Trump Roasts Californian Government on Wildfires: ‘Clean Your Floors’
Politics: BY ALAN MCDONNELL Fuel load, forest debris causing fires, Trump says, but officials ‘just don’t want to listen’ As over 370 active wildfires raged across California and authorities reported at least six fatalities, President Donald Trump criticized Californian officials for failing to take action to reduce fuel loads across the state. “I see again the forest fires […]
Shortages & Record Lumber Prices Adding Thousands to Home Construction Costs
BY ALAN MCDONNELL Construction industry seeks Trump’s intervention as framing lumber, OSB prices soar The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) has said that supply shortages of framing lumber and oriented strand board (OSB) are harming the burgeoning housing market and the United States’ economic recovery. In a letter to President Donald Trump last week, the Association stressed […]
US Oil, Gas Producers Laud Voluntary Methane Emission Reductions
BY ALAN MCDONNELL Industry touts progress as California judge blocks Trump deregulation An American oil and gas industry alliance—The Environmental Partnership—is pointing to their members’ efforts to reduce emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says is up to 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide. The EPA says that oil and gas production […]
US Vulnerable to China Rare Earth Monopoly, Researchers Find
BY ALAN MCDONNELL The Chinese communist regime is ready—and willing—to use the country’s near monopoly in rare earth elements (REEs) as a trump card in any trade war with the United States, according to China policy analysts. A report out this week from independent strategic consultants Horizon Advisory indicates that China is moving to take advantage of the CCP […]
Budget Office Predicts Robust Economic Growth Through Year End
BY ALAN MCDONNELL Real GDP set to grow 6.2 percent from July to December The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said this week that the U.S. economy is poised for real GDP growth at an annualized rate of 12.4 percent in the second half of 2020, with unemployment to peak in the third quarter before falling rapidly through this […]
Construction Adds 158,000 Jobs in June, Infrastructure Jobs Decline
BY ALAN MCDONNELL According to analysis of recent government data by the Association of General Contractors of America (AGC), employment in the construction sector increased by 158,000 jobs in June. However, jobs in infrastructural construction continued to shrink over the same period. The overall rate of unemployment in construction was 10.1 percent, with 962,000 construction workers currently off work. The unemployment […]
EVs, Solar, Wind Sidelined as State Budgets Slashed
BY ALAN MCDONNELL The future of many climate change and renewable energy projects across the United States is in serious doubt as states slash budgets due to the fallout from the CCP virus crisis. With fiscal black holes looming and taxation and other income having been decimated, state governors look set to cut back where they can to ensure […]
Food Prices Surge in Biggest Jump Since 1974
BY ALAN MCDONNELL Food prices across the United States have skyrocketed due to the effects of the CCP virus as consumer stockpiling, panic buying, and supply chain difficulties combined to produce the “largest monthly increase since February 1974,” according to a report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The Director of Food Policy at the Consumer Federation […]
US Farmers Under Pressure as Supply Chains Struggle to Adapt
BY ALAN MCDONNELL American farmers are under financial pressure as food supply chains struggle to adapt to the changes brought by the CCP virus, with some forced to destroy crops, dump milk, and even kill livestock. “Having to dump milk or plow under vegetables ready to market is not only financially distressing but it’s heartbreaking as […]
BUSINESS | Relocating China-Centric Supply Chains to USA Could Cure Virus Woes
BY ALAN MCDONNELL As the United States suffers an increasing number of infections and fatalities from the CCP virus, a number of industries critical to the U.S. economy—including the powerhouse automotive and aerospace industries—have been forced to shut up shop. The double-whammy of supply-chain disruptions due to reduced Chinese and domestic industrial activity coupled with U.S. firms […]
