Muttering is a bad look but it’s unavoidable right now. These are the weeks when I grumble even more at the news because I’m so deep in the weeds on the Trump crypto scam project that I can’t stop for a minute. Obsessiveness thy name is Trump. I want to talk about South Park. Trump’s beef with Jerome Powell. The international tide (finally) turning in Gaza. Trump threatening to restrict funds for a new stadium unless the Commanders reclaim their racist name. Columbia’s capitulation. Trump suing New York City over sanctuary city rights.
Alas, duty calls.
That’s the thing about a Trump news cycle. It never stops. He’s like a shark roaming endlessly up and down the shoreline looking to terrorize his next victim. And so we patrol the beaches, fly helicopters overhead, issue warnings to beachgoers and track the shark’s activity. (Can you tell I live on an island?) Point being, there’s a body buried in the dunes and I’m determined to uncover it while everyone looks for the shark. (Can you tell I live on an island where bodies are buried in the dunes?)
I’m nearly there and quite exhausted by it all. And here’s the thing about corruption on this scale—sometimes the body is right there in front of us. It’s not buried at all. The most brazen heists can happen in broad daylight and that’s what is happening here. The problem is that it isn’t sexy or scintillating. It’s not the Epstein files or a high profile lawsuit. It’s not even a shark attack. Gnawing away in the back of my mind are two competing voices.
Why isn’t this everywhere? Will anyone even care?
Some of this is steeped in the natural insecurities of a writer. It wouldn’t be the first time I poured my heart and soul into a story that no one gave a shit about. But there’s also the realization that this falls under the “what the fuck am I supposed to do about this” category. The news is overwhelming enough so forcing people to wade through a dense economic piece only to emerge angrier, perhaps more confused and quite possibly more defeated is a big ask. But I’m asking anyway.
I need your help.
I’m going to send out a notification when it’s finally released. It might be on the MeidasTouch Network for maximum impact as the brothers there have been incredibly supportive of UNFTR. Either way, I’m begging your indulgence to take the time to review it and share it. The Trump administration is barreling forward with a complete reordering of the global financial system and the Trump family is placing itself at the center of it. So even if it falls under the “WTF” category, I promise it will be worth the investment of time and frustration. Stay tuned.
Other things I’m obsessing over…
Trump touting his trade deal with Japan as an example of his tough negotiating skills. Meanwhile in Japan…they celebrated the fact that their new 15% tariffs are half of what Canada and Mexico have to pay. Meanwhile in Detroit…U.S. automakers are upset because it gives Japanese manufacturers a price advantage over domestic manufacturers who rely on Mexico and Canada for parts. The real story? Prior to this deal the U.S. placed a 2.5% tariff on cars from Japan. Everyone is losing the plot here. Whether Detroit wins, Canada loses or Japan breaks even, the price of everything is going up.
It almost doesn’t matter how bad this might be. The original Spinal Tap played such a huge role in my youth and became a cultural touchstone for decades. Out of respect for this troupe, I’m all in.
KLTW goes to none other than Franifio—Francesca Fiorentini of The Bitchuation Room. Longtime listeners of UNFTR know we love us some Francesca, which is why her rise to prominence in left circles is so satisfying. Francesca is a fan and show favorite as she frequently appears on outlets like The Majority Report and Zeteo, and she emerged from a spat with TYT as the adult in the room.
She recently announced that she’s spending more time building out video essays, which is a great thing for all of us. Now for the KLTW. There was plenty of criticism being heaped upon AOC for her “No” vote on MGT’s proposed amendment to halt funds to Israel. Unf*ckers know I’m an AOC devotee (and borderline apologist at times) and even I’m utterly disappointed with her on this one. But Francesca said it better so here you go…
Income inequality is often spoken about but still widely misunderstood. There’s a reason why the vast majority of Americans are barely getting by while the top income earners continue to pull ahead. We’re entering a new phase of capitalism, however, and it stands to affect even some of those who were previously untouched by economic downturns. There is trouble brewing that threatens the preeminence of the U.S. Dollar as the cheap and easy money era comes to a grinding halt. Few of the old tools in the Fed and Treasury toolkit will be as effective as they once were, and the Trump administration seems determined to build a private shadow central banking system that will make matters worse for everyone but the uber-wealthy.
Here’s a snippet from the pod:
Max: Sometimes the government stands on both sides of money flows. They can print money and buy it back. They can lend money to banks and investment banks, then allow them to purchase treasuries with higher returns than the interest on the loans, thereby creating a financial arbitrage. After the housing market collapse, the government purchased toxic assets from banks so they didn’t have to absorb massive losses due to their irresponsible behavior.
You and I don’t get to do these things, but they do. So as we went hog wild sending gobs of cash into the system from Nixon forward, institutions as middle men—from banks to big companies—stood in the middle gobbling it up and putting it to use. And as the performance of these banks and companies increased as a result of easy money, they loosened the compensation and regulatory standards to incentivize executives through stock performance as we covered in our buyback essay.
But here’s the thing. There comes a point when money doesn’t do anything more for someone than cover the basics. That’s true for people and it’s true for corporate entities.
This is the main Conference Board chart referenced in this week’s episode on inequality. It supports our longstanding thesis that the U.S. economy is imploding rather than exploding as in prior recessions. The Coincident LEI measures where economic factors are at the moment and the blue LEI line is a composite of indicators that show where the economy is headed. Typically these move closely together with the LEI dipping right before the economy tumbles. (The LEI has historically been the best indicator of recessions.) What it’s capturing now is the slow and steady crumbling of the economy from the bottom up. Guess what’s included as a “healthy” metric that’s propping the numbers up? You guessed it…the stock market. But we know better, don’t we? All together now: “The market is NOT the economy.”
Headlines
If You Want To Read Epstein Stuff and Feel Smart and Less Smarmy…
It’s all Epstein all the time right now so you have options for this. It’s important not to let the more salacious side of this story obscure the horrors of human sex trafficking. So if you want to plug into the story without feeling like a voyeur, I give you Chris Hedges.
From the article:
“This class of ruling parasites was parodied in the first-century satirical novel ‘Satyricon’ by Gaius Petronius Arbiter, written during the reigns of Caligula, Claudius, and Nero. As in Satyricon, Epstein’s circle was dominated by pseudointellectuals, pretentious buffoons, grifters, con artists, petty criminals, the insatiable rich and the sexually depraved. Epstein and his inner circle routinely engaged in sexual perversions of Petronian proportions, as The Miami Herald investigative reporter Julie Brown, whose dogged reporting was largely responsible for reopening the federal investigation in Epstein and Maxwell, documents in her book ‘Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story.’”
ICE Funding Is Higher Than Previously Expected. Like, a Lot Higher.
Stephen Semler is my new best research friend. He reminds me a lot of Matt Stoller in the way he parses figures and connects them to policy dots. In this piece he pulls apart the appropriations to ICE to reveal a seemingly unlimited pile of cash to be used to Stephen Miller’s 1 million deportations per year.
From the article:
“The actual total is likely higher than $75 billion. While that’s the amount specifically designated for ICE in the legislative text, there are sections of the reconciliation bill that allow the Trump administration to direct billions more to the agency if it wants to. These sections effectively form a slush fund for Department of Homeland Security (DHS) leadership. ”
Republicans are determined to buck the historical trend of midterm bloodbaths for incumbent parties. This Politico article highlights the ways in which Trump is micromanaging the GOP and literally calling every shot. And it touches on their strategy to hold the House at all costs.
From the article:
“White House officials say the 2024 campaign will serve as the playbook: a focus on targeting nontraditional Republican constituencies including working-class voters of various backgrounds and younger age demographics, like Gen-Z – groups that helped send Trump back to the White House. Even though Trump is not on the ballot, the White House plans to underscore the need for his party to control Congress by announcing a midterm legislative agenda.”
“This week on Economic Update, Professor Wolff discusses the following about Mamdani’s victory in the New York City Democratic mayoral race: (1) how it happened, who voted for him and why; (2) the varieties of socialism and the long history of ‘municipal socialism’ in the US and overseas, (3) possible socialist programs for a Mamdani mayoral administration; and (4) tax revenue possibilities to pay for socialist programs.”
Manny and 99 make fun of me for pronouncing Dr. Wolff’s name as “Woof.” Some Strong Island habits die hard.
Book Love
Despite the publication date of 1965, I can’t think of a more formative book from my teenage years. I wonder if current generations will feel the same.
“In the searing pages of this classic autobiography, originally published in 1965, Malcolm X, the Muslim leader, firebrand, and anti-integrationist, tells the extraordinary story of his life and the growth of the Black Muslim movement to veteran writer and journalist Alex Haley. In a unique collaboration, Haley worked with Malcolm X for nearly two years, interviewing, listening to, and understanding the most controversial leader of his time.”
“I asked ChatGPT how much more the median household income would be if income inequality was still the same as in 1980. According to ChatGPT, a $75,000 income in 2025 would be $120,000 to $130,000 if income inequality had stayed at the 1980 level, the year before Reagan took office.”
Maybe AI knows a thing or two. Then again there’s Grok, so…
UNFTR YouTube Highlight
Donald Trump is implementing the Project 2025 playbook faster than anyone anticipated, and old guard Democrats have no idea how to combat him. But there’s another endgame coming into focus that will shock even astute political observers. This “Max Unfiltered” episode plants the seeds for upcoming episodes that examine how Trump and his allies are planning to loot the Treasury and control the world’s money supply. It turns out they aren’t just intent on destroying the system to remain in power—they’re setting themselves up to BE the power. Full disclosure: it’s a bit of a rant, but it’s the foundation for more to come.
The host of ‘The Bitchuation Room’ has found power in comedy—making politics more ‘sustainable’ for her while informing an ever-growing audience.
Progressive Organization of the Week: Indivisible.
“Indivisible was founded in response to Trump’s election - but we know that Trump is a symptom of a sick democracy, not its cause. We face two fundamental problems: first, our democracy was rigged from the start in favor of the white and wealthy. Second, in the last few decades, an alliance of white nationalists and the ultra-rich have been actively working to further undermine democracy and cement their hold on power permanently. That’s how we ended up with Trump. We have to build a democracy that reflects a broad, multiracial ‘we the people,’ one that works for all of us and is sustained by all of us. Only then will we be able to achieve a progressive vision for our future.”
.jpg?upscale=true&width=1120&upscale=true&name=NOW%20OR%20NEVER%20(1).jpg)
