Sunday, December 14, 2025
The Bank Of Banks Barks
BIS Warns Of Rare "Double Bubble"
Authored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com,
This weekend, global investors are reckoning with a stark warning from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). In its December 2025 Quarterly Review, the BIS flagged what it called a rare “double bubble” forming across both gold and equity markets. According to the report, “the combination of gold and share prices soaring in unison is a phenomenon not seen in at least half a century.” In fact, BIS Economic Adviser Hyun Song Shin put the risk clearly: “Gold has behaved very differently this year compared to its usual pattern. The interesting phenomenon this time has been that gold has become much more like a speculative asset.”
The data also reflects the increased risk in both asset classes. Gold has jumped about 60 percent in 2025, its strongest annual performance since 1979. At the same time, U.S. equities, led by tech and AI‑related names, have pushed major indexes to record highs as investors chase yield, growth, and momentum. Notably, the backdrop for today’s conversation is that, starting in October 2022, both stocks and gold began a parabolic ascent, breaking from their previous growth trendlines.
That is not a fundamentally driven move; that is solely speculation. As noted in the BIS report, for the first time in over 50 years, both gold and equities have shown “explosive behavior” simultaneously.
In prior episodes, such explosive behavior occurred separately. For example, gold saw a steep bubble in the late 1970s, culminating around 1980 during a period of high inflation. In that episode, gold peaked, then collapsed and spent decades losing relevance as a mainstream asset, illustrating the fleeting nature of speculative gold booms. On the equity side, previous bubbles, such as the late 1990s technology stock run-up, ended in sharp corrections when speculative exuberance outpaced fundamentals. Because the last time both markets were “bubbly” at once was over a half‑century ago, the BIS lacks a recent precedent for what could happen. The concern, however, is rather simplistic:
“If history repeats itself, overvaluation followed by reversion, investors could suffer steep losses in both their equity and gold holdings simultaneously, eliminating the traditional diversification benefit of holding both.”
I would read that again.
While the underlying drivers of the “double bubble” are multiple, this does not equate to a “this time is different” scenario. For example, while it is true that central banks have increased their purchases of bullion at a rate of approximately 1% annually over the last five years, these purchases are insignificant in terms of overall price appreciation. However, it has been retail investors, speculators, and professionals, drawn in by momentum, that have pushed gold prices sharply higher. That momentum chase, ETF inflows, and media coverage have caused investment dollars to flood into both gold and equity funds. As the BIS stated, ETF prices trading consistently above net asset value (NAV) is a clear sign of “strong buying pressure coupled with impediments to arbitrage.”
The result is a market environment where traditional relationships between risk and haven, growth and refuge, appear broken. As the BIS notes, the most significant risk of the “Double Bubble” is that what seems to be diversification may actually be concentrated risk.
Why This Matters
Re-read that last sentence from the BIS. For investors with invested capital, this matters deeply. While many are chasing gold and precious metals like silver higher, along with high-risk equities, leverage, and speculative trading activities, this is essentially a function of momentum chasing. This is illustrated in the chart below, which shows the annual rate of change in margin debt (leverage) alongside the annual rate of change in both equities and silver.
Yes, it remains the same for gold as well.
However, since most individuals do not understand the fundamental dynamics of “supply and demand” within traded assets, the media and promoters create “narratives” to support the price rise. Those narratives provide a comforting “calm” amid the “chaos,” but mask the risk that investors may unwittingly be taking on.
What Is Europe Anymore?
Slovak PM Fico Blast Brussels Warmongers, Wants No Part Of Western Europe If Russian & Ukrainian Lives Are "Worth Shit"
Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News,
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has said he will block any European Union solution that finances Ukraine’s military expenditures, accusing Western Europe of treating Russian and Ukrainian lives as being “worth shit” and of prolonging what he described as senseless bloodshed.
In a post on X, Fico said he had held an almost hour-long phone conversation with European Council President António Costa focused on EU funding for Ukraine.
“While he spoke about money for the war in Ukraine, I kept repeating the senseless daily killing of hundreds to thousands of Russians and Ukrainians,” Fico wrote.
“If for Western Europe the life of a Russian or a Ukrainian is worth shit, I do not want to be part of such a Western Europe.”
Fico said he told Costa that Slovakia would not support any measure leading to EU financing of Ukraine’s military costs, regardless of how long negotiations might last. “I told A. Costa that I will not support anything, even if we have to sit in Brussels until the New Year, which would lead to support for Ukraine’s military expenditures,” he wrote.
The post accompanied the publication of a formal letter sent by Fico to Costa and to all EU prime ministers ahead of the next European Council meeting, where the European Commission’s proposals to secure Ukraine’s financial needs for 2026 and 2027, including the possible use of frozen Russian assets, are expected to be discussed.
In the letter, Fico stated that Slovakia would not back any solution that includes funding Ukraine’s military expenses.
“At the upcoming European Council, I am not in the position to support any solution to Ukraine’s financial needs that would include covering Ukraine’s military expenses for the coming years,” he wrote.
Fico argued that there was no military solution to the conflict and that continued arms financing was extending the war.
“The policy of peace that I consistently advocate prevents me from voting in favor of prolonging military conflict, because providing tens of billions of euros for military spending is prolonging the war,” he said.
He also warned against using frozen Russian assets for military purposes, arguing this could undermine peace efforts, including those led by the United States, which he said envisaged using such assets for Ukraine’s postwar reconstruction. He recalled raising these concerns at an informal EU meeting in Angola and pointed to corruption risks in Ukraine.
Somali Shakedown Street
Luxury Cars, Private Villas And Stacks Of Cash: How Somali Fraudsters Spent Minnesotans' Money
Luxury cars. Private villas. First-class flights. And taxpayer money meant to feed hungry kids.
New exhibits from court obtained by CBS News reveal how Somali defendants in one of the largest COVID-era fraud schemes in US history plowed through hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer money on lavish lifestyles - including lakefront Minnesota properties, overwater bungalows in the Maldives, a Porsche Macan, stacks of cash, designer jewelry, campaigne-soaked vacations, and overseas wire transfers.
Videos show defendants in the case celebrating poolside at a Madlives luxury resort.
In one text, a defendant bragged: "You are gonna be the richest 25 year old InshaAllah [God willing]."
Exhibits entered into evidence include:
- A confirmation email for a stay in an overwater villa with a private pool at Radisson Blu Resort Maldives
- Lakefront property in Minnesota
- Receipts showing wire transfers to China and East Africa
- First class tickets to Istanbul and Amsterdam
- A 2021 Porsche Macan
- Stacks of cash, texted between defendants
Millions for 'Meals' That Never Existed
At the center of the scandal is a nonprofit-backed food program that prosecutors say was systematically exploited. One defendant alone billed the state for $47 million, claiming to have served 18 million meals at more than 30 locations - while failing to distribute a single meal, according to prosecutors.
Among those sentenced is Abdimajid Mohamed Nur, 24, who used stolen taxpayer funds to finance luxury travel and high-end purchases. At sentencing, U.S. District Judge Nancy E. Brasel issued a sharp rebuke, telling him: “Where others saw a crisis and rushed to help, you saw money and rushed to steal.”
Nur was sentenced to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $48 million in restitution.
Cash Flows Overseas — and Unanswered Questions
The defendants also wired millions of dollars overseas, including to banks and companies in China, East Africa, and Kenya. Investigators say tracing funds routed through China is especially difficult, calling it an investigative “black hole.”
One defendant, Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, 36, sent more than $1 million to Chinese banks in six separate wire transfers in 2021 and nearly $3 million to Kenyan accounts. In one text message, Farah instructed someone to send money to Mogadishu’s Bakara Market, a location once controlled by al Shabaab.
Farah, who owned a Minnesota restaurant contracted to provide meals under the program, was sentenced last month to 28 years in prison. At sentencing, a judge said his crimes were driven by “pure, unmitigated greed.”
Terror Funding? Officials Say No Evidence... So Far
The scale of the fraud has reignited political scrutiny. House Republicans recently launched a probe into Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s handling of the case, while the Treasury Department announced it is reviewing whether stolen funds could have reached extremist organizations - with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent revealing that investigators are tracking the overseas transfers. That said, CBS News sources tell the outlet that they have yet to uncover evidence that taxpayer money made it to terrorist group al Shabaab.
What Ceasefire?
IDF Strike In Gaza City
The fragile Gaza ceasefire continues hanging only by a thread, with Hamas condemning the latest Saturday Israeli attack against a high-profile official.
The Israeli military (IDF) announce it targeted a vehicle in Gaza City on Saturday that was carrying Raed Saad, a senior Hamas commander, which Israel has identified one of the planners of the Oct. 7, 2023 terror attacks.
An IDF spokesperson later announced on social media that Saad had been killed, while Palestinian sources did not immediately confirm or deny, but only said the strike killed four people.
Saad reporteldy headed Hamas’ weapons production division, while Hamas itself has verified that he's the deputy leader of the group's armed wing.
The Israeli military announced via a social media post: "Every place where we identify that Hamas is trying to regroup, we act. Earlier today, the IDF eliminated Raad Saad, whose elimination constitutes a blow to Hamas's attempts at regrouping and strengthening. We will not allow our enemies to regroup and rebuild their strength. We will continue to be committed to continuing the ceasefire agreement."
But Hamas of course sees this as another violation of the ceasefire terms. Since the ceasefire took effect, dozens of Palestinians have been killed.
Often in these incidents the IDF says its forces were provoked, and that it retains to right to respond, and to go after 'terrorists'. There's been a similar rationale offered in this case of the assassination of Saad:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz, in a joint statement, said that Saad was killed in response to the injury of two troops by an explosive in southern Gaza several hours prior.
In its own statement, the IDF said that in recent weeks, "repeated attempts by the Hamas terror organization to carry out terrorist attacks were identified, including the use of explosive devices against IDF troops, actions that constitute a blatant violation of the agreement, as occurred this morning."
Axios is reporting that Israel did not give prior notice to Washington ahead of the strike, but the Trump admin is unlikely to object to such a high level terror target being taken out.
NYC Lawlessness
DOT Finds Half Of NY Commercial Drivers Are Illegals, Threatens To Pull $73 Million In Federal Funding
The Department of Transportation is threatening to pull $73 million in federal highway funding from New York after an audit found that half of the state's commercial trucking licenses were issued to illegal immigrants.
"What New York does is if an applicant comes in and they have a work authorization — for 30 days, 60 days, one year — New York automatically issues them an eight-year commercial driver’s license," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Friday during a press conference at DOT headquarters, adding "That's contrary to law."
"But we also found that New York many times won’t even verify whether they have a work authorization, they have a visa, or they’re in the country legally.
"So they’re just giving eight-year commercial driver’s licenses to people who are coming through their DMV and sending them out on American roadways — and again they’re endangering the lives of American families."
Duffy's warning came after the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration analyzed 200 non-domiciled commercial driver's licenses (CDLs) issued by the New York DMV, and found that 107 were issued illegally.
DOT officials are also investigating whether a Chinese national accused of causing a fatal pileup in Tennessee was illegally issued a CDL by New York State.
"You don’t just drive in New York if you get a New York commercial driver’s license - you drive around the country," noted Duffy, who's given NY Governor Kathy Hochul and other officials 30 days to revoke all CDLs issued to illegals, pause any new licenses for learner's permits from being issued, and conduct their own full investigation. If they don't, $73 million in federal funding could be pulled.
Saturday, December 13, 2025
Cop Against Cop
Mamdani Suggests NYPD May Arrest ICE Agents Enforcing Federal Law
During an interview with MSNOW Senior Political and National Reporter Jacob Soboroff, New York City Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani faced pointed questions about whether his rhetoric on accountability extends to federal immigration enforcement, and Mamdani suggested his police force might arrest federal officers enforcing federal immigration laws.
Soboroff didn't dance around the issue, asking directly whether there's a scenario where the NYPD under Mamdani's leadership could arrest ICE agents on city streets for their treatment of illegal immigrants.
“I've also heard you say that no one is above the law and anyone can be held accountable, and that goes for the president of the United States, and it also goes for ICE agents,” Soboroff began.
“I don't want to put words in your mouth, but is there a scenario in which the NYPD, under you, could arrest ICE agents on the streets of New York for their behavior towards immigrants?”
Mamdani initially tried to avoid answering the question.
“My focus is for the NYPD to not be assisting ICE in their immigration enforcement and to actually be following the policies of sanctuary city law,” he said.
But he didn't stop there.
"I do believe, however, that, for the law to have meaning, there has to be accountability for all of us," Mamdani continued, framing the issue as one of equal justice rather than what it actually is—a direct challenge to federal authority.
He insisted this accountability must apply "no matter who we're referring to," suggesting ICE agents enjoy no special status in his vision of law enforcement.
Soboroff, however, seemed to want a more concrete answer and pressed about whether ICE agents could actually be arrested by NYPD officers.
“So, in other words, there is a circumstance in which if an ICE agent violates someone's rights here in New York City, they could be arrested by the police department?” he asked.
Mamdani did not deny it.
Invasion Accomplished
Joe Kent Sounds Alarm: Biden's Border Invasion Flooded Nation With 18,000 Known And Suspected Terrorists
In the wake of last month's shooting of two National Guard service members just blocks from the White House by a radicalized Afghan national who entered the U.S. under the Biden-Harris regime, National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent warned the House Homeland Security Committee that the Homeland faces an elevated terrorism risk tied to years of nation-killing open border policies.
On Thursday, Kent testified that the NCTC has identified 18,000 "known and suspected terrorists that the Biden administration let come into our country."
He continued, "These are individuals who, under normal circumstances, would never be allowed to enter our country because of their ties to jihadi groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda. Yet, the Biden administration not only let them into the country, but in many cases facilitated their entry into the country."
Kent's testimony and exchanges with members of Congress provided a glimpse into what some of the deepest national security circles in Washington are clearly thinking, informed by their intelligence sources both overseas and domestically.
Kent called Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the Afghan national who entered the U.S. in 2021 under Biden and shot the soldiers in D.C., killing one, "the Afghan terrorist."
"The individual terrorist who committed the attack in D.C. was vetted to serve as a soldier in Afghanistan. The Biden administration essentially used his tactical-level vetting, and we are seeing the tragic results of that now," he said, adding, "That Afghan attacker is just one of 88,000. We've identified 2,000 who have ties to terrorist organizations."
One of the few other individuals in the public domain who has warned repeatedly, sometimes in a sensational way, is former CIA targeting officer Sarah Adams. She has warned about al-Qaeda sleeper cells.
More recently, Adams warned, "It's past time @DHSgov stops playing pretend and finally raises the terrorism threat level in this country. We have more than 10,000 Islamist terrorists on our soil, and they cannot keep looking the other way. They don't get to pad their stats by slapping the terrorist label on everyday criminals while ignoring the actual extremists already here. This is dereliction, full stop."
That may be the real reason the Trump administration has deployed National Guard troops in several major cities. There is clearly much the public is not being told, and the threat cannot be dismissed, given that the previous administration intentionally collapsed the nation's border and allowed for an invasion. Kent's comments reinforce the urgency in national security circles to address incoming threats to the Homeland.
Must Sell War
Europe Continues To Interfere In Ukraine's Last Chance For Peace
For those who understand the basics of attrition warfare, the outcome of the fight in Ukraine was obvious a long time ago. Russia's superior logistical position along with its grinding offensive tactics have worn down Ukraine's defenses and left the country with a desperate manpower shortage. The recent capture of the vital hub of Pokrovsk has now opened the door to an accelerating Russian advance.
The Russian offensive is gaining significant ground from Pokrovsk to the north, all the way to Kupiansk. The strategic city of Siversk is now largely under control of Russia according to geo-location mapping. Myrnohrad, also near Pokrovsk, has been flattened by artillery and FABs.
Ukraine's ability to stall Russian forces is faltering, allowing the Kremlin to move troops in a swift manner closer to maneuver warfare instead of the slow and methodical process of attrition. Ukraine continues to deny they are in trouble, but the writing is on the wall.
This helps to explain Europe's sudden interest in "peace negotiation", but not for the purposes of establishing actual peace. First and foremost, we know Europe is not interested in peace because they largely refuse to engage directly with Putin and Russia in negotiations.
Instead, European leaders continue to pretend as if they can establish a peace deal unilaterally without involving the Kremlin. They have also consistently tried to sabotage Donald Trump's efforts for a quick resolution by deluding Zelensky with promises of access to Russian assets.
The Europeans have in fact announced their plan to confiscate Russian assets that have been frozen since the beginning of the war, using them to help fund Ukraine's military and infrastructure. Trump had initially intended to use those assets as a bargaining chip to convince the Russians to support his peace plan.
Zelensky and European officials have spoken often about sustaining the war for at least another two years, which is foolish given the current state of Ukraine's front lines. Russia does not need to conquer vast swaths of territory to win, all Russia needs to do is kill Ukrainian troops until there aren't enough left to maintain a proper defensive line. After that, Zelensky will lose the whole country, not just the eastern third.
Europe also continues to push for troop deployments, using NATO as a "peacekeeping force" as part of the negotiations. Putin has repeatedly stated that this would lead to wider war. After all, it was the encroachment of NATO into Ukraine over a decade ago that ultimately triggered the current war.
In a recent admission, Trump asserted that there will be no more handouts from the US to Ukraine, ending speculation on whether or not the hundreds of billions of dollars in US aid would continue under his administration. The statement comes just after Trump's revelation that Zelensky "had not even read the US peace proposal" despite other Ukrainian officials supporting the plan.
NATO and EU leaders claim that Russia is in financial peril due to sanctions and other measures, but there isn't enough evidence to support this theory. Russia has seen a slowdown in GDP and PMI,
Sick And Tired
U.S. Military Readiness Is Under Threat By Doctor Shortages
Authored by Jeff Morris via RealClearDefense,
According to the Association of the U.S. Army, the crisis of doctor shortages has been increasing for years, which negatively affects military readiness. Their own report cited the inability of the Army, Navy, and Air Force to recruit and retain enough doctors. As the number of military physicians has consistently decreased, the armed services have been forced to close some hospitals, to lower other hospitals to clinic status, and to use nurses and technicians as "physician extenders.”
More recently, leading U.S. physicians have spoken out about the largest healthcare monopoly in the country that we have ever seen, which also involves our medical residency programs. This too affects military readiness.
A renowned doctor recently wrote an OpEd in the Wall Street Journal scratching the surface on this crisis. He described how the private American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) acts like a regulator, hamstringing physicians with endless fees, paperwork, and testing.
Not only doctors are sounding the alarm. Adam Candeub, leading antitrust attorney and current General Counsel to the FCC, stated in his white paper titled The American Board of Medical Specialties: Certification and The Need for Antitrust Enforcement, that “board certification serves as medicine’s gatekeeper.” He went on to say that “competition among organizations providing these certification services drives innovation and lowers healthcare costs. The domination of the American Board of Medical Specialists (ABMS) over certification is dramatically raising certification costs and indirectly accreditation costs throughout medicine, decreasing access to physicians, increasing already exploding medical budgets, and reducing healthcare innovation.”
The urgent issue is this self proclaimed “Gold Standard and Gatekeeper” has created the largest monopoly in physician care that we’ve ever seen. All the while contributing to our current and growing physician shortages. It is important to note that testing is a key component that ensures physicians meet the very standards needed for higher quality care for all Americans.
The ABMS has long been working with the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) to corner the market on physician board certification. Their collusive relationship, which began when ABMS co-founded the ACGME, can be considered one of the root causes of physician shortages throughout the country, the military, and within key specialties. The impact can be seen in every aspect of our health care system, greatly contributing to shortages in specialties within primary care, especially access to much-needed specialties for 21st-century medicine throughout rural America. These include emergency and integrative medicine as well as family medicine obstetrics.
Southern DMZ In Effect
Land Along Southern Border Is Transferred to Navy To Become Part Of 'National Defense Area'
Authored by Jacob Burg via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
The Trump administration said on Dec. 10 that it would transfer roughly 760 acres of public land along the U.S.-Mexico border in California to the Navy for three years to support border security operations.
While announcing the decision Wednesday, the Interior Department said the land would become part of a “National Defense Area,” or militarized zone, to bolster immigration enforcement.
The land stretches from roughly a mile west of the California-Arizona state line to the western edge of the Otay Mountain Wilderness Area in San Diego and Imperial counties, according to the Interior Department.
“This corridor is one of the highest-traffic regions for unlawful crossings along the southern border, creating significant national security challenges and contributing to environmental degradation,” the department said.
The Interior Department said the land was originally set aside in 1907 by President Theodore Roosevelt for “border protection purposes,” and the Navy will use it to “strengthen operational capabilities while reducing ecological harm associated with sustained illegal activity.”
Since April, the federal government has transferred large portions of land along the southern border to the military, allowing troops to detain migrants attempting to cross the border or arrest people accused of trespassing on military bases.
The process began with a 170-mile swath of land along the border in New Mexico before the government expanded into Texas and Arizona.
While the Interior Department referred to the Southern California lands as a high-traffic area for illegal border crossings, arrests along the U.S.-Mexico border have dropped to the lowest level since the 1960s as the Trump administration continues its crackdown on illegal immigration.
“President Trump has made it clear that securing our border and restoring American sovereignty are top national priorities,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement.
“This action delivers on that commitment. By working with the Navy to close longstanding security gaps, we are strengthening national defense, protecting our public lands from unlawful use, and advancing the president’s agenda to put the safety and security of the American people first.”
The department said it coordinated closely with the Navy to make sure that the transfer is targeted and legal and that it reinforces the “historic role public lands have played in safeguarding national sovereignty.”
Good For Scrap Parts
Cry The Beloved Europe?
Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via American Greatness,
Nothing bothers the European elite as much as American conservatives praising the European foundations of their shared, but threatened, Western civilization.
Europeans especially resent having their social-welfare state system critiqued by upstart, crass Americans.
Their pique only increases as they push back against the condescending American idea that the U.S. could possibly offer any constructive advice, much less help a more civilized Europe follow the “American model.”
Americans, in turn, are worried that Europe is not just stagnating but is on a trajectory of permanent decline—with dire consequences for the entire Western world.
As for symptoms, the U.S. cites a steadily declining European share of world GDP. It points to Europe’s unsustainable 1.39 fertility rate, which ensures a steadily smaller, older, and costlier native population.
More than ten percent of Europe’s resident population is now foreign-born—some 45 million people. However, the European host, unlike a classless America, does not have a long tradition of melting-pot assimilation, integration, and acculturation.
Unlike America’s mostly Christian-nation immigration patterns, European immigrants are predominantly from the Middle East and North Africa, Islamic, and increasingly anti-Western.
Far too many of Europe’s immigrants profess too little desire to assimilate into what they consider a culturally decadent place—one that, ironically, they have no desire to leave.
The Christian Church, the linchpin of Western civilization, was born in Europe. Yet nowhere do atheism, agnosticism, and open hostility to Christendom grow stronger.
Europe, the birthplace of a dynamic Western military tradition, has been, by contemporary standards and at least until recently, virtually disarmed and unable to protect its own borders or interests.
Europe’s overregulation and war on fossil fuels, combined with a generous social welfare state, have resulted in too little revenue and too many costly dependents.
Americans dare to lecture Europe because the same Western pathologies—open borders, unassimilated immigrants, tribalism, declining fertility, green fanaticism, unsustainable budget deficits, and massive national debt—are likewise beginning to threaten America.
But unlike Europe, millions of Americans at the eleventh hour are galvanizing to stop their own insidious downward spiral.
Friday, December 12, 2025
On Drugs
'Consumer' Watchdog Group Bought & Paid For By Big Pharma
The National Consumers League is America’s oldest consumer advocacy organization and a group trusted by the left, especially, to stand up for consumers’ interests.
But according to a review of its tax filings by the Washington Examiner, it has also become part of a web of astroturf groups shilling for the corporate interests of PhRMA, the massive drugmaker trade association that operates in Washington, DC, which donated close to $1 million to it just last year.
The organization’s 2024 tax form, which became available a few days ago, shows that the non-profit spent close to $600 million last year advocating for Big Pharma’s financial interests and policy agenda in Washington, DC, and state capitals across the country.
And a key way in which that advocacy was accomplished was through the National Consumers League, also known as NCL.
The Examiner reports that “PhRMA donated roughly $2 million to NCL between 2020 and 2024, including $875,000 in 2024 alone.”
During that time, NCL has hewed closely to PhRMA issue positions on matters including regulation of insurers that negotiate for lower drug prices for Americans (also known as PBMs), and the 340B drug discount program that disproportionately benefits red, rural America.
But a review of content historically featured on NCL’s website indicates that prior to taking PhRMA money, the group never criticized PBMs or 340B.
When asked for comment by the Examiner, NCL did not deny that their criticism of PBMs and 340B was related to the PhRMA funding, and they confirmed “that contributions from PhRMA support [the group’s] ‘healthcare work.'”
The Examiner has previously reported on apparent astroturf, “pay-to-play” advocacy efforts undertaken by PhRMA.
The Wall Street Journal also ran an exposé about PhRMA’s tactics in the nation’s capital, including what critics say looks like a “buying off” of supposed progressive “identity” groups like Black, Gifted & Whole– a group focused on “Black Queer men”– and MANA, A National Latina Organization.
NCL has also engaged on other issues where major industries have policy issues at stake, including higher interest rate short-term small dollar lending. Some credit unions support regulation of the annual percentage rate attached to such loans, but not the regulation of APRs on overdraft fees, which sometimes exceed more than 1000%.
The Somali Way?
Border Tsar Homan Announces Investigation Into Rep. Omar: A Case For Fraud Or Defamation?
This week, the lingering allegations over the marital history of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.) took an ominous step when Border Tsar Tom Homan publicly acknowledged that the government is looking into the matter.
Rep. Omar has long denied that she married her brother to gain his entry into the United States, but the allegation has continued to rage on the Internet and among her critics.
The question is whether this is a substantive case of fraud or defamation.
Homan stated that he was investigating whether Omar committed immigration fraud, but also noted that the statute of limitations has been an issue.
In his comment to Newsmax, Homan stated:
“I just got advised by a fraud investigator the other day on that. I asked the question, can we review the files? You know, there was immigration fraud involved. The statute of limitation became an issue in the last four years when this was first brought up…Pulling the records now, pulling the files, and we’re looking at it. But this fraud investigator, who I know personally, one of the best fraud investigators in HSI, Homeland Security Investigations, said there’s no doubt he’d review the file. So, I’m running that down this week as a matter of fact, and we’ll see.”
According to her congressional biography, Omar came to the United States with her family in the 1990s. As I have previously noted, the election of a young immigrant to Congress is genuinely remarkable and commendable.
The questions arose regarding her marriage to Ahmed Elmi in 2009. Elmi was back in the news this week with postings highlighting his lifestyle as a “dirty dandy.” Critics charged that he is actually her brother. The couple divorced in 2017, and no DNA evidence has been offered to support the claim that they are siblings.
President Donald Trump and others have been ratcheting up the rhetoric against Omar and the Somali population in Minnesota. Many of us have objected to some of the attacks on Omar as offensive. As I have previously written, the call for foreign-born U.S. citizens to “go back to their own country” has been made for decades against foreign-born U.S. citizens. However, such attacks are generally protected speech.
The allegation against Rep. Omar is not opinion, but a statement of fact.
Many news organizations have referred to the allegation as “debunked” and “unsupported.”
DeBanking Is Cranking
OCC Says 9 Big Banks Took Part In 'Inappropriate' Debanking Practices
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has released a report saying that the nine largest lenders in the U.S. made “inappropriate distinctions” that it used to restrict services among certain customers.
Following the signing of an executive order by President Donald Trump in August of this year, the OCC began reviewing all banks for any current or past practices that effectively barred customers on the basis of political or religious belief.
Wednesday, the OCC released its report, saying that it had found conclusive proof that nine large banks had policies that either refused services to some industries or required higher levels of scrutiny that exceeded the actual financial risks between 2020 and 2023.
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