The impact of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank has everyone holding their breadth this morning.
It’s the largest bank to fail since the 2008 financial crisis, and you know what happened then.
Play close attention today. Everything fell apart then because the banks were lending out money to people who couldn’t pay it back. It caused the housing bubble to bust.
Who’s to blame now? Watch how both sides try to spin it.
Progressives and some investors are blaming the Federal Reserve for its rapid interest rate hikes. They claim this has burdened many lenders.
Let’s remind them that we have rate hikes because the run away spending has driven inflation and the fed is trying to rein it in.
Some will say that deregulation of banks removed critical safeguards.
Others say regulators failed to spot red flags in the bank’s investment portfolio and customer base.
You want to know who to blame?
Try the leadership of Silicon Valley Bank. I think you’ll find the problem there.
Treasury Secretary Yellen made it clear on Sunday that the U.S. is “not going to do that again” when asked whether a government bailout is being considered. “But we are concerned about depositors and are focused on trying to meet their needs,” she said.
Minus a bailout, there are many companies (and individuals) who are going to lose a lot of money and maybe their company.
Remember, funds are guaranteed up to $250,000 only.
The best solution (and government hope) is that another bank buys Silicon Valley before the stock market opens today.
Everyone was waiting to see which Republican was going to take on former President Trump first.
The surprise this weekend is it was his former VP. Did you see some of the comments?
Pence began his speech at the writers dinner with a joke about himself:
“Sorry I was running a little late tonight. There were a few more boxes I needed to drop off at the National Archives.”
Then he turned to his old boss with comments like this:
“I read that some of those classified documents they found at Mar-a-Lago were actually stuck in the president’s Bible — which proves he absolutely had no idea they were there.”
“It’s true that I am a man of deep faith,” he said. “In fact, my preferred pronouns are ‘thou’ and ‘thine’.
I once invited President Trump to Bible study. That was an experience.
He really liked the passages about the smiting and perishing of thine enemies.
As he put it: “Ya know, Mike, there’s some really good stuff in here!”
Then he took off on Trump and Jan. 6th.
“History will hold Donald Trump accountable for Jan. 6,” he said. “Make no mistake about it.
What happened that day was a disgrace, and it mocks decency to portray it in any other way. President Trump was wrong. His reckless words endangered my family and everyone at the Capitol that day.”
I was surprised the former President was quiet yesterday. I know a response is forthcoming.
President Biden angered many in his party last week when he backed off supporting the crime bill passed in DC. They felt betrayed.
Well, the news this weekend is he is ready to approve an Alaskan Oil project that he once stopped.
There was immediate outcry from the left in his party.
Both moves show an administration moving to the middle in anticipation of a 2024 run.
My questions are:
Why did we have to go through the crime pain and raising oil prices to try and move back to the middle in two years?
Didn’t you realize the American people did not want either of these?
One major foreign policy event this weekend will have ramifications for the years ahead for two reasons.
It is the agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran to restore diplomatic ties that had been cut several years ago.
That is big for the region, and the scope of the agreement can change the balance of power in the region. Iran remains the world’s largest supporter of terrorist activity.
The second reason is that the mediator of the agreement was China.
It marks China as a world power in this region, and the agreement rocked the free world, who were unaware that talks were underway.