It’s Thursday…
Shitshow’s public schedule for…
Propaganda Barbie is still on maternity leave. Instead of sending out one of Propaganda Barbie’s backup dolls, this administration has decided to parade the cabinet peeps out in front of the cameras instead.
Today’s contestant in the “defend the chaos” rotation is Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
Bessent:
Sir, on the economy, two words, resilience and prosperity. The continued resilience of the economy speaks for itself, even during the Iran — the conflict, and it speaks to the strength of your leadership. Pro-growth policies are creating conditions for American families and businesses to prosper. We’re entering the second half of our 250th anniversary year with renewed optimism and momentum.
RollCall.com. 05/07/2026.
renewed optimism
WSJ (05/22/2026):
Higher gasoline prices and the tense standoff in the Middle East helped push consumer sentiment to a new all-time low in May, with rising anxiety about future inflation, according to the University of Michigan’s monthly survey.
The survey’s headline index declined to 44.8 this month, from April’s 49.8, per results published Friday morning. The April reading was itself the lowest final number ever recorded to that point. An initial May reading published earlier this month came in at 48.2.
Consumers’ grim mood spanned people from both political parties and reflected concerns about high living costs and the prospect of more inflation ahead, the survey’s director Joanne Hsu, said.
WSJ (05/22/2026).
Bessent Con’t:
It has never been a better time to be an American. And as you said earlier, we have a record number of Americans working. The economy that you are building is not only strong, but secure and resilient and better positioned to compete globally. Real GDP has risen 2.7 percent over the past four quarters, something that many economists said couldn’t be done.
In the first quarter of 2026, despite the Iran conflict, GDP grew at a 2 percent annual rate. The Atlanta Fed GDP now is predicting 4.3 percent for this quarter. In terms of prices, I believe the prices are transitory. Oil will be lower than pre-conflict levels when this ends. Natural gas is already down.
RollCall.com. 05/07/2026.
The Atlanta Fed GDP now is predicting 4.3 percent for this quarter.
Atlanta Fed.org. 05/21/2026:
The GDPNow model estimate for real GDP growth (seasonally adjusted annual rate) in the second quarter of 2026 is 4.3 percent on May 21, up from 4.0 percent on May 14. After recent releases from the US Census Bureau and the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, the nowcasts of second-quarter real personal consumption expenditures growth and second-quarter real gross private domestic investment growth increased from 2.7 percent and 10.2 percent, respectively, to 2.9 percent and 11.4 percent.
[they warn]
GDPNow is not an official forecast of the Atlanta Fed. Rather, it is best viewed as a running estimate of real GDP growth based on available economic data for the current measured quarter. There are no subjective adjustments made to GDPNow—the estimate is based solely on the mathematical results of the model.
Atlanta Fed.org. 05/21/2026.
BEA.gov released the GDP numbers for the first quarter on Thursday morning:
Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 1.6 percent in the first quarter of 2026 (January, February, and March), according to the second estimate released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the fourth quarter of 2025, real GDP increased 0.5 percent.
Compared to the fourth quarter of 2025, the acceleration in real GDP in the first quarter of 2026 reflected upturns in government spending and exports and an acceleration in investment that were partly offset by a deceleration in consumer spending. Imports turned up.
Real final sales to private domestic purchasers, the sum of consumer spending and gross private fixed investment, increased 2.4 percent in the first quarter, revised down 0.1 percentage point from the previous estimate.
The price index for gross domestic purchases increased 3.5 percent in the first quarter, revised down 0.1 percentage point from the previous estimate. The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index increased 4.5 percent, the same as previously estimated, and the PCE price index excluding food and energy increased 4.4 percent, revised up 0.1 percentage point.
BEA.gov. 05/28/2026.
The Atlanta Fed GDP now website has been updated with today’s data. June 1st, they will release more predictions.
Quick Hits:
Yesterday in Beth’s Note Article she shared this article:
The Pentagon is feeling the financial squeeze and is struggling in some cases to carry out routine training and maintenance amid its ongoing operations against Iran, with uniformed military leaders pressing Congress to support additional funding. https://cnn.it/4nT5nkc
— CNN (@cnn.com) May 27, 2026 at 6:30 AM
[image or embed]
The Pentagon is feeling the financial squeeze and is struggling in some cases to carry out routine training and maintenance amid its ongoing operations against Iran, with uniformed military leaders pressing Congress to support additional funding.
The Navy’s top officer, Adm. Daryl Caudle, told House Armed Services Committee lawmakers earlier this month that his 2026 budget “didn’t bake in [Operation] Epic Fury” and that the Navy faces impacts on “routine operations” as a result.
That includes having to limit training exercises, flight training hours and training for new recruits, he said.
“My record recruiting is going to be thwarted without additional funding to [move] those individuals from boot camp and to pay enlistment and reenlistment bonuses,” Caudle told lawmakers.
CNN. 05/27/2026.
And the whole time I was reading it. I was thinking about:
Money to rebuild after the UFC fight in DC at the White House.
Construction underway on a temporary arena that will host the UFC Freedom 250 fight card on the South Lawn of the White House
— Acyn (@Acyn) May 27, 2026
📸 REUTERS/Kylie Cooper pic.twitter.com/LeLB17HFqw
The Arc de Trump that Puddle wants to build in DC has an estimated price tag of $100 million.
Fast Company (05/22/2026): A new concept design presented at the May 21 meeting of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) includes several major—and expensive—changes to the project. New details include an internal gallery floor with three event spaces, four elevators inside the vertical supports of the arch and a fifth elevator between the gallery floor and the observation deck, four spiral staircases, and a ground-floor ticketing area. The cost of the project is estimated to be at least $100 million.
Republicans on The Hill have requested $1 billion to complete the ballroom and other East Wing renovations.
The Department of Defense has also requested an additional billion dollars to fund Puddles choice war against Iran.
The DOJ slush fund to pay people for attempting a coup.
GOP Senator Susan Collins on Trump’s $1.8B slush fund
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) May 21, 2026
“I do not support the weaponization fund as it has been described. I do not believe individuals that were convicted of violence against police officers on Jan. 6 should be entitled to reimbursement of their legal fees.”
—CNN https://t.co/U197yFpPwL pic.twitter.com/4LQWM79pY8
How we might be in two wars at the same time, again.
US has the troops in place to attack Cuba https://t.co/DitJYQWWdI
— POLITICO (@politico) May 27, 2026
The armada in the region is slightly smaller than it was in January when the U.S. captured Maduro. But the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group entered the Caribbean in May, along with several guided missile destroyers and cruisers that can launch precision missiles at targets onshore. An array of advanced American drones and surveillance aircraft have also circled Cuba for months, according to flight tracking sites. The USS Kearsarge amphibious ships and escorts, which carry 2,500 Marines, are off the coast of Virginia preparing for a new deployment, and could replace some ships heading home.
The surge provides a variety of military options, although the Pentagon would need additional troops for a massive ground invasion.
The Nimitz arrived in the region on the same day as the U.S. indicted former president Raul Castro, in what appeared a public show of force. “The Nimitz is likely there primarily for intimidation, though it could be used in a military operation if needed,” said Mark Cancian, a former Pentagon official and now a senior analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The ship, along with fighter planes based in Florida and Puerto Rico, would probably play a role in any military action in Cuba, he said. “Air strikes are possible to take out their air defenses to allow broader air operations or, perhaps, destroy their leadership with the idea of establishing a relationship as we have with Venezuela. Raul Castro would be their first target.”
Politico. 05/27/2026.
It’s just reckless spending on top of spending all while the VP runs around with his fraud task force telling us how much money they will recover.
It’s just bullshit.
This is an Open Thread
PS.
I know today’s post is super late; but I got myself stuck in another rabbit whole of stupid.
