RBC Ukraine
"Up-to-date US-supplied missiles to Ukraine fall short: Pentagon explains why"
Story by Daryna Vialko
27 APRIL 2024
Small-diameter high-precision GLSDB munitions did not meet expectations based on the experience of the war in Ukraine, stated Deputy US Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment William LaPlante at the CSIS security forum.
"One company, I won't say who they are, came up with a really cool idea of taking an air-to-ground weapon and doing a ground launch version of it, and it would be a long-range fire weapon."
"They raced and did it as fast as they could, we even limited the testing in this country."
"We said, look just test for safety..."
"And then we sent it to Ukrainians."
"It didn't work," explained LaPlante.
He explained that these munitions failed to perform for several reasons, including:
* interference from electronic warfare systems,
* typical debris and ground use,
* tactical application peculiarities.
Presumably, LaPlante was referring to the recently developed GLSDB missiles from Boeing, which were based on the GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bomb (SDB).
Their testing concluded in December last year, and the first confirmed use against Russians appeared in February this year.
LaPlante summarized the situation, emphasizing that "when you send something to people in fight for their lives, and it doesn't work, they'll try it three times and then they'll just throw it aside."
"So that's happened".
GLSDB in Ukraine
The discussions regarding the supply of GLSDB missiles to Ukraine began as early as 2022.
The United States hesitated for some time about supplying the new missiles, fearing it could escalate the conflict.
However, in February 2023, the Pentagon confirmed the transfer of GLSDB missiles to Ukraine.
At the time, Ukraine's Defense Minister, Oleksiy Reznikov, emphasized that Ukraine would not use this type of weaponry to strike Russian territory but rather to defend the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/up ... fccc&ei=25
POLITICS
Re: POLITICS
USA TODAY
"President Biden scraps 'Bidenomics' after slogan falls flat"
Story by Joey Garrison, USA TODAY
27 APRIL 2024
WASHINGTON ― Last June, in what the White House envisioned would be a turning-point speech in Chicago, President Joe Biden introduced a new slogan aimed at selling an economic revival.
The mantra was "Bidenomics."
And on this day, the word was plastered everywhere: flanking Biden on massive blue signs as he talked up an improving economy, across the base of his lectern, and draped down the walls of Chicago's historic post office where Biden spoke to a couple hundred supporters.
For the rest of the year, Biden would go on to tout "Bidenomics" about every time he discussed the economy as he sought to tie his policy agenda − investments in manufacturing, infrastructure and the middle class − to historically low unemployment, a robust jobs market, and inflation that, after peaking in the summer of 2022, was cooling.
But over time, all the "Bidenomics" talk has disappeared.
During a recent campaign swing this month in Pennsylvania − in which Biden made three stops and sought to contrast his economic agenda with former President Donald Trump's − Biden never mentioned the term "Bidenomics."
Nor did he utter the phrase during separate addresses to electrical workers and builders unions over the past week.
Or Thursday in Syracuse, N.Y., where he announced more than $6 billion in subsidies for two microchip factories.
The White House concluded that too many Americans didn't know what "Bidenomics" meant.
Congressional Democratic candidates and party activists never embraced the label as they work to overcome the president's low approval ratings to win back control of the House.
And because inflation has proven stubbornly high, the slogan became synonymous with an economy that, despite several strong metrics, many Americans fear is headed in the wrong direction.
"'Bidenomics' could mean anything to people, and we needed words or phrases that communicate more −like jobs, (tackling) rising costs and 'junk fees,'" said Celinda Lake, a former Biden campaign pollster in the 2020 election.
"'Bidenomics' ended up being confusing to voters because they thought it was Biden's economy rather than Biden's economic policies."
What 'Bidenomics' was supposed to mean versus what it became
"Bidenomics" was first coined by conservative critics of Biden in columns in the Financial Times and Wall Street Journal ahead of the 2020 election.
By embracing the "Bidenomics" tag, the White House hoped to turn an attack line used by Republicans into a strength − similar to Democrats embracing "Obamacare," originally a Republican slander, as the name for President Barack Obama's signature health care law.
From the White House's perspective, "Bidenomics" was supposed to encompass an economic platform focused on growing an economy "from the middle out and the bottom up" − cutting health-care costs, forcing billionaires to "pay their fair share" in taxes, eliminating so-called "junk fees" and leveraging the federal government for historic investments in manufacturing of microchips and clean energy, infrastructure and innovation.
If Republicans were going to use "Bidenomics" as an attack, why not work to define it to Biden's advantage?
"I don’t think they meant it as a compliment, but they started referring to my economic policies as 'Bidenomics.'"
"Well, guess what?"
"It’s working," Biden said in a speech last August, reciting a line he turned to often.
But the calculus ignored a reality: When much of the country heard "Bidenomics," it reminded them of high inflation, not Biden's efforts to make the U.S. a microchip hotbed or the nation's economic rebound since the pandemic.
Meanwhile, the outlook on the economy remains sour.
In a New York Times/Sienna College poll this month, only 21% of voters described the economy as "excellent/good," compared to 79% who called it "fair/poor."
"I think that the fundamental root of it all was that people thought the situation would be parallel to Obamacare," Lake said.
"And for a number of reasons, it wasn't remotely parallel to Obamacare."
Drew Westen, a professor of psychology and psychiatry at Emory University who consults for Democrats on messaging, questioned coining any policy or bill after a president's name, arguing it turns off nearly half the country automatically.
And he said while the economic resurgence after the pandemic is "a phenomenal achievement," not all people have felt it.
"It was a bad call to use that term," Westen said.
"At that time, people were seeing the Biden economy as the inflation economy."
"That appears to be changing, but I still wouldn't go back to 'Bidenomics.'"
How Biden's use of 'Bidenomics' disappeared over time
Biden still leans into his message of "investing in America" and promotes the same policies.
But nearly a month has passed since Biden said "Bidenomics" during public remarks.
It came during a March 26 speech in Raleigh, North Carolina on his efforts to lower health care costs.
Before then, Biden hadn't used the word "Bidenomics" since late January, according to a USA TODAY review of Biden's public remarks archived by the White House.
Most notably, Biden left "Bidenomics" out of his March 7 State of the Union address before Congress.
Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and other spokespeople for Biden, have also retired the phrase.
The messaging was very different last summer and fall.
Biden said "Bidenomics" 15 times in his June 28 speech in Chicago that debuted his new slogan to the nation.
He mentioned "Bidenomics" another 77 times in speeches through October, including as many as six or seven times in single speeches.
"'Bidenomics'" is just another way of saying 'restoring the American Dream,'" Biden said last year on multiple occasions.
"That's Bidenomics in action," was another favorite Biden line that later disappeared.
In a Sept. 14 speech in Largo, Maryland, Biden framed the presidential election as a "choice between Bidenomics and MAGAnomics," accusing Trump and Republicans of wanting to cut taxes for the wealthiest Americans and corporations, gut Social Security and Medicare and end cost-saving measures for the middle class.
Yet Biden touted "Bidenomics" only four more times in both November and December, and he has said it only three times total this year.
White House: 'The press is caught up in semantics'
From the outset, most Democratic House and Senate candidates were cool to embrace "Bidenomics" in their campaigns.
Although they defend Biden's economic policies, no campaign ads emerged using the "Bidenomics" term.
Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., a strong Biden ally, told NBC News in November that he didn't like the word.
"The people that he (Biden) stands for don’t deal with economics,” Clyburn said at the time.
"They deal with day-to-day issues."
"They have to educate their children and feed their families and develop their communities − and that doesn’t sound like ‘Bidenomics.’”
An analysis by Axios found congressional Democrats went from saying "Bidenomics" nearly 500 times last July in public speeches and social media posts to just 10 times in March, compared to 474 mentions of "Bidenomics" by Republicans in March.
In a statement to USA TODAY, the White House downplayed Biden's shift away from "Bidenomics" as the focus of the media, not everyday Americans, and argued the president is still talking regularly about the policies that make up "Bidenomics."
“While the press is caught up in semantics, consumer confidence is higher than at this point under Presidents Obama, Bush, Clinton, and Reagan; the President’s economic approval is rising; and he is on the road touting his accomplishments that are widely supported and making a real difference in peoples’ lives," said Michael Kikukawa, assistant White House press secretary.
"The President will continue talking about Bidenomics − his agenda to grow the economy from the middle out and bottom up," he said, calling his approach a "sharp contrast" with Republicans.
Viet Shelton, spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said House Democrats' and Biden's "victories for working families" is what will matter to voters in November − "not a slogan."
But if Democrats do look for another slogan, they might consider one Democrat's advice.
"If the the right suggests the term, don't use it," said Westen, author of "The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation."
"You never want to take the other side's branding of anything about you or your programs and run with it − because it's been designed by the other side to create the associations in people's minds that they want to create."
Reach Joey Garrison on X, formerly Twitter, @joeygarrison.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... fccc&ei=46
"President Biden scraps 'Bidenomics' after slogan falls flat"
Story by Joey Garrison, USA TODAY
27 APRIL 2024
WASHINGTON ― Last June, in what the White House envisioned would be a turning-point speech in Chicago, President Joe Biden introduced a new slogan aimed at selling an economic revival.
The mantra was "Bidenomics."
And on this day, the word was plastered everywhere: flanking Biden on massive blue signs as he talked up an improving economy, across the base of his lectern, and draped down the walls of Chicago's historic post office where Biden spoke to a couple hundred supporters.
For the rest of the year, Biden would go on to tout "Bidenomics" about every time he discussed the economy as he sought to tie his policy agenda − investments in manufacturing, infrastructure and the middle class − to historically low unemployment, a robust jobs market, and inflation that, after peaking in the summer of 2022, was cooling.
But over time, all the "Bidenomics" talk has disappeared.
During a recent campaign swing this month in Pennsylvania − in which Biden made three stops and sought to contrast his economic agenda with former President Donald Trump's − Biden never mentioned the term "Bidenomics."
Nor did he utter the phrase during separate addresses to electrical workers and builders unions over the past week.
Or Thursday in Syracuse, N.Y., where he announced more than $6 billion in subsidies for two microchip factories.
The White House concluded that too many Americans didn't know what "Bidenomics" meant.
Congressional Democratic candidates and party activists never embraced the label as they work to overcome the president's low approval ratings to win back control of the House.
And because inflation has proven stubbornly high, the slogan became synonymous with an economy that, despite several strong metrics, many Americans fear is headed in the wrong direction.
"'Bidenomics' could mean anything to people, and we needed words or phrases that communicate more −like jobs, (tackling) rising costs and 'junk fees,'" said Celinda Lake, a former Biden campaign pollster in the 2020 election.
"'Bidenomics' ended up being confusing to voters because they thought it was Biden's economy rather than Biden's economic policies."
What 'Bidenomics' was supposed to mean versus what it became
"Bidenomics" was first coined by conservative critics of Biden in columns in the Financial Times and Wall Street Journal ahead of the 2020 election.
By embracing the "Bidenomics" tag, the White House hoped to turn an attack line used by Republicans into a strength − similar to Democrats embracing "Obamacare," originally a Republican slander, as the name for President Barack Obama's signature health care law.
From the White House's perspective, "Bidenomics" was supposed to encompass an economic platform focused on growing an economy "from the middle out and the bottom up" − cutting health-care costs, forcing billionaires to "pay their fair share" in taxes, eliminating so-called "junk fees" and leveraging the federal government for historic investments in manufacturing of microchips and clean energy, infrastructure and innovation.
If Republicans were going to use "Bidenomics" as an attack, why not work to define it to Biden's advantage?
"I don’t think they meant it as a compliment, but they started referring to my economic policies as 'Bidenomics.'"
"Well, guess what?"
"It’s working," Biden said in a speech last August, reciting a line he turned to often.
But the calculus ignored a reality: When much of the country heard "Bidenomics," it reminded them of high inflation, not Biden's efforts to make the U.S. a microchip hotbed or the nation's economic rebound since the pandemic.
Meanwhile, the outlook on the economy remains sour.
In a New York Times/Sienna College poll this month, only 21% of voters described the economy as "excellent/good," compared to 79% who called it "fair/poor."
"I think that the fundamental root of it all was that people thought the situation would be parallel to Obamacare," Lake said.
"And for a number of reasons, it wasn't remotely parallel to Obamacare."
Drew Westen, a professor of psychology and psychiatry at Emory University who consults for Democrats on messaging, questioned coining any policy or bill after a president's name, arguing it turns off nearly half the country automatically.
And he said while the economic resurgence after the pandemic is "a phenomenal achievement," not all people have felt it.
"It was a bad call to use that term," Westen said.
"At that time, people were seeing the Biden economy as the inflation economy."
"That appears to be changing, but I still wouldn't go back to 'Bidenomics.'"
How Biden's use of 'Bidenomics' disappeared over time
Biden still leans into his message of "investing in America" and promotes the same policies.
But nearly a month has passed since Biden said "Bidenomics" during public remarks.
It came during a March 26 speech in Raleigh, North Carolina on his efforts to lower health care costs.
Before then, Biden hadn't used the word "Bidenomics" since late January, according to a USA TODAY review of Biden's public remarks archived by the White House.
Most notably, Biden left "Bidenomics" out of his March 7 State of the Union address before Congress.
Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and other spokespeople for Biden, have also retired the phrase.
The messaging was very different last summer and fall.
Biden said "Bidenomics" 15 times in his June 28 speech in Chicago that debuted his new slogan to the nation.
He mentioned "Bidenomics" another 77 times in speeches through October, including as many as six or seven times in single speeches.
"'Bidenomics'" is just another way of saying 'restoring the American Dream,'" Biden said last year on multiple occasions.
"That's Bidenomics in action," was another favorite Biden line that later disappeared.
In a Sept. 14 speech in Largo, Maryland, Biden framed the presidential election as a "choice between Bidenomics and MAGAnomics," accusing Trump and Republicans of wanting to cut taxes for the wealthiest Americans and corporations, gut Social Security and Medicare and end cost-saving measures for the middle class.
Yet Biden touted "Bidenomics" only four more times in both November and December, and he has said it only three times total this year.
White House: 'The press is caught up in semantics'
From the outset, most Democratic House and Senate candidates were cool to embrace "Bidenomics" in their campaigns.
Although they defend Biden's economic policies, no campaign ads emerged using the "Bidenomics" term.
Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., a strong Biden ally, told NBC News in November that he didn't like the word.
"The people that he (Biden) stands for don’t deal with economics,” Clyburn said at the time.
"They deal with day-to-day issues."
"They have to educate their children and feed their families and develop their communities − and that doesn’t sound like ‘Bidenomics.’”
An analysis by Axios found congressional Democrats went from saying "Bidenomics" nearly 500 times last July in public speeches and social media posts to just 10 times in March, compared to 474 mentions of "Bidenomics" by Republicans in March.
In a statement to USA TODAY, the White House downplayed Biden's shift away from "Bidenomics" as the focus of the media, not everyday Americans, and argued the president is still talking regularly about the policies that make up "Bidenomics."
“While the press is caught up in semantics, consumer confidence is higher than at this point under Presidents Obama, Bush, Clinton, and Reagan; the President’s economic approval is rising; and he is on the road touting his accomplishments that are widely supported and making a real difference in peoples’ lives," said Michael Kikukawa, assistant White House press secretary.
"The President will continue talking about Bidenomics − his agenda to grow the economy from the middle out and bottom up," he said, calling his approach a "sharp contrast" with Republicans.
Viet Shelton, spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said House Democrats' and Biden's "victories for working families" is what will matter to voters in November − "not a slogan."
But if Democrats do look for another slogan, they might consider one Democrat's advice.
"If the the right suggests the term, don't use it," said Westen, author of "The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation."
"You never want to take the other side's branding of anything about you or your programs and run with it − because it's been designed by the other side to create the associations in people's minds that they want to create."
Reach Joey Garrison on X, formerly Twitter, @joeygarrison.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... fccc&ei=46
Re: POLITICS
The New York Post
"Biden is the least popular president in 70 years — below even Nixon and Carter, scathing poll finds"
Story by Mary Kay Linge
28 APRIL 2024
It’s a low blow for Joe.
Joe Biden is the least popular commander in chief at this point of his presidency in the last 70 years, below even Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter, according to a blistering new poll — imperiling his chances of re-election.
Biden, 81, notched a dismal 38.7% job approval rating for the first quarter of 2024, the venerable Gallup Poll found in a survey released Friday, three points lower than that of the one-term George H.W. Bush at the same point in his presidency.
“With about six months remaining before Election Day, Biden stands in a weaker position than any prior incumbent,” the pollsters concluded.
In contrast, former President Donald Trump, who is vying with Biden for a second White House term, had a 46.8% approval rating at this point in his presidency.
Even Nixon and Carter had higher ratings than Biden, with 53.7% and 47.7%, respectively, and Eisenhower had the highest rating at 72.3%, according to the poll.
The results of Gallup’s presidential approval polls, which the organization has compiled since the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower began in 1952, have been strongly predictive of re-election success.
Historically, every incumbent in the past seven decades with an approval rating above 50% has won a second term.
Only Barack Obama bucked the trend: his 2012 victory came despite a middling 46% approval six months ahead of that year’s general election.
No first-term president in Gallup’s history has returned to the White House with approval numbers as low as Biden’s — whose results this quarter ranked among the worst of the post-World War II era, in the bottom 12% of all presidential quarters going back to 1945.
And while this quarter marks a new low for Biden in Gallup’s polling, his popularity has remained stubbornly mired in the low 40s since the first year of his presidency, amid skyrocketing inflation, a worsening border crisis and the disastrous pullout from Afghanistan.
His re-election campaign has been plagued by embarrassing gaffes, and aides have struggled to shield their octogenarian boss from the press as his halting, shuffling gait offers evidence of his advanced age.
Yet current polls show the 2024 presidential election as a tight race, with Trump holding a 0.3% edge over Biden in the RealClearPolitics aggregate of national polls.
Gallup’s national survey of 1,001 Americans, conducted from April 1 to April 22, has a 4-point margin of error.
Biden’s historic low compared to other US presidents
President Biden’s approval rating 39 months into his presidency is the lowest of any elected chief executive in modern American history, according to Gallup.
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1956): 73.2%
Ronald Reagan (1984): 54.5%
Richard Nixon (1972): 53.7%
Bill Clinton (1996): 53.0%
George W. Bush (2004): 51.0%
Jimmy Carter (1980): 47.7%
Donald Trump (2020): 46.8%
Barack Obama (2012): 45.9%
George H.W. Bush (1992): 41.8%
Joe Biden (2024): 38.7%
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... 5939&ei=44
"Biden is the least popular president in 70 years — below even Nixon and Carter, scathing poll finds"
Story by Mary Kay Linge
28 APRIL 2024
It’s a low blow for Joe.
Joe Biden is the least popular commander in chief at this point of his presidency in the last 70 years, below even Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter, according to a blistering new poll — imperiling his chances of re-election.
Biden, 81, notched a dismal 38.7% job approval rating for the first quarter of 2024, the venerable Gallup Poll found in a survey released Friday, three points lower than that of the one-term George H.W. Bush at the same point in his presidency.
“With about six months remaining before Election Day, Biden stands in a weaker position than any prior incumbent,” the pollsters concluded.
In contrast, former President Donald Trump, who is vying with Biden for a second White House term, had a 46.8% approval rating at this point in his presidency.
Even Nixon and Carter had higher ratings than Biden, with 53.7% and 47.7%, respectively, and Eisenhower had the highest rating at 72.3%, according to the poll.
The results of Gallup’s presidential approval polls, which the organization has compiled since the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower began in 1952, have been strongly predictive of re-election success.
Historically, every incumbent in the past seven decades with an approval rating above 50% has won a second term.
Only Barack Obama bucked the trend: his 2012 victory came despite a middling 46% approval six months ahead of that year’s general election.
No first-term president in Gallup’s history has returned to the White House with approval numbers as low as Biden’s — whose results this quarter ranked among the worst of the post-World War II era, in the bottom 12% of all presidential quarters going back to 1945.
And while this quarter marks a new low for Biden in Gallup’s polling, his popularity has remained stubbornly mired in the low 40s since the first year of his presidency, amid skyrocketing inflation, a worsening border crisis and the disastrous pullout from Afghanistan.
His re-election campaign has been plagued by embarrassing gaffes, and aides have struggled to shield their octogenarian boss from the press as his halting, shuffling gait offers evidence of his advanced age.
Yet current polls show the 2024 presidential election as a tight race, with Trump holding a 0.3% edge over Biden in the RealClearPolitics aggregate of national polls.
Gallup’s national survey of 1,001 Americans, conducted from April 1 to April 22, has a 4-point margin of error.
Biden’s historic low compared to other US presidents
President Biden’s approval rating 39 months into his presidency is the lowest of any elected chief executive in modern American history, according to Gallup.
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1956): 73.2%
Ronald Reagan (1984): 54.5%
Richard Nixon (1972): 53.7%
Bill Clinton (1996): 53.0%
George W. Bush (2004): 51.0%
Jimmy Carter (1980): 47.7%
Donald Trump (2020): 46.8%
Barack Obama (2012): 45.9%
George H.W. Bush (1992): 41.8%
Joe Biden (2024): 38.7%
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... 5939&ei=44
Re: POLITICS
Meaww
"'You reap what you sow': Internet roasts Democrats as Adam Schiff gets robbed in San Francisco ahead of speaking event"
Story by Bhavik Grover
28 APRIL 2024
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff experienced a taste of San Francisco's notorious crime problem firsthand on Thursday, April 25, when his luggage was stolen from his parked car before a speaking event in the city.
Despite the unsettling incident, Schiff remained composed and attended the event wearing a shirt and hiking vest, having been robbed of his formal attire.
The incident sparked an online firestorm, with many critics mocking the California lawmaker and his party's policies on law and order.
Adam Schiff goes ahead with his speaking engagement despite robbery
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Schiff's car had been parked in a downtown garage while he visited the area.
Ahead of a dinner where the Senate hopeful intended to thank high-profile lawyer Joe Cotchett for his support in the race to replace the late Dianne Feinstein, Schiff's belongings were stolen from his vehicle.
Lee Houskeeper, Cotchett's press agent who was present at the Ristorante Rocca event, reportedly warned Schiff not to leave anything in the car, quipping, "I guess it's 'Welcome to San Francisco'."
However, the congressman seemed unfazed, telling the Chronicle, "Yes, they took my bags."
"But I'm here to thank Joe."
Despite the theft of his luggage, Schiff continued with his speaking engagement, delivering his remarks without wearing a suit jacket.
Instead, he opted for a shirt and hiking vest.
Cotchett observed that the congressman behaved as though everything was normal during his visit.
Notably, Schiff grew up in San Francisco and has served in the California delegation for over two decades.
The theft of Schiff's belongings in San Francisco comes amidst a backdrop of rising crime rates in the city, which has prompted concerns among residents and businesses alike.
The city has witnessed a mass exodus of retailers from its downtown area, with prominent stores and malls closing due to safety concerns.
Last year, a CNN crew reporting on the escalating crime in San Francisco fell victim to a similar incident when their vehicle was broken into, resulting in the theft of equipment.
Internet lambasts Democrats in wake of the theft of Adam Schiff's belongings
As the news of the theft of Schiff's belongings spread across the internet, users seized the opportunity to lambast the Democratic Party and its policies.
One X user commented, "You reap what you sow, democrats..."
Another user echoed this sentiment, stating, "Dems could stop most of this if they WANTED law & order. Not crying any tears for Schiff…"
A user weighed in, remarking, "Adam Schiff, feeling the pain of living in a state run by Democrats."
Similarly, another individual asserted, "Democrats suffering the consequences of their policies."
One user asserted, "Dems built this lawless mayhem. Now they can enjoy it."
Another user highlighted, "It's good he gets a taste of what HIS party has unleashed on the big Dem cities."
A user emphasized, "Another high ranking democrat gets to experience crime in democrat-run cities first hand. This time it was Shifty Adam Schiff."
One user bluntly stated, "The Democrats have done this to California."
This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... 5939&ei=52
"'You reap what you sow': Internet roasts Democrats as Adam Schiff gets robbed in San Francisco ahead of speaking event"
Story by Bhavik Grover
28 APRIL 2024
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff experienced a taste of San Francisco's notorious crime problem firsthand on Thursday, April 25, when his luggage was stolen from his parked car before a speaking event in the city.
Despite the unsettling incident, Schiff remained composed and attended the event wearing a shirt and hiking vest, having been robbed of his formal attire.
The incident sparked an online firestorm, with many critics mocking the California lawmaker and his party's policies on law and order.
Adam Schiff goes ahead with his speaking engagement despite robbery
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Schiff's car had been parked in a downtown garage while he visited the area.
Ahead of a dinner where the Senate hopeful intended to thank high-profile lawyer Joe Cotchett for his support in the race to replace the late Dianne Feinstein, Schiff's belongings were stolen from his vehicle.
Lee Houskeeper, Cotchett's press agent who was present at the Ristorante Rocca event, reportedly warned Schiff not to leave anything in the car, quipping, "I guess it's 'Welcome to San Francisco'."
However, the congressman seemed unfazed, telling the Chronicle, "Yes, they took my bags."
"But I'm here to thank Joe."
Despite the theft of his luggage, Schiff continued with his speaking engagement, delivering his remarks without wearing a suit jacket.
Instead, he opted for a shirt and hiking vest.
Cotchett observed that the congressman behaved as though everything was normal during his visit.
Notably, Schiff grew up in San Francisco and has served in the California delegation for over two decades.
The theft of Schiff's belongings in San Francisco comes amidst a backdrop of rising crime rates in the city, which has prompted concerns among residents and businesses alike.
The city has witnessed a mass exodus of retailers from its downtown area, with prominent stores and malls closing due to safety concerns.
Last year, a CNN crew reporting on the escalating crime in San Francisco fell victim to a similar incident when their vehicle was broken into, resulting in the theft of equipment.
Internet lambasts Democrats in wake of the theft of Adam Schiff's belongings
As the news of the theft of Schiff's belongings spread across the internet, users seized the opportunity to lambast the Democratic Party and its policies.
One X user commented, "You reap what you sow, democrats..."
Another user echoed this sentiment, stating, "Dems could stop most of this if they WANTED law & order. Not crying any tears for Schiff…"
A user weighed in, remarking, "Adam Schiff, feeling the pain of living in a state run by Democrats."
Similarly, another individual asserted, "Democrats suffering the consequences of their policies."
One user asserted, "Dems built this lawless mayhem. Now they can enjoy it."
Another user highlighted, "It's good he gets a taste of what HIS party has unleashed on the big Dem cities."
A user emphasized, "Another high ranking democrat gets to experience crime in democrat-run cities first hand. This time it was Shifty Adam Schiff."
One user bluntly stated, "The Democrats have done this to California."
This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... 5939&ei=52
Re: POLITICS
The Center Square
"Elevated inflation, poor GDP growth raise concerns"
Story by Casey Harper
29 APRIL 2024
(The Center Square) – Federal data released Friday showed that inflation remains elevated.
The figures came out on the heels of other data showing the U.S. Gross Domestic Product underperformed in the first quarter of this year.
Both the inflation and GDP data points raised concerns among economists and renewed criticism of President Joe Biden among Republicans.
“Given the elevated levels of inflation – and this is the new normal for 2024 – the market is going to need to get over hopes for Fed rate cuts,” Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Independent Advisor Alliance in North Carolina, said in a statement.
“Yes, they may cut once (or not at all), but there is no possibility the Fed is going to cut rates 3 or more times, unless we go into recession.”
The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis released the Personal Consumption Expenditure data Friday, which showed the PCE rose 0.3% last month.
The federal Consumer Price Index, another leading marker of inflation, reported prices rising 0.4% last month.
“A lot of people have argued elevated inflation is just because of housing and housing is lagged/inappropriate,” Jason Furman, a Harvard economist and former economic advisor during the Obama administration, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Friday.
“But even excluding housing, recent inflation is highly elevated…” he continued
That inflation data comes after new federal data this week showed that the GDP increased at an annual rate of only 1.6% in the first three months of this year, much less than the 3.4% growth in the previous quarter and well below experts’ expectations.
“New GDP numbers out - yet ANOTHER depressing quarter under Biden…” Richard Stern, an expert at the Heritage Foundation, wrote on X.
“This marks the THIRD quarter in a row of the government growing faster than the economy!
“That's socialism at work as the woke left-wing government eats everyone else's lunch off the buffet table – all while the personal saving rate falls off a cliff and is less than half what it was pre-pandemic,” he added.
Republicans heaped on more criticism of Biden after the new economic data.
“Antisemitism is running rampant on campuses,” U.S> Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., wrote on X.
“Illegal immigrants are invading both borders."
"Inflation is rising and draining the pocketbooks."
"America is experiencing one crisis after another under Joe Biden's failed leadership.”
Prices have risen nearly 20% since Biden took office.
“President Biden’s recipe of outlandish spending and higher taxes is robbing the American people and hurting the economy,” House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., said in a statement.
“The soaring cost of gas and groceries keeps killing family budgets – leaving Americans struggling to either pay rent or buy a house."
"The latest GDP report shows an economy sagging under the weight of failed economic policies."
"With prices continuing to rise and the Federal Reserve likely to keep interest rates at the highest levels in over 20 years, the American Dream is slipping out of reach for more families.”
Biden, though, has rebuffed criticism and pointed to his other economic wins, as The Center Square previously reported.
“Today’s report shows the American economy remains strong, with continued steady and stable growth,” Biden said in a statement last week.
“The economy has grown more since I took office than at this point in any presidential term in the last 25 years – including 3% growth over the last year – while unemployment has stayed below 4% for more than two years.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets ... d1f6&ei=12
"Elevated inflation, poor GDP growth raise concerns"
Story by Casey Harper
29 APRIL 2024
(The Center Square) – Federal data released Friday showed that inflation remains elevated.
The figures came out on the heels of other data showing the U.S. Gross Domestic Product underperformed in the first quarter of this year.
Both the inflation and GDP data points raised concerns among economists and renewed criticism of President Joe Biden among Republicans.
“Given the elevated levels of inflation – and this is the new normal for 2024 – the market is going to need to get over hopes for Fed rate cuts,” Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Independent Advisor Alliance in North Carolina, said in a statement.
“Yes, they may cut once (or not at all), but there is no possibility the Fed is going to cut rates 3 or more times, unless we go into recession.”
The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis released the Personal Consumption Expenditure data Friday, which showed the PCE rose 0.3% last month.
The federal Consumer Price Index, another leading marker of inflation, reported prices rising 0.4% last month.
“A lot of people have argued elevated inflation is just because of housing and housing is lagged/inappropriate,” Jason Furman, a Harvard economist and former economic advisor during the Obama administration, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Friday.
“But even excluding housing, recent inflation is highly elevated…” he continued
That inflation data comes after new federal data this week showed that the GDP increased at an annual rate of only 1.6% in the first three months of this year, much less than the 3.4% growth in the previous quarter and well below experts’ expectations.
“New GDP numbers out - yet ANOTHER depressing quarter under Biden…” Richard Stern, an expert at the Heritage Foundation, wrote on X.
“This marks the THIRD quarter in a row of the government growing faster than the economy!
“That's socialism at work as the woke left-wing government eats everyone else's lunch off the buffet table – all while the personal saving rate falls off a cliff and is less than half what it was pre-pandemic,” he added.
Republicans heaped on more criticism of Biden after the new economic data.
“Antisemitism is running rampant on campuses,” U.S> Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., wrote on X.
“Illegal immigrants are invading both borders."
"Inflation is rising and draining the pocketbooks."
"America is experiencing one crisis after another under Joe Biden's failed leadership.”
Prices have risen nearly 20% since Biden took office.
“President Biden’s recipe of outlandish spending and higher taxes is robbing the American people and hurting the economy,” House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., said in a statement.
“The soaring cost of gas and groceries keeps killing family budgets – leaving Americans struggling to either pay rent or buy a house."
"The latest GDP report shows an economy sagging under the weight of failed economic policies."
"With prices continuing to rise and the Federal Reserve likely to keep interest rates at the highest levels in over 20 years, the American Dream is slipping out of reach for more families.”
Biden, though, has rebuffed criticism and pointed to his other economic wins, as The Center Square previously reported.
“Today’s report shows the American economy remains strong, with continued steady and stable growth,” Biden said in a statement last week.
“The economy has grown more since I took office than at this point in any presidential term in the last 25 years – including 3% growth over the last year – while unemployment has stayed below 4% for more than two years.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets ... d1f6&ei=12
Re: POLITICS
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
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
Re: POLITICS
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: POLITICS
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: POLITICS
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: POLITICS
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/