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Tuesday, May 2, 2023

Biden’s Punishing Mortgage Fees Go in Effect

Biden is intentionally penalizing those who were responsible and kept their credit in check. Katie Pavlich: A new mortgage rule from the Biden administration that punishes Americans with good credit in favor of financially irresponsible individuals – implemented through the Federal Housing Agency – has arrived. The new rule brings back bad memories of the 2008 housing collapse, which happened as a result of similar policies and the government forcing banks to issue loans to unqualified individuals (Townhall). America’s Newsroom: “REDISTRIBUTION OR YOU COULD CALL IT SOCIALISM” – Maria Bartiromo. Mortgage fee rules quietly get overhauled, resulting in discounted rates for riskier-credit homebuyers & forcing higher-credit homebuyers to foot the bill (Twitter).

Secretary Yellen Urges a Resolution to Debt Ceiling Claiming US Could Default by June 1

Washington Post: The U.S. government could default “as early as June 1” unless Congress raises or suspends the debt ceiling, according to the Treasury Department, which implored lawmakers again on Monday to act swiftly to avert a fiscal crisis. In a letter to lawmakers, Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen said the agency may be “unable to continue to satisfy all of the government’s obligations by early June, and potentially as early as June 1,” stressing the estimate is imprecise because of the variability of federal tax receipts (Washington Post). RNC Research: Karine Jean-Pierre can’t name a single thing Biden has done to reach out to Speaker McCarthy on the debt limit (Twitter). CNBC: The White House has so far refused to participate in talks as long as McCarthy is still linking a debt ceiling vote to sweeping cuts to federal spending. Yellen’s letter comes less than week after a Republican bill to raise the debt limit and slash government funding passed the House, but only after McCarthy made 11th hour changes in order to win over GOP holdouts (CNBC).

Federal Reserve Considers 10th Round of Interest Rate Hikes

Wall Street Journal: Federal Reserve officials are on track to increase interest rates again at their meeting this week while deliberating whether that will be enough to then pause the fastest rate-raising cycle in 40 years. “We are much closer to the end of the tightening journey than the beginning,” Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said April 20. Just how much closer the Fed is to that endgame will be a focus of internal debate because officials think their communications around future policy actions can be as significant as individual rate changes (Wall Street Journal). CNBC: This 0.25 percentage point hike will mark the 10th time the Fed has raised its benchmark interest rate over the past year or so, the fastest pace of tightening since the early 1980s. Even though the Fed’s rate-hiking cycle has started to cool inflation, higher prices are causing real wages to decline. Real average hourly earnings are down 0.7% from a year earlier, according to the latest reading from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Because incomes have not kept pace with inflation, household budgets are squeezed, causing more people to lean on credit just when interest rates have been rising at the fastest pace in decades (CNBC).

JPMorgan Chase Acquires First Republic Bank

Associated Press: Regulators seized troubled First Republic Bank early Monday, making it the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history, and promptly sold all of its deposits and most of its assets to JPMorgan Chase in a bid to end the turmoil that has raised questions about the health of the U.S. banking system. It’s the third midsize bank to fail in less than two months. The only larger bank failure in U.S. history was Washington Mutual, which collapsed at the height of the 2008 financial crisis and was also taken over by JPMorgan in a similar government-orchestrated deal (Associated Press). Wall Street Journal: JPMorgan will assume all of First Republic’s $92 billion in deposits. It is also buying most of the bank’s assets, including about $173 billion in loans and $30 billion in securities. At the end of the first quarter, JPMorgan had $3.7 trillion in assets and $2.4 trillion in deposits. JPMorgan shares rose 3% in midday trading, a sign that investors like the math behind the deal (Wall Street Journal).

Border Cities Begin Declaring States of Emergency in Anticipation of Title 42 Ending

Washington Examiner: El Paso, Texas, declared a state of emergency on May 1 because a major pandemic-era measure is scheduled to end. Title 42, the public health policy that was set during the pandemic allowing U.S. officials to deport immigrants seeking asylum, is set to expire on May 11. Once the policy ends, border officials will follow the country’s immigration laws created under Title 8, which includes deportation and a five-year reentry ban, without the expulsions Title 42 presented. Border towns have already been experiencing an influx of immigrants and are facing a lack of staff and resources to handle the crisis properly (Washington Examiner). Julio Rosas: The city of Laredo likewise has declared a state of emergency on Sunday, which will last for seven days unless it is renewed by the city. It is expected up to 10,000 illegal immigrants could cross a day once Title 42 is no longer in effect (Townhall). RNC Research: Karine Jean-Pierre: “When it comes to illegal migration, you have seen it come down by more than 90%, and that’s because of the actions that this president has taken” (Twitter).

Democrat Mayors Upset with Greg Abbott for Bussing Migrants to Their Cities

Fox News: Outgoing Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot sent a letter to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday requesting that he stop sending busloads of migrants to the Windy City over what she claims are political motivations. Abbott started sending migrant buses to Chicago and other sanctuary cities, including New York City and Washington, D.C., in the fall as a response to the influx of migrant crossings at the southern border. The Republican governor has said the relocations will continue until the federal government secures the border. Lightfoot, who lost her re-election bid earlier this year, wrote in her letter that Chicago officials learned Texas was planning to send additional migrants to sanctuary cities starting Monday, and urged Abbott to reconsider “this dangerous and inhumane action.” She said the city has been responsible for the care of more than 8,000 people who had no resources of their own since the first buses arrived from Texas in August – adding that the number continues to grow (Fox News). Townhall: New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) released a statement on Monday claiming Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) is being racist against the country’s black mayors for allowing processed and released migrants to be bused to the city of their choice (Townhall). Adams is the one who vehemently declared NYC is a sanctuary city and it always will be.

Lori Lightfoot on Remote Learning: “the learning loss is real”

Ed Morrissey: CNN’s Poppy Harlow points out this morning that Lightfoot went “head to head with the teacher’s union” over school shutdowns. Now Randi Weingarten wants to rewrite history and claim that she worked with mayors like Lightfoot to re-open schools, and Lightfoot scoffs. After spending $100 million to refit schools and meet the demands of the American Federation of Teachers, Weingarten and the local union refused to go back to the schools. “The union needed to work with us,” Lightfoot declared, “and they never did that.” In the end, Weingarten stiffed Chicago and other major cities. Lightfoot’s looking for excuses for her own failures, of course, but that doesn’t make her wrong about Weingarten. This confirms what we already know — Weingarten and the unions did nothing to facilitate a return to normal school operation. Weingarten’s retroactive support for reopening is self-serving to the point of pathology (HotAir). RNC Research: Outgoing Chicago Democrat Mayor Lori Lightfoot slams the far-left teachers’ union bosses for demanding schools remained closed during the pandemic: “Schools are about children … the union needed to work with us, and they never did that” (Twitter).

Morgan Stanley Prepares to Lay Off 3,000 Employees

Bloomberg: Morgan Stanley is preparing a fresh round of job cuts amid a renewed focus on expenses as recession fears delay a rebound in dealmaking. Senior managers are discussing plans to eliminate about 3,000 jobs from the global workforce by the end of this quarter, according to people with knowledge of the matter. That would amount to roughly 5% of staff excluding financial advisers and personnel supporting them within the wealth management division (Bloomberg).

Speaker McCarthy to Russian Reporter: “I support aid for Ukraine. I do not support what your country has done to Ukraine"

National Review: House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, in Israel today, said that he supports continued U.S. aid to Ukraine. His remarks clarify comments he made last year, when he said that there would be “no blank check” for Ukraine. That was interpreted as the speaker’s signaling his potential support for cutting off Washington’s assistance to Kyiv. During a press conference following a speech he delivered to Israel’s Knesset, a staff member of Russia’s RIA Novosti propaganda outlet asked about his stance on Ukraine aid (National Review). CSPAN: Russian reporter: “We know that you don’t support…aid to Ukraine…can you comment U.S Policy will change?” Speaker McCarthy: “No, I vote for aid for Ukraine. I support aid for Ukraine. I do not support what your country has done to Ukraine” (Twitter).

10.

Democrat Clean Air Regulators Now Target Lawnmowers, Leaf Blowers

USA Today: Your lawn may be the next climate change battleground. And parks. And playgrounds. Regulators and clean-air advocates are increasingly eyeing the pollution emitted by small gasoline engines used to power lawn mowers and leaf blowers as they seek to blunt climate change. Environmentalists say using a commercial gas leaf blower for an hour produces emissions equal to driving from Denver to Los Angeles. While many critics first attacked the small engines for the noise they make, experts say these small, two-stroke engines release shockingly large amounts of pollution – two problems that modern and increasingly affordable electric-powered equipment solves (USA Today). Townhall: Another aspect of these new local ordinances against efficiency is that they’ve grandfathered in those who already own gas-powered lawnmowers and landscaping equipment, so spare us the saving the planet nonsense. What’s the point? It’s about control and the left being nuisances and busybodies about what we do in our homes (Townhall).