Post by EPIC Sir Tinley on Feb 21, 2022 8:21:01 GMT -8
Biden administration to delay oil and gas leasing amid legal appeal
The Biden administration will suspend or delay new federal oil and gas leasing following a court ruling against the process by which it calculates the social cost of climate change, the administration announced Saturday night.
On Feb. 11, Judge James Cain of the Western District of Louisiana, a Trump appointee, blocked the administration’s method of calculating the social costs associated with greenhouse gases, the primary driver of climate change. The Biden administration had returned to Obama-era calculation methods, with plans to develop its own in the future.
In his ruling, Cain blocked federal agencies from considering findings from the White House Interagency Working Group, which had been tasked with devising new metrics based on the Obama-era calculations. It also bars the administration from considering the global impacts of greenhouse gas emissions, one of the major distinctions that made the Obama estimates far higher than the Trump administration’s. thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/595113-biden-administration-to-delay-oil-and-gas-leasing-amid-legal-appeal
Yeah, yeah, I know...Gas prices don't have anything to do with Team Biden policies, he's just a victim of bad luck.
Biden administration to delay oil and gas leasing amid legal appeal
The Biden administration will suspend or delay new federal oil and gas leasing following a court ruling against the process by which it calculates the social cost of climate change, the administration announced Saturday night.
On Feb. 11, Judge James Cain of the Western District of Louisiana, a Trump appointee, blocked the administration’s method of calculating the social costs associated with greenhouse gases, the primary driver of climate change. The Biden administration had returned to Obama-era calculation methods, with plans to develop its own in the future.
In his ruling, Cain blocked federal agencies from considering findings from the White House Interagency Working Group, which had been tasked with devising new metrics based on the Obama-era calculations. It also bars the administration from considering the global impacts of greenhouse gas emissions, one of the major distinctions that made the Obama estimates far higher than the Trump administration’s. thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/595113-biden-administration-to-delay-oil-and-gas-leasing-amid-legal-appeal
Yeah, yeah, I know...Gas prices don't have anything to do with Team Biden policies, he's just a victim of bad luck.
So when he fucks the economy is it missionary position or doggy style? And does Jill watch?
Post by EPIC Sir Tinley on Mar 17, 2022 10:23:56 GMT -8
Here’s what the Fed’s rate hike means for borrowers, savers and homeowners
The Federal Reserve raised its target federal funds rate by a quarter percentage point from near zero at the end of its two-day meeting Wednesday.
The first increase in the benchmark rate in three years will lay the groundwork for six more hikes by year’s end.
“The war in Eastern Europe gives the Fed reason to act more cautiously, but they will still be working to corral what is already the highest inflation in 40 years,” said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com.
New Federal Reserve projections show six more rate hikes this year
-The median member of the Federal Open Markets Committee expects the Fed Funds rate to be 1.9% at the end of the year, or roughly seven total hikes in 2022, according to a release.
-The committee’s previous projections, released following a meeting in mid-December, showed the majority of members expected three total hikes in 2022.
-The committee members also raised their expectations for inflation.
Before you sing three (3) Let's Go Brandon's, there's more-
The Fed needs to hike rates to at least 5% or risk bringing stagflation and recession on the US economy, Larry Summers says
The Federal Reserve needs to hike interest rates to 5% to avoid stagflation and recession, Larry Summers says.
The Fed "needs to take far stronger action to support price stability than appears likely," Summers wrote in an op-ed.
The Fed needs to abandon its thinking on inflation, according to Summers.
As the Federal Reserve prepares to kick off a series of interest rate hikes Wednesday, its current policy roadmap will steer the US into stagflation and a major recession, according to former US Secretary of the Treasury, Larry Summers.
In an op-ed for the Washington Post, Summers described Fed Chair Jerome Powell's optimism around taming inflation as wishful thinking.
"I believe the Fed has not internalized the magnitude of its errors over the past year, is operating with an inappropriate and dangerous framework, and needs to take far stronger action to support price stability than appears likely," wrote Summers.
While the Federal Reserve must prioritize price stability to sustain employment, Summers said the reality is that real short-term interest rates will have to hit 5% to stave off a recession — and markets currently think this number is "unimaginable."
Summers, who is currently the President Emeritus of Harvard University and previously led President Barack Obama's National Economic Council, noted that a recession often follows conditions of high inflation and low unemployment.
The Fed has drawn criticism over the last year for its characterization of inflation as "transitory." The central bank backed down from that call as prices surged close to 40-year highs. Economists have slammed the Fed for not pivoting away early enough from its pandemic-era easy money policies.
As recently as two weeks ago, Summers points out, the central bank was still snapping up mortgage-backed securities despite skyrocketing home prices.
Summers added that, during the pandemic, the Fed adopted a new approach of allowing high inflation to stick around for an extended stretch of time — "this new framework should be abandoned," wrote Summers.
"I hope the Fed will make clear that inflation reduction is its principle objective, and that it will wind down efforts to promote worthy but non-monetary goals such as social justice and environmental protection," wrote Summers. "This implies committing to doing whatever is necessary with interest rates to bring down inflation, including movements of more than a quarter-point at some meetings and a rapid reduction of its balance sheet."
Post by EPIC Sir Tinley on Mar 21, 2022 5:32:17 GMT -8
It is a difficult conundrum- Does the administration admit their policies are complete shit and return to the policies of the previous administration, or do they continue to make voters experience it for themselves?
Post by EPIC Sir Tinley on Apr 4, 2022 8:08:30 GMT -8
Biden Is Clueless About Inflation The president's $5.8 trillion budget shows he wants more of the same government spending that is already sending prices through the roof.
"My dad had an expression," said President Joe Biden as he announced his budget plan for FY 2023. "Don't tell me what you value, show me your budget, and I'll tell you what you value."
So at the very moment that we're experiencing the highest inflation in 40 years, what does Biden value? The same sort of government spending that is already sending prices through the roof.
You'd figure that with Covid receding, debt rising, and a tidal wave of unfunded liabilities staring us right in the kisser, Biden would take the opportunity to radically reset the federal government's balance sheet. Instead, his budget plan could be titled Rearranging Deck Chairs on the Titanic.
The president wants to spend $5.8 trillion, which would include jacking spending on defense, education, and police. He talks about levying a controversial—and probably unconstitutional—wealth tax on billionaires to help pay for it all but still expects a budget deficit of $1.2 trillion (see Table S1 in Summary Tables)! If you're going to tax unrealized capital gains, President Biden, at least spend it on something pretty!
It's debt-financed spending that helps spur inflation in the first place. Rather than cutting spending and reforming entitlements, the government borrows and prints money so it can keep giving more goodies to its favored citizens. You get more dollars chasing the same amount of goods, and that leads to price hikes.
Meanwhile, at least a dozen states—including such far-flung places as California, Georgia, Hawaii, and Maine—are thinking about giving residents money to spend on things like gas, the price of which has gone through the roof. "Direct relief will address the issue that we all are struggling to address," says California Gov. Gavin Newsom. "That's the issue of gas prices, not only here in our state, but of course, all across this country."
Is he serious? Doling out tax dollars to alleviate the pain of inflation is like drinking a beer in the morning to ease your hangover. It's only setting up the next binge.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has announced a series of interest rate hikes to help tame inflation, but in a recent speech, he made no mention of the increase in the money supply measured by M2, which has risen by a record 41 percent in two years, or of the Federal Reserve's holding of U.S. debt, which has jumped $3.5 trillion over the same time period.
Powell's interest rate hikes will be small enough that it's unclear whether they will have much impact. Back in the 1980s, Fed Chairman Paul Volcker allowed the fed funds rate to more than double in less than two years' time to over 20 percent, which helped kill inflation but also caused the most severe recession since the Great Depression.
Worse, serious hikes by the Fed today will not just likely cause a major economic downturn, they will devastate the government's balance sheet, requiring either massive tax hikes on everyone, huge reductions in government services, or a combination of both.
According to recent conservative estimates from the Congressional Budget Office, as the federal budget grows, the cost of paying interest on the debt will keep increasing until it accounts for about 24 cents of every dollar spent by 2050. And that's assuming interest rates will remain historically low.
Post by EPIC Sir Tinley on Apr 13, 2022 9:27:33 GMT -8
Baby-Formula Shortage Prompts Rationing at Target, Kroger, Walgreens and CVS Stores impose purchase limits after Abbott recall adds to strain on already limited supplies
Baby-Formula Shortage Prompts Rationing at Target, Kroger, Walgreens and CVS Stores impose purchase limits after Abbott recall adds to strain on already limited supplies
Post by EPIC Sir Tinley on May 2, 2022 10:17:54 GMT -8
The political environment is terrible for Democrats -- and it may get worse
(CNN)Joe Biden's term has become a punchline -- even to the President. Biden might have been a good sport in poking fun at himself, his dented approval ratings and his failure to fully enact his domestic agenda at the White House Correspondents' Association annual gala dinner on Saturday night. But his jokes were rooted in the painful reality of a presidency hostage to economic and global forces beyond his control and compounded by some of the tactical errors of his White House.
The result is that a year after his approval rating was comfortably over 50%, the President and his party are facing the most treacherous political backdrop in years in the run-up to midterm elections in November.
It's possible that high gas prices, the worst inflation in 40 years, the war in Ukraine and a persistent pandemic could all ease by November. But the trajectory of those crises -- and the impact they exert on issues that matter to and can hurt Americans, like the price of groceries -- could also get worse.
China's major new struggle with Covid-19, for instance -- fueled by its low vaccination rate -- and its repressive lockdowns threaten to again crunch global supply chain lines that helped push inflation higher in the first place. And if the war in Ukraine, as expected, severely impacts the harvest in the breadbasket of Europe this year, Americans could see prices soar for daily staples since the invaded country is a huge source of global grain and sunflower oil. So it's quite likely that the daunting conditions that are currently depressing Democrats' hopes could actually get worse before Election Day.
Some economic analysts have suggested that inflation -- on its worst tear since the 1980s -- has peaked. But a key index watched by the Federal Reserve -- the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index -- was up 6.6% for the year ended in March, according to figures released last week. Energy prices spiked by the war in Ukraine were up 33.9% and food was up 9.2% over the same period. Another report last week showed a surprise decline in gross domestic product of 1.4% in the first quarter. While there were technical factors that might mean the figure is not as bad as it appears, it did spark fears of a recession, following warnings of a downturn on the horizon from several large Wall Street banks.
Post by EPIC Sir Tinley on May 5, 2022 7:16:09 GMT -8
CNN Poll: Most Americans have a dismal view of the US economy
(CNN)The US public's view of the nation's economy is the worst it's been in a decade, a new CNN Poll conducted by SSRS finds, with many Americans also saying they feel financial strain in their own lives. That pessimism also reflects on President Joe Biden, whose ratings for handling the economy remain sharply negative. A majority of US adults say his policies have hurt the economy, and 8 in 10 say the government isn't doing enough to combat inflation. Only 23% rate economic conditions as even somewhat good, down from 37% in December and 54% last April. The last time public perception of the economy was this poor in CNN's polling was November 2011, when 18% called economic conditions good.
Americans also say they are more likely to hear bad news than good news about the economy, by nearly a 4-to-1 margin: 89% say they've heard at least some bad news, compared with 23% who've heard at least some good news.
Americans remain generally dour about how things are going in the country overall, with just about one-third (32%) saying things in the country are going well, about the same as late last summer.
Although economic pessimism is most pronounced within the GOP, it spans party lines. A near universal 94% of Republicans rate current economic conditions in the US as poor, as do 81% of independents and 54% of Democrats. And across party lines, most Americans say they've heard little or no recent good news on the issue (88% among Republicans, 80% among independents, 61% among Democrats).