Trump's voting legislation faces defeat in the U.S. Senate next week

Trump is convinced illegal aliens vote in large enough numbers to prevent Republicans from winning even though he and the Republicans swept into office in 2024 and control the executive and legislative branches of government.

 

 Trump-backed SAVE America Act will get a Senate vote next week, Thune says

The legislation is expected to fail unless a change is made to the filibuster, which requires 60 votes on most measures considered by the Senate. ...

For months Trump, GOP hardliners and online influencers like Elon Musk have railed against opponents of the bill and called repeatedly for a change to the Senate filibuster rule to ensure passage in the upper chamber. Thune supports the legislation but has rejected those calls, saying changing Senate procedure could have unintended consequences. Speaking from the Senate floor Thursday, he made no mention of changing the chamber’s rules, all but assuring the proposal will not pass. ... 

Anticipating the bill’s failure in the Senate, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who introduced the legislation, and other proponents have engaged in a pressure campaign to revert back to a “standing filibuster,” which requires dissenting members to actively hold the Senate floor to block legislation and could, in theory, allow for the passage of the bill with a simple 50-vote majority. ...

Fox News on Mar 11 was still letting a former NSC staffer repeat the false assertion in Energy Secretary Chris Wright's Mar 10 erroneous and quickly deleted post

 Energy Secretary Wright says U.S. ‘not ready’ to escort oil tankers through Strait of Hormuz yet

... Wright’s comments come after a post on his social media account wrongly claimed on Tuesday [Mar 10] that the Navy had escorted a tanker through the Strait. The post was quickly deleted from his account, but it sent oil prices plunging more than 17% at their lows Tuesday. 

President Donald Trump promised on March 3 that “the United States Navy will begin escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, as soon as possible.” 

Tanker traffic through the Strait remains at a standstill as ship owners fear attacks by Iran. The closure of the Strait has triggered the largest oil supply disruption in history, according to analyses from consulting firms Rapidan Energy and Wood Mackenzie. ...

 

 

 

Mad King Ludwig to release 172 million barrels of oil from SPR lol

That will take the level below 250 million barrels, enough to last the country just twelve days in an emergency. 

 Iran war: Trump will release 172 million barrels of oil from Strategic Petroleum Reserve

 

Core cpi inflation still 2.45% year over year not seasonally adjusted, down from 2.50% yoy last month, Assembly of Experts expects higher next month

A little Iran humor for ya there. 

 Consumer prices rose 2.4% annually in February, as expected

... The data predates the recent surge in oil prices tied to the war with Iran, meaning any impact from higher energy costs will likely show up in the months ahead. ...

Outside the pandemic, we were last higher than this in Sep 2008.

 

Iran attacks vessels in the Persian Gulf but ships its own oil to China, threatens to mine the Strait of Hormuz as U.S. littoral combat ships prove inadequate as replacements for legacy minesweepers decommissioned last year

Three cargo ships struck off Iran’s coast, UK says, including one in Strait of Hormuz 

... The UKMTO said it had received 17 reports of incidents affecting vessels operating in and around the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman between Feb. 28, when the war began, and March 11. These include 13 attack reports and four reports of suspicious activity. ...

Iran sends millions of oil barrels to China through Strait of Hormuz even as war chokes the waterway  

... Iran has sent at least 11.7 million barrels of crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz since the war began on Feb. 28, all of which were headed to China, Samir Madani, co-founder of TankerTrackers, told CNBC on Tuesday.

The firm monitors vessel movements with satellite imagery, allowing it to capture vessels that would otherwise go undetected if their tracking systems are switched off. Many vessels have “gone dark” after Tehran threatened to attack any vessel attempting to pass through the waterway. ...

Over the years, China has built up large crude stockpiles, accumulating an estimated 1.2 billion barrels of inventory as of January, which could fulfill demand for 3 to 4 months, according to Atlantic Council. ...

U.S. forces sink 16 Iranian minelayers as reports say Tehran is mining the Strait of Hormuz 

... A CNN report Tuesday said that Iran had started laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, albeit not extensively. Sources that CNN spoke to said only a “few dozen” had been laid in recent days.

The report also said that Iran still retains more than 80% of its small boats and minelayers, and could feasibly lay hundreds of mines in the waterway.  

Located between Oman and Iran, the strait saw roughly 13 million barrels of crude per day passing through it in 2025, representing about 31% of all seaborne crude flows, according to energy consulting firm Kpler. ...

CBS News, which reported that Iran “may be getting ready” to deploy naval mines, said the country was using smaller crafts that can carry two to three mines each to lay them in the strait. While Iran’s mine stock isn’t publicly known, estimates over the years have ranged from roughly 2,000 to 6,000 naval mines, the report said. ...

... the U.S. had decommissioned four Avenger-class minesweepers that were stationed in Bahrain in late 2025.

The replacement vessels for the Avenger-class, the Independence-class littoral combat ships, have “struggled to meet the requirements of operational mine countermeasures missions,” according to global naval publication Naval News.

In the desert, on a horse with no name

 Iranian projectiles continue to strike Gulf countries; Tehran says new leader appointed

... Iranian media said a new leader has been appointed, replacing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the opening salvos of the war. ...

Iran’s Mehr news agency quoted Ayatollah Seyyed Ahmad Alam al-Huda as saying Sunday elections have been held to replace Khamenei and that a new leader has been appointed. It did not give a name. “All the rumors and news that tried to pretend that the Assembly of Experts has not yet made a decision are pure lies,” al-Huda was quoted as saying. Iranian state ​media reported on Saturday that two influential Iranian clerics have called for the swift selection of a new supreme leader. ...

The Israel Defense Forces said Sunday it would “pursue every successor and every person who seeks to appoint a successor.” ...

Total nonfarm payrolls "unexpectedly fell" by 92k in Feb 2026, unemployment rate ticks up to 4.4%

 U.S. payrolls unexpectedly fell by 92,000 in February; unemployment rate rises to 4.4%

 

Too bad Trumpy didn't refill it last year when WTI averaged $65: The Strategic Petroleum Reserve, depleted by Biden, remains down 37% from its 2020 high

 

GOP-controlled US House and Senate both cede war power to the president, shirking their constitutional duty

 

Republicans claim to be against more wars, but they let them happen anyway. 

 House rejects war powers resolution to rein in Trump on Iran

... The vote was 212-219, with four Democrats joining Republicans to torpedo the measure and two Republicans joining Democrats in voting for the measure. The Senate shot down a similar measure on Wednesday. ...

War powers vote fails in the Senate, allowing Trump to continue Iran strikes

... The measure, brought by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., faced steep odds and was largely symbolic even if it passed — Trump is almost certain to veto any bill aimed at decreasing his authority to use the military. The vote was 47-53, under the 50-vote threshold needed to advance the resolution. ... 

Kristi Noem fired, replaced by a plumber lol

 Trump says he will replace DHS Secretary Kristi Noem with Sen. Markwayne Mullin

Now he's poaching from the thin Republican majority in the U.S. Senate. Brilliant. Just Brilliant.

 

 

Ruh-roh, sign of a top

 

More low- and middle-income Americans are investing, report finds. Here’s why

 

Since 2020, the number of low- and moderate-income investors has increased 2.7 times, or 167%, according to new research from the BlackRock Foundation and Commonwealth.

 

In that time, factors including increased access to investment information and additional cash through Covid-19 stimulus packages helped those individuals to invest. ... 

Iran announces that Khamenei is dead

 

Iran’s Ali Khamenei, who based iron rule on fiery hostility to the U.S. and Israel, dies at 86

Oh Gee, who could have predicted another hot inflation number?

 Core wholesale prices rose 0.8% in January, much more than expected

 

The not-seasonally-adjusted increase in Jan 2026 was 3.58% year over year and a whopping 1.037% on a monthly basis.

Wholesale prices climbed at an average rate of 3.3% in 2025 under Trump, higher than either 2023 or 2024 under Biden, with no let up in sight.

 

CNBC doesn't mention that the dollar rallied in the last month along with bonds and gold

 Gold heads for seventh straight monthly gain on safe-haven demand

... The metal has climbed 6.5% so ⁠far in February, bringing gains for the seven months to a whopping 58%. ... The benchmark 10-year yield fell to a three-month low ‌on the day, decreasing the opportunity cost of holding non-interest-paying gold. ...

Let me fix that for you: Incompetent U.S. military under cowboy Pete Hegseth shoots down our own Border Protection drone in Texas BY accident

Why do Reuters and CNBC bend over backwards to obscure who did what to whom? 

U.S. military shoots down government drone in Texas accident, Reuters sources say

The U.S. military shot down a government drone with a laser-based anti-drone system, an accident that prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to bar flights on Thursday in an area around Fort Hancock, Texas, congressional aides told Reuters.

Congressional aides told Reuters the Pentagon used the high-energy laser system to shoot down a Customs and Border Protection drone near the Mexican border, in an area that often has incursions from Mexican drones used by drug cartels.

The Pentagon, Federal Aviation Administration and Customs and Border Protection issued a statement saying the military used a “counter-unmanned aircraft system ... to mitigate a seemingly threatening unmanned aerial system operating within military airspace.” ...

CBP deployed the laser technology this month to reportedly take down four suspected cartel drones, despite warnings from the FAA that the technology had not been deemed safe to use in the same vicinity as commercial flights, an aide told Reuters, adding agencies told them the laser had never before been deployed domestically.

Two weeks ago the military used this laser, and missed!

US military used laser to take down Border Protection drone, lawmakers say

 

 

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Supremes rule 6-3 that IEEPA law does not permit Trump's tariffs on the world, Thomas, Alito, and Kavanaugh dissenting

Supreme Court strikes down Trump tariffs, rebuking president’s signature policy

... Many of those tariffs were invoked using a novel reading of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA. They include Trump’s near-global “reciprocal” tariffs, and separate duties related to the alleged trafficking of deadly drugs into the U.S.

The IEEPA does not explicitly mention tariffs, as the Supreme Court noted Friday. Instead, it allows the president to “regulate … importation” of foreign property transactions after declaring a national emergency in order to deal with certain “unusual and extraordinary” threats.

The Trump administration has argued that language empowers the president to impose tariffs on foreign goods.

Critics charged that the law does not permit the president to unilaterally impose levies of any size on any country at any time. A federal trade court and a federal appeals court both found Trump’s IEEPA tariffs illegal before the Supreme Court took up the case. ...

 

Trump tariff refunds: What to expect as fight for billions begins

 

What Supreme Court ruling against Trump tariffs means for your money  

 

Supreme Court Trump tariffs ruling could put U.S. on hook for $175 billion in refunds, estimate says

 

After Trump’s ‘reciprocal’ tariffs, here are sectors still facing higher rates

 

Retail industry says Trump tariff reversal will bring much-needed predictability

 

Small furniture retailers face existential tariff threat, despite Supreme Court ruling

 

U.S. trading partners cheer Supreme Court tariff ruling — but businesses must still navigate ‘murky waters’

 

Democrats rejoice in Supreme Court rebuke of Trump tariffs    

 

GDP in 2025 would be double what it is had economic growth continued after 1984 at the 1929-1984 compound annual rate of 6.869%

 Nominal GDP in 2025 would be $61.524 trillion instead of $30.778 trillion had economic growth continued at the 55-year 1929-1984 compound annual rate of 6.869%.

That's the difference the 26% reduction in the growth rate to 5.079% has made in the 41 years since 1984.

The compound annual growth rate since the Trump tax reform from 2017 has been slightly, but not a lot, better at 5.795% on an annual basis. Measured 4Q on 4Q over the 8 years the compound annual rate is a little better still at 5.814%. 

Meanwhile the seasonally adjusted annual rate of real GDP growth fell from 4.4% in 3Q2025 to 1.4% in 4Q2025 in today's report: 

Fourth-quarter U.S. GDP rose just 1.4%, badly missing estimate; inflation firms at 3%

American leadership continues to avoid the elephant in the living room of economic growth.

1984 marked the turn, contrary to Ronald Reagan, when America's best days truly were behind her, and economic growth then hit the big brick wall after 2007 and nothing anyone has done has fixed it.

In the 78 years to 2007 nominal GDP (GDPA) grew at a compound annual rate of 6.525%, but only at 4.281% in the 18 years since then.

The corresponding real values are 3.448%, and . . . just 1.982%.

Yes, that's right. Real GDP (GDPCA) has been growing at sub-2% since 2007. 

Politicians who talk up economic growth aspire to better days but do not deliver.

The first step to authentic economic recovery means admitting that you have a problem. 

 

These people are as phony as the day is long

 

 

Kennedy defends Trump glyphosate order; MAHA erupts as midterms approach

 ... But Kennedy’s MAHA coalition that supported Trump in the 2024 presidential election hates glyphosate, which has been alleged to cause cancer in myriad lawsuits. Now, the executive order threatens to unravel that coalition ahead of the 2026 midterm elections that could loosen the president’s grip on Washington. ...  

The massive trade deficits were the main reason Trump instituted his equally massive tariffs to eliminate them, but they're still here lol

 

 U.S. trade deficit totaled $901 billion in 2025, barely budging despite Trump’s tariffs

The U.S. trade deficit swelled in December, closing out a year in which the imbalance was essentially unchanged despite efforts by the Trump administration to close the wide gap.

Closing out a tumultuous year in the global marketplace, the goods and services shortfall in December totaled $70.3 billion, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. That marked an increase of $17.3 billion from November and was well above the Dow Jones consensus estimate of $55.5 billion.

For the full year, the U.S. ran a $901.5 billion deficit, down slightly from 2024 but only by 0.2%, or $2.1 billion. The total was also a bit less than the record $923.7 billion shortfall in 2022.

The report follows a year in which President Donald Trump implemented a series of aggressive tariffs aimed at leveling the global playing field. In April, Trump announced an across-the-board duty of 10% on all imports as well as so-called reciprocal tariffs aimed at specific countries that had run up surpluses against the U.S.

However, during the course of the year Trump softened many of those positions, and negotiations with major trading partners are ongoing.

In an effort to get ahead of the tariffs, companies front-loaded imports during the first three months of the year. The trend abated following the early effort, with October registering the lowest monthly deficit since 2009.

The U.S. had its largest goods deficit with the European Union, at $218.8 billion, followed by China, at $202.1 billion, and Mexico, at $196.9 billion.

Exports for 2025 totaled $3.43 trillion for all of 2025, up $199.8 billion from 2024. Imports also rose, totaling $4.33 trillion, an increase of $197.8 billion.

White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett, thankfully passed over for Fed chair, wants NY Fed authors punished for tariff paper he disagrees with

What a jerk. 

 Hassett says authors of New York Fed tariff study should be disciplined: ‘Worst paper I’ve ever seen’

... The people associated with this paper should presumably be disciplined ...