News, Rumors and Opinions Wednesday PM 12-18-19
KTFA:
Samson: For the first time ... the space force of a new branch in the US military
18th December, 2019
The US Senate approved, by an overwhelming majority, a $ 738 billion defense policy bill that would allow the creation of a "space force" proposed by President Donald Trump, and would give Defense Department employees a 12-week paid family leave.
The bill is due to be sent to the White House, and Trump has pledged to adopt it as quickly as possible.
The Republican-controlled Senate approved by 86 votes to only eight, according to Reuters.
Last week, the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives passed the bill by 377 votes to 48.
Trump said on Twitter last week that he would sign the bill once it was passed, stressing that it included all of his priorities.
The bill included a 3.1 percent increase in military wages, for the first time paid leave for all federal workers in the Department of Defense, and the creation of a space force that was the first new branch in the US military in more than 60 years. LINK
Iobey777: So, just how does Trump plan on financing this little project? Hmmm? (smile)
Samson: America allocates 71 billion dollars to its military operations in four countries, including Iraq
08:55 - 18/12/2019
The US Congress approved, in a Senate vote, the Defense Budget Act for the fiscal year 2020, which amounted to 738 billion dollars, while the amount of 71 billion dollars was devoted to its military operations in four countries, including Iraq. By 86 votes to 8, members of the Senate approved the bill, which is located in more than three thousand pages, which also gives, for the first time, parental leave to all Ministry employees.
This budget law provides for the creation of a "space force" that will become the sixth branch of the US armed forces, after land, sea, air, marines, and coast guard weapons. This force will be led by the Chief of Space Operations, who will be under the authority of the Minister of the Air Force. The law did not allocate any additional funding at this time because the "space leadership" that Trump wants to create is still under construction.
According to the law, US military spending during the fiscal year 2020 that started in October is $ 738 billion, an increase of 3% compared to last year. This figure covers the Pentagon’s core budget ($ 635 billion) and expenditures that the Energy Department has budgeted to maintain and fuel the US nuclear arsenal ($ 23.1 billion), in addition to $ 71.5 billion earmarked for military operations going on outside the country (Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Somalia). Likewise, the budget law does not prevent the White House master from using the funds allocated to the Ministry of Defense to finance the construction of a border wall with Mexico, a project that is one of Trump's primary electoral promises in his previous election campaign in 2016.
The budget also includes a 3.1% increase in salaries Members of the armed forces, the highest increase they receive in a decade. The law also imposed sanctions on the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, with the aim of "ending its deadly attacks against the Syrian people and supporting the transition to a Syrian government that respects the laws, human rights and peaceful coexistence with its neighbors."
The law, in particular, gave the US Treasury Department six months to determine whether the Central Bank of Syria was involved in money laundering operations in order to impose sanctions on it if it was proven that. LINK
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Samson: Moody's: Chinese corporate debt the "biggest threat" to the global economy
18th December, 2019
An analyst at Moody's considered that China's corporate debt represented "the greatest risk" to the global economy
Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's credit rating agency, said in remarks carried by US CNBC yesterday that Chinese companies ’debt is the biggest risk to the global economy now, with the fact that it is growing very quickly
"Zandi" believes that many Chinese companies struggle to deal with the country's economic slowdown, due to trade crises and other factors
And Fitch reported last week that private companies in China had defaulted on their debt this year
"Fitch" noted that 4.9 percent of Chinese private companies had defaulted on their debts denominated in local currency (yuan) in the first 11 months of this year, which is a record high, compared to 0.6 percent in 2014
China has experienced the lowest economic growth rate in more than 27 years, amid trade friction with the United States and declining global demand with slowing growth in a number of major and developing economies LINK
China's $32 Trillion Debt Bubble Could be The Black Swan to Crash The Global Economy
The Atlantis Report: Premiered Dec 15, 2019
China's $32 Trillion Debt Bubble Could be The Black Swan to Crash The Global Economy
The Chinese economic downturn comes as no surprise to global analysts. As outlooks are adjusted accordingly, it isn't the country's profit margins that are causing concern, but the decades of spending on unfinished building projects that have created a deluge of bad debt for China.
China was a (domestic and international) debt-free country in 1975. Up till ten years ago, China's economy relied exceptionally little on debt. But China lost its debt hindrance in late 2008 when the global financial crisis erupted.
With growth slowing sharply and 20 million people losing their jobs overnight, the government unleashed a giant stimulus that was powered almost totally by bank loans. The debt genie was out of the bottle -- and it has been challenging since then for China to stuff it back in.
Opening the credit floodgates saved the Chinese economy after the global financial crisis. The government cannot disengage the country off this debt dependence. China’s total debt — corporate, household, and government — grew to over 300% of its GDP in the first quarter of 2019.
China’s debt-to-GDP had bubbled to more than 300 percent from 160 percent a decade ago. It is causing many analysts, including Chinese officials, to warn of a financial-sector debt bubble that’s waiting to burst. Debt scratches at a level 6 with deeper grooves at a level 7.
China is now very much past the tipping point where the debt simply no longer can be ignored.
The cost of servicing the debt simply diverts from almost everything else. As China tries to move away from export-led growth to domestic-led growth. Debt levels in China quickly soared vertiginously a few years ago as the banks extended record quantities of credit to drive growth, which led to the second world economy undertaking deleveraging efforts, or the process of reducing debt. China's economy relies on too much debt. And the enormous boom in credit risks, potentially leading to a new financial crisis.
The country's debt has grown expeditiously since the global financial crisis. China's economy is based on a shadow banking and Ponzi scheme. China has 64,000,000 empty apartments. China's corporate debt is another huge problem too. Companies in China owe more than the economies of the UK and Netherlands combined, and that could have repercussions for the world economy. The Chinese Debt mountain has escalated from Virtually zero in 2000 to over 35 Trillion USD in 2018.
That means each Chinese owes $20,304 when china's minimum wage is $1.60 per hour. Over 80% of china's debt is held by the National and State Chinese Banks. And they know full well that as a large chunk is in Western Business, then it is un-repayable.
So the only resolve is massive Global financial meltdown or Debt forgiveness. And that is the exact horse that the Chinese and US are riding.
Deutsche Bank has recently climbed aboard. In that Central Banks, many of which are over 60% Leveraged; will have no alternative if wanting to avoid Global Fiscal meltdown on Fiat currency that Debt Forgiveness and Printing even more Paper are the only tools left with most economies at 2.5% growth or lower.
You can not taper a Ponzi scheme in that Compound interest repayment is unsustainable in low growth economies. US Bond market is now inverted.
The 2008 financial collapse has never been dealt with. And now all that Toxic debt with its new mates is falling out the cupboard it was hurriedly stuffed in all over again.
For the full transcript go to https://financearmageddon.blogspot.com
Keiser Report 1476
Dec 16, 2019
Markets! Finance! Scandal! Keiser Report is a no holds barred look at the shocking scandals behind the global financial headlines.
From the collusion between Wall Street and Capitol Hill to the latest banking crime wave, from bogus government economic statistics to rigged stock markets, nothing escapes the eye of Max Keiser, a former stockbroker, inventor of the virtual specialist technology and co-founder of the Hollywood Stock Exchange.
With the help of Keiser's co-host, Stacy Herbert, and guests from around the world, Keiser Report tells you what is really going on in the global economy.