http://www.zerohedge.com/fullrss2.xml/%2A en http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-08/record-number-americans-forfeit-citizenship-prospect-tax-relief-dims <p>Obama warned everyone back in 2009 that <strong>"elections have consequences."</strong> Now, eight years later, we learn that apparently the "consequences" of running around the country for nearly a decade threatening to raise taxes, "spread the wealth around" and pursue any number of other socialist policies are a record number of people renouncing their U.S. citizenship.</p> <p>As <a href="http://fortune.com/2017/03/06/renounce-us-citizenship-irs/">Fortune</a> points out, the United States, unlike almost every other country in the world, taxes people on the basis of citizenship rather than residency. So even if you spend all of your adult, wage-earning years on a remote tropical island with a 0% tax rate, if you were born in the United States, you still owe Uncle Sam your "fair share." </p> <blockquote><div class="quote_start"> <div></div> </div> <div class="quote_end"> <div></div> </div> <p>The cause of the defections, which led the U.S. to say so long last quarter to everyone from Jonathan Abbis to Anna Zwirner, is primarily the U.S. tax system.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>When it comes to taxes, the United States is an outlier because, unlike nearly every other country, it taxes people based on nationality rather than residency. </strong>While U.S. citizens can claim credits with the IRS for what they pay to foreign tax authorities, those amounts are not always enough to offset what they owe.</p> <p> </p> <p>U.S. expats also face the burden of annual filings with the IRS with the prospect of stiff penalties if they fail to comply.</p> <p> </p> <p>According to international tax attorney Andrew Mitchel,<strong> those who deliberately fail to report foreign accounts to the IRS can face a fine of $100,000 or half the value of the account—whichever is greater.</strong> Meanwhile, there are a range of other penalties for small business owners abroad and for those with assets of more than $30,000.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>"The IRS has been very gracious in saying they won’t take more than 100% of your money,"</strong> says Mitchel, ironically. <strong>"These people are terrified they will go bankrupt because of the United States. They just want to get out of the U.S. tax system."</strong></p> </blockquote> <p>All of which has led a record number of people to give up their U.S. citizenship completely. In fact, the number of <a href="http://intltax.typepad.com/">published expatriates</a> for 4Q 2016 was 2,365, bringing the total number for 2016 to 5,411, setting a new all-time quarterly and annual record. By comparison, the number of expatriates for 2016 reflects a 26% increase over 2015 and a 58% increase over 2014 (3,415).</p> <p><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user230519/imageroot/2017/02/09/2017.02.09%20-%20Expats.jpg"><img src="http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user230519/imageroot/2017/02/09/2017.02.09%20-%20Expats_0.jpg" alt="Expats" width="600" height="409" /></a></p> <p> </p> <p>Taking a more granular look at the past 20 years illustrates the staggering surge in the number of published expatriates that "coincidentally" corresponds with Obama"s election in 2008. In fact, the 2016 list is over 22x larger than 2008, the year just before Obama moved into the White House. </p> <p><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user230519/imageroot/2017/02/09/2017.02.09%20-%20Expats%202.JPG"><img src="http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user230519/imageroot/2017/02/09/2017.02.09%20-%20Expats%202_0.JPG" alt="Expats" width="600" height="550" /></a></p> <p> </p> <p>Of course, the uptick corresponds with Obama"s passage of a 2010 law requiring foreign banks to disclose U.S. citizens.</p> <blockquote><div class="quote_start"> <div></div> </div> <div class="quote_end"> <div></div> </div> <p><strong>"To some degree it is President Obama’s fault. It was Obama and the Democratic Congress that passed a law in 2010 that forced foreign banks to disclose U.S. citizens,"</strong> says Mitchel.</p> <p> </p> <p>When the law was passed, it appeared to be aimed at fat cats who sought to hide money in secret Swiss bank accounts. But today, it could affect nearly any of the 7 million Americans, who Mitchel says live abroad—many of whom are people of modest means.</p> </blockquote> <p>Meanwhile, per Andrew Mitchell of the <a href="http://intltax.typepad.com/">International Tax Blog</a>, despite Trump"s vows to reform the U.S. tax code, all you "millionaire, billionaire, private jet owners" shouldn"t expect to be able to avoid U.S. taxes simply by changing your residency at any point in the near future. While Congress may take up debate for a once-in-a-generation overhaul of the tax system, their primary focus, at least as it pertains to international entities, will focus on extra-territorial corporate taxes, not individual tax-payers.</p> <div class="field field-type-filefield field-field-image-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <img class="imagefield imagefield-field_image_teaser" width="646" height="375" alt="" src="http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user230519/imageroot/2017.03.08%20-%20Passport.JPG?1488987571" /> </div> </div> </div> http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-08/record-number-americans-forfeit-citizenship-prospect-tax-relief-dims#comments Accidental American Congress Fail Fat Cats Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act Internal Revenue Service Internal Revenue Service International taxation Politics Private Jet Tax Taxation in the United States White House White House Thu, 09 Mar 2017 01:10:00 +0000 Tyler Durden 589771 at http://www.zerohedge.com http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-08/why-trump-wants-keep-andrew-jackson-20-bill-and-his-opponents-are-fiercely-opposed <p><em><a href="http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2017/03/08/why-trump-wants-keep-jackson-on-20-bill-and-his-opponents-fiercely-opposed.html">Via Valentin Katasonov of The Strategic Culture Foundation,</a></em></p> <p><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user3303/imageroot/2017/03/05/20161101_jackson.jpg"><em><img alt="" src="http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user3303/imageroot/2017/03/05/20161101_jackson_0.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 335px;" /></em></a></p> <p><strong>It is no secret that America is governed by the US Federal Reserve System. </strong>The Federal Reserve’s main shareholders are in charge of the money and so are also in charge of America. To strengthen and maintain their power, these money bosses need ‘their own’ story. And that is why they are rewriting history – not just in textbooks and Hollywood films, but on banknotes too. <strong>Over the past century, America’s history has been well ‘edited’ on the country’s banknotes and their design has been changed more than once. </strong></p> <p>It seems that the money bosses have <strong>no intention of stopping this practice.</strong> In April 2016, America’s then treasury secretary, Jacob Lew, announced that the country’s $5, $10 and $20 bills would have a new design by 2020. Lew made it seem as if the Treasury Department’s plans to redesign the banknotes were ‘the voice of the people’ rather than a whim of the authorities. According to the US Treasury Department, <strong>groups of activists on social networking sites had started calling for the country’s banknotes to feature prominent American women and well-known figures from ethnic minorities</strong>. The list of suggestions included First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt; Rosa Parks, who began the black civil rights movement; Wilma Mankiller, the first female chief of the Cherokee Nation; the Afro-American activist Harriet Tubman; and many others. The Treasury Department said nothing about how the suggestions were gathered and selected, however, or about the Women on 20s campaign group, which came from nowhere.</p> <p><strong>The Treasury Department’s plans to replace seventh US President Andrew Jackson with the little-known activist Harriet Tubman came as a real shock to many Americans. </strong>Many on social media said that the new banknote would be the «ugliest» in US history. Donald Trump, who at that point was still a presidential candidate, also responded in defence of the seventh president of the United States. «Andrew Jackson has a great history, and it seems rough to take someone off the bill,» said Trump during an interview with NBC in April 2016.</p> <p><strong>When Trump moved into the White House on 20 January, he immediately hung a portrait of Andrew Jackson in the Oval Office. </strong>The current US president has made no secret of the fact that the seventh US president is both his role model and his idol. Trump’s chief strategist, Stephen Bannon, has repeatedly compared Trump to Jackson. After the new president’s inauguration, for example, Bannon said: «I don’t think we’ve had a speech like that since Andrew Jackson came to the White House». Commenting on the unprecedentedly savage response of many media outlets, NGOs and business groups to his arrival in the White House, meanwhile, Trump himself <a href="http://krqe.com/2017/02/25/trump-election-has-parallels-to-andrew-jacksons-presidency/" target="_blank">noted</a> that «there hasn’t been anything like this [in America] since Andrew Jackson».</p> <p>For those currently trying to obstruct Donald Trump, he and Andrew Jackson are equally objectionable.<strong> In fact, everything possible is being done so that the average American does not even know who President Jackson is. They are willing to put anybody’s portrait on the $20 bill as long as it erases the memory of the seventh US president from Americans’ minds.</strong></p> <p><em>Andrew Jackson (1767-1845), elected from the Democratic Party (he is regarded as one of its founders), was US president from 1829 to 1837. He might have become president even earlier: in the 1824 elections, he won the majority of votes from both the electors and the electoral colleges, but he did not receive an electoral majority. The president was therefore chosen by the House of Representatives, which chose John Quincy Adams rather than Jackson. <strong>In the 1828 elections, Jackson’s campaign agenda, aimed at liberating America from the stranglehold of bankers, was crystal clear.</strong> At this time, the Second Bank of the United States, which was essentially a central bank, was in operation in America. It was a project of European bankers, primarily the Rothschilds. The bank managed to obtain a 20-year charter from the US Congress in 1816 and began lending money to the US government, leading to a rapid rise in government debt. Jackson’s slogan in the 1828 elections was: <strong>«No bank and Jackson – or bank and no Jackson»</strong>. Jackson openly declared war on the banks and won. He became US president and started a campaign to revoke the charter of the Second Bank of the United States. In 1831, Nicholas Biddle, the bank’s president, sent a bill to Congress to extend the bank’s charter. The bill was passed by both houses of Congress, but Andrew Jackson vetoed the bill, which Congress was unable to override. On 10 July 1832, Jackson spoke of the dangers of a central bank: <strong>«It is not our own citizens only who are to receive the bounty of our Government. More than eight millions of the stock of this bank are held by foreigners [...] Is there no danger to our liberty and independence in a bank that in its nature has so little to bind it to our country? [...] Controlling our currency, receiving our public moneys, and holding thousands of our citizens in dependence, it would be more formidable and dangerous than the naval and military power of the enemy».</strong></em></p> <p>By 1833, the volume of banknotes and deposits issued by the Second Bank had risen to $42.1 million, a huge sum at that time, and Andrew Jackson tore down the whole structure. In 1833, he moved government funds from the Second Bank to a number of commercial US banks. <strong>Even more surprisingly, by the end of his presidency, Andrew Jackson had managed to completely eliminate the national debt.</strong> This seems inconceivable at a time when the level of US national debt is set to reach the $20 trillion mark any day now. <strong>There were a number of assassination attempts on Jackson and he was even shot at, but he died of natural causes.</strong> Before his death, he was asked what he regarded as his greatest achievement. Without hesitation, Andrew Jackson replied: «I killed the bank». </p> <p>I am sure that Donald Trump has a good understanding of all the nuances of Andrew Jackson’s presidency and knows that the US Federal Reserve System is essentially the same as a central bank. <strong>After Jackson, America survived for eighty years without a central bank.</strong> The Federal Reserve System was not created by the US Congress until the end of 1913, but more than one hundred years have passed since then. The money bosses have been in control of America for a long time. They hate Andrew Jackson, while Donald Trump is openly admiring of him. <strong>I think he knows he will not be able to repeat Andrew Jackson’s feat of eliminating the central bank, the balance of power is too unequal, but he does intend to fight back. </strong>In particular, he is going to try and reduce the national debt. Reducing the national debt to zero (as Andrew Jackson did) is a utopian dream, but Trump has repeatedly talked about slowing its growth or even carrying out a partial restructuring. This will also be difficult for him to achieve, however, since the money bosses need the Fed’s printing press to be in demand. And it is the US Treasury Department that is ensuring this demand by selling its debt securities for dollars.</p> <p><strong>Maybe, at the very least, Trump will manage to keep Andrew Jackson’s portrait on the $20 bill? We’ll see.</strong></p> <div class="field field-type-filefield field-field-image-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <img class="imagefield imagefield-field_image_teaser" width="619" height="346" alt="" src="http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user3303/imageroot/20161101_jackson.jpg?1489010758" /> </div> </div> </div> http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-08/why-trump-wants-keep-andrew-jackson-20-bill-and-his-opponents-are-fiercely-opposed#comments Alt-right American people of German descent American Presbyterians Andrew Jackson Banknote Business Business Climate change skepticism and denial Congress Democratic Party Department of the Treasury Donald Trump Donald Trump Donald Trump presidential campaign Federal Reserve Harriet Tubman House of Representatives National Debt NBC Nicholas Biddle Politics Strategic Culture Foundation Treasury Department Trump U.S. Congress U.S. TREASURY DEPARTMENT United States US Federal Reserve US government White House White House Thu, 09 Mar 2017 00:45:00 +0000 Tyler Durden 589811 at http://www.zerohedge.com http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-08/urban-outfitters-ceo-housing-retail-bubble-has-now-burst <p>For months now we"ve talked about the retail bubble and the effects of its implosion on mall owners across the country (see "<a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-07/americas-desperate-mall-owners-turn-grocers-doctors-high-schools-fill-empty-space">America"s Desperate Mall Owners Turn To Grocers, Doctors & High Schools To Fill Empty Space</a>" and "<a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-01-18/pittsburgh-mall-once-worth-190-million-sells-100">Pittsburgh Mall Once Worth $190 Million Sells For $100</a>" for a sample of the carnage).</p> <p>Now, after a spate of retail bankruptcies struck several popular mall outlets including Aéropostale, Pacific Sun and American Apparel, <strong>Richard Hayne, CEO of Urban Outfitters</strong>, is finally willing to admit what most of us have known for some time now, namely that <strong>the entire U.S. retail space is in the midst of a massive bubble that is currently bursting in epic fashion (pardon the pun).</strong></p> <p>Speaking on his quarterly earnings call this morning, Hayne told investors that U.S. retailers are finally facing the consequences of a massive bubble in retail square footage per capita, roughly 6x that of Europe and Japan, a bubble which <strong>"like housing, has now burst."</strong> Richard Hayne on Urban Outfitters earnings call:</p> <blockquote><div class="quote_start"> <div></div> </div> <div class="quote_end"> <div></div> </div> <p><strong>Retail square feet per capita in the United States is more than six times that of Europe or Japan.</strong> And this doesn"t count digital commerce. Our industry, not unlike the housing industry, <strong>saw too much square footage capacity added in the 1990s and early 2000s. Thousands of new doors opened and rents soared. This created a bubble, and like housing, that bubble has now burst.</strong> We are seeing the results: doors shuttering and rents retreating. This trend will continue for the foreseeable future and may even accelerate.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Another consequence of overcapacity is discounting and endless promotions as retailers try to drive demand through lower prices.</strong> This causes AUR deflation and erodes merchandise margins. Given an uncertain environment, where occupancy costs are de-leveraging and merchandise margins are pressured, how does URBN with our current portfolio of strong omni-channel lifestyle brands adapt, grow and remain solidly profitable? The answer, we plan to do what any good portfolio manager would: invest resources in the most promising opportunities, diversify to lower risk and increase liquidity.</p> </blockquote> <p>Hayne went on to describe his company"s highly "unusual" holiday season in which "<strong>overall demand in North America at all three brands evaporated for several weeks at the beginning of December."</strong></p> <blockquote><div class="quote_start"> <div></div> </div> <div class="quote_end"> <div></div> </div> <p>Let me begin with a fourth quarter overview. I would characterize results during this year"s fourth quarter, especially the <strong>holiday season, as both disappointing and highly unusual.</strong> Total company comparable sales were flat for the quarter, but within the quarter two distinct periods appeared. Comps were up nicely in the month of November. All three brands enjoyed a fantastic start to the holiday season by driving double-digit comp sales gains on both Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Things were looking very good.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Then came December. Store traffic and overall demand in North America at all three brands evaporated for several weeks at the beginning of December.</strong> More normal demand returned only as Christmas and Hanukkah drew near. Demand remained normal immediately after the holidays, <strong>but fell back again once the New Year began. I can"t recall having ever seen a quarter with such wild and wide fluctuations.</strong></p> </blockquote> <p>Both Urban Outfitters and Express reported weak earnings this morning which pushed shares of both companies sharply lower in early trading. Per <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-08/urban-outfitters-tumbles-as-ceo-warns-retail-bubble-has-burst">Bloomberg</a>:</p> <blockquote><div class="quote_start"> <div></div> </div> <div class="quote_end"> <div></div> </div> <p>Urban Outfitters posted profit of 55 cents a share in the fourth quarter, short of the 56 cents predicted by analysts. Its gross margin was 33 percent in the period, compared with an estimate of 33.5 percent.</p> <p> </p> <p>Express, meanwhile, said that first-quarter earnings will range from flat to a loss of 4 cents a share. Analysts had predicted a gain of 14 cents for the period. The Columbus, Ohio-based company expects same-store sales to be down by a percentage in the high single digits, compared with an average estimate of a 5.2 percent decline.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>“Our store performance continued to be impacted by challenging mall traffic and a promotional retail environment,”</strong> Express CEO David Kornberg said on Wednesday.</p> </blockquote> <p><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user230519/imageroot/2017/03/08/2017.03.08%20-%20Retail.jpg"><img src="http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user230519/imageroot/2017/03/08/2017.03.08%20-%20Retail_0.jpg" alt="Retailers" width="600" height="317" /></a></p> <div class="field field-type-filefield field-field-image-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <img class="imagefield imagefield-field_image_teaser" width="650" height="365" alt="" src="http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user230519/imageroot/American%20Apparel_0.jpg?1488990314" /> </div> </div> </div> http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-08/urban-outfitters-ceo-housing-retail-bubble-has-now-burst#comments Black Friday Business Economy of the United States Hayne Japan Marketing Retail Urban Outfitters Thu, 09 Mar 2017 00:20:00 +0000 Tyler Durden 589776 at http://www.zerohedge.com http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-08/scaramucci-loses-white-house-post-may-start-new-fund-jon-najarian <p>Two months ago <a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-01-17/trump-advisor-anthony-scaramucci-pockets-100mm-sale-skybridge-chinese-conglomerate">we explained </a>why Trump advisor Anthony Scaramucci, aka "The Mooch" was smiling:</p> <p><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2017/01/15/scaramucci%20smiling.jpg"><img src="http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2017/01/15/scaramucci%20smiling_0.jpg" width="500" height="334" /></a></p> <p><em>SkyBridge Capital Founder Anthony Scaramucci</em></p> <p>On one hand, he had recently been named an assistant to the president and said that he will serve as a liaison between the White House and the business community, working with local, state and foreign governments and trade associations.</p> <p>On the other, he had just sold a majority stake in his SkyBridge Capital fund of funds, which managed over $9 billion in assets and had prominent cameos in such movies as Wall Street 2, to HNA Capital U.S., a firm controlled by Chinese billionaire Chen Feng, and RON Transatlantic EG (where Obama"s "body man" Reggie Love <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/reginald-love-4085a35b">works as a Partner and VP</a>). While terms of the deal were not disclosed, the deal, which includes the SkyBridge Alternatives Conference, or SALT, is said to be <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-01-17/skybridge-capital-agrees-to-sale-to-ron-transatlantic-hna-group">valued at about $200 million</a>, and could increase to about $230 million if certain conditions are met. SkyBridge’s senior management and investment teams will remain intact while Scaramucci will step down, and since he owned about 45% of SkyBridge, he would pocket close to $100 million. </p> <p>Well, Scaramucci may still be smiling, mostly as a result of the latter, but according to the WSJ he may no longer be headed to the White House as the job he was offered in January - Director of the Office of Public Liaison - was handed to George Sifakis, formerly a member of President Donald Trump’s transition team and founder of Ideagen, an information-management company. The WSJ adds that "Scaramucci was blindsided by the news of Mr. Sifakis’ appointment according to a person familiar with the situation, learning it only after he had been named."</p> <p>As had been previously reported, Scaramucci was also considered for a different role, including being offered an ambassadorship (a vague offer that did not specify a country), although it was unclear whether he would take it. </p> <p>While Scaramucci had emerged as one of Trump"s "most active surrogates" and vocal supporters and defenders on Twitter and TV, he was subsequently excluded from a round of fellow appointees who were sworn in just after Mr. Trump’s inauguration, and Scaramucci’s swearing-in was delayed indefinitely the WSJ adds. A White House official said last month that Scaramucci was “not likely” to take a White House position.</p> <p>So having been blocked from a post in DC, $100 million extra in the bank notwithstanding, what is the Mooch planning on doing next? The WSJ cites a person familiar who said Scaramucci has started laying the groundwork for a possible new venture, and is considering starting an asset-management firm aimed at individual investors, in partnership with Jon Najarian. Najarian, co-founder of Najarian Family Office and frequent CNBC commentator, didn’t immediately return a WSJ request for comment.</p> <div class="field field-type-filefield field-field-image-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <img class="imagefield imagefield-field_image_teaser" width="1199" height="800" alt="" src="http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/scaramucci%20smiling_0.jpg?1489018275" /> </div> </div> </div> http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-08/scaramucci-loses-white-house-post-may-start-new-fund-jon-najarian#comments Anthony Scaramucci Business Davenport Skybridge Economy of the United States Executive Office of the President of the United States Finance Fund of Funds Money Mooch Presidency of the United States Scaramucci SkyBridge Capital The Wall Street Journal Twitter Twitter White House White House White House Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs Thu, 09 Mar 2017 00:12:44 +0000 Tyler Durden 589824 at http://www.zerohedge.com http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-08/left-trying-start-civil-war <p><a href="http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/is-the-left-trying-to-start-a-civil-war"><em>Via Michael Snyder of The End of The American Dream blog,</em></a></p> <p><strong>An army of subversives is attempting to undermine the Trump administration from within the government, and at the same time a whole host of prominent leftist leaders are fueling the flames of hate against Trump and are promoting riots, civil uprisings and in some cases even violence. </strong>And of course the mainstream media is a more than willing accomplice, because pretty much everyone that works in the mainstream media absolutely hates Donald Trump. On a fundamental level, the United States is more divided today than it has been in any of our lifetimes, and the radical left is treating the presidency of Donald Trump as if it was the end of the world. We are seeing terms such as “Nazi”, “racist” and “dictator” thrown around very casually, but people need to understand that words really matter. When subversives on the left use such inflammatory language, there is a very real danger that they could actually spark a violent insurrection against the United States government.</p> <p>Just think about this for a moment. <strong><em>If a “Nazi” had really become the president of the United States, what would the appropriate response be?</em></strong></p> <p>When the left calls Donald Trump and his supporters “Nazis” and “racists”, they are suggesting that people should act accordingly, and that is extremely dangerous.</p> <p>Yesterday, I wrote about how the “deep state” is attempting <a href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/government-spooks-can-use-the-mic-and-camera-on-trumps-phone-even-when-he-thinks-it-is-turned-off" target="_blank" title="to destroy the Trump administration">to destroy the Trump administration</a> from the inside, but meanwhile others are trying to spark an uprising from the outside.</p> <p>Something that former Obama Attorney General Loretta Lynch recently said is extremely disturbing. She recorded a video message in which she suggested that in the struggle against Donald Trump there is going to be blood in the streets <a href="http://www.thedailysheeple.com/shock-video-loretta-lynch-calls-for-more-blood-in-the-streets-and-death_032017" target="_blank" title="and some people are going to have to die">and some people are going to have to die</a>…</p> <blockquote><div class="quote_start"><div></div></div><div class="quote_end"><div></div></div><p>“I know that this is a time of great fear and uncertainty for so many people,” Lynch says. “I know it’s a time of concern for people, who see our rights being assailed, being trampled on and even being rolled back. I know that this is difficult, but I remind you that this has never been easy. We have always had to work to move this country forward to achieve the great ideals of our Founding Fathers.”</p> <p> </p> <p>“It has been people, individuals who have banded together, ordinary people who simply saw what needed to be done and came together and supported those ideals who have made the difference. <strong>They’ve marched, they’ve bled and yes, some of them died. This is hard. Every good thing is. We have done this before. We can do this again.”</strong></p> </blockquote> <p><strong>Remember, this is not just some passionate young leftist radical saying these things.</strong></p> <p>This woman was the Attorney General of the United States not too long ago. For her to make statements such as these is irresponsible to the extreme. If you have not seen this video yet, you can find it on YouTube <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yYm3yNrxT4" target="_blank" title="right here">right here</a>.</p> <p>The mainstream media is also working very hard to fuel the flames of hate. MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinksi <a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-06/mika-melts-down-i-have-lost-hope-completelythis-presidency-fake-and-failed" target="_blank" title="made headlines all over the world">made headlines all over the world</a> when she declared that Trump’s presidency “is fake and failed”, and she followed that up by boldly declaring that we are now “at a low point in American history”…</p> <blockquote><div class="quote_start"><div></div></div><div class="quote_end"><div></div></div><p>“<strong>We are at a low point in American history</strong> and I don’t know how anybody can defend this president, even if it’s their job. Like you’ve got to have a job after this. You’ve got to look in the mirror after this. Sarah Huckabee or whoever is speaking out next. You have to look in the mirror and think about this country after this is over. You need to think of the end game here, because there isn’t one at the rate we are going.”</p> </blockquote> <p>A video clip of her saying this can be found <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eke0N4QoL0I" target="_blank" title="here">here</a>, and to be honest it is really unprecedented in all of American history for journalists to be attacking the president of the United States in this manner.</p> <p><strong>When people hear this stuff about a “fake president” that is “racist” and “fascist” over and over again, it is only a matter of time before people start to act out in violent ways.</strong></p> <p>For example, just consider what happened in Berkeley <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-supporters-idUSKBN16B0O8" target="_blank" title="on Saturday">on Saturday</a>…</p> <blockquote><div class="quote_start"><div></div></div><div class="quote_end"><div></div></div><p>At a park in Berkeley, across the bay from San Francisco, protesters from both sides struck one another over the head with wooden sticks and Trump supporters fired pepper spray as police in riot gear stood at a distance.</p> <p> </p> <p>Some in the pro-Trump crowd, holding American flags, faced off against black-clad opponents. An elderly Trump supporter was struck in the head and kicked on the ground.</p> </blockquote> <p>And <a href="http://www.theblaze.com/news/2017/03/06/police-anti-trump-protesters-arrested-after-setting-off-fireworks-inside-minnesota-capitol/" target="_blank" title="it is being reported">it is being reported</a> that anti-Trump protesters in Minnesota set off fireworks in the state capitol building over the weekend…</p> <blockquote><div class="quote_start"><div></div></div><div class="quote_end"><div></div></div><p>Five people attending a counter-protest against President Donald Trump were arrested in Minnesota over the weekend after police said they allegedly set off fireworks inside the state capitol building.</p> <p> </p> <p>A St. Paul police spokesman confirmed to TheBlaze that five people “who allegedly lit fireworks in the capitol building and fled on foot” were arrested Saturday. He said they are charged with riot 2, which is a felony.</p> </blockquote> <p><strong>We need to take incidents like this very seriously, because often a civil war can be started by incidents that may seem quite small at the time.</strong> For instance, when the protests started becoming violent against President Assad in Syria back in 2011, who would have dreamed that it would ultimately spark a civil war that would kill more than half a million people and that would still be raging <a href="https://www.wealthdaily.com/articles/is-americas-regressive-left-starting-a-second-civil-war/8508" target="_blank" title="six years later?">six years later?</a>…</p> <blockquote><div class="quote_start"><div></div></div><div class="quote_end"><div></div></div><p>In March of 2011, Syrian protesters marched on Damascus following the arrest of a 14-year-old boy who had written a cryptic threat to Bashar al-Assad in graffiti.</p> <p> </p> <p>Within three short months of those initial protests, 1,000 civilians (among them students, liberal activists, and human rights advocates) and 150 soldiers and policemen had been killed, and thousands were detained. Within a year, the Damascus Securities Exchange had plummeted 40%, and within five, the total kill count reached upwards of 600,000.</p> </blockquote> <p><strong>Many believe that a civil war has already started in America.</strong></p> <p>Americans may not be shooting at each other yet, but without a doubt we are in a battle for the soul of this nation. The following comes from an excellent article <a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2017/01/24/americas_second_civil_war_132880.html" target="_blank" title="by Dennis Prager">by Dennis Prager</a>…</p> <blockquote><div class="quote_start"><div></div></div><div class="quote_end"><div></div></div><p><strong>It is time for our society to acknowledge a sad truth: America is currently fighting its second Civil War.</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>In fact, <strong>with the obvious and enormous exception of attitudes toward slavery, Americans are more divided morally, ideologically and politically today than they were during the Civil War.</strong> For that reason, just as the Great War came to be known as World War I once there was World War II, the Civil War will become known as the First Civil War when more Americans come to regard the current battle as the Second Civil War.</p> </blockquote> <p>David Kupelian, the author of “<a href="http://amzn.to/2mcMKbZ" target="_blank" title="The Snapping Of The American Mind"><em>The Snapping Of The American Mind</em></a>“, is also concerned that we are in a life or death struggle for the future of our culture…</p> <blockquote><div class="quote_start"><div></div></div><div class="quote_end"><div></div></div><p>Compared with the shining and vibrant nation it once was, today’s America has become a different country: deeply and angrily divided, unable to deal with crises foreign or domestic, the world’s greatest debtor nation with 50 million people on food stamps, rampant divorce and family breakdown, unprecedented sexual anarchy with 110 million with STDs, almost 60 million abusing alcohol and 70 million taking mood-altering drugs. On so many levels, America is becoming ever more “bizarro” – diametrically opposed to logic and common sense.</p> </blockquote> <p>In the end, either the right or the left is going to completely defeat the other side, because both sides are attempting to take this country in completely opposite directions. When you examine the core values on the right and the left, you quickly come to the realization that there is not much room for compromise. One side will ultimately emerge victorious, and the values of the other side will be vanquished. Here is <a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2017/01/24/americas_second_civil_war_132880.html" target="_blank" title="more from Dennis Prager">more from Dennis Prager</a>…</p> <blockquote><div class="quote_start"><div></div></div><div class="quote_end"><div></div></div><p>How are those of us who oppose left-wing nihilism – there is no other word for an ideology that holds Western civilization and America’s core values in contempt – supposed to unite with “educators” who instruct elementary school teachers to cease calling their students “boys” and “girls” because that implies gender identity? With English departments that don’t require reading Shakespeare in order to receive a degree in English? With those who regard virtually every war America has fought as imperialist and immoral? With those who regard the free market as a form of oppression? With those who want the state to control as much of American life as possible? With those who repeatedly tell America and its black minority that the greatest problems afflicting black Americans are caused by white racism, “white privilege” and “systemic racism”? With those who think that the nuclear family ideal is inherently misogynistic and homophobic? With those who hold that Israel is the villain in the Middle East? With those who claim that the term “Islamic terrorist” is an expression of religious bigotry?</p> </blockquote> <p><strong>This is why the radical left hates Donald Trump so much.</strong></p> <p>He represents everything that they have been taught to hate, and he stands in the way of the future that they have always been envisioning.</p> <p>We are in a fight for the soul of America, and the fate of this nation literally hangs in the balance.</p> <p><strong>Unfortunately, there is also the possibility that this conflict could end up destroying this country no matter which side ultimately wins. It has been said that a house divided against itself will surely fall, and America is a very bitterly divided house at this moment in time.</strong></p> <div class="field field-type-filefield field-field-image-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <img class="imagefield imagefield-field_image_teaser" width="237" height="140" alt="" src="http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user3303/imageroot/20161101_civil.jpg?1489008150" /> </div> </div> </div> http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-08/left-trying-start-civil-war#comments American people of German descent Business career of Donald Trump Climate change skepticism and denial Donald Trump Donald Trump Donald Trump presidential campaign headlines Israel Middle East Middle East MSNBC Politics Politics Politics of the United States Social Issues St. Paul police The Apprentice Trump Administration United States government War WWE Hall of Fame Wed, 08 Mar 2017 23:55:00 +0000 Tyler Durden 589808 at http://www.zerohedge.com http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-08/american-public-should-be-deeply-troubled-cia-issues-statement-wikileaks-hack <p>On Wednesday afternoon, one day after the release of over 8,000 pages of documents revealing the extensive hacking infrastructure established by the CIA to allow it to penetrate the privacy of virtually any US citizen, the CIA"s Dean Boyd, Director at the office of public affairs, issued a statement in response to what Wikileaks has dubbed the biggest publication of confidential CIA material in history. In short, while the CIA does not deny that the documents are authentic, it defends itself by saying that its "mission is to aggressively collect foreign intelligence overseas to protect America from terrorists, hostile nation states and other adversaries. It is CIA"s job to be innovative, cutting-edge, and the first line of defense in protecting this country from enemies abroad. America deserves nothing less."</p> <p>It also adds that "that CIA is legally prohibited from conducting electronic surveillance targeting individuals here at home, including our fellow Americans, and CIA does not do so." Of course, the NSA said the same thing, most famously when James Clapper came to Congress, only for it to be revealed afterward that he lied. This time will probably not be any different.</p> <p>It concludes by saying that "<em>the American public should be deeply troubled by any Wikileaks disclosure designed to damage the Intelligence Community"s ability to protect America against terrorists and other adversaries."</em> </p> <p>The irony in that statement hardly needs any commentary.</p> <p>Full statement below:</p> <blockquote><div class="quote_start"> <div></div> </div> <div class="quote_end"> <div></div> </div> <p>We have no comment on the authenticity of purported intelligence documents released by Wikileaks or on the status of any investigation into the source of the documents. However, there are several critical points we would like to make: </p> <p> </p> <p>CIA"s mission is to aggressively collect foreign intelligence overseas to protect America from terrorists, hostile nation states and other adversaries. It is CIA"s job to be innovative, cutting-edge, and the first line of defense in protecting this country from enemies abroad. America deserves nothing less. </p> <p> </p> <p>It is also important to note that <strong>CIA is legally prohibited from conducting electronic surveillance targeting individuals here at home</strong>, including our fellow Americans, and CIA does not do so. CIA"s activities are subject to rigorous oversight to ensure that they comply fully with U.S. law and the Constitution. </p> <p> </p> <p><strong>The American public should be deeply troubled by any Wikileaks disclosure designed to damage the Intelligence Community"s ability to protect America against terrorists and other adversaries</strong>. Such disclosures not only jeopardize US personnel and operations, but also equip our adversaries with tools and information to do us harm. </p> <p> </p> <p>Dean Boyd<br />Director, CIA Office of Public Affairs</p> </blockquote> <p> As an aside, here is a comparison of the Samsung SmartTV privacy policy compared to the text of "1984" </p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Left: Samsung SmartTV privacy policy, warning users not to discuss personal info in front of their TV.</p> <p>Right: 1984<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Vault7?src=hash">#Vault7</a> <a href="https://t.co/1a7HKBtczP">pic.twitter.com/1a7HKBtczP</a></p> <p>— wake up (@WakeUpMFers) <a href="https://twitter.com/WakeUpMFers/status/839475960130981889">March 8, 2017</a></p></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><p> And as a further aside, here - courtesy of Wikileaks - is a reminder what the CIA does with its hacking capacity: "<em><strong>Hacks Senators to remove reports on CIA torture</strong>"</em>, or as the CIA would call it, "protect America against terrorists and other adversaries."</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">What the CIA does with its hacking capacity. Hacks Senators to remove reports on CIA torture (2014) <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Vault7?src=hash">#Vault7</a> <a href="https://t.co/J3YrlW3UoC">https://t.co/J3YrlW3UoC</a> <a href="https://t.co/wrjb3ystkc">pic.twitter.com/wrjb3ystkc</a></p> <p>— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) <a href="https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/839626209428398080">March 8, 2017</a></p></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script> <div class="field field-type-filefield field-field-image-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <img class="imagefield imagefield-field_image_teaser" width="2400" height="1247" alt="" src="http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/mike%20pompeo%202.jpg?1489016289" /> </div> </div> </div> http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-08/american-public-should-be-deeply-troubled-cia-issues-statement-wikileaks-hack#comments Central Intelligence Agency Central Intelligence Agency CIA influence on public opinion CIA Office Cold War in popular culture Congress Enhanced interrogation techniques Espionage Government McLean, Virginia National security National Security Agency News leaks Politics Politics Propaganda in the United States Secrecy Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture Torture in the United States Twitter Twitter WikiLeaks Wed, 08 Mar 2017 23:40:18 +0000 Tyler Durden 589823 at http://www.zerohedge.com http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-08/texas-house-representatives-files-bill-they-hope-will-save-dallas-police-pension-ins <p>After months of lawsuits, tense rhetoric and hundreds of millions of dollars rushing out the door of the failing Dallas Police and Fire Pension System (DPFP), House Pensions Committee Chairman Dan Flynn, a Republican, filed a bill Tuesday afternoon that he hopes will prevent the system from going insolvent in the next decade. The full 177-page bill can be read <a href="http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlodocs/85R/billtext/pdf/HB03158I.pdf#navpanes=0">here</a>, but, for those who would like to avoid death by boredom today, the key components of the legislation are as follows (per the <a href="http://www.dallasnews.com/news/dallas-city-hall/2017/03/07/will-plan-save-dallas-police-fire-pension-system">Dallas News</a>):</p> <blockquote><div class="quote_start"> <div></div> </div> <div class="quote_end"> <div></div> </div> <ul> <li>Raise the full retirement age for Dallas police officers and firefighters to 58 from 55.</li> <li>Increase employee contributions to 13.5% of payroll from 8.5%.</li> <li>Increase Dallas taxpayers contributions to 34.5% from 27% in 2015.</li> <li>Eliminate guaranteed cost-of-living increases.</li> <li>Eliminate interest rates on the deferred retirement option plan, known as DROP. (DROP allowed veteran officers and firefighters to retire on paper while their pension checks accrued in what were effectively high-interest savings accounts.)</li> <li>Limit future participation in DROP to 10 years.</li> <li>Lay the groundwork for a future board to reclaim the unsustainably high interest payments that have already credited or been paid out through DROP — a move that would almost certainly prompt a legal challenge.</li> <li>Pay out the existing $1 billion in DROP accounts to retirees in annuities over their projected life span, except in case of emergencies. (More than $500 million in lump-sum DROP withdrawals had previously accelerated the system"s projected insolvency date.)</li> <li>Significantly overhaul the makeup of the police and fire pension board of trustees to include more credentialed professionals and only two active or retired police and firefighters.</li> </ul> </blockquote> <p>Of course, no amount of incremental taxpayer funding will ever be sufficient to stop angry pensioners from playing the victim card when the realities of their pension ponzi schemes are exposed for all to see.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Officers giving up everything as the city gives what ? Changes needed, retirement age, multiplier , board etc.. <a href="https://t.co/RYSCSk0Okp">https://t.co/RYSCSk0Okp</a></p> <p>— Frederick Frazier (@Frazier7324) <a href="https://twitter.com/Frazier7324/status/839224877131399169">March 7, 2017</a></p></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><p> </p> <p>And we kind of see Frazier"s point, except for the fact that the<strong> increase in the taxpayers" contribution rate to 34.5% will result in an incremental $22 million in costs for Dallas residents each year...so actually, in hindsight, we"re not sure we understand his point at all.</strong></p> <p>Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings also expressed frustration that Flynn"s bill left his city wide open to police and fire back-pay lawsuits which would also fall on taxpayers to fund.</p> <blockquote><div class="quote_start"> <div></div> </div> <div class="quote_end"> <div></div> </div> <p>"It"s complicated," Rawlings said. "There"s a lot of stuff there. That"s why there has got to be a lot of work sitting down with pencils and working out the details."</p> <p> </p> <p>City officials didn"t get one major provision they wanted: <strong>The bill currently doesn"t include language to exempt the city from liability in multibillion-dollar police-and-fire back-pay lawsuits.</strong> Rawlings said it"s "critical that we get that resolved this legislative session."</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>But the most important part of the bill, Rawlings said, is governance.</strong> He"s not quite comfortable with the board of trustees yet, but wants to make sure taxpayers "don"t get whipsawed into this situation again."</p> </blockquote> <p>Meanwhile, more conservative voices pointed out, as have we on numerous occasions, that the DPFP is just the latest example of the <strong>"failure of the defined benefit model." </strong></p> <blockquote><div class="quote_start"> <div></div> </div> <div class="quote_end"> <div></div> </div> <p>James Quintero, the director of the center for local governance at the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation, said the Dallas pension system is an example of <strong>"the failure of the defined benefit model."</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>"There is a lot behind that statement, but it can be boiled down to the simple premise that <strong>these plans have been over-promised and underfunded for a long, long time," </strong>Quintero said. "And what you"re seeing is the chicken come home to roost."</p> <p> </p> <p>Quintero said a defined-contribution plan might be a tough sell this legislative session, especially with city leaders and pension officials both supporting the defined-benefit model. And pension officials say the hole they are in is so deep that switching to a defined-contribution plan could be more expensive than saving the pension system.</p> </blockquote> <p>Of course, as we"ve already noted, the $7 billion shortfall in the DPFP triggered downgrades to Dallas’s credit rating from Moody’s and S&P in recent months which has wreaked havoc on the city"s bond yields. (chart per <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-02-21/dallas-police-and-fire-pension-backs-cutbacks-to-avoid-collapse">Bloomberg</a>).</p> <p><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user230519/imageroot/2017/02/22/2017.02.22%20-%20Dallas.JPG"><img src="http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user230519/imageroot/2017/02/22/2017.02.22%20-%20Dallas_0.JPG" alt="Dallas" width="600" height="335" /></a></p> <p> </p> <p>But don"t worry dear pensioners, there is no problem too large for taxpayers to bail out.</p> <p><em>A summary of the <a href="https://www.dpfp.org/images/PDFs/News%20items/2%20proposals-for%20website%202-20.pdf">plan adopted by the DPFP board</a> can be viewed below:</em></p> <p><iframe src="https://www.scribd.com/embeds/340019651/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&access_key=key-gcElNzntRia0JNQ6iMqR&show_recommendations=true" width="100%" height="600" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></p> <div class="field field-type-filefield field-field-image-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <img class="imagefield imagefield-field_image_teaser" width="550" height="378" alt="" src="http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user230519/imageroot/Dallas%20Police_4.JPG?1488994436" /> </div> </div> </div> http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-08/texas-house-representatives-files-bill-they-hope-will-save-dallas-police-pension-ins#comments 8.5% Bond Dallas Police Defined benefit pension plan Economy ETC Finance Financial services House Pensions Committee Labor Money Pension Pensions Personal finance Social Issues Social law Texas Public Policy Foundation Wed, 08 Mar 2017 23:30:00 +0000 Tyler Durden 589788 at http://www.zerohedge.com http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-08/companies-are-hiring-and-fed-hiking-right-recession-video <p>By <a href="http://www.econmatters.com/search/label/EconMatters"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="color: #0066cc;">EconMatters</span></span></a> </p> <p><em><br /></em> </p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGmqxY-S-G-XsrVSosMNByBWOChMDsHXvlSJcmT9RF6CvcaJDfDpBPw44Ko9iqg1QkqRKZ2kK8d01TR4E2K-7RZJEa0paYsZFCCjWfzpiKn7n0OcOvtLu0JUXvwhdYn_Qo7OETZ8uhnxLs/s1600/effects-of-recession-on-the-UK-economy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGmqxY-S-G-XsrVSosMNByBWOChMDsHXvlSJcmT9RF6CvcaJDfDpBPw44Ko9iqg1QkqRKZ2kK8d01TR4E2K-7RZJEa0paYsZFCCjWfzpiKn7n0OcOvtLu0JUXvwhdYn_Qo7OETZ8uhnxLs/s400/effects-of-recession-on-the-UK-economy.jpg" width="400" height="240" border="0" /></a></div> <p> It is starting to look like employers have bought into the animal spirits and market psychology euphoria and are hiring at precisely the worst possible time as the hard data is signaling an upcoming downturn in the overall economy. It appears we are in the stagflation phase, right before the outright recessionary phase in the economy.</p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NaQknvHt4FI?feature=player_embedded" width="320" height="266" frameborder="0"></iframe></div> <p> © <a href="http://www.econmatters.com/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="color: #0066cc;">EconMatters</span></span></a> All Rights Reserved | <a href="http://www.facebook.com/EconMatters" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="color: #0066cc;">Facebook</span></span></a> | <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/EconMatters" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="color: #0066cc;">Twitter</span></span></a> | <a href="http://www.youtube.com/c/Econmatters" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="color: #0066cc;">YouTube</span></span></a> | <a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=EconForecast" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="color: #0066cc;">Email Digest</span></span></a> | <a href="http://astore.amazon.com/econforecast-20?_encoding=UTF8&node=80"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="color: #0066cc;">Kindle</span></span></a><strong> </strong><em> </em><span style="text-decoration: underline;"> </span></p> http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-08/companies-are-hiring-and-fed-hiking-right-recession-video#comments Animal spirits Computing Digest Economy Facebook Labor Photo sharing Recession Recession Social information processing Software Stagflation Stagflation Twitter Twitter Unemployment Wed, 08 Mar 2017 23:21:42 +0000 EconMatters 589817 at http://www.zerohedge.com http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-08/nbc-reporter-fact-checks-trumps-job-creation-claims-and-destroys-you-process <p>Jane Timm from NBC was working very diligently today, on <a href="http://ibankcoin.com/flyblog/2017/03/08/happy-international-womens-day-nke/">International Women"s Day</a> of all days, in order to set the record straight for you Trumpsters out there who believe that he"s done anything at all on the jobs front (note: ADP said 298k new jobs were created in America for the month of February, far exceeding the forecast of 190k).<br /> <br /> <iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/q4VZO1dJVJU" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0"></iframe><br /> <br /> Here"s a brief summary of some of the high profile announcements President Trump made, regarding new job creations, versus the actual reality (thank you <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/08/fact-check-how-many-jobs-has-trump-created.html">Jane Timm</a>). </p> <p> </p> <blockquote><div class="quote_start"> <div></div> </div> <div class="quote_end"> <div></div> </div> <p><strong>Exxon led until recently by President Donald Trump"s secretary of state, announced a $20 billion, 47,000 jobs investment in America with a press release a little after 3 p.m. Monday afternoon.</strong><br /> <br /> Less than an hour later, Trump applauded the oil giant with effusive tweets and a White House press release remarkably similar to Exxon"s own. He also claimed credit for the announcement in a video released on social media.<br /> <br /> "This is something that was done to a large extent because of our policies and the policies of this new administration," Trump said in the video. "I said we"re bringing back jobs. This is one big example of it."<br /> <br /> <strong>But the investment isn"t new. At least some of the spending on that $20 billion investment began in 2013, Exxon"s press release reveals, and is expected to continue through 2022.</strong> One project the company touted has already been completed. Still, Exxon"s new CEO specifically praised Trump"s administration.<br /> <br /> <strong>This isn"t the first time Trump has claimed credit for job creation</strong> and corporate spending that was initiated sometimes years before his presidential run — or that a company has repackaged old news to seem fresh.<br /> <br /> "Since my election, Ford, Fiat-Chrysler, General Motors, Sprint, Softbank, Lockheed, Intel, Walmart and many others, have announced that they will invest billions of dollars in the United States and will create tens of thousands of new American jobs," Trump said during his joint address to Congress.<br /> <br /> <strong>Here, we fact check</strong> the various announcements Trump has sought to take credit for.</p></blockquote> <p> GET READY TO BE DESTROYED TRUMPSTERS. Jane Timm is going to fact check Trump"s record on jobs for the past month and sixteen days -- without ever mentioning official jobs numbers or economic statistics. BEHOLD.<br /> <br /> <strong>Carrier</strong></p> <blockquote><div class="quote_start"> <div></div> </div> <div class="quote_end"> <div></div> </div> <p><strong>Just weeks after his election, Trump bragged that he struck a deal with the state of Indiana and Carrier to preserve more than 1,100 jobs that would have otherwise been sent to Mexico.</strong> (United Technologies, Carrier"s parent company, had previously said 2,100 total jobs would go to Mexico from two different facilities — the Carrier plant, and a United Technologies Electronics Controls facility.)<br /> <br /> The company received $7 million in tax incentives over a decade, and credited Trump for his job-saving prowess.<br /> <br /> But the numbers tell a different story. <strong>Trump"s deal saved 800 jobs or fewer, according to union officials, and around 350 of those jobs had not been slated to leave.</strong> Amid the fanfare, Carrier announced that they"d send other jobs — 600, by one estimate — to Mexico. Another 700 jobs from the UTEC facility will also be outsourced.<br /> <br /> <strong>Did Trump help save or create jobs?</strong><strong>Yes, but</strong> not the more than 1,000 he claimed.</p></blockquote> <p> (Timm sharpens blade and sticks it into your heart, causing your heart to explode)<br /> <br /> <strong>Ford</strong></p> <blockquote><div class="quote_start"> <div></div> </div> <div class="quote_end"> <div></div> </div> <p><strong>In November, Trump boasted that he had "worked hard" to keep Ford"s Lincoln plant in Kentucky</strong>, but the plant wasn"t going anywhere.<br /> <br /> Ford had been investing in the plant for years, and while the company had considered moving production of a single model of Lincoln to an existing Mexican plant to make room for production of another car, the company says it wouldn"t have had an impact on jobs in either country. They did say their decision not to shift car production did have something to do with Trump, however.<br /> <br /> In January, the company ditched plans for a new $1.6 billion Ford Focus plant in Mexico, saying it would keep the car"s production at an existing Mexican plant. It also announced a $700 million investment in an existing Michigan plant to build more electric vehicles, creating 700 more jobs in the United States. The company stressed that it didn"t cut a deal with the president, and that its decisions were rooted in business priorities rather than politics. <strong>However, Ford did say that the decision meant a "vote of confidence" in Trump"s pro-business policy plans.</strong><br /> <br /> <strong>Did Trump help save or create jobs?</strong> When it comes to jobs in the Lincoln plant, <strong>no</strong>. <strong>Trump may have had a hand in Ford"s decision</strong> to invest more dollars in the U.S., <strong>but the carmaker has refuted the notion</strong> that it was a direct result of his presidency.</p></blockquote> <p> (Timm removes knife, cleans off the blood with a pink cloth and then sticks it into your eye socket, twisting it until your eye is removed)<br /> </p> <blockquote><div class="quote_start"> <div></div> </div> <div class="quote_end"> <div></div> </div> <p><strong>Fiat Chrysler</strong><br /> <br /> Fiat Chrysler announced in early January that they"d invest $1 billion in plants in Warren, Ohio and Toledo, Ohio, <strong>adding 2,000 jobs. Trump took credit for the announcement</strong> in his joint address, but Fiat Chrysler said the deal arose from talks with United Auto Workers and that the plans predated then President-elect Trump to decisions made in 2015.<br /> <br /> "I wish I could give him credit for this," Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne told reporters recently. "But the thinking was in place beforehand."<br /> <br /> Marchionne did say that the company would need clarity from the president before making any production decisions about Mexico.<br /> <br /> <strong>Did Trump help save or create jobs?</strong><strong>Not yet</strong>, according to the company"s CEO.</p></blockquote> <p> (Timm removes blade and then opens up your stomach with it, removing your small intestines, playing with it like silly string)<br /> <br /> <strong>General Motors</strong></p> <blockquote><div class="quote_start"> <div></div> </div> <div class="quote_end"> <div></div> </div> <p>General Motors announced a $1 billion investment in January alongside <strong>the creation or retention of 1,500 manufacturing jobs,</strong> the return of 450 jobs from Mexico, and the addition of <strong>5,000 jobs "over the next few years"</strong> in finance and technology.<br /> <br /> <strong>GM officials stressed that the decision dates back as early as 2014, long before Trump</strong> got involved and threatened a "big border tax" for the company because it imports several thousand hatchbacks to the U.S. from Mexico. GM CEO Mary Barra, who is on Trump"s economic advisory council, said the firm had no plans to alter their manufacturing plans to please the president.<br /> <br /> <strong>Did Trump help save or create jobs? Nope.</strong></p></blockquote> <p> (Timm cuts off your right leg with one fell swoop) </p> <blockquote><div class="quote_start"> <div></div> </div> <div class="quote_end"> <div></div> </div> <p><strong>Sprint/OneWeb/SoftBank</strong><br /> <br /> <strong>Trump took credit for Sprint"s plant to bring 5,000 jobs back to the United States</strong> — "because of me they are doing 5,000 jobs in this country," he said — as well as the 3,000 jobs OneWeb said they"d add, and the $50 billion investment by SoftBank that fueled both firms" job growth. Trump met with SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son in December.<br /> <br /> <strong>Sprint and OneWeb confirmed later that the job growth had been previously announced, and SoftBank said the investment had been in the works since October as part of SoftBank"s promised 50,000 new jobs.</strong> There is some indication that SoftBank"s CEO increased the size of the investment in OneWeb and the number of new hires, however.<br /> <br /> <strong>Did Trump help save or create jobs? Possibly.</strong> It"s clear that the investment was already happening, though Trump may have helped boost it.</p></blockquote> <p> (Timm, now rabid with blood thirst, cuts jugular vein and begins drinking your blood) </p> <blockquote><div class="quote_start"> <div></div> </div> <div class="quote_end"> <div></div> </div> <p><strong>Lockheed Martin</strong><br /> <br /> <strong>Lockheed announced 1,800 new jobs before Trump even took office</strong>, as part of a deal they were working out with the Pentagon for fighter jets. The government contractor later credited Trump for the deal, as well as the cost-cutting measures Trump gave himself credit for, but experts say both things had been in the works for awhile. No matter the favor they may be trying to curry with the new president, taxpayer savings and new jobs aren"t his doing completely.<br /> <br /> <strong>Did Trump help save or create jobs?</strong> Trump"s administration inked the deal a few weeks into his term and Lockheed did credit him, but <strong>Trump didn"t sew this deal together himself.</strong></p></blockquote> <p> (Timm removes your left arm from your torso with small ax) </p> <blockquote><div class="quote_start"> <div></div> </div> <div class="quote_end"> <div></div> </div> <p><strong>Intel</strong><br /> <br /> <strong>After meeting with Trump in February, Intel pledged to commit $7 billion to build a new factory in Arizona, hiring at least 3,000 employees.</strong> Intel"s CEO credited Trump with the move, despite the fact that Intel"s domestic investment had been in the works for years; construction on a factory began in 2011, though it was delayed when demand decreased.<br /> <br /> <strong>Did Trump help save or create jobs?</strong> <strong>Intel says he helped create jobs, but</strong> their investment had been in the works (though delayed) since 2011.</p></blockquote> <p> (Timm saws off your left leg with rusty hacksaw) </p> <blockquote><div class="quote_start"> <div></div> </div> <div class="quote_end"> <div></div> </div> <p><strong>Walmart</strong><br /> <br /> <strong>In January, Walmart said they"d add 10,000 jobs.</strong> Trump thanked them in a tweet, but the jobs had been previously announced in October as part of a $6.8 billion capital-spending plan.<br /> <br /> <strong>Did Trump help save or create jobs? There"s no evidence that he had any impact here.</strong></p></blockquote> <p> (Timm castrates you and begins to cook your testicles in a wok with organic avocado oil) </p> <blockquote><div class="quote_start"> <div></div> </div> <div class="quote_end"> <div></div> </div> <p><strong>Alibaba</strong><br /> <br /> <strong>The Chinese e-commerce giant"s founder, Jack Ma, met with Trump in January, announcing that Alibaba helped create 1 million jobs in the United States.</strong> Trump said the group wasn"t considering doing that before he got elected, but the company"s founder has been talking about it for years.<br /> <br /> Asked if he and Trump had talked about that investment, <strong>Ma said "no."</strong> The Washington Post reported that the numbers don"t add up: <strong>it"s unlikely that the tech giant with just 35,000 employees can grow so quickly in the U.S.</strong><br /> <br /> <strong>Did Trump help save or create jobs?</strong> Trump is taking credit for jobs that appear to have been in the works before that he didn"t specifically discuss with the group"s founder while experts doubt the reality of such investment. <strong>We"ll have to wait and see on this one.</strong></p></blockquote> <p> (Timm sits down to eat your testicles, washing it down with a warm cup of non-organic herbal tea)<br /> </p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">A review of sleepy teas: "The herbs aren’t organic, so hippies I consulted don’t adore this one, but I do." <a href="https://t.co/twYSP1Ooj7">https://t.co/twYSP1Ooj7</a></p> <p>— Jane C. Timm (@janestreet) <a href="https://twitter.com/janestreet/status/837321155719618561">March 2, 2017</a></p></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><p> <br /> How will you ever recover?</p> <p>Pro tip: you won"t.</p> <p>BONUS: A quick take on CNBC"s unbiased reporting.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Why would anyone think <a href="https://twitter.com/CNBC">@CNBC</a> was a festering nest of democratic elitist shills? <a href="https://t.co/NvEVSylSg5">pic.twitter.com/NvEVSylSg5</a></p> <p>— The_Real_Fly (@The_Real_Fly) <a href="https://twitter.com/The_Real_Fly/status/839548360352759810">March 8, 2017</a></p></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><p> <strong>Content originally generated at <a href="https://ibankcoin.com/">iBankCoin.com</a></strong></p> http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-08/nbc-reporter-fact-checks-trumps-job-creation-claims-and-destroys-you-process#comments American people of German descent Business Business Business career of Donald Trump Chrysler Climate change skepticism and denial Congress Donald Trump Economic policy of Donald Trump Economy of the United States Exxon Ford Ford General Motors Indiana Mexico Michigan NBC Ohio Pentagon Politics of the United States Reality SoftBank Group The Apprentice Trump"s administration Twitter Twitter White House White House WWE Hall of Fame Wed, 08 Mar 2017 23:11:03 +0000 The_Real_Fly 589816 at http://www.zerohedge.com http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-08/trump-reportedly-considering-1000-troop-deployment-kuwait-fight-isis <p>President Trump had made defeating ISIS one of the key goals of his presidency, and if <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-islamicstate-exclusive-idUSKBN16F2SK">Reuters' sources</a> are to be believed, the administration is weighing a deployment of up to <strong>1,000 American soldiers to Kuwait to serve as a reserve force in the fight against Islamic State</strong> as U.S.-backed fighters accelerate the offensive in Syria and Iraq. The Pentagon has so far declined to comment on the leak.</p> <p><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user3303/imageroot/2017/03/05/20170308_kuwait.jpg"><img height="294" src="http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user3303/imageroot/2017/03/05/20170308_kuwait.jpg" width="600" /></a></p> <p>After The House passed the $578 Billion defense bill (for the rest of FY17) this afternoon, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-islamicstate-exclusive-idUSKBN16F2SK">Reuters reports</a> that the decision on whether to create a more rapidly deployable Kuwait-based force is part of the ongoing review of the United States' strategy to defeat Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, where around 6,000 U.S. troops are deployed, largely in advisory roles, the officials said. Proponents of the US troop deployment option, which has not been previously reported, said it would<strong> provide U.S. commanders on the ground greater flexibility to quickly respond to unforeseen opportunities and challenges on the battlefield</strong>. It would also represent a step <strong>away from standard practices under President Barack Obama's administration</strong> by leaving the ultimate decision on whether to deploy some of those Kuwait-based reserve forces in Syria or Iraq to local commanders.</p> <blockquote><div class="quote_start"><div></div></div><div class="quote_end"><div></div></div><p><strong>"This is about providing options," </strong>said one U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.</p> <p> </p> <p>The officials said the deployment would differ from the existing U.S. troop presence in Kuwait.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>It was unclear whether the proposal had the support of U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis,</strong> who could opt to use other tools to give commanders more agility.</p> </blockquote> <p>US officials have so far<strong> played down expectations of a major escalation or dramatic shift in a strategy</strong> that has focused on training and advising local ground forces.</p> <p>Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis <strong>declined to comment</strong> on options being weighed by the Trump administration.</p> <div class="field field-type-filefield field-field-image-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <img class="imagefield imagefield-field_image_teaser" width="752" height="368" alt="" src="http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user3303/imageroot/20170308_kuwait.jpg?1489014398" /> </div> </div> </div> http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-08/trump-reportedly-considering-1000-troop-deployment-kuwait-fight-isis#comments Barack Obama Barack Obama"s administration Donald Trump Iraq James Mattis Kuwait Military Military intervention against ISIL Pentagon Politics Politics of the United States Recipients of the Legion of Merit Reuters Trump Administration United States War Wed, 08 Mar 2017 23:07:52 +0000 Tyler Durden 589815 at http://www.zerohedge.com
No comments:
Post a Comment