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RFK Jr. Unloads Disturbing Vaccine Secrets On Tucker… And Surprises Everyone On Trump

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RFK Jr. Unloads Disturbing Vaccine Secrets On Tucker… And Surprises Everyone On Trump

Via VigilantFox.com,

It’s not every day an active HHS Secretary sits down for 90 minutes straight with Tucker Carlson.

But that’s exactly what happened, and Kennedy instantly seized Carlson’s attention with a chilling story of CDC corruption.

He revealed that the health agency buried a 1999 internal study led by researcher Thomas Verstraten, which showed an alarming 1135% increase in autism risk from the hepatitis B vaccine.

Kennedy said the researchers were “shocked” by the findings.

So what did they do? They covered it up, according to Kennedy.

“They got rid of all the older children essentially and just had younger children who are too young to be diagnosed [with autism].”

RFK Jr. then explained the real reason why your pediatrician will kick you out of their practice for refusing vaccines.

“There’s a published article out there now that says that 50% of revenues to most pediatricians come from vaccines.”

It’s all about the money. The higher the vaccination rate, the bigger the bonus.

“And that’s why your pediatrician, if you say I want to go slow on the vaccines… will throw you out of his practice because you’re now jeopardizing that bonus structure.”

To the claim that the vaccine–autism link has been “debunked,” Kennedy had a message for Anderson Cooper, Jake Tapper, and everyone who smugly insists on it.

“None of the vaccines given to children in the first six months of life have ever been studied for autism.”

Let that sink in.

He went further, revealing that the CDC actually did find a link when they studied the DTaP vaccine.

But they dismissed it. Kennedy said they claimed it “didn’t count” because the data came from VAERS—the very system they use to track vaccine injuries.

So when the evidence pointed to harm, they simply claimed their own system wasn’t reliable enough and took no steps to fix it.

The vaccine corruption didn’t end there. Kennedy attested that the CDC killed off a vaccine injury reporting system that actually worked—because it worked too well.

It showed that 1 in 37 vaccines caused an injury.

Tucker was stunned.

“Of all vaccines?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Kennedy confirmed.

RFK Jr. explained that the CDC funded a study led by researcher Ross Lazarus. It compared a sophisticated machine-counting system to VAERS.

What did they find? VAERS was failing to catch over 99% of vaccine injuries.

The new system also revealed that 2.6% of all vaccinations resulted in an injury.

So what did the CDC do? They shut it down in 2010. And they’re still using VAERS today—even though it’s a completely inadequate system.

But Kennedy didn’t stop at old vaccine scandals. He also broke down Pfizer’s own COVID vaccine trial data. That trial showed a 23% higher death rate in the vaccinated group.

  • Pfizer gave 21,720 people the vaccine and 21,728 the placebo.

  • One vaccinated person died of COVID. Two placebo recipients died. They used this tiny difference to claim “100% effective” based on relative risk reduction.

  • But in absolute terms, it took 22,000 vaccinations to save one life.

  • Over six months, 21 vaccinated participants died of all causes, compared to 17 in the placebo group—a 23.5% higher death rate.

And then there’s vaccine spokesperson Paul Offit, often seen on CNN and other mainstream networks.

Kennedy shared an infuriating story about how he literally “voted himself rich” on the rotavirus vaccine.

While serving on the CDC’s ACIP committee, Offit voted to add rotavirus vaccination to the childhood schedule—even as he was developing his own competing vaccine. He guaranteed demand for his product.

The first approved rotavirus vaccine, RotaShield, was yanked from the market for causing dangerous intussusception. Offit’s vaccine, RotaTeq, eventually replaced it.

He and his partners later sold their rights to Merck for $186 million. As RFK Jr. said, Offit literally “voted himself rich.”

When Carlson mentioned Fauci, Kennedy revealed how Fauci funded research that helped scientists hide evidence of lab-made viruses.

The technique, called “seamless ligation,” allowed researchers to engineer viruses in a lab without leaving telltale genetic fingerprints.

RFK Jr. explained:

“One of his fundees, Ralph Baric, from the University of North Carolina, developed a technique called the seamless ligation technique, which is a technique for hiding the laboratory origins of a manipulated virus.”

“… normally if there’s a virus manipulated, researchers can look at the DNA sequences and they can say this thing was created in a lab. Ralph Baric had developed a technique that he called the no-see technique and its technical name was seamless ligation, and it was a way of hiding evidence of human tampering.”

He called it the exact opposite of what real public health work should be. Carlson cut in, saying, “That’s what you would do if you’re creating viruses for biological warfare.”

The conversation shifted to Trump, leading to one of the biggest highlights of the entire interview.

First, Kennedy explained that Trump chose his cabinet in an unorthodox way: he wanted to see three clips of each candidate performing on TV before considering them for the job.

“One of the things with President Trump is that he really knows how to pick talent… For every one of the positions that he picked, he wanted to see three clips of them performing on TV. He’s very conscious of the fact that these people are going to be out selling his program to the public,” Kennedy said.

That’s when Kennedy ended the interview with a bang, sharing his genuine thoughts about Trump for three straight minutes. It was one of the standout moments of the entire conversation.

If you’re on the fence about Trump, listen to Kennedy here. It might just change how you see him.

“I had him pegged as a narcissist, when narcissists are incapable of empathy. And he’s one of the most empathetic people that I’ve met,” Kennedy said.

“He’s immensely curious, inquisitive, and immensely knowledgeable. He’s encyclopedic in certain areas that you wouldn’t expect,” he continued.

Kennedy added that Trump genuinely cares about soldiers who go to war, citing how Trump “always talks about the casualties on both sides” of the Russia–Ukraine conflict.

“Whether it’s vaccines or Medicaid or Medicare, he’s always thinking about how this impacts the little guy. And the Democrats have him pegged as a guy who’s sort of sitting in the Cabinet meeting talking about how can we make billionaires richer. He’s the opposite of that. He’s a genuine populist,” Kennedy said.

Here’s the clip. Trust me, watching this is better than reading it.

There’s so much more in this conversation, and it might change the way you think about vaccines forever. For the full picture, watch the entire interview below.

Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/01/2025 – 15:00

Elon Musk’s xAI Raises $10B As Trump Threatens To Unleash DOGE On Him

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Elon Musk’s xAI Raises $10B As Trump Threatens To Unleash DOGE On Him

Authored by Amin Haqshanas via CoinTelegraph.com,

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence firm xAI secured $10 billion in fresh capital, doubling down on its challenge to OpenAI as the race to dominate the AI landscape intensifies. The funds were evenly split between secured debt and strategic equity investments.

The influx gives xAI more resources to expand its Memphis-based Colossus supercomputer and train its Grok chatbot, CNBC reported Tuesday, citing Morgan Stanley.

The funding round was reportedly oversubscribed, with major investors vying for stakes in Musk’s AI vision.

Musk’s AI push comes as American rivals race ahead. OpenAI closed a $40 billion raise earlier this year at a staggering $300 billion valuation, while Anthropic secured fresh backing that pushed its value beyond $60 billion.

In March, Musk sold his social media platform X to xAI, integrating Grok directly into the platform. The deal valued xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion, deducting $12 billion of debt from the $45 billion valuation. He originally bought X, formerly Twitter, for about $44 billion in April 2022.

Source: NIK

Musk has called Grok a “maximally truth-seeking” AI that is also “anti-woke,” in a bid to set it apart from its rivals.

Musk’s feud with Trump flares up again

The recent raise comes as Musk’s feud with US President Donald Trump has reignited.

On Tuesday, Trump lashed out at Musk on Truth Social, claiming he owes his success to government subsidies and suggesting the federal Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) should investigate Musk’s businesses to cut costs.

“No more Rocket launches, Satellites, or Electric Car Production, and our Country would save a FORTUNE. Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard, look at this? BIG MONEY TO BE SAVED!!!” Trump wrote.

Musk fired back on X, declaring, “I am literally saying CUT IT ALL. Now,” distancing himself from reliance on federal support. Their spat over government spending has rattled markets before, with Tesla losing $150 billion in value during a clash in June.

Source: Elon Musk

The renewed hostilities come as Musk has ramped up his political commentary, warning lawmakers who supported the recent spending bill of potential primary challenges and calling for a new party to counter what he sees as runaway government excess.

Lummis pushes for crypto tax relief

Meanwhile, Senator Cynthia Lummis has introduced an amendment to Trump’s tax and spending bill aimed at ending what she calls “unfair tax treatment” for crypto users.

The proposal would waive taxes on digital asset transactions under $300, with a $5,000 annual cap, and delay taxes on crypto earned through mining, staking or airdrops until the assets are sold. It would also apply the 30-day wash sale rule to crypto, limiting quick tax-loss strategies.

Earlier, the Senate rejected a Democrat-sponsored amendment that sought to ban government officials and their families from owning or promoting cryptocurrencies, including memecoins and NFTs, for up to a year after leaving office.

Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/01/2025 – 14:20

Takeover Begins: Robots Set To Outnumber Humans At Amazon Warehouses

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Takeover Begins: Robots Set To Outnumber Humans At Amazon Warehouses

Amazon hasn’t set a public date for fully replacing warehouse workers with robots, but all indicators suggest a gradual transition is well underway, with significant workforce reductions likely, alongside productivity gains driven by automation and AI through the 2030s.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon, the nation’s second-largest private employer in the U.S., is quickly approaching a new milestone in warehouse automation: “There will soon be as many robots as humans.” This equates to over a million robots. 

Roughly 75% of Amazon’s deliveries are now assisted by robotic systems, which perform tasks such as picking, sorting, packaging, and moving items. The rapid integration of robots, such as the advanced Vulcan, marks a significant step toward full automation for fulfillment centers. 

“They’re one step closer to that realization of the full integration of robotics,” said Rueben Scriven, research manager at Interact Analysis, a robotics consulting firm.

The onboarding of automation has slowed Amazon’s hiring. The average number of employees per facility has dropped to a 16-year low, and Amazon plans to reduce its total workforce in the coming years. 

Meanwhile, the number of packages that Amazon ships per employee has soared from 175 in 2015 to approximately 3,870 in recent months, indicating that automation has significantly supercharged the company’s productivity gains. 

Amazon Chief Executive Andy Jassy said recently that AI will be integrated at fulfillment centers “to improve inventory placement, demand forecasting, and the efficiency of our robots.”

“We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs,” Jassy said in a memo to employees last month. “It’s hard to know exactly where this nets out over time, but in the next few years, we expect that this will reduce our total corporate workforce.”

All signs suggest Amazon has reached its employment peak.

To all the Amazon workers pushing to unionize—remember, the robots are coming for your jobs. This trend is accelerating and will persist through the 2030s. For a clearer picture of how many jobs AI will displace, see this 2023 Goldman report. 

Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/01/2025 – 14:00

Noem Accuses Anti-ICE App Developer Of Obstructing Justice; Leavitt Blasts CNN For “Promoting” It

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Noem Accuses Anti-ICE App Developer Of Obstructing Justice; Leavitt Blasts CNN For “Promoting” It

Authored by Luis Cornelio via Headline USA,

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Monday that “ICEBlock,” an app designed to alert individuals of immigration enforcement operations, appeared to constitute obstruction of justice. 

“This sure looks like obstruction of justice,” Noem wrote on X, responding to a CNN segment about the controversial app.

She also warned that the app threatens the safety of ICE agents by putting a target on their backs. 

“Our brave ICE law enforcement face a 500% increase in assaults against them,” she said.

“If you obstruct or assault our law enforcement, we will hunt you down and you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” 

Noem’s comments followed a CNN story on tech developer Joshua Aaron, who created ICEBlock to push back against President Donald Trump’s ICE raids across the country. 

ICEBlock works by encouraging users to report suspected ICE sightings and broadcasts alerts to others nearby.

The app now has more than 20,000 users. 

“When I saw what was happening in this country, I wanted to do something to fight back,” Aaron told CNN, before comparing ICE raids to operations similar of Nazi Germany. “We’re literally watching history repeat itself.” 

According to Aaron, the app does not collect personal data and allows users to report ICE sightings anonymously. 

“We don’t want anybody’s device ID, IP address, location,” Aaron said.

“We don’t want anything being discoverable. And so, this is 100% anonymous and free for anybody who wants to use it.” 

During Monday afternoon’s White House press briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt ripped CNN for what had seemed to her like “unacceptable” behavior by “a major network” in “promot[ing]” the app…

“…surely it sounds like this would be an incitement of further violence against our ICE officers. As you know — as you stated, there has been a 500% increase in violence against ICE agents, law enforcement oficcers across the country who are just simply trying to do their job and remove public safety threats from our communities. And that’s something we, as Americans, including journalists at CNN, who live in many of these cities where illegal aliens are hiding and were let in from the previous administration, should be very grateful for. So, we haven’t seen the clip. We’ll take a look at it, but certainly it’s unacceptable that a major network would promote such an app that is encouraging violence against law enforcement officers who are trying to keep our country safe.”

Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/01/2025 – 13:40

Attorneys Push For Class Action In Birthright Citizenship Case After Supreme Court Ruling

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Attorneys Push For Class Action In Birthright Citizenship Case After Supreme Court Ruling

Authored by Sam Dorman via The Epoch Times,

Attorneys are urging a federal judge in Maryland to use an alternative legal mechanism for granting a sweeping block on President Donald Trump’s birthright citizenship order after the Supreme Court ruled against the use of nationwide injunctions.

A conference on June 30 marked the first set of public arguments in which attorneys and a judge attempted to wrestle with the implications of the Supreme Court’s decision just three days prior. Although the Supreme Court said nationwide injunctions were likely inconsistent with judges’ authority, it allowed plaintiffs like the ones in Maryland to pursue broad relief through class actions.

Class actions generally entail judges allowing a plaintiff to represent a larger group of people—otherwise known as a class—and seek relief, such as injunctions, for that class. Quickly after the Supreme Court’s June 27 opinion, attorneys for immigrant organizations and pregnant women asked the federal court in Maryland to recognize a class of people that was made up of people who would be ineligible for birthright citizenship as a consequence of Trump’s order.

During the June 30 conference, U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman repeatedly asked the administration whether it thought it could deport recently born babies of illegal immigrant parents. Justice Department attorney Brad Rosenberg said it was his understanding that the government couldn’t do that until 30 days after the Supreme Court’s decision.

That’s because Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who penned the majority opinion, said that she was halting the lower court injunctions on the president’s birthright order but would still grant a 30-day delay for the most important section to take effect.

Rosenberg told Boardman that he was very confident in his understanding of the 30-day limit on deportations, but she required him to submit something in writing the following day. How the government responds, she said, will bear on how she proceeds with another potential block.

Granting that request could raise additional questions about the Supreme Court’s decision and how plaintiffs in other cases can seek to block the administration’s policies. Rosenberg laid out several potential issues with the judge certifying the class plaintiffs had requested.

He also referenced Justice Samuel Alito’s concurring opinion, which was joined by Justice Clarence Thomas and directed courts to “scrupulous[ly]” adhere to the federal rules around class certification. It also warned that universal injunctions would “return from the grave” if judges refused to abide by those safeguards.

William Powell, one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys, told Boardman that Alito’s opinion was joined by only one other justice. Boardman could grant relief for the proposed class without first certifying it, Powell suggested. He pointed to the Supreme Court’s recent decision to tentatively block Trump’s deportations under the Alien Enemies Act.

Even though a district court had not certified a class of potential deportees, a majority of the Supreme Court appeared to block deportations for that putative class. That decision saw a critical dissent from Alito, who was joined by Thomas then as well.

At one point on June 30, Rosenberg argued that Boardman lacked jurisdiction to effectively replace her prior nationwide injunction with another block. That’s because the case had already been transferred to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which had jurisdiction over the substance of her initial injunction. Boardman appeared unpersuaded, ordering expedited briefing and saying she was converting the plaintiffs’ request for a temporary restraining order into one for a preliminary injunction, which is more permanent.

There appeared to be some disagreement over what exactly the Supreme Court did in its June 27 decision. Barrett’s opinion temporarily halted the section of Trump’s order that establishes a policy of departments and agencies not issuing documents that recognize citizenship for certain people, including children whose parents were both illegal immigrants.

Another aspect of her opinion allowed the executive branch to follow Trump’s order to the extent that they would develop and issue public guidance on the government’s plan for implementation. That appeared to be a reference to Section 3 of Trump’s order, which directs agencies to issue guidance, among other things.

Powell expressed concern about a portion of that section that directs the secretary of state, attorney general, secretary of homeland security, and commissioner of social security to ensure their policies were consistent with the order. That portion, combined with a section expressing Trump’s view about the limitations of birthright citizenship, might lead to some kind of adverse enforcement for people like the plaintiffs, Powell suggested.

This case—known as CASA Inc. v. Donald Trump—is just one of several that resulted in nationwide injunctions on Trump’s policy.

The Supreme Court’s decision on June 27 did not say whether Trump’s policy was unconstitutional but instead focused on the legality of nationwide injunctions. It also left some wiggle room for lower courts to adjust their orders while not making it entirely clear whether injunctions in cases brought by state governments would lose their nationwide scope altogether.

Boardman asked both sides on June 30 how one of those nationwide injunctions, which was issued by a judge in Massachusetts, would impact the plaintiffs in Maryland. Rosenberg told her that injunction may end up being narrowed. Powell similarly indicated the injunction could be narrowed and that the plaintiffs should receive immediate relief.

Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/01/2025 – 13:00

Circle Applies For US Trust Bank Charter To Manage Its USDC Reserve

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Circle Applies For US Trust Bank Charter To Manage Its USDC Reserve

Authored by Stephen Katte via CoinTelegraph.com,

Stablecoin issuer Circle has applied to establish a national trust bank in the United States that, among other duties, would oversee the firm’s USDC reserve on behalf of its US issuer. 

If the application is approved by the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Circle’s First National Digital Currency Bank would be authorized to operate as a federally regulated trust institution, Circle said in a statement on Monday.

Circles Digital Bank also hopes to strengthen the infrastructure that “supports the issuance and circulation” of USDC and offer digital asset custody services to institutional customers, the stablecoin issuer added. 

Source: Jeremy Allaire

National Trust Banks can’t accept cash deposits or issue loans. However, they can offer custodial services and operate nationally under the oversight of the OCC, rather than having to apply for individual state-based money transmitter licenses or specific digital currency licenses, according to law firm Dave Wright Tremaine. 

GENIUS Act compliance 

Circle said a federally regulated trust charter would also help it meet requirements under the proposed GENIUS Act, which passed the US Senate on June 17 and moved to the House of Representatives, where it will face another vote before possibly becoming law. 

Circle co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire said Circle is taking “proactive steps to further strengthen our USDC infrastructure” and “align with emerging US regulation for the issuance and operation of dollar-denominated payment stablecoins.” 

National Trust Bank applications to the OCC are subject to a 30-day comment period, and the regulator usually decides to approve or reject within 120 days after receipt of a complete application. 

Other crypto firms also eye bank charters

Circle isn’t the only crypto firm hoping to create a national trust bank under the oversight of the OCC. 

Eleanor Terrett, the host of the Crypto in America podcast, said in an X post on Monday that there are several other crypto firms, including the digital currency wing of financial services giant Fidelity, that are applying for a national bank charter license from the OCC.

Circle has been considering a bank charter since at least 2022 and was also named in The Wall Street Journal report on April 21 as one of several crypto firms considering applying for a bank charter or license.

Anchorage Trust Company became the first crypto firm to receive a license from the OCC in January 2021, converting into Anchorage Digital Bank. 

Circles’ stock trades flat

Circle Internet Group (CRCL) shares have traded flat in the last trading session, rising 0.48% to $181, Google Finance data shows. In after-hours trading, the stock dropped 1.30% to $178. 

Circle’s share price was flat during the last trading session. 

After going public, Circle stock made a strong entry into the market on June 5, climbing 167% during its first trading session on the New York Stock Exchange. 

Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/01/2025 – 12:20

Senate Passes Trump’s $3.3 Trillion Tax And Spending Bill

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Senate Passes Trump’s $3.3 Trillion Tax And Spending Bill

Update (1207ET): The Senate has passed the GOP’s tax & spending cuts bill by a vote of 51-50. 

It now heads back to the House, where it will first go to a Conference Committee and then the full house. 

Speaker Mike Johnson says he thinks it will be finished by July 4. 

*  *  *

After more than 21 hours of continuous voting, late-night negotiations, and a rare floor appearance by Vice President J.D. Vance, Senate Republicans remained mired in division early Tuesday over President Donald J. Trump’s $3.3 trillion tax and spending proposal, raising fresh doubts about the survival of his signature legislative priority.

John Thune walks to the Senate Chamber at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on June 30.Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg

At the center of the impasse is Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota, who has struggled to unite a fractured GOP conference around the sprawling bill. dubbed by Trump as the “One Big Beautiful Bill” – which includes sweeping tax cuts, a $5 trillion debt ceiling increase, significant Medicaid reductions, and a rollback of clean energy subsidies.

Currently, eight major Republican holdouts remain opposed or undecided. With only a razor-thin margin for defections, Thune can afford to lose just three votes. Senators Rand Paul of Kentucky and Thom Tillis of North Carolina have declared their opposition, and Maine’s Susan Collins is leaning no. That leaves Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — a perennial swing vote — as the potential deciding factor. Thune and Senate Finance Chair Mike Crapo (R-ID) spent the early morning hours huddling with Murkowski, offering compromises and tweaks to the bill in hopes of flipping her vote.

Susan Collins speaks with members of the media during a vote-a-rama at the US Capitol on June 30.Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg

“I think we’re going to get there,” Trump told reporters as he departed the White House Tuesday morning. “It’s tough. We’re trying to bring it down, bring it down so it’s really good for the country.”

But that optimism was not yet matched on the Senate floor, where votes on dozens of amendments continued into a second day. A visibly weary Thune said shortly after 5 a.m., “We’re getting to the end here,” though it remained unclear whether he had secured the votes.

Both Thune and Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) insist there’s a deal to pass the bill, but we shall see… 

Tensions Boil Over on Medicaid, SNAP, and Debt Ceiling

Murkowski’s objections stem largely from the bill’s steep cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which could hit Alaska’s vulnerable populations particularly hard. Efforts to carve out protections for the state were dealt a blow when Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled key provisions in violation of the Byrd Rule, which restricts what can be included in budget reconciliation bills.

Negotiators scrambled to rewrite the language. A compromise on delaying SNAP cuts based on Alaska’s progress in improving administrative error rates appeared to gain traction. But language aimed at providing Alaska with an enhanced Medicaid funding match had not yet cleared MacDonough’s scrutiny by early Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Paul has proposed replacing the $5 trillion debt ceiling hike with a far smaller $500 billion increase — a move he argues would preserve leverage for deeper cuts in a follow-up reconciliation bill. But most Republicans see the idea as a nonstarter. “I don’t want anything,” Paul said when asked if he could be persuaded to support the package in exchange for concessions.

A Late-Night Drama on the Floor

Just before dawn, Murkowski was seen shaking her head repeatedly during an intense discussion with Thune, Crapo, and fellow Alaskan Sen. Dan Sullivan, Punchbowl News reports. At one point, she and Thune left the chamber to confer privately in his office. Though Thune called it “just chatting,” it was clear that GOP leaders were pulling out all the stops to secure her vote.

The ongoing drama frustrated even Democrats. “There’s still no text,” one exasperated Democratic senator told The Hill. “Have you seen what’s going on, on the floor, I’ve never seen anything like that,” the lawmaker continued. Meanwhile Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) accused Republicans of “slow-walking” the bill to buy time for internal negotiations. “They’ve made a lot of promises, contradictory promises to different parts of their caucus,” Schumer said on MSNBC.

Amid the floor chaos, senators did pass a bipartisan amendment, 99 to 1, to strike language in the bill that would have barred states from regulating artificial intelligence for a decade in a blow to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). The language was removed over concerns about consumer and child safety raised by Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA).

Other proposed amendments, however, failed. Collins’ bid to double the bill’s rural hospital relief fund to $50 billion – funded by restoring the top marginal tax rate for ultra-high earners, was rejected by a wide margin. A conservative amendment to roll back Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act has yet to receive a vote but threatens to split the conference further: if it fails, hardliners like Ron Johnson (R-WI), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Rick Scott (R-FL) may walk away. If it passes, moderates like Murkowski and Collins could defect.

Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, equated Collins’ amendment to “a band aid on an amputation.” Her amendment would have increased the top tax rate on individuals earning more than $25 million in a year to 39.6%. –Bloomberg

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), joined by Murkowski, has been circulating an amendment to soften the bill’s rollback of clean energy incentives. The Ernst amendment would delay the expiration of wind and solar credits, and remove a new excise tax on projects using components from China and other foreign adversaries. Fiscal hawks oppose the change, arguing it waters down promised savings.

And then we go back to the House…

Even if the Senate manages to pass the bill, trouble awaits in the House. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is under pressure from both moderates and Freedom Caucus hardliners, many of whom are dissatisfied with the Senate’s deeper Medicaid cuts and smaller spending offsets.

Part of the calculus is to strip language that could threaten the bill’s odds in the House, which is planning to vote on the Senate measure later this week. The House’s own version of the bill passed by a single vote.

The Senate’s deeper Medicaid cuts — which caused Tillis to defect — will put pressure on swing-district Republicans, while Freedom Caucus hardliners are angry that the Senate bill would create larger deficits than the House-passed measure. -Bloomberg

“This bill doesn’t deliver what we promised,” Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY) said, citing insufficient relief on the state and local tax (SALT) deduction. LaLota supported the House version but has vowed to oppose the Senate’s.

Behind the scenes, Johnson has been urging Senate Republicans to use a “wraparound” amendment – a final catch-all tweak to the bill, to restore some House provisions, including provider tax language and SNAP reforms. But expectations of a major rewrite at the eleventh hour are slim.

“I have prevailed upon my Senate colleagues to please, please, please put it as close to the House product as possible,” Johnson said Monday. But few on Capitol Hill took that hope seriously.

In short, it’s still a shit show even if Thune and Mullin claim otherwise… for now. 

*  *  *

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Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/01/2025 – 12:08

Alligator Alcatraz Live: Trump Tours New Illegal Alien Deportation Camp In Florida Swamp

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Alligator Alcatraz Live: Trump Tours New Illegal Alien Deportation Camp In Florida Swamp

President Donald Trump arrived at a newly constructed migrant detention center in the Florida Everglades, referred to by some as “Alligator Alcatraz.” 

Alligator Alcatraz is a detention, processing, and deportation center for illegal aliens. With 5,000 beds, it is designed to support the federal government’s efforts to deport illegals, particularly those with criminal records. 

The administration has signaled plans to more than double the number of detention beds, with an eventual goal of exceeding 100,000. Florida’s newest facility is being framed as critical infrastructure to help meet a daily target of 3,000 arrests by ICE agents nationwide.

“You may think Alligator Alcatraz is a bit much. You may think ICE raids at Home Depots are harsh. You make think sending gang bangers to a top security Salvadoran prison seems cruel. You may think mass deportations is a mean policy. But each leads to thousands and eventually millions of self deportations. When illegals know there are real consequences for breaking into America, many, perhaps a majority will conclude it’s no longer worth the risk and return home — and that’s exactly the point,” conservative media host Charlie Kirk wrote on X. 

The president is currently touring the site.

Last weekend, Democrats lined the street near Alligator Alcatraz, infuriated that the Trump administration was constructing a deportation facility in the middle of the Everglades to house some of the most dangerous criminal illegal aliens. Apparently, resolving national security threats and making the Homeland safer is a major problem for the unhinged liberals.

Watch Trump Live at Alligator Alcatraz

“We are working on cost-effective and innovative ways to deliver on the American people’s mandate for mass deportations,” the Department of Homeland Security recently stated, adding, “Alligator Alcatraz will expand facilities and bed space in just days, thanks to our partnership with Florida.” 

Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/01/2025 – 12:00

“Party’s Over”: Auto Sales Sputter After Tariff-Fueled Surge

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“Party’s Over”: Auto Sales Sputter After Tariff-Fueled Surge

The auto sales slowdown that emerged in June is largely a hangover from the spring surge, when consumers rushed to dealerships nationwide to beat tariff hikes sparked by President Trump’s escalating trade war and new tariffs on trading partners. With affordability still worsening and economic uncertainty elevated, industry researcher J.D. Power now expects sales to remain subdued through the second half of the year. 

Source: Bloomberg 

Bloomberg cited a new report from J.D. Power that showed consumers rushed to buy new vehicles before prices climbed, pushing Q2 sales up 2.5% year-over-year. But that momentum quickly fizzled with the annualized sales rate dropping to 15 million units in June — the slowest in 12 months — down from April’s 17.6 million pace.

Source: Bloomberg 

“The party is over,” Jonathan Smoke, chief economist for researcher Cox Automotive, said in an interview, adding, “It’s slowing. It’s because of affordability getting worse and forcing what we think will be production declines to keep supply in balance.”

Smoke expects the annualized monthly rate of auto sales to hover around 15 million in the second half of the year, down from 16.3 million during the first six months. Last year, Americans purchased around 16 million cars and light trucks. In the analyst’s view, this indicates an apparent slowdown, primarily driven by worsening affordability.

Cox data shows the average cost of a new car is rising, up 1% in June from a year ago to $48,799 — a 28% increase compared to 2019 prices. 

“Given the impact of tariffs, prices are likely to start rising at a much faster rate,” Charlie Chesbrough, senior economist for Cox, recently noted. “Higher vehicle prices are coming to the new vehicle market.”

Meanwhile, the Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index is beginning to rise again, indicating that used cars are increasingly being chosen as substitutes for new vehicles amid ongoing concerns about affordability. It also points to a tightening supply in the used vehicle market.

There is some good news: Goldman’s Jan Hatzius wrote in a note to clients that he expects the Federal Reserve to begin cutting interest rates in September, with three 25-basis-point reductions anticipated by the end of the year.

As for this summer, affordability woes persist, and prices stay high—toxic combination for the automobile market.  

Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/01/2025 – 11:45

B-2 Or Not B-2? That Is The Dollar Question

survivalnomics
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B-2 Or Not B-2? That Is The Dollar Question

By Michael Every of Rabobank

Equity markets at new record highs continue to think 2025 is more of the same-old, same-old. Bond markets whispering about a series of Fed rate cuts do too. Yet the US dollar just had its worst H1 — down around 10% — in over five decades. 

Those in markets who know economic history recall this was when the gold-backed-dollar Bretton Woods system was about to collapse under the Triffin Paradox demand for offshore dollars earned via a swelling trade deficit, with a fiscal deficit led by hot war in Vietnam, Cold War in general, and demands for more social spending. The Yom Kippur War in 1973 and the Iranian Revolution in 1979 then helped western inflation became entrenched and its politics often went haywire. 

In June 1970, TIME magazine wrote ‘Money: Anger at Dollar Imperialists’, noting:

“The men who manage Europe’s money are increasingly annoyed with the US. They are upset by America’s old habit of spending, lending and investing more abroad than it takes in from foreign sources… The BIS annual report added that it is “hard to discern how the US authorities expect, by their own actions, to correct the balance of payments.” … Robert Triffin… [says] the US is unconcerned about its deficits because it has discovered that it can get away with a kind of “monetary imperialism.” The position of the dollar as the standard of value against which all other currencies are measured enables the US to escape the consequences that other countries suffer if they consistently overspend abroad. In any other country, a parade of deficits comparable to those the US has run would force devaluation of the currency. Devaluation of the dollar, the currency that more than any other has been considered as good as gold, would bring such chaos that it has been considered unthinkable.” 

No, history doesn’t repeat itself. Yes, it can rhyme.

On the fiscal front, are there are any serious global fiscal rules anymore even before we hit the next crisis? Italy will include a €13.5bn bridge to Sicily as NATO spending, suggesting the resolution to get broad defense from under 2% to 5% of GDP by 2035 will at least blow up deficits. UK PM Starmer is failing to win over party rebels opposed to welfare cuts. Trump just told Republicans to stop cutting spending and ‘go for growth’ to raise revenue “10 times”. Even Xinhua has reported the creation of a new “decision-making and deliberative coordination body” at the CCP’s Central Committee – does that lean towards more China stimulus? 

On the monetary front, Trump took his attacks on Fed Chair Powell to a new level in visually showing he’d like Fed Funds between 0.25% – 1.75% as Treasury Secretary Bessent said he can’t fund down the curve because of where yields sit, against whispers of zero-coupon bonds.

The ECB used its policy strategy review to underline that geopolitics, digitalisation, AI, demography, the environment, and changes in the international financial system all suggest inflation will be more volatile, with larger target deviations from its 2% CPI target in both directions. Yet while it’s prepared to take “appropriately forceful or persistent monetary policy action in response to large, sustained deviations of inflation from the target in either direction,” it flagged longer-term refi operations, QE, negative rates and forward guidance, all on the easing side – what’s the tightening equivalent? Lastly, there was market chatter that the RBA should drop its 2.5% CPI mid-point target: but only to cut, allowing housing to get even more expensive. 

In FX, all is in flux. Many countries that are not set up to see higher exchange rates are getting them anyway. There is deepening discussion of the strategic role that Bitcoin and dollar stablecoins will play within the new US and international financial architecture – and if a weaker dollar is now a US gameplan after markets rudely rejected what higher tariffs were supposed to achieve, which was a stronger greenback. There is equivalent talk of gold’s future in many circles, and in some of both Europe and China’s fresh attempt to internationalise their currencies… with almost zero realpolitik power in the former case, and a closed capital account and vast trade surplus in the latter. Anybody thinking this is markets business as usual frankly looks like they are wearing 1970’s flares.

In politics, not only are centrists failing and populists rising, but the latter are being outflanked. A farther right alternative to the UK Reform Party now leading opinion polls, the Advance UK Party, has just been launched by key ex-members. Openly socialist Democrat Zohran Mamdani could easily be the next Mayor of New York City. Elon Musk just posted: “If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day. Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a VOICE.” A libertarian one that votes for austerity – really?

In geopolitics, we luckily just avoided another Middle East oil shock involving Israel and Iran. On that, one hopes for the best, and Israel is reported to be in advanced talks with Syria over officially ending hostilities running since 1948 and hopes remain for a ceasefire in Gaza, which President Trump reportedly wants to be permanent. He and PM Netanyahu will meet in the White House on Monday. However, we still have a hot war in Ukraine, with huge forces arrayed around Sumy, with clear risks of other global flash points.

One key difference from the 1970s is that protectionism is already back with a bang. The EU has reportedly accepted it’s going to get stuck with a 10% US universal tariff and now wants to find UK-style quota workarounds for 25% and 50% sectoral tariffs: following Canada’s humiliating climbdown on its digital services tax the day before, that’s another victory for the US brute force, which hasn’t changed since the 1970s. Japan was also called “spoiled” by Trump and criticised for not buying its rice – but it may buy US oil; and a trade deal with India is reported as close (again) – expect a flurry of activity over the next week, it seems. The US is already reshaping the global economy, despite markets saying TACO, and it will continue to do so.

For its part, the EU has promised greater market access for Ukrainian farm goods in return for aligning farm standards; as France and Germany combined to destroy an EU ethical supply chain law, says Politico.

Moreover, China warned it: “is pleased to see parties resolving their economic and trade differences with the US through equal consultation. At the same time, we urge all parties to stand on the side of fairness and justice, to be on the right side of history, and to firmly uphold international economic and trade rules and the multilateral trading system. China firmly opposes any party making a deal that sacrifices China’s interests in exchange for so-called tariff reductions. Should that occur, China will not accept it and will respond resolutely to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.” In short, expect supply-chain friction ahead – and for years.

We also see more economic statecraft: Australia just moved to set up a domestic fuel reserve rather than exporting it all and then suffering local shortages.

So, yes, the dollar just had its worst H1 since 1973. But what happened to it after that? Not in H2, but structurally. It transmogrified into an even more powerful fiat currency than it was on gold. Given the Achilles heels everyone is now displaying, can a reverse change in the dollar occur – especially when it alone has mighty military muscles (for now)?

Look beyond all of the above to note that the dollar question is perhaps not “To be or not to be?”, but “B-2 or not B-2?” 

Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/01/2025 – 10:15

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