The stock market recently had its worst day since the early days of the pandemic and, just like in September 2008, many investors fear a dangerous chain reaction is starting on Wall Street. But that's just a small part of the bigger picture. The housing market is also taking a historic hit, grocery prices are out of control, energy prices are skyrocketing across Europe, and America is close behind.
On the radio program, Glenn Beck compared this year's stock market trends with what happened before the 2008 crash, detailed Europe’s bleak energy outlook, and explained why he believes they’re heading for economic "hell."
"Europe is about to go through hell," Glenn said. "A nightmare is about to hit. But, please, fear not. The heavens are engaged. Are you engaged with the heavens? You are not going to convince God to be on your side. We must be on his side. Realign everything in your life, now, so you can be on his side, and together we will weather all of these storms."
Watch the video clip below to hear more from Glenn. Can't watch? Download the podcast here.
To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.
As inflation spirals out of control and pandemic-related stimulus runs dry, Americans are increasingly finding it hard to save money.
This past April, the U.S. personal savings rate fell to 4.4%. According to data from the U.S. Commerce Department, this is the lowest this metric has been since September 2008, Yahoo Finance reported.
“In a typical cycle, a sharp drop in the savings rate would be a warning sign about the sustainability of spending,” Wells Fargo economists, led by Tim Quinlan, wrote in a public note this past week.
The note continued, “Because balance sheets are in such better shape, we see less cause for concern for today. In fact, it is actually our baseline forecast for the saving rate to fall below its prior-cycle average of 7.2% through the end of 2023.”
The personal savings rate is a data series that is one of the most inversely impacted by the government’s efforts to bolster the economy through the COVID-19 pandemic. A steep decline in the amount of money Americans have been able to save has been expected for some time.
In April 2020, the savings rate hit a record 33.8% as stimulus checks from the government provided consumers with much needed relief as the nationwide response to COVID-19 kept many people at home and forced businesses to close.
Economists believe that there are trillions of dollars in unused savings that Americans can use to keep themselves afloat despite a rapidly increasing number of Americans not being able to contribute to their savings and grow their nest eggs.
Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Macroeconomics said that Americans becoming unable to save their earnings is “no big deal.”
The macroeconomist said, “The stock of excess savings is still $2.2 [trillion], and the rundown over the past three months has averaged only $41 [billion] per month.”
Shepherdson continued, “This can continue for a long time yet, but that won’t be necessary as real incomes will start to rise again in the second half [of 2022].”
Wells Fargo economists recently estimated that U.S. consumers have around $2.3 trillion of savings they labeled “excess savings.” This label denotes savings above and beyond wheat pre-pandemic trends showed the American public being able to save.
These economists noted, “Households have accumulated an estimated that $2.3 trillion (not annualized) on their balance sheets and household net worth rose about 30% over the past two years through the fourth quarter. This overall rise in net worth is true across wealth percentiles and leaves households in a relatively better financial position than after past recessions.”
A major talking point in a speech that President Joe Biden will deliver on Tuesday has already been debunked — by the Washington Post, no less.
Biden is slated to deliver a major speech on Tuesday addressing the ongoing economic crisis in which inflation has spiraled out of control.
After repeatedly stressing that inflation is temporary, Biden will contrast his plan to address the economic crisis — which has seen record gas prices and skyrocketing inflation — with a plan offered by Republicans.
"He’ll detail his plan to fight inflation and lower costs for working families, and contrast his approach with Congressional Republicans’ ultra-MAGA plan to raise taxes on 75 million American families and threaten to sunset programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid," a White House official said on Sunday, CNN reported.
Biden is referring to a policy proposal that Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) unveiled earlier this year.
The 60 page "11-Point Plan to Rescue America" offers more than 100 proposals that would, as Biden claimed, raise taxes on millions of Americans (mostly on Americans who do not pay any income tax now), and it does propose to sunset all federal laws after five years. Scott believes that if a law was good enough to be passed once, it should be good enough to be passed again.
The problem for Biden, however, is that Scott's plan is not the official policy of "congressional Republicans" — and very far from it, in fact.
The Washington Post fact-checked Biden's claim last month, concluding that it is not true. The Post explained:
Scott’s tax plan is certainly ripe for political fodder, but the White House is pushing its luck here. Scott is a Republican, and he is in Congress and part of the GOP leadership. But his snippet of an idea, such as it is, cannot be labeled a “congressional Republican” plan. No legislation has been crafted, and no other Republican lawmakers have announced their support.
One cannot instantly assume every person in a political party supports a proposal by a prominent member.
In fact, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has sharply denounced Scott's plan.
"We will not have as part of our agenda a bill that raises taxes on half the American people and sunsets Social Security and Medicare within five years," McConnell said in March. "That will not be part of the Republican Senate Majority agenda. We will focus instead on what the American people are concerned about: inflation, energy, defense, the border and crime."
Glenn Kessler, the Post reporter who wrote that fact-check, reacted to Biden's forthcoming speech by observing the president will repeat a debunked "false claim."
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) claimed Tuesday the only solution to record-high inflation is raising taxes.
During a press conference, a reporter asked Schumer whether Democrats plan to use the budget reconciliation process to pass legislation (without Republican support) to address the ongoing economic crisis.
"Reconciliation is very, very important," Schumer responded. "If you want to get rid of inflation, the only way to do it is to undo a lot of the Trump tax cuts and raise rates.
"No Republican is ever going to do that. So the only way to get rid of inflation is through reconciliation," he added.
Majority Leader Schumer, Senator Stabenow, and Senator Cantwell Speak youtu.be
Earlier in the day, Schumer met with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) to discuss combatting inflation, which has remained at record levels for months. After the meeting, Manchin signaled support for using reconciliation to pass legislation aimed at tamping down the economic problems.
"Reconciliation to me is about getting inflation under control, paying down this debt, getting a handle on what’s going on," Manchin said after the meeting.
In fact, Manchin supports changing the tax code to achieve those ends. According to The Hill, Manchin voiced support for increasing the corporate tax rate to 25% from 21%, increasing the capital gains tax (which is currently capped at 20%) to 28%, and removing "loopholes" from the tax code to ensure that "everyone pays their fair share."
If Democrats prepare legislation to raise taxes, Manchin stipulated that half of the revenue raised must go toward deficit reduction because that is the "only way you’re going to fight inflation."
The moderate Democrat also clarified that current negotiations are completely unrelated to President Joe Biden's Build Back Better plan, which Manchin killed last year.
"There’s nothing formal. There’s no false hopes here. There’s nothing. As far as Build Back Better, there’s no talk about any of that. Just saying, how do we get a handle on inflation?" he said.
Data from the Internal Revenue Service shows the tax reform bill passed by Republicans in late 2017 has, in fact, greatly benefited middle-class Americans.
"The available evidence is clear: Based on tax data from 2017 and 2018, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act reduced taxes for the vast majority of filers, led to substantial improvements in upward economic mobility, and disproportionately benefited working- and middle-class households, many of which experienced tax cuts topping 18 percent to 20 percent," analysis from the Heartland Institute explained.
Ironically, the San Francisco Federal Reserve has attributed the inflation crisis, in part, to Biden's COVID relief bill, which injected trillions of dollars into the economy.
On Thursday, Vice President Kamala Harris said she was “very proud” of the Bidenomics policies driving America’s ongoing economic crisis. The moment came during the vice president’s first sit-down interview since becoming the Democrats’ 2024 presidential nominee more than a month ago. Speaking with CNN’s Dana Bash alongside her vice presidential pick Tim Walz, Harris […]
Americans outside the narrow confines of the media aristocracy find the Stalinist show trial neither urgent nor important.
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DIGITAL DOLLARS and 3 More TERRIFYING Economic Changes Happening RIGHT NOW |