New Trier Township HS District 203’s Superintendent Paul Sally is set to retire next year and he can count on lifetime pension benefits of nearly $8 million. When he does retire, he’ll join the ranks of the Teachers Retirement System’s top pensioners.
We’ve written for years that Illinois’ pension systems are out-of-whack with what taxpayers can afford. It’s a two-class system where those in government get guaranteed lifetime pensions and other protected benefits while those in the private sector, who get no such guarantees and protections, are forced to pay for them.
But it’s the superintendent pensions that help bring attention to just how problematic public pensions are. Sally has done nothing wrong, of course. He’s simply benefitting from the system that’s been put in place by lawmakers. The true blame falls on the politicians who created the pension system, those who continuously sweetened benefits over the decades, and today’s lawmakers who refuse reforms.
With no reforms expected in the near term, all we can do is highlight the results of Illinois’ two-class system.
Paul Sally’s exact pension will be unknown until he officially retires, but based on FOIA data and his current pensionable salary of nearly $350,000, Wirepoints estimates his starting pension will be around $255,000 a year. If Sally lives to 82 – his approximate life expectancy according to Social Security actuarial tables – he’ll end up collecting about $8 million in total benefits. By then, his pension will have grown to $476,000 per year – thanks to the automatic 3% compounded cost-of-living increase he’ll automatically get each year.
And if he lives past 82, Sally can expect to collect over $8, $9, or even $10 million in total benefits.
Sally is already one of the highest paid superintendents in the state. His pensionable earnings are currently the state’s 9th-highest at $346,609.
Now, to be fair to New Trier, Paul Sally’s high salary is only a burden to the residents of the New Trier school district. 94% of the district’s operating costs are funded directly by the property taxes of New Trier residents.
But that’s not the case when it comes to pension costs. Teacher pensions are paid for by state income taxes, so when Paul Sally gets a multimillion lifetime pension, all Illinois taxpayers have to chip in, from Carbondale to Rockford and from Quincy to Danville.
Sally’s big pension isn’t just a one-off. There are many superintendents across the state retiring in their 50’s and collecting six-figure sums each year. The state’s top TRS pensioners, meanwhile, can all expect to collect more than $9 million in benefits.
Some of the “retired” superintendents on the list above have gone on to work other big-paying jobs out of state, all the while drawing an Illinois pension. Yet others figure out how to double dip right here in Illinois, working interim superintendent jobs while still getting their full pensions.
The sad reality is that superintendent pensions are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Illinois’ pension problems. There are more than 1 million government workers and retirees who benefit from pensions, and the costs are simply too much to bear for ordinary Illinoisans.
For those looking to do a deep dive into just how extreme Illinois’ pension situation is, go to:
Rafah Mass Casualty Strike Does Not Cross Biden’s ‘Red Line’
Update(1813ET): Who could have seen this coming?
The White House on Tuesday indicated an Israeli strike that killed dozens of Palestinians in Rafah did not cross a “red line” that would lead to a change in U.S. policy.
Multiple administration officials in press briefings Tuesday described the images out of Rafah as “heartbreaking,” “tragic” and “horrific.” But there was no sign of an impending policy change as a result, because it was an airstrike and not a major ground operation. —The Hill
Does anyone believe this administration after for months talking out of both sides of its mouth? On the one hand it seeks to present itself as ‘tough’ on Israel, withholding a single ammo/weapons shipment (in a largely symbolic move), but on the other can’t bring itself to condemn a strike which resulted in an outright civilian massacre which included women and children being incinerated as they slept in a refugee tent encampment.
And we are told that the Israelis will ‘investigate’ themselves…
“We still don’t believe that a major ground operation in Rafah is warranted. We still don’t want to see the Israelis, as we say, smash into Rafah with large units over large pieces of territory. We still believe that, and we haven’t seen that at this point,” White House spokesman John Kirby told reporters Tuesday afternoon.
Reporter: We’re seeing tanks in Rafah, we’ve seen strikes kill civilians including children, for an American seeing their tax $ go to this, can you explain how this isn’t a major military operation?
Kirby: I am not the IDF spokesman and this is not Tel Aviv
“As a result of this strike on Sunday, I have no policy changes to speak to,” he added in reference to the attack which killed 45 Palestinians. “It just happened. The Israelis are going to investigate it. We’re going to be taking great interest in what they find in that investigation. And we’ll see where it goes from there.” Sure…
* * *
Israeli tanks have reached the heart of Rafah overnight amid continual heavy bombardment and shelling. Local eyewitnesses say they’ve reached a roundabout in the center of the city which forms a key landmark.
Images and footages to emerge Tuesday have confirmed the advance of tank columns and IDF infantry deep into Rafah, which has sent thousands more displaced Palestinians fleeing from the Western half of the city, where the most intense fighting is happening.
Additionally BBC has observed of IDF tanks that overnight “they also seized control of the highest hilltop along the Gaza-Egypt border after reported gun battles with Hamas-led fighters.”
Airstrikes have continued to increase in intensity on the Western outskirts, especially on the al-Faluja area which lies west of Jabalia camp.
Following the Sunday bombing of a refugee tent camp in a designated safe zone which reportedly killed 45 people, there are emerging reports of another catastrophic air raid:
The air raid targeted al-Mawasi in western Rafah, an area where tents have been set up to house displaced Palestinians. It is also a designated humanitarian area to which Israeli authorities told Palestinians to flee.
“Among them are 13 females were killed. Israeli forces targeted another makeshift tent [area] where most of the people were women and children,” Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said, reporting from Deir el-Balah.
Pressure out of Europe in particular is growing, amid ongoing EU discussions over possible sanctions against Israel and after last week’s ICJ (World Court) call for immediate ceasefire, but so far the Netanyahu government is defiantly pushing forward its anti-Hamas operation.
Hamas has issued a statement meanwhile, as tanks plunge deeper into Rafah, calling on the UN Security Council to take “practical and immediate measures” to halt the invasion of Rafah city.
The statement said that the southernmost major city in Gaza “is being subjected to indiscriminate barbaric Zionist bombing, affecting homes and tents of displaced people in various parts of the city.”
“The UN Security Council is required to fulfill its legal and moral responsibilities in the face of the criminal Zionist entity’s disregard for the decision of the International Court of Justice, which ordered an immediate halt to the aggression against the city,” the Hamas statement added.
Exclusive footage from Al Jazeera shows Israeli occupation tanks advancing further into the west of Rafah city.
The Israeli occupation intends to fully occupy the Philadelphi Axis with Egypt, effectively encircling the Strip and implementing disastrous restrictions. pic.twitter.com/6rgaIOJ8XK
This comes a day after the White House appeared to justify Sunday’s Israeli attack on the refugee encampment. A Biden national security spokesperson told CNN on Monday, “The devastating images following the IDF strike in Rafah last night that killed dozens of innocent Palestinians are heartbreaking.”
“Israel has a right to go after Hamas, and we understand this strike killed two senior Hamas terrorists who are responsible for attacks against Israeli civilians,” the statement said. Axios has since reported:
The Biden administration is still assessing whether an Israeli strike that killed at least 45 displaced Palestinians at a tent camp in Rafah on Sunday is a violation of President Biden’s “red line,” two U.S. officials told Axios.
So far the administration has stalled some ammo shipments, even while approving more massive defense aid packages and funding for Israel, in a largely symbolic move meant more for deflecting criticisms from Progressive Democrats.
…that is an addition of almost $500 billion since earnings last week.
And as NVDA soared…
Source: Bloomberg
…the major indices tumbled from Friday’s cash market close. The Dow is the biggest loser, followed by Small Caps. Nasdaq tried desperately to hold on to a green close while the S&P faded. The ubiquitous last minute ramp made things look a little better on the day…
NOTE – yesterday – while cash markets were closed, the algos seemed to forget and panic-bid futs into the early close.
“What I think this sets up for in the medium- to long-term is a price-action that looks more like either a grinding move higher but also one too where we have actual conditions to crash-down,” says Nomura’s Charlie McElligott. He notes that investors’ long exposure has been rebuild to such a degree that it’s creating actual downside hedge demand.
With US elections also entering their hot phase soon, it’s worth noting that VIX futures are already reacting with some sensitivity and rather early to this topic.
NVDA was not the only thing rising today though – oil prices surged back above $80 (WTI), Gold jumped back above $2360, Bitcoin spiked back above $70,500 overnight (before fading on Mt.Gox moves), the dollar ripped higher, and US Treasury yields soared after two auctions and some stronger than expected macro data (home prices at record highs and conference board confidence, and inflation expectations, rising).
We do note two things – Dallas Fed Manufacturing tumbled today more than expected and while the headline confidence data picked up at The Conference Board, the lowest income cohort saw confidence plunged to pandemic lows…
Source: Bloomberg
Treasury yields were up across the board with the long-end underperforming. Selling was pretty constant from the US cash equity open…
Source: Bloomberg
That steepened the yield curve significantly…
Source: Bloomberg
Interestingly (given the steepening and short-end outperformance), rate-cut expectations (hawkishly) fell significantly on the day…
Source: Bloomberg
The dollar followed yields higher…
Source: Bloomberg
Gold managed to hold gains despite the dollar strength…
Source: Bloomberg
After 10 straight days of net ETF inflows, Bitcoin extended gains overnight, back above $70,000. However, moves in Mt.Gox-related wallets prompted selling in anticipation of selling pressure to come…
Corporate greed is not causing inflation, despite the claims of many on the political left who failed to understand the very basics of economic supply and demand.
“If you take a look at what people have, they have the money to spend. It angers them and angers me that you have to spend more. It’s like 20% less for the same price. That’s corporate greed. That’s corporate greed. And we have got to deal with it. And that’s what I’m working on.” – President Biden via CNN
Yes, prices have certainly gone up due to inflation. However, that wasn’t the fault of corporations. The surge in inflation directly resulted from the supply-to-demand imbalance caused by shutting down the economy (supply) and increasing household purchasing power by sending them checks (demand).
For the majority of Americans who now get their “news” from social media, the uneducated masses now have a new target of hatred for their financial woes – corporate greed.
A Claim Of Absurdity
The problem, as with many of the narratives ramping up the ire of Americans on social media, is it is patently false.
“One simply has to reason through the claim to uncover the absurdity. If corporations can willy-nilly raise prices and enjoy “excessive” profits, why don’t they do it all the time? Did corporations suddenly get greedy in 2021? And why did the Federal Reserve spend a decade fretting about inflation being ‘too low’ as it struggled to hit its 2% target? Was there not enough corporate greed before coronavirus?”
When you think about it this way, something else apparently happened.
Let’s begin with Powell’s assessment of the cause of inflation.
“The ongoing episode of high inflation initially emerged from a collision between very strong demand and pandemic-constrained supply. By the time the Federal Open Market Committee raised the policy rate in March 2022, it was clear that bringing down inflation would depend on both the unwinding of the unprecedented pandemic-related demand and supply distortions and on our tightening of monetary policy,which would slow the growth of aggregate demand, allowing supply time to catch up.”
It’s crucial to note the complete dismissal of the causes behind the “collision between robust demand and pandemic-constrained supply.” I suspect this was intentional in avoidingplacing blame at the feet of the current or previous administrations or themselves. However, it muddies the impact of their actions that created the problem.
The following economic illustration is taught in every “Econ 101” class. Unsurprisingly, inflation is the consequence if supply is restricted and demand increases via monetary interventions.
Who had the power to shut down the entire economy and force everyone into their homes using a fear-driven campaign? Was it the war, corporations, or the Government?
Who then supplied trillions in stimulus checks directly to households to spend when no supply could be produced? Was that corporations? Russia? Or was it the Government?
Who supported the issuance of trillions in debt issuance to fund those stimulus checks and keep interest rates suppressed? Was that the Federal Reserve, Russia, or corporations?
Was it corporations that put a moratorium on student loans, rent, and mortgage payments, giving individuals a source of additional funds to spend?Or was it the Government?
Milton Friedman also had much to say on this issue.
Corporate Greed Does Not Cause Inflation
Regarding inflation, many armchair economists are quick to quote Milton Friedman.
“Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon.”
The problem is there is much more to Friedman’s statement on the cause of inflation.
As Milton Friedman once stated, corporations don’t cause inflation; governments create inflation by printing money.
“It is always and everywhere a result of too much money, of a more rapid increase of money, than of output. Moreover, in the modern era, the important next step is to recognize that today the governments control the quantity of money so that, as a result, inflation in the United States is made in Washington and nowhere else. Of course, no government any more than any of us, likes to responsibility for bad things.
All of us are humans. If something bad happens, it wasn’t our fault. And the government is the same way, so it doesn’t accept responsibility for inflation. If you listen to people in Washington talk, they will tell you that inflation is produced by greedy businessmen, or it’s produced by grasping unions, or it’s produced by spendthrift consumers, or maybe its those terrible Arab sheiks who are producing it.”
As he concludes:
“But none of them produce inflation, for the very simple reason that neither the businessmen, not the trade union, nor the housewife have a printing press in their basement on which they can turn out those green pieces of paper we call money. Only Washington has the printing press, and therefore, only Washington can produce inflation.”
The inflation surge has nothing to do with corporate greed taking advantage of consumers but rather the actions of the Federal Reserve and the Government. The cause of inflation was the economic consequence of “too much money chasing too few goods.”
Milton Friedman’s statement is supported by the chart below showing the M2 money supply compared to inflation (with a 16-month lag).
So, if it isn’t corporate greed, why are corporations raising prices so much on everything?
Corporations have a responsibility to their shareholders to remain in business. If the costs to their business increase (i.e., wages, benefits, commodities, utilities, etc.), such must be factored into the selling price to maintain profitability. Crucially, corporations can only pass on higher input costs to consumers if demand remains higher than the available supply of those goods or services.
In 2020 and 2021, corporations could pass on most of the inflationary increase to consumers as they were willing to spend the Government’s money. However, as excess savings run out, inflation declines as consumers decrease spending. Corporate profits weaken as the ability to pass on higher input costs to customers fades. As shown, as inflation declines, the rate of change in corporate profits also weakens.
We see the same if you use a two-year average of corporate profits minus inflation. Again, when inflation surged in 2020, corporations could pass on the bulk of the cost increases to consumers. Today, as inflation slows due to declining demand, corporations must absorb the inflation to sell products or services.
Another way to view this issue is by comparing the spread between the consumer price index (what consumers pay for goods and services) and the producer price index (what corporations pay). When inflation rises, and consumer demand exceeds supply, corporations can pass on higher input costs to consumers. Corporations absorb higher input costs when inflation declines to sell products or services.
Here is the crucial point:
“Corporations don’t create inflation. They merely react to changes in demand and adjust pricing and supply to maintain profitability. When the consumer slows down, corporations cut prices to reduce supply.”
Who Is Responsible For Inflation?
If there is a “greed factor” in inflation, it is more of a function of political policy and Wall Street. Let’s start with political policies.
Most government policies are passed to appease the masses in one form or another, but mostly to appease those who fund campaigns to keep them in office. We have already addressed the side effects of shuttering the economy and sending checks to households while halting debt payments. That had nothing to do with corporate greed, but the voting base was happy getting “free money.”
There are also policies pushed at the state level that result in higher inflation but keep politicians in office. For example, California’s minimum wage hike to $22/hour is an inflationary policy. Corporations’ obvious response is to raise prices to offset the higher wage costs.
“Labor costs are the highest expense to any business. It’s not just the actual wages, but also payroll taxes, benefits, paid vacation, healthcare, etc. Employees are not cheap, and that cost must be covered by the goods or services sold. Therefore, if the consumer refuses to pay more, the costs have to be offset elsewhere.
For example, after Walmart and Target announced higher minimum wages, layoffs occurred and cashiers were replaced with self-checkout counters. Restaurants added surcharges to help cover the costs of higher wages, a “tax” on consumers, and chains like McDonald’s, and Panera Bread, replaced cashiers with apps and ordering kiosks.”
Furthermore, Wall Street itself is a factor. Prices of commodities are controlled by traders on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Those traders look for opportunities to place bets on commodities based on many events that could impact supply, such as weather, transportation disruptions, or geopolitical conflicts. Take a look at the commodity index below.
That surge in commodity prices, which resulted from the economic shutdown, raises the cost of input prices to corporations. That additional cost must be accounted for in the production process and is ultimately passed on to the consumer.
This isn’t corporate greed. The increased cost to consumers is a byproduct of Wall Street raising the price of commodities to gain profit from supply disruptions.
While it is easy to blame corporate greed for higher prices, it is not the fault of corporations. As noted, corporations are responding to higher input costs to maintain profitability for both shareholders and to remain in business.
No, corporate greed is not responsible for inflation.
Yes, it is a nice fantasy that corporations should eat higher costs and be benefactors to consumers.
NATO’s Newest Member OKs Ukraine Using Its Weapons To Strike Deep In Russian Territory
Calls are growing for escalation in Ukraine, with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Tuesday joining in the chorus of Western leaders urging allowing Kiev to attack Russian territory with West-supplied weaponry.
Borrell said that Ukraine has a right to strike back: “According with the law of war, it is perfectly possible and there is no contradiction,” he said in a meeting with European Union defense ministers. Sweden agrees with him.
“I could retaliate or I could fight against the one who fights against me from his territory,” Borrell said, adding: “You have to balance the risk of escalation and the need for Ukrainians to defend.”
So far Washington, which has recently supplied the US Army’s ATACMS with a max range of 190 miles, has not officially overturned its prohibition on using American missiles for strikes inside Ukraine. Germany has also been reluctant to change policies.
Borrell’s fresh remarks come soon on the heels of NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg saying in a weekend interview with The Economist that “The time has come for allies to consider whether they should lift some of the restrictions they have imposed on weapons donated to Ukraine.”
“To deny Ukraine the possibility of using these weapons against legitimate military targets on Russian territory makes it very hard for them to defend themselves,” Stoltenberg had explained.
Meanwhile, NATO’s newest member is also joining the crowd, jumping on the bandwagon in favor of strikes on Russian territory:
Sweden has permitted Ukraine to use its donated military weapons to strike deep into Russia — a bold move seen as an attempt to influence other nations to do the same.
Kyiv has long called for greater freedom to hit targets in Russia by lifting the restrictions imposed by Western nations on their donated weapons.
The country’s Defense Minister Pal Jonson said Ukraine is up against an “unprovoked and illegal war of aggression” by Russia and thus it has a right to defend itself by any necessary means.
“As long as the military actions comply with the laws of war, Sweden stands behind international law and Ukraine’s right to defend itself,” Jonson said while discussing the question of Swedish weapons in Ukraine. Despite being relatively small in size, the Scandinavian country is the world’s ninth biggest donor of defense aid to Ukraine. The US of course tops the list.
Bond Traders’ Angst Around Election Time Higher Than For Stocks
Authored by Garfield Reynolds via Bloomberg,
Even in an environment where implied volatility readings are grinding lower, there’s some noticeable angst appearing around the November US elections.
Bond traders look much more uncertain about the outlook for six months ahead than they do for the coming month, which underscores the potential for turmoil with both presidential candidates leaning toward increased spending.
There’s also speculation that Donald Trump would follow through after his comments earlier this year that he wouldn’t reappoint Jerome Powell as Fed Chair if he wins the US election.
The so-called fear gauges for Treasuries are showing the widest gap since 2014 between expectations for yields swings six months from now and the expectations for a month ahead. That’s similar to the picture for a range of currencies – the yuan’s 6 month-1 month volatility gap is the widest since 2016.
Equities look far less concerned, with the similar spread for the VIX only around the highest this year.
Bonds, and currencies for that matter, also have more than just the election on their plate when they look ahead toward the concluding weeks of 2024. Traders are seeing the November-December period as crucial for the Fed’s easing cycle, if it does indeed turn up this year.
OIS contracts show one reduction this year as the most likely outcome – with November or December the focus of bets for when the rate cut comes.
As of the end of last week swaps priced in an 80% chance for a cut by the end of the November FOMC meeting, and signaled they were certain there would be at least one reduction for 2024 once the December meeting concludes.
They even seem to envisage a scenario where the Fed carries out back-to-back easings in the final two meetings of the year.
The end of this year is seen as being at least as exciting on the economic front as it could be on the political side of things.
Bond traders will be hoping they face a Happy New Year indeed after what they expect to be a relatively tumultuous run into Christmas.
IDF Tanks Reach Center Of Rafah As Hamas Claims ‘Indiscriminate Bombing’ Of Population
Israeli tanks have reached the heart of Rafah overnight amid continual heavy bombardment and shelling. Local eyewitnesses say they’ve reached a roundabout in the center of the city which forms a key landmark.
Images and footages to emerge Tuesday have confirmed the advance of tank columns and IDF infantry deep into Rafah, which has sent thousands more displaced Palestinians fleeing from the Western half of the city, where the most intense fighting is happening.
Additionally BBC has observed of IDF tanks that overnight “they also seized control of the highest hilltop along the Gaza-Egypt border after reported gun battles with Hamas-led fighters.”
Airstrikes have continued to increase in intensity on the Western outskirts, especially on the al-Faluja area which lies west of Jabalia camp.
Following the Sunday bombing of a refugee tent camp in a designated safe zone which reportedly killed 45 people, there are emerging reports of another catastrophic air raid:
The air raid targeted al-Mawasi in western Rafah, an area where tents have been set up to house displaced Palestinians. It is also a designated humanitarian area to which Israeli authorities told Palestinians to flee.
“Among them are 13 females were killed. Israeli forces targeted another makeshift tent [area] where most of the people were women and children,” Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said, reporting from Deir el-Balah.
Pressure out of Europe in particular is growing, amid ongoing EU discussions over possible sanctions against Israel and after last week’s ICJ (World Court) call for immediate ceasefire, but so far the Netanyahu government is defiantly pushing forward its anti-Hamas operation.
Hamas has issued a statement meanwhile, as tanks plunge deeper into Rafah, calling on the UN Security Council to take “practical and immediate measures” to halt the invasion of Rafah city.
The statement said that the southernmost major city in Gaza “is being subjected to indiscriminate barbaric Zionist bombing, affecting homes and tents of displaced people in various parts of the city.”
“The UN Security Council is required to fulfill its legal and moral responsibilities in the face of the criminal Zionist entity’s disregard for the decision of the International Court of Justice, which ordered an immediate halt to the aggression against the city,” the Hamas statement added.
Exclusive footage from Al Jazeera shows Israeli occupation tanks advancing further into the west of Rafah city.
The Israeli occupation intends to fully occupy the Philadelphi Axis with Egypt, effectively encircling the Strip and implementing disastrous restrictions. pic.twitter.com/6rgaIOJ8XK
This comes a day after the White House appeared to justify Sunday’s Israeli attack on the refugee encampment. A Biden national security spokesperson told CNN on Monday, “The devastating images following the IDF strike in Rafah last night that killed dozens of innocent Palestinians are heartbreaking.”
“Israel has a right to go after Hamas, and we understand this strike killed two senior Hamas terrorists who are responsible for attacks against Israeli civilians,” the statement said. Axios has since reported:
The Biden administration is still assessing whether an Israeli strike that killed at least 45 displaced Palestinians at a tent camp in Rafah on Sunday is a violation of President Biden’s “red line,” two U.S. officials told Axios.
So far the administration has stalled some ammo shipments, even while approving more massive defense aid packages and funding for Israel, in a largely symbolic move meant more for deflecting criticisms from Progressive Democrats.
Google’s hastily rolled out AI Overview feature is disastrously broken, returning searches claiming that people should spread glue on pizzas, eat rocks, and that it’s safe for pregnant women to smoke cigarettes.
The Verge reports that Google is scrambling to manually disable the AI Overview feature for certain searches after users found it giving our some truly bizarre advice, and information that is just made up nonsense.
Apparently cockroaches are so named because they live in penis holes.
— Jeremiah Johnson 🌐 (@JeremiahDJohns) May 26, 2024
Mmmmm tasty rocks.
Google claims that the AI generally provides “high quality information” and that the bizarre responses are either due to uncommon queries or are just doctored.
As we previously highlighted, Google’s Gemini AI, on which the Overview feature is based, is infested with wokery.
It also clearly cannot discern between right and wrong, having declared that calling communism “evil” is “harmful and misleading” and refusing to say pedophilia is “wrong.”
Google’s AI also declared that it would not misgender Caitlyn Jenner in order to prevent a nuclear apocalypse.
X owner Elon Musk has warned that this AI is going to be at the centre of everything on the internet soon enough, taking over Google’s search engine and YouTube.
Musk further noted that he doubts “Google’s woke bureaucratic blob” will allow it to be properly fixed.
Given that the Gemini AI will be at the heart of every Google product and YouTube, this is extremely alarming!
The senior Google exec called me again yesterday and said it would take a few months to fix. Previously, he thought it would be faster.
Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.
“Everybody Is Loving This”: Former NYC Hotel Worker Says Cash For Housing Migrants Is “Going Around And Around”
Migrants being stored in fancy New York City hotels didn’t seem to make much sense, did it? Why would these hotels willingly surrender business from their high class patrons to take in migrants?
Now we have our answer, and it’s the same answer it always is: money.
A former hotel worker told Fox News on Monday that the hotels involved in the resettlement of illegal immigrants “are making lots of money through New York City’s shelter program for illegal immigrants”, the Daily Caller reported.
The worker, Carlos Arellano, said that “everybody’s loving this because the money is just going around and around.”
In fact, the report says that the average price of a hotel room increased from $277.92 in 2022 to $301.61 in 2023. Additionally, over 130 hotels have participated in the city’s shelter program by accommodating migrants.
Arellano added: “When you walk into hotels to work at them, the main hotel staff is not doing anything, they are standing around, but yet they still charge the city for any little thing they can.”
“And when you see 10 workers on the first floor of the lobby of the hotel, only two of them are really working, meanwhile the hotel will still charging the city for all 10 staff members, and you really don’t know what’s going on in there until you work in one of these places, but the costs just keep being driven up by the hotels,” he said.
“I like to tell people when you see someone like a politician on the news saying ‘Oh, we regret, this, we wish this wasn’t happening,’ it’s all lies. Everything from the politicians to the owners of the hotels, everybody is loving this because the money is just going around and around.”
Hotels participating in the city’s migrant shelter program are paid between $139 and $185 per night, per room, whether occupied or not, the report from the Daily Caller said.
Facing budget constraints due to the cost of housing migrants, Democratic Mayor Eric Adams has implemented cuts, including closing libraries on Sundays and a hiring freeze for the NYPD.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported encounters with illegal immigrants rose from 1.6 million in fiscal year 2021, to 2.2 million in 2022, and 2 million in 2023, with 1.1 million so far in 2024. You can watch the full appearance on Fox News here.
Yields Surge After Ugly 2Y Auction As Foreign Demand Tumbles
Today’s first of two coupon auctions – the sale of $69 billion in 2Y paper (a 5Y auction follows at 1pm) – priced at 11:31am and it was ugly.
Stopping at a high yield of 4.917%, today’s auction not only carried the highest yield since last October’s 5.055%, but tailed the When Issued 4.907% by 1 basis point (this was the 3rd tail in the last four 2Y auctions).
The bid to cover slumped to 2.41 from 2.66, and was not only below the six-auction average of 2.59 but was the lowest since November 2021.
The internals were especially ugly, with Indirects awarded just 57.9%, down from 66.2% in April and the lowest since November’s 57.4%.
And with Directs awarded 25.5%, the most since March 2022, left dealers holding 16.6% of the auction, the most since December 2023.
Overall, this was a very ugly auction which saw very weak demand from foreign buyers, forcing Direct bidders and Dealers to step in. No surprise then that 10Y yields spiked above 4.50% after the auction results were announced, hitting the highest level in two weeks as concerns about “higher for longer” refuse to go away.
