Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Target has once again triggered conservative criticism after the retailer rolled out Christmas decorations that some saw as too “woke,” like a black Santa in a wheelchair or a figurine draped in rainbow-colored “pride” paraphernalia.

End Wokeness, a prominent conservative account on X with over 1.8 million followers, shared several photos of Christmas ornaments that are now being offered for sale at Target.

“Target outdid itself this year for Christmas,” End Wokeness wrote in a post on X, with one image showing a black Santa Claus sitting in a wheelchair and another showing a figurine wearing a multi-colored “pride” hat while also holding a rainbow flag.

A number of commenters reacted with criticism and hinted at (or outright called for) a boycott.

“Wow. Just wow. You would think they would have learned from the last time. When will companies finally start to realize it? Go woke, go broke!” one person posted.

“Everyone getting ready to boycott Target again until they go bankrupt,” wrote another.

Other commenters recalled earlier boycott calls after Target rolled out its “pride” clothing line over the summer that included LGBT-themed items meant for children.

“I have not stepped inside one since the tick it underwear debacle. Banned for life,” a commenter wrote, referring to the so-called “tuck-friendly” swimsuit that the big box retailer was offering over the summer for transgender people.

For example, books for kids aged 2–8 had titles like “Pride 1,2,3,” “Bye Bye, Binary,” and “I’m Not a Girl.” Target also suggested “The Pronoun Book” to kids aged 0–3. In home décor, Target offered mugs labeled “Gender Fluid.” It also offered transgender swimsuits for adults with a “tuck-friendly” feature.

The company’s actions sparked considerable negative reactions online, leading to widespread boycott calls and the removal of some of the most controversial items from its shelves.

A former Target executive said that there was one item that sparked the biggest boycott calls.

“I’ve never seen a case where one item, that tuck swimsuit, that’s really what made the difference versus the competitors. That’s where the big mistake [was] made,” former Target Vice Chairman Gerald Storch said in a recent interview.

After Target launched the “pride” clothing line and other items in May, triggering boycott calls, its stock price plummeted from roughly $160 to $130 per share.

The renewed boycott calls come as Target released its third-quarter earnings report, which showed a 4.9 percent decline in sales compared to the comparable quarter last year. This includes a 4.6 percent drop in sales in stores and a 6 percent sales decline online.

Target’s total revenue of $25.4 billion was 4.2 percent lower than last year, with some of the decline due to “higher inventory shrink,” which is code for retail theft.

The company said in a statement that it was offering over 10,000 new items ahead of Christmas, though it did not go into detail other than to say thousands are “must-have gifts” and “exclusive-to-Target items across many categories.” These presumably include the items the firm’s detractors have labeled as “woke.”

“In the third quarter, our team continued to successfully navigate our business through a very challenging external environment,” Brian Cornell, chief executive officer of Target, said in a statement.

Target did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Epoch Times on the fresh round of boycott calls.

In addition to Target, several other companies, including Bud Light maker Anheuser-Busch, PetSmart, Chick-fil-A, and Walmart, have also faced boycott calls due to their endorsement of the LGBT agenda.

Bud Light faced a flurry of boycott calls after its marketing partnership with Dylan Mulvaney, a male social media personality who identifies as a woman.

Mr. Mulvaney, who has more than 10 million followers on TikTok, posted a series of videos promoting Bud Light and showing off a personalized Bud Light can with his likeness. Conservatives accused the brand of promoting a transgender agenda and called for a boycott.

Singer Kid Rock used Bud Light cans as target practice to express his anger at the promotional campaign, while Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said he would be boycotting Bud Light.

One sign that the boycott against Bud Light was having an effect was that the brand was recently ousted as the top-selling brand in the United States by competitor Modelo.

Authored by Ezar Reguerra via CoinTelegraph.com,

As Gary Gensler reiterated the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s mandate in a speech, Ripple’s lawyer and various crypto community members responded, criticizing the SEC chair and arguing that the commissioner’s words contradict his actions.

On Nov. 16, SEC Chair Gary Gensler shared a video of him conducting a speech at the 2023 Securities Enforcement Forum. In the speech, he highlighted the words of the first SEC chair, Joseph P. Kennedy, saying that the government agency should be “partners of honest business and prosecutors of dishonesty.”

As Joseph P. Kennedy, the first @SECGov Chair, once said: “We are not prosecutors of honest business, nor defenders of crookedness. We are partners of honest business & prosecutors of dishonesty. We shall not prejudge, but we shall investigate.”

Check out my recent remarks: pic.twitter.com/QM2zqj8PQs

— Gary Gensler (@GaryGensler) November 16, 2023

The post on X (formerly Twitter) triggered responses from various crypto community members, including Ripple chief legal officer Stuart Alderoty, who is currently engaged in a legal battle against the SEC. According to Alderoty, the SEC chair’s recent remarks should be fact-checked and that Gensler has “prejudged crypto and has filed suit against others without investigation.”

The SEC is losing in court; being criticized by Judges for shady behavior; being rebuked by the Gov’t’s internal auditor; hiding info about meetings with a felon; becoming irrelevant on the international stage. Gensler – admitting no fault – has become the insulate Col. Jessep. pic.twitter.com/vqjPPcifr8

— Stuart Alderoty (@s_alderoty) November 16, 2023

Alderoty also highlighted that Ripple was sued but was “never charged with dishonesty.” The Ripple executive also threw some accusations toward the SEC and said that they are being criticized for “shady behavior” and are becoming “irrelevant” internationally.

Apart from Alderoty, various crypto community members also responded to the video that Gensler shared. Erik Voorhees, founder and CEO of trading platform ShapeShift, responded to the tweet, saying that Gensler has prosecuted his “honest business” twice.

Meanwhile, a community member also responded to Gensler’s remarks, saying that what he quoted “was the vision”; However, the Twitter user argued that it has evolved for the worse, accusing the SEC of facilitating the “legitimization of a corrupt system.”

During the Ravens’ 34-20 win over the Bengals at M&T Bank Stadium in crime-ridden Baltimore City, the game was delayed twice on Thursday night due to an authorized drone flight over the stadium. 

With 5:04 left in the second quarter, an unauthorized drone hovered over the field. The drone forced the first of two administrative stoppages.

The NFL has stopped play in the Bengals-Ravens game because someone is flying a drone inside the stadiumpic.twitter.com/6VBqoqv2bM

— Front Office Sports (@FOS) November 17, 2023

The drone made another appearance in the third quarter, forcing officials to take another brief administrative stoppage. 

WATCH: “We’ll take a commercial break” — NFL stops Bengals-Ravens game after an unauthorized drone hovers over the field, raising security concerns in #Baltimore, #Maryland pic.twitter.com/ytM6ZwWuZx

— TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) November 17, 2023

The drone from the ravens bengals game. If you’re gonna violate $10k worth of aviation rules maybe take off the lights? pic.twitter.com/KmfnfqmuUr

— Mad Dog (@boi1duhh) November 17, 2023

“We saw them [the drones] up there. That’s a first,” Ravens head coach John Harbaugh told the team’s sports blog. 

Harbaugh said, “I thought I’d seen it all with the Super Bowl with the lights going out at the Super Bowl. Now we have drones flying around.”

The incident comes one month after Cathy Lanier, the NFL’s chief of security, sounded the alarm about ‘thousands of incidents of rogue drones flying over stadiums’ last year. 

Meanwhile, Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., who chairs the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, recently warned about “somebody who would use (drones) in a nefarious way and drop a grenade that would do considerable damage and possibly kill individuals.” 

Stadiums, such as NFL ones, are placed under highly restricted airspace during games. If a drone operator who does not have clearance flies the craft over or around the stadium, the penalty with the FAA is severe. 

Authored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com,

Democrats should start worrying about the level of debt and the increasing deficit. I previously discussed this issue when President Obama held the White House, when Marshall Auerback, via the Nation, wrote:

“Delivering on big progressive ideas like Medicare for All and the Green New Deal will never happen until Democrats get over their fear of red ink.”

While that article was a long and winding mess of convoluted ideas, the following excerpt was vital.

“In an environment increasingly characterized by slowing global economic growth, businesses are understandably hesitant to invest in a way that creates high-quality, high-paying jobs for the bulk of the domestic workforce. The much-vaunted Trump corporate ‘tax reform’ may have been sold to the American public on that basis, but corporations have largely used their tax cut bonanza to engage in share buybacks, which fatten executive compensation but have done nothing for the rest of us. At the same time, private households still face constraints on their consumption because of stagnant wages, rising health care costs, declining job security, poorer employment benefits, and rising debt levels.

Instead of solving these problems, the reliance on extraordinary monetary policy from the Federal Reserve via programs such as quantitative easing has exacerbated them. In contrast to properly targeted fiscal spending, the Federal Reserve’s misguided monetary policies have fueled additional financial speculation and asset inflation in stock markets and real estate, which has made housing even less affordable for the average American.”

While there is truth in that statement, and it is the same issue I have railed against previously in this blog, Mr. Auerback’s solution was seemingly simple.

“Democrats should embrace the ‘extremist’ spirit of Goldwater and eschew fiscal timidity (which, in any case, is based on faulty economics). After all, Republicans do it when it suits their legislative agenda. Likewise, Democrats should go big with deficits—as long as they are used for the transformative programs that progressives have long talked about and now have the chance to deliver.”

As I noted then, such a solution was essentially the adoption of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), which, as discussed previously, is the assumption debt and deficits “don’t matter” as long as there is no inflation.

“Modern Monetary Theory is a macroeconomic theory that contends that a country that operates with a sovereign currency has a degree of freedom in their fiscal and monetary policy, which means government spending is never revenue constrained, but rather only limited by inflation.” – Kevin Muir

However, fast forward to the present, we tried MMT; the Democrats went big with debts and deficits and funded social programs, and the result was a massive spike in inflation and no actual increase in broad economic prosperity.

So, what went wrong?

The Non-Solution

The problem with most Democratic spending ideas on social programs and welfare, like free healthcare or college, is the lack of a crucial ingredient. That ingredient is a “return on investment.” Dr. Woody Brock previously addressed this point in his book “American Gridlock;”

“Country A spends $4 Trillion with receipts of $3 Trillion. This leaves Country A with a $1 Trillion deficit. In order to make up the difference between the spending and the income, the Treasury must issue $1 Trillion in new debt. That new debt is used to cover the excess expenditures but generates no income leaving a future hole that must be filled.

Country B spends $4 Trillion and receives $3 Trillion income. However, the $1 Trillion of excess, which was financed by debt, was invested into projects, infrastructure, that produced a positive rate of return. There is no deficit as the rate of return on the investment funds the “deficit” over time.“

Let me be clear. There is no disagreement about the need for government spending. The debate is about the abuse and waste of it.

John Maynard Keynes’ was correct in his theory that for government “deficit” spending to be effective, the “payback” from investments made through debt must yield a higher rate of return than the debt used to fund it.

Currently, the U.S. is “Country A.” 

The problem with the more socialistic programs that Democrats continue to pursue with deficit spending is that it exacerbates the problem. The Center On Budget & Policy Priorities data can help visualize the issue.

As of the latest annual data, through the end of Q2-2023, the Government spent $6.3 Trillion, of which $5.3 Trillion went to mandatory expenses. In other words, it currently requires 113% of every $1 of revenue to pay for social welfare and interest on the debt. Everything else must come from debt issuance.

This is why debt issuance has surged since 2008 when Congress quit using the budgeting process to allow for rampant spending.

Of course, given the massive surge in spending, revenues cannot keep up the pace, leading to a rapid increase in debt issuance and a trending deficit.

However, while Democrats keep pushing for more socialistic programs, which garners votes in election cycles, they are now faced with a problem that may be their undoing.

Debt Diverts Productive Capital

Ben Ritz for the WSJ recently penned:

“Deficits are undermining the Biden economy. In the past year, the real federal budget deficit more than doubled, from $933 billion to $2 trillion. Democrats rightly argued that spending borrowed money was a critical economic support during the Covid pandemic. But the unemployment rate the over past year has been consistently lower than any point since the 1950s.

Economists, even those on the far left who subscribe to ‘modern monetary theory,’ agree that increasing deficits in a tight labor market fuels inflation. Voters’ frustrations with inflation and the interest-rate hikes implemented to bring it under control exceed their appreciation for low unemployment, fueling disapproval of President Biden’s economic record. Deficit reduction is more important than it has been at any other time in the 21st century.”

The problem with the analysis is that while the “unemployment rate” may be low, economic disparity is high. While the massive surge in pandemic-era spending boosted economic inflation, it also created an enormous rise in inflation, unsurprisingly. That inflation surge spurred the Fed to aggressively hike rates on the short end of the yield curve, while inflation and economic growth pushed long-term rates higher.

Subsequently, higher inflation and higher borrowing costs priced out wage increases with substantially higher living costs. Unsurprisingly, the net worth of the bottom 90% of Americans has failed to improve.

The problem for the Democrats is that continuing to push socialistic programs only makes the situation worse. Yes, more “free money” to individuals sounds excellent in theory, but prices ultimately increase more. The problem is exacerbated as non-productive debt erodes economic growth, and more debt diverts productive capital into interest payments.

“Annual interest payments are already at their highest level as a percentage of gross domestic product since the 1990s. By 2028 the government is projected to spend more than $1 trillion on interest payments each year—more than it spends on Medicaid or national defense. Worse, the U.S. may be entering a vicious circle whereby higher deficits increase debt and fuel inflation, which the Federal Reserve must combat by raising interest rates, causing debt-service costs to balloon further.” – Ben Ritz

While the Democrats continue to push for more social spending programs, we have potentially reached the point where that may be no longer feasible. I agree with Ben’s view that it may be time for both Democrats and Republicans to start taking steps to restore fiscal responsibility in Washington.

The average American family is no longer supportive of new progressive policies when they believe we can’t even pay for the promises already made.

Of course, if the economy slips into a recession before the 2024 election, we could see a political rout in Washington, D.C.

Iran’s foreign minister has revealed the content of secretive back channel talks with Washington, and this marks rare positive news to come out of a Middle East which remains on knife’s edge amid the Gaza conflict. The very fact of these quiet discussions over red lines suggests both sides are legitimately interested in restraint related to broader tensions outside Gaza. However, a dangerous tit-for-tat has ensued at US bases in Iraq and Syria.

Iran’s top diplomat Hossein Amirabdollahian has said in a fresh interview with FT that Tehran does not want to escalate with Israel and the United States, and doesn’t want to see the war centered on Israel and Hamas spiral further. He said this despite the now daily exchanges of fire involving Hezbollah along the Lebanese border. In the backdrop, Washington is rumored to be very hesitant at this point on censuring Iran over any development on its nuclear program.

However, Amirabdollahian did threaten that if there’s no end to Israel’s attacks on Gaza and the West Bank, in which over 11,300 Palestinians have died, Iran will have to escalate – though he didn’t define what that means.

“Over the past 40 days, messages have been exchanged between Iran and the US, via the US interests section at the Swiss embassy in Tehran,” FM Amirabdollahian said.

“In response to the US, we said that Iran does not want the war to spread, but due to the approach adopted by the US and Israel in the region, if the crimes against the people of Gaza and the West Bank are not stopped, any possibility could be considered, and a wider conflict could prove inevitable,” he emphasized.

Currently, there’s consensus that Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah has indeed held back significantly. Many Palestinian supporters hoped that in Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah’s two speeches during the conflict he would have declared war. But that full war declaration from Hezbollah has not come.

Interestingly, Amirabdollahian described that while Washington is demanding that Tehran “exercise restraint” – the US itself is not, especially given it dispatched two carrier strike groups to the region and a nuclear-powered submarine, along with a troop build-up. 

According to his words in FT:

He said the US’s messages to Hizbollah similarly urging restraint “would fail to make the resistance group cautious in its decision-making.”

“Our military officials are of the opinion that the deployment of US aircraft carriers near our region, which makes them accessible, is not a strong point for the US. Rather, it makes them more vulnerable to possible strikes,” Amirabdollahian said.

“The war has already expanded in the region,” he added. And then commented on the Yemeni Houthis, which have several times at this point launched missiles and drones toward Israel.

Defense Ministry publishes footage showing the launch of an Arrow missile this week, intercepting a missile launched by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen at Eilat. pic.twitter.com/l9V4dsOeuh

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) November 17, 2023

“The fact that the Yemeni army [Iran-backed Houthi movement] . . . attacks the occupied lands with missiles and drones means the war has begun to expand. The fact that Hizbollah is fighting with a third of the Israeli army shows the war has expanded,” the foreign minister said.

US and Israeli warships have over the past month stepped up their presence particularly in the Red Sea, to monitor for projectiles fired out of Yemen. Already on at least two occasions, a US warship has intercepted hostile projectiles inbound toward Israel. In this ‘limited’ way the Pentagon has already ‘intervened’ in the Israel-Gaza war.

Hot on the heels of yesterday’s ongoing slump in NAHB Homebuilder Sentiment, housing starts and building permits were expected to decline in October (as mortgage rates roared higher). But… both permits and starts rose MoM in October, +1.1% MoM and +1.9% MoM respectively (vs -1.4% MoM and -0.6% MoM expected respectively).

However, September’s 7.0% MoM jump in Starts was downwardly revised to just +3.1% MoM and Permits revised down from -4.4% to -4.5% MoM.

Source: Bloomberg

Even with the revisions, the SAARs both increased modestly in October, but remain in a downtrend overall since their peak at the end of 2021…

Source: Bloomberg

Under the hood all segments increased in October with single-family permits rising for the 10th straight month, and multi-family unit starts rising most since May…

Source: Bloomberg

Given the decline in Starts and Completions, how are residential construction jobs holding up so well?

Source: Bloomberg

Finally, given the NAHB sentiment, it would appear build permits are set to keep falling…

Source: Bloomberg

And, judging by mortgage rates (with a 2mo lag), things can’t hold up for much longer without homebuilder subsidies crushing profitability…

Source: Bloomberg

Is this good news for The Fed? More supply of houses ‘disinflating home prices’? We’ll see.

Wealthy Los Angeles homeowners are having a tough time selling amid a new tax on luxury sales, and turmoil in the entertainment industry. Rather than unloading their mansions in a sluggish market, many homeowners have resorted to renting them out, Bloomberg reports.

Rob DeSantis, a serial entrepreneur who cofounded Ariba and was an early investor in LinkedIn Corp, is a prime example of this trend. He recently placed his 13,000 sqft Manhattan Beach estate on the rental market for $150,000 per month. “This is a hedge,” DeSantis said. “I believe leasing it out will highlight the value of the property in a much better way.”

The broader Los Angeles area is not immune to the downturn affecting the U.S. housing market. Sales have plummeted, with luxury homes lingering on the market for double the time compared to average properties. The new “mansion tax,” targeting properties over $5 million, has further complicated matters for sellers.

Patrick Michael, founder and CEO of LA Estate Rentals, sheds light on the situation: “A lot of owners took on homes and mortgages and extra vacation homes when lending criteria was easier” he explained. “I feel like everybody’s in panic mode now. Even wealthy owners are asking if I have anybody for their house.” Michael – who represents around 250 short and long-term rentals, says he’s seen a surge in luxury rentals, likening it to the situation following the 2008 housing crisis.

Los Angeles hasn’t been left out of the slowdown that’s gripping the US housing market as soaring borrowing costs sideline potential buyers. Home sales in the area are down 26.6% this year through September compared with the same period a year ago, according to data from appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and brokerage Douglas Elliman Real Estate. Luxury home listings — with a median price of $13.25 million — languished on the market for 73 days, or twice as long as the average single-family house.

But the country’s second-largest city is facing added issues of labor strikes. While the studios and actors tentatively agreed to a new contract this week, the strife in Hollywood has upended production for months. Plus, Los Angeles has a new transfer tax on properties selling for at least $5 million. The so-called “mansion tax” survived a lawsuit recently and now makes selling less profitable. It’s spurring some owners to find other ways to monetize their rarely used palatial properties. -Bloomberg

Zach Goldsmith, a broker with the Agency, says he’s struggled to lease properties in Beverly Hills and the Bel-Air district due to the oversupply of inventory on the market. What’s more, the Hollywood strikes have led to a reduction in productions that often rent luxury homes for locations, decreasing demand for high-end rentals.

“Because of the strikes, that well dried up,” said Goldsmith.

As a result, rental prices are under pressure. Michael anticipates a significant drop in asking rents, potentially by as much as 35% over the next six to 12 months. Even homes that once fetched high prices are now seeing reduced rental rates. Most of Michael’s properties have been offered at reduced prices for leases longer than four or five months.

“We have to be creative to lure in tenants in this market,” he said.

Ken H. Johnson, associate dean at Florida Atlantic University’s College of Business, suggests a broader market trend. He notes that the cost of buying is currently about 8% higher than renting in the L.A. area, indicating a potential future decline in both rental and sale prices.

“As the owner of short-term rental, I think you’re going to get a supply shock in LA,” he said. “A lot of people are cashing out of LA now and moving. You’re probably at a peak price.”

Despite these challenges, leasing remains an attractive option for owners like DeSantis. “People who can afford to lease are probably people who can afford to buy,” DeSantis remarked, expressing hope that renting might lead to a future sale. He maintains a realistic yet optimistic view: “Everything has a price. If someone offered me $1 billion now, the answer is definitely ‘Yes.’ If they offer $90 million, it’s a definite ‘No.’”

It seems the cracks in the market go all the way to the top.

Authored by Michael Maharrey via SchiffGold.com,

Greenlight Capital reported a major increase in its exposure to gold as the hedge fund’s founder worries about the direction of the markets. In a Q3 letter to investors, David Einhorn expressed concern about geopolitical uncertainty, the rising price of oil, and inflation.

Greenlight famously shorted Lehman Brothers before its 2008 failure.

According to third-quarter 13-F filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Greenlight plunged $34.9 million into SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed ETF. That increased the fund’s stake in the ETF by 89.2%, a record exposure to gold for Greenlight.

The hedge fund also reportedly holds a significant amount of physical gold, which is not subject to 13-F reporting.

There’s a difference between investing in gold-backed ETFs and physical gold. Learn more here.

ETFs such as SPDR are backed by physical gold held by the issuer and are traded on the market like stocks. They allow investors to play gold without having to buy full ounces of gold at the spot price. Since their purchase is just a number in a computer, they can trade their investment into another stock or cash pretty much whenever they want, even multiple times on the same day. Many speculative investors appreciate this liquidity.

There are good reasons to invest in ETFs, but they aren’t a substitute for owning physical metal. In an overall investment strategy, SchiffGold recommends buying gold bullion first.

Greenlight’s increased exposure to gold appears to be a shift into a safe haven strategy. The hedge fund also cut exposure to its two biggest holdings, homebuilder Green Brick Partners and Pennsylvania coal miner Consol Energy.

In his Q3 letter, Einhorn said investors are too complacent about geopolitical uncertainty.

The complacent investor view that geopolitics should be ignored might be true, except for the times when it isn’t. We suspect we are in one of those times. If we are right, current extreme levels of geopolitical tension will lead to lower stock prices over a timeframe that lasts more than a couple of hours.”

He also expressed concern about rising oil prices and resulting price inflation.

Higher oil prices would squeeze the consumer and likely cause a recession. The resulting inflation would also put the Federal Reserve in the uncomfortable position of having to fight rising prices at a time of rising unemployment. This leaves the market outlook very concerning.”

Greenlight Capital reported returns of 27.7% through the first nine months of 2023.

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Heating homes this winter using natural gas is estimated to cut down energy costs by more than 40 percent compared to electricity, according to a recent report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Households using electricity to heat homes are projected to pay $1,063 on average between November and March, according to a Nov. 7 winter fuels outlook report by the EIA. In comparison, households using natural gas are only expected to shell out $601.

Region-wise, the biggest difference is in the Midwest, where electric heating is expected to cost $1,213—more than double the gas cost of $581. In the Northeast, gas heating is projected to be cheaper by $704, in the South by $507, and in the West by $417.

Natural gas heating is also cheaper compared to other alternative energy sources such as propane and heating oil, which are expected to cost $1,343 and $1,851 respectively.

High heating costs borne by households using electricity come as the Biden administration is pushing an electrification agenda.

The administration is already imposing several restrictions on the use of gas-powered appliances. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced new efficiency standards for residential gas furnaces, pool pumps, battery chargers, dehumidifiers, ceiling fans, incandescent light bulbs, and gas stoves that would severely curtail their use.

Secondly, the Biden administration is offering rebates on the use of electric appliances in homes. The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act set aside $8.8 billion in rebates for home energy efficiency and electrification projects.

In a June 2 interview with The Epoch Times, O.H. Skinner, executive director of the Alliance for Consumers, said the Biden administration’s push for electrification of home appliances is bad news for Americans.

“That will make it so that nearly the majority of the current products on the market don’t meet the standards and have to be redesigned or removed from the market,” he said.

“Everyday things that people actually want are going to get more expensive or disappear, and the products that will be available will be more expensive but not better. People are going to wonder why life is worse.”

At present, there are more homes using natural gas than electricity in the United States when it comes to heating.

“Natural gas is the main space heating fuel in 46 percent of U.S. homes, making it the most widely used residential heating fuel in the country,” the EIA report reads.

“The share of U.S. homes that use electricity as a primary space heating fuel has grown to 42 percent from 38 percent 10 years ago.”

The Biden administration’s electrification push has attracted criticism for its unnecessarily burdening American consumers. In August, Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.) raised concerns about the DOE’s energy efficiency standards on ceiling fans, arguing that it’s against consumer choice and would result in higher prices.

The Energy Department’s analysis confirms that there’s a “very clear and substantial cost-advantage of natural gas,” Karen Harbert, president of the American Gas Association (AGA), said in an Aug. 28 statement.

“Our nation’s domestic abundance of natural gas means American customers pay a fraction of what customers pay for other energy sources here at home and see significant savings compared to energy costs globally,” Ms. Harbert said.

“Our industry invests $91 million every day to ensure our vast modern delivery infrastructure provides the reliability Americans expect. America’s natural gas is critical to American and global energy security.”

The AGA estimates that households using natural gas for heating, drying clothes, and cooking save about $1,068 per annum on average compared to homes that use electricity for such activities. Through 2050, natural gas prices are projected to be half to a third of the price of other fuels.

Since 1970, the typical residential property has cut consumption by half even though homes have become bigger. AGA credits this to “steady improvements in building and appliance energy efficiency, and the positive impacts of gas utility energy efficiency program.”

President Joe Biden has implemented several steps to limit natural gas production ever since he assumed office back in 2021.

This includes a moratorium on oil and natural gas leasing activities in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, imposing new taxes on gas extraction through the Inflation Reduction Act, and proposing revisions to the National Environmental Policy Act guidance, which would make it harder to permit natural gas projects.

In September, a bipartisan coalition of 25 governors committed to decarbonizing buildings across the United States.

“Decarbonizing buildings through accelerated energy efficiency and electrification is an imperative … to reduce emissions and achieve U.S. climate targets,” a Sept. 21 statement by the U.S. Climate Alliance reads.

Speaking to Daily Caller, Tom Pyle, president of the American Energy Alliance, said that the “political appointees in the White House … are more interested in helping their big money backers in the green movement than they are in helping provide relief for working-class American families.”

“Higher electricity prices don’t hurt wealthy coastal elites, but they crush the poor, seniors, and those living on fixed incomes,” Mr. Pyle said.

In a March 21 letter to Ms. Granholm, House Republicans insisted that the department’s rules restricting gas appliances “has no basis in law or within your jurisdiction.”

“[The DOE] has enjoyed bipartisan support,” it reads. “[But] your actions to appease the Biden Administration’s radical climate agenda does not reflect well upon the Department.”