Some stories simply get stale. I was asked about two topics the other day — the potential government shut down's effect on Ukraine aid and the FOMC meeting. I wrote up my comments and sent them off.

While they didn't make it into print these two issues are inextricably linked in ways beyond the obvious, money. So, I'm not leaving them on the cutting room floor.

The budget wrangling and monetary policy are not just about the money. How the money flows is the essence of the political process.

The reason I led off with the backstory here is that I felt it necessary to place these comments into the time frame of when they were written, early Thursday afternoon. These comments echo things I talked about in the regular Market Report I publish every Wednesday and Sunday for my patrons.

So, with the prologue done, on to the show.

On the potential government shutdown I wrote:

While I have a very dim view of most Democrats and the Biden Administration in particular, I have almost no faith in the Republicans either.  The push for a government shutdown is coming from the so-called Liberty Caucus wing of the GOP led by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL).  The question isn't whether a government shutdown will slow aid to Ukraine it is whether the talk about shutting the government down is all just pre-primary positioning for fundraising purposes.