Those Stubborn Facts: White House Misinformation on the Debt Ceiling

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Biden, Congress, debt ceiling, federal budget, Kevin McCarthy, Those Stubborn Facts

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy “threatened to be the first one to default on the debt, which would throw us in a gigantic recession and beyond, unless he gets what he wants the budget.”

– President Biden, April 18, 2023

 

Times since 1978 alone that Congress has paired debt ceiling hikes with other legislation: 32

 

(Sources: “Remarks by President Biden on Actions to Help Families Access Care and Support Care Workers and Family Caregivers,” Speeches and Remarks, Briefing Room, April 18, 2023, Remarks by President Biden on Actions to Help Families Access Care and Support Care Workers and Family Caregivers | The White House and “US debt ceiling: A ‘clean’ increase is not the rule,” Reuters, May 1, 2023, US debt ceiling: A ‘clean’ increase is not the rule | Reuters)

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Those Stubborn Facts: Yes, There Really is a Biden Border Crisis

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Biden administration, Biden border crisis, border security, illegal aliens, Immigration, migrants, Open Borders, Those Stubborn Facts

Number of illegal southern border migrants released into the U.S. under President Biden: at least 2.021 million

Number of illegal southern border migrants that have evaded border agents under President Biden: 1.373 million

Total number of illegal southern border migrants that have entered the U.S. under President Biden: 3.394 million

 

(Source: “Biden’s Released at Least 2,020,522 Southwest Border Migrants. And probably a lot more – plus 1.3 million known ‘got-aways,” by Andrew R. Arthur, Center for Immigration Studies, April 17, 2023, https://cis.org/Arthur/Bidens-Released-Least-2020522-Southwest-Border-Migrants )

Those Stubborn Facts: Some Banking Crisis Basics

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banking crisis, banks, deposits, FDIC, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Federal Reserve, finance, interest rates, rate hikes, Signature Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, SVB, Those Stubborn Facts

U.S. banks’ unrealized losses as of year-end 2022: $1.7 trillion

U.S. banks’ total equity as of year-end 2022: $2.1 trillion

Share of U.S. banks’ $17 trillion worth of deposits not insured by the federal government: c. 40 percent

 

(Source: “U.S. Banks are sitting on $1.7 trillion in unrealized losses, research says. That’s not a problem—until it is,” by Will Daniel, Fortune, March 23, 2023, U.S. Banks have $1.7 trillion in unrealized losses | Fortune)

Those Stubborn Facts: Maybe It’s Not Systemic Racism?

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law enforcement, Memphis, police, police misconduct, police reform, policing, racism, systemic racism, Those Stubborn Facts, training, Tyre Nichols

Number of hours of training needed on average to become a U.S. police officer today: 652

 

Number of hours of training needed on average to receive a U.S. plumbing license today: 3,500

 

(Source: “US police receive less training than plumbers,” by Federica Cocco and Oliver Hawkins, Financial Times, February 2, 2023, US police receive less training than plumbers | Financial Times (ft.com) )

Those Stubborn Facts: Beijing’s CCP Virus Cover Up Continues

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CCP Virus, China, coronavirus, cover up, COVID 19, public health, Those Stubborn Facts, transparency, Wuhan virus, Zhejiang province

China’s central government official tally of new CCP Virus cases yesterday: 9,548

Zhejiang province government tally of new daily CCP Virus cases as of Tuesday: c. one million

 

(Source: “Explainer: Is China sharing enough Covid-19 information?” by Huizhong Wu and Annirudha Ghosal, Associated Press, January 6, 2023, EXPLAINER: Is China sharing enough COVID-19 information? | AP News)

 

Those Stubborn Facts: Who’s Fetishizing AR-15s?

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AR-15, assault weapons, crime, gun control, gun violence, murders, Pew Research Center, rifles, The New York Times, Those Stubborn Facts

“States and the federal government should…pass far tougher regulations on the gun industry, particularly through restrictions on the marketing of guns, which have helped supercharge the cult of the AR-15.”

– The New York Times, December 10, 2022

 

Share of U.S. guns in circulation that are “semiautomatic military-style rifles” like AR-15s: 6%

 

Share of U.S. gun-related murders due to rifles of all kinds, 2020*: 3%

*Latest available FBI data

 

“America’s Toxic Gun Culture,” The New York Times, December 10, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/10/opinion/america-gun-violence.html and “What the data says about gun deaths in the U.S.,” by John Gramlich, Pew Research Center, February 3, 2022, https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/02/03/what-the-data-says-about-gun-deaths-in-the-u-s/)

Those Stubborn Facts: NATO Chief Pushes Hopium on Members’ Defense Spending

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defense spending, national security, NATO, North Atlantic treaty Organization, Those Stubborn Facts

“NATO allies may decide to aim to spend more on defence than their current target of 2% of national output when they meet for their next summit in Vilnius in July 2023, the chief of the alliance said on Monday.”

– Reuters, November 21,2022

 

Number of NATO members that have met the target today: 8 of 30

Date the target was set: 2006

 

(“NATO allies may lift target to spend 2% of output on defence – Stoltenberg,” by While Europeans learn energy frugality, Reuters.com, November 21, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/nato-allies-may-lift-target-spend-2-output-defence-stoltenberg-2022-11-21/ and “Majority of NATO Nations Fail to Spend 2 Percent GDP Guideline for Defense,” by Jake Thomas, Newsweek, March 31,2022, Majority of NATO Nations Fail to Spend 2 Percent GDP Guideline for Defense (newsweek.com))

Those Stubborn Facts: The Digital Revolution in a Nutshell

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infotech, innovation, microchips, semiconductors, technology, Those Stubborn Facts

Number of transistors in a state-of-the-art computer chip, 1961: 4

Number of transistors in Nvidia’s latest graphics chip: 76 billion

(Source: “The ‘chip choke’ on China may breathe air into semiconductor industry,” by John Thornhill, Financial Times, September 29, 2022, The ‘chip choke’ on China may breathe air into semiconductor industry | Financial Times (ft.com))

Those Stubborn Facts: U.S. National Security Outsourced to China

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China, defense, Defense Department, national security, Pentagon, procurement, supply chain, Those Stubborn Facts

Number of Chinese entities in the U.S. Defense Department’s supply base, 2019: 655

Increase since 2012: “More than fivefold.”

 

(Source: “Pentagon Pushes Defense Companies to Limit Use of Chinese Supplies,” by Doug Cameron, The Wall Street Journal, September 18, 2022, Pentagon Pushes Defense Companies to Limit Use of Chinese Supplies – WSJ )

Those Stubborn Facts: The Biggest Bubble of Them All?

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bubbles, China, housing, property, real estate, Those Stubborn Facts

Number of people who could be housed in currently empty apartments in China: 90 million

Area of purchased but unbuilt properties in China: 500-600 million square meters:

Number of Manhattans this figure adds up to: 10

Estimated cost of finishing these projects: $300 billion

 

(Source: “Real estate will defeat Beijing, again,” by Pete Sweeney, Breaking Views, Reuters, July 21, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/breakingviews/real-estate-will-defeat-beijing-again-2022-07-21/)