The inflation rate from year-to-year came out at 3.5 percent for the month of March, casting further doubt in the Fed’s alleged commitment to lower interest rates this year. In response, 10-year Treasury yields jumped 10 basis points to 4.5 percent, the highest that figure has been since November of 2023. Excerpt from m.economictimes.com U.S. Treasury yields spiked on Wednesday after inflation data came in higher than expected, lifting the benchmark 10-year yield over 10 basis points to 4.5%, its highest since November last year. U.S. consumer prices increased more than expected in March amid rises in the costs of gasoline and shelter, casting further doubt on whether the Federal Reserve will start cutting interest rates in June. Two-year yields, which more closely reflect monetary policy expectations, spiked by nearly 20 basis points and were last seen at 4.937%, also their highest level since November. Fed funds futures traders trimmed their expectations for interest rate cuts to a total of 43 basis points for 2024, down from 67 points ahead of the inflation data. “We have already seen indications that the market was backing off of any expectation the Fed was going to cut in the first half of the year … now our expectations should be that maybe we get a cut, maybe we get nothing,” said Chris Maxey, managing director and chief market strategist at Wealthspire Advisors. … The consumer price index rose 0.4% last month after advancing by the same margin in February, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said on Wednesday. In the 12 months through March, the CPI increased 3.5%.
While this writer is highly skeptical the powers that be will allow the unconstitutional FISA provision to pass (the provision that allows Americans to be searched and spied on without the need for a warrant), for now the provision has failed after the House voted against it by a tally of 228 against and 193 for. All of the Democrats voted against the renewal while 19 republicans, including many members of the “Freedom Caucus” also voted against it. The vote was over a procedural measure that would allow the bill to be voted on in the first place. The measure expires April 19, 2024. Excerpt from www.wicz.com Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, said he would vote against the procedural vote. Additionally, Florida GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna wrote on X, “we are killing FISA,” in response to Trump’s Truth Social post. And Tennessee GOP Rep. Tim Burchett told CNN he would be voting no on the rule. When told that would kill it, he said, “good.” …“KILL FISA,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. This marks the fourth time in Johnson’s tenure that the House has defeated a rule vote, a major embarrassment for leadership. The tally was 193 to 228, with 19 Republicans bucking House GOP leadership and voting with Democrats to sink the procedural vote and take down a rule to govern debate on the reauthorization bill as well as several other bills.
The European Union’s parliament has narrowly approved the so-called migration pact, which would fine countries not taking their “fair share” of migrants and sometimes force them to take migrants. The rule is seen by the right as being an assault on national sovereignty of the member states and by the left as not going far enough to allow unfettered, unregulated migration. The passing of the law comes at a time when national sovereignty parties across Europe are gaining ground, with some burgeoning on taking power in their respective states. EU Parliamentary elections are looming, with immigration and state sovereignty being two of the major issues in the upcoming election. Excerpt from europeanconservative.com The European Parliament narrowly approved the EU’s highly controversial and hotly debated Migration and Asylum Pact on Wednesday, April 10th. The pact, which aims to enhance the EU’s response to the ongoing mass-migration crisis, was approved by only a thin majority of lawmakers, signalling the deep political fault lines surrounding the matter. Conservative and right-wing parties warned that the agreement would infringe on nation states’ sovereignty and would be yet another letter of invitation to migrants wanting to reach the continent. Given that migration is a hot-button issue in the upcoming election, with populist parties surging across the bloc, the only perceivable silver lining is that force-feeding European citizens this piece of legislation—particularly the Orwellian-sounding ‘mandatory solidarity mechanism’—could have the potential to increase the odds for a more conservative, Eurosceptic parliament come June. The pact’s ten interlinked pieces of legislation were adopted by the European Parliament on Wednesday, with the centre-left, centre-right, and liberal groups working together to counteract the dissenting right-wing and left-wing parties—who fought it for markedly different reasons.
Alexander Scott Mercurio from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho was arrested by the FBI for allegedly plotting to murder Christians attending churches in his area. The FBI claimed he was “attempting to provide material support and resources to ISIS” in coordination with the end of the Muslim Holy month of Ramadan. The alleged wanna-be-killer wrote out his plans, stating, “Stop close by the church, equip the weapon(s) and storm the temple, kill as many people as possible before they inevitably disperse/scatter, then burn the temple to the ground and flee the scene.” Excerpt from thenationalpulse.com An 18-year-old from Idaho was apprehended in the early hours on Saturday, accused of plotting a terror attack on churchgoers in his hometown in the name of the Islamic State (ISIS). Alexander Scott Mercurio from Coeur d’Alene was taken into custody as part of an FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force investigation. The investigators allege he was preparing to carry out his assault on Sunday. Mercurio, according to a federal criminal complaint, was “attempting to provide material support and resources to ISIS.” Furthermore, it has been reported that his plans were timed to occur at the conclusion of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The defendant allegedly outlined his scheme comprehensively to an FBI confidential human source detailing plans to attack all of the 21 churches in town, killing as many people as possible and burning each church down. “Stop close by the church, equip the weapon(s) and storm the temple, kill as many people as possible before they inevitably disperse/scatter, then burn the temple to the ground and flee the scene,” Mercurio wrote in notes detailing his planned attack.
The U.S. Department of Commerce has announced a preliminary agreement with the Taiwanese Chip Manufacturing giant TSMC. The agreement could see the company gain up to $6.6 billion in taxpayer subsidies in exchange for building more manufacturing facilities in Phoenix, AZ. Excerpt from technode.com The US Department of Commerce and the semiconductor foundry TSMC jointly announced on Monday that they have reached a preliminary agreement to provide the Taiwanese manufacturer with up to $6.6 billion in subsidies under the US CHIPS Act to support the construction of advanced semiconductor manufacturing facilities in Phoenix, Arizona. As part of the agreement, TSMC will also construct its third fab in Phoenix, bringing its total investment in the US to over $65 billion. Why it matters: The agreement supports TSMC’s expansion in the US while also demonstrating a strategic partnership to strengthen advanced semiconductor manufacturing in the country as it concurrently looks to limit China’s development in the field.
Disney CEO Bob Iger faced a challenge to his rubber-stamp board in a proxy fight that he was ultimately able to win. The question is emerging; did Ron DeSantis save Bob Igor from Nelson Peltz’ anti-woke challenge? The Florida State Board of Administration (FSBA) chose to not cast their considerable proxy votes in support of Pelz, or any other “anti-woke” candidate. It also voted in favor of Iger’s candidates in 10 out of 12 slots. Ron DeSantis is a trustee on this board and would have been intimately involved in this decision-making process. While the board chose to take an agnostic approach to two of Iger’s rubber stamp board members, the two being challenged by Pelz and Jay Rasulo, it actively chose Iger in 10 of 12 board races. Excerpt from insidethemagic.net Governor Ron DeSantis has been at odds with the Walt Disney Company for months, but it turns out that behind the scenes, he bailed out CEO Bob Iger using the power of the Florida state pension fund. .. while Bob Iger had the support of famous names like Star Wars creator George Lucas and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, it turns out that he also had DeSantis backing him via the Florida State Board of Administration (FSBA). Though that name might not have the cache of Lucasfilm or the world’s biggest bank, it was a key shareholder vote to bail out Iger. The reason for that? Florida state employee pension funds, which are heavily invested in Disney stock and thus gave it a significant voice in the proxy vote. According to the FSBA voting disclosure, it voted in favor of Bob Iger and 10 out of 12 of the current board members. It withheld its vote from Maria Elena Lagomasino and Derica W. Rice, incumbent members of the board, citing various conflicts, but even more crucially, withheld votes from Nelson Peltz, Jay Rasulo, and Jessica Schell, Craig Hatkoff, and Leah Solivan from Blackwells Capital. Although Governor DeSantis has not made a public statement about the FSBA votes to bail out Bob Iger, it is impossible that he did not approve of them. The politician is one of three trustees of the FSBA, along with Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis and Attorney General Ashley Moody, who are empowered with ultimate authority over the organization and its funds. DeSantis had to be aware that he was throwing the weight of Florida state funds behind Disney.
The next stage in the impeachment process for HHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the House’s formal submission of articles of impeachment to the Senate, has been delayed for one week after it became apparent the Senate Dems planned on scuttling it, and the Senate GOP would not proffer a resistance. Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-AR) office released a statement on the decision to delay, stating “To ensure the Senate has adequate time to perform its constitutional duty, the House will transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate next week. There is no reason whatsoever for the Senate to abdicate its responsibility to hold an impeachment trial.” Excerpt from www.politicususa.com Senate Democrats will dispose of Mayorkas impeachment trial in a matter of a few hours on Thursday with little opposition from Republicans. Politico reported: Senate Democrats plan to “dispose” of the House’s impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas as quickly as they can on Thursday, a member of Democratic leadership said in an interview. Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, the No. 3 Democrat, deadpanned on Tuesday that the Senate majority is “going to treat it with the seriousness it deserves.” Excerpt from ABC News Speaker Mike Johnson’s office said Tuesday that it will delay the transmission of two articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas — pushing the process’ start until next week. Johnson had said he would send the articles of impeachment to the Senate on Wednesday, which would immediately trigger the Senate’s next moves on Thursday. A full-scale trial on the Senate floor is not likely, according to senators and leadership aides — despite what many House Republicans want. “To ensure the Senate has adequate time to perform its constitutional duty, the House will transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate next week,” Taylor Haulsee, a spokesman for Johnson, said in a statement. “There is no reason whatsoever for the Senate to abdicate its responsibility to hold an impeachment trial.”
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control released a report that showed 780,000 out of 10 million tracked Covid-19 Vaccine recipients suffered major side effects that led to emergency room visits and/or hospital stays. The report was disclosed only after a court order by U.S. District Judge compelled the CDC to release it. Excerpt from slaynews.com The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has quietly published a new report admitting to hundreds of thousands of cases of previously undisclosed injuries caused by Covid mRNA shots. The CDC revealed that it received a staggering 780,000 previously undisclosed reports about a wide array of adverse effects caused by the COVID-19 vaccinations…. These reports are in addition to the shocking number of cases already revealed by the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). … That data revealed that approximately 7.7 percent of the system’s 10 million participants, 800,000 people, reported needing medical care after receiving a Covid injection. “Twenty-five percent of those people needed emergency care or were hospitalized, and another 48 percent sought urgent care,” Siri said at the time. “Also, another 25 percent on top of the 7.7 percent reported being unable to work or go to school.”