Morgan Stanley – #1 recipient of Fed’s ‘secret liquidity lifelines’

As the banking crisis intensified in the Fall of 2008, with major banking institutions assuming, or on the verge of assuming, the classical ‘snorkel’ position (aka ‘underwater’ status), the Federal Reserve ran quickly to the rescue with secret liquidity lifelines” (Bloomberg 8-22-11).

The Fed substantially eased some important collateral rules for banks, “meaning that banks that could once borrow only against sound collateral, like Treasury bills or AAA-rated corporate bonds, could now borrow against pretty much anything – including some of the mortgage-backed sewage that got us into this mess in the first place….  ‘All of a sudden, banks were allowed to post absolute [expletive deleted] to the Fed’s balance sheet,’ [according to] the manager of the prominent hedge fund.” (Source: Bailout Hustle, Matt Taibbi).

The Federal Reserve ‘created’ various “facilities” to fire-hose liquidity out to major domestic and foreign banks, insurers, and brokerage firms, to include: Primary Dealers’ Credit Facility, Term Securities Lending Facility, Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program, Commercial Paper Funding,Term Auction Facility, Public Private Investment Program

And, here we go – from the top (Bloomberg  Nov 28, 2011) :

Morgan Stanley, facing a crisis of confidence after the fall of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., got a $9 billion injection from Japanese bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. and agreed to take a $10 billion bailout from the U.S. Treasury to shore up capital. As hedge-fund customers pulled funds out of the New York-based firm, it plugged the hole with $107.3 billion of secret loans from the Federal Reserve’s Primary Dealer Credit Facility and Term Securities Lending Facility, set up earlier in the year to supply brokerage firms with emergency financing.”

Peak amount of Debt on 9/29/2008:  $107B
………………………………………………………………

The Leviticus 25 Plan does not seek to ‘interrupt’ or reverse any of the special relationships that have developed in the Fed’s financial sphere.  It only seeks to level the playing field by providing U.S. citizens the same access to direct liquidity flows that the big banks enjoyed ‘in their time of need.’

The Leviticus 25 Plan proposes one additional upgrade to the Fed’s liquidity lines: A U.S. Citizens Credit Facility.

The Leviticus 25 Plan – An Economic Acceleration Plan for America

$90,000 per U.S. citizen – Leviticus 25 Plan 2025 (11996 downloads )

WSJ: ObamaCare Subsidies Explode from $55 Billion to $470 Billion.

Behind the ObamaCare Boom – WSJ

Sweetened subsidies are attracting more takers, at taxpayer expense.

By The Editorial Board | Jan. 28, 2024 5:30 pm ET

Excerpts:

Government entitlements and subsidies invariably cost more than politicians advertise. Take the ObamaCare premium tax credits, which Democrats during the pandemic turned into a de facto public option for health insurance.

President Biden took a victory lap last week after the Health and Human Services Department reported that a record 21.3 million Americans had signed up for coverage on the ObamaCare exchanges. That’s nearly five million more than last year and nearly double as many as in 2020. “It’s no accident,” the President tooted. He’s right, but not in a good way.

The March 2021 American Rescue Plan Act sweetened the premium tax credits to make insurance on the exchanges free or nearly free for many middle-class Americans for two years. The Inflation Reduction Act extended the bigger subsidies through 2025, while his Administration rewrote ObamaCare rules to enable more families to qualify.

Because the enhanced subsidies make the plans cheaper than employer coverage, many more Americans are signing up on the ObamaCare exchanges. The pandemic Medicaid expansion also ended last spring, enabling states to remove people who no longer qualify. HHS says many who left Medicaid signed up for ObamaCare plans.

Recall that Democrats claimed that extending the sweetened subsidies for three years would cost a mere $64 billion. But a conservative back-of-the-envelope calculation based on enrollment and the average tax credit indicates that the subsidy boost this year alone will cost some $70 billion—meaning it could end up costing three times what the politicians claimed.

When the government creates an open-ended subsidy, more people than predicted always show up to the buffet. The pandemic Medicaid expansion cost more than six times the original $50 billion estimate. The Covid-era Employee Retention Credit was initially estimated to cost $55 billion, but the final price tag may be upward of $470 billion as tens of thousands of businesses continue to claim it.

The truth is that you can’t trust Congress’s budget estimates. The bipartisan tax deal now moving through the House to boost the child tax credit and renew some business tax breaks is estimated to cost $78 billion. The smart money will take the over.

______________________________________

And on we go… more people dependent on government programs, more price distortion in private markets, ongoing ‘projected cost’ blowouts, ballooning federal budget deficits.

Washington Democrats (and Republicans) have America on track for credit market chaos.

There is currently one plan (and only one plan) on the table with the power to: 1) Revive free-market efficiencies and economic viability in the U.S. healthcare system; 2) Restore order and stability to credit markets, and; 3) Get America back on track for federal budget surpluses, sound money, and financial security for millions of hard-working, tax-paying U.S. citizens.

The Leviticus 25 Plan – An Economic Acceleration Plan for America

$90,000 per U.S. citizen – Leviticus 25 Plan 2025 (11994 downloads )

GOP-led House 1,050-page Spending Package Approved: $13 Billion in earmarks.

Washington Democrats and Republicans are driving America headlong into a full-blown debasement of the U.S. Dollar – and an inevitable conversion to a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) system.

Congress added $7.5 trillion to the debt over the last 2 years, according to The Heritage Foundation report. This comprehensive report exposes the historic spending spree from both parties in Congress, March 2020 – December 2022, has added a massive $7.464 trillion to the national debt (not counting accrued interest costs). Source: Fox News, Sep 21, 2023.

Congress’ latest spending package, approved by the GOP-led House of Representatives, covers six appropriation bills totaling $460 billion.

It also includes over 6,600 earmarks at a cost of $12.7 billion dollars.

See how your state’s Congressman voted here.

The U.S. Congress has no appetite whatsoever to change its’ free-wheeling ways.

Main Street America Republicans, however, do have a plan to put this chaotic mess back in order….

………………………………………………

GOP-led House passes spending package to keep government open, includes $13 billion in earmarks

The spending bill passed 339-85 with more Democrats voting in favor of it than Republicans

By Nicholas Ballasy, Updated: March 6, 2024 10:35pm / Dig Deeper Excerpts:

The GOP-led House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a 1,050-page spending package that includes nearly $13 billion of earmarks, commonly referred to as “pork barrel” spending.

The bill passed 339-85 with more Democrats voting in favor of it than Republicans. In total, 207 Democrats and 132 Republicans voted yes. 

There are earmarks in the legislation sponsored by members of the Democrat and Republican parties. The spending package contains six appropriations bills totaling about $460 billion.

The first spending deadline in the temporary spending bill Congress passed last week is Friday, March 8. The appropriations bills in the new spending package would last for the rest of fiscal year 2024.

“One Republican Senator gets 8 earmarks in the omnibus today. No one voted to add these and no one gets to vote to take these out. We have gone backwards 14 years, to before the 2010 Tea Party wave,” Rep. Thomas Massie, R-K.Y., said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, referring to Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. “The swamp is back to buying Republican votes for the omnibus with earmarks.”

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., wrote on his X account that the spending package is “packed with 6,600+ earmarks totaling $12.7 BILLION DOLLARS.”

“Skyrocketing inflation. Massive debt. But Washington keeps spending your money on stupid pet projects. NO MORE EARMARKS,” he wrote.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-K.Y., said it’s “disappointing that Republicans are going along with Democrats” in moving forward with the spending bill that has hundreds of earmarks.

“This is a real step backwards, and I will oppose it with every fiber of my being,”  Paul said.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said there was “no way any mortal could actually vet all of the earmarks in the 48-hour time period they’ve given us so far.” 

“Earmarks are the corrupt currency of Congress. No self-respecting Republican should touch them,” he wrote.

Lee said Senate lawmakers can still request that their earmarks be stripped from the bill…

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., has reportedly sponsored many earmarks in the spending package. Thune is running to replace Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell, R-K.Y., who is stepping down from his leadership role in November.

Lee called on Thune to request removal of the earmarks from the spending package. Thune’s office was not available for comment before press time.

Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, argued that Congress “should not be giving $12.7 billion to Congressional pork projects when we are $34 trillion in debt.”…

____________________________________

The Main Street America Republican plan to save America:

The Leviticus 25 Plan is a dynamic economic initiative providing direct liquidity benefits for American families, while at the same time scaling back the role of government in managing and controlling the affairs of citizens.  It is a comprehensive plan with long-term economic and social benefits for citizens and government.

The inspiration for this plan is based upon Biblical principles set forth in the Book of Leviticus, principles tendering direct economic liberties to the people.

The Leviticus 25 Plan – An Economic Acceleration Plan for America

$90,000 per U.S. citizen – Leviticus 25 Plan 2025 (11967 downloads )

2024: America Drowning in Debt – Near-term Liquidity Problems Clearly Visible.

Liquidity Problems Are Closer Than You Think

ZeroHedge, Mar 06 – Authored by Michael Lebowitz via RealInvestmentAdvice.com,

Excerpts:

In 2019, the Fed cut interest rates and restarted QE despite a healthy economy. Today, inflation is higher than the Fed’s target, economic growth is above historical trends, and financial markets display complacency and exuberance. Yet, the Fed is talking about cutting rates and reducing QT. The only rationale for them in such an environment must be a concern with potential liquidity problems, as the declining balances in the Fed’s Reverse Repurchase Program (RRP) suggest.

…Total debt is growing much faster than the economy’s collective income. To facilitate such a divergence and try to avoid liquidity problems, the Fed has increasingly employed lower interest rates and balance sheet machinations (QE). Numerous bank and investor bailouts have also helped.

 As the country becomes more leveraged, the Fed’s importance will increase.

What is the RRP? – A repurchase agreement, better known as a repo, is a loan collateralized by a security. The Fed’s RRP is a loan in which the Fed borrows money from primary dealers, banks, money market funds, and government-sponsored enterprises. The term of the loan is one day.

The program provides money market investors with a place to invest overnight funds….

Think of RRP as money market supply offered to help balance the supply-demand curve for overnight funds.

During the pandemic, the Fed bought about $5 trillion of Treasury and mortgage bonds from Wall Street. As a result, a massive amount of liquidity was injected into the financial system. Since banks did not use all the liquidity to make loans or buy longer-term assets, financial institutions had excess liquidity that needed to be invested in the money markets. The result was downward pressure on short-term yields.

The Fed raised its Fed Funds overnight rate to help combat inflation. But, with the excess funds sloshing around the market, hitting their target rate would prove difficult. RRP allowed the Fed to meet its target.

The Current Status Of RRP – At its peak, the RRP facility reached $2.5 trillion. Since then, it has decreased steadily. Currently, it is half a trillion dollars and will likely fall to near zero in the coming months. Essentially, the market is absorbing excess liquidity. Over the last year, excess liquidity has been needed by the Treasury to fund its swiftly growing debt and to help the market absorb the bonds coming off the Fed’s balance sheet via QT.

Excess Liquidity Is VanishingIt’s difficult to experience liquidity problems when liquidity is abundant. The extreme actions of the Fed in 2020 and 2021 made it much easier for the banking system, financial markets, and economy to handle much higher interest rates and $95 billion a month of QT.

However, excess liquidity is diminishing rapidly.

So, what type of problems occur when the excess liquidity is gone? For starters, banks will still have to use their reserves to help the Treasury issue debt and absorb the Fed’s balance sheet decline. Such actions will force liquidity to migrate from other parts of the financial system to the Fed and Treasury. Without RRP to draw funds from, banks will have to tighten lending standards for consumer and corporate loans. Further, they may likely pull back on margin debt offered to speculative investors.

The cost of higher interest rates and QT will likely be felt at this point.

Revisiting 2019 – In 2019, Treasury-backed repo interest rates between banks and other investors were trading well above uncollateralized Fed Funds. Such a circumstance didn’t make sense.

As a hypothetical example, JP Morgan was lending Bank of America money overnight at 5.50% with no security (collateral) despite a hedge fund willing to borrow at 5.75% fully secured with Treasury bonds. Yes, Bank of America has a better credit rating and lower default risk, but the hedge fund is pledging risk-free collateral. While small, the odds of JP Morgan losing money in this example are greater for the Bank of America loan than the hedge fund repo trade.

At the time, the Fed was raising rates and reducing their balance sheet for the prior year and a half. Liquidity was becoming a big problem. There was no RRP to draw liquidity from to offset QT. Simply, liquidity was lacking.

To combat the liquidity shortage, the Fed added liquidity by reducing the Fed Funds rate and re-engaging in QE. It’s important to remind you that they took these actions while the economy was in good shape and broader financial markets showed little to worry about.

The graph below highlights when the Fed quickly reversed course.

2019 is very relevant because similar problems may arise as the excess liquidity from the pandemic finally exits the system.

The Fed Is Prepping For Liquidity Problems – The Fed appears to be aware of potential liquidity shortfalls. Over the last month, they have started discussing reducing their monthly amounts of QT. A formal announcement could come as early as the March 20th FOMC meeting.

Such discussions and planning occur even though inflation is still above target, the economy is growing faster than the trend, and the stock market is near record highs. Under those circumstances, one would think the Fed would maintain its tight monetary policy.

The Fed is aware that large institutional investors have to sell assets to reduce leverage if there isn’t sufficient liquidity. Such collective actions could significantly weigh on financial asset prices and, ultimately, the economy.

To wit, consider a recent article by the New York Fed. In The Financial Stability Outlook, author Anna Kovner states the following: “Achieving a strong U.S. economy and stable prices is paramount, and remaining aware of the impact of policy choices on the financial system is a key ingredient to maintaining the ability to execute policy. To close with the snow metaphor I began with, if there is a blizzard in March, we will be prepared to dig out quickly, plow the streets, and get back to work.

March is not just a random date. March is when the RRP program is expected to fall to near zero!

Will The Fed Know When Liquidity Is No Longer “Ample”?

No magic number or calculation tells the Fed when excess liquidity is gone. Furthermore, they will only know when liquidity becomes insufficient after the money markets have reacted negatively.

Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan recently made that clear. Per a speech she gave on March 1, 2024: “The challenge today is knowing how far to go in normalizing the balance sheet. In 2019, the FOMC decided that it would operate in the long run with a version of the floor system where reserves are “ample.” The word “ample” suggests comfortably but efficiently meeting banks’ demand. As I’ve argued elsewhere, the Friedman rule provides a guide to the efficient supply of reserves in the ample-reserves regime. Banks’ opportunity cost of holding reserves should be approximately equal to the central bank’s cost of supplying reserves.

Further, she notes: “So, I don’t think we can identify the ample level in advance. We’ll need to feel our way to it by observing money market spreads and volatility.

Summary – Excessive amounts of debt support our economy and asset valuations. Therefore, the Fed has no choice but to keep the liquidity pumps flowing to support the leverage.

As in 2019, the Fed will likely take stimulative policy actions to provide liquidity despite an economic and inflation environment where policy should remain tight. 

Keep a close eye on the excess liquidity gauge RRP and be aware of irregular activity in the money markets.

_______________________________

The Leviticus 25 Plan provides an powerful new channel that retargets liquidity flows to effectively solve America’s looming liquidity crisis – and restore economic liberty for millions of American families.

The Plan will: 1) Eliminate massive amounts of public and private debt; 2) Support corporate credit markets; 3) Restore order in Treasury auctions / reduce interest rates; 4) Set America back on course for long-term economic strength and stability.

“He who will not apply new remedies must expect new evils.” – Sir Francis Bacon

The Leviticus 25 Plan is a dynamic economic initiative providing direct liquidity benefits for American families, while at the same time scaling back the role of government in managing and controlling the affairs of citizens.  It is a comprehensive plan with long-term economic and social benefits for citizens and government.

The inspiration for this plan is based upon Biblical principles set forth in the Book of Leviticus, principles tendering direct economic liberties to the people.

The Leviticus 25 Plan – An Economic Acceleration Plan for America

$90,000 per U.S. citizen – Leviticus 25 Plan 2025 (11946 downloads )

March 2024 – Government Stagnation, Economic Stagflation. Solution: The Leviticus 25 Plan.

Congress is once again spinning its budget wheels, America is sinking ever deeper into its self-made cavernous debt hole, and the economy continues on in a sour skid.

It is time to think outside-the-box. It is time for a comprehensive new strategy….

……………………………….

Congressional Leaders Announce Deal To Avert Shutdown

ZeroHedge, Feb 29, 2024 – Update (1748ET): Congressional leaders have reached an agreement to avert a government shutdown this week. Under the deal, six full bills will be extended which will cover the departments of Agriculture, Justice, Commerce, Energy, Interior, Transportation and Housing and Urban Development through March 8, while the remaining six annual funding bills covering the departments of Labor and Health and Human Services, the Pentagon and other offices will be covered through March 22.

So, more can-kicking.

……………………………………

SuperCore Inflation Soars In January, Services Costs Re-Accelerate As Govt Handouts Spike

ZeroHedge, Feb 29, 2024 – biggest MoM rise in Services inflation ex-shelter since Dec 2021

………………………………..

Pending Home Sales Puked In January, Back Near Record Lows

ZeroHedge, Feb 29, 2024 – ...and December’s ‘surprise’ surge was revised down large. 

……………………………………..

Survey-Based Sentiment Slump Continues As Prices Paid Accelerates in Plunging Chicago PMI

ZeroHedge, Feb 29, 2024 – …not exactly election-winning headlines.

____________________________

Imagine a dynamic economic plan that grants U.S. citizens the same direct credit extensions that the Fed provided the Wall Street financial markets during the credit crisis of 2008-2010 and again in COVID downturn of 2021-2022.

Imagine millions of American families paying off trillions of dollars in mortgage debt, consumer debt, auto loans, student loan debt – and banks being suddenly ‘reliquified.’

And then imagine the U.S. banking sector looking for a place to earn a return as they wait patiently for loan demand (from now credit-worthy borrowers) to rebuild… over time.

Finally, imagine banks bidding on the highest form of AAA rated paper in the credit markets, U.S. Treasury bills and bonds and high-grade paper in the corporate bond market…

And then watch interest rates come back down. Watch the economy shift back into a long-term growth cycle, American families regain financial security, strength under-girds the U.S. Dollar.

Imagine an economic plan that generates $112.6 billion budget surpluses 2025-2029, and pays for itself entirely over a 10-15 year period.

The Leviticus 25 Plan – An Economic Acceleration Plan for America

$90,000 per U.S. citizen – Leviticus 25 Plan 2025 (11788 downloads )

Stunning: “$834.2 billion in debt during Q3 to grow the US economy by $334.5 billion, or exactly $2.5 in debt for every $1 in GDP”

Question: Do Washington Democrats and Republicans have a plan to turn this looming economic shipwreck around…?

Does the Fed have a plan, or the U.S. Dept of Treasury…?

Answer: No, No, and No.

…………………………………………………………………..

US GDP “Grew” $334 Billion In Q4…. That Growth Cost $834 Billion In Debt

ZeroHedge, Feb 28, 2024 – Excerpts:

…First, according to the Biden admin, in Q4 GDP rose 3.2%, a modest drop from the 3.3% reported in the first estimate one month ago, and below the 3.3% consensus estimate.

While we already know this, the BEA reported that the increase in the fourth quarter primarily reflected increases in consumer spending, exports, and state and local government spending. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased.

  • The increase in consumer spending reflected increases in both services and goods. Within services, the leading contributors were health care, food services and accommodations, and other services (led by international travel). Within goods, the leading contributors to the increase were other nondurable goods (led by pharmaceutical products) as well as recreational goods and vehicles.
  • The increase in exports reflected increases in both goods (led by petroleum) and services (led by financial services).
  • The increase in state and local government spending reflected increases in both investment (led by structures) and consumption expenditures (led by compensation of employees).

But what does that have to do with the bitcoin spike?

Well, a closer look at the data revealed something stunning: a quick look at the increase in nominal GDP, which rose from $27.61 trillion in Q3 to $27.94 trillion in Q4, shows that the US economy increased some $334.5 billion in absolute nominal dollar terms.

But where did this growth come from? Why debt of course, and a lot of it. For the answer how much debt, we go to the US Treasury’s Debt to the penny website, where we find that debt on Sept 30, 2023 was $33,167,334,044,723.16 and debt on Dec 31, 2023 was $34,001,493,655,565.48.

In other words, it cost $834.2 billion in debt during Q3 to grow the US economy by $334.5 billion, or exactly $2.5 in debt for every $1 in GDP “growth.” Source: BEA and US Treasury

Which also brings us back full circle and explains why bitcoin is now trading at $60,000, the highest price since late 2021 and why it will not only surpass its all time high in just a few days, but why it will rise much, much higher, because the US is now well past the point of no return.

_________________________________________

Main Street America Republicans do have a plan – with the power and reach to bring the U.S. back “from the point of no return” – to being once again the world’s premier free market economic powerhouse.

The Leviticus 25 Plan is a dynamic economic initiative providing direct liquidity benefits for American families, while at the same time scaling back the role of government in managing and controlling the affairs of citizens.  It is a comprehensive plan with long-term economic and social benefits for citizens and government.

The inspiration for this plan is based upon Biblical principles set forth in the Book of Leviticus, principles tendering direct economic liberties to the people.

The Leviticus 25 Plan – An Economic Acceleration Plan for America

$90,000 per U.S. citizen – Leviticus 25 Plan 2025 (11782 downloads )

Washington’s ‘Student Loan Debt Cancellation’ Schemes Transfer That Debt to You.

Washington Democrats’ student loan cancellation initiatives transfer this debt to millions of college grads who faithfully paid off their college loan debt…. and further transfers it onto the backs of working-class Americans who did not attend college and did not take on these education debt obligations.

This is all being done to buy votes – and create long-term party loyalty.

Washington Republicans, meanwhile, have no plan to provide commensurate benefits for college grads who did pay off their student loans, and for working-class Americans who did not take on college loan debt, but will now be required to pay those very debts for others.

Washington Republicans, amazingly enough, have no plan to balance out this injustice, win over the hearts and minds of voters, create a foundation for long-term party loyalty. And benefit America in untold numbers of ways…

Note: Main Street America Republicans have the perfect alternative …

………………………………………………..

President Biden’s Transfer of Other People’s Debts To You

ZeroHedge, Feb 23, 2024 |  Authored by Rob Natelson via The Epoch Times – Excerpts:

“A rage … for an abolition of debts … or for any other improper or wicked project ….” – James Madison, Federalist No. 10

The courts, in the exercise of what is called “equity jurisdiction,” have long excused borrowers from obligations incurred through fraud, duress, and other forms of creditor unfairness.

In addition, federal bankruptcy laws (authorized in the Constitution by Article I, Section 8, Clause 4) offer a path to safety for debtors who get in over their heads.

President Joe Biden’s “student loan forgiveness” measures qualify as neither. Instead, they are classic examples of what James Madison called an “improper or wicked project.”

Under the president’s program, no debtor will have to declare bankruptcy. And far from being victims, they already have enjoyed the benefit of very favorable loan terms at taxpayer expense. The borrowers spent the money for what both they and the federal government thought was a good purpose….

Madison called debt cancellation “improper or wicked” for very good reasons. Cancellation does not abolish an obligation. It merely transfers it to innocent people. If you are reading this, chances are that you will be one of those victimized by the Biden program.

Cancellation also injures the capital markets. In other words, it makes creditors less likely to lend on favorable terms. This makes it harder for deserving people to borrow.

Cancellation damages the sense of personal responsibility. It frays the social fabric by creating bitterness between different classes of people.

Nevertheless, for centuries demagogues have used debt-cancellation to buy votes. They then find ways to exploit the resulting bitterness for political advantage….

Moreover, the Constitution did not authorize (and does not authorize) the federal government to guarantee loans for adolescents so they can swell the coffers of universities, or of any other constituency of the National Democratic Party.

Further, as Madison suggested in Federalist No. 10, the Founders did not believe that a single special interest (in this case the universities and their former students) could become powerful enough to generate this kind of self-serving measure at the federal level….

Conclusion – History demonstrates that attempts to “cure” a problem by exceeding the federal government’s constitutional powers generally lead to more and worse problems. The federal student loan program is a good example.

In an attempt to make college more affordable, the program has had precisely the opposite effect: The flood of federal money has greatly inflated the cost of tuition. It also has created a generation of debtors, and added billions to the national debt.

Now the president’s administration of the student loan program threatens to victimize hundreds of millions of innocent people by imposing on them an obligation they did not incur—and from which they in no way benefited…..

_______________________________________________ 

The Leviticus 25 Plan will: 1) Provide tangible commensurate (or better) financial benefits to college graduates who faithfully paid off their college loan debt, and to working-class Americans who by-passed college and took on no student loan debt; 2) Activate long-term economic growth – and improved job market opportunities; 3) Reduced interest rates, improving home affordability; 4) Generate $112.6 billion federal budget surpluses (2025-2029).

The Leviticus 25 Plan is ‘hands-down’ the most powerful economic acceleration plan in the world.

Washington Republicans need to get on board – pronto.

The Leviticus 25 Plan is a dynamic economic initiative providing direct liquidity benefits for American families, while at the same time scaling back the role of government in managing and controlling the affairs of citizens.  It is a comprehensive plan with long-term economic and social benefits for citizens and government.

The inspiration for this plan is based upon Biblical principles set forth in the Book of Leviticus, principles tendering direct economic liberties to the people.

The Leviticus 25 Plan – An Economic Acceleration Plan for America

$90,000 per U.S. citizen – Leviticus 25 Plan 2025 (11672 downloads )

20Y Treasury Auction – “Very ugly.”

Today’s Treasury auction of 20Y paper wrapped up with some “disastrous metrics.”

Higher interest payment obligations on America’s already ‘out of control’ federal borrowing means that the currently rip-roaring “interest expense” item in the annual budget deficits just got hotter…

The good news: There is a solution to this monumental fiscal quagmire…

………………………………………………………

Yields Surge After Terrible 20Y Auction With Biggest Tail o Record

ZeroHedge, Feb 21, 2024 – Excerpts:

Despite some optimistic expectations (most notably from Bloomberg’s Markets Live blog) that today’s 20Y auction would “stop through with long list of positives”, moments ago the Treasury sold 20Y paper with disastrous metrics which sent yields sharply higher across the board.

The high yield of 4.595% was well above last month’s 4.423% but worse, it tailed the When Issued 4.562% by a whopping 3.30bps, which was the biggest tail on record for the tenor since the 20Y auction was introduced in May 2020.

The bid to cover tumbled to 2.39, down from 2.53, well below the 2.59 six-auction average, and was the lowest since August 2022. 

The internals were even uglier, with Indirects awarded just 59.08%, lower than last month’s 62.16%, sharply lower than recent average of 68.2% and the lowest since May 2021. And with Directs taking down 19.7%, Dealers were left holding 21.2%, the most since May 2021.

Overall this was a very ugly auction, despite the substantial concession thanks to the ongoing selling in rates (perhaps due to the $13.5BN in debt issuance just announced by Cisco to fund its Splunk purchase), and while it is unclear why demand was so terrible perhaps one can attribute it to nerves from today’s FOMC Minutes which however should be a non-event as they are already rather dated and do not reflect the latest reflationary spike.

In any case, yields promptly spiked with the 10Y rising as high as 4.325% before retracing some of the move, which also sent stocks sliding briefly before recovering.

_______________________________________

The Leviticus 25 Plan will generate $112.6 billion budget surpluses annually during each of the first five years of activation (2025-2029).

Which means – NO TREASURY AUCTIONS. No “disastrous metrics.” Falling interest rates. U.S. Dollar strength and stability. Long-term economic growth.

Summary Details:

·  The Leviticus 25 Plan 2025 Generates $112.6 Billion Federal Budget Surpluses Annually (2025-2029). Part 1: Overview, Deficit Projection

·  The Leviticus 25 Plan Generates $112.6 Billion Federal Budget Surpluses Annually (2025-2029). Part 2: Federal Income Tax Recapture; Economic Security / Means-Tested Welfare Recapture.

·  The Leviticus 25 Plan Generates $112.6 Billion Federal Budget Surpluses Annually (2025-2029). Part 3: Medicaid, Medicare, VA, TRICARE, FEHB, SSDI Recapture

·  The Leviticus 25 Plan Generates $112.6 Billion Federal Budget Surpluses Annually (2025-2029). Part 4: Interest Expense Recapture, Totals Summary

The Leviticus 25 Plan – An Economic Acceleration Plan for America

$90,000 per U.S. citizen – Leviticus 25 Plan 2025 (11654 downloads )

Dear Washington Republicans – It is time to ‘wake up’ and begin winning the hearts and votes of America’s hard-working, tax-paying U.S. citizens..

Washington Republicans appear to be losing ground in America’s ‘election integrity’ battles, while at the same time offering ‘nothing’ to restore prosperity, reignite economic growth, maintain confidence in the American Dream – to win back the hearts, and votes, of U.S. citizens.

…………………………………..

GOP Efforts To Shore Up Election Security In Swing States Face Challenges

ZeroHedge, Feb 19, 2024  |  Authored by Steven Kovac via The Epoch Times

Excerpts: 

Massive voter fraud allegations that marred the 2020 election spurred a political and grassroots movement from coast to coast to pursue an array of election reforms designed to increase election integrity.

However, with just months left ahead of the 2024 election, Republicans say little was mended, especially in contested states where they thought fixes were needed most.

Much concern is centered around five key swing states that became the focus of 2020: Georgia, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

Election reforms tend to follow party lines. Democrats commonly castigate increased election security measures as voter suppression, while Republicans often condemn laws and directives that loosen security as aiding and abetting voter fraud.

According to a report from the Brennan Center for Justice, a left leaning, non-profit, law and research foundation, 23 states enacted 53 laws relaxing election security restrictions in 2023, while 14 states enacted 17 laws tightening them.

The statistics suggest that Democrats are still winning the nationwide battle, as they have for the past several years. The report found the states that took the most actions to tighten election security are the places that already had security measures in place.

Of the 14 states that tightened voting procedures, President Trump won all but one (New Mexico) in both 2016 and 2020. The 14 states listed by the Brennan Center include Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.

The methods by which Americans cast their ballots have changed markedly over the last four federal election cycles, with many people embracing election procedures such as no-excuse absentee voting, early voting, and same-day voter registration.

As early as 2005, the bipartisan Carter-Baker Commission raised concerns that mail-in voting was a vehicle for potentially significant election fraud, yet the method has since steadily grown.

In the 2022 election, half the states and territories allowed same-day voter registration.

In the election cycles before the pandemic, the EAC study said that nearly 60 percent of Americans voted in person on election day. In 2022, the figure was 49 percent.

Before the pandemic, mail-in ballot drop boxes were rare, with most being deployed in or around an election office. By 2022, there were 13,000 drop boxes being used in 39 states, with many boxes placed in settings that lacked security and surveillance measures.

Fifteen of the 39 states and territories using drop boxes, including Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, New York, and Maine, couldn’t report how many ballots were collected from their receptacles in 2022, the report said….

Despite the push by some election integrity activists for the hand-counting of ballots as a means to improve accuracy and security, the method was used by only 17.8 percent of jurisdictions in 2022, down from 20.7 percent in 2020.

And although chain of custody protections for ballots are being tightened in several states, dirty voter registration rolls—resulting in mail-in ballots being sent to ineligible people, undeliverable addresses, or multiple ballots being sent to the same individual—are still a widespread issue….

Georgia – The state of Georgia has been the scene of continuous controversy over the conduct of the Nov. 3, 2020, presidential election in which challenger Mr. Biden defeated incumbent President Trump by 11,779 votes (0.23 percent).

The persistent public outcry over alleged election fraud prompted the Republican-controlled Georgia General Assembly to pass the 95-page Georgia Election Integrity Act of 2021.

The declared purpose of the legislation is to apply “the lessons learned” in 2020 and “make it easy to vote and hard to cheat,” in the future.

An explanatory notation in the bill acknowledged that there was a “significant lack of confidence” in the state’s election systems stemming from persistent allegations of “rampant voter fraud” and “rampant voter suppression.”

The changes made in this legislation in 2021 are designed to address the lack of elector confidence in the election system on all sides of the political spectrum,” the notation said….

The act prohibits local officials from accepting non-government funds, grants, or gifts in connection with election administration.

In 2023, the Georgia legislature passed SB-222 to bolster the 2021 prohibition to make it a crime.

In protest to the new 2021 measures, Major League Baseball deemed them “restrictive,” and moved that year’s All-Star Game from Georgia to Colorado.

Georgia state Sen. Colton Moore, a Republican, said that although improvements have been made since 2020, much meaningful work is still needed.

Nothing of substance has changed since 2020. Every mechanism to facilitate a steal is still in place,” he told The Epoch Times. “We must work to eliminate the vulnerabilities still in place today.”

Mr. Moore also highlighted the “ridiculous” number of absentee ballots still used in Georgia elections and said they ought to be restricted to military personnel and medically disabled citizens. He said he was also worried about the institutionalization of the use of absentee ballot drop boxes, which he believes should be done away with altogether.

“We need to make it a legislative priority to stop authoritarian figures like [Fulton County District Attorney] Fani Willis from prosecuting people for merely questioning our elections. Her actions have created a chilling effect among my colleagues in the legislature,” he said.

“Unless we obtain a legislative solution soon, we must resolve to overcome fraud through an overwhelming turnout in November.”

Michigan

Right after being elected in 2018, Michigan’s Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer used her veto power to shoot down nearly 20 election integrity reform bills sent to her desk by the then-Republican-controlled state legislature.

In the 2020 presidential election, President Donald Trump lost Michigan to Joe Biden by 154,000 votes or 2.8 percent.

Afterwards, judges in six different court cases found that Michigan’s Democrat Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson issued inaccurate or legally unauthorized guidance to local officials in the runup to the 2020 general election.

When Ms. Whitmer was reelected in 2022 and Democrats captured control of the legislature, within a year 12 new Democrat-sponsored election laws were enacted—all of which Republicans say loosen security.

The new Democrat-authored statutes extend automatic voter registration to other state agencies and offices beyond the Secretary of State’s office, which issues driver’s licenses in Michigan.

They liberalize online registration and allow a person to apply for an absentee ballot online. They permit 16-year-olds to pre-register to vote.

During the past several election cycles, Democrat activists, backed by out-of-state, big-money donors, effectively used the ballot initiative process to repeal existing election laws, enact new laws, and amend the state constitution. Two of the largest contributors were the Sixteen Thirty Fund ($11 million) and the George Soros-founded Open Society Foundation ($1.2 million)….

The initiative process was also used to weaken photo ID requirements by mandating that election officials accept an affidavit of identity signed by the prospective voter instead. It also enabled people to request to automatically receive an absentee ballot for every election in perpetuity, and it authorized taxpayer-funded, postage-free mailing for people returning absentee ballot applications or mail-in ballots….

The ballot proposals enacting these new laws were approved handily by the Michigan electorate at the polls.

Read the rest here…

______________________

Dear Washington Republicans

It is high time for you to win over voters – and win elections – the old fashioned way, with powerful economic plans and strategies to: 1) Improve financial security and enact a sweeping debt relief plan for millions of American families (like you did for Wall Street’s banks and insurers during 2008-2010 and again during the Covid years 2021-2022); 2) Reduce the pressures on state and federal government agencies to continue expanding entitlement spending; 3) Get America’s snowballing federal deficits back under control; and 4) Minimize governmental intrusion into the daily affairs of U.S. citizens.

The Leviticus 25 Plan is a dynamic economic initiative providing direct liquidity benefits for American families, while at the same time scaling back the role of government in managing and controlling the affairs of citizens.  It is a comprehensive plan with long-term economic and social benefits for citizens and government.

The inspiration for this plan is based upon Biblical principles set forth in the Book of Leviticus, principles tendering direct economic liberties to the people.

The Leviticus 25 Plan – An Economic Acceleration Plan for America Leviticus 25 Plan 2025 (11646 downloads )

Washington Democrats vs Washington Republicans: Student Loan Debt Relief

Washington Democrats are making a successful bid to win the hearts (and votes) of millions of America’s college graduates and current students with ongoing student debt cancellation programs.

Washington Republicans, meanwhile, have no competing plan (except maybe to lightly ‘tap the brakes’ on Democratic plans..). Stay tuned on that..

……………………………………….

Plan B: Biden Admin Preps For Another Showdown Over Student Debt Cancellation

ZeroHedge, Feb 09, 2024 – 04:40 PM  |  Authored by Sam Bourgi via CreditNews.com,

Excerpts:

With Democrats pushing for all-out student debt relief, the Department of Education is planning further negotiations on expanding financial aid to more borrowers.

The department will hold a fourth “rulemaking session” on Feb. 22-23 to discuss which borrowers may qualify for student debt cancellation. Specifically, the negotiations center around student debt forgiveness for borrowers experiencing “financial hardship.”

Known as Plan B, this is the Biden administration’s second attempt at comprehensive debt relief—the first of which was struck down by the Supreme Court last summer.

At the time, the court ruled that Biden’s $400 billion loan cancellation plan was unconstitutional because it exceeded the power of the executive branch.

A source familiar with the matter informed Business Insider that the new round of negotiations will remain within the limits of the Supreme Court’s decision.

That decision appears to have provided the government with more certainty on how to navigate the murky waters of student debt forgiveness. Under Biden’s tenure, the Education Department successfully canceled $136 billion worth of loans for more than 3.7 million Americans.

As Creditnews reported, the Biden administration also fast-tracked debt cancellation for millions of borrowers who qualified under the SAVE Plan.

There’s a reason why Biden is pushing hard for student debt relief: 2024 is an election year, and he promised more than 40 million borrowers they’d receive assistance….

Not everyone is pleased with the government’s progress on student debt relief….

…………………………..

Main Street America Republicans do have a plan – one that will benefit college students and graduates with current student loan debt balances – with tangible benefits that would be far superior to those offered by Washington Democrats….

And would provide major benefits to all of those hard-working, tax-paying post-college Americans who did pay off their student loan debt…

And would provide major benefits to all of those hard-working, tax-paying Americans who never did go to college (and burden themselves with student loan debt) – and yet are being asked now by Washington Democrats (and Republicans, by virtue of their ‘silence’ on these matters) to subsidize current student loan debt relief programs.

The Main Street America Republican plan would also prove out be a ‘hands-down’ major vote winner in the coming 2024 fall election.

The Leviticus 25 Plan – An Economic Acceleration Plan for America

$90,000 per U.S. citizen – Leviticus 25 Plan 2025 (11645 downloads )