Student Loan Collections Resume Today – Cue the Outrage

The world's smallest violin plays for five million.

By Andrew Moran | May 5, 2025 @ Liberty Nation News, Tags: Articles, Education, Opinion

On May 5, for the first time since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the US government will resume student loan collections. Since March 2020, the Department of Education has suspended actions to collect on defaulted loans. However, America is now five years removed from the once-in-a-century public health crisis, and the Trump administration thinks it is time to target borrowers so that taxpayers will no longer shoulder the burden.

Student Loan Collections Have Started

Education Secretary Linda McMahon announced on April 21 that her department would restart efforts to pursue unpaid federal student loans. This initiative would affect approximately five million borrowers who have not made a payment in 360 days and have transitioned to default. Another roughly four million borrowers are also in late-stage delinquency, which is between 91 and 180 days.

The department estimates that a quarter of the federal student loan file could be in default, which would represent a massive loss to US taxpayers.

“American taxpayers will no longer be forced to serve as collateral for irresponsible student loan policies,” McMahon said in a statement. “The Biden Administration misled borrowers: the executive branch does not have the constitutional authority to wipe debt away, nor do the loan balances simply disappear.”

The campaign will begin by prompting the Office of Federal Student Aid to restart the Treasury Offset Program. All borrowers have received – or soon will – communications with three requests: Sign up for an income-driven repayment plan, enroll in loan rehabilitation, or begin completing monthly payments. Should individuals choose not to cover their obligations, the federal government will garnish wages, keep income tax refunds, or target Social Security benefits.

Credit scores will also be damaged. According to a March Federal Reserve Bank of New York paper, as many as nine million student loan borrowers could experience sharp cuts to their credit scores in the coming year. So, up to 15% of debtors’ disposable income could be confiscated, and credit scores could be eroded.

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Financial experts note that students or graduates typically have three avenues to explore: repaying loans in full, consolidating student loans, or asking for loan rehabilitation. Whatever option is selected, borrowers will know one thing: The US government is engaged in no-holds-barred student loan collections.

And, unsurprisingly, many young Americans are unhappy about it.

Oh, Poor Baby

In McMahon’s statement last month, she made a point often lost in today’s political discourse. “Debt doesn’t go away; it gets transferred to others,” McMahon noted. “If borrowers don’t pay their debts to the government, taxpayers do.” However, do not share that information with the scores of Gen Z Americans who have taken to social media to air their grievances over personal responsibility.

Popular political YouTuber Andrew of Don’t Walk, Run! Productions put together a compilation video of various individuals complaining about student loan collections restarting and begging the government to approve a regressive forgiveness policy.

Your News – How You Like It!

One individual told her TikTok followers that the COVID-19 pandemic is not over and that this is reason enough not to repay her student loans. Another said, in earnest, that she did not owe the federal government because she is an upstanding woman who earned a degree. Several others claimed they could file for bankruptcy to absolve any responsibility for repaying student loans, which is something they will eventually find out has practically a 0% chance of happening.

Most entertaining are the people who compared student loans to the pandemic-era paycheck protection program (PPP). This government loan program was crafted to ensure businesses kept their staff employed during the pandemic and would not have to repay the funds if they followed this provision. As you can tell, both federal programs are vastly different. The funny part is that many of these complainers have proclaimed their intelligence but cannot devise a strategy for repaying their debts.

Reforms Needed

Today, total student loan debt is approximately $1.6 trillion, impacting more than 46 million Americans. Proponents will say this is necessary to generate competent contributors to society. Critics will argue that this is an absurd number and the country is not better off because a 24-year-old kid from Portland, Oregon, earned a four-year degree in lesbian dance theory. The latter would be correct. Tuition inflation has rocketed over the last 25 years, caused by student loans, since universities and colleges receive guaranteed funding. A market-oriented student-loan system, meanwhile, would be a superior alternative as lenders would consider what the borrower is studying, and the bank would be more likely to extend a loan to someone studying medicine or engineering rather than sociology or Shakespeare. A better way to avoid producing a generation of university-educated baristas.

As the White House employs various policy changes, the Department of Education needs to ask: Should a 19-year-old whose brain is still developing and who likely did not study economics or finance in high school have access to $100,000?

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Liberty Nation does not endorse candidates, campaigns, or legislation, and this presentation is no endorsement.

Read More From Andrew Moran Economics Editor

Trump Hits the Pause Button on Reciprocal Tariffs

China slapped with triple-digit levy.

By Andrew Moran | Apr 10, 2025 @ Liberty Nation News, Tags:  Articles, Economic Affairs News, Opinion, Politics

The chief tenets of The Art of the Deal are to aim high, maximize leverage, stay resilient, keep people guessing, and deliver the goods. President Donald Trump, one week after America declared its “economic independence,” made good use of these tactics by handing out a 90-day reprieve on extra tariffs for countries that declined to retaliate. Everyone, from Wall Street to Democrats, quickly opened the book and celebrated the latest pause on reciprocal tariffs.

Reciprocal Tariffs Paused for 90 Days

In a Truth Social post, President Trump announced he would drop new reciprocal tariffs on imports from most US trade partners to 10% for 90 days to facilitate trade negotiations with those countries. He also confirmed he was increasing tariffs on Chinese goods to 125% “effective immediately” because of the “lack of respect that China has shown to the world’s markets.”

Trump confirmed that more than 75 countries have contacted the administration to begin negotiations. The decision, which ostensibly rewards nations for not embarking upon retaliatory measures, was justified because “people were jumping a little bit out of line,” and “they were getting yippy.” Indeed, Trump is prioritizing trade discussions with Japan and South Korea and then moving on to the broad array of countries that have already reached out, from Vietnam to Israel.

While this appeared to come out of nowhere, senior administration officials say this was the president’s plan all along. Speaking to reporters at the White House, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent purported that Trump had always planned to suspend levies. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick also took to social media and stated he and Bessent worked with the president to craft “one of the most extraordinary Truth posts of his Presidency.” He added: “The world is ready to work with President Trump to fix global trade, and China has chosen the opposite direction.”

Democratic lawmakers, meanwhile, said the president reversed his trade policy endeavors because he “is feeling the heat from Democrats.” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who had long advocated for punitive tariffs on China, told reporters at a press briefing that Trump “is reeling … retreating, and that is a good thing.”

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Investors were also ebullient over the news as the financial markets had one of the greatest trading sessions in history. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average rocketed nearly 3,000 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index soared close to 1,900 points, and the broader S&P 500 spiked about 500 points, or 9.52%. It was a sharp reversal after the benchmark indexes were mostly in the red during early trading. Traders could have bought at the bottom if they had heeded Trump’s Truth Social post, with the president writing three hours before the big news, “This is a great time to buy!”

The World Against China

Early July will prove to be a pivotal period for the Trump administration, the financial markets, and the global economy. This is when the 90-day pause will be lifted, and countries will have either established agreements to dismantle their non-monetary trade barriers or the president will reintroduce reciprocal tariffs.

The next three months will tell whether the world will coalesce with the United States and slay the red dragon or try to appease both parties. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez recently told the European Union that the bloc should reconsider its approach to China, suggesting that Europe must be friendlier to the world’s second-largest economy. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has reportedly sought the assistance of the Chinese regime to limit Trump’s trade crusade with the rest of the world.

Bessent presented a simple message for anyone mulling over a similar strategy: Any country aligning itself with Beijing is akin to “cutting your own throat.” He summarized the situation by pointing out that China exports far more to the United States than the US does to Beijing. “They’re playing with a pair of twos,” Bessent said on CNBC’s Squawk Box. “What do we lose by the Chinese raising tariffs on us? We export one-fifth to them of what they export to us, so that is a losing hand for them.”

Recession Is Over

After weeks of intensifying recession fears, the temporary pause on reciprocal tariffs has ended the prospects of an economic downturn. Goldman Sachs, which raised its odds of back-to-back quarters of negative GDP growth to 65%, rescinded its outlook following Trump’s announcement. Instead, it returned to its initial baseline forecast for 2025, projecting the US economy to grow. Despite being the most transparent and studied man in modern US politics, the chattering class still has yet to learn from The Art of the Deal – and failure to do so will repeat these cycles.

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Liberty Nation does not endorse candidates, campaigns, or legislation, and this presentation is no endorsement.

Read More From Andrew Moran Economics Editor

Will Tariffs Rekindle the Inflation Flame?

The Trump administration is betting on a repeat of the 2018-19 tariff success.

By Andrew Moran Apr 10, 2025 @ Liberty Nation News,  Articles, Business News, Opinion

Since President Donald Trump unveiled the contours of his April 2 Make America Wealthy Again universal baseline and reciprocal tariffs, economists have debated whether this will rekindle the inflation flame. Market watchers have presented a diverse array of projections, from a negligible effect to sky-high prices. But the White House says look to the 2018-19 round of tariffs to determine the fate of US prices.

Tariffs and Water

Shortly after the United States commemorated Liberation Day, senior administration officials performed the media rounds, defending the president’s actions. One of these was Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who has been Trump’s top salesman, dating back to the 2024 election campaign. Appearing on CBS News, the Wall Street billionaire veteran espoused the potential inflation trends that could unfold in the months or years to come, citing water as an example.

“When tariffs come into place, foreign goods may become a little more expensive, but domestic goods do not. So if you’re looking at Poland Springs water [made in Maine] versus something — let’s say, Fiji water [made in Fiji] — the Poland Springs is not going to be more expensive. So for the first time in your lives, you’re going to actually think about the Americans who make the products, the Americans who produce these products and work in these factories.”

Lutnick also referenced the inflation data from a few years ago, when Trump first introduced wide-ranging tariffs on imports entering the United States. “When Donald Trump was the president last time, he put on tariffs. And if you go back and look at that news, everybody said, ‘Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!’” he added.

Tariff proponents have presented similar arguments in the public square, claiming that higher import duties will facilitate consumers’ transition to US-made products. Additionally, they will usually comment on what transpired during Trump’s first term in the Oval Office.

Because Lutnick is an incredible and convincing talker, it would be easy to believe what he says. This past fall, even CNBC anchors were smitten with Lutnick’s logic on levies, taken aback by his explanation for why it is critical to impose sweeping tariffs. However, a slightly deeper dive into the economic literature would contradict his pontification.

First, the idea that American-made products would not become more expensive is fallacious. By removing Fiji water from the US marketplace, there is one less competitor that might deliver a cheaper alternative to domestic options. By eliminating one extra choice in the water market, US brands can increase their prices because consumers cannot flee to other brands. Moreover, comparable to the famous Milton Friedman pencil lecture decades ago, corporations worldwide rely on foreign markets for supplies, whether plastic from India or silicone from Brazil.

Give Cable TV the Boot – Check This Out!

Second, it is misleading to suggest that there was no inflation during 2018-19. In the aggregate, consumer price inflation was minimal throughout the president’s first four years. However, there are a few things to address on this subject. First, the Trump administration granted thousands of exemptions to US and foreign manufacturers, offering relief at the consumer and wholesale levels. Second, businesses refrained from passing the full costs of tariffs onto shoppers (the divergence between the consumer price index and the producer price index is sizable). Third, tariffs operate with a lag effect, meaning it could take a couple of years to travel through the marketplace. If there were no pandemic, would tariff-fueled inflation have happened?

Specific industries have lauded the Trump administration for its tariffs, though some have questioned why the White House targets places like Canada. Nevertheless, the steel and aluminum sector has been ebullient because these firms will be shielded from outsiders, allowing them to act with reckless abandon, whether raising prices or restricting competition. The issue with protectionism, especially with well-connected industries, is that the downstream sectors usually suffer. Studies show that the 2018-19 tariffs greatly benefited steel, accounting for a small portion of the US economy. However, the downstream victims intensified as steel- or aluminum-consuming businesses endured higher costs, fewer workers, and less output.

Reordering the World Order

Lutnick has proclaimed that Trump is “reordering” global trade. Does it require an overhaul? It certainly does for many downtrodden Americans living in abandoned towns that were once manufacturing powerhouses and drivers of national prosperity. During the 1992 presidential campaign, independent candidate Ross Perot warned of the “giant sucking sound” that would transpire from abysmal government-managed trade agreements as factories, capital, and jobs traversed south of the border. While critics will claim that MAGA Country would not work in facilities producing Nike sneakers or screwing together Apple iPhones, low- and middle-income Americans in the Rust Belt would beg to differ.

That said, this seismic shift in worldwide commerce will likely come with economic pain, primarily in higher prices for smartphones and apparel. And, yes, consumers will pay more for Poland Springs water. Is it worth it? American voters will determine this during the 2026 midterms.

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Liberty Nation does not endorse candidates, campaigns, or legislation, and this presentation is no endorsement.

Read More From Andrew Moran Economics Editor

Trump Axes Globalization With Sweeping Tariffs

Happy Liberation Day to all who observed.

By Andrew Moran | Apr 3, 2025 @ Liberty Nation News, Tags: Articles, Economic Affairs News, Opinion, Politics

In the classic 1924 Giacomo Puccini opera Turandot, the famous “Nessun Dorma” aria concludes, “At dawn, I will win! I will win! I will win!” It was not at dawn, but President Donald Trump did declare victory against the globalist machine when he unveiled the contours of his sweeping tariffs. At an April 2 White House Rose Garden event, the president released details of his long-awaited pursuit of reciprocity.

New Tariffs Are in Town

President Trump will impose a universal baseline tariff of 10% on all imports, effective April 5 at 12:01 a.m. Higher but discounted reciprocal tariff rates will be implemented on countries making the “worst offenders” list; those will go into effect on April 9 at 12:01 a.m. Soon after his speech, Trump signed an executive order to begin the process of enacting tariffs. “Reciprocal. That means they do it to us, and we do it to them. Very simple. Can’t get any simpler than that,” he said.

The trade measures go beyond just tariffs. Trump and senior administration officials emphasized that non-monetary trade barriers – currency manipulation, government subsidies, import restrictions, domestic tax policy, and other pillars restricting US goods – played a significant role in assigning rates to countries worldwide.

China uses third-party countries like Cambodia and Vietnam to avert tariffs. Brazil mandates licenses to import American agricultural products. Israel, according to White House officials, steals intellectual property for pharmaceutical manufacturing. Indonesia maintains local content requirements. India has burdensome and duplicative certification requirements for various sectors. The administration says this harms US businesses and workers trying to export American-made products.

The Trump team estimates that these barriers cost the US industry tens of billions of dollars annually. “Monetary tariffs and non-monetary tariffs are two distinct types of trade barriers that governments use to regulate imports and exports,” the White House said in a fact sheet. “President Trump is countering both through reciprocal tariffs to protect American workers and industries from these unfair practices.”

So, while the rest of the world will endure an across-the-board levy, major US trading partners will be hit with two-, three-, or four-times higher rates. The most notable ones were Cambodia (49%), Vietnam (46%), China (34%), India (26%), Japan (24%), and the European Union (20%). Of course, several small countries were dinged on the head with enormous reciprocal tariffs, including Lesotho (50%), Madagascar (47%), the Falkland Islands (41%), and Liechtenstein (37%).

Trump did follow through on previous comments that he would be “flexible” and “lenient” when designing this comprehensive tariff strategy. “We will charge them approximately half of what they are and have been charging us,” said the president at the press conference. “So, the tariffs will not be a full reciprocal.”

His latest round of tariffs was made possible by declaring a national emergency through the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). This 1977 law authorizes the chief executive to enact trade restrictions on foreign countries, primarily through tariffs. Trump invoked this act in February when he slapped import duties on Canada, Mexico, and China based on drug and illegal immigration issues. The US Senate passed a resolution to end the national emergency declared to imposed these tariffs hours after the president’s speech, with one Republican not voting and four others joining all the Democrats to achieve a 51-48 majority. It was, however, essentially a symbolic vote, as it’s unlikely the GOP-controlled House would follow suit.

Canada and Mexico were spared from the Liberation Day announcement. However, the country’s North American neighbors will still be punished under the previous 25% tariff regime due to illicit drug and illegal immigration flows. In addition, previous Section 232 measures, such as tariffs on foreign automobiles, car parts, steel, and aluminum, will not be subjected to these latest actions.

While the White House stopped short of providing revenue projections, one official was bullish on his expectations. In a recent Fox News interview, Peter Navarro, the president’s senior counselor for trade and manufacturing, predicted the US government would collect $6 trillion in tariff revenue over the next ten years. This assumes that current global trade flows remain the same.

Wall Street Panics

US stocks finished the April 2 trading session in positive territory. However, the leading benchmark averages started tanking minutes into Trump’s press conference. Following his announcement, the tech-driven Nasdaq Composite Index crashed as much as 4.5%. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average tanked 1,100 points, and the broader S&P 500 erased 3%.

Government bond yields plummeted, with the benchmark ten-year falling toward the 4% mark. The US Dollar Index (DXY) cratered 0.7%. US crude oil prices fell below $70. Bitcoin dropped about 2%. Gold was the only asset that extended its gains, as the precious metal inched toward $3,200 per ounce. However, in the metals market, silver and copper fell.

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Investors were hoping for two things ahead of the blueprint’s unveiling: a better-than-expected plan and clarity. One analyst suggested that traders received neither. “What was delivered was as haphazard as anything this administration has done to date, and the level of complication on top of the ultimate level of new tariffs is worse than had been feared and not yet priced into the market,” said Art Hogan, the chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth Management, to CNBC.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent shrugged off the after-hours trading results, uttering a terrific line that will grace the pages of business publications for weeks to come. “The Nasdaq peaked on DeepSeek day, so that’s a Mag 7 problem, not a MAGA problem,” he said. Nice.

The Reaction

Bessent delivered a message to the world: Don’t. In an interview with CNN, the seasoned hedge fund billionaire urged countries not to retaliate with countermeasures. “Let’s see where this goes because if you retaliate, that’s how we get escalation,” he said. “Doing anything rash would be unwise.”

It might be too early for nations to issue responses. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo confirmed earlier in the day that she would not reply with tit-for-tat retaliation. The Vietnamese government pre-emptively slashed tariffs across a diverse array of US goods. India said it is considering lowering tariffs on half of US products entering the South Asian country. Israel vowed to abolish remaining levies on US imports.

For Discerning News Hounds

Conversely, China threatened resolute countermeasures. In a statement published by the Ministry of Commerce, officials said the government “expressed strong dissatisfaction and clear opposition” and that “China urges the U.S. to properly resolve differences with trading partners through equal dialogue.”

The White House later clarified to reporters that the 34% tariff rate on China is on top of the existing 20% import duties. So, if you do your calculations and carry the one, Beijing will be slammed with a true tariff rate of 54%.

Upending Global Trade

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who vowed countermeasures, conveyed to reporters that Trump’s reciprocal tariffs will “fundamentally change the global trading system.” This is what the 47th president of the United States is banking on.

Liberation Day was about more than tariffs. The much-anticipated date on the calendar was the US “declaring economic independence,” marking a turning point for decades-long globalization. Perhaps historians will examine the time as the start of transforming global trade and rekindling the flame of free trade.

“For decades, our country has been looted, pillaged, raped, and plundered by nations near and far, both friend and foe alike,” Trump said. “Foreign cheaters have ransacked our factories, and foreign scavengers have torn apart our once beautiful American dream. We had an American Dream that you don’t hear so much about.”

A key part of his remarks was about how the public will hear grievances from globalists, outsourcers, special interests, and the fake news over the coming days. He urged the American people to ignore their thoughts. Why? “They were wrong about NAFTA [North American Free Trade Agreement],” he said. “[T]hey were wrong about China. They were wrong about the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which would have been a disaster if I didn’t terminate it.” Economists will debate the veracity of these comments, but the Trump administration will point to towns destroyed by shuttered factories, plants, and mills.

Trumponomics

Trump has championed the same pro-tariff message since an appearance on Oprah Winfrey’s program nearly four decades ago, espousing that what has been going on is not free trade. Well, years later, the real estate billionaire mogul can declare victory against the elite. But will he usher in an oft-spouted “new golden age” that will create prosperity for all? It took many years for the United States to reach this point, so it could take as many years to eradicate the odor of globalization.

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Liberty Nation does not endorse candidates, campaigns, or legislation, and this presentation is no endorsement.

Read More From Andrew Moran Economics Editor

US Can’t Account for Much of $7 Trillion in Spending

How can Uncle Sam improve its finances? 

By Andrew Moran | Jan 26, 2025 @ Liberty Nation News, Tags: Articles, Business News, Opinion

Many families keep a meticulous budget of their household finances. They track how much the working residents earn, where the dollars and cents are going, and what spending can be eliminated to improve the fiscal house. This type of thinking should be adopted by public officials, correct? Despite the perpetual handwringing about better financial management in Washington, nothing changes – and it remains to be seen if the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) can be America’s money savior.

$7 Trillion in Spending – But What Does It Buy?

The US government is poised to spend more than $7 trillion in fiscal year 2025. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), federal outlays will exceed $10 trillion by 2033. The public is aware of the headline figures, such as $4 trillion in programs like Social Security and Medicare or $1 trillion in net interest payments. But what about the nitty-gritty? Nobody knows, says a new report.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO), a congressional research arm, recently published its annual Financial Report of the US government in collaboration with the Treasury Department and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The yearly overview of federal finances examines assets, costs, revenues, and sustainability by auditing financial statements.

It concluded that the federal government needs to combat “serious deficiencies” in fiscal management and return to a long-term sustainable fiscal path. The GAO highlighted four areas to address: “Serious financial management problems at the Department of Defense,” “Problems in accounting for transactions between federal agencies,” “Weaknesses in the process for preparing the statements,” and “Inadequate support for the cost of Small Business Administration and Department of Education loan programs.”

“The federal government has again come up short in managing its finances and achieving a clean audit due to challenges in adequately supporting its costs, revenues, assets and liabilities,” said US Comptroller General Gene Dodaro in a statement. “These serious financial management weaknesses and [the] unsustainable long term fiscal path further underscore the need for urgent attention, accountability, and transparency.”

Additionally, Dodaro encouraged Congress and the executive branch to coalesce and produce “a plan for long-term fiscal sustainability.”

The Pentagon, Dodaro says, appears to be enduring a broad array of financial management issues. In November 2024, as The Center Square noted, the Defense Department confirmed that it failed its seventh consecutive annual audit as it could not account for its nearly trillion-dollar budget last year. The Pentagon does not expect to pass an independent audit of its accounting systems until 2027.

In April 2023, Jon Stewart sat down with former Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks, talking about failed audits and struggling rank-and-file members. Rather than engage in a forthright discussion, Hicks essentially shrugged and laughed off Stewart’s concerns, urging him to focus on other topics instead of “the dollars which really bother you.”

DOGE to the Rescue?

President Donald Trump officially established a special commission called the Department of Government Efficiency, tasked with cutting federal spending. The litany of executive orders contains various directives, such as giving “advice and guidance from outside of government” and launching doge.gov. “To restore competence and effectiveness to our federal government, my administration will establish the brand new Department of Government Efficiency,” Trump said in his inaugural speech.

Your News – How You Like It!

While there are still many uncertainties, the department’s objective at the onset was to cut $2 trillion of spending, which Elon Musk later watered down to $500 billion. Still, something is better than nothing.

DOGE is still in its infancy, but it is ostensibly yielding early results. The widely watched US Debt Clock features a “D.O.G.E. CLOCK” widget, highlighting $10.9 billion in savings (as of 9 a.m. on Jan. 23). It is unclear how accurate the figure is, but the website notes that the constantly updated number is based on a “real-time savings objective from reducing government waste, fraud and abuse in federal government agencies.”

Deficits to the Moon

When the president’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) was enacted in 2018, politicians, economists, and think tanks warned that it would result in lower revenues. Today, even the CBO asserts extending the TCJA would not only hemorrhage the federal budget but could also weigh on growth prospects because government borrowing will chisel away at private capital investment. And yet, several years later, the United States is generating near-record receipts. Once again, the US government does not have a revenue problem – $5.163 trillion this fiscal year – but a spending problem – $7 trillion (or more) in FY 2025 – and one side of the political aisle ignores this during their grandstanding throughout congressional hearings. When the government takes in nearly $90 trillion over ten years, it is unfathomable to believe Uncle Sam requires more taxpayer money.

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Liberty Nation does not endorse candidates, campaigns, or legislation, and this presentation is no endorsement.

Read More From Andrew Moran Economics Editor

New Elon Musk Hoax Just Dropped

The first day of Trump's second term signified things to come.

by Andrew Moran | Jan 21, 2025 @ Liberty Nation News, Tags: Articles, Opinion, Politics

On Inauguration Day 2017, President Donald Trump’s first day in the White House, the mainstream media delivered the opening salvo in a long list of hoaxes. The press claimed that Trump had removed a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. from display in the Oval Office. By the time the news was corrected, it was too late, as the Twitterverse blew up. Four years later, it is the same old story.

Elon Musk Got Trumped

The Fourth Estate and social media dropped a new hoax in record fashion. This time, the press focused its efforts on the Tesla Motors and SpaceX CEO, claiming he made the “Sieg Heil” used by the National Socialist German Workers’ Party at the end of a raucous speech before the Capital One Arena audience.

A chorus of news outlets provided readers with quite the headlines:

• The Guardian: “Elon Musk appears to make back-to-back fascist salutes at inauguration rally.”
• Yahoo: “Musk causes stir with ‘Nazi’ salute at inauguration.”
• Rolling Stone: “Right-Wing Extremists Are Abuzz Over Musk’s Straight-Arm Salute.”
• The Wrap: “Elon Musk’s Salute to Trump Crowd Condemned as Nazi Signal.”

PBS News wrote on social media platform X: “Billionaire Elon Musk gave what appeared to be a fascist salute Monday while making a speech at the post-inauguration celebration for President Donald Trump at the Capital One Arena.” During a live CNN broadcast, the anchors called it “a salute” and added: “I think our viewers are smart, and they can take a look at that, but it certainly was; it’s not something that you typically see at American political rallies.”

Even politicians got in on the Elon Musk hoax, including Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), who clutched his suspenders. “I never imagined we would see the day when what appears to be a Heil Hitler salute would be made behind the Presidential seal,” he said. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) lambasted the ADL for not condemning Musk. “Just to be clear, you are defending a Heil Hitler salute that was performed and repeated for emphasis and clarity,” Ocasio-Cortez stated.

Of course, one glance at a photo shared worldwide or an edited five-second clip would show Musk performing the “Sieg Heil.” However, watching his entire speech, particularly the part taken out of context, reveals something completely different from what journalists were pontificating. Here is the text of this portion of Musk’s remarks (emphasis ours)

“This is what victory feels like. And this was no ordinary victory. This was a fork in the road of human civilization. There are elections that come and go. Some elections are important, some are not, but this one really mattered, and I just want to say thank you for making it happen.

“My heart goes out to you.

“It is thanks to you that the future of civilization is assured. We’re going to have safe cities, secure borders, sensible spending, basic stuff, and we’re going to take DOGE to Mars.”

So, instead of giving the Nazi salute, Musk gestured his heart going out to the crowd. Another facepalm moment, indeed.

Hypocrisy and Ignorance

Because X is no longer the home of censorship, a flood of users quickly identified past instances of politicians on the other side of the aisle performing similar gestures during rallies or at the end of speeches. From former Vice President Kamala Harris to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), these individuals appeared to be delivering the “Sieg Heil,” but they were not. And yet, members of the press did not feign outrage, howl at the moon, or partake in good old-fashioned handwringing.

Ultimately, this is another example of the mainstream media not learning from their behavior during Trump 1.0. It is safe to predict that journalists, anchors, and prominent social media voices will run the same predictable plays from 2017 to 2021. This time, X and its Community Notes will be the arbiters of truth, slaying every hoax, falsehood, and misleading reportage emanating from the corridors of the Fourth Estate.

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Liberty Nation does not endorse candidates, campaigns, or legislation, and this presentation is no endorsement.

Read More From Andrew Moran Economics Editor

US Crosses $36 Trillion National Debt Milestone – Swamponomics

Plus, sticky inflation and a coffee rally.

by Andrew Moran | Dec 1, 2024 @ Liberty Nation News, Tags:  Articles, Business News, Opinion

The United States did it! Nearly three months after topping $35 trillion, the national debt crossed the $36 trillion milestone. Perhaps it’s time to pop open a bit of bubbly, dance the Charleston, and run with elephants and donkeys like a scene out of Spain. Based on the forecasts from the Treasury Department, Uncle Sam could add another $1 trillion by early spring. Get in, future generations. It is time to swim in IOUs.

Got $36 Trillion?

According to the Treasury’s Debt to the Penny dashboard, Washington surpassed the $36 trillion mark on Nov. 21 for the first time on record. To be exact, the national debt reached $36,034,994,586,981.9, up from $35,973,905,978,114.70 on Nov. 20. This means the national debt has surged more than $2 trillion since Jan. 2. It took America 200 years before registering its first $1 trillion of red ink; now it takes a few months.

What is comical is that the United States could add $100 billion by the time the country flips the calendar to December. Ouch.

Republicans and Democrats are not yet finished. Recent forecasts from non-partisan budget watchdog the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) suggest that the national debt is poised to be like a SpaceX rocket and ascend to $57 trillion in the next decade. If these projections are accurate, Washington has added $34 trillion since the coronavirus pandemic, or $8 billion per day.

The Kobeissi Letter, from a popular financial investment research firm, may have recently summarized the current situation the best on the social media platform X: “At the current pace, US debt could hit $40 trillion within the next 2 years. Calls for major spending cuts are growing, but not being acted on yet. We are on an unsustainable fiscal path.”

That Inflation Is Sticky

All the October inflation reports have now been officially released, and they are not comforting heading into 2025. Put simply, the US economy could be stuck on a sticky inflation substance.

 

First, the October Consumer Price Index (CPI) report rose to 2.6%, up from 2.4% in September. Core CPI, which removes the volatile energy and food categories, remained at 3.3% for the second straight month. Second, the Producer Price Index (PPI) — a gauge of prices paid for goods and services by businesses — increased to a three-month high of 2.4%. Core PPI also climbed to a higher-than-expected 3.1%. Third, the Fed’s preferred Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) Price Index jumped to 2.3%, and core PCE ticked up to 2.8%.

What has been going on? A few things. The Federal Reserve has been running the printing presses, expanding the money supply every month this year, hitting $21.3 trillion in October, the highest since December 2022. Services also have fueled price pressures, with a whole host of categories rising or remaining elevated, such as shelter, transportation, and medical. Finally, federal spending continues to hover around record levels.

As eminent economist Milton Friedman once said, “Inflation is made by government and no one else.”

Ultimate Caffeine High

Consumers may not have noticed yet, but the coffee futures market has been rocketing this year, soaring 68% on the US ICE Futures exchange. The front-running coffee contract for Arabica, also known as the good stuff, climbed nearly 3% ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. It touched $3.20 per pound during the Nov. 27 trading session, the highest level since 1972.

Ditch the Diatribe – Try This!

Disappointing crop prospects in Brazil have been the driving force behind Western Civilization’s fuel spike. The South American nation suffered from dry weather that damaged its coffee-growing infrastructure earlier this year. But while Brazilian farmers are singing in the rain these days, the rainfall has come too late, and levels have been below average.

The European Union also is contributing to coffee’s performance. The European Parliament is debating deforestation regulations, a new policy that would force companies to ensure they are not importing products that were manufactured or grown in deforested or degraded regions after 2020. If the EU follows through on this law, it could devastate coffee and cocoa.

So far, coffee’s gains have been slightly limited after International Coffee Organization (ICO) data show that global exports have risen 12% year-over-year from October to September.

Like a glass of orange juice or a piece of chocolate, that morning fix might be more expensive in 2025.

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Liberty Nation does not endorse candidates, campaigns, or legislation, and this presentation is no endorsement.

Read More From Andrew Moran Economics Editor

Elon Musk’s DOGE Is Complete – What’s Next?

Finding waste in Washington won’t be hard to do. 

By Andrew Moran | Nov 15, 2024 @ Liberty Nation News, Tags: Articles, Opinion, Politics

President-elect Donald Trump formally announced the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency, also known as DOGE. Billionaire Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will spearhead the entity and work together to “pave the way” for Trump’s administration to “dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies,” explained the president-elect. The US government maintains a roughly $7 trillion budget, so it should not be too challenging for DOGE to uncover massive amounts of waste. But will it improve the country’s fiscal condition?

Where DOGE Can Snoop

This past summer, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released an eye-opening report that concluded nearly 1,300 federal programs and bureaus faced expired authorizations but continued receiving half a trillion dollars in funding for fiscal year 2024.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported in 2022 that the United States wastes $247 billion annually. Additionally, the GAO projected that the federal government lost approximately $2.4 trillion over the last 20 years because of basic payment mistakes, be it overpayments, underpayments, or unknown payments.

Each year, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) releases his “Festivus” report, highlighting egregious examples of waste. The 2023 edition uncovered $900 billion in taxpayer money poured down the drain, including $477,721 for transgender monkey research, $3.8 million to probe pandemic-era misinformation exposure on social media among black and rural communities, and $170 million that the Department of Defense tossed out the window by improperly storing engines, military tanks, and transmissions.

Previous installments, such as $2.1 million to encourage Ethiopians to wear shoes, $1.1 million to get mice drunk, and $187,500 to determine whether children love their pets, triggered fiscal conservatives to faint on their couches and sport a lukewarm towel on their foreheads. Indeed, over the years, Paul’s Festivus and other reports have circulated revealing government departments misusing funds, from the US military purchasing soap dispensers for aircraft at more than 80 times the commercial price to the Pentagon spending $8,395 to buy a lobster tank.

Of course, what about the major programs that contribute overwhelmingly to the annual budget?

No Word on the Big Guns

The challenge behind balancing the budget is that two-thirds of annual outlays are dedicated to mandatory spending, including Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. These programs are becoming more expensive due to inflation, requiring more resource allocation from cash-strapped taxpayers.

For now, DOGE has yet to suggest holding the magnifying glass over the untouchables. Trump has stated that neither he nor the Republican Party will cut a penny from Social Security, which faces an eternal shortfall of $63 trillion and is a decade away from insolvency. That said, the transition team, including co-chair Howard Lutnick, suggests correcting the fiscal imbalance by addressing the enormous waste and unleashing economic growth.

Bored? Check This Out!

Even if the US economy registered 4% growth, double the CBO’s long-term baseline estimate, it would still struggle to reverse the deficit or trim the debt-to-GDP ratio, which is already at or near 100%. Why? Policymakers can never reform the elephants in the room, as doing so would be political suicide and ensure ballot box defeats in any election cycle.

And then what about the $1 trillion in annual interest payments? This is perhaps the most significant waste because it is money spent without getting anything in return.

Ultimately, focusing on initiatives like the US Agency for International Development’s $6 million promotion of tourism in Egypt is commendable and welcomed by taxpayers. At the same time, however, it pales compared to the $6.4 trillion the federal government will spend on mandatory expenditures by 2034.

Hurling Snowballs

In personal finance, indebted individuals may employ the snowball method. This strategy consists of paying down your smallest debts first and then repeating the step until you are debt-free. Ancient financial wisdom dictates that the dollars will follow if you watch the pennies. So, while eliminating $20,000 for drag queen shows in Ecuador may not help balance the federal budget, it is one step toward restoring fiscal sanity in the nation’s capital and respecting millions of taxpayers. The minds behind DOGE want to slash spending by $2 trillion. It is a lofty endeavor, but prying taxpayer dollars from bureaucrats is like stepping in the ring with Mike Tyson for a Netflix special.

As legendary economist Milton Friedman once quipped, “Hell hath no fury like a bureaucrat scorned.”

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Liberty Nation does not endorse candidates, campaigns, or legislation, and this presentation is no endorsement.

 

Read More From Andrew Moran

Global Debt Poised to Set the World-Order Dominoes Tumbling

By Andrew Moran | Oct 17, 2024 @ Liberty Nation News, Tags: Articles, Business News, Opinion

Brick by brick, the world order, a decades-old coquettish mistress of economic stability and security, is falling like a game of dominos. The international community has become accustomed to the post–World War II climate, where everyone always comes out on top, no matter how bad a financial crisis is. But, the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic and the geopolitical chaos in Eastern Europe and the Middle East might have permanently damaged global peace and prosperity.

S&P Issues Warning for the World Order

According to S&P Global Ratings, countries could potentially default more frequently on their foreign currency debt over the next decade. This is due to the substantial increase in borrowing costs fueled by central banks’ fight to curb inflation. Even before the Covid-19 public health crisis, sovereign credit ratings had weakened worldwide. “These factors quickly create liquidity challenges as access to financing dries up and capital flight accelerates,” the report stated. “In many cases, this constitutes the tipping point where liquidity and solvency constraints become problematic for a government.”

During the fallout of the pandemic, many nations’ finances came under exceptional threat. A chorus of countries – such as Argentina, Belize, Ecuador, Lebanon, Zambia, and others – sang an aria of despair as they defaulted on their foreign currency debt. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, several more countries defaulted in 2022 and 2023.

Developing countries now depend more on government borrowing, running the printing press, and raiding foreign exchange reserves to offset the flight of foreign capital. The challenge, however, is that turbulence and unpredictable domestic policies have led to issues repaying debts.

Ballooning net interest payments and sticky inflation are adding to the cavalcade of problems. The report identified that interest costs in soon-to-default states are approaching or surpassing 20% of government revenues, and inflation has climbed to double-digit territory.

But can’t these places pull a Greece and restructure their debt? Not quite. Unlike 40 years ago, S&P analysts note that government debt restructurings are not working, occurring at a snail’s pace, or compounding the problem. “We also found that the long-term macroeconomic consequences are more severe for sovereigns that remain in default for multiple years, increasing the probability of further defaults down the line,” they wrote.

Unfortunately, S&P’s warnings to the world order do not even tell half the story.

Global Debt Is Worse, Says IMF

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently published a detailed report examining the world’s astronomical public debt levels. The global institution concluded in its October 2024 Fiscal Monitor that the situation is “probably worse than it looks.” IMF economists forecast that global debt will exceed $100 trillion by the year’s end, representing approximately 93% of international gross domestic product. It will hit 100% of GDP by 2030.

Officials prognosticate that “future debt levels could be even higher than projected, and much larger fiscal adjustments than currently projected are required to stabilize or reduce it with a high probability.” They purported in the report that sizable spending pressures, enormous unidentified debt, and optimism bias of debt projections suggest that “the fiscal outlook of many countries might be worse than expected.” The report added:

“Previous IMF research has shown that fiscal discourse across the political spectrum has increasingly tilted toward higher spending. And countries will need to increasingly spend more to cope with aging and healthcare; with the green transition and climate adaptation; and with defense and energy security, due to growing geopolitical tensions.

“On the other side, past experience suggests that debt projections tend to underestimate actual outcomes by a sizable margin. Realized debt-to-GDP ratios five-years ahead can be 10 percentage points of GDP higher than projected on average.”

Back home, the United States endured credit outlook downgrades in 2023 amid a mounting national debt swallowing the national economy. With $200 trillion in unfunded obligations, it is only a matter of time before these agencies cite the United States as a growing risk to the world order.

Surely, the private sector is outperforming the government, right? Right? Uh, no, Shirley.

Businesses Struggling

Corporate bankruptcies have been steadily increasing this year across the globe, led by the world’s largest economy.

In the first nine months of the year, 512 large US companies declared bankruptcy, and 59 entities filed for bankruptcy in September alone. The latest numbers from the new S&P Global Market Intelligence data show that 2024 has experienced the largest number of corporate bankruptcies (businesses with $1 billion or more in liabilities) in 14 years outside the pandemic. Of course, if you wish to insert the public health crisis, the United States is shy of just six.

Give Cable TV the Boot – Check This Out!

The rest of the business community is not faring well. In the second quarter of 2024, the number of US bankruptcies surged by close to 40% compared to a year ago, totaling nearly 6,300 cases. This is the highest level in seven years. Additionally, over the last three years, bankruptcy filings have doubled and risen at the fastest pace since the global financial crisis.

Other regions are witnessing comparable trends. Eurostat data highlight that bankruptcy declarations climbed in the eurozone by more than 3% in the second quarter from the previous three-month span.

This is bad news for governments starving for more revenues. While politicians refrain from making tough challenges and retreat into the comfort of political expediency, they need to inject more tax receipts into government coffers. Unfortunately, if companies are folding faster than Republicans on the House floor, Washington and the rest of the world leaders will have fewer dollars, euros, and pounds to waste.

What Happened to the $107 Trillion?

Fidelity Investments published a fascinating chart highlighting the global money supply. In October, international liquidity reached an all-time high of $107 trillion, up from about $79 trillion before the pandemic. If the planet is drowning in freshly printed money, where is it all going? The answer – if there is one – might be as confusing as any world salad response uttered by Vice President Kamala Harris.

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Liberty Nation does not endorse candidates, campaigns, or legislation, and this presentation is no endorsement.

Read More From Andrew Moran