Fitch Downgrades US Credit Rating, Cites “Fiscal Deterioration,” Government Debt Burden”…

America’s well-paid Democrats, Republicans, and Independents in the U.S. Congress are running up the national debt and have no economically viable plan to address this national security issue.

Note – Main Street America Republicans do have a plan…

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Fitch Downgrades US Credit Rating on Fiscal Deterioration, Government Debt Burden, and Debt Ceiling Standoffs

by Wolf Richter • Aug 1, 2023 Excerpts:

Second major US ratings agency to downgrade the US to ‘AA+’. The first rating agency got whacked by the US government.

Following the shocker of an announcement by the Treasury Department yesterday that it would have to borrow $1 trillion in the quarter through September and another $852 billion in the quarter through December, on top of the $32.6 trillion the government already owes,  Fitch Ratings threw in the towel today and became the second major US rating agency to downgrade the US of A.

Fitch cut the long-term credit rating of the US to ‘AA+’ from ‘AAA’. It already had the US on negative outlook, meaning a downgrade was possible. With the downgrade today, Fitch removed the negative outlook and assigned a stable outlook.

As reason for the downgrade, Fitch cited a litany of issues, which it summarized:

  • “The expected fiscal deterioration over the next three years
  • “High and growing general government debt burden
  • “Erosion of governance relative to ‘AA’ and ‘AAA’ rated peers over the last two decades that has manifested in repeated debt limit standoffs and last-minute resolutions.”

Here are some key points that Fitch made:

“Erosion of Governance”: Fitch cited “a steady deterioration in standards of governance over the last 20 years, including on fiscal and debt matters, notwithstanding the June bipartisan agreement to suspend the debt limit until January 2025. The repeated debt-limit political standoffs and last-minute resolutions have eroded confidence in fiscal management.”

“The government lacks a medium-term fiscal framework, unlike most peers, and has a complex budgeting process. These factors, along with several economic shocks as well as tax cuts and new spending initiatives, have contributed to successive debt increases over the last decade.”

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Rising Government Deficits: Fitch said that it expects the general government (GG) deficit to reach 6.3% of GDP this year, from 3.7% in 2022, “reflecting cyclically weaker federal revenues, new spending initiatives and a higher interest burden.” Fitch forecasts the deficit to reach 6.6% of GDP in 2024 and 6.9% of GDP in 2025.

Rising Government Debt: Fitch said that the debt-to-GDP ratio at 112.9% in 2023 is “well above the pre-pandemic 2019 level of 100.1%.” It expects the ratio to reach 118.4% by 2025. “The debt ratio is over two-and-a-half times higher than the ‘AAA’ median of 39.3% of GDP and ‘AA’ median of 44.7% of GDP,” it said.

“Fitch’s longer-term projections forecast additional debt/GDP rises, increasing the vulnerability of the U.S. fiscal position to future economic shocks,” Fitch said.

Medium-term Fiscal Challenges Unaddressed: “Over the next decade, higher interest rates and the rising debt stock will increase the interest service burden, while an aging population and rising healthcare costs will raise spending on the elderly absent fiscal policy reforms,” Fitch said.

But the US of A still has some strengths, Fitch said: a “large, advanced, well-diversified and high-income economy, supported by a dynamic business environment.” And of course, inevitably, the US has the dollar, “the world’s preeminent reserve currency, which gives the government extraordinary financing flexibility.”

Continue…

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The Main Street America Republicans’ plan not only eliminates mushrooming annual federal government deficits, it generates hundreds of billions of dollars in surplus each of the first five years of activation.

It also eliminates massive amounts of household debt for millions of American families; revitalizes long term economic growth; restores economic liberty; puts the U.S Dollar on track for long-term strength and stability.

The Leviticus 25 Plan – Economic Scoring:

 ·    The Leviticus 25 Plan – 2024 Generates $619.5 billion Federal Budget Surpluses (2024-2028) Part 1: Overview, Deficit Projection

 ·    The Leviticus 25 Plan Generates $619.5 Billion Federal Budget Surpluses Annually (2024-2028). Part 2: Federal Income Tax Recapture; Economic Security / Means-Tested Welfare Recapture.

 ·    The Leviticus 25 Plan Generates $619.5 Billion Federal Budget Surpluses Annually (2024-2028). Part 3: Medicaid, Medicare, VA, TRICARE, FEHB, SSDI Recapture.

 ·    The Leviticus 25 Plan Generates $619.5 Billion Federal Budget Surpluses Annually (2024-2028). Part 4: Interest Expense Recapture, Totals Summary

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 2023 (6748 downloads)

Credit Markets Creaking, Corporate Debt Defaults Spinning Higher. Main Street America Republicans Have the Solution, Loaded up and Ready to Launch.

Credit Markets Are Creaking, Creating Economic Uncertainty

July 26, 2023 | News

Excerpts:

Moody’s Investors Service has estimated that defaults on risky debt will peak at 5.1 percent globally early next year, up from relatively low levels currently.

But in a sign of the uncertainty over the severity of debt distress on the horizon, the Moody’s forecast also suggested that in a “severely pessimistic” scenario defaults on risky debt could jump to 13.7 percent in a year, higher than the 13.4 peak reached during the 2008 financial crisis.

“You don’t know when it’s going to happen, or to what degree,” Mr. Zandi said, explaining that while financial risk may not be the Fed’s top concern today, “it’s one of those things that goes immediately to the top of the list when something breaks, when that gasket blows.”

The post Credit Markets Are Creaking, Creating Economic Uncertainty appeared first on New York Times

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US Corporate Debt Defaults In 2023 Surpass Last Year’s Total: Moody’s

ZeroHedge, Jul 21, 2023 – Excerpts:

Authored by Bryan Jung via The Epoch Times,

The total amount of corporate debt defaults in the United States this year have already exceeded the amount seen in 2022.

Experts have been warning of a wave of defaults to hit the economy for some time due to higher borrowing rates.

At least fifty-five American-based companies defaulted on their loans in the first half of 2023, according to data from Moody’s Investors Services.

That is a 53 percent increase from the total number of defaults last year, when just 36 companies said they would fail to repay their debt obligations to lenders.

Moody’s blamed higher borrowing costs and tight lending standards for adding pressure on companies reliant on credit. In May alone, there were 16 corporate debt defaults worldwide, up from 12 in April.

Economic uncertainty and higher interest rates have made it more difficult for borrowers to refinance existing loans or mature their debt, and has them with few options because they lack the cash to repay their creditors.

The aggressive monetary-tightening policies of the Federal Reserve have been a major factor in pushing many companies into default by making it harder to pay back their loans.

The spike in interest rates and the growing number of banks unwilling to issue new loans in the wake of the regional bank crisis this spring has exacerbated the situation.

Firms unable to repay their creditors are prevented from restructuring and forced to file for bankruptcy.

“Banks are battening down the hatches, hogging their bailout money instead of lending it out,” said Pete St. Onge, a Heritage Foundation economist, in a recent podcast.

“That credit crunch means not only do we get bankruptcies like in any recession, on top of that, we get a lending wall that cuts off even the healthy businesses. Of course, their jobs go down with them.”

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“Capital is much more expensive now,” Mohsin Meghji, chairman of the restructuring advisory firm M3 Partners, told CNBC on June 24.

“Look at the cost of debt. You could reasonably get debt financing for 4 percent to 6 percent at any point on average over the last 15 years. Now that cost of debt has gone up to 9 percent to 13 percent,” he said.

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Meanwhile, Bank of America warned in May that a tougher credit environment combined with a full-blown recession could result in nearly a $1 trillion in corporate debt defaults.

Total loan defaults in the United States could rise to 11.3 percent in a credit crunch, just below the all-time-high of 12 percent seen during the Great Recession, according to Deutsche Bank.

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Moody’s analysts noted that the five sectors with the most defaults in 2023 were business services, health care and pharmaceuticals, retail, telecommunications, and the hospitality sector.

U.S. corporate debt defaults account for the most of the total defaults worldwide this year, with 81 firms in total failing to make payments on their debts in the first half of 2023.

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There were 340 bankruptcy filings by July of this year, not far behind the total of 374 in 2022, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Standard & Poor’s reported more than 230 bankruptcy filings through April of this year, the highest rate for that period since 2010.

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Question: Does the Federal Reserve or the Department of the Treasury have a plan to clean this mess up and get America back on track:

Answer: No

Question: Do Washington-based Democrats and Republicans have a plan.

Answer: No. Both parties are clueless.

Main Street America Republicans do have a plan:

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 2023 (6717 downloads)

U.S. Federal Debt Interest Payments on Track to Hit $1 Trillion

Washington Democrats are by any measure oblivious to America’s looming debt catastrophe.

Washington Republicans, shamefully enough, have no economically viable, politically feasible plan for solving the national debt crisis and getting America back on track.

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Endgame: US Federal Debt Interest Payments About To Hit $1 Trillion

ZeroHedge, Jul 14, 2023 – Excerpts:

There was a shocking number in today’s latest monthly US Budget Deficit report. No, it wasn’t that US government outlays unexpectedly soared 15% to $646 billion in June, up almost $100 billion from a year ago…

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… while tax receipts slumped 9.2% from $461 billion to $418 billion, resulting in a TTM government receipt drop of over 7.3%, the biggest since June 2020 when the US was reeling from the covid lockdown recession; in fact never have before tax receipts suffered such a big drop without the US entering a recession.

Needless to say, surging government outlays coupled with shrinking tax revenues meant that in June, the US budget deficit nearly tripled from $89 billion a year ago to $228 billion, far greater than the consensus estimate of $175 billion. One can only imagine which Ukrainian billionaire oligarch’s money laundering bank account is currently enjoying the benefits of that unexpected incremental $50 billion US deficit hole: we know for a fact that the FBI will never get to the bottom of that one, since they can’t even figure out who dumped a bunch of blow inside the White House – the most protected and surveilled structure in the entire world.

And with the monthly deficits coming in higher than expected and also far higher than a year ago, it is also not at all surprising that the cumulative deficit 9 months into the fiscal year is already the 3rd highest on record, surpassed only by the crisis years of 2020 and 2021: at $1.393 trillion, the fiscal 2022 YTD deficit is already up 170% compared to the same period last year.

…[T]he one number that was truly shocking was found all the way on page 9, deep inside Table 3 of the latest Treasury Monthly Statement: the only highlighted below, and which shows that in the 9 months of the current fiscal year, the US has already accumulated a record $652 billion in gross debt interest.

This number was more than 25% higher compared to the Interest Expense payment for the comparable period a year ago, which amounted to $521 billion.

Soaring interest rates, driven by the panicked Fed’s scramble to undo its epic policy failure of 2020 and 2021 when the Fed kept rates at zero for far too long while injecting trillions into various asset bubbles, have been the key driver of the deficit, with the Federal Reserve boosting its benchmark rate by 5% since it began hiking in March last year. Five-year Treasury yields are now about 3.96%, versus 1.35% at the start of last year. As lower-yielding securities mature, the Treasury faces steady increases in the rates it pays on outstanding debt: that’s right – even when the Fed starts cutting rates, due to the delay of rolling over maturing debt, actual interest payments will keep rising for the foreseeable future.

For context, the weighted average interest for total outstanding debt at the end of June was only 2.76%, a level that’s not been surpassed since January 2012, according to the Treasury. That’s up from 1.80% a year before, the department’s data show, and if the Fed indeed keeps rates “higher for longer”, the blended rate on the debt will surpass 4% in one year.

That would be a complete disaster for the US, and it would mean that interest payments on total US debt of $32.3 trillion would hit $1.3 trillion within 12 months, potentially making interest on the debt the single biggest US government expenditure and surpassing social security!

But we don’t even have to wait that long until the exploding interest on US government debt becomes a major talking point ahead of the coming presidential elections. According to the St Louis Fed’s FRED and the BEA, the interest payments by the Federal Government have now surpassed $900 billion for the first time ever, and within a quarter will hit probably rise above $1 trillion, a historic benchmark that will probably begin the countdown to the US Minsky Moment.

Source

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In short, the endgame has now arrived, and all the US can do now is rearrange the deck chairs.

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The endgame has not arrived, and there is no fatalistic need to “rearrange the deck chairs.”

It is all a simple matter of re-targeting Fed liquidity flows…

Main Street America Republicans have just such a plan – the most powerful, debt-busting, outside-the-box, economic acceleration plan in the world.

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

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GAO: America’s “Unsustainable Fiscal Future;” Interest on the Debt is Spiking. Solution: The Leviticus 25 Plan

America’s federal debt is being properly recognized as “a national security issue.”

GAO June 2023 The federal government faces an unsustainable long-term fiscal future. At the end of fiscal year 2022, debt held by the public was about 97 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Debt held by the public is projected to grow at a faster pace than the size of the economy and reach its historical high of 106 percent of GDP within 10 years, then continue to grow at an increasing pace.

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Peter G. Peterson Foundation, June 7, 2023: The country’s fiscal trajectory got notably worse over the past year, according to projections from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released in May. Federal deficits will total $19.0 trillion over the 2023–2032 period if no new legislation targeting spending or revenues is enacted — a $3.3 trillion increase from the agency’s projections made in May 2022. The stark changes in CBO’s baseline projections, which do not reflect the enactment of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, show a worsening of the country’s fiscal outlook resulting from legislation over the past year, a less-favorable economic outlook, and other factors.

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Wolff Street, May 29, 2023 : Interest expenses on the national debt spiked to $232 billion in Q1 (not seasonally adjusted), a new record obviously, because of the mix of the ballooning national debt and the much higher interest rates on newly issued Treasury securities that replace maturing securities or fund the new deficits.

After the debt ceiling is raised this week, the Treasury department will issue a tsunami of Treasury bills, with interest rates well above 5%, and they will add to that interest expense in short order:

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If Washington Republicans have a plan, they should present it now. If they don’t have a plan for addressing this critical national security issue, then they have no business collecting their paychecks.

America’s Main Street Republicans have a plan – one that will generate $619.5 billion budget surpluses annually, during its first five years of activation (2024-2028); stimulate long-term economic growth; rejuvenate a free market business cycle; and restore financial security for America’s hard-working, tax-paying U.S. citizens:

2023 Economic Scoring:

 ·    The Leviticus 25 Plan – 2024 Generates $619.5 billion Federal Budget Surpluses (2024-2028) Part 1: Overview, Deficit Projection

 ·    The Leviticus 25 Plan Generates $619.5 Billion Federal Budget Surpluses Annually (2024-2028). Part 2: Federal Income Tax Recapture; Economic Security / Means-Tested Welfare Recapture.

 ·    The Leviticus 25 Plan Generates $619.5 Billion Federal Budget Surpluses Annually (2024-2028). Part 3: Medicaid, Medicare, VA, TRICARE, FEHB, SSDI Recapture.

 ·    The Leviticus 25 Plan Generates $619.5 Billion Federal Budget Surpluses Annually (2024-2028). Part 4: Interest Expense Recapture, Totals Summary

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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 2023 (6606 downloads)

Federal Agencies: $3 Trillion in Improper Payments 2004-2023

Staggering …

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Federal Agencies Admit To $3 Trillion In Improper Payments Since 2004

ZeroHedge, Jun 14, 2023 – By Adam Andrzejewski from OpenTheBooks on Substack

Excerpts:

OpenTheBooks.com auditors quantified the improper and mistaken payments admitted to by the 17 largest federal agencies. It amounts to a staggering $2.9 trillion since 2004, when the totals are adjusted for inflation.

Last year, in 2022, improper and mistaken federal payments totaled $247 billion. That’s about $20.5 billion per month, or more than $675 million every, single day.

What exactly is an improper payment? Federal law defines the term as “payments made by the government to the wrong person, in the wrong amount, or for the wrong reason.”

In other words, a corner grocery store has better accounting controls than our $6.82 trillion U.S. federal government had in 2021.

Pandemic Pinnacle

As the perennial debt ceiling debate raged on inside the Beltway last month, some politicians continued suggesting that even minor spending reductions would be some sort of crisis. But our latest research makes it clear: there is a staggering amount of waste and mistakes to rein in.

The worst year on record was 2021, at the height of the Covid pandemic, when $281 billion was paid out incorrectly. However, in 2022, because of Covid protocols, agencies just weren’t counting some of the mistakes. According to the Government Accountability Office, some programs were “risk-susceptible” as money for Covid aid was quickly shoveled out by Congress. So, the total improper payments certainly would have rivaled the previous worst year ever.

The mistakes since 2004 run at an average of more than $150 billion per year, or more than $400 million paid incorrectly every day.

In 2022, the incorrect payments totaled $1,673 for every individual tax return filed that year. (167,915,264, according to the IRS). They amounted to $846 for every man, woman, and child in the country.

So, the government wasted $3,384 for every family of four – an amount equal to two average mortgage payments. (331,893,745, U.S. pop in 2021, from U.S. Census Bureau website).

Using state-of-the-art tools, our auditors pored over the federal mistaken payments; the results are published here. The findings are stunning given the continued angst over finding budget efficiencies to get the nation’s fiscal house in order.

Annual Report: https://www.openthebooks.com/assets/1/6/OpenTheBooks.com_Annual_Report_2022_FINAL.pdf

Many Federal Agencies Have an Enormous Error Rate.

The biggest offenders: the Departments of Human & Human Services (HHS), Treasury, Labor (DOL), and Education (ED); and the Small Business Administration (SBA).

Improper payments in health care are especially troubling. In 2011, when President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act, Congress vowed to help pay for it by rooting out waste, fraud, corruption and taxpayer abuse from the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

That never happened.

In fact, the improper payments within these programs soared from $64 billion in 2012 to $136 billion today.

How did the feds waste our money in 2022? Covid-aid programs, as the GAO has said, were especially susceptible to mistakes. Those were in addition to the perennial botched spending.  

For starters, dead people received $533 million in benefits: social security payments, federal pensions, and old-age, survivors, and disability insurance kept flowing long after these Americans were gone.

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A few more egregious examples:

  • The Small Business Administration made improper payments through seven of its programs. The Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, was designed to help small businesses keep employees during the draconian shutdown measures. But it misspent more than $29 billion—$16.5 billion through “unknown” payments, and $12.5 billion by “improper” payments. (The SBA Inspector General has also admitted to $100 billion in fraudulent aid, including $78.1 billion in PPP fraud.)
  • The Department of Labor spent $18.9 billion incorrectly. Federal State Unemployment Insurance, a program that historically makes up most of the total improper payments, did so again. (Current estimates are $400 billion in unemployment fraud!)
  • At the Social Security Administration, the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program flubbed $2.5 billion, while Supplemental Security Income sent $4.9 billion astray.
  • 14 Department of Agriculture programs botched $19 billion worth of spending. The Farm Service Agency Coronavirus Food Assistance Program mis-spent $743 million.
  • The Commodity Credit Corporation Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage lost $379 million.
  • The Department of Education admitted that nearly $6 billion went wrong from funds earmarked for “COVID-19 recovery and rebuilding efforts.” Pell Grants, meanwhile, wasted $586 million.

These are just a few of the seemingly endless examples. Read through all of them here.

While lawmakers fight over how many trillions to spend per year, every dollar blown hurts the taxpayers and fails a critical mission.

Federal bureaucrats must find ways to provide more adequate spending controls and stem this enormous tide of improper payments. Otherwise, government waste of this magnitude will only continue eroding the public trust.

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America’s powerhouse economic plan – to reduce dependence on government, reduce poverty, and promote positive self-reliance by the citizenry:

The Leviticus 25 Plan – An Economic Acceleration Plan for America

$90,000 per U.S. citizen – Leviticus 25 Plan 2023 (6525 downloads)

Inspector General Report: $200 Billion Covid Relief Fraud

More sterling examples of how well the U.S. government is managing the hard-earned tax dollars paid in by U.S. citizens

Programs scammed: SBA loans, Unemployment Insurance, U.S. Dept of Agriculture.

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$200 Billion In SBA Covid Relief Money Went To Fraudsters, Inspector General Reports

ZeroHedge, Jun 28, 2023 – Excerpts:

The multifaceted toll of government mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic grows ever larger.

Last week brought another grim report on learning loss among children victimized by needless school shutdowns. On Tuesday, we learned that fraudsters scooped up more than $200 billion in Small Business Administration (SBA) Covid-19 relief money, according to a report from the SBA’s Office of Inspector General. 

That represents a whopping 17% of the $1.2 trillion dished out by the SBA via Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The knowledge of major fraud in the SBA programs isn’t new, but the latest estimate of the damage is well higher than previous estimates….

“Office of Inspector General (OIG) reports issued very early on warned of the importance of a strong internal control environment to mitigate fraud risk… 

The report offers examples of various types of fraud. One “sprawling conspiracy” centered on claims submitted for 1,300 fake businesses; its masterminds stole $140 million and the OIG said the estimate could rise to $625 million

In another episode, a female US Army Chief Warrant Officer at Fort Stewart, Georgia teamed up with several other crooks to “scam the system 150 times over, securing $3 million for herself and those involved in the conspiracy,” the reports says.

The OIG says its investigations have thus far contributed to 803 arrests, 529 convictions and the recovery of $30 billion, with tens of thousands of leads still being worked. 

Former Georgia pastor Mack Devon Knight was sentenced to 29 months in prison for bilking the SBA out of $149,000 and buying a Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedan….

The SBA OIG attributed $136 billion of the fraud to the EIDL program, which provided long-term, fixed-rate, low-interest loans to small businesses. Another $64 billion in fraud hit the PPP, which dished out loans to small businesses, individuals and nonprofits that were “affected” by the pandemic.  

“About 1.6 million EIDL loans worth $114 billion are either past due, delinquent or in liquidation as of May, according to the report. More than 69,000 of these loans worth $3.2 billion have been written off. And more than 500,000 PPP loans have defaulted” CNBC

The SBA was just one of many government patsies hit with major fraud during the Covid-19 welfare orgy. In September, the Department of Labor OIG said some $45.6 billion in unemployment insurance was devoured by thieves whose handiwork included using the Social Security numbers of 205,766 dead people. 

The Department of Agriculture was hit by one of the largest single scams, with more than 40 people linked to a Minnesota non-profit called Feeding Our Future charged with plundering $250 million from a program meant to feed needy children during the pandemic by operating upwards of 250 fake meal-assistance locations. 

We all pay the price of the government’s Covid-relief incompetence, as the hundreds of billions of stolen money was created by the Federal Reserve, sapping everyone’s purchasing power and imposing what is ultimately a stealth tax with no maximum rate

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Main Street America Republicans have a plan to rebalance these grossly mismanaged government outlays – on behalf of the hard-working, God-fearing, tax-paying U.S. citizens whose tax dollars went up in Covid relief smoke.

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 2023 (6524 downloads)

WSJ: Zambia IMF Bailout – to Satisfy China Debts. U.S. Taxpayers Again ‘On the Hook.’

Zambia Reaches Watershed Deal on China Debt – WSJ

June 22, 2023 – Excerpts:

PARIS—Zambia has reached a deal with China and Western creditors to extend repayment of $6.3 billion in loans, according to people familiar with the matter, the result of drawn-out negotiations that are seen as a test case for developing nations contending with massive debts accumulated under China’s Belt and Road initiative.

Ghana, Sri Lanka and Ethiopia are already negotiating debt relief with Beijing on billions of dollars of loans, and officials at the IMF and the World Bank have previously said they hoped that a debt deal for Zambia would encourage other developing countries to follow suit.

China is responsible for $5.94 billion of Zambia’s overall external debt, which is around $16.76 billion, according to the IMF.

In Ghana, with an economy more than three times the size of Zambia’s, China is responsible for a much smaller slice of the country’s external debt—$1.9 billion out of an overall foreign-currency debt pile of $28.87 billion, according to the IMF. Sri Lanka owes $7.38 billion to Chinese creditors out of overall external debt of around $41.47 billion, according to the IMF. Sri Lanka’s central bank also has $2.04 billion in foreign-currency swaps with other central banks, with most of that amount coming from the People’s Bank of China.

The deal with China and Zambia’s other government creditors… It will allow the IMF to pay out a $188 million installment of Zambia’s $1.3 billion bailout that has been held up since April.

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And here we go again. Tax dollars from America’s hardworking, tax-paying U.S. citizens are now going, via the IMF, to bail out Zambia, so they can pay off their debts to … China (and other western creditors).

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) makes loans, through their “Belt and Road Initiative,” to the likes of Zambia, Sri Lanka, Ghana, and others that end up ‘going sour.’

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) then steps in to, essentially, bail out China for their ‘risk management’ errors.

The U.S. contributes 17.46% to the IMF quota – which means that U.S. taxpayers will be, through the IMF pipeline, paying creditors, one of the big ones being China, 17.46% of Zambia’s $1.3 billion IMF bailout – a ‘cool’ $227 million.

The $3 billion IMF bailout to Sri Lanka, to also assist them on paying down their China “Belt and Road” debts, means that U.S. taxpayers are sending an additional $525 million to China (and certain other creditors) – again, for their risk management errors.

Washington Republicans and Democrats are evidently clueless to this ongoing fiscal fiasco.

It is time for America to launch an economic acceleration plan that provides liquidity to its hard-working, tax-paying U.S. citizens – a plan that will restore financial security for millions of American families, generate massive new tax revenue gains and outlay reductions for federal, state, and local government entities, and get America back on track for long-term fiscal stability and economic prosperity.

America’s Main Street Republicans have that plan – loaded up and ready to launch.

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 2023 (6475 downloads)

Global Debt $305 trillion and rising…

Global Debt Soars Again

ZeroHedge, May 30 2023 – Excerpts:

Authored by Daniel Lacalle,

Global debt levels soared by $8.3 trillion in the first quarter of 2023, climbing to $305 trillion, nearly the record high set in the first quarter of 2022, according to the Institute of International Finance. This means almost 335% of GDP.

Rising debt is a burden on growth, and soaring public debt means higher taxes, weaker productivity and declining real wages as governments push inflationary policies to try to dissolve part of their enormous indebtedness.

Public debt is not a reserve asset for the public sector, it is a negative factor that crowds out investment and credit and erodes purchasing power from families and earnings from businesses as taxes rise.

There is no such thing as public debt. We pay it, always. With higher taxes, higher inflation, or larger budget cuts, maybe all at the same time.

Rising debt means gold remains the only de-correlated and safe asset in an environment where currency destruction is likely to continue.Bitcoin and crypto assets are different things, in fact they are highly correlated with non-profitable tech.Governments are not going to reduce deficit spending, and this means that public fixed income may be the riskiest asset for investors in an era of inflationism...

Investors can bet on one thing.The inflationist policies that have been modestly implemented since 2009 are going to be accelerated. This will not be pretty if it leads to a prolonged period of stagflation. Stagflation does not create multiple expansion and equity booms. It is bad for fixed income and equity markets…

This is the consequence. Record debt, weaker growth, and inflation.

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Neither the Federal Reserve, nor Washington Republicans and Democrats have a credible plan to reverse America’s part in this debt spiral.

Main Street America Republicans do have a plan – one that will produce $619 billion budget surpluses, and set America back on course for a powerful, long-term economic growth cycle.

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 2023 (6465 downloads)

Global Debt Hits $305 Trillion. Financial Hurricanes on the Horizon.

Global Debt Soars Again – ZeroHedge – May 30, 2023 – Excerpts:

Authored by Daniel Lacalle,

Global debt levels soared by $8.3 trillion in the first quarter of 2023, climbing to $305 trillion, nearly the record high set in the first quarter of 2022, according to the Institute of International Finance. This means almost 335% of GDP.

Rising debt is a burden on growth, and soaring public debt means higher taxes, weaker productivity and declining real wages as governments push inflationary policies to try to dissolve part of their enormous indebtedness.

Public debt is not a reserve asset for the public sector, it is a negative factor that crowds out investment and credit and erodes purchasing power from families and earnings from businesses as taxes rise. To make public debt a reserve asset it would have to generate real economic return, just as is the debt of private businesses used for solid investments. However, governments use increasing debt for current spending with no real economic return, and this leads to lower growth trends and loss of purchasing power of its issued currency.

Private debt is paid by families and businesses, but public debt is also paid by the private productive sector. Therefore, the impact on the pattern of growth, job creation and investment are significantly more negative when public debt rises.

There is no such thing as public debt. We pay it, always. With higher taxes, higher inflation, or larger budget cuts, maybe all at the same time.

Global markets have entered a perverse incentive mechanism where consensus investors favour rising public imbalances expecting central banks to implement quantitative easing afterward….

Rising debt means gold remains the only de-correlated and safe asset in an environment where currency destruction is likely to continue.

Governments are not going to reduce deficit spending, and this means that public fixed income may be the riskiest asset for investors in an era of inflationism...

The inflationist policies that have been modestly implemented since 2009 are going to be accelerated. This will not be pretty if it leads to a prolonged period of stagflation. Stagflation does not create multiple expansion and equity booms. It is bad for fixed income and equity markets.

This is the consequence. Record debt, weaker growth, and inflation.

_______________________________

Solution: The Leviticus 25 Plan

The Leviticus 25 Plan – An Economic Acceleration Plan for America

$90,000 per U.S. citizen – Leviticus 25 Plan 2023 (6333 downloads)

Debt-Ceiling Update: Washington Republicans Getting Pilloried Over Vague $4.8 Trillion Non-Defense Budget Cuts. “Meanwhile, Main Street America’s Republicans” Present Their Own Powerhouse, Debt-Busting Plan to Get the United States Back on Track.

Washington Democrats are pressing hard for ongoing, unrestrained deficit-spending and its corollary effects:  1) fueling the ongoing inflation crisis; 2) steepening the growth curve of America’s national debt; 3) weakening the U.S. Dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency; 4) imposing ever-greater government control over the daily affairs of U.S. citizens; 5) and ultimately endangering our national security.

Washington Republicans are proposing to lightly ‘tap the brakes’ on the Democrats’ tax, spend, and regulate big-government agenda.  That’s it. They have no over-riding vision for to get America back on track.

The House GOP bill, “The Limit, Save, Grow Act,” proposes claw-backs of unspent Covid funds, along with “cutting discretionary spending for fiscal year 2024 back to 2022 levels, at about $1.47 trillion.”  This would represent “an 8% reduction from this year, according to the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget“ (WSJ, Apr 26, 2023).

According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the GOP proposal would cut government deficits by $4.8 trillion over 10 years… a significant reduction in the more than $21 trillion of projected deficits during the same period” (WSJ, Apr 26, 2023).

The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is having a field day with the GOP Plan.

Shalanda Young, Director of the Office of Management and Budget is putting Republicans squarely on the defensive:

“What would that mean for the American people just in the first year of their plan? Consider just a few examples:

  • Undermine Medical Care for Veterans: Cutting funding by 22 percent would mean 30 million fewer veteran outpatient visits, and 81,000 jobs lost across the Veterans Health Administration—leaving veterans unable to get appointments for care including wellness visits, cancer screenings, mental health services, and substance use disorder treatment.
  • Slash Funding for Schools with Low-Income Students and Students with Disabilities: A 22 percent cut would impact 25 million students in schools that teach low-income students and 7.5 million students with disabilities, which could force a reduction of up to 108,000 teachers, aides or other key staff.
  • Eliminate Preschool and Child Care for Hundreds of Thousands of Children: A 22 percent cut would mean 200,000 children lose access to Head Start slots and another 180,000 children lose access to child care—undermining our children’s education and making it more difficult for parents to join the workforce and contribute to our economy.
  • Strip Nutrition Assistance from Millions of Women, Infants, and Children: A 22 percent cut would mean 1.7 million women, infants, and children would lose vital nutrition assistance through the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), significantly increasing child poverty and hunger.
  • Rob Seniors of Healthy Meals: A 22 percent cut would take away nutrition services, such as Meals on Wheels, from more than 1 million seniors. For many of these seniors, these programs provide the only healthy meal they receive on any given day.
  • Raise Housing Costs for Hundreds of Thousands: A 22 percent cut would eliminate funding for Housing Choice Vouchers for over 630,000 households, including 190,000 households headed by seniors and 50,000 veterans.
  • Scale Back Rail Safety Inspections: A 22 percent cut would result in 7,000 fewer rail safety inspection days next year alone, and 30,000 fewer miles of track inspected annually—enough track to cross the United States nearly 10 times.

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Republicans are literally getting “tarred and feathered” under the flurry of Democrats claims that the GOP plan will cut social benefits to the neediest Americans. 

The WSJ (May 11, 2023) reports that the Democrats are also now attacking Republicans that the GOP “House bill that couples raising the debt ceiling with sharp cuts in spendingwould eviscerate veterans programs. Republican lawmakers angrily deny it….”

“The dispute springs from the vague nature of the GOP bill, which passed the House last month. The Limit, Save, Grow Act proposes cutting discretionary spending for fiscal year 2024 back to 2022 levels, at about $1.47 trillion. That works out to about an 8% reduction from this year, according to the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. 

But the bill doesn’t lay out exactly how each federal agency or program would be funded—or pared back—within that framework. Democrats quickly jumped into the void, accusing Republicans of threatening a variety of veterans’ benefits and health programs, including a law that passed last August with overwhelming bipartisan support called the Pact Act. That law has been described by officials as the largest expansion of benefits in three decades, potentially benefiting 3.5 million veterans with lung issues, cancers and other health conditions related to exposure to toxins while serving.

In late April, the secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Denis McDonough, held a breakfast meeting for veteran service organizations and warned them of dire problems if the GOP’s proposal came to fruition, said Joe Chenelly, executive director of Amvets, one of the “Big Six” veterans groups. 

The administration says that the Republican bill would reduce funding for veterans and other non-defense discretionary programs by 22%. That estimate is extrapolated from some Republicans’ contention that they won’t reduce defense spending, which makes up about 52% of the discretionary budget—thus requiring deeper reductions in other areas of the federal budget to meet their savings goals.

Assuming defense funding remains the same, nondefense discretionary spending under the Republican plan would total $586 billion—a 22% decrease from the current level of $756 billion, according to Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget.

House Republicans point out that there is no language in their bill that cuts funding for veterans, although nothing in the legislative text explicitly protects it either. The lack of specificity enabled the party to put off tough budgetary decisions and wrangle the votes needed to pass the bill without any Democratic support, 217-215.”

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Washington Republicans are once again playing out a ‘losing hand’ in this ongoing budget poker game. 

Again, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the GOP proposal would cut government deficits by $4.8 trillion over 10 years” from a projected $21 trillion of added deficits over the coming 10 years. (WSJ, Apr 26, 2023).

Under the current GOP plan, the national debt will grow from its current level of $31.796 trillion to $48 trillion by 2033, a mere $4.8 trillion decline from the $52.8 trillion projected increase.

And the Republican base is supposed to celebrate this as a victory…?

Meanwhile, President Biden, “in his budget earlier this year, also proposed deficit reductions but through increased taxes on corporations and high-income individuals” (WSJ, Apr 27, 2023).  For one, corporations do not pay taxes – they pass them on to consumers.  And “high-income” individuals have ways of sheltering income to reduce tax liabilities.

Washington Republicans right now have a golden opportunity, a once in a generation moment, to present a dynamic new winning plan for America – one that would put an end to these revolving-door debt ceiling impasses once and for all – and deliver a powerful debt-elimination strategy across all sectors of the U.S. economy, with major financial security gains for working Americans.  A plan that will strengthen America’s long-term national security interests.

Main Street America Republicans have just such a plan – loaded up and ready to launch.

The Leviticus 25 Plan economic acceleration plan that will provide a dynamic ‘recharge’ to the U.S. economy, generate meaningful budget surpluses, reestablish citizen-centered healthcare, and restore economic liberty in America. 

It will “unleash a new wave of prosperity” in America.

The Leviticus 25 Plan will generate $619 billion federal budget surpluses for the initial 5 years of activation (2024-2028), and completely pay for itself over the succeeding 10-15 years.

The Leviticus 25 Plan is a powerful 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 2023

Economic Scoring links:

·    The Leviticus 25 Plan – 2024 Generates $619.5 billion Federal Budget Surpluses (2024-2028) Part 1: Overview, Deficit Projection

·    The Leviticus 25 Plan Generates $619.5 Billion Federal Budget Surpluses Annually (2024-2028). Part 2: Federal Income Tax Recapture; Economic Security / Means-Tested Welfare Recapture.

·    The Leviticus 25 Plan Generates $619.5 Billion Federal Budget Surpluses Annually (2024-2028). Part 3: Medicaid, Medicare, VA, TRICARE, FEHB, SSDI Recapture.

·    The Leviticus 25 Plan Generates $619.5 Billion Federal Budget Surpluses Annually (2024-2028). Part 4: Interest Expense Recapture, Totals Summary

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The Leviticus 25 Plan – An Economic Acceleration Plan for America 2024

Leviticus 25 Plan 2023 (6127 downloads)

Website:  https://leviticus25plan.org/

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Preview 1:

The Leviticus 25 Plan provides a $90,000 credit extension, direct from the Federal Reserve, to every participating U.S. citizen:  $60,000 into a Family Account (FA) and $30,000 into a Medical Savings Account (MSA).

Example:  Qualifying family of four would receive $240,000 in their FA, and $120,000 in their MSA.

Primary goals:  Massive debt elimination at family level: mortgage debt, consumer debt, student loan debt.  Federal budget surpluses.

Eligibility:  U.S. Citizen.  Job history, credit history requirement (similar to traditional credit checks for bank loans).  Clean recent drug history.  Clean crime history.

Requirements:  Forego all federal and state tax refunds for 5-year period.

Forego Economic Security and selected means-tested welfare benefits – for minimum 5-year period.

Forego enhanced federal rental forbearance/assistance – for minimum 5-year period.

Forego SSI and SSDI for minimum 5-year period.

New $6,000 deductible on primary care access to: Medicare, Medicaid, VA, TRICARE, FEHB – for minimum 5-year period.

The Plan assumes that the elite-wealthy will not participate, because their refunds are too valuable to give up over the requisite 5-year period.

The Plan also assumes that many who heavily depend on Economic Security and social welfare benefits will also choose not to participate, because the overriding value of those benefits, vs foregoing them, over the 5-year period.

Preview 2:

The Leviticus 25 Plan grants the same direct access to liquidity, through a Fed-based Citizens Credit Facility, similar to the credit facilities that were created by the Fed to transfuse trillions of dollars in direct transfers and credit extensions to Wall Street’s major banks, credit agencies and insurers during the great financial crisis. 

The following facilities were created and activated by the Fed for this massive Wall Street bail out operation: Term Auction Facility (TAF), Primary Dealer Credit Facility (PDCF), Term Securities Lending Facility (TSLF), currency swap agreements with several foreign central banks,  Commercial Paper Funding Facility (CPFF), Asset-Backed Commercial Paper Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility (AMLF), Money Market Investor Funding Facility (MMIFF), and the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF), and access to the Fed’s Discount Window.

Additional perspective:  SIGTARP, the oversight agency of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), in its July 2009 report, vetted by Treasury, noted that the U.S. Government’s “Total Potential Support Related to Crisis” (page 138) amounted to $23.7 trillion. While this figure represents a backstop commitment, not a measure of total potential loss, it is nonetheless an astounding degree of support, in the form of liquidity infusions, credit extensions and guarantees, various other forms of assistance for financial institutions and other business entities affected by the financial crisis.

Preview 3:

The Leviticus 25 Plan website has been accessed on one or more occasions by the following financial enterprises/agencies: 

JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, State Street, Merrill Lynch, AIG, Barclays Plc, Royal Bank of Scotland, Deutsche Bank, Société Générale S.A, UBS AG, Credit Suisse, BNP Paribas, The U.S. Department of Treasury, General Accountability Office (GAO), The European Central Bank (ECB), Bank of England (BOE), Swiss National Bank (SNB), Bank of Canada, Bank of Montreal, Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

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The General Accountability Office has stated that America’s ongoing debt crisis is unsustainable.

It is time for America to institute a bold, new plan.

The Leviticus 25 Plan is loaded up and ready to launch.  The ‘golden moment’ for Republicans has arrived.