A One-Two Punch

U.S. Faces Two Momentous Issues [The Daily Reckoning] September 30, 2023 [WEBSITE]( | [UNSUBSCRIBE]( A One-Two Punch - Two major battles are underway… - Getting ready to kick the can — again… - There are lies, and there are lies… [Biden’s WAR on The Middle Class…]( No president has sabotaged America’s hardest workers like Joe Biden has. That’s why I’m urging you to watch this urgent presentation. Because Jim Rickards’ legendary financial contact – who he calls ‘The Banker’ – may be the only man who can solve this American Income Crisis. 'The Banker' made $6,492 in 4 days… $10,617 in 6 days… and $13,203 in 2 days… [Click Here To Learn How]( Saratoga Springs, New York Editor’s note: Two spectacles are unfolding before us — a looming government shutdown and a House impeachment inquiry about Joe Biden’s possible corruption. Today we let James Howard Kunstler out of his cage, and let him address it all, in a way only he can. [James Howard Kunstler] BRIAN MAHER Dear Reader, You have to understand: No amount of political blustering will bring this gaslit nation into daylight when there is no more money and no more credit and no feasible way to feed the Washington blob that ate our government. I know, that’s a mouthful. Let’s unpack this. The equation is simple. Our country can’t handle normal interest rates; and the value of the dollar can’t withstand more ultra-low interest rates. Someone, please, ask Congress to stop screwing things up over there! Oh, and that “can” we’ve been kicking down the road turns out to be a rusty old 50-gallon drum. Somebody has stuffed America into that drum and is fixing to drop us overboard beyond the continental shelf off the Jersey Shore. Can that be stopped, too? So here at week’s end we see these two rather momentous issues juxtaposed: the battle over how to finance that blob-infested monster in D.C.; and the battle to expose the possible (OK, likely) crimes of a real-life Manchurian Candidate president. Can We Just Have Some Sanity? Neither battle is going all that well for the minority of citizens who want to live in a pro-reality society. If we follow the fiscal trend, all the tax revenue we can grudge up will barely cover the annual interest on our $33 trillion debt. If we can’t boot out the senile old cat’s paw in the White House — “Joe Biden” — then you can probably say goodbye to the rule of law and liberty with it. I know, I know, I’m just being hysterical. The Justice Department is full of saints who just blindly follow the law wherever it leads them. No political agendas, no cover-ups, they’re as pure as the driven snow. Amazingly, there are people out there who still believe that. Scary. Let’s Kick the Can Again Anyway, the people we elect to Congress don’t want to be accountable for specifically authorizing spending on the blob’s multitudinous pet projects. So they depend on multithousand-page omnibus bills nobody can ever scrutinize, and continuing resolution dodges to postpone any necessarily painful action on a budget. Remember that 50-gallon can that we’ve been kicking down the road for so long? Every omnibus bill, every continuing resolution, represents a kick. Finally a dissenting minority in the House proposes to play hardball over defunding the blob, that is, a government shutdown of unknown duration, until gaslight is replaced by sunlight. And that just isn’t allowed. [Urgent: Currency Wars Alert]( [Click here for more...]( “Worst case scenario is almost inevitable” -Former Pentagon Insider Jim Rickards In my 2011 book, I warned that the U.S. was engaged in a currency war. And that these wars: “Degenerate into sequential bouts of inflation, recession, retaliation and actual violence as the scramble for resources leads to invasion and war.” Now with Putin invading Ukraine…Rising tensions with China… Inflation, recession, and supply chain issues all hitting the U.S. economy at the same time. It seems as if some of my worst fears have finally come true. [That’s why I’ve recorded an urgent video message.]( To update you on exactly what you need to be doing to protect yourself. Because if history is any indicator, this will not end well. [Watch My Video Here]( The blob itself sends out a frantic SOS — Don’t let these white supremacist, “far-right” MAGA nutjobs drag us out of the comfortable warm, moist darkness we thrive in — perfect conditions for continued blob growth! After all, these congresspersons have their lobbyist-donors to answer to, and they’d better come up with the right answer — or else their chance of eventually retiring as multimillionaires might slip away. The Joke’s on Everyone Of course, the joke would be on them (and the rest of us) if it eventually costs a million dollars for a slice of pizza when they try to cash out. Or is there some dirty secret involved here — for instance, that the blob has also taken over whatever remained of the U.S. economy, too. So that defunding the blob also blows a hole in that supposed economy? Or maybe not. Maybe the regular economy can breathe a little again with the blob’s boot off its neck. Let’s go ahead and shut off the flow for a week or two, see what happens. My guess is that hardly anyone will notice — except for visitors to the national parks, which are closed to punish the public and get them to beg their representatives to end the shutdown. And don’t worry if you’re out of work for a bit, park ranger, you’ll be getting full back pay when it’s over. You’re just getting a paid vacation! Impeachment Theater Back to “Joe Biden.” I imagine some of you took in the opening of House Oversight’s impeachment inquiry, or at least enjoyed a few choice tidbits on web video. Chairman Comer (R-KY) tried to proceed gingerly, so as to not appear vicious, and called onstage three witnesses to establish an upright basis for the exercise. Alas, they were led by the earnest but equivocating GWU law professor Jonathan Turley, straining so hard to be above reproach that he seemed to levitate out of his seat. The Democrat minority were allowed to invite their own shill, one Michael J. Gerhardt, a law prof from North Carolina, who was there to make the gaslight flicker, and sho’nuff did. Ranking (minority) Member Jamie Raskin immediately tried to distract the proceeding with a call to subpoena Rudy Giuliani — supposedly to impugn the process. The majority briskly tabled Raskin’s motion. The old trouper has been worked over pretty severely by a lawless DOJ the past three years, had his client correspondence stolen by the FBI, his law license suspended by the New York Bar Association… but don’t forget he is an experienced and resourceful federal prosecutor himself. He spent many months beating the thickets of corruption in Ukraine for then-President Trump, and certainly knows more about what went on in that grubby money laundry than practically anyone. Bring him on. It would be entertaining to see ol’ Rudy joust with the likes of Cori Bush (D-CA) , AOC (D-NY) and Kweisi Mfume (D-MD). The Times: Nothing to See Here The New York Times pushed the leitmotif of their narrative yesterday morning: There’s no evidence that “Joe Biden” committed any impeachable offenses. [image 1] [11/1: The Beginning Of A Brand-New Inflation Surge?]( [Click here for more...]( Inflation officially peaked in June 2022 at 9.1% -- and ever since, it’s come back down to just 3.2%. But if you think the worst of this crisis is over, think again… Will Nov. 1 mark the beginning of a new – and far more serious – inflation surge? [Click Here To Find Out]( That wasn’t the point of Mr. Comer’s opening exercise, which did not include what are called “fact witnesses” — exactly what The New York Times pretended to not understand. The point was to open this ugly business delicately, with some decorum. It will be interesting to see how long the news media can keep pretending there’s nothing to see in the Biden family’s global business doings when a fire hose of evidence is turned on them. Bank statements are bank statements. They’re not hearsay or he said, she said. And you can be sure the committee is sitting on some items we have not heard about. We’ll just have to wait and see how it all plays out. If they decide not to impeach, or if “Joe Biden” is ultimately acquitted in a Senate trial, so be it. Let’s try to cling to the rule of law, to the extent that it still exists. But if hard-core evidence points to actual corruption and becomes publicly available during an impeachment process, it’s hard to imagine “Joe Biden” surviving politically — if he’s convicted or not. Remember, he looked the American people right in the eye and told them that he never even discussed Hunter’s business dealings with him. And if he was actually in business with him? The American People can handle certain lies from politicians — but they have a limit. Two Possibilities But there’s reason to be discouraged that the people we elect can bring the two great issues of the moment — the blob’s budget and the impeachment of “Joe Biden” — to satisfactory conclusions. They are arguably pseudopods of that very blob, whose very existence is being threatened now, and they have to worry about their shots at becoming multimillionaires, too. The weeks ahead will inform us if there’s anything that can be salvaged of our federal government or whether we must make other arrangements. I’m guessing we’ll have to make other arrangements. Regards, James Howard Kunstler for The Daily Reckoning [feedback@dailyreckoning.com.](mailto:feedback@dailyreckoning.com) Editor’s note: Jim Rickards has launched the [biggest initiative in our company’s history.]( And because of it, you have the once-in-a-lifetime chance to: - Meet a former $20 million hedge fund manager – known as “The Banker”… - Learn about his [unique 3-factor income strategy…]( - And you can see how to get 52 “income trades” for yourself over the next year — starting immediately. This is a historic opportunity. But there’s ONE major caveat… You can only reap the benefits of this until midnight tomorrow. That’s why you need to [watch this video from The Banker right away.]( Because at exactly 12:00 a.m. tomorrow, it will be removed from the internet. And if you don’t learn The Banker’s unique income strategy before then… you may never get another shot. [>> Click HERE to learn from The Banker before midnight tomorrow <<]( Thank you for reading The Daily Reckoning! We greatly value your questions and comments. Please send all feedback to [feedback@dailyreckoning.com.](mailto:feedback@dailyreckoning.com) [James Howard Kunstler] [James Howard Kunstler]( is perhaps best known for his 2005 book [The Long Emergency]( which predicted the financial meltdown and the implications of the peak oil problem. His 1993 book, [The Geography of Nowhere]( about the fiasco of suburbia, is a campus cult classic among the architecture and urban planning students. [Paradigm]( ☰ ⊗ [ARCHIVE]( [ABOUT]( [Contact Us]( © 2023 Paradigm Press, LLC. 808 Saint Paul Street, Baltimore MD 21202. 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