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🇺🇸 To The Republic, Which Does Not Stand

🇺🇸 To The Republic, Which Does Not Stand

Plus, these are the best states in the US...

May 03, 2023

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Good morning, and happy Wednesday! An “extraordinary” 2,000-year-old Roman statue was found at a Goodwill in Texas...

Plus, the rankings are out. These are the best states in the US according to US News & World Report.

Also, these are the 10 most in-demand skills employers want to see on your resume right now.

FLAG POLLS

🐘 Tuesday, May 2, Republican Presidential Nomination 2024: Trump 58, DeSantis 22, Pence 5, Haley 4, Ramaswamy 5, Christie 2, Scott, Youngkin, Sununu, Hutchinson 1 (CBS News/YouGov)

🐎 Tuesday, May 2, Nevada: Trump vs. Biden: Biden 48, Trump 40, (Nevada Independent)

🐎 Tuesday, May 2, Nevada: DeSantis vs. Biden: Biden 43, DeSantis 42, (Nevada Independent)

📉 Tuesday, May 2, President Biden Job Approval: Approve 46, Disapprove 52 (Rasmussen Reports)

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Arrest Made in Texas Slaughter, Border Boost, Stock Trading Ban Alliance

US: Authorities Catch Illegal Alien Accused Of Murdering 5 Neighbors In Texas (Daily Wire)

Economy: Treasury's Yellen says US could default as soon as June 1 (AP) + House Democrats Set Up Procedural Move to Force Debt Limit Vote (Bloomberg)

US: Biden admin to send 1,500 troops to southern border for support roles ahead of expected migrant surge (CNN)

US: White House pressed on Biden's refusal to recognize Hunter's love child as son appears in court for child support case (NY Post)

UK: Man arrested outside Buckingham Palace after throwing suspected shotgun cartridges over gates, police say (CBS News)

US: AOC, Gaetz unite to ban members of Congress from trading stocks (Axios)

US: Trump kicks NBC reporter off plane, slams network as 'fake news:' 'Get him out of here' (Fox News)

FINANCE

To the Republic, Which Does Not Stand

Earlier this week, the federal government seized First Republic Bank and arranged for the sale of its assets to JPMorgan Chase, marking the third failure of a US regional bank since March. Three of the four largest bank collapses in US history happened over the past two months.

Reporting from The Right: JPMorgan Chase, The Nation's Largest Bank, Acquires First Republic Bank After Government Takeover Ben Zeisloft, Daily Wire

Reporting from The Left: White House banking headache won't end with First Republic deal Stephen Collinson, CNN

From The Flag: First Republic was unable to deal with mounting losses in its bond portfolio, as the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates in recent months. Now, many investors are wondering if this is the final shoe to drop in the regional banking crisis, or just the beginning. Here's more from both sides.

RIGHT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Big Banks Not So Bad After All? JPMorgan Chase Bails Out Biden's Failures

Rather than repeat its costly mistake while handling SVB's collapse, the Biden administration overcame its hatred of big banks to strike a deal.
Republicans will be sure to note Biden's failed economic policies helped fuel the historic inflation that led to this banking crisis.
History may not repeat itself, but it does rhyme: JPMorgan Chase's Jamie Dimon is once again bailing the government out of a financial crisis.

JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon Rides to Biden’s Rescue Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal: "JPMorgan won the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. auction for the San Francisco-based bank... It appears the FDIC and Treasury overcame their opposition to a merger by one of the country’s biggest banks after their costly ideological indulgence in closing Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg nixed a deal for a bigger bank to buy SVB, and the FDIC later had to accept a bigger loss to entice a buyer. This time it was better call Jamie. JPMorgan will assume all of First Republic’s remaining $104 billion in deposits and most of its $229 billion in assets. The FDIC will provide $50 billion in financing and share future losses on its assets. It will also cover 80% of losses on First Republic’s single-family residential real estate and commercial loans for seven and five years, respectively. ... There hasn’t been a more one-sided financial deal since the Dutch bought Manhattan from the Lenape Indians."

First Republic Becomes Next Major American Bank to Fail Under Biden, JP Morgan Chase Takes Over Assets Kurt Zindulka, Breitbart: "The banking regulator said that all deposits will continue to be insured by the FDIC... predicted to cost the Deposit Insurance Fund about $13 billion, as it struck a loss-sharing deal with JP Morgan Chase. ... (This) will likely become a political issue, with Republicans likely to brand the failure of the bank as another casualty of the poor economy of President Joe Biden, whose disastrous economic and foreign policies resulted in rampant ‘Bidenflation’. When the Federal Reserve stepped in to raise rates to dampen inflation, the value of large portfolios of bonds at some banks were hit hard, as they were bought up by the banks at times of lower interest rates. The inflationary spiral and ensuing rate hikes have impacted many banks negatively, with similar issues befalling the now-failed Silicon Valley Bank."

One more opinion piece from the Right: As in 2008, financial stability depends on Jamie Dimon bailing out big, bad banks Tiana Lowe Doescher, Washington Examiner

LEFT-LEANING SENTIMENT

How a Bank Shouldn't Be Run, and Why the Government Must Respond Forcefully

First Republic Bank was a rotten institution that grew quickly by offering well-heeled clients attractive deals without taking care of their basic responsibilities.
This is yet another illustration of the government's failure to effectively regulate the banking sector.
Modern technology and the ease of making withdrawals leaves banks more vulnerable to bank runs, something the Federal Reserve must contend with.

First Republic Deserved to Die Kevin T. Dugan, Intelligencer: "The way that First Republic got so large is by taking the basic banking model and trying to get rid of all the boring parts. ... The hard and boring part... is making sure that deposits don’t dry up and loans are actually profitable. When it came to doing that, First Republic was terrible: Bloomberg reported that a cornerstone part of its business was giving out jumbo mortgages with paltry interest rates, some of them under 3 percent. Not only that, but borrowers didn’t have to pay back the principal... for ten years. This was pure quid pro quo, a deal aimed only at the wealthiest and most powerful — Goldman Sachs president John Waldron was a borrower — in order to get them to park their cash there. These low-interest loans were part of what did in First Republic."

The Truth About Banking Regulation? There’s Far Too Little of It. Timothy Noah, The New Republic: "After Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank went bust in March, liberals and conservatives argued over the cause. ... I say 'liberals and conservatives' rather than 'Democrats and Republicans' because the partisan lines are blurry. ... Now we have three government reports released last Friday suggesting that liberals were right about what caused the bank crisis—but conservatives were right, too. And the ways that conservatives were right turn out to be more interesting. ... Where the three government reports shed new light is on the culture of regulatory capture. The problems at Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank were not unknown to the Fed and the FDIC. ... Regulators flagged the problems to Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank and issued warnings. The trouble was that the banks didn’t take those warnings seriously and the regulators, knowing this, didn’t press the issue."

One more opinion piece from the Left: Deregulating Banks Is Dangerous John Cassidy, The New Yorker

FLAG THIS

Only 1 in 10 Say They're Confident in US Banking Sector

Polling from late March showed Americans are losing trust in the nation's banks as troubles mounted within the sector.

Just 10% of US adults express confidence in the banking sector, down from 22% in 2020.

A majority (56%) say the government isn't doing enough in terms of regulation and protection for banks and their customers.

That holds true for both Democrats (63%) and Republicans (51%).

The same survey found 43% of Democrats call the economy "good" compared to just 7% of Republicans. (AP-NORC)

How would you describe your level of confidence in the US banking sector?

FLAG FINDS

Wander Off the Path, Cheap & Easy Food, Erase Your Mess

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🍳 Easy, fast, healthy, cheap food. Air fryers seem to good to be true. But they are real, and really are the best gift you can give to a certain someone who might've already spent too much of their life cooking for you. Take it from me, mothers love air fryers. (Yes, mine actually has two.) But rather than taking the hit to your wallet and counter space, give the gift this 2-basket air fryer while it's still $50 off.

✨ Dyson who? The Dyson Cyclone may as well be the off-brand Miele Boost. This top tier, bagless vacuum cleaner is agile, efficient, and perfectly calibrated to erase every mess left by your pets, children, or, you know, you. Oh, and did I mention it's 15% off? Check it out now while that's still true.

WATERCOOLER

Machiavelli Born, Ruining Birthday Parties, Shrinking Colleges

Left: Machiavelli. Right: John Adams who admired Machiavelli's rational description of the realities of statecraft. Adams used Machiavelli's works to argue for mixed government.

On May 3, 1469, Italian philosopher and writer Niccolo Machiavelli is born. A lifelong patriot and diehard proponent of a unified Italy, Machiavelli became one of the fathers of modern political theory — and an icon to schemers everywhere.

The Atlantic: I Ruined Two Birthday Parties and Learned the Limits of Psychology

Vox: The incredible shrinking future of college

NPR: 30 years ago, one decision altered the course of our connected world

Today I Learned the invention of bicycles was fundamental to the early women's liberation movement. Bicycles promised freedom to women long accustomed to relying on men for transportation. It was also the main reason corsets and long skirts fell out of fashion in the early 20th century.

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