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Fed’s Economy: the “Wealth Effect” and How it Impacts Americans Individually

by | Apr 12, 2021 |

“This is an effective way to tear a country apart — and the Fed is trying to cover it up with its ludicrous rhetoric. But politicians in Washington of all stripes – who could stop the Fed’s policies with legislation – are fully on board with the wealth effect because they’re among the primary beneficiaries. And to heck with the bottom 50%. Not even populists on the left or the right, whose base is getting hit over the head on a daily basis by the wealth effect, are decrying the Fed’s policies.” On the contrary.  Wolf Richter at Wolf Street

us wealth disparity 2021 04 11 category per person bottom 50 percent

More here

End The Fed

 

Veteran Intelligence Official Professionals For Sanity (VIPS) Issue Letter To Biden Urging Him To Avoid War In Ukraine

by | Apr 8, 2021 |

Let’s hope Biden will take their advice.

MEMORANDUM FOR: The President
FROM: Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS)
SUBJECT: Avoiding War in Ukraine

Dear President Biden,

We last communicated with you on December 20, 2020, when you were President-elect.

At that time, we alerted you to the dangers inherent in formulating a policy toward Russia built on a foundation of Russia-bashing. While we continue to support the analysis contained in that memorandum, this new memo serves a far more pressing purpose. We wish to draw your attention to the dangerous situation that exists in Ukraine today, where there is growing risk of war unless you take steps to forestall such a conflict.

At this juncture, we call to mind two basic realities that need particular emphasis amid growing tension between Ukraine and Russia.

First, since Ukraine is not a member of NATO, Article 5 of the NATO Treaty of course would not apply in the case of an armed conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

Second, Ukraine’s current military flexing, if allowed to transition into actual military action, could lead to hostilities with Russia.

We think it crucial that your administration immediately seek to remove from the table, so to speak, any “solution” to the current impasse that has a military component. In short, there is, and can never be, a military solution to this problem.

Your interim national security strategy guidance indicated that your administration would “make smart and disciplined choices regarding our national defense and the responsible use of our military, while elevating diplomacy as our tool of first resort.” Right now is the perfect time to put these words into action for all to see.

More at Zerohedge

Saudi Arabia’s Scramble For An Exit Strategy In Yemen

by | Apr 6, 2021 |

By Thomas o Falk at Aljazeera

Is their an end in sight for the war in Yemen?

2021 04 06 07 09

Pathway to peace?

Meanwhile, the US, United Nations, and regional mediator Oman still see an opportunity for negotiations. With the mediation of Oman, the Houthis have been negotiating with the US representative, Timothy Lenderking, for weeks. On Wednesday, it was reported that Oman hoped for an agreement between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis “very soon”.

However, Washington’s influence on facilitating a peaceful solution might be limited.

“The only real leverage the US has is with the Saudis and, by implication, with their proxies. They have no real leverage over the Houthis or their Iranian backers,” said Hurst.

However, even the leverage on Saudi Arabia was limited for two reasons in particular.

“First, US arms sales will not entirely stop Riyadh’s ability to continue to engage in the conflict. Second, the situation in Yemen is sadly not important enough to the United States for the Biden administration to issue the Saudi government with the kind of ultimatum that might compel them to make peace regardless of their preference,” according to Hurst.

The latter raises the question of what constitutes a conceivable road map towards peace. While there appears to be a theoretical path, the facilitation is another question entirely given to the actors involved.

Hashemi’s suggestion – which concurs with the view of former UN special envoy to Yemen Jamal Benomar that he recently opined in a British newspaper – requires a devoted joint effort.

“A power-sharing agreement is needed among the Yemenis. This must give all the key players a seat at the table, and it must be based on a vision where everyone can have equal access to state resources, political representation, and basic security guarantees,” said Hashemi.

This power-sharing approach would mark a stark contrast to previous propositions.

“Until now, the US-Saudi peace plans have been predicated on Houthi surrender, which is a non-starter for peace in Yemen,” Hashemi noted.

One party, in particular, will hence have to display its proclivity for change.

“In this context, Saudi Arabia is the recalcitrant party in blocking a genuine peace plan for Yemen.”

On the other hand, Iran could potentially be persuaded, albeit, with a caveat, Hashemi suggested.

“I think the Iranians would support a peace effort based on the outline of the former UN special envoy [Benomar]. A fundamental problem here is the absence of US-Iranian diplomatic engagement.”

Whether the encumbrance of antipathy between Washington and Tehran can be overcome could thus be one of the keys moving forward for peace in Yemen.

Human suffering continues

While the actors involved may or may not initiate genuine negotiations, the civilian population continues to pay the price for the conflict.

According to the UN, the war has cost about 250,000 Yemenis lives so far. Four million people have been displaced, 80 percent of the population depends on aid, and millions continue to starve.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres even warned of the world’s worst famine in decades. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic caused Yemen’s already weak health system to collapse and forced the country to declare a state of emergency.

The appalling legacy the war in Yemen has produced notwithstanding, it appears noticeably absent from a broader public discourse. While Syria and Libya have somewhat remained in the public’s eye and interest, the horrors in Yemen often remain an afterthought. One could even make a case that the international community’s efforts – besides organising donor conferences – have been rather subpar, considering the recently taken measures in Libya.

The reason is as simple as it is disgraceful: in the ever-complicated world of geopolitics, the humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen lacks standing.

“Yemen is not a key area of interest for the great powers. It has no natural resources, it is a very poverty-stricken country, and its geostrategic position on the map no longer matters,” said Hashemi.

The past six years are a testament to that view.

More here

H/T to Geopolitics & Empire

What I Told the Texas State Legislature

by | Apr 3, 2021 |

Last week, myself and a great group of antiwar veterans, led by BringOurTroopsHome.us testified before a committee of the Texas Senate in favor of new Defend the Guard legislation proposed by Rep. Bryan Slaton. (Admittedly, my statement was not so well received as a similar one was in Montana the week before that. But lessons were learned and the other guys did great, so it looks like it will pass out of committee and on to Calendars, at least.)

Thank you very much for considering this important legislation.

I’d like to mention something that is becoming a real crisis in this country, and that is the move by American liberals and progressives further to the left toward what they call “democratic socialism” in the Bernie Sanders fashion. This is especially true among the Millennials and Generation Z. It does not just mean the push for a larger welfare state, but more and more they reject market capitalism broadly defined and believe that all large holdings of wealth and property should be taxed away or otherwise taken over by governments to manage. This of course would be an absolute catastrophe.

But so then why is this happening? It is not because of the failures of free markets to deliver prosperity, but primarily the failure of American militarism which destroys trillions of dollars and wastes billions of hours of man and brain power that would otherwise go to productive uses.

It was Republican President and former 5-Star General Dwight Eisenhower who warned about the corrupting influence of what he called the Military-Industrial Complex now 60 years ago, but there has been no reckoning since. Recent presidents Obama and Trump both echoed Ike’s same complaint about Pentagon officials overriding the will of the country’s civilian leaders to roll back U.S. intervention.

America stays at war largely because Lockheed-Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, Northrup-Grumman and other major military contractors spend millions of dollars buying up lobbyists, think tankers, Pentagon officials and Congressman to make certain the government continues to patronize their firms. It is as simple as that. It is not unmentionable. Everyone knows it. And it is as wrong as it can be.

American militarism also necessitates an inflationary monetary policy so that the government can continue to expand its overseas footprint without having to raise taxes, which can cause too much open resistance. But this monetary inflation leads not only to rising prices across the board, but to massive bubbles in certain sectors, leading to terrible economic crashes as we’ve survived in 2000, 2008 and last year, which, though forced by the lockdowns, was due anyway, even though so many Americans had never recovered from the last bust. And as anyone living through the massive inflation in the housing market in Texas today can tell you, there have never been so many homeless families living on the streets of our state.

For all these problems, the free market takes the rap. Capitalism in general is said to be discredited. The distortions caused by permanent war then threaten all of our prosperity in even more severe ways in the future if present trends continue.

And this proves the case: we can have either a republic or an empire but we cannot have it both ways.

The best thing you can do to help to preserve our freedom and prosperity would be for you to prove the Constitution is still the law and that American is still a republic. Texas could lead the more than 30 states considering similar Defend the Guard legislation this year to let it be known that the people of this country want an end to unconstitutional wars and that the states’ legislatures in fact do represent them and are determined to demonstrate that it is so.

Thank you.

We’re Suing The Federal Reserve!! (Let’s Finish What Ron Paul Started)

by | Apr 1, 2021 |

George Gammon and attorney Robert Barnes are suing the Federal Reserve under the FOI act.

It’s Time To Sue The Fed Under The Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) #EndTheFed

Since 1913 the Fed has destroyed the purchasing power of the dollar, distorted the economy, created malinvestment, and incentivized misallocations of resources that have crushed the American poor and middle class.

Often they’ve implemented their destructive policies blatantly defying the document that legally binds them, the Federal Reserve Act of 1913.

The poor and middle class end up paying the price for the Fed ignoring the law to create INFLATION, while the financial insiders and politicians get richer due to the Cantillon Effect.

THIS IS WHY WE NEED TO TAKE LEGAL ACTION!  We need to push back and show them they’re NOT above the law.  The Federal Reserve Act is meant to, not only constrain the central planners, but protect us from them.

So here are the “simple, fast steps!”

  • Sue under FOIA.
  • Audit Fed with documents received.
  • File lawsuit for violation of Federal Reserve Act (assuming law was broken).
  • Win.
  • #EndTheFed or at the least constrain them in the future and send a message to ALL central planners that they are NOT above the law.

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