Good Morning,
U.S. Default?
Read this and then read it again. I had to read it twice. The U.S. National debt stands at 28 trillion dollars. And America may be heading for default. It’s never happened before.
This is not only possible Government shutdown which has happened several times since the 1980’s, but because Republicans and Democrats have a huge gap in how they view the Country, they appear at a fundamental impasse over social spending and the Republicans are refusing to lift the debt ceiling.
One would think that’s a reasonable position to take considering that 28 trillion debt, but most of that debt has been racked up under Trump, a staggering 7.8 Trillion to be precise.
So why won’t Republicans get behind lifting the debt ceiling now as the U.S. struggles to recover from am pandemic shutdown? Its politics of course, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell who has voted to raise or suspend the debt ceiling 32 times in his career, including 3 times under Trump says it’s the Democrats’ problem.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says it “could trigger a spike in interest rates, a steep drop in stock prices and other financial turmoil. Our current economic recovery would reverse into recession, with billions of dollars of growth and millions of jobs lost.” There is a game of chicken that will play out next week and the stakes couldn’t be higher.
Russia Election Fraud
Elections in Russia have NEVER been clean and have involved the Kremlin altering final results in favour of President Putin or The United Russia Party which rubber stamps his laws in the Parliament known as the Duma.
But this election over the past weekend, which saw United Russia land 324 seats of the parliaments 450 seats appears to have been the dirtiest bogus election yet. It matters because now everyone knows it and Putins legitimacy is hemorrhaging as a result.
Statisticians now claim as many as half of all votes cast were in fact false. What’s disturbing is that after 70 years of communism, the communist party is making a slow come back making big gains in the vote. The harder the Kremlin cheats to keep Putin in power, the more the communists gain from disenchanted Russians, and how does that end in a Russia that once embraced democracy and a new constitution and a promise to never to return to its dark past?
Canada’s Trudeau
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau won a minority Government victory in its election this week. But Trudeau’s Liberals are unhappy with an impossible marriage with opposition parties that will make governing extremely difficult.
He heads a minority government that will rely on the Bloc Québécois and/or NDP to pass its agenda.
Many say Trudeau could be forced to call another election in 2 years and may find himself forced out of the leadership of his Liberal party. He called an election in a pandemic two years before his mandate was ending. The voters saw it as political opportunism and many turned against him.
Germany Elections
Sunday is the German election day, and no one knows who will fill the gap left by retiring long time leader Angela Merkel. 4 in 10 Germans are said to be undecided in a lack lustre campaign,
Voter indecision could also rest in uncertainty about what each candidate really stands for. After all: the CDU/CSU and the SPD have been in government together for the past eight years.
Have a good day everyone, Please subscribe so you get all the newsletters and you can become a paid subscriber if you value this newsletter.
Dana
https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/election-2021/john-ivison-trudeau-shall-reap-the-whirlwind
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/09/21/statisticians-claim-half-of-pro-kremlin-votes-in-duma-elections-were-false-a75102
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/21/us/politics/spending-bill-passed-debt-limit.html
https://www.dw.com/en/german-election-why-many-voters-are-still-undecided/a-59251080