by Michael Snyder
The Economic Collapse Blog
The Democrats got what they wanted, but in the process they have created deep political fissures that will never heal. Now that President Trump has been impeached by the House, he will eventually be acquitted by the Senate, and so his political career will survive. But far more importantly, it has gotten to the point where nobody can no longer deny that America is at war with itself. The left hates Donald Trump and his supporters with an intense, passionate, visceral hatred, and Trump and his supporters feel the same way about the left. After this, nobody is going to be able to unite this country. Instead, we are headed for a future of anger, frustration, desperate acts and civil conflict. The mainstream media and many of our top political leaders have been stirring the pot for years, and the stage is set for an unprecedented explosion of animosity as we approach the upcoming election next November.
Brexit will be done by the end of next month, when trade negotiations with the EU will begin. Importantly, Britain’s negotiating position has strengthened immeasurably, and the new government is not afraid to use it.
When it comes to Wall Street’s mindset, the thinking is that it’s legal if you can get away with it. That mindset seems to have captured the Federal Reserve Bank of New York which secretly pumped trillions of dollars into insolvent banks in violation of its statutory mandate during the financial crisis; is alleged to have fired a bank examiner for refusing to alter her negative examination of Goldman Sachs; and failed to investigate a litany of crimes to which it was made aware. (See U.S. Senate Tries Public Shaming of New York Fed President Dudley.)
Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz released a video on his Twitter feed Wednesday night that castigates a massive $1.4 trillion spending bill before the Senate Thursday.
Hundreds of college professors, referring to themselves as “American historians,” have signed a letter begging the U.S. House of Representatives to impeach President Donald Trump, claiming that the president has “violated his oath” and citing his “brazen contempt” for the government. The signees even suggest that Alexander Hamilton himself would disagree with the president’s “private life” as a reason for impeachment.
The global fixed income market has reached such a manic state that junk bond yields now trade at a much lower rate than where investment-grade debt once stood. Investment-grade corporate debt yields were close to 6% prior to the Great Recession. However, Twitter just issued $700 million of eight-year bonds at a yield of just 3.875%. That is an insanely low rate even for investment-grade corporate debt. But, the credit rating on these bonds is BB+, which by the way, happens to be in the junk category.
The Continuum (the systematic downtrend in long-term Treasury yields) has for decades given the Fed the green light on inflation. Sometimes it runs hot (as per the red arrows) and sometimes it runs cold. One year ago people were confused about why a declining stock market was not influencing Fed chief Powell to reverse his relatively hawkish tone.
The Biggest Share-Buyback Queens: When Will They Run Out of Juice?
International Man: In recent years, record numbers of Americans are renouncing their citizenship. What is going on here?
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is considering withholding the Democrats’ articles of impeachment — passed without a single Republican vote — from the U.S. Senate in an attempt to pressure the Republican-controlled Senate to cave to Democratic demands on how to conduct a “fair” impeachment trial. But constitutional lawyer and conservative commentator Mark Levin says such an act would be “brazen[ly]” unconstitutional and would provide Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell with a golden opportunity.
The global pig population is being absolutely decimated by a disease that does not have a cure. African Swine Fever, also commonly referred to as “Pig Ebola”, is raging out of control in dozens of countries all over the globe. It has a mortality rate of close to 100 percent, and once it hits an area even the pigs that are able to survive the disease are killed off in order to prevent it from spreading elsewhere. Unfortunately, African Swine Fever just continues to pop up in more locations. As you will see below, it is now sweeping through the heavily-populated nation of Indonesia. Nearly 270 million people live in Indonesia, and they are heavily dependent on pork as a source of protein. But of course the same thing could be said about almost all of the countries where African Swine Fever is currently raging.
As we approach the end of 2019, yields are rising around the world as the Cass Freight Shipping Index tumbles for the 12th straight month.
The second edition of 
The so-called democratic field of presidential candidates is a farce. It’s not real, it’s simply intended to deceive and distract. And it’s working! If sleepy creepy Joe Biden wins the nomination he will be removed prior to the convention, ostensibly for health reasons. Then we’ll see one of three people take his place. Hillary, Andy Cuomo or Tim Walz (Minnesota’s Governor). My money is on Tim. He an outsider insider. He’s lefty enough for the core of the party. Perhaps he can hold Minnesota in the election and pick-up a couple of mid-western states that were claimed by Trump in 2020. Whatever happens, rest assured that none of the current crop of candidates will be the actual nominee. Like impeachment, it’s all just a side show to the main event.
The left and its Democrats in power are in bad shape.