THE CAPE CHARLES MIRROR APRIL 29, 2024 AT 11:56 AM
Paul R Plante, NYSPE says:
Following up on a perceptive comment elsewhere in here by Kim @ APRIL 28, 2024 AT 1:23 PM concerning these “government grants” of money coming down to localities from the federal government, where Kim remarks quite correctly that “local governments just view this as ‘free money,’“ and further following up on a comment made by myself above here @ APRIL 17, 2024 AT 5:49 PM, where I remarked that the last several days of my apparent quietude in here, as has again been the case these last so many days, is because I am forced by circumstances way beyond my control, like trying to stop a train wreck, to instead be “out there” in what these days passes for the “real” world, where I am embroiled in a controversy splitting my small community which is a direct outcome of what happens when BIDEN INFRASTRUCTURE MONEY is mindlessly made available to small towns like mine for alleged “infrastructure” improvements, which small towns, to get their hands on what they consider “free money,” a windfall of riches into their pockets courtesy of the federal government in Washington, D.C., have to promise to put their local taxpayers in hock for a certain percentage of the project cost, whether those taxpayers want or need the project, in this case a public water supply for a school that already has a public water supply, without we who are the taxpayers having any say in the matter, period, largely because the process of actually getting that money, being entirely political in nature, is going on behind closed doors with absolutely no transparency for the affected taxpayers of whom I am one, as can be seen beginning @6:34 into this video of the April 11, 2024 Poestenkill, New York town board meeting ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc0BOo3NIa4 ) where I go ballistic with respect to us being lied to and misled as I vent some incandescent rage at a corrupt town board for selling us into debt slavery to get their hands on some $5,277,567 of grant money of which $670,367 is coming from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law-EC grant, and $1,693,ooo in a congressional community project funding grant from Kirsten Gillibrand, with us in a small community being on the hook for a minimum of $272,433, subject to cost overruns we will also be on the hook for, all based upon an imaginary crisis at local middle school as the need for the grant money.
In other words, to get their hands on this “free government money,” the Poestenkill town board simply lied, knowing they could and would get away with it, because first of all, given the secrecy, who would even know, and then, once they did find out, which always happens, other than vent some fury about it, as I am seen and heard doing in that video, and make some noise, which goes away real soon, what can they do about it?
Which takes us to a letter on the subject I just sent out this morning to Democrat New York state governor Kathy Hochul wherein was stated as follows, to wit:
29 APRIL 2024
The Honorable Kathy Hochul
Governor of New York State
NYS State Capitol Building
Albany, NY 12224
RE: Questionable WIIA Grants in Town of Poestenkill, Rensselaer County; Condemnation by Poestenkill Town Board of Algonquin Middle School carbon filtration system paid for in part by WIIA Grant as inadequate to protect children’s health; An incredible waste of taxpayer dollars
Dear Governor Hochul:
I am writing to you as a concerned taxpayer of the Averill Park Central School District, which district serves the needs of elementary, secondary, and special education students residing in the towns of Berlin, Brunswick, East Greenbush, Nassau, North Greenbush, Poestenkill, Sand Lake, Schodack and Stephentown concerning a $90,000 Water Infrastructure Improvement (WIIA) and Intermunicipal Grant awarded by your office in its wisdom on May 11, 2023 to the Averill Park Central School District and its Board of Education through the State Environmental Facilities Corporation for the effective treatment of drinking water at Algonquin Middle School in Poestenkill (T), Rensselaer County by installing granular activated carbon vessels for PFAS treatment at the Algonquin Middle School.
At the time your office awarded this WIIA Grant to the Averill Park School District less than a year ago on May 11, 2023, you were quoted as saying “New York is committed to providing communities with the resources needed to upgrade water systems and improve water quality,” and “We are continuing our nation-leading clean water investments with $500 million for clean water infrastructure in this year’s budget helping to protect the health and safety of our residents, preserve our environment, and improve quality of life for all with access to safe, reliable and clean water,” which is why your office awarded that WIIA grant, which act by your office we thought was fully supported by the following language from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation in a February 2022 Community Update to the people of Poestenkill, to wit:
Beginning in December 2021, the school installed a granular activated carbon (GAC) system to provide effective long-term treatment of the contaminants to ensure clean water for the school community.
end quote
What happened subsequent thereto is that the Town Board of Poestenkill, acting in its capacity as the Board of Health of the town of Poestenkill where the Algonquin Middle School is physically located, in conjunction with its Public Health Coordinator, a professional position in Poestenkill involving responsibility for supervision of the environmental health program of the Poestenkill Department of Health, and whose work involves the enforcement of state Public Health Laws relating to public water supplies in Poestenkill, appointed a Blue Ribbon Select Commission of Investigation headed up by Poestenkill councilman Eric Wohlleber and comprised of the best scientific and legal minds in Poestenkill including former Obama EPA administrator Judith Enck, which Blue Ribbon Investigatory Commission was charged by the Poestenkill town board in its capacity as Poestenkill board of health with conducting an independent investigation of the charcoal filters paid for in part by the WIIA Grant awarded by your office to the Averill Park School District on May 11, 2023.
As a result of that investigation, the findings of which were released at a public information meeting in Poestenkill on April 25, 2024, it was determined by the Poestenkill town board acting in its capacity as the Town of Poestenkill Board of Health that the carbon filtration system at the Algonquin School paid for in part by the $90,000 WIIA Grant awarded by your office on May 11, 2023 should be condemned and withdrawn from service as it is in essence a piece of junk that fails to protect the health and well-being of the students, faculty and staff of the Algonquin School, that the system is no good, that when your office awarded the Grant, it didn’t know what it was doing, and that in the learned opinion of the Poestenkill town board, its public health coordinator, and its Blue Ribbon Select Commission of Investigation, Tomhannock Reservoir water would better protect the health and safety of the children who are students at the Algonquin Middle School, along with faculty and staff, while preserving the environment in Poestenkill, and improving quality of life for all in the Algonquin Middle School in Poestenkill with access to safe, reliable and clean water from the City of Troy piped through the Town of Brunswick, and then through the Town of Poestenkill, for which purpose the town of Poestenkill is about to obtain another WIIA Grant of $2,314,200 to run a special water main to the school and to dismantle and scrap the carbon filtration system the May 11, 2023 WIIA Grant awarded by your office in part paid for.
Which raises the important question of how on earth this fiscal fiasco could have happened in the first place, where the State Environmental Facilities Corporation approved a $90,000 grant to the Averill Park Central School District for something worthless, and is now forced to have to award a $2,314,200 WIIA Grant to the town board of Poestenkill to undo and correct the harm done by the $90,000 WIIA Grant on May 11, 2023 to the Board of Education of the Averill Park Central School District that paid in part for a system the town board of Poestenkill acting as board of health of Poestenkill has determined is an unsafe piece of junk by dismantling and scrapping the charcoal filters and ordering the Averill Park School Board to hook up to Poestenkill’s municipal water supply, instead.
Thanking you in advance for a prompt response to this taxpayer inquiry, I remain
Respectfully,
Paul R. Plante
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/paul-p ... ent-922756
AMERICA'S FIGHTING BULLDOG JOE BIDEN
Re: AMERICA'S FIGHTING BULLDOG JOE BIDEN
REUTERS
"US Treasury to borrow $243 billion in Q2, higher than January forecast"
By Alden Bentley
April 29, 2024
April 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury said on Monday it expects to borrow $243 billion in the second quarter, $41 billion more than the January estimate largely due to lower cash receipts, partially offset by a higher cash balance at the beginning of the quarter.
The second-quarter financing estimate assumes a cash balance of $750 billion at the end of June, the Treasury said in a statement.
Attention now turns to Wednesday when the Treasury will detail its borrowing plans and auction sizes of various maturities.
With yields near the highest in months, the market has been highly attuned to the supply of Treasuries as concerns mount over rapidly rising U.S. debt.
The Federal Open Market Committee is expected to keep its benchmark rate unchanged on Wednesday at the end of its two-day meeting.
Speculation is growing that the Federal Reserve will not pivot to easing rates until late this year, given the U.S. economic strength and inflation that is stuck above its target rate of 2%.
At the same time, the Fed is expected to soon taper its quantitative tightening program, in which it lets bonds it bought during the pandemic to mature without replacing them on its balance sheet.
That will affect how much cash the Treasury needs to raise via Treasury bills.
Treasury officials said on Monday the borrowing estimates assumed no change to the Fed's current $60 billion per month roll-off of Treasuries.
The Treasury also announced it expects to borrow $847 billion in the third quarter, as it projects a cash balance of $850 billion at the end of September.
It also said in the first quarter the Treasury borrowed $748 billion in net marketable debt.
It ended the first quarter with a cash balance of $775 billion.
The Treasury explained that the end-March cash balance was $12 billion below the January forecast because higher cash receipts and lower outlays were partially offset by a $25 billion higher ending cash balance.
Reporting by Alden Bentley; Editing by Richard Chang
https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/us-t ... 024-04-29/
"US Treasury to borrow $243 billion in Q2, higher than January forecast"
By Alden Bentley
April 29, 2024
April 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury said on Monday it expects to borrow $243 billion in the second quarter, $41 billion more than the January estimate largely due to lower cash receipts, partially offset by a higher cash balance at the beginning of the quarter.
The second-quarter financing estimate assumes a cash balance of $750 billion at the end of June, the Treasury said in a statement.
Attention now turns to Wednesday when the Treasury will detail its borrowing plans and auction sizes of various maturities.
With yields near the highest in months, the market has been highly attuned to the supply of Treasuries as concerns mount over rapidly rising U.S. debt.
The Federal Open Market Committee is expected to keep its benchmark rate unchanged on Wednesday at the end of its two-day meeting.
Speculation is growing that the Federal Reserve will not pivot to easing rates until late this year, given the U.S. economic strength and inflation that is stuck above its target rate of 2%.
At the same time, the Fed is expected to soon taper its quantitative tightening program, in which it lets bonds it bought during the pandemic to mature without replacing them on its balance sheet.
That will affect how much cash the Treasury needs to raise via Treasury bills.
Treasury officials said on Monday the borrowing estimates assumed no change to the Fed's current $60 billion per month roll-off of Treasuries.
The Treasury also announced it expects to borrow $847 billion in the third quarter, as it projects a cash balance of $850 billion at the end of September.
It also said in the first quarter the Treasury borrowed $748 billion in net marketable debt.
It ended the first quarter with a cash balance of $775 billion.
The Treasury explained that the end-March cash balance was $12 billion below the January forecast because higher cash receipts and lower outlays were partially offset by a $25 billion higher ending cash balance.
Reporting by Alden Bentley; Editing by Richard Chang
https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/us-t ... 024-04-29/
Re: AMERICA'S FIGHTING BULLDOG JOE BIDEN
REUTERS
"U.S. chip bans not meant to hobble China's growth, Blinken says"
By Stephen Nellis
April 26, 2024
April 26 (Reuters) - U.S. export controls on sending advanced computing chips to China are not meant to hold back China's economy or technological development, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during an interview with National Public Radio on Friday.
Since 2022, U.S. officials have imposed sweeping controls on which computing chips can be exported to China, cutting off some sales from Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices and Intel, among others.
Those controls followed earlier bans on shipping chips to Huawei Technologies.
But U.S. officials have granted at least two U.S. companies - Intel and Qualcomm - licenses to keep shipping chips to Huawei, which is using an Intel chip to power a new laptop model.
Two Republican lawmakers earlier this week criticized the exemption for Intel, but in the interview with NPR, Blinken highlighted the device as a sign the U.S. was not trying to hobble China.
"I saw that Huawei just put out a new laptop that it boasted was AI capable, that uses an Intel chip," Blinken told NPR host Steve Inskeep while visiting Beijing.
"I think it demonstrates that what we're focused on is only the most sensitive technology that could pose a threat to our security."
"We're not focused on cutting off trade, or for that matter containing or holding back China."
Intel and Qualcomm's licenses to sell to Huawei were granted during President Donald Trump's administration and have remained in place under President Joe Biden.
Those companies' direct competitors, AMD and MediaTek, have not received similar exemptions, and neither the Trump nor Biden administrations have explained why.
Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Sandra Maler
https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-c ... 024-04-26/
"U.S. chip bans not meant to hobble China's growth, Blinken says"
By Stephen Nellis
April 26, 2024
April 26 (Reuters) - U.S. export controls on sending advanced computing chips to China are not meant to hold back China's economy or technological development, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during an interview with National Public Radio on Friday.
Since 2022, U.S. officials have imposed sweeping controls on which computing chips can be exported to China, cutting off some sales from Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices and Intel, among others.
Those controls followed earlier bans on shipping chips to Huawei Technologies.
But U.S. officials have granted at least two U.S. companies - Intel and Qualcomm - licenses to keep shipping chips to Huawei, which is using an Intel chip to power a new laptop model.
Two Republican lawmakers earlier this week criticized the exemption for Intel, but in the interview with NPR, Blinken highlighted the device as a sign the U.S. was not trying to hobble China.
"I saw that Huawei just put out a new laptop that it boasted was AI capable, that uses an Intel chip," Blinken told NPR host Steve Inskeep while visiting Beijing.
"I think it demonstrates that what we're focused on is only the most sensitive technology that could pose a threat to our security."
"We're not focused on cutting off trade, or for that matter containing or holding back China."
Intel and Qualcomm's licenses to sell to Huawei were granted during President Donald Trump's administration and have remained in place under President Joe Biden.
Those companies' direct competitors, AMD and MediaTek, have not received similar exemptions, and neither the Trump nor Biden administrations have explained why.
Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Sandra Maler
https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-c ... 024-04-26/
Re: AMERICA'S FIGHTING BULLDOG JOE BIDEN
REUTERS
"US regulators seize troubled lender Republic First, sell it to Fulton Bank"
By Reuters
April 26, 2024
April 26 (Reuters) - U.S. regulators have seized Republic First Bancorp and agreed to sell it to Fulton Bank, underscoring the challenges facing regional banks a year after the collapse of three peers.
Philadelphia-based Republic First, which had abandoned funding talks with a group of investors, was seized by the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC), appointed as a receiver, said on Friday Fulton Bank, a unit of Fulton Financial Corp, will assume substantially all deposits and purchase all the assets of Republic Bank, which is the operating name for Republic First, to "protect depositors".
Republic Bank had about $6 billion in total assets and $4 billion in total deposits, as of Jan. 31, 2024.
The FDIC estimated the cost of the failure to its fund will be $667 million.
Apart from deposits, Republic also had borrowings and other liabilities of approximately $1.3 billion, Fulton said in a statement.
Fulton said the deal almost doubles its presence in the Philadelphia market with combined company deposits of approximately $8.6 billion.
"With this transaction, we are excited to double our presence across the region," said Fulton Chairman and CEO Curt Myers in a statement.
Republic Bank's 32 branches in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York will reopen as branches of Fulton Bank on Saturday or on Monday during business hours.
The decision marks the latest U.S. regional bank failure following the unexpected collapses of three lenders - Silicon Valley and Signature in March 2023 and First Republic in May.
Republic Bank had struck a deal with an investor group that included veteran businessman George Norcross and high-profile attorney Philip Norcross late last year, but the effort was terminated in February.
After that deal collapsed, the FDIC resumed efforts to seize and sell the bank, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news.
Republic Bank cut jobs and exited its mortgage origination business in early 2023 as it reeled under pressure from higher costs and inability to improve profitability.
The bank's stock price has tumbled from just over $2 at the start of the year to about 1 cent on Friday, leaving it with a market capitalization below $2 million.
Its shares were delisted from the Nasdaq in August and now trade over the counter.
Piper Sandler & Co and BofA Securities acted as financial advisers to Fulton, while Sullivan & Cromwell LLP acted as legal adviser.
Reporting by Manas Mishra, Pritam Biswas and Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Saeed Azhar in New York; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar, Sriraj Kalluvila and Muralikumar Anantharaman
https://www.reuters.com/business/financ ... 024-04-26/
"US regulators seize troubled lender Republic First, sell it to Fulton Bank"
By Reuters
April 26, 2024
April 26 (Reuters) - U.S. regulators have seized Republic First Bancorp and agreed to sell it to Fulton Bank, underscoring the challenges facing regional banks a year after the collapse of three peers.
Philadelphia-based Republic First, which had abandoned funding talks with a group of investors, was seized by the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC), appointed as a receiver, said on Friday Fulton Bank, a unit of Fulton Financial Corp, will assume substantially all deposits and purchase all the assets of Republic Bank, which is the operating name for Republic First, to "protect depositors".
Republic Bank had about $6 billion in total assets and $4 billion in total deposits, as of Jan. 31, 2024.
The FDIC estimated the cost of the failure to its fund will be $667 million.
Apart from deposits, Republic also had borrowings and other liabilities of approximately $1.3 billion, Fulton said in a statement.
Fulton said the deal almost doubles its presence in the Philadelphia market with combined company deposits of approximately $8.6 billion.
"With this transaction, we are excited to double our presence across the region," said Fulton Chairman and CEO Curt Myers in a statement.
Republic Bank's 32 branches in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York will reopen as branches of Fulton Bank on Saturday or on Monday during business hours.
The decision marks the latest U.S. regional bank failure following the unexpected collapses of three lenders - Silicon Valley and Signature in March 2023 and First Republic in May.
Republic Bank had struck a deal with an investor group that included veteran businessman George Norcross and high-profile attorney Philip Norcross late last year, but the effort was terminated in February.
After that deal collapsed, the FDIC resumed efforts to seize and sell the bank, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news.
Republic Bank cut jobs and exited its mortgage origination business in early 2023 as it reeled under pressure from higher costs and inability to improve profitability.
The bank's stock price has tumbled from just over $2 at the start of the year to about 1 cent on Friday, leaving it with a market capitalization below $2 million.
Its shares were delisted from the Nasdaq in August and now trade over the counter.
Piper Sandler & Co and BofA Securities acted as financial advisers to Fulton, while Sullivan & Cromwell LLP acted as legal adviser.
Reporting by Manas Mishra, Pritam Biswas and Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Saeed Azhar in New York; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar, Sriraj Kalluvila and Muralikumar Anantharaman
https://www.reuters.com/business/financ ... 024-04-26/
Re: AMERICA'S FIGHTING BULLDOG JOE BIDEN
REUTERS
"US consumer confidence deteriorates in April"
By Reuters
April 30, 2024
WASHINGTON, April 30 (Reuters) - U.S. consumer confidence deteriorated in April, falling to its lowest level in more than 1-1/2 years amid worries about the labor market and income, a survey showed on Tuesday.
The Conference Board said that its consumer confidence index fell to 97.0 this month, the lowest level since July 2022, from a downwardly revised 103.1 in March.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the index little changed at 104.0 from the previously reported 104.7
"Confidence retreated further in April as consumers became less positive about the current labor market situation, and more concerned about future business conditions, job availability, and income," said Dana Peterson, chief economist at the Conference Board in Washington.
"According to April's write-in responses, elevated price levels, especially for food and gas, dominated consumer’s concerns, with politics and global conflicts as distant runners-up."
Consumers' inflation expectations were unchanged at 5.3%.
Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama
https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/us-c ... 024-04-30/
"US consumer confidence deteriorates in April"
By Reuters
April 30, 2024
WASHINGTON, April 30 (Reuters) - U.S. consumer confidence deteriorated in April, falling to its lowest level in more than 1-1/2 years amid worries about the labor market and income, a survey showed on Tuesday.
The Conference Board said that its consumer confidence index fell to 97.0 this month, the lowest level since July 2022, from a downwardly revised 103.1 in March.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the index little changed at 104.0 from the previously reported 104.7
"Confidence retreated further in April as consumers became less positive about the current labor market situation, and more concerned about future business conditions, job availability, and income," said Dana Peterson, chief economist at the Conference Board in Washington.
"According to April's write-in responses, elevated price levels, especially for food and gas, dominated consumer’s concerns, with politics and global conflicts as distant runners-up."
Consumers' inflation expectations were unchanged at 5.3%.
Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama
https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/us-c ... 024-04-30/
Re: AMERICA'S FIGHTING BULLDOG JOE BIDEN
THE CAPE CHARLES MIRROR APRIL 30, 2024 AT 5:12 PM
Paul R Plante, NYSPE says:
To understand what is going on here some 476.2 miles to the north of Cape Charles when I say I am embroiled in a controversy splitting my small community, it must first be understood that this particular controversy is a direct outcome of what happens when BIDEN INFRASTRUCTURE MONEY is mindlessly made available to small towns like mine for alleged “infrastructure” improvements, in this case allegedly providing municipal water to a school that already has its own water supply, which controversy dividing the community in this case involving what I would say is a CLASSIC TEXTBOOK CASE of blatant TAXPAYER FRAUD with these two WIIA grants, one to put something in, the other to tear that something back out and replace it with something else again, which project is going to reap that class of persons I call GRANT GRIFTERS (con artists: someone who swindles people out of money through fraud; as in “I see these consultants as grifters who prey upon people”) as is the case here, a minimum of $395,000 for “engineering,” plus $140,000 for what they call “construction observation,” with another $100,000 for what they are calling “legal/administrative” costs, plus $60,000 for what they call “geotechnical,” $65,000 for “survey and mapping,” and $7,500 for “environmental,” whatever in fact that might be, so all in all a nice paycheck for the consultants, who have an inside political track as middlemen for these state and federal grants, which is why these small towns use them, or perhaps more properly, why these GRANT GRIFTERS use these small towns as an excuse to tap into more state and federal money, no questions asked and EVERYBODY involved is very happy, while the taxpayers footing the bills are getting royally screwed with no voice whatsoever in the matter, period, as how these grants are obtained is a totally closed process, and to get their hands on what they consider “free money” these GRANT GRIFTERS are promising them, in this case a windfall of riches into their pockets courtesy of the federal government in Washington, D.C. to the tune of $670,367 from Joe Biden and $1,693,000 from Kirsten Gillibrand to tear out what was paid for by a $90,000 WIIA grant in May of 2023, the town board has to promise to put their local taxpayers in hock for a certain percentage of the project cost, whether those taxpayers want or need the project, in this case a public water supply for a school that already has a public water supply, without we who are the taxpayers having any say in the matter, period, largely because, as was said above, the process of actually getting that money, being entirely political in nature, is going on behind closed doors with absolutely no transparency for the affected taxpayers of whom I am one.
As to HOW the community is being split, this following article from a local newsletter I started in imitation of the Cape Charles Mirror, given I have no other voice in my small community, where to be an “anti” is to be a pariah and an “outsider,” notwithstanding I have lived there for over 70 years now, gives a good understanding of where this matter has escalated to in the last so many days. to wit:
POESTENKILL CLARION, CHRONICLE & GAZETTE
Dedicated to the protection and preservation of intellectual liberty in Poestenkill
April 29th 2024 Edition
“THE WATER DISTRICT NO 2 FLIM-FLAM – AN INCREDIBLE WASTE OF TAXPAYER MONEY AND HOW ‘SLIPPERY TOM’ SAVED LABERGE’S BACON”
So, as we concerned taxpayers can clearly see here, what Poestenkill and Laberge are pushing for with their bush-league, amateur hour scam on the taxpayers in order to put some huge coin in Laberge’s pockets at taxpayer expense is an incredible, irresponsible and deliberate waste of taxpayer dollars, because there already has been one $90,000 WIIA grant made in May of 2023 to install granular activated carbon vessels for PFAS treatment at the Algonquin Middle School, and what Laberge and Poestenkill are trying to get with this water district no. 2 FLIM-FLAM of theirs is a second $2,314,299 WIIA grant for Poestenkill to take the brand-new carbon filters paid for by the first WIIA grant and toss them in the garbage, scrap them, and instead replace them with Troy water paid for by the second WIIA grant and the people of Poestenkill.
As to the very skillful map scam Democrat Poestenkill supervisor Tom Russell is pulling on us here with his water district no. 2 FLIM-FLAM, as the Democrat plays every dirty, slippery, oily, slimy political trick in his extensive arsenal developed, honed and polished during his time as Keith Hammond’s Poestenkill planning board chairman in his bid to be a hero in the eyes of his masters the Laberge Group, from whom the Democrat takes his marching orders, as was made incandescently clear to all on April 3, 2024 at the so-called “water district no. 2 information hearing” at the Poestenkill fire house, where no record of the proceeding was made, there is a good shot of the bogus map with no title block being called water district no. 2 by Laberge and the Poestenkill town board at 26:37 in the Youtube video of the April 25, 2024 water district no. 2 comic opera farce, which farce one would expect to encounter in the pages of National Lampoon, not in real life, said farce conducted by “Slippery Tom” Russell, an honorific (a title expressing high status and respect) awarded to the Democrat by those in Poestenkill qualified to render such judgments, and that is high praise indeed awarded there for Mr. Russel’s stellar performance of both knowledge of and proficiency at the venerable art and science of SLIMEBALL and GUTTER politics as a Laberge shill that evening: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8r1X3GYZE8 , begins at 27.30.
As to that bogus “map” and what caused Poestenkill councilman Burzesi, like myself and Ronald Laberge a licensed professional engineer in New York subject to Section 29 of the Rules of the NY Board of Regents which make it clear as glass to each of us that unprofessional conduct in the practice of professional engineering shall include conduct in the practice of the profession which evidences moral unfitness to practice the profession, and/or being associated in a professional capacity with any project or practice known to the licensee to be fraudulent or dishonest in character, rules I am accused of taking far too seriously in Poestenkill, where “fast and loose” are the order of the day, unless you are the Shuhart’s, to run squealing to the supervisor about the need to stifle and thwart me at the April 25, 2024 FARCE the Democrat called a “public hearing” by not allowing me to question Laberge, which should have happened in a legitimate public hearing, on Tue, April 23, 2024 @ 1:58 PM, I sent the following e-mail to councilman Burzesi, to wit:
I don’t know about you, Frank, because each of us has to set their own moral compass here in a town where feeding off the taxpayers isn’t a crime and dishonesty is not a federal offence, but I have called out this Laberge for being dishonest (at the May 11, 2023 public hearing), and I intend to do so again Thursday night, and I am going to question him about the specific meaning of the language in his engineering certification of 29 August 2022, what exactly was it that he was certifying, did his certification include the map he had taken pains to put in his report?
And I am going to ask the town board to clarify exactly what it was they were listing as an unlisted action in September of 2022 and then gave a neg. dec. to.
And Frank, seriously, and I am speaking as a town resident, both you and Tom Russell have absolutely no claim whatsoever to ignorance here as to what is going on with this MAP SCAM.
Tom Russell was planning board chairman responsible for administering DUE PROCESS and the town code, plus he was the town’s chief SEQRA compliance officer, so he can’t say he has no idea what is going on here.
You were zoning board chairman responsible for INTERPRETING the town code, and you also administered SEQRA.
So how come you think you can slide by me this tall tale or outright lie that the map referred in the hearing notice for the May 11, 2023 hearing as having been accepted by the Poestenkill town board in AUGUST of 2022 is that map of a segment presented at the May 11, 2023 hearing, and again by the town at the April 3, 2024 hearing?
Do you honestly think I am that stupid so as to actually believe that falsehood?
Would be silly on your part, Frank, if you were foolish enough to make that mistake because Keith Hammond told you I was a RETARD and you believed him.
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/paul-p ... ent-923292
Paul R Plante, NYSPE says:
To understand what is going on here some 476.2 miles to the north of Cape Charles when I say I am embroiled in a controversy splitting my small community, it must first be understood that this particular controversy is a direct outcome of what happens when BIDEN INFRASTRUCTURE MONEY is mindlessly made available to small towns like mine for alleged “infrastructure” improvements, in this case allegedly providing municipal water to a school that already has its own water supply, which controversy dividing the community in this case involving what I would say is a CLASSIC TEXTBOOK CASE of blatant TAXPAYER FRAUD with these two WIIA grants, one to put something in, the other to tear that something back out and replace it with something else again, which project is going to reap that class of persons I call GRANT GRIFTERS (con artists: someone who swindles people out of money through fraud; as in “I see these consultants as grifters who prey upon people”) as is the case here, a minimum of $395,000 for “engineering,” plus $140,000 for what they call “construction observation,” with another $100,000 for what they are calling “legal/administrative” costs, plus $60,000 for what they call “geotechnical,” $65,000 for “survey and mapping,” and $7,500 for “environmental,” whatever in fact that might be, so all in all a nice paycheck for the consultants, who have an inside political track as middlemen for these state and federal grants, which is why these small towns use them, or perhaps more properly, why these GRANT GRIFTERS use these small towns as an excuse to tap into more state and federal money, no questions asked and EVERYBODY involved is very happy, while the taxpayers footing the bills are getting royally screwed with no voice whatsoever in the matter, period, as how these grants are obtained is a totally closed process, and to get their hands on what they consider “free money” these GRANT GRIFTERS are promising them, in this case a windfall of riches into their pockets courtesy of the federal government in Washington, D.C. to the tune of $670,367 from Joe Biden and $1,693,000 from Kirsten Gillibrand to tear out what was paid for by a $90,000 WIIA grant in May of 2023, the town board has to promise to put their local taxpayers in hock for a certain percentage of the project cost, whether those taxpayers want or need the project, in this case a public water supply for a school that already has a public water supply, without we who are the taxpayers having any say in the matter, period, largely because, as was said above, the process of actually getting that money, being entirely political in nature, is going on behind closed doors with absolutely no transparency for the affected taxpayers of whom I am one.
As to HOW the community is being split, this following article from a local newsletter I started in imitation of the Cape Charles Mirror, given I have no other voice in my small community, where to be an “anti” is to be a pariah and an “outsider,” notwithstanding I have lived there for over 70 years now, gives a good understanding of where this matter has escalated to in the last so many days. to wit:
POESTENKILL CLARION, CHRONICLE & GAZETTE
Dedicated to the protection and preservation of intellectual liberty in Poestenkill
April 29th 2024 Edition
“THE WATER DISTRICT NO 2 FLIM-FLAM – AN INCREDIBLE WASTE OF TAXPAYER MONEY AND HOW ‘SLIPPERY TOM’ SAVED LABERGE’S BACON”
So, as we concerned taxpayers can clearly see here, what Poestenkill and Laberge are pushing for with their bush-league, amateur hour scam on the taxpayers in order to put some huge coin in Laberge’s pockets at taxpayer expense is an incredible, irresponsible and deliberate waste of taxpayer dollars, because there already has been one $90,000 WIIA grant made in May of 2023 to install granular activated carbon vessels for PFAS treatment at the Algonquin Middle School, and what Laberge and Poestenkill are trying to get with this water district no. 2 FLIM-FLAM of theirs is a second $2,314,299 WIIA grant for Poestenkill to take the brand-new carbon filters paid for by the first WIIA grant and toss them in the garbage, scrap them, and instead replace them with Troy water paid for by the second WIIA grant and the people of Poestenkill.
As to the very skillful map scam Democrat Poestenkill supervisor Tom Russell is pulling on us here with his water district no. 2 FLIM-FLAM, as the Democrat plays every dirty, slippery, oily, slimy political trick in his extensive arsenal developed, honed and polished during his time as Keith Hammond’s Poestenkill planning board chairman in his bid to be a hero in the eyes of his masters the Laberge Group, from whom the Democrat takes his marching orders, as was made incandescently clear to all on April 3, 2024 at the so-called “water district no. 2 information hearing” at the Poestenkill fire house, where no record of the proceeding was made, there is a good shot of the bogus map with no title block being called water district no. 2 by Laberge and the Poestenkill town board at 26:37 in the Youtube video of the April 25, 2024 water district no. 2 comic opera farce, which farce one would expect to encounter in the pages of National Lampoon, not in real life, said farce conducted by “Slippery Tom” Russell, an honorific (a title expressing high status and respect) awarded to the Democrat by those in Poestenkill qualified to render such judgments, and that is high praise indeed awarded there for Mr. Russel’s stellar performance of both knowledge of and proficiency at the venerable art and science of SLIMEBALL and GUTTER politics as a Laberge shill that evening: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8r1X3GYZE8 , begins at 27.30.
As to that bogus “map” and what caused Poestenkill councilman Burzesi, like myself and Ronald Laberge a licensed professional engineer in New York subject to Section 29 of the Rules of the NY Board of Regents which make it clear as glass to each of us that unprofessional conduct in the practice of professional engineering shall include conduct in the practice of the profession which evidences moral unfitness to practice the profession, and/or being associated in a professional capacity with any project or practice known to the licensee to be fraudulent or dishonest in character, rules I am accused of taking far too seriously in Poestenkill, where “fast and loose” are the order of the day, unless you are the Shuhart’s, to run squealing to the supervisor about the need to stifle and thwart me at the April 25, 2024 FARCE the Democrat called a “public hearing” by not allowing me to question Laberge, which should have happened in a legitimate public hearing, on Tue, April 23, 2024 @ 1:58 PM, I sent the following e-mail to councilman Burzesi, to wit:
I don’t know about you, Frank, because each of us has to set their own moral compass here in a town where feeding off the taxpayers isn’t a crime and dishonesty is not a federal offence, but I have called out this Laberge for being dishonest (at the May 11, 2023 public hearing), and I intend to do so again Thursday night, and I am going to question him about the specific meaning of the language in his engineering certification of 29 August 2022, what exactly was it that he was certifying, did his certification include the map he had taken pains to put in his report?
And I am going to ask the town board to clarify exactly what it was they were listing as an unlisted action in September of 2022 and then gave a neg. dec. to.
And Frank, seriously, and I am speaking as a town resident, both you and Tom Russell have absolutely no claim whatsoever to ignorance here as to what is going on with this MAP SCAM.
Tom Russell was planning board chairman responsible for administering DUE PROCESS and the town code, plus he was the town’s chief SEQRA compliance officer, so he can’t say he has no idea what is going on here.
You were zoning board chairman responsible for INTERPRETING the town code, and you also administered SEQRA.
So how come you think you can slide by me this tall tale or outright lie that the map referred in the hearing notice for the May 11, 2023 hearing as having been accepted by the Poestenkill town board in AUGUST of 2022 is that map of a segment presented at the May 11, 2023 hearing, and again by the town at the April 3, 2024 hearing?
Do you honestly think I am that stupid so as to actually believe that falsehood?
Would be silly on your part, Frank, if you were foolish enough to make that mistake because Keith Hammond told you I was a RETARD and you believed him.
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/paul-p ... ent-923292
Re: AMERICA'S FIGHTING BULLDOG JOE BIDEN
REUTERS
"Chipmaker Wolfspeed forecasts quarterly revenue below estimates as EV sales growth slows"
By Reuters
May 1, 2024
May 1 (Reuters) - Chipmaker Wolfspeed forecast current-quarter revenue below estimates on Wednesday as automakers grapple with high inventory levels due to slower-than-expected EV sales growth.
Shares of the company, which counts General Motors and Mercedes-Benz among its customers, fell about 4% in extended trading.
Wolfspeed makes chips out of silicon carbide, a more energy-efficient material than standard silicon for tasks such as transmitting power from an electric car's batteries to its motors.
EV demand has been growing at a slower-than-expected pace, attributed to high interest rates that lead to chip inventory build-ups at the automakers' factories.
The company said it expects fourth-quarter revenue between $185 million and $215 million, compared with analysts' estimate of $225.8 million, according to LSEG data.
"While the industrial and energy end markets pose short-term headwinds to our results, we firmly believe in the strength of our long-term prospects as the electrification of all things continues across a broad set of applications," CEO Gregg Lowe said in a statement.
Tesla reported a drop in quarterly deliveries in the first quarter of 2024, as it expects "notably slower" growth this year since automakers have pivoted to produce and sell more gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles.
Wolfspeed reported March-quarter revenue of $200.7 million, compared with estimates of $201.1 million, while net loss widened to $1.18 per share from 80 cents per share a year earlier.
Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona
https://www.reuters.com/technology/chip ... 024-05-01/
"Chipmaker Wolfspeed forecasts quarterly revenue below estimates as EV sales growth slows"
By Reuters
May 1, 2024
May 1 (Reuters) - Chipmaker Wolfspeed forecast current-quarter revenue below estimates on Wednesday as automakers grapple with high inventory levels due to slower-than-expected EV sales growth.
Shares of the company, which counts General Motors and Mercedes-Benz among its customers, fell about 4% in extended trading.
Wolfspeed makes chips out of silicon carbide, a more energy-efficient material than standard silicon for tasks such as transmitting power from an electric car's batteries to its motors.
EV demand has been growing at a slower-than-expected pace, attributed to high interest rates that lead to chip inventory build-ups at the automakers' factories.
The company said it expects fourth-quarter revenue between $185 million and $215 million, compared with analysts' estimate of $225.8 million, according to LSEG data.
"While the industrial and energy end markets pose short-term headwinds to our results, we firmly believe in the strength of our long-term prospects as the electrification of all things continues across a broad set of applications," CEO Gregg Lowe said in a statement.
Tesla reported a drop in quarterly deliveries in the first quarter of 2024, as it expects "notably slower" growth this year since automakers have pivoted to produce and sell more gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles.
Wolfspeed reported March-quarter revenue of $200.7 million, compared with estimates of $201.1 million, while net loss widened to $1.18 per share from 80 cents per share a year earlier.
Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona
https://www.reuters.com/technology/chip ... 024-05-01/
Re: AMERICA'S FIGHTING BULLDOG JOE BIDEN
REUTERS
"US manufacturing sector regresses in April; prices paid near two-year high"
By Reuters
May 1, 2024
WASHINGTON, May 1(Reuters) - U.S. manufacturing contracted in April amid a decline in orders after briefly expanding in the prior month, while a measure of prices paid by factories for inputs approached a two-year high.
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said on Wednesday that its manufacturing PMI dropped to 49.2 last month from 50.3 in March, which was the highest and first reading above 50 since September 2022.
A PMI reading above 50 indicates growth in the manufacturing sector, which accounts for 10.4% of the economy.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the PMI little changed at 50.
Manufacturing is being constrained by higher borrowing costs and spending shifting back to services and away from goods.
Spending on goods fell in the first quarter.
The ISM survey's forward-looking new orders sub-index decreased to 49.1 from 51.4 in March.
Output at factories slowed, with the production sub-index slipping to 51.3 after jumping to 54.6 in the prior month.
Despite weakening demand, inflation at the factory gate continued to heat up, suggesting that goods price disinflation could be close to running its course.
Falling goods prices were the major driver of the moderation in inflation last year.
The survey's measure of prices paid by manufacturers shot up to 60.9, the highest reading since June 2022, from 55.8 in March.
With price pressures picking up in the first quarter, the surge in input costs is unlikely to be welcomed by Federal Reserve officials as they wrap up their two-day policy meeting.
Policy makers are on Wednesday expected to leave the U.S. central bank's benchmark overnight interest rate unchanged in the current 5.25%-5.50% range, where it has been since July.
They have raised the policy rate by 525 basis points since March 2022.
Financial markets have pushed back expectations of a rate cut this year to September from June.
A handful of economists continue to expect that borrowing costs may be lowered in July in the belief that the labor market will slow noticeably in the coming months.
Others see the window closing for the Fed to start its easing cycle.
Input prices are rising even as delivery performance of suppliers to manufacturers has improved significantly, though the ISM noted in March that "some suppliers are struggling to keep up."
The survey's measure of supplier deliveries fell to 48.9 from 49.9 in March.
A reading below 50 indicates faster deliveries.
Factory employment continued to contract, but the pace is slowing.
The survey's measure of manufacturing employment increased to 48.6 from 47.4 in March.
This measure has, however, not been useful in predicting manufacturing payrolls in the government's closely watched employment report.
Manufacturing employment has been little changed this year.
Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama
https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/us-m ... 024-05-01/
"US manufacturing sector regresses in April; prices paid near two-year high"
By Reuters
May 1, 2024
WASHINGTON, May 1(Reuters) - U.S. manufacturing contracted in April amid a decline in orders after briefly expanding in the prior month, while a measure of prices paid by factories for inputs approached a two-year high.
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said on Wednesday that its manufacturing PMI dropped to 49.2 last month from 50.3 in March, which was the highest and first reading above 50 since September 2022.
A PMI reading above 50 indicates growth in the manufacturing sector, which accounts for 10.4% of the economy.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the PMI little changed at 50.
Manufacturing is being constrained by higher borrowing costs and spending shifting back to services and away from goods.
Spending on goods fell in the first quarter.
The ISM survey's forward-looking new orders sub-index decreased to 49.1 from 51.4 in March.
Output at factories slowed, with the production sub-index slipping to 51.3 after jumping to 54.6 in the prior month.
Despite weakening demand, inflation at the factory gate continued to heat up, suggesting that goods price disinflation could be close to running its course.
Falling goods prices were the major driver of the moderation in inflation last year.
The survey's measure of prices paid by manufacturers shot up to 60.9, the highest reading since June 2022, from 55.8 in March.
With price pressures picking up in the first quarter, the surge in input costs is unlikely to be welcomed by Federal Reserve officials as they wrap up their two-day policy meeting.
Policy makers are on Wednesday expected to leave the U.S. central bank's benchmark overnight interest rate unchanged in the current 5.25%-5.50% range, where it has been since July.
They have raised the policy rate by 525 basis points since March 2022.
Financial markets have pushed back expectations of a rate cut this year to September from June.
A handful of economists continue to expect that borrowing costs may be lowered in July in the belief that the labor market will slow noticeably in the coming months.
Others see the window closing for the Fed to start its easing cycle.
Input prices are rising even as delivery performance of suppliers to manufacturers has improved significantly, though the ISM noted in March that "some suppliers are struggling to keep up."
The survey's measure of supplier deliveries fell to 48.9 from 49.9 in March.
A reading below 50 indicates faster deliveries.
Factory employment continued to contract, but the pace is slowing.
The survey's measure of manufacturing employment increased to 48.6 from 47.4 in March.
This measure has, however, not been useful in predicting manufacturing payrolls in the government's closely watched employment report.
Manufacturing employment has been little changed this year.
Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama
https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/us-m ... 024-05-01/
Re: AMERICA'S FIGHTING BULLDOG JOE BIDEN
REUTERS
"Yellen to warn that eroding US democracy, Fed, threatens economic growth"
By David Lawder
May 1, 2024
WASHINGTON, May 1 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will make the argument on Friday that strong democratic institutions -- including an independent Federal Reserve -- are a key foundation for sustained and shared growth and prosperity, according to excerpts of remarks released by the Treasury.
Yellen, in an address to the McCain Institute's Sedona Forum in Arizona, will say that rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021 put democracy under threat, "spurred by a lie," according to the excerpts released on Wednesday.
"Undercutting democracy undercuts a foundation of sustainable and inclusive growth," Yellen will say in the remarks.
The speech, at a Republican-founded institution in the important election battleground state of Arizona, is expected to be among Yellen's most political addresses as Treasury secretary.
It is significant in that she will stray from promoting President Joe Biden's economic policies into a key argument that his campaign is making against Republican rival Donald Trump: that Trump put democracy at risk by egging on the Jan. 6 Capitol rioters at the end of his presidential term and is likely to further erode institutions if elected to a second term.
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Trump allies are drafting proposals that would attempt to erode the Federal Reserve's independence and give Trump more influence over the central bank if he wins in November.
Yellen will make a plug for maintaining Fed independence in her speech.
"As Chair of the Federal Reserve, I insisted on the Fed’s independence and transparency because I believe it matters for financial stability and economic growth," Yellen will say, according to the excerpts.
"Recent research has been consistent with my belief: It has shown that greater central bank independence is associated with greater price stability, which contributes significantly to long-term growth."
Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama
https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/yell ... cracy-fed-
threatens-economic-growth-2024-05-01/
"Yellen to warn that eroding US democracy, Fed, threatens economic growth"
By David Lawder
May 1, 2024
WASHINGTON, May 1 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will make the argument on Friday that strong democratic institutions -- including an independent Federal Reserve -- are a key foundation for sustained and shared growth and prosperity, according to excerpts of remarks released by the Treasury.
Yellen, in an address to the McCain Institute's Sedona Forum in Arizona, will say that rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021 put democracy under threat, "spurred by a lie," according to the excerpts released on Wednesday.
"Undercutting democracy undercuts a foundation of sustainable and inclusive growth," Yellen will say in the remarks.
The speech, at a Republican-founded institution in the important election battleground state of Arizona, is expected to be among Yellen's most political addresses as Treasury secretary.
It is significant in that she will stray from promoting President Joe Biden's economic policies into a key argument that his campaign is making against Republican rival Donald Trump: that Trump put democracy at risk by egging on the Jan. 6 Capitol rioters at the end of his presidential term and is likely to further erode institutions if elected to a second term.
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Trump allies are drafting proposals that would attempt to erode the Federal Reserve's independence and give Trump more influence over the central bank if he wins in November.
Yellen will make a plug for maintaining Fed independence in her speech.
"As Chair of the Federal Reserve, I insisted on the Fed’s independence and transparency because I believe it matters for financial stability and economic growth," Yellen will say, according to the excerpts.
"Recent research has been consistent with my belief: It has shown that greater central bank independence is associated with greater price stability, which contributes significantly to long-term growth."
Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama
https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/yell ... cracy-fed-
threatens-economic-growth-2024-05-01/
Re: AMERICA'S FIGHTING BULLDOG JOE BIDEN
REUTERS
"US trade deficit narrows slightly in March"
By Reuters
May 2, 2024
WASHINGTON, May 2 (Reuters) - The U.S. trade deficit narrowed slightly in March as a decline in imports was tempered somewhat by a plunge in exports.
The trade deficit contracted 0.1% to $69.4 billion, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis said on Thursday.
Data for February was revised to show the trade gap widening to $69.5 billion instead of $68.9 billion as previously reported.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the deficit climbing to $69.1 billion in March.
Trade, through a surge in imports, was a large drag on gross domestic product in the first quarter.
The economy grew at a 1.6% annualized rate last quarter after expanding at a 3.4% pace in the October-December period.
Imports dropped 1.6% in March to $327.0 billion.
Goods imports fell 1.6% to $263.8 billion.
There were decreases in imports of motor vehicles and parts as well as industrial supplies and materials, which include crude oil.
But imports of consumer goods increased $3.0 billion, boosted by pharmaceutical preparations.
Capital goods imports were the highest on record.
Services imports fell $1.1 billion to $63.2 billion, pulled down by transport and travel.
Exports tumbled 2.0% to $257.6 billion.
Goods exports plummeted 2.9% to $171.3 billion.
There were decreases in exports of capital goods, industrial supplies and materials, and foods, feeds and beverages.
Exports of services fell $0.2 billion to $86.4 billion.
Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci
https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/us-t ... 024-05-02/
"US trade deficit narrows slightly in March"
By Reuters
May 2, 2024
WASHINGTON, May 2 (Reuters) - The U.S. trade deficit narrowed slightly in March as a decline in imports was tempered somewhat by a plunge in exports.
The trade deficit contracted 0.1% to $69.4 billion, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis said on Thursday.
Data for February was revised to show the trade gap widening to $69.5 billion instead of $68.9 billion as previously reported.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the deficit climbing to $69.1 billion in March.
Trade, through a surge in imports, was a large drag on gross domestic product in the first quarter.
The economy grew at a 1.6% annualized rate last quarter after expanding at a 3.4% pace in the October-December period.
Imports dropped 1.6% in March to $327.0 billion.
Goods imports fell 1.6% to $263.8 billion.
There were decreases in imports of motor vehicles and parts as well as industrial supplies and materials, which include crude oil.
But imports of consumer goods increased $3.0 billion, boosted by pharmaceutical preparations.
Capital goods imports were the highest on record.
Services imports fell $1.1 billion to $63.2 billion, pulled down by transport and travel.
Exports tumbled 2.0% to $257.6 billion.
Goods exports plummeted 2.9% to $171.3 billion.
There were decreases in exports of capital goods, industrial supplies and materials, and foods, feeds and beverages.
Exports of services fell $0.2 billion to $86.4 billion.
Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci
https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/us-t ... 024-05-02/