Author: BlackMask Financial

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Democrats try to save Biden $3.5T plan….. Markets react to vote delayed Dow over 250 pts lower in premarket

Equities in the United States traded lower in the premarket on Friday ahead of the release of the latest reports on the country’s personal spending, manufacturing activity, construction spending, … The Dow Jones Industrial Average went down by 0.77% or 260 points at 4:25 am ET. A minute later, the Nasdaq 100 fell by 0.50%, while the S&P 500 declined by 0.68%. NN: As hard as it is we must stand aside. I am not ready to pounce on this market. Even though it! APPEARS to be the start of our long anticipated bear market… It may not be the case. This 3 trillion dollar infrastructure bill will pass in one form or another. Its the biggest government spending  bill since the New Deal of the Great Depression. I think it could trigger a BIG relief rally…. So we wait!

Despite setback, Democrats try to save Biden $3.5T plan

 

 

 

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Despite a long night of frantic negotiations, Democrats were unable to reach an immediate deal to salvage President Joe Biden’s $3.5 trillion government overhaul, forcing leaders to call off promised votes on a related public works bill. Action is to resume Friday. Speaker Nancy Pelosi had pushed the House into an evening session and top White House advisers huddled for talks at the Capitol as the Democratic leaders worked late Thursday to negotiate a scaled-back plan that centrist holdouts would accept. Biden had cleared his schedule for calls with lawmakers but it appeared no deal was within reach, particularly with Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin. Manchin refused to budge, the West Virginia centrist holding fast to his earlier declaration that he was willing to meet the president less than halfway — $1.5 trillion.

“I don’t see a deal tonight. I really don’t,” Manchin told reporters as he left the Capitol.

Deeply at odds, the president and his party are facing a potentially embarrassing setback — if not politically devastating collapse of the whole enterprise — if they cannot resolve the standoff over Biden’s big vision. At immediate risk was a promised vote on the first piece of Biden’s proposal, a slimmer $1 trillion public works bill that is widely supported but has faltered amid stalled talks on his more ambitious package. Progressives were refusing to back the roads-and-bridges bill they view as insufficient unless there’s progress on Biden’s broader plan that’s the heart of the Democratic agenda. With support, leaders canceled a promised Thursday night vote, and said the House would be back in session Friday, Pelosi called it a “day of progress” in a letter to colleagues, but offered few other words on the path forward. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki released a statement saying: “A great deal of progress has been made this week, and we are closer to an agreement than ever. But we are not there yet, and so, we will need some additional time to finish the work, starting tomorrow morning first thing.”

The political stakes could hardly be higher. Biden and his party are reaching for a giant legislative accomplishment — promising a vast rewrite of the nation’s tax and spending plans — with a so-slim majority in Congress.

The president’s sweeping proposal topped at $3.5 trillion would essentially raise taxes on corporations and the wealthy and plow that money back into government health care, education and other programs, all of it touching the lives of countless Americans. He says the ultimate price tag is zero, because the tax revenue covers the spending costs. With Biden working the phones and top White House officials shuttling at the Capitol, talk swirled of the Democratic leaders trying to ease off the stalemate by reaching a broader deal, a compromise with Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, two centrist Democrats who are the linchpins to Biden’s goals. The idea was to produce the contours of an agreement over Biden’s broader package, proceed with the $1 trillion public works bill and negotiate the rest of Biden’s big health care, education and climate change bill in the days to come. Lawmakers were told to stick around for possible late-night votes.But as the night dragged on, it became clear that Manchin was not on board with a higher figure and chiseling away at that $3.5 trillion topline risked losing progressive leaders who said they have already compromised enough and saw no reason to rush a deal to bring the centrists around to supporting the president’s agenda.

Continue reading “Democrats try to save Biden $3.5T plan….. Markets react to vote delayed Dow over 250 pts lower in premarket”

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Senate passes continuing resolution to keep US government open through December

Democrats and Republicans in the US Senate have agreed on keeping the government funded for two months, approving a continuing resolution with 65 votes in favor and 35 opposed. The House has until midnight to approve the bill. The US fiscal year begins on October 1, and the approval of both chambers of Congress is needed to keep the federal government operational. While joining forces to keep the lights on, the two parties are still at odds over the issue of raising the debt ceiling – which will come to a head sometime in mid-October – as well as the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, or the $3.5 trillion spending bill the Democrats are trying to pass without any Republican votes. NN: Its a 9 week reprieve……for nothing. So the politicians start the whole publicity stunt right before the 3 biggest shopping weeks of the year… What dick heads

 

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US GDP expands by 6.7% in second quarter

The United States economy expanded at an annualized rate of 6.7% in the first quarter, according to the third estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis on Thursday. The reading came in slightly above the analysts’ expectations.

More to come…

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European Gas, Power Prices Jump Again to Records….. Europe asking Russia for MORE dirty nasty stinky COAL

European natural gas and power prices jumped to records, signaling the supply shortage will only get worse just as the winter season starts on Friday. Stockpiles of everything from gas to coal and water for electricity production are in short supply and there are few signs the situation will improve anytime soon as demand continues to roar back from a pandemic-driven lull. Russian gas flows to Germany’s Mallnow terminal dropped, paring yesterday’s partial recovery. Supplies via the major transit route are about a third less than at the beginning of the week. The scale of supply constraints have caught the market off guard, just as countries are about to start drawing down on the gas in storage. European stocks are at the lowest in more than a decade for this time of year. “We didn’t predict these prices coming,” Alex Grant, senior vice president at Equinor ASA, said at a conference in London on Wednesday. “In the prices there is a risk premium for what might happen going forward and the risk is still very much dependent on gas supply.” Another three small U.K. energy providers went out of business on Wednesday, bringing the tally to 10 just in the past two months. Some 1.7 million homes have now been forced to switch providers. U.K. Energy Firms Stretched to Limit as More Suppliers Fail Meanwhile, French Prime Minister Jean Castex is scheduled to announce measures the government intends to put in place to mitigate the increase in energy prices this evening. Inflows of gas as LNG to Europe will remain stymied by competition from Asia, according to an Inspired Energy report. “As system tightness continues in China, demand for coal and LNG is likely to remain elevated, seeing Asia remain the preferred seller direction for LNG cargoes,” it said. Dutch natural gas for next month, the European benchmark, rose as much as 13.4% to 98.23 euros per megawatt-hour. The U.K. contract also surged 17.4% to a new high of 252.53 pence a term. Both contracts have more-than-doubled in price over the past month. German power for next year jumped as much as 12% to 132 euros per megawatt-hour, while the French equivalent gained 10.3% to 135.50 euros per megawatt-hour. Both reached record highs on Thursday.

Europe asking Russia for MORE dirty nasty stinky COAL

 European utilities seeking to buy more coal from Russia will  be disappointed as any exports are likely to be limited. Europe Asking Russia for More Coal Is Set for Disappointment

Europe, short of natural gas, is asking Russia for more coal, Bloomberg reported, citing sources. Gas prices in Europe have risen significantly recently.  “Electricity producers on the continent are forced to ask Russia for more coal to ease the energy crisis as winter approaches and record high gas prices, which are dampening profitability,” representatives of two Russian coal companies told the agency.

Europe has largely ditched coal over the years in an effort to “green” power generation, sources say, but is now experiencing a supply crisis.

According to the press secretary of the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation, cited by the agency, nevertheless, the export of coal, including for the production of electricity to Europe, according to forecasts, will not change this year and will amount to about 48 million tons. In the first half of the year, it grew by 2.4% to 22.5 million tons. “If all European utilities switch to coal, it will lead to a huge increase in demand for coal, which Russia alone cannot provide in such a short time,” chief analyst at Wood Mackenzie Ltd. told the agency in Houston Natasha Tyrina. According to her, Europe will need supplies from other countries, for example, from the United States, but the situation there is similar. NN: Have Thronbugger and the other greeninnwinnies order the wind to blow and sun to shine more….. This is a window to the future. Before you abandoned fossil fuel make sure  your alternate energy is sufficient. If they had embraced clean burning natural gas as a bridge fuel they would not not be in this pickle…… Now because gas infrastructure has not been built they will have to turn to dirty stinking coal. After a trillion dollars invested in solar and wind they have gone full circle. Burning more call them before they started.

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Senate agrees on bill to avoid govt shutdown -Schumer

  • The House on Wednesday passed a bill that would suspend the U.S. debt ceiling.
  • Republicans will reject the legislation in the Senate as they say they will not support a debt limit increase or suspension.
  • Democrats are trying to prevent two potential crises this week: a possible government shutdown and a first-ever U.S. default.

The House on Wednesday passed a bill to suspend the U.S. debt ceiling as the country barrels toward a first-ever default with no clear solution in sight. Republicans will sink the plan in the Senate. The GOP has opposed any effort to raise the borrowing limit and appears intent on making Democrats address it as part of their sprawling investment in social programs and climate policy. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has told lawmakers the U.S. will run out of ways to pay its bills around Oct. 18. If Congress fails to suspend or raise the debt limit before the deadline, lawmakers risk a default that could cost millions of jobs, jeopardize government benefits and crash the financial markets. The House passed the debt ceiling suspension in a 219-212 vote. All Democrats except Reps. Jared Golden of Maine and Kurt Schrader of Oregon supported it. Every Republican but Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois opposed it. Earlier, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., wrote that the chamber would “move forward to honor its responsibility to protect the American economy and American families from the catastrophe of a default by passing legislation to suspend the debt limit.” But as the bill is set to fail in the Senate, it is unclear how Democrats will proceed to avoid default. The party aims to head off two separate crises this week. First comes the midnight Thursday deadline to pass a funding bill before the government shuts down. The Senate could vote on a short-term appropriations plan Thursday that would fund the government until early December. It would then move to the House for approval where it is expected to pass. That still leaves Congress grappling with the debt ceiling. Republicans have shot down two other Democratic efforts to address the issue. GOP senators on Monday blocked a bill that would have funded the government into December because it also suspended the borrowing ceiling until December 2022. Republicans insist Democrats should raise the limit on their own, leading Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to introduce a motion that would allow the Senate to hike the ceiling with a simple majority. It needed unanimous consent, and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., blocked it on Tuesday. Republicans want to tie the debt ceiling increase to Democrats’ massive legislation as they make their counterparts’ taxing and spending proposals a central plank of their 2022 midterm election strategy. The GOP banks on Democrats holding the blame if the U.S. defaults because they control the White House and Congress. Raising the debt ceiling, however, does not authorize future spending. The U.S. would be unable to pay its current obligations if it does not increase or suspend the limit. Congress has raised or suspended the ceiling 78 times since 1960, according to the Treasury. It most recently did so in 2019. Avoiding default usually comes with little drama, though a 2011 fight over the debt limit and budget deficits contributed to Standard & Poor’s downgrading the U.S. credit rating for the first time ever. McConnell has repeatedly said Republicans would support a government funding bill that does not include a suspension of the borrowing limit. Schumer has so far insisted he will not include a debt ceiling suspension in Democrats’ social spending bill, which they plan to pass with a simple majority through budget reconciliation. On Wednesday, he said the party would have to amend its already passed budget resolution — the first step in reconciliation — to do so. Reconciliation allows Democrats to pass certain bills without Republican votes. Restarting the process could leave the borrowing limit proposal bogged down in procedural delays while the U.S. moves closer to a default, Schumer said. “It is very risky and could well lead us to default even if only one senator wanted that to happen. So you can’t do it through this route,” he said.

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Evergrande misses bond payment for second time

SHANGHAI/BEIJING/HONG KONG (Reuters) -China Evergrande Group missed paying bond interest due on Wednesday, two bondholders said, its second unpaid offshore debt obligation in a week, although the cash-strapped company on Thursday made a partial payment to some of its onshore investors. The company, reeling under a debt pile of $305 billion, was due on Wednesday to make a $47.5 million bond interest payment on its 9.5% March 2024 dollar bond, after having missed $83.5 million in coupon payments last Thursday.  With liabilities equal to 2% of China’s GDP, Evergrande has sparked concerns its woes could spread through the financial system and reverberate around the world, though worries have eased somewhat after the central bank vowed to protect homebuyers’ interests. The central bank on Wednesday urged financial institutions to cooperate with relevant departments and local governments to maintain the “stable and healthy” development of the real estate market and safeguard housing consumers’ interests. Evergrande’s silence on its offshore payment obligations has, however, has left global investors wondering if they will have to swallow large losses when 30-day grace periods end for coupons that were due on Sept. 23 and Sept. 29. Some offshore Evergrande bondholders had neither received interest payments nor any communication by the end of Wednesday New York time, said the people familiar with the matter, who declined to be identified due to sensitivity of the issue. A spokesperson for Evergrande did not have any immediate comment. Reuters was unable to determine whether Evergrande has told bondholders what it plans to do regarding the coupon payment due on Wednesday.  The developer’s treatment of offshore investors, however, contrasts with the way the company is managing its onshore liabilities. Evergrande said on Thursday that its wealth management unit has made a 10% repayment of wealth management products (WMPs), which are largely owned by onshore retail investors, that are due by Sept. 30. The payment was made on Thursday and relevant funds have been issued to investors’ accounts, Evergrande said in a notice posted on its website. It did not specify how much money was paid. The two missed offshore payments come as the company, which has nearly $20 billion in offshore debt, faces deadlines on dollar bond coupon payments totalling $162.38 million in the next month.  Once China’s top-selling developer, Evergrande is now expected to be one of the largest-ever restructurings in the country. It has been prioritising its onshore liabilities amid concerns that its troubles could trigger social unrest. “I can’t see there being much willingness to give a fairer outcome to offshore bondholders rather than onshore banks, let alone house buyers and people who have lent onshore through the personal loan structures,” said Alexander Aitken, a partner at Herbert Smith Freehills in Hong Kong. “Of course legally there is also structural subordination from being offshore, which means lenders to Evergrande’s onshore subsidiaries get paid before lenders to the parent company or any offshore debt issuer.” Beijing is unlikely to intervene directly to resolve Evergrande’s crisis in the form of a bailout, but analysts say it is wary of a messy collapse that could fuel unrest. Authorities have in recent days prodded government-owned firms and state-backed property developers to purchase some Evergrande assets to reduce such risks. Evergrande said on Wednesday that it would sell a 9.99 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) stake it owns in Shengjing Bank Co Ltd to a state-owned asset management company. The bank, one of Evergrande’s main lenders, demanded all net proceeds from the sale go towards settling the developer’s debts with Shengjing, which had 7 billion yuan in loans to Evergrande as of the first half last year. Separately, Evergrande’s Pearl River Delta business said in a WeChat post on Tuesday that construction had resumed on nearly 20 developments in the area. The post showed photos of various sites, and said that work resumption had accelerated since Evergrande vowed at the beginning of the month to deliver homes to buyers. Its main onshore unit Hengda Real Estate Group announced a resolution of an onshore bond coupon payment on Sept. 23 through “private negotiations”. Evergrande’s shares opened sharply higher on Thursday, rising as much as 5.21% before reversing course to slump as much as 7.17%. The stock ended down 4%. “Regardless of how the debt is restructured, Evergrande shareholders and investors in offshore, USD-denominated corporate bonds will suffer large losses,” said Jing Sima, chief China strategist at BCA Research in a note. NN: China has a big problem… Its restless citizens. They have to consonantly appease them. The thing the Commies that rule China are most worried about is a mass uprising. That is why they are hell bent to spy on their citizens and control social media just like they are starting to do in the US.  The restless you in China have to be appeased with jobs and housing. Evergrande will not be allowed to wipe out the Chinese masses promised apartments. As far as US investment banks and retirement funds…. well let me put it this way everyone knows this would end in disaster. They were fools chasing yields that  Evergrande promised of 8% to 10% that will never be paid

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YouTube blocks all anti-vaccine content… that in their soul discretion deem untrue…..

YouTube on Wednesday announced it is banning “harmful vaccine content” from the platform, a long-awaited shift that vastly expands its existing policy on medical misinformation. The new rules explicitly ban content that makes false claims about any “currently administered vaccines that are approved and confirmed to be safe and effective” by local health authorities and the World Health Organization.

Previously, similar rules applied only to misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines, as well as videos that uncritically presented unproven COVID treatments like hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin. In an emailed statement to HuffPost, Matt Halprin, YouTube’s vice president of global trust and safety, said the company didn’t implement the new rules sooner because it was focused on COVID. Its work countering coronavirus falsehoods is now informing its efforts at identifying and removing all anti-vaccine content. “We dedicated a lot of resources to COVID-19 vaccine misinformation, and learned important lessons about developing and enforcing this type of policy at scale,” Halprin said. “Developing robust policies takes time, as does preparing for enforcement in many different languages, and we wanted to launch a policy that is comprehensive, enforceable with consistency, and adequately addresses the challenge.” In addition to claims about specific, routine immunizations like for measles or hepatitis B, broad claims about vaccines in general are also off limits. Per YouTube, that includes:

– Content that falsely alleges that approved vaccines are dangerous and cause chronic health effects

– Claims that vaccines do not reduce transmission or contraction of disease, or contains misinformation on the substances contained in vaccines […]

– Content that falsely says that approved vaccines cause autism, cancer or infertility, or that substances in vaccines can track those who receive them.

The company didn’t respond to questions about how offending content will be identified and removed. While artificial intelligence can filter and screen out specific keywords, it tends to be imprecise and can be easily circumvented.Targeting the most prolific spreaders of false claims may go a long way toward curtailing the content. In March, a study by the Center for Countering Digital Hate found just that 12 people are responsible for 65% of the anti-vaccine content on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Among the so-called “Disinformation Dozen” are Joseph Mercola, who sells dietary supplements, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the son of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and chairman of Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine group. YouTube told HuffPost it’s banned both of their channels, in addition to a number of other high-profile anti-vaccine channels. Notably, both Mercola and Kennedy still have massive presences on Facebook. Despite Facebook’s repeated claims to have curtailed anti-vaccine content, medical misinformation there continues to run rampant NN: Free speech is not necessary true speech does not have to be….. Lies are protected even hate speech is protected speech…… Who made YouTube and  Facebook the arbitrator of truth. Reality is in a democracy among free people free speech is the grantor of freedom…. ALL SPEECH is allowed. Yes you can yell fire, fire in a crowded theater if its on fire….. Will  YouTube or Facebook from on high at 1 Hacker Way in Menlo Park, CA  decide if their is a fire before one is allowed to speak ( or post videoes). These people have seized to much power. Control free speech and its not free, and they have the power to turn you into a slave… Forced to believe their truth. Who says they have the wisdom to decern truth?  Their are vaccines that have been proven deadly. And  great controversy surrounded them. It was the free press that busted open the truth. Their revelations were first meet with skepticism. The numbers of people involved in these failed vaccines were small. The free press exposed these what would have to be described as scandals. Under the current social media standards of “truth” they would have censored these stories. The YouTube stated policy of censorship would have blocked publication of these disasters. To be clear the covid19 RNA vaccines are incredible effective with minimal side effects. But we must be ever dilligent and follow all claims of problems, And give them the proper airing. The free press fake news and all truly are the guardians of our freedoms, health and weath. These mass media companies like Google, Facebook, Youtube, Instagram and the rest are public sources of news and information and they should not be allowed to censor content. They are most people sources of news and information

past vaccine failures…. surprisingly few

Their is the the 1955 Cutter Incident, some batches of polio vaccine given to the public contained live poliovirus—even though they had passed the required safety testing. More than 250 cases of polio were attributed to vaccines produced by one company, Cutter Laboratories. The story of the vaccine being the cause of infections was first reported by the free press. The mistake esulted in many cases of paralysis, and the vaccine was recalled as soon as new cases of polio were detected.

In 2017, the Philippines stopped a school-based dengue fever vaccination program after NEWS reports of complications and several deaths linked to the product called Dengvaxia. The French manufacturer, Sanofi Pasteur, later stated that the vaccine posed a risk to those without prior infection from one of the disease’s four stereotypes. The result was that it actually increased the risk that a child would contract a more severe form of the disease.

The widespread vaccination against the childhood disease measles. In the early 1960s, thousands of children received a particular inactivated vaccine, so if they were exposed to the actual measles virus, they developed atypical measles. The side effect was characterized by high fever, severe abdominal pain and lung inflammation and in some cases required hospitalization. That particular vaccine was eventually withdrawn. The vaccination campaign saved millions of lives in spite of the side effects. I was one of the kids vaccinated at the time and got really ill in bed for a week

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Spike in prices won’t lead to new inflation regime – Powell

© Bloomberg. Jerome Powell during a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 28 said.
The current bout of elevated inflation in the U.S. is tied to the reopening of the economy as it recovers from the pandemic and won’t lead to a new regime of higher inflation going forward, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said. “For some time, we and others have been forecasting that the current inflation spike will not lead to a new inflation regime in which inflation remains high year after year,” Powell said Wednesday while participating in a virtual panel event at a conference hosted by the European Central Bank. “The current inflation spike is really a consequence of supply constraints meeting very strong demand, and that is all associated with the reopening of the economy — which is a process that will have a beginning, a middle and an end,” he said.
“It’s very difficult to say how big the effects will be in the meantime, or how long they will last, but we do expect that we’ll get back, we’ll get through that.”
Powell appeared on the panel alongside his counterparts at the European Central Bank, Bank of Japan and Bank of England, who sounded similar notes of cautious optimism that the supply-side disruptions plaguing the global economy and leading to elevated inflationary pressures would ultimately prove temporary. NN: This is called a spin job… They wish this infation will just go away. Unfortunately that’s not how things work.
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Schumer: Won’t lift debt limit through reconciliation…… Schumer Will ‘Surrender,’ Put Debt Ceiling in Reconciliation: Cruz

The Senate Democrats “cannot and will not” raise the federal debt ceiling as a part of the Biden administration’s $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (pictured) said on Wednesday. “To do this through reconciliation requires ping-ponging separate bills back from the Senate and the House,” the senior Democrat asserted, noting that process sought by Republicans is “drawn-out” and “unpredictable.” Earlier, the GOP blocked a House-approved bill to suspend the debt limit through 2022.

Schumer Will ‘Surrender,’ Put Debt Ceiling in Reconciliation: Cruz

On Monday evening, unified Senate Republicans shot down debate on a resolution to fund the government through December. Now, Democrats are scrambling to find a new way to push a debt ceiling increase through the Senate with at least some Republican support. But according to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) will not find that support, and will be forced to “surrender.” The Monday vote was the culmination of months of posturing by Senate Republicans, who have insisted since August that they would not vote to increase the debt limit. According to these Republicans, who explained their reasoning in a petition drafted by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Democrats were on an “unprecedented deficit spending spree.” These Republicans said that they refused to enable such spending through raising the debt ceiling. Instead, Republicans have insisted that Democrats use the reconciliation process if they want to raise the debt limit. The reconciliation process is one that allows certain bills related to federal revenues and spending to bypass the 60-vote threshold usually required to begin debate on a bill in the Senate. Currently, Democrats are using the process to push through their controversial budget, which has a top line price of $3.5 trillion. In his petition, Johnson argued that Democrats “have the power to … unilaterally raise the debt ceiling [through reconciliation], and they should not be allowed to pretend otherwise.” Still, Democrats have been hesitant to take this route, as some polls have shown raising the debt ceiling to be an unpopular move among American voters. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Cruz insisted that Democrats will have no choice but to raise the debt ceiling on their own. Cruz commented that Democrats “have complete and total ability to raise the debt ceiling.” Through reconciliation, he said, “they could have done so last week, they could have done so a week before, they could have done so a month ago, two months ago, three months ago.” Schumer has not done this, Cruz suggested, because “he’s trying to hide from responsibility for the trillions in debt that Democrats are irresponsibly trying to load onto the backs of our children and grandchildren.” Cruz posited that Schumer was “trying to find an outcome where 10 Republicans vote with him so he can blame those Republicans for Democrats’ irresponsible debt. It’s a game. It won’t work.” He added, “Schumer knows it won’t work.” Monday’s vote demonstrated continued Republican resilience against raising the debt ceiling, even after many Democratic leaders insisted that the party was bluffing. President Joe Biden said of the Republican threat in August: “Nope. They’re not going to let us default. $8 billion—$8 trillion of that is on the Republican’s watch.” Around the same time, Schumer said simply, “I can’t believe Republicans will let the nation default.” Now, with the failure of their original continuing resolution, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced a new “clean” resolution, stripped of the billions in new spending contained in the original bill, in the hope that Senate Republicans will accept it. While Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) suggested that Republicans may be open to such a resolution on Monday, Cruz said that this new move will fail as well. “When this fails, I fully expect Schumer is gonna surrender,” Cruz commented, “And he’s gonna do what he could have done weeks or months ago, which is [to raise] the debt ceiling using Democratic votes.” He added, “Accordingly, Democrats will bear responsibility for the trillions in debt that they’re saddling on the country.” “He knows the outcome,” Cruz added. “If he wants to play games, he is the majority leader by the slimmest of margins but he is the majority leader. If he wants to play games on the Senate floor, that’s unfortunately his prerogative.” At a press conference Tuesday, Schumer rejected this course of action. “Going through reconciliation is risky to the country and is a non-starter,” the senator said, adding that using reconciliation to raise the debt limit is “very, very risky,” and said “We’re not pursuing that.”  NN: The yearly Washington chicken fest. The politicians are playing with fire here. We all know they will extend the debt ceiling. But why chance a near death experience. If something fucks up and their is a default you have destroyed the greatest money making machine the world has ever seen. The US treasury market… and its all about confidence….. Why even chance it. Sooner or later these fools will fuck things up real good. The US government has the ability to raise more money at the lowest rates of any government or bank or corporation in history…….

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Fed’s Bullard says tapering will start ‘very soon’

(Reuters) -The Federal Reserve may soon start to reduce the pace of its asset purchases if the economy continues to improve as expected, New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams said on Monday. It is clear there has been “substantial further progress” toward the Fed’s goal for inflation and there has also been “very good progress” toward maximum employment, Williams said in remarks delivered during a virtual event organized by the Economic Club of New York. He was referring to the threshold policymakers set for reducing the central bank’s bond purchases from the current pace of $120 billion a month. “Assuming the economy continues to improve as I anticipate, a moderation in the pace of asset purchases may soon be warranted,” Williams said, echoing the policy statement central bank officials issued after last week’s meeting.

While some policymakers, including Cleveland Fed Bank President Loretta Mester and Kansas City Fed President Esther George, say the standard for tapering bond purchases has been met, some officials have said they would like to see continued jobs growth.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said after the conclusion of last week’s meeting that the economy is one “decent” monthly jobs report short of meeting the threshold for tapering and the Fed will likely begin to do so in November. Williams said he projects the economy will grow by between 5.5% to 6% this year and for inflation to come back down to 2% next year. He expects the U.S. labor market to see strong growth over the next year or so. While the benefits of fiscal aid may fade as those programs end, Williams said savings that some households accumulated during the pandemic may help to support consumer spending going into next year. He said it will be some time before the U.S. economy meets the requirements necessary for the central bank to lift interest rates from near zero levels, pointing to uncertainty in the outlook and the need for continued jobs growth. “There is still a long way to go before reaching maximum employment,” Williams said. “And over time it should become clearer whether we have reached 2% inflation on a sustained basis.” NN: The FED know that its got a great big problem and they could topple the debt house of cards they created. They are HOPING and PRAYING they can pull this off without a wipe out… THEY CAN’T! Like every other time they raised rates markets will crash. Credit and debt is the life blood of the stock market, bonds and real estate. They are hoping they can save the system…… THEY CAN’T!! They are trying to kinda of slowly ease rates higher and get out of the endless stimulus business. THEY CAN’T!  So they are dead meat. They cannot make rates any lower and they can’t stimulate the economy our of this. The only choice is to shut her down and hope they can pick up the pieces… THEY CAN’T!!!!!!!