A ‘thought experiment’ about federal entitlement programs

From P.J. O’Rourke and American Consequences: In the interest of adding a little cogitation to the process of governance, let’s conduct a “thought experiment.” Let’s think about just one of the purposes that the federal government has been put to – providing entitlement handouts. Let’s think about not doing that anymore. The term “thought experiment” was coined … Read more

How the government shutdown will affect your tax refund

From Vox: The federal government remains partially shut down as President Donald Trump refuses to sign a spending deal that doesn’t include $5 billion for his wall at the US-Mexico border. But as Americans start to think about filing their taxes, they may wonder: How will this affect tax returns and refunds? The short version: If the … Read more

Jeffrey Small – Debt Heading to Center Stage

from Financial Survival Network Jeffrey Small returns… There have been warnings for decades and now it’s finally coming to pass. Pretty soon, interest on the public debt will become the largest line item on the federal budget. It’s going to slow down economic growth and require dramatic restructuring of your government and the services it provides. Jeff … Read more

Martin Armstrong: In their hunt for taxes, governments are destroying all liberty

by Martin Armstrong   While the BitCoin people have hated me for not agreeing with them that a private currency could displace the currencies of all nations and BitCoin would be the new “reserve currency” killing the dollar, to me they are in serious need of help. They have ZERO comprehension of governmental power and ZERO understanding of what is going on … Read more

ECB Takes Over Italy’s 10th Largest Bank as Italy Skids Towards Recession

via mishtalk: The majority of board members at Banca Carige, Italy’s 10th largest bank, resigned and the ECB took Over. The Telegraph reports ECB Steps in at Italian Bank as Country Teeters on Recession. The European Central Bank has announced the appointment of temporary administrators and a “surveillance committee” at troubled Italian lender Banca Carige, as new … Read more

Mark Zuckerberg halts Facebook stock sale as value PLUMMETS over privacy scandals

BILLIONAIRE Mark Zuckerberg has halted the sale of his Facebook stock after the company’s value collapsed last year. The controversial 34-year-old has seen his company fall from grace, and failed to sell a single share in the last three months of 2018. Back in September 2017, Zuck promised to flog between 35million and 75million of … Read more

SEE, IF MITT ROMNEY HAD DONE THIS KIND OF THING, HE’D BE PRESIDENT INSTEAD OF COMPLAINING ABOUT TONE.

via Twitter: Meanwhile, look at the things that aren’t tone-policed:     Complaints about “tone” are always an attempt to silence the right. That’s true regardless of whether the people complaining about “tone” are Democrats or Republicans. People on the Left can and do say the most extraordinarily incendiary, racist, and divisive things, and they never … Read more

Good Riddance to the Tesla Tax Break

By Rodney Johnson As I’ve written before, Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) has many problems, including quality control (it now ranks 27th out of 29 vehicle makes, according to Consumer Reports) and a quick burn rate. But one issue hit harder on New Year’s Day than all the others. Because the car company reached the milestone of … Read more

Paid family medical leave premiums now deducted from WA State paychecks but will they cover the cost of the program?

by DCG A new law has gone into effect in Washington State where employees have monies deducted from their paychecks to pay for paid family medical leave. Employers also kick in some money into the insurance program. The state is collecting monies a year in advance; benefits won’t be available until 2020. About the program … Read more

Bear Market Awareness Checklist

by Richard Rosso Bear markets characteristically align with economic contraction. In his seminal tome – “Anatomy of the Bear – Lessons from Wall Street’s Four Great Bottoms,” which should be required reading for advisors and professional investors, author Russell Napier provides comprehensive analysis of market where stocks cycle from overvalued to undervalued (14 years on average) coupled with … Read more

Texas police made more than $50 million in 2017 from seizing people’s property

From the Texas Tribune: Law enforcement leaders say civil asset forfeiture is a necessary tool for fighting crime, but several lawmakers see it as a violation of Americans’ civil liberties. Texas legislators are poised to take up the issue once again in 2019. In February 2016, prosecutors in Houston filed a lawsuit against a truck: State … Read more

2018: The year the media predicted Trump’s imminent downfall. Again, again… and again (VIDEO)

For news consumers, 2018 was the year that the US media went into Trump hysteria overdrive, repeatedly and erroneously predicting his imminent downfall. RT plunged headfirst into a year’s worth of Trump obsession. Within three months of Donald Trump’s inauguration, important people on television were already forecasting the president’s resignation over the still unproven allegations … Read more

Soros/EU plans to tax Europeans extra to fund mass immigration – ‘Surge Funding’

Since 2015, the proponents of neoliberalism have been pushing ahead with their plans for open borders and globalist agenda without the consent of the people. The last 365 days saw that destructive agenda greatly challenged… The Financial Times’ ‘person of the year’ award.. was bestowed upon the billionaire globalist, George Soros, who has arguably done … Read more

Elizabeth Warren Tweets Message to Americans Without Pay Due to Democrat Shutdown: I’m Sending Money to Refugees Instead of You

Elizabeth Warren Tweets Message to Americans Without Pay Due to Democrat Shutdown: I’m Sending Money to Refugees Instead of You Elizabeth Warren Verified account @SenWarren Over 7,000 people in Massachusetts have been sent home or are working without pay during the #TrumpShutdown. Until @realDonaldTrump re-opens the government, I’m donating my salary to @HIASrefugees, a nonprofit … Read more

Bre Payton- Reporter For The Federalist – Dies Under Suspicious Circumstances After Breaking DOJ News Story.

by Ruby Henley Jack Burkman tweets the following – “The sudden death of my friend 26 year old Bre Payton is beyond strange.  She dies just after breaking the story of DOJ wiping the Page-Strozek emails.  The Profiling Project may open a major investigation.” 8:22 AM – 2 Jan 2019 https://twitter.com/Jack_Burkman/status/1080499698744680448?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1080499698744680448&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fnewspunch.com%2Fjournalist-exposed-mueller-wiping-anti-trump-texts-dead%2F I am not accusing … Read more

We got a lot further to fall this time. Downhill all the way, baring a few bumps!

Via @GregMannarino Interest in “bear market” as per @Google Search Trends much higher than GFC-era @SoberLook pic.twitter.com/eZSwBviRLs — Liz Ann Sonders (@LizAnnSonders) January 3, 2019 Systemic Risk is coming. https://t.co/59tmXKgBoM — Paranoid Bull (@paranoidbull) January 2, 2019 What a difference a year makes (ISM Commentary) pic.twitter.com/U9rOUAjQYn — Bespoke (@bespokeinvest) January 3, 2019 Manhattan real-estate had … Read more

ISM finally catches down to PMI, CNBC panicking, UST10Y keep dropping… BBC: “Clouds gathering over global economy”

  UST10Y 2.5692 pic.twitter.com/Ho3ihk5AFR — Alastair (@StockBoardAsset) January 3, 2019 CNBC panicking pic.twitter.com/SXGG3oMNS9 — Alastair (@StockBoardAsset) January 3, 2019 ISM finally catches down to PMI pic.twitter.com/DM3K4O2Ltt — zerohedge (@zerohedge) January 3, 2019 Manufacturing ISM Bloodbath: Largest Crash Since the Financial Crisis “Kiss the US economic recovery goodbye. Printing just days after both Chinese manufacturing surveys … Read more

Biggest Swings in Net Worth in 2018 (Bloomberg Billionaires Index)

by markyu007 Largest positive changes to net worth Jeff Bezos (Amazon): +$24 billion Lei Jun (Xiaomi): +$8.6 billion Colin Huang (Pinduoduo): +$6.9 billion ​ Largest negative changes to net worth Georg Schaeffler (Schaeffler Group): -$13.6 billion Amancio Ortega (Zara): -$16.6 billion Mark Zuckerberg: -$19.9 billion ​ https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-31/here-are-the-world-s-biggest-billionaire-winners-losers-of-2018 ​ FYI: Those latter two on the largest … Read more