The Fed Is Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Money Metals News Service
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The Fed Is Between a Rock and a Hard Place

(Mike Maharrey, Money Metals News Service) The Federal Reserve is between a rock and a hard place. It needs to cut interest rates because this debt-riddled economy simply can’t function in a high-rate environment. But the Fed can’t plausibly cut rates with price inflation still far above its target. 

As Mike Maharrey explains in this episode of Money Metals’ Midweek Memo, the Fed is damned if it does and damned if it doesn’t.

Mike opens the show with a Monty Python movie analogy to highlight the Fed’s dilemma. He then pivots into a breakdown of the January CPI report. He argues that it’s clear from the data that price inflation is far from defeated.



The markets were particularly displeased with this CPI print and threw quite a temper tantrum. Mike presents some of the highlights and offers his theory as to why the markets are responding this way. 

He notes that it is indeed a strange world when people sell an inflation hedge with evidence of elevated inflation. But it appears the markets are most concerned about getting interest rates down.

Mike talks about just one of the reasons why – the skyrocketing interest payments on the national debt.

Therein lies the rub. Everybody wants rate cuts. But inflation clearly isn’t dead. This is despite the fact monetary conditions aren’t historically tight. This is another aspect of the Fed’s dilemma. It needs to tighten more, but it knows it can’t because it will break the economy.

In fact, Mike argues that the Federal Reserve broke the economy a long time ago. He explains how and points out some of the symptoms that the mainstream isn’t paying attention to.

Mike summed it up this way:

No wonder everybody, including the central bankers over at the Fed, wants to cut rates. But price inflation is still there. And there they are, stuck between a rock and a hard place. It’s damned if you do, damned if you don’t. 

Do they pick more price inflation? Or do they pick an economic crash and financial crisis due to high rates? Or do we maybe get both?

Mike closes out the show with a call to action, pointing out that the selloff in gold and silver after the CPI report presents a potential buying opportunity for bargain hunters.

Articles Mentioned in the Show:

Mike Maharrey is a writer for Money Metals News Service and national communications director of the 10th Amendment Center. Follow him at twitter.com/mmaharrey10th.

GOP Candidate and Self-Purported FBI Whistleblower Targeted Rep. Santos Last Year

Ken Silva
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GOP Candidate and Self-Purported FBI Whistleblower Targeted Rep. Santos Last Year

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Last week, a man vying to become the GOP’s candidate to represent Ohio’s 2nd congressional district released a video in which he claimed to have been recruited by the FBI to infiltrate the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill protest.

“I can tell you 100% definitively that there were indeed undercover human assets and plainclothes FBI agents inside the crowd on January 6, 2021,” said the candidate, Derek Myers, who claimed to have documents to prove his assertions.

“I know this because I was the member of a program and recruited by the FBI to take part in such events. I was recruited in 2017 to be a part of the FBI’s program—known as confidential human assets, or what we call field operatives.”

Myers’s post was met with skepticism, with some asking why he didn’t release this information earlier. Others, such as former FBI agent Kyle Seraphin, blasted Myers for using incorrect nomenclature and other inconsistencies in his story. Seraphin further noted that Myers ran for office in 2022 as a Democrat.

It turns out, Myers is also the same person who claimed to have been recruited by the FBI to target former GOP Rep. George Santos.

Myers was a staffer for Santos, and said he left his role with the congressman and filed a sexual-harassment complaint against him last February. Myers told NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo last May that the FBI had approached him to inform against Santos while he was still working for the congressman.

“When I was working for the congressman as a legislative aide, I was approached by the FBI about infiltrating the congressman,” Myers said at the time. “The FBI was actively looking for someone close to the congressman so they could infiltrate him and try to get information from within his inner circle.”

Myers’s information seemed to take Cuomo by surprised. The news host asked Myers if he considered the FBI’s actions against Santos to be appropriate.

“I think they were looking for a human asset—someone close to the congressman who could feed them information, somebody within his inner circle,” Myers responded. “It’s not inappropriate for them to do that. They do that quite often.”

Santos, who was expelled from Congress last December and who faces federal fraud charges, took to Twitter Tuesday to warn Ohio voters about Myers’s past.

“During my time in office he stalked me and my staff, offered bribes and much more… he’s a physical danger to all of the people who cross him, and was in my list of priorities with Capitol Police,” Santos said.

“I urge you all to protect yourself and your staff as he is unhinged and unstable.”

Myers is running against 10 other GOP candidates in the upcoming primary, which is scheduled for March 19.

Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.

Report: CIA Targeted Trump Campaign Prior to Russiagate

Ken Silva
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Report: CIA Targeted Trump Campaign Prior to Russiagate

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Journalist Matt Taibbi released a bombshell report Tuesday, writing that Barack Obama’s CIA director, John Brennan, had targeted at least 26 Trump campaign officials ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

According to Taibbi’s report, the CIA’s targeting of the Trump officials happened “long before the summer of 2016,” which would predate the FBI’s Russiagate investigation. The report suggested that the CIA’s operation helped launch Russiagate.

“Until now, the official story has been that the FBI’s investigation began after Australian intelligence officials told US officials that a Trump aide had boasted to an Australian diplomat that Russia had damning material about Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. In truth, the US [intelligence community] asked the ‘Five Eyes’ intelligence alliance to surveil Trump’s associates and share the intelligence they acquired with US agencies,” Taibbi wrote. The Five Eyes nations are the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Taibbi’s report raises questions about why Special Counsel John Durham didn’t disclose the CIA’s involvement when he investigated the Russiagate probe. Durham released a report last year, finding that the FBI had no evidence of Trump-Russia collusion when it began its investigation, but Durham’s work fell far short of what Trump and his allies had hoped for.

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., has gone as far as to accuse Durham of being a part of the coverup. Gaetz said this when Durham insisted he couldn’t find Joseph Mifsud, an intelligence asset who initially contacted the Trump campaign, claiming that the Russians have dirt on Hillary Clinton.

According to Taibbi, evidence that Durham failed to bring to light may still be out there.

“Unknown details about the FBI’s investigation of the Trump campaign and raw intelligence related to the IC’s surveillance of the Trump campaign are in a 10-inch binder that Trump ordered to be declassified at the very end of his term,” Taibbi added, citing sources “close to a House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence investigation.”

The whereabouts of the alleged thick binder are reportedly unknown, according to the New York Post.

Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.

CNN More Worried about Italy’s ‘Far-Right’ than Illegals Gang Raping Teen Girl

Dmytro "Henry" Aleksandrov
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CNN More Worried about Italy’s ‘Far-Right’ than Illegals Gang Raping Teen Girl

(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) CNN became viral once again for publishing an article about a group of illegal aliens gang-raping a 13-year-old girl in Italy and, instead of concentrating on what happened, expressing concern about how it might help the “far-right.”

According to Modernity News, the girl was raped in front of her boyfriend in a public park in Catania, Sicily, by seven suspects who were all illegal aliens from Egypt, three of whom were under the age of 18.

Instead of taking the side of the victim, CNN exposed its far-left ideology once again by focusing on how the raping of a teenage girl in front of her boyfriend could increase political support for the “far-right.”

“Last month’s alleged gang rape in Catania has become not only a symbol of violence against women in the country, but a cause célèbre for Italy’s far-right government,” CNN’s Barbie Latza Nadeau wrote.

People on Twitter responded to the viral article with outrage.

“The media’s lack of shame is disgusting,” Woke Archive wrote.

Paul A. Szypula pointed out that this kind of coverage is the reason why nobody watches CNN.

“It’s horrible to see news organizations trying to whitewash rąpes in order to protect illegals. This kind of behavior is why CNN only gets 4 million viewers on all of their shows combined daily — if they’re lucky. It’s why CNN and the rest of the MSM is going out of business,” he wrote.

Elijah Schaffer of the Gateway Pundit also said what he thinks about CNN and other mainstream media outlets.

“You don’t hate the media enough,” he wrote.

Others remembered a joke that was once told by a stand-up comedian Norm Macdonald and now turned out to be a reality in 2024.

The author of the article also highlighted “a scathing op-ed in the right-leaning newspaper Il Giornale” because it accurately pointed out that the massive influx of military-age male illegal aliens from African and Middle Eastern countries is the reason why European women are being raped.

“Why are these individuals, without any requirement to access international protection, still in Italy and have not been subject to expulsion?” the editors of the newspaper wrote.

Mayorkas Becomes First Cabinet Member Impeached in Over a Century

Luis Cornelio
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Mayorkas Becomes First Cabinet Member Impeached in Over a Century

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) House Republicans delivered a historic blow to embattled DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over unprecedented illegal immigration, marking him as the first cabinet member to face impeachment since 1876.

The last cabinet member to face impeachment was Secretary of War William Belknap nearly 147 years ago, following accusations of corruption.

The 214-213 party vote followed House Republicans’ failure to secure enough support for two articles of impeachment against Mayorkas last week. The charges included allegations of lying to Congress about border security and a “willful and system refusal to comply with the law.”

According to the New York Post, DHS spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg rebuked the vote as a violation of the Constitution. 

“House Republicans will be remembered by history for trampling on the Constitution for political gain rather than working to solve the serious challenges at our border,” she claimed.

Mayorkas has largely dismissed the impeachment threat, asserting that neither he or President Joe Biden bear any responsibility for the massive uptick in illegal border crossings.

“It certainly is a crisis,” Mayorkas said of the border. “And we don’t bear responsibility for a broken system. And we’re doing a tremendous amount within that broken system. But fundamentally … Congress is the only one who can fix it.”

Even Democratic mayors and governors in historically pro-immigrant cities and states have urged the Biden administration to take decisive action against illegal border crossings.

The charges will now head to the Democratic-held Senate, where a two-thirds majority is needed to formally convict Mayorkas and remove him from office. 

As reported by the NY Post, the following 11 Republicans will serve as impeachment managers, aiming to convince the Senate why Mayorkas needs to be removed from office: 

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green, Tenn. And Reps. Michael Guest, Miss.; Michael McCaul, Texas; August Pfluger, Texas; Clay Higgins, La.; Ben Cline. Va.; Andy Biggs, Ariz.; Andrew Garbarino, NY.; Harriet Hageman, Wyo.; Laurel Lee, Fla.; and Marjorie Taylor Greene, Ga.

 

John Kirby ‘Frustrated’ at Bossy Jean-Pierre over Press Briefings

Luis Cornelio
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John Kirby ‘Frustrated’ at Bossy Jean-Pierre over Press Briefings

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) A recent report has shed light on the tense relationship between John Kirby, the newly promoted White House national security communications adviser, and Karine Jean-Pierre, the infamous White House press secretary.

The New York Times reported on Tuesday that Kirby has become “frustrated” with Jean-Pierre for controlling which reporters get to speak to him during press briefings. Making matters worse, Kirby seems to have his eye on Jean-Pierre’s job.

“Mr. Kirby had privately acknowledged, when asked, that he would one day like to be named press secretary, and he has expressed frustration that Ms. Jean-Pierre picked the reporters who ask him questions at briefings,” the Times reported, citing sources. 

The Times‘s reporting confirmed earlier rumors of growing animosity between the two White House officials, who formally share the highest staff title of “assistant to the president.” However, Kirby has emerged as a second de-facto spokesperson and Biden favorite following the Israeli-Hamas war on Oct. 7. 

Despite his decades-long experience in government and apparent knowledge of foreign policy, Kirby’s aspiration for the White House press secretary role faces one obstacle: Jean-Pierre.

Jean-Pierre has long boasted about being the first openly gay and black female as press secretary.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever had an image or a view of what it would be like as a historic figure in this role because you never know, but one thing that I can say is being the first, and I’ve had many firsts, it’s always very different,” Jean-Pierre declared in an interview.

Some of the individuals interviewed by the Times accused the Biden administration of not catering to black staffers, with journalist April Ryan criticizing the White House as “disrespectful” for forcing Jean-Pierre share the podium with Kirby.

“That’s a white male-dominated space, and I’ve had my share of foolishness from that building,” Ryan said. “I’m hypersensitive to disrespect toward Black women, because I know what that feels like and smells like.”

Despite facing increasing scrutiny regarding her qualifications for the role, which includes criticism from prominent figures like Tucker Carlson and Jordan Peterson, Jean-Pierre has committed to retaining her position until at least the 2024 presidential election.

Notably, Carlson asserted that Jean-Pierre’s proficiency in English is questionable, casting doubt on her ability to fulfill the duties of informing Americans.

‘Whites Are Psychopaths,’ UCSF Lecturer Says, Draws Outrage

Dmytro "Henry" Aleksandrov
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‘Whites Are Psychopaths,’ UCSF Lecturer Says, Draws Outrage

(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) After saying that “whites are psychopaths” during a recent guest lecture at the University of California San Francisco and receiving pushback and national attention through conservative media, a DEI “scholar” tried to defend himself by saying that he was taken out of context.

As part of the school’s Black History Month events, the university featured DEI propagandist Dante King during the Feb. 8, 2024, lecture that was titled “Diagnosing Whiteness and Anti-Blackness: White Psychopathology, Collective Psychosis and Trauma in America.”

A now infamous clip from the nearly two-hour lecture was obtained by Young America’s Foundation and posted on Twitter on the day after the lecture happened.

“Whites are psychopaths. And their behavior represents an underlying, biologically transmitted proclivity with roots deep in their evolutionary history… There is no discussion about the delusions and the perversion of whiteness. Say this with me: rape culture in America is a legal, economic and moral institution… So we’re going to, ‘we have it written in the law, you can rape black women – but we’ve never been a racist country!'” he said.

The hater of white people also criticized Gov. Ron DeSantis, R–Fla., for his efforts to eradicate anti-white messaging from public schools and universities within his state.

As expected, the clip went viral, which resulted in King facing the backlash for his hatred of white people.

According to the College Fix, the university tried to defend itself by releasing a vague statement about the promotion of “open dialogue and diverse perspectives,” without directly addressing King’s speech or the specific concerns of his critics.

King defended himself by saying that his remarks were taken out of context and that his goal was to “examine and educate” the students about the legal construction of colonial and post-colonial America, adding that his speech was not intended to incite hatred or division, even though his enthusiastic, almost theatrical performance during his speech says otherwise.

CBS News Fires Anchor Who Reported on Biden’s Alleged Crimes

Luis Cornelio
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CBS News Fires Anchor Who Reported on Biden’s Alleged Crimes

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS News, fired senior correspondent Catherine Herridge amid a rampant reduction of approximately 800 jobs, the New York Post reported on Tuesday.

Herridge’s dismissal coincided with her legal standoff over the non-disclosure of sources related to her reporting on a Chinese American and her damning coverage of the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden—topics that rarely make headlines in legacy media outlets.

The NY Post revealed that Herridge had previously clashed with CBS News President Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews, who faced scrutiny in 2021 over allegations of favoritism and other discriminatory hiring practices.

Another victim of the lay-offs was CBS News correspondent Jeff Pegues, whose publicized scolding of a female staffer in a reported “20-minute rant” may have led to his termination.

A source told the NY Post that Ciprian-Matthews may have weaponized the lay-offs in a bid to oust her foes. “She got rid of her enemies under the guise of budget cuts,” the source said. “She cleared the deck and she had to sacrifice some others like Pegues.”

Reactions exploded on Twitter as critics insinuated an alleged connection between Herridge’s departure and her reporting on allegations of corruption, bribery and influence peddling rocking Biden.

Characterizing Herridge’s firing as “wild,” conservative influencer Collin Rugg remarked, “Herridge was fired just hours after she reported on how Biden may have ‘retained sensitive documents related to specific countries involving his family’s foreign business dealings.’”

On Monday, Herridge reported on a letter sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland by congressional leaders regarding the transcript of President Joe Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur.

The letter’s senders, House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio; House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky.; and House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., are seeking answers to the evidence that Biden “willfully” retained classified documents despite lacking the authorization to do so.

Data Expert Identifies 35K Illegal Votes in Ga. Since 2020 Election

Jacob Bruns
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Data Expert Identifies 35K Illegal Votes in Ga. Since 2020 Election

(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) A data expert located nearly 35,000 illegal votes in the state of Georgia in the 2020 election, the Daily Signal reported.

Mark Davis, president of Georgia-based Data Productions Inc., noted that the 35k ballots were cast in the wrong jurisdictions. Despite his evidence, public officials have not responded to his request for an investigation.

Davis found similar data suggesting vote fraud in 2021 and 2022. In May of 2021, he pushed for Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to look at his data.

“Attached is a file of 34,869 records I would like the Secretary of State’s Office to investigate for residency issues relating to the November general election,” Davis requested in a 2021 email to Gabe Sterling, chief operating officer for the secretary of state’s office.

According to Davis, the problem has been ongoing with many of these voters, who “may also have had the same residency issues when they cast votes in previous elections as well.”

But Raffensperger and others failed to acknowledge or address the discrepancies, leading to the same thing happening in 2022.

Now, Davis suggested, Americans should anticipate the same thing happening in the 2024 election.

“The same thing is going to happen again,” Davis noted. “… You can’t fix a problem if you don’t admit you have a problem.”

According to Davis, it makes sense that elected officials would ignore such problems.

It would be disadvantageous for to Raffensperger to admit that the elections he has administered have been fraudulent.

“The secretary of state doesn’t want to address this because it happened on his watch,” Davis said. “I don’t know why he’s being like that. It’s happened on everyone’s watch.”

Georgia is expected to be a key swing state in the 2024 election. In 2020, President Joe Biden, amid numerous irregularities, defeated Trump by 11,000 votes.

Hunter Biden Business Associate Says Joe Met w/ Chairman of Chinese Energy Firm

Contributing Author
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Hunter Biden Business Associate Says Joe Met w/ Chairman of Chinese Energy Firm

(Headline USA) President Joe Biden met with the chairman of a Chinese energy firm that Hunter Biden sought to do business with, according to testimony from one of Hunter Biden’s former business partners.

Rob Walker, a former business associate of Hunter’s, told the House Oversight and Judiciary committees earlier this month that Joe Biden attended a meeting where he, Hunter and their other business partners proposed a joint venture to CEFC Chairman Ye Jianming.

“I don’t remember the exact time, but I remember being in Washington, D.C., and the former vice president stopped by. We were having lunch,” Walker said in his closed-door testimony, according to Fox News.

Walker estimated the meeting took place in 2017, after Joe Biden had finished his vice presidency.

“I can say it was for certain he was out of office,” Walker told lawmakers. “I’m certain—I’m certain Ye was there,” he continued, adding that there were also other CEFC business partners in the room.

The purpose of the meeting, according to Walker, was to discuss “ways we could work together” with CEFC.

“I don’t think we had structured a deal on how to work together at this point,” he said. “The former vice president was not there the entire time. He was there maybe 10 minutes. He spoke nice, you know, normal pleasantries. I think he probably did most of the talking and then left.” 

Walker insisted that Joe Biden was not directly involved with Hunter Biden’s subsequent business deals with CEFC, but admitted that Hunter’s last name helped make deals happen.

“He had an interesting last name that would probably get people in the door,” Walker said. “It had just seemed—if a U.S. entity was going to have a foreign national represent them, It would probably make more sense to come from Hunter versus me.”

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