The government is broken
Tariffs are back in the news after a three judge panel at the Court of International Trade ruled President Trump exceeded the authority he cited.
This extends a pattern of unelected judges overruling the acts of an elected president. Oddly, this pattern has only been conspicuous since Donald Trump was elected, suggesting it is driven not by the rule of law but politics. Joe Biden encountered this difficulty with his student loan appropriations, but I am hard pressed to recall another example.
As tempting as it may be to interpret issues in black and white, this isn’t one that fits. The Constitution provides for three branches of federal government; legislative, executive and judicial. It is Congress’s job to make the law and the President’s to execute it. Neither the executive nor the judicial should be making law, but with Congress having tied itself up in extraconstitutional procedural knots, that’s what it has come down to.
You can’t cure a weak legislature by amping up the executive and judicial. Congress is broken and needs to be fixed.
A case in point is with the “Big Beautiful Bill” package now working its way through the legislative sausage factory. We are informed it is being done via “reconciliation” rules because the “normal” procedure would leave it vulnerable to “filibuster”. This omnibus package is being used to force passage of a number of things few really want by attaching them to the coattails of things many do.
If anyone is aware of a constitutional basis for this, please point it out. Another is the committee structure of both the House and Senate, and its arrangement of majority and minority control. A small committee can decide whether legislation is even considered by the whole. This too lacks constitutional foundation. Any piece of legislation should be able to be brought to the floor for a vote upon being sponsored by a sufficient number of members. Delegating that right only to privileged committee members disenfranchises voters who don’t happen to be in their districts or states.
Where does it even say there shall be two parties? Citizens are free to form political parties but they have no legitimate formal role in government.
Congressional paralysis has also fed the growth of a sprawling administrative state within the executive branch, which through its rulemaking is effectively performing legislative functions. It has also effectively delegated the very serious power to declare war to the executive, despite it being expressly assigned to Congress in the Constitution.
Let the legislature legislate, the judiciary judge, and the executive execute.
The Trump administration is still pushing to federally institutionalize bitcoin:
Vance Says Bitcoin Reserve A US Strategic Advantage Over China
The county that does the most bitcoin will have the economic disadvantage. It absorbs prodigious quantities of resources while producing nothing. Imagine if all the energy, time, and talent devoted to producing, marketing and speculating on bitcoin were devoted to productive pursuits like building homes, making cars, curing disease, producing better food, building infrastructure … then you can imagine the hit to living standards it represents.
People should be free to spend their resources the way they please, including on bitcoin. But enlisting government to actively promote it would be colossally stupid.
I disagree with Trump’s approach to tariffs, but the “TACO” crowd is long on invective and short on intelligence. For better or for worse, opening with an unreasonable demand he’s willing to backtrack from is part of his negotiating style. And a guy that fights his way to his feet under gunfire is no chicken.
If you disagree with a policy, the grownup way to do it is say so and why. Name calling is so third grade.
Is Elon sporting a Black eye?………..wots all this we hearing that he using drugs?
Mike
You heard it here first
Warren Buffett’s Gold Blind Spot
“Since 2000, gold has delivered a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of roughly 10.67%, climbing from around $280 per ounce to over $3300 by May 2025.
Compare that to the S&P 500, which, including dividends, has posted a CAGR of about 6.5% over the same period. In raw terms, gold has surged over 1000%, while the S&P 500, even with reinvested dividends, has gained around 400%.
Think about that. The “useless” metal has more than doubled the returns of US stocks.”
Mega’s dispatch from England:- Something in the air
Well, well
Here in dear old Blighty we been mostly focused UK pollical circus. The totally brain dead PM is now suddenly looking like he is on his last political legs. It seems that he was letting a group of young Ukraine men stay rent free in some of his apartments he owns.
To recap, they took it apon themselves to set fire to said homes & the PMs private car!
Something must have upset them somewhat. That was last week & this week he decided to attack the leader of the REFORM party. Its a new political lead by a bloke called Nigel Farage.
With little more that an IPhone this guy has fought single handed against Euro-scum resulting in Blighty leaving the EEC. The present Labour government has done EVERYTHING it can to row back the decision.
The Tory party totally stabbed the people in the back by allowing a flood 3rd world types into the nation after saying they would not. The people reacted by throwing the Tory party out…….& voting in an handful of reform MPs.
In more normal times the Tory party would lick its wounds & wait its turn….sort of “Tag team” effort with the Labour party. You can pick the Blue team or Red Team but you getting mostly the same out come……………but something strange has happened BOTH parties are unpopular
Hence REFORM is topping the polls, if there was a genal election Reform might have enough votes to take power!……for the established parties this is Alien level horror!
This week the PM attacked Reform & the press pack did something unknown……….they turned on him with HARD hitting questions. The PM was left rudderless & clueless…….
Tonight Reform said they happy to take BITCOIN donations & Trump is sending a free speech crew to ensure “fair play”.
Something is in the air………….
Mike
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2025-05-30/luke-gromen-us-braces-capital-controls-global-trade-reset-begins
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2025-05-31/goldmans-case-pensions-buy-gold-not-bonds-6040-dead
RED ALERT:- MAJOR ATTACKS WITH IN RUSSIA!!!!!!!
Long range attacks have struck major Russian airforce & Navy bases, direct attack on Russian nuclear bombers over a thousand miles from border.
Mega’s take:- This is not US but Euro-nazi/city of London scum attempt at stopping Trump from getting the peace deals (Ukraine/Iran) he needs. If i was him i DEMAND intel on who was responsible & “Clip” them……he have to take action quickly if he wants any chance of dealing with Russia.
Mike
Ukraine sez they informed Trump in advance, Trump sez he had NO advanced warning……..someone is lying.
WW3 is on
well, well
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/06/02/christine-lagardes-master-plan-wrestle-supremacy-dollar/
Hi Ho Silver?
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2025-06-02/silver-surges-breaking-out-triangle-pattern-new-heights-2025
Gold may be girding for another run at $3500. At least the technical picture supports it. Geopolitics alas clouds the crystal ball. Although the fundamental driver of gold prices is neither trade nor kinetic war (it’s debt), those factors have been recent aggravators. Equities and gold have been taking turns in the spotlight, and any relief for equities is a detractor for gold and vice versa. Renewed monetary ease, real or threatened, would be needed to rekindle dollar depreciation sufficiently get both heading higher.
We see, i thought Gold would bonce after the drone attack
Methinks you were right … it did bounce, but from a lower level. Markets are on tenterhooks waiting for the next shoe to drop.
Expect it to rally more on the Russian response. Conversely, deescalation would rally equities instead. This is one thing I like about a stocks-gold mix (~3:1) … with this helter-skelter news flow, you don’t know which one will do what next, but with the debt and the threat of central bank monetization lurking in the background, the combo has been cranking out steady gains.
BEEING DISCUSED IN UK MSM:-
Dethroning the dollar as the world’s reserve currency would destabilise the global economy, Andrew Bailey has warned.
The Governor of the Bank of England issued the warning as investors flee the dollar and abandon investments in US government debt in fright over Donald Trump’s tariffs policies.
It has raised fears that the world’s largest economy could lose its status as the currency of choice in financial markets.
Speaking to MPs on the Treasury Select Committee, Mr Bailey said: “Frankly, I don’t think any of us should want to see that happen, because that would be quite a destabilising moment.
“I don’t see that happening at the moment, I think we have to watch it, but I don’t see that happening at the moment.”
The US has long-benefitted from what is known as its “exorbitant privilege”, as holding the world’s reserve currency gives it access to enormous financial flows.
If that comes into doubt, it could result in a funding crunch in the US, and undermine markets which have come to rely on the dollar.
Mr Bailey added: “The dollar has had [reserve currency status] ever since it took it over from us. That is also increasingly embedded in markets – if you think about the role US Treasuries perform as the safe asset in markets, and therefore as collateral, as security, it would take a lot to change that.”
But the Governor told the MPs that startling moves in markets may reflect over-optimistic investors cutting back their exposure to the US. That is a much smaller shift than abandoning the dollar altogether.
He said: “It does indicate that non-US investors are reassessing their view of the amount of US risk they want to take. Quite a few of those were probably overweight US risk, they had a very optimistic view of the US economy, not unreasonably, and are reassessing that.”
The pound has risen 11pc against the dollar to $1.35 since Mr Trump’s inauguration in January.
Mr Bailey also noted that the Trump administration has responded to the most “acute” crunches in markets in recent months, offering a 90-day reprieve on some of the worst tariffs and choosing not to seek to oust Jerome Powell, head of the Federal Reserve.
I don’t mean to single out Bailey – I’m sure his US counterpart would say the same thing – but his argument is about an inch deep. It’s a very establishment view.
Let’s peel back another layer of the onion skin. They want to fight the fall of the dollar as reserve currency. But if it were a stable circumstance, there would be no fall to fight. In other words, the dollar as reserve currency is already unstable. So the source of instability would have to go back a lot further than just yesterday.
What threatened the status of the USD as global reserve currency in the first place? The abuse of the “exorbitant privilege”. The US has milked it for all its worth and then some, first by debasing the dollar, and then by weaponizing it. Complaining about a problem while ignoring its cause is patently unconstructive, worthy of the Ostrich school of economics.
One more layer. What enabled the abuse of the dollar as global reserve currency? Making it global reserve currency! In short, the ultimate source of the instability was abandoning gold and trying to substitute fiat.
Now here we are, completing the circle, with the dollar fading and gold retaking its rightful place as the ultimate money. We are not moving in the direction of instability; we’re moving away from it. The establishment, ironically, is resisting a change towards stability in the name of opposing it.
So if Bailey, Powell & Co truly want stability, they should do the opposite of trying to maintain the status quo, and instead work towards an orderly glide path to reduce reliance on fiat reserve currencies in favor of gold.
Talk round the campfire is Trump is about to hit the BRITISH to pay 50% taxes on all steel/alloys from tomorrow. It was thought that the Limey would not face this because it had a “Deal” …….it seems not because no one knows for sure.
Mike
https://x.com/Megatron_ron/status/1929973503849062456?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
Mega’s reading:- I (Elon) f*ked up BIG time. I thought i could side from DNC/LIB/Tree hugger to RED NECK/MAGA & get sales for my Cybertrick going. In fact i pissed off the DNC types & the Red Necks just laughed at my truck.
Now Tesla brand has become some what toxic, sales in France have fallen 70% !!!!!
The Real hammer blow however is this:-
https://www.carscoops.com/2025/06/nissan-new-ev-replaces-leaf-with-longer-range-crossover/
Mike
I want to call readers’ attention to a couple of articles on the Daily Reckoning that cover recent geopolitical developments and do an especially good job of putting them in the proper perspective.
King makes the sobering point that in Ukraine’s attack America was as much a target as Russia. Sharp goes on to frame it jn the bigger picture with trade and debt.
Ukraine Targets Trump with a Propaganda Pearl Harbor
Gold Soars When Sh*t Hits the Fan
Megas reading on the Attacks:- Back Stab on Trump
If it had been Trump he would have “Handstand” in mins of the attack………..he didn’t. To my knowledge he has not made any comment. Thus i think this was Ukraine/City of London/Euro nazi attempt to F**k thing up.
Trump will be somewhat pissed by this……..& he will strike back.
Meantime in the Greater Geo-political way of things the march to a TRI Polar world carry’s on. Trump & co are now openly talking this up…….but their position is weak, can he deliver? This attack makes it look like he not running the show. He needs to “Bitch slap” soon & HARD.
Mike
Update:- Trump rings Putin
1. Trump RANG Putin
2. Trump sez Putin will have to take serious attack on those responsible.
Mega’s take-
1. Trump did NOT know
2. Trump IS pissed
3. Trump has had ALL his intel depts working flat out to fine WHO responsible.
4. Trump has green lighted Putin to act.
Aye, Mike. I doubt Trump knew either; King’s take that it was calculated to paint him into a corner seems plausible to me.
If I were in Trump’s shoes, all American military aid to Ukraine would cease like yesterday. OTOH maybe it’s a good thing I’m not in Trump’s shoes. I sure wouldn’t want to be.
Interesting
Russia has requested that the US & UK comment on the attacks each, no joint statement
Britain going under
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvWXhL32yZI
China leads
https://carnewschina.com/2025/06/05/how-chinese-ev-owners-are-profiting-from-powering-the-grid-with-v2g/
A BAD idea if the car has a normal Lithium battery…….but if the car had a Sodium ion battery then that’s different. Sodium Ion battery has a life span of 3-5000 cycles, that full charge discharge everyday for 10-15 years, perhaps longer.
mike
https://www.autoblog.com/news/china-sodium-ev-battery-shift
Some years ago a British firm got Sodium battery power up from 120 wh/kg to 175 wh/kg.
Todays VW ID3 wh/kg is 175 thus you could swap out the old LFP battery & go with this!
Mike
Attack update:- Russia recalling their ambassadors…..
Mega’s Dispatch from England:- Who said it was YOUR money
Rachel Reeves has granted herself “dangerous” new powers to direct where millions of savers’ pension cash is spent.
The Government’s Pensions Bill includes sweeping provisions that will allow the Chancellor to force pension funds to invest in private equity, debt and land in an attempt to boost the UK economy.
Details of the new legislation were published on Thursday.
The Government has insisted that savers’ interests will always be put first, with mandating powers only serving as a backstop to ensure investment in British assets.
However, Sir Steve Webb, a former pensions minister, said: “Legislating to allow governments to tell pension schemes how to invest is a very dangerous precedent.
SO IN OTHER WORDS NO ONE ELSE WILL INVEST/BUY THE DEBTS SO YOU F**KERS WILL AT GUN POINT!!!!!
Sodium ion power revolution
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/06/03/china-launches-worlds-first-grid-forming-sodium-ion-battery-storage-plant/
Not being a personality politics or celebrity gossip venue, Financology has been silent on the Trump-Musk drama playing out in the media. But being as this involves the world’s most powerful political figure and the world’s foremost industrialist, financial and economic ripples are inevitable.
Moreover, at front and center of the tiff is a financial and economic issue, the “Big Beautiful Bill” snaking its way through Congress. I’ve already opined that “big” and “beautiful” are a contradiction in terms when it comes to chunks of legislation, and Elon Musk had the temerity to agree with me. But more pointedly, not with Donald Trump. And very publicly. So while in terms of substance I’ve already taken Mr Musk’s side, it would be better for all concerned for these two to bury the hatchet. I think they will, if only because despite their starkly contrasting personalities, I think both have America’s best interests at heart. I’m not holding my breath, but hope Mr Trump will say something like let’s roll up our sleeves and see if we can find a way to slim down this Big Beastly Bill.
With the dark shadow of WWWIII looming ever larger over our troubled planet, America has more important business to tend to.