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| Scott Bessent |
Beyond belief... Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claims the decision to ban New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News, arguably the three most sophisticated financial outlets in the US, from the G20 summit of economic policymakers “had nothing to do with point of view.”
Pinocchio must have been Scott’s favorite movie as a kid.
The timing of the Asheville gathering was tough for Scott, coming on the heels of the bond market sell-off. Bessent tried to downplay that carnage. “I don't think we are in any kind of a dire situation... The US bond market has been the best-performing bond market. What happens over a month doesn’t matter.”
Maybe, but what about the increase in the national debt that has occurred under Bessent’s watch.
The debt, which was $36.2T at the beginning of Donald Trump’s second term, has now crossed the $40T mark.
The Times, WSJ and Bloomberg need to do more digging into the explosive growth of debt during the Trump/Bessent administration.
Let’s hope America’s top media are not banned from the G20 Leaders’ Summit set for December at Trump’s Miami golf club.
Taking a page from Scott’s book. The Republican party has yanked the credentials of CBC/Radio-Canada for its Sept. 9-10 convention in Texas.
It said the decision has nothing to do with Trump’s launch of an all-out trade war with Canada, and his administration’s cheap shots against the country’s military and leadership.
The GOP claims it withdrew the credentials because of CBC/Radio-Canada’s past practice of not referring to the Sept. 11 attacks as “terrorism” without attribution.
Allowing CBC/Radio-Canada to cover the Dallas event would be an “insult” to victims of the worst terrorist attack in the US, said the Republican National Committee’s letter to the broadcaster.
The reality: the ban prevents journalists from the CBC/Radio-Canada the opportunity to ask Trump and Republican leaders about the administration’s policies that are having a negative impact on their country’s economy.
Most Americans agree with their northern cousins. Launching a trade war against our top ally is not only vindictive, but downright crazy.
Catching the corruption wave… Nearly nine in ten (89 percent) of Americans perceive the US government as corrupt, according to a Gallup poll released Sept. 2.
That’s the highest level in 20 years, and up a robust 10 percent points from a year ago. The Don and his family are on a roll.
Ninety-one percent of Democrats, 90 percent of Independents and 83 percent of Republicans view the government as corrupt.
The US and the 38 countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development are diverging on the perception of corruption.
The median level of perceived corruption in the OECD nations dropped from 69 percent in 2009 to 60 percent in 2022 and 59 percent in 2025.
The reverse is happening here. The US is poised to join the ranks of the all-time perceived corruption leaders.
Lebanon scored 92 percent in 2024, Peru hit 92 percent in 2025, and Ghana and Nigeria clocked in at 90 percent in 2024.
The lame duck Trump family is sure to grab all that it can during the president’s last two years in office.
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