Headlines

Romney supports holding a vote on next Supreme Court nominee

Billionaire media mogul Haim Saban ramps up support for Biden and Democrats in Senate races

No cash needed: Iran says it’s willing to exchange all prisoners with U.S.

WI ruling: Ballots will be counted without definitive postmarks

Poll: Biden tied withTrump in Georgia

Coronavirus live updates: Europe turns to curfews, army to slow spread; Lowe’s unveils contactless lockers

Florida Governor unveils legislation making rioting a third-degree felony

CNN Lemon: ‘We’re gonna have to blow up the entire system’

Bloomberg, others rack up $20 million to register Florida felon after time served

Existing home sales jump to 14-year high, as prices set another record

NYPD officer and Army reservist charged with acting as illegal agent[s] of China

Collins proposes Const. Amendment to prohibit ‘threat of the moment’ SCOTUS packing

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Headlines

Unemployment claims fell slightly to 1 million last wee

Powell announces Fed’s new approach to inflation that could keep rates lower for longer

Hack PBS reporter: Standing for National Anthem is racist

PBS WH reporter sees dog whistle in paralyzed GOP candidate standing up

European Union too slow to help Belarus, Lithuania says

July pending home sales jump over 15% annually in July, as properties go under contract in record time

North Korea releases proof-of-life photos of Kim Jong-un

Boston protest urges vote for Joe Biden because he is ‘pro-life‘

‘It’s playing into Trump’s hands’: Dems fear swing-state damage from Kenosha unrest

Coronavirus live updates: WHO warns Europe faces ‘tricky moment’ as summer turns to fall

BLM riots break out again in Minneapolis after murder suspect commits suicide

Anderson Cooper peddles disproven claim Trump wanted to inject people with bleach

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Headlines

Biden is already forming a government. Here’s what his cabinet looks like.

Struggling retailers rush to file for bankruptcy as fears of a second wave of coronavirus linger

Chicago mayor bans protests — but only on her own block

Poll: Trump, Biden statistical tie in Pennsylvania

Duckworth calls Trump ‘coward in chief’

July home sales spike 24.7% as prices set a new high

Judge orders new election in Patterson, NJ after voter fraud charges

Virus cases falling so low in L.A. that schools could reopen soon

Greta Thunberg climate movement targets Angela Merkel

$50 billion of cryptocurrency moves out of China hinting at capital flight against Beijing’s rules

Steve Bannon pleads not guilty in Manhattan federal court

Report: Belarus flies in Russian crews to take over state media

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Headlines

Americans tune into ‘cancel culture’ — and don’t like what they see

U.S. agrees to pay Pfizer and BioNTech $2 billion for 100 million doses of coronavirus vaccine

Price tag of Biden campaign promises nears $10 trillion

Senate transcripts: Joe Biden Quoted N-word 13 times in 1985 hearings

Feds assemble ‘Operation Diligent Valor’ force to battle Portland unrest

Existing home sales surge nearly 21% in June — a record monthly gain

Google appears to blacklist major conservative news sites

At least 14 wounded following shooting outside Chicago funeral home

Liz Cheney defends pro-Trump bona fides after GOP attacks

State Department orders China to close consulate in Houston — China vows retaliation

Gold and silver prices spike

Hollywood dunks on Trump after he offered well wishes to Maxwell


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Headlines

Ocasio-Cortez raises AIPAC ire over effort to tie the Israeli aid to annexation

Americans will be barred from European travel as the EU gradually reopens its borders

SCOTUS hands major victory to school choice movement

Democrats delete tweet targeting Mount Rushmore over ‘white supremacy’

EU says it’s mulling a coordinated response over Hong Kong

Coronavirus live updates: About 25% of NYC is likely infected, Gottlieb says hot spots spread through the Sun Belt

DOD: No evidence to corroborate NYTimes story claiming Russia put bounties on U.S. soldiers

l.A. County sheriff refuses to enforce beach closure order for July 4th

Republicans have been skipping House intelligence committee meetings for months

Dr.Anthony Fauci says new virus in China has traits of 2009 H1N1 and 1918 pandemic flu

Existing home sales prices rise 4.7% in April (compared to April, 2019)

LAPD morale at ‘record low’: ‘It’s simply not worth it any longer’

Headlines

NCAA proposes letting college athletes get paid for endorsements

US GDP shrank 4.8% during the first quarter amid biggest contraction since the financial crisis

U.S. deaths 58,611 ...

Poll: Trump net approval on coronavirus response hits new low

Gilead says remdesivir data shows encouraging signs against coronavirus

Pending home sales shrank nearly 21% in March, but Realtors claim prices will hold up

Medication shortages next crisis ...

Report: FoxNews severs ties with Diamond & Silk

‘Criminal incompetence’: Outrage after de Blasio breaks up crowded Orthodox Jewish funeral

Coronavirus testing chief says ‘no way on Earth’ US can test 5 million a day

Despite McConnell comment, states can’t go bankrupt, only default ...

Iran warns U.S. Navy in the Persian Gulf: Get ready for a ‘hand slap in the face’

Headlines

Tracking the virus may require 300,000 workers. We’re nowhere close

Coronavirus live updates: McDonald’s gives away meals to frontlines, Hertz to lay off 10,000 workers

Iowa sends National Guard troops to meat plants ...

Rashida Tlaib: ‘Corporate greed is the disease us country’

Trump pledges financial aid to oil industry

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un recently had surgery, could be incapacitated, US officials say

Study: Virus has mutated into 30 different strains ...

Joe Biden: I’d pick Michelle Obama for VP ‘in a heartbeat’

Farm workers to be immune to Trump’s immigration ban

March home sales drop as sellers take properties off the market — and the coming months look worse

Second night of riots in Paris ...

About 4% of L.A. county residents have coronavirus antibodies

Headlines

Trump exasperated by gaffe-prone Giuliani

Government debt tab hits $66 trillion, 80% of global GDP

Centrist Dems urge Pelosi to break stalemate ...

Pelosi refuses to grant Trump access for state of the Union message

Poll: Shutdown, Russia drive Trump disapproval to all-time high

White House chief economist: We could see 'zero' growth in first quarter ...

USA recognizes Guado as [Venezuela] president

Report: Musk's charitable foundation benefits family and friends

White House going ahead with State of the Union plans

More homes for sale, but fewer are affordable

Michael Cohen delays Congressional testimony ... safety fears ...

Kushner: GOP Senators to offer green cards to illegal aliens

Headlines

Centrist Dems urge Peloai to break shutdown logjam

US cancels trade planning meeting with China, sources say

McConnell schedules dueling shutdown votes ...

President Trump: Covington Catholic students.'smeared by media'

Supreme Court seems to rebuff Trump's push for a quick DACA hearing

The unusually large drop in home sales has real estate agents baffled

Maduro on brink?

Taliban resumes peace talks with U.S. 'Hours' after killing at least 45

Republicans load spending bill with hardline measures targeting asylum

Trump moves forward with State of the Union plans despite Pelosi's request to postpone it

'Rapid military escalation' between Israel and Iran ...

Democrat to Pelosu: 'Get in the damn room' with Tr,p over border wall

Punchbowl

"The job of the Federal Reserve Bank is to take away the punch bowl just as the party gets started" -- William McChesney Martin

Translation: The Fed causes recessions just so it can fix them.

It is my contention that the Fed's charter is too narrow -- maintain full employment and  low (2%) inflation. Today, both these goals are being met, yer the Fed seems bent on increasing interest rates (taking away the pinch owl) to prepare for (cause?) the next recession.

However, the interest rate differential between the U.S. and the rest of the world is now so great that the Fed, by strengthening the dollar so much, is impacting foreign trade and working at cross purposes with Trump's tariff agenda. These rate increases are also killing home and auto sales and making our Treasury's job of financing our debt much more difficult ... particularly since it neglected to extend its term during the previous administration.

Conclusion: If the Fed continues to raise interest rates, the party will surely be over for quite some time. Also meaning that the Fed has its thumb on the political scale ... as Trump is implying.