Mad King Ludwig bans the penny

 

Congress has the exclusive power to coin money and regulate its value, not the president, according to the US Constitution.

But since all coin and currency is worthless, thanks to Congress, does it really matter anymore?

The thieving Roman emperors infamously diluted the value of coinage from time to time by reducing the amount of gold and silver contained in the coins. 

Since we had real money once upon a time, our founders didn't want one man potentially messing with the money, so they put Congress in charge, because they really did think a president could become a tyrant.

But our perfect, holy founders who supposedly thought of everything never anticipated that the Congress itself would become the thieving bastards, the naifs.

The 1913 dollar is now worth three measly cents, but even that Mad King Ludwig will now take away.

If we were a free people, we wouldn't put up with this.

The principle remains, even if the circumstances have changed.

 Trump takes aim at ‘wasteful’ government spending by ordering end to penny production

But at least one analyst on Wall Street expects that the penny’s days are numbered. TD Cowen’s Jaret Seiberg said the halt will [be] likely to pass judicial review, leading to a shortage in the coin.

“We believe this order would survive judicial review, which is why this is likely to occur,” Seiberg wrote on Monday. “We worry about this leading to a shortage of pennies, which could force merchants to pay banks more for coins. It also adds legal risk for merchants and banks. That could create the crisis needed to force Congress to act.”

 

In the aggregate US Treasury yields averaged 4.408 on Friday, Feb 7, still ahead of the Daily Federal Funds Rate of 4.33 set by the Fed in December

Relative to each other by duration, bond yields on average normalized at the beginning of December, and notes on average in mid-December. 

Last week the spreads narrowed as bills on average rose a little bit in the aggregate and bond yields fell.

The 20-year bond was the yield leader at 4.75 while the 1-year bill was the yield laggard of all the issues at 4.25. 

The fixed rate 30-year mortgage averaged 6.89 last Thursday.

 

 

Global coal electric capacity hit 2,175 gigawatts in 2024

China added nearly 31gw of new coal electric capacity in 2024 and India nearly 6gw while the US retired almost 5gw, according to the story:

. . . U.S. exports of coal have been rising steadily to satisfy growing global demand for the world’s dirtiest fossil fuel, even though its domestic consumption has decreased.

On top of that, the world’s coal capacity reached a new record high of nearly 2,175 gigawatts in 2024, data from Global Energy Monitor showed on Feb. 6. Coal capacity is the overall power output that can be generated from coal-fired power plants. ...

More. 

According to Electric Power Annual for 2023 at the US Energy Information Administration, existing US coal electric capacity is down to 193gw, behind natural gas at 572gw and ahead of wind at 148gw. Nuclear is still a distant fourth at 100gw from 93 existing utility-scale generators.

PEW: 54% of Americans express unfavorable views of Elon Musk

Here:

Musk is viewed more negatively than positively overall. More than half of Americans (54%) express unfavorable views of the billionaire, while 42% view him favorably.

• 73% of Republicans view Musk favorably, while about a quarter (24%) view him unfavorably.
• Just 12% of Democrats rate Musk favorably, while 85% view him unfavorably.

 

Hakeem Jeffries should welcome a government shutdown on March 14 because Trump is now a bad faith president who oversteps Congress' power of the purse and can't be trusted

Really, Democrat leadership is looking at it all wrong.

Just shut it down and go home. That's what Democrat legislators have had to do in many states. Might as well try it in Washington.

In fact, put out a general call for all Democrats to refuse to cooperate everywhere in the country, like the communists do in Italy and France.

Don't go to work at the factory. Don't go to work at the school. Shut down all the government offices everywhere. Don't go to work anywhere. Snarl transportation on land, sea, and air. Empty the shelves at the grocery stores. Cancel all the doctor appointments. Let 911 ring and ring and ring.

Call a general strike.

Shut the whole goddamn country down until Trump agrees to play by the rules. Get mad as hell and refuse to take it anymore!

 

... House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and his Senate counterpart, Chuck Schumer, have been in talks about how best to use the funding deadline to counter Trump. But some top Democrats worry that even if they won policy concessions, Trump would only ignore the law — as they believe he has in some of his initial assaults on federal agencies — so a knockdown, drag-out battle and potential shutdown could be all for naught.

“If the foundational role of Congress is the power of the purse, why would we ever believe them again on an appropriations deal?” said Sen. Chris Coons, a Democrat from Delaware. “It’s going to be harder for us to work together because it’s harder for us to trust each other.” ...

“We’re not going to keep on bailing him out,” added Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, who is among a growing faction of Democrats who are ready to stare down Trump in a shutdown fight. “We’re not a cheap date.” ...

“If Senate Democrats don’t have the gumption to do what is necessary in this moment, I believe that House Democrats will,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York said. Asked whether the confrontation could lead to a shutdown, she insisted her party wouldn’t be to blame and the price of Democratic votes should be “very high.”

More.

Just words: It's been 20 days and the war he said he'd settle before he even became president is still going strong

 

Trump says he has spoken to Putin about ending the Ukraine war

 

 

 

And then it came to me lol

 

Trump's deportation fantasies hit the big brick wall of reality

 Meanwhile at ICE, Vitello told agents in January to aim to meet a daily quota of 1,200-1,400 arrests. According to numbers ICE has posted on X, the highest single day total since Trump was inaugurated was just 1,100, and the number has fallen since that day. On Tuesday of this week, arrests of immigrants were over 800, according to a source familiar with the numbers. But last weekend, there were only about 300 arrests, another source told NBC News.

In order to fulfill Trump’s Inauguration Day promise of “millions and millions” of deportations, the Trump administration would have to be deporting over 2,700 immigrants every day to reach 1 million in a year. 

And, as NBC News has reported, arrests do not always equal immediate detentions, much less deportations. Of the more than 8,000 immigrants arrested in the first two weeks of the Trump administration, 461 were released, according to the White House. 

More.

They were supposed to end catch and release on day one. They can't do even that.

 

 

Scandalous: Republicans subscribe to Politico Pro just like everyone else lol

... records from USAspending.gov show Politico payments totaling only $44,000 from USAID during fiscal years 2023 and 2024. ...

 

Last year, Republicans and committee offices paid for Politico’s products including $9,060 from the Office of the Speaker of the House, $84,000 from the House Committee on Agriculture, and $58,000 from the House Committee on Energy, according to government records.

In total, 38 Republicans in the House spent over $300,000 on Politico subscriptions in the first nine months of 2024, and committees led by Republicans expensed almost $500,000 of Politico subscriptions in the same time period, a Washington Post analysis shows.

 

The day before the mini-scandal erupted, the White House’s Office of the National Cyber Director signed a $35,000 contract for a Politico Pro Premium subscription for 15 users, according to government records. ...

 

Throughout the day Wednesday, Musk and other Republicans claimed that USAID alone had spent millions on Politico over the past 12 months.

 

But that characterization is false, according to a senior executive at Politico who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private internal data. The entire federal government spends more than $16 million on Politico subscriptions, the executive said. Those payments go to Politico Pro and other professional offerings from the Axel-Springer-owned publisher, which offers some subscriptions and licensing deals that can reach five figures. ...

 

More.

Obama appointed judge, Paul Engelmayer, issues sweeping order banning Musk and his allies from accessing the US Department of Treasury payments system

 Federal Judge Blocks Elon Musk’s DOGE From Treasury System: Order requires those who have accessed payment records without proper security clearance to destroy them

A federal judge in New York temporarily restricted the ability of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to access the Treasury Department payment system, saying that doing so was necessary to prevent the potential disclosure of sensitive and confidential information. 

The early Saturday order by Judge Paul Engelmayer, an Obama appointee, precludes officials without proper background checks and security clearances from accessing the payment system through at least next Friday, including political appointees and special government appointees. It also orders any prohibited person who has had access to the records since President Trump’s inauguration to destroy them. The judge set a hearing for Friday.

Some 19 blue-state attorneys general filed the case Friday evening, saying that Musk’s DOGE initiative risks interference with the payment of funds appropriated by Congress. 

Engelmayer said the states were likely to win on arguments that the Trump administration exceeded its authority in allowing broader access to the payment system. He also said the states faced irreparable harm without court intervention for now, including “the heightened risk that the systems in question will be more vulnerable than before to hacking.” ...

Well thank God.

None of these people have security clearances. The say so of President Trump is not a security clearance.

America has always produced outstanding 19 year olds, like Audie Murphy of Kingston, Texas

 

When Audie Murphy was 19 and two days after he had already been wounded in the legs, he stood alone on top of the burning wreckage of a tank destroyer for an hour gunning down 50 German soldiers with a machine gun that still worked, for which he won the Medal of Honor. It happened in Holtzwihr, France, 26 January 1945.

 

A boy we all looked up to.

 

 

Trump appointed judge Carl Nichols stops 2,200 USAID workers from being placed on administrative leave tonight

 

Judge pauses Trump plan to put USAID staff on leave

 

During the hearing, Nichols questioned DOJ attorney Brett Shumate about why the Trump administration needed to place 2,200 USAID workers on leave so quickly.

“What is the urgency of this?” the judge asked.

“The President has decided there is corruption and fraud at USAID,” Shumate replied.

I'll say. 

Buying co-president Elon Musk's Starlink terminals and funding Melania Trump's and Ivanka Trump's pet projects is corruption of the highest order.

Doubly inconvenient: USAID spent $1 million on Elon Musk's Starlink terminals for the Ukraine War which MAGA opposes

 What is the world coming to?

 

A Democrat with multiple credit card balances owed, including one for $1.2 million, should fit right in as a cabinet secretary overseeing spending of money we don't have

 

RFK Jr. had up to $1.2 million in credit card debt — what experts say on tackling high balances

Kennedy’s credit card balances range between $610,000 to $1.2 million in accounts that carry interest rates of 23.24% to 23.49%, the filing shows.

Financial experts interviewed by CNBC said balances that high are unusual.

“That’s a truly massive amount of credit card debt,” said Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst at Bankrate.

Maybe he can borrow some fashion money at lower rates from Kash Ap Patel at the FBI, if they ever confirm him.

 

Your reminder that gal pals Kamala and Hillary have a rather low opinion of 18-24 year olds

 

It's deportation theatre at Fox News: The ICE Capades

 

USAID was not just great in the opinion of the old Marco Rubio, both Melania Trump and Ivanka Trump thought so too, deploying millions of its dollars for their pet projects under Trump I lololol

 

A bunch of phony baloney plastic banana good time rock 'n rollas, but I repeat myself.

 

Melania and Ivanka's close ties to USAID exposed as Trump goes scorched-earth on the 'corrupt' agency:

Melania and Ivanka Trump used thousands of dollars from USAID to fund pet projects during Trump's first term it's been revealed as the agency's spending comes under scrutiny from the president.

The president has gone scorched-earth against the USAID this week, berating its use of tax-payer dollars and saying it had to be 'corrupt' in its spending.

But despite Donald's disdain for the aid agency, it has maintained close ties with his wife and daughter for years by investing in their government ventures. 

USAID helped fund Melania Trump's Be Best program and Ivanka Trump's Women's Global Development and Prosperity Initiative during the first Trump term.

And each woman traveled with the agency on separate trips to Africa, where they praised the investments it was making on the continent.

Ivanka Trump travelled with then-USAID administrator Mark Green to Africa in April 2019, where they met with women entrepreneurs in Ethiopia and rural cocoa farmers on the Ivory Coast.

USAID oversaw $265 million per year in spending Ivanka Trump's women's business initiative and an associated antipoverty program.

Melania Trump partnered with the agency on her 2018 trip to Ghana, Malawi, Kenya and Egypt.

In Malawi, the first lady promoted USAID's national reading program, which was donating on Trump's behalf 1.4 million textbooks to the more than 5,600 primary schools in the poverty-stricken nation.

'I am so proud of the work this administration is doing through USAID and others,' the first lady said at the time, 'and look forward to the opportunity to take the message of my Be Best campaign to many of the countries, and children, throughout Africa.'

In his first term, Trump heavily cut funding for the aid agency but it still found money to invest into his family's government ventures.

Ivanka Trump used USAID for her program to promote women in business, claiming 12 million women around the world had been helped by it.

She travelled with the agency to Colombia in September 2019 to run a workshop for women entrepreneurs.

That same year, she also used over $11,000 from the agency to buy video recording and reproducing equipment for a White House event, its records show.

Meanwhile, USAID was one of the first agencies to name an ambassador to Melania Trump's Be Best initiative.

When Melania Trump first announced her signature program in May 2018, she asked government agencies to name a liaison to her group. USAID immediately did so.

At her one-year anniversary celebration in May, Melania acknowledged the agency and thanked it for naming the first Be Best ambassador.

'For the first time in history, the United States Agency for International Development has appointed a Be Best ambassador,' she said.

'On this one year anniversary of my initiative, I call on all of our partner agencies to appoint a be best ambassador who will serve as a liaison between my office and their respective agency to better highlight and promote the programs and services offered to parents and children on behalf of the US government,' she added.

Donald Trump was sitting in the audience listening.

Neither the East Wing, the West Wing, nor Ivanka Trump's office responded to DailyMail.com's request for comment.

USAID delivers billions of dollars in humanitarian aid overseas.

The Trump administration is threatening to shut it down or bring the independent agency under the umbrella of the State Department.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is now acting director of the agency it's been announced this week.

Hundreds of USAID contractors were placed on unpaid leave and some were terminated. Elon Musk, who is running Trump's Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE program, said the agency would be eliminated.

Its Washington D.C. office is closed and employees were either put on leave or told to work from home.

Trump has said of the agency: 'It's been run by a bunch of radical lunatics, and we're getting them out.'

He also claims it 'had to be corrupt' to approve certain initiatives. 

The president has berated the agency for its spending practices, including having a subscription to Politico Pro, a service that tracks legislation and other government news.

And his press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, gave a blistering account of USAID's spending. Speaking to reporters at the White House last week, she held up a sheet of paper giving details of the astonishing ways in which taxpayers' money had been doled out.

It was an apparent reference to a story in Daily Mail, which first outlined the shocking expenditures related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), on which President Trump has ordered a crackdown.

'I don't know about you. But as an American taxpayer, I don't want my dollars going toward this crap. And I know the American people don't either. And that's exactly what Elon Musk has been tasked by President Trump to do. To get the fraud, waste and abuse out of the federal government,' Leavitt said.

The legal system is about to be clogged with multiple battles over Trump's second and imperial presidency, which has deployed Elon Musk as the embodiment of the line-item veto which it does not possess

It's a strange day when I find myself agreeing with Ed Markey.

. . . “The courts, if they interpret the Constitution correctly, are going to stop Musk, are going to stop Trump,” Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Ed Markey told CNN’s Erin Burnett on Thursday.

“Article One is the Congress. Article Two is the president, Article Three is the judiciary. There is not an Article 3.5 where Elon Musk gets to do whatever he wants to do,” Markey said. “They are trying to rewrite constitutional law in this country.” . . .

Three weeks in, the growing storm of lawsuits means some of this young administration’s most extraordinary applications of unilateral presidential power could be reined in. But the litigation also conjures a scenario that no one wants to think about: what would happen if the administration refused to recognize court rulings — even one handed down by the Supreme Court?

This is a particularly acute matter because it’s the Justice Department, which is now operating under Trump’s firm hand, that’s responsible for enforcing the law. The constitutional remedy for a president who breaks the law is impeachment, but Republicans have twice shown that they will not hold Trump to account in such trials, making moot this key check on power envisioned by the founders.

“That is the doomsday scenario,” Ryan Goodman, a former Defense Department special counsel and NYU law professor, told CNN’s Burnett. “So far, they are complying with all the court orders, but what happens come the day that they do lose at the Supreme Court?” Goodman asked.

“If they really want to push it, we are in a real constitutional crisis.”

From the story here.

January 2025 is the fifth consecutive January with full time employment not as good as in January 2020 when 49.85% of civilian population usually worked full time

January 2020: 49.85%

January 2021: 47.42%

January 2022: 49.29%

January 2023: 49.32%

January 2024: 49.16%

January 2025: 49.22%

 

Judge George O’Toole Jr. pauses Trump's federal employee buyout nationwide, says he will consider arguments on the legality of the buyout on Monday

 

Judge pauses Trump federal employee buyout offer pending court hearing

 

. . . O’Toole’s order Thursday is the latest in a series of judicial rulings pausing implementation of key policy initiatives of President Donald Trump.