Weekly America

Inflation wipes American economy with highest rate since 1982

The American economy staggers as inflation reaches a forty-year high of 7.5 per cent, according to the consumer price index (CPI).

The report was conducted by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics from January 2021 to January 2022. Economists’ expectations were surpassed once again, leading to predictions that the economic problems could prolong into a recession.

Gas was one of the most inflated products over the past year with an inflation rate of 40 per cent. Food also went up by 7.4 per cent, with meat and poultry going into the double digits.

The average American household will have to spend roughly $3,500 more on goods and services this year according to a December study by the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

Supply chain shortages, large federal aid, low consumer confidence, and ongoing coronavirus restrictions have all made their contributions to the significant levels of inflation.

Compared to other Western countries, America’s inflation rate remains one of the highest. The UK stands at 5.5 per cent inflation, Canada at 5.1 per cent, Germany at 4.9 per cent, and Australia at 3.5 per cent.

The US Federal Reserve is expected to increase interest rates to slow the rampant growth in prices. The stock market is predicting this rise to amount to 50 basis points in March.

As Carmen Reinicke from CNBC explains: “Basically, the Fed aims to make borrowing more expensive so that consumers and businesses hold off on making any investments, thereby cooling off demand and bringing prices back in check.”

However, the Federal Revenue will have to be careful when raising the interest rate. If interest goes up too quickly, this could hamper the economy’s growth and quite possibly, push it into a recession.

New Report alleges Clinton Campaign spied on Trump

A bombshell report claims that the Clinton campaign paid a tech company to “infiltrate” Trump Tower and the White House’s servers.

Special Counsel John Durham says that the Clinton campaign tried to establish a “narrative” linking President Trump to Russia. This was allegedly achieved by gathering non-public Internet data from Trump Tower, Donald Trump’s Central Park West apartment building, and the Executive Office of the President of the United States.

These new developments come from an ongoing court case against former Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann who is charged with making a false statement to a federal agent.

In September 2016, Sussmann stated to former FBI General Counsel James Baker that he was not working “for any client”. However, the Durham report alleges that Sussmann was in fact holdings meeting about the Trump-Russia probe at the behest of the Clinton campaign.

The filing says that during the summer of 2016, Sussmann was working with a technology executive and employees at various tech companies to gather data which could associate Trump with the Kremlin.

Sussmann allegedly held meetings which contained “purported data” and “white papers” that are suspected to prove a secret communications channel between the Trump Organization and the Kremlin-linked Alfa Bank.

Once Trump became president, the tech executive who worked with Sussmann is said to have exploited his privileged access to domain name system (DNS) traffic in the White House’s servers.

Durham seeks to prove that Sussmann also met the CIA in February 2017 to show that the Clinton campaign used private information to influence federal agencies in spying on the sitting president.

Donald Trump says that the Durham report provides “indisputable evidence” that his “campaign and presidency were spied on by operatives paid by the Hillary Clinton Campaign in an effort to develop a completely fabricated connection to Russia.”

Hillary Clinton lashed back at Trump’s claim by tweeting: “Trump & Fox are desperately spinning up a fake scandal to distract from his real ones. So it’s a day that ends in Y. The more his misdeeds are exposed, the more they lie.”

Sussmann will be going to trial in a few months where Durham’s final report will then be released.

Biden fears “very high” risk of Russia attacking Ukraine

President Biden announced that he fears the “very high” risk of Russia attacking Ukraine within “several days.”

Speaking to reporters outside the White House, Biden stated: “We have reason to believe that [Russia] are engaged in a false flag operation to have an excuse to go in.”

Biden spoke after Russian-backed separatists launched an artillery bombardment in eastern Ukraine, shelling a nursery school and injuring three people.

The Ukrainian military reports that the town of Stanytsia Luhanska faced 32 shells on Thursday, a clear indicator of heightened tensions across the country.

US Foreign Secretary Anthony Blinken echoed Biden’s concerns in the United Nations. He stated: “Russia plans to manufacture a pretext for its attack.”

Blinken predicts that the Russians may use a violent event, a fabricated “terrorist” bombing, or staged drone strikes to justify their invasion. They will then use cyberattacks to shut down Ukrainian institutions as the Russians move in with their troops.

More than 150,000 Russian soldiers are currently deployed in annexed Crimea and along the Ukrainian and Belarusian border. Despite Russia’s claim of pulling back military forces, US officials say they received intel that the Russian’s statement was a ruse.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said: “There is still no clarity nor certainty about the Russian’s intentions, we don’t know what will happen.”

Diplomacy still remains an option between NATO allies and Russia. The Russian government has replied to America’s security proposals, which is now under the process of evaluation.