden event with President Joe Biden (C) at the White House in Washington on May 25, 2023. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)

But McCarthy defended his “agreement on principle” debt ceiling deal with President Joe Biden on Sunday amid the criticism. The speaker acknowledged that some Republicans may not have got everything they wanted in the legislation but said that Democrats received little in concessions.

“Maybe it doesn’t do everything for everyone, but this is a step in the right direction that no one thought that we would be able to today,” McCarthy told Fox News in an interview on Sunday. “I’ll debate this bill with anybody,” he continued. “Is it everything I wanted? No, because we don’t control all of it. But it is the biggest recession in history. It is the biggest cut Congress has ever voted for in that process.”

Meanwhile, McCarthy suggested that the majority of his Republican conference would back the tentative deal with the Biden administration, which would raise the debt ceiling for another two years at the least. He also touted the bill, which he said would be about 150 pages, as a win for the GOP after the Biden administration held out on negotiations for several months.

“I think you are going to get a majority of Republicans voting for this bill,” McCarthy said in the interview. “We were able to do this when the president said he wasn’t even going to talk to us,” he added. “Right now, the Democrats are very upset.”

Before Saturday’s announcement, some members of the House Freedom Caucus said that McCarthy should stand firm in debt negotiations.

“First, President Biden delayed engagement with Congress for months on the debt ceiling and, now that he is engaging, press reports indicate he is pushing to water down the provisions of the House-passed Limit, Save, Grow Act while simultaneously demanding a debt ceiling increase of $4 trillion or more (well beyond the $1.5 trillion provided in the House bill),” 35 Republican lawmakers wrote last week.

And they added: “In response to the President’s preposterous position, we encourage you to add additional provisions to the Limit, Save, Grow Act such as the inclusion of the recently passed Secure the Border Act and the end to funding for the FBI’s massive (larger than the Pentagon) new headquarters.”

Republicans had also sought to repeal Biden’s efforts to waive $10,000 to $20,000 in debt for nearly all borrowers who took out student loans. But the provision was a nonstarter for Democrats. The budget agreement would keep Biden’s student loan relief in place, though the Supreme Court will have the ultimate say on the matter.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Article cross-posted from our premium news partners The Epoch Times.

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