The current release of the Chicago Fed National Activity Index indicates the CFNAI-MA3 decreased

Led by declines in production related indicators, the CFNAI moved down to -0.42 in March from -0.18 in February. The index’s three month moving average (CFNAI-MA3) decreased to -0.27 in March from -0.12 in February. March’s CFNAI-MA3 suggests that growth in national economic activity was somewhat below its historical trend. The economic growth reflected in this level of the CFNAI-MA3 suggests subdued inflationary pressure from economic activity over the coming year.”

FYI- “When the CFNAI-MA3 value moves below -0.70 following a period of economic expansion, there is an increasing likelihood that a recession has begun. Conversely, when the CFNAI-MA3 value moves above -0.70 following a period of economic contraction, there is an increasing likelihood that a recession has ended.”

Keep your eye on this index; we report it around the third week of every month. It has been declining for several months now. This doesn’t mean anything…yet, just a note of caution.

“Whatever the Ayatollah Wants”

The ayatollah knows that Mr. Obama wants an agreement with Iran so much that there’s almost no concession the President won’t make. So why not keep asking for more?

…. keep in mind that the talks began with the US and its European partners demanding that Iran dismantle its nuclear program. But to persuade the ayatollah to accept the recent “framework” accord, Mr. Obama has already conceded that Iran can keep enriching uranium, that it can maintain 5,060 centrifuges to do the enriching, that its enriched uranium stockpiles can stay inside Iran, that the once concealed facilities at Fordow and Arak can stay open (albeit in altered form) and that Iran can continue doing research on advanced centrifuges.

All of these concessions are contrary to previous US positions, and we’re no doubt missing a few. But none of that was enough for the ayatollah who quickly asserted two new deal breaking objections: immediate sanctions relief and no inspections under any circumstances of Iran’s military sites.

…..As for inspections, a senior commander in Iran’s revolutionary guard corps reiterated Sunday that all military sites are off limits. Iran’s news agency reported that General Hosein Salami, the guard’s deputy leader, said such inspections would be “selling out” to the enemy.

Iran will not become a paradise of spies. We will not roll out the red carpet for the enemy,” he said.

….These latest events reinforce a conclusion that the Iranian talks are heading toward a deal that confers Western blessing on Iran as a nuclear threshold state. Tehran will retain the facilities and means to develop a bomb at the moment of its choosing. The main question now is how many more concessions the ayatollah will squeeze from a US president he believes is desperate for a deal.”

~Review & Outlook in the Wall Street Journal 4/20/15

In my view, this is a serious error on the part of the president. I maintain that a nuclear armed Iran is a mortal threat to peace in the world. If they got’em, they will use ‘em.

Bill and Hillary

Excerpts from “Quid Pro Clinton” Wall Street Journal 4/24/2015

The New York Times reported Thursday on the foreign cash that flowed into the Clinton Foundation between 2009-2013 as subsidiaries of the Russian state nuclear agency Rosatom acquired control of a Canada based mining company called Uranium One. The story features the familiar Clinton touches: lucrative Kazakh mining concessions for the tycoon Frank Giustra, with Bill along as character reference; a half a million dollar a pop speech by the former President in Moscow for a Kremlin linked bank; $2.35 million in secret donations from one family foundation to another.

All the while Mrs. Clinton was serving in her capacity as Secretary of State on the US Cabinet committee that screens foreign investment for national security risks. The group approved the deal, despite critics who warned it would give the Russian government control over the world’s nuclear fuel-the same material Vladimir Putin is now selling to Iran. Oh, and don’t forget this was also amid the famous “reset” of relations with Mr Putin.

Mrs. Clinton’s campaign press secretary, Brian Fallon, claimed this was all merely coincidence and pointed to a right wing plot led by author Peter Schweizer, adding the allegations “lack a shred of evidence,” which is convenient given the that Mrs. Clinton might have destroyed some evidence by wiping her private email server.

This is how the Clinton’s conduct their politics and family business, to the extent these are separate enterprises. The Clinton Foundation is a nominal philanthropy that was really created as a vast fund-raising operation to promote Bill’s post presidential career and Hillary’s pre-presidential one.

Why on earth would they cash the checks?…the Clinton’s cashed the checks because they think they can write their own rules and get away with it. (Which they have done quite well for 30 years or so. RB)

…and now we learn that the foundation didn’t report the $2.35 million from former Uranium One chairman Ian Telfer’s family charity to support one of Mr. Giustra’s Clinton Foundation projects-on its website as promised. The foundation also says it will now have to restate its tax returns to account for the foreign donations it didn’t disclose.

All of this echoes the 1990’s, as does the Clinton method of defense, which is to deny, stonewall, assail and change the subject…this is the trick the Clintons have always used to evade responsibility for their quid pro quo mores. In Arkansas Governor Bill’s friends helped Hillary make an instant fortune in cattle futures. The couple then refused to disclose their income tax returns for the years in which they reported this windfall.”

The Clintons flourish in that hazy interface between legal and lawless. Their dealings always stink, but are rarely blatantly or provably (or traceably) corrupt. Consider this week’s news. Yes, tons of donor cash flowed to the Clinton Foundation at the same time Mrs. Clinton’s State Department was greenlighting deals helping those donors. But prove there was a quid pro quo! The Clintons dare you.”

~Kimberley A. Strassel , The Wall Street Journal 04/24/2015

It is beyond comprehension to me that this woman is the ONLY viable candidate the Democrats are offering up as a presidential candidate in 2016, that 60% of Democrats favor her. With all of the information known about the nefarious activities of the Clintons throughout the years, they should both be in jail and she should be denied the privilege of running for office. I am appalled at the state of our Republic and the depths to which we have sunk. The House of Representatives and the US Senate are run by career politicians who do not give a shit about the country or the people in it who elect them… no, instead they think “Steal what I can, stuff my pockets with as much money as I can, I am above the law and I know how to stay just this side of legal.”

Eric Snowden is relaxing (?) in Russia…Four Star General David Petraeus gets 2 years of probation and a $100,000.00 fine for providing information to his girlfriend who was writing a book with him. None of the information was revealed in the book and none of it was a threat to the security of the United States. The General is a patriot and led us to victory in the shit hole of the middle east. Just wrong, in my view.

Have a great weekend….

And God bless America!

Buy American made products whenever you can, it’s good for you, good for your friends and neighbors and good for our country.If you are hiring…try to hire a veteran…. they are loyal, disciplined, hardworking…and they deserve our support.

Remember these tidbits as the election cycle grinds on:

  • Fast & Furious-Americans killed by guns supplied to the drug cartels…by the Department of Justice-Eric Holder presiding. The president was clueless. No one held accountable
  • Benghazi: Four Americans killed in an assault described as the result of a viral video. This was proved to be a false narrative. This was in fact, a planned act of terror. The president was clueless. No one even knows where he was as this went down. No one held accountable
  • “At this point, what difference does it make?” Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State
  • The IRS targeting of conservative groups and individuals. No one held accountable, Lois Lerner is on paid vacation and has refused to testify. The president was clueless. No one held accountable
  • Hillary using a private server for correspondence during her term as Secretary of State against the orders of the president. She thought “it would be more convenient…” Though the records were due when she left office, they were not submitted, subpoenas were issued, which she ignored for two years. Finally, she released 30,000 of some 60,000 alleged emails then she deleted the rest of the emails and will NOT turn over the server for investigation.