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Yes, it is very disheartening that Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) decided to pull out of the presidential race and suspend his operations due to a disappointing Iowa caucus finish. Rand was hoping for a Top 3 finish, but getting blocked by the mainstream media from the average American on television is indeed a very difficult handicap.
Rand Paul was doing fairly good until Donald Trump was running, but when the Trump decided to run, the air from Rand’s campaign started to dissipate. Young voters that followed his father in 2012 moved to Bernie Sanders, and Islamic Radicals decided to attack Paris. This did not bode well for his campaign.
Rand was one of the best choices in 2016 where he was able to connect to communities that did not normally vote for the Republican Party with issues such as criminal sentencing reform, privacy advocacy and a non-interventionist foreign policy.
I was tempted to consider other candidates in the hours after the announcement of the “suspension” of his presidential campaign. I know Trump is no friend of liberty because he likes eminent domain, and his immigration views are over the top. Personally I would support work permits, but a long wait for citizenship where any felony would disqualify those individuals permanently. However, I was also not pleased by Senator Ted Cruz where he was only delivering watered-down Rand Paul ideas with a Jesus beat. Because Cruz was saying he wanted to “make sand glow in the dark in the Middle East” and make us LGBT people a wedge issue, he becomes an unacceptable choice for many voters.
It’s true that Rand Paul has quit the race, but in many states he’ll still be on the ballot. If you are fed up of the candidates in the media spotlight and want someone thoughtful to run this country of ours you are invited to vote for him in June, if Secretary Alex Padilla puts his name up for the primary vote. Vote for a candidate that you’ll feel good voting for. Don’t vote for them because the news media and the status quo say you need to vote for the anointed one. Vote for someone that you can be proud that you voted for him or her two, four or even eight years from now.
Politics is a messy business, but politics does start from the bottom. Run for school board, city council or even state legislature. It is rare for someone to start from the top such as Governor of a state, but we should develop a public service history, if we want to be able to advocate for less government or a government that is effective.
I believe that Rand Paul is more ‘establishment’ than many people claim. A couple of his votes really made me do a double-take. His dad always talked down the establishment but when he was appointed to chair a House financial affairs committee on monetary policy he folded like a Wal-Mart pup tent. I can’t recall him calling out even one of the ‘Too Big to Jail’ WS thugs. I was very disappointed. There have to be a few purported ‘non-establishment’ pols in the mix to assure the plebes that the entire system isn’t rotted. You have to watch the ones who purport to be ‘non-establishment’ very closely. There’s always more to the picture than what meets the eye.
Oh, btw. Ted Cruz’ wife works for Goldman Sachs. 🙂
Need I say more?
Say what you want about Jimmy Carter. I adore the man. Jimmy (at 91) gave an interview today to the BBC and denounced the corrupted political system in the USA. He condemned the SCOTUS Citizens United ruling that opened the door for “legal bribery” as he put it that only allows candidates who garner huge infustions of donations from multi-millionaire and billionaire special interests to enter the race. Jimmy said that under today’s rule he would have never had the opportunity to rise from a peanut farmer to the POTUS.
Few in political office today have the courage to say what Jimmy says. Most are neck deep in special interest money and beholden to the whims of their sugar daddies. No wonder when I see Jimmy in group photos with the other former Presidents and Obama he looks like the odd-man out. There’s always a big gap between him and the others. That’s to Jimmy’s credit.
If there’s a POTUS with a place reserved in heaven it’s Jimmy Carter. Bless his soul.
*Evidently, you were not alive when Jimmy Carter was President. Remember Billy and Billy Beer? How about double digit inflation? How about double digit interest rates? How about pulling out of the Olympics because the Soviets invaded Afghanistan….probably for us? How about Gold rising to $848 an ounce vs $240 and the Gas Rationing and every other day gassing up? How about Silver going from $7.48 an ounce to over $40 dollars an ounce. (we made a bunch of money on that deal…..but many people got caught up and sold their homes when Reagan came up and grabbed the Pemex deal for $18 dollar a barrel oil for 20 years? How about double digit unemployment in certain areas of our country for the first time since the Great Depression? How about telling the American people “the End Times are near’? Yep, and what a great bunch of folks he surrounded himself with…..one stupid after another. Zignew Brezinski, the Dumbest Admiral in Navy and the list just keeps clicking while Roslyn and Jimmy keep ticking!
And yes, it was sad to see Rand Paul drop out. He was just starting become very attractive.
If you reread my post I made no mention of Jimmy Carter’s performance as our POTUS. Yes, you’re correct. Jimmy made a some mistakes – but no worse than what Clinton, Bush or Obama imposed on us. But I would not give Jimmy high marks as POTUS. I agree.
My former post focused on Jimmy Carter, the man of solid morals and high convictions. Jimmy’s a saint compared to the others. I can’t recall one lie that emanated from the lips of Jimmy Carter. The others? They’re consummate liars. All of them. No wonder Jimmy is the black sheep of the White House club.
I think Jimmy leaves the planet with a clear conscience and the pearly gates open wide upon his arrival.
From http://endcitizensunited.org:
This week, President Jimmy Carter spoke out strongly against Citizens United — loudly decrying the influence of big money and our corrupt political system.
“The erroneous ruling of the Supreme Court, where millionaires, billionaires, can put in unlimited amounts of money, gives legal bribery the chance to prevail.”
Throughout his career, President Carter has been one of the loudest and strongest voices against the corrupting influence of money in politics:
“As the rich people finance the campaigns, when candidates get in office they do what the rich people want. And that’s to let the rich people get richer and richer and the middle class get left out.”
We’re grateful to have leaders like him who understand the simple truths that money isn’t speech and corporations aren’t people!
Sign Your Name → Thank Jimmy Carter for fighting to end Citizens United >>
http://act.endcitizensunited.org/page/s/thank-jimmy-carter?source=MS_EM_PET_2016.02.06_B2_thank-carter_X__F1_S1_C1__ns
*Yes indeed, even a broken eight day clock is right twice a day!
No it’s not. Your honor, I present Exhibit A.
Ryan, are you still passing out “skadooshes”
That’s way beyond a skadoosh.
Iceberg – like, perhaps the Fed is only the ‘visible’ part ? Anyone can post anything on the web, including this FWIW-
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/presenting-exchange-stabilization-fund-5-parts-real-plunge-protection-team
and, from another perspective-
…And in case you think, “Well, @#$% ! – I CAN’T waste 3 hours on some stupid boring videos !” well, you can play the home version in only 2 minutes right now. Just stand in front of a mirror and repeat, “We are sooooo, sooooo f@#ked ! ” 3 or 4 times ! Eazy peezy.
I hope Jimmy lives to 120 and keeps on telling the truth. He’s the only one we got left with a scintilla of integrity. Once he’s gone we’re left with nothing but silver tongued devils who’ve paved us the way to hell w/o a good intention in the mix. All sold us out. Jimmy had brain cancer that has apparently gone into complete remission. God ain’t done with him quite yet. Keep on talking, Jimmy!
Well, I see that the ‘Champion for the Working Class’ Hillary refuses to release her transcripts of her generously paid speeches before Goldman Sach, et. al., on Wall Street. She said the people aren’t interested in it. 🙂
The Wall Street Journal published a chart that shows how much each POTUS candidate (both Dem and Pub) have received in direct and PAC contributions from Wall Street corporations. Hillary is in second place with over $17M, right behind Jeb.
Sanders is second to the last on the list at about $55k.
Guess who’s in last place? Trump at about $11k. 🙂
Hillary’s for sale and Bill sits at the cash register.
Choose very carefully in the democratic primaries. Like the song goes: Don’t Be Fooled Again!
I used to really admire Elizabeth Warren, until I found out that she voted in opposition to Rand Paul’s proposal to Audit the Fed.
If they stay in the mix long enough they all turn to rot.
Where have all the flowers gone?
Except the call to audit the Fed was stupid. It probably played well with conspiracy theorists, gold bugs, and people who don’t understand what central banks do – I could have just said Rand/Ron Paul fans. I imagine that was the point.
I believe anyone who has paid attention and understands the mechanisms The Fed has practiced to rob Main Street of trillions of dollars over the last 20 years would vigorously disagree with you. It’s much too complex to try and explain it here. So I won’t try.
There are many excellent books on the matter. If you aren’t a reader I would suggest the documentary “Inside Job”. All you need to do is watch and listen for about 90 minutes. You can find it on-line with a click of your mouse for free. It’s a great primer. Hope it helps.
*Liz Warren is a mensch…of the first kind. She knows that Auditing the Fed would be akin sending a Mafia Don to Audit the Treasury of the United States. Ben Bernanke, Hank Paulson, Alan Greenspan, Paul Volker or Donald Trump. Ask any of these folks for the real information and you can expect what you will get….and it won’t be truthful or even reasonable. The Fed continues to dump $25 Billion dollars a month into the World Global Banking System. Down from $35 Billion a month over the last five years. Wonder who got the free lunches in that process? Who cares? You are running after a squirrel going down a rabbit hole. Better to just check to see how much money was spent on yachting and Golf Clubs by Banking Institution Administrators. You would probably find out more just checking their Credit Cards bills. Leave our Liz alone…she is a honey!
So as opposed to auditing the Fed, thus allowing the central bank to continue to rob the working class with zero oversight we do nothing and applaud Elizabeth Warren for voting ‘ney’ to take the first step necessary to expose the corruption and rot? Sorry, I just can’t accept that as a workable solution. Something is always better than nothing. And what’s Donald Trump got to do with it? Did you read my previous comment? He’s last on the Wall Street sweetheart list of POTUS candidates. Trump’s only taken about $11,000 from Wall Street interests. He’s last on the list. Hillary has taken north of $17,000,000. Even Bernie Sanders has taken more than Trump at $55,000. Oh, and those are Wall Street Journal numbers, btw. So why put Trump in the same class with Bernanke, Paulson and Paulson? Hillary should be at the front of the class! 🙂
I really shouldn’t ask, but I can’t help myself.
How is The Fed robbing the working class?
The Fed controls monetary policy and interest rate levels. It’s pumped trillions of dollars to it’s member banks via Quantative Easing through the buyback of US Treasuries. By maintaining artificially low interest rates (during purported non-recessionary times) and pumping many trillions of liquidity into the system The Fed has rewarded the super rich while simultaneously and silently robbing the working class on Main Street. From 2009-15 about 90% of all income gains went to the Top 1%. Fed policies have continued to create an upward distribution of money and an increase in speculation which caused cause original cataclysmic financial events that resulted in the economic meltdown.
Do your own research, re: the widening gap between the rich and the middle class in America. Many congressional members would rather keep the taxpayers in the dark and avoid any accountablity for monetary policies that have a substantial impact on our lives. Besides, we all know that The Fed for decades has followed the marching orders handed down through the White House. Those who maintain the belief that The Fed is not politicized and hasn’t been politicized for decades are incredibly naive, IMO.
I will make the same recommendation for you as I did for nipsey. Go watch the free on-line documentary “Inside Job”. Actually the viewing time is a little over 2 hours. It would be well worth your time if you’re truly interested in understanding the unholy alliance that’s alive and well between Capital Hill, Wall Street and The Fed.
*Ziggy, please avail us of your solution to the 2009 Global Meltdown? Guess we should have just closed the books at the Fed, start fresh like the Weimar Republic and carry a bucket of cash to gas station for a fill up. Sadly, without Global Hyperinflation…there would be no manufacturing in China, no service industry in India, no Global Auto Industry in Europe. Don’t blame Liz blame the infamous Dr. Trumpster
who is “supposed to tell it like it is”. He isn’t taking about Global Big Pharma pricing either. Liz is the one that wants to send several Goldman -Sach Execs to Bernie Madoff heaven.
“How is The Fed robbing the working class?”
I wouldn’t have put it like that. I would have said that the free money the FED has been printing for the past 20 years has been robbing everybody – and their progeny.
However, the uber-wealthy have been able to buy tangible and lasting stuff with their Clinton/Bush/Obama bucks. Everybody else is just buying stuff on easy credit. The old values of thrift and saving are now a joke thanks to the Fed.
I miss Paul Volcker.
Liz is a member of the 1%, folks. Have you ever checked out her net worth? It’s public record. Have you ever checked out her real estate holdings and their locations? That information is easily accessible. When I’ve read her quotes trashing the rich I chuckled to myself. And when she indicated her opposition to the ‘Audit the Fed’ legislation it told me everything I needed to know about Liz. Her reason given was that she wants The Fed to remain independent and remain outside the political arena. Anybody who’s paid any attention at all knows that The Fed is HIGHLY politicized and has been for decades. Who do you think appoints the Fed Chair for God sakes? Liz knows better. She’s in the belly of beast. She’s the expert. But she doesn’t fool me.
I know the way you DON’T solve the financial crisis. That is by rewarding the very TBTF banks that caused the meltdown and by allowing them to control a larger percentage of the nation’s economy than they controlled prior to the meltdown. They’ve doubled down on the very crooks who got us into the original mess.
There is no way out of this ongoing crisis without pain. Piling debt on top of debt only sets us up for a catastrophic end result, much worse than the Great Depression. When a bank destroys it’s own solvency it needs to go out of business, just like the grocery store on the corner. Banks with more competent management would enter the market and replace the failed one. Will people get hurt? Sure. But they’ll get hurt a lot more down the road when the entire system collapses due to the pumping of enormous fiat currency into the failed banking system to temporarily prop them up.
Donald Trump creates jobs in the USA. He’s a builder. You refuse to admit that he’s on the bottom of the list of POTUS candidates taking legal bribe monies from Wall Street. Even Bernie Sanders has accepted more legal bribe money than Trump, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. You should really be concerned about Hillary who is DEEP in the pockets of Wall Street. She’s second on the list (more than $17M) only to be outdone by Jeb Bush!!! Not great company to keep. Wouldn’t you say?
That’s a similar story to a lot of the Washington Dems. Where did the phrase “limousine liberal” come from?
Ever check out the net worth of our current Secretary of State, courtesy of a fortuitous matrimonial match?
Yes, David. Defending a politician by virtue of which ideology or political party he or she maintains is crazy. I’m astounded at the large numbers of Democrats who support Hillary despite all the dirt we have on her. This is precisely the reason our political system is completely broken. It’s not due to the politicians. It’s due to the electorate who give them their power. There are lots and lots of dirty Republicans and Democrats. And we need a unifying force of Americans, irrespective of party affiliation or ideology, to throw them out of office. Unless that happens the Country gets flushed. Don’t forget. 95% of incumbents get reelected while the congressional approval ratings stand at about 17%. Something is terribly wrong. In the end the voters are to blame.
And the mortgages, car loans, small business loans, we’re just going to ignore those?
“And the mortgages, car loans, small business loans, we’re just going to ignore those?”
Huh? I didn’t know anybody on Main Street who got a bailout on a mortgage, car loan or small business loan during the meltdown.
Those who lost their jobs lost their homes and cars. No Mainstreet TARP.
Those small businesses that went belly up (lots of them did) had to file bankrupcy.
The rules on Wall Street don’t apply to Main Street, Ryan.
Please…..go watch “Inside Job”.
I’ll take that as a yes.
Just wondering where you’re coming from. I think low interest rates and low inflation is a real tough case to use to prove theft from the working class, but to each his or her own.
Again, there seems to be a fundamental misunderstanding of what a central bank does, and what is the purview of the Federal Reserve vs. the Dept. of Treasury. For example, the Federal Reserve did not administer TARP. It can’t.
The Fed has had some dreadful people at the helm and some excellent ones (Volcker). None of the things that accompanied these different leaderships would have been meaningfully affected by an audit at the behest of Congress, which would occur on top of all the regular auditing that happens at the Fed, with an extra dose of factless pandering and posturing by Congressmen who couldn’t have written the paragraph above without first being tutored by a staffer.
Interest rates are a balancing act. Do low interest rates encourage borrowing? Yes, but irresponsible borrowing isn’t the inevitable result, that is supposed to be managed by prudent underwriting. And interest rates have many other effects, from currency which can affect domestic industry through exports and balance of trade, and which can affect commodity markets and things like oil which are denominated in dollars.
And throwing around terms like ‘artificially low’ regarding interest rates is usually meaningless. Interest rates don’t occur in nature, they are an economic instrument. Managing interest rates is like flying a helicopter, everything you do affects everything else.The Fed has to balance inflation, employment, currency and in bad times ensure market liquidity. Yes, low interest rates make plonking money into a savings account a very poor performing investment, but it usually is since interest rates and inflation often track well i.e. low interest rates often accompany low inflation periods and high ones, high.
The one-faceted observation that a lower dollar means everyone is poorer is simply wrong without context. This is essentially the ‘Paul’ argument, and it is stupid.
Good work, Nipsey.
“Just wondering where you’re coming from. I think low interest rates and low inflation is a real tough case to use to prove theft from the working class, but to each his or her own”
Inflation is understated. Do you grocery shop? Compare the price of beef, fish, eggs, veggies, etc… to what we paid 3 years ago. How about medical care? Have you noticed that under ObamaCare that insurance premiums and deductibles have risen about 10% on average for the last 3 years? What about home prices? Have you paid any attention to the affordability index on housing in Southern California? That’s called ‘inflation’ and to claim it’s “low” is laughable. You forgot about all the hidden inflation not reported by the gov in the CPI.
Artificially suppressed interest rates have caused incredible financial damage to the senior populations on fixed incomes who have traditionally relied on income from interest bearing accounts. The pension funds were hurt too. Look at their recent ROI’s. Go look at OCERs ROI for the last fiscal year – 2-4% when their assumed ROI is over 7%. Do you know who is forced to cough up the difference? The articifially low interest rates are the reason for the stock market bubble – not productivity or more innovative product lines. When money is cheap corps borrow and go deep into debt. That’s fine until the chickens come home to roost and the debt must be repaid. Have you kept current with the energy industry and all those start up companies that went deep into debt (oil shale, etc..) and then woke up to find crude priced @ $30 a barrel? Much of the financing in that industry is derivative driven. Ever consider the investors who are on the wrong side of that derivative bet?
And if you believe the interest rates are not articficially low or supressed – and haven’t been for the past 5 years – I can’t be of any further help to you. Dialoguing with those in deep denial is not my forte.
Last word…spend a couple hours watching “Inside Job”. Become informed.
*Good one Ziggy, you are exactly right on all of the above. Artificial low interest rates……and oddly….how come Social Security, Military Retirement Payments and others have not gone up but as you say the cost of Medicines, Food, Rents and Building Supplies are way up? Every bought a gallon of water based paint lately? $50 bucks….when it used to be $8 bucks just a few years ago. The Selective Inflation Concept that has been instituted since the 1990’s…is exactly that: SIC. Think under George the Elder……….it all started.
I am so happy that conservative people have figured the Bush family out and thrown Jeb Bush under the bus, even though he’s spent way more campaign money than the other candidates. If the 2 final POTUS candidates left standing were Hillary and Jeb and I was physically coerced to cast a ballot – I would pinch my nose and vote for Hillary. IMO the Bush family is evil.
You’re still missing a nexus to robbing the working class, but what evs.
Glad to see some healthy policy discussed. Cheers.
I see the DOW is down 350 this morning taking the index below 15,900.
Maybe Yellen will lower the interest rates to stimulate the economy….
Oh, wait. I forgot. It can’t go any lower!!! 🙂
Ryan, you still out there?
Sure it can go lower. Japan.
But hey, you watched a movie.
Come on now, we value participation. It’s not like we’re discussing a flat earth or something . . .
Oh, you mean negative interest rates where the depositors are charged for the luxury of turning their money over to the banksters for safekeeping? 🙂
At that point the mattress becomes a better receptacle for your savings. 🙂
Except, of course, for those of you who believe The Fed is an honorable institution that has your back. 🙂
If documentaries don’t strike your fancy as a mode to learn new things you might try the library and start with macro then micro economics. It’s a long circumvented route to get to where we are today – but at least you’ll learn some of the basics of how the system was originally designed to work, even though we strayed far and wide. But if you don’t understand how it was originally supposed to function you’ll never understand the abnormality of our current state of financial affairs. You may misconstrue what you see today as normal, God forbid. Good luck.
Note that Yellen gives her semi-annual 2-day address to CONgress tomorrow morning. That should be good for a laugh. Rumors are she’ll delay hiking the interest rates in the coming months. Why worry? Unemployment is @ 4.9%. The gov tells us the economy’s in great shape. Stocks have doubled in the last 7 years. Gee. Wouldn’t it seem in this strong economic environment that The Fed would pull the trigger and send the Prime over 6% – which is the historical average? Afterall, in robust times all the econ experts tell us we must raise rates to slow the economy down. Yet rates remain at near all-time lows. Yo, Ryan? You still out there? Could you explain this anomaly to us? Inquiring minds want to know. 🙂
My fantasy would be for Janet to stand before CONgress, and declare the following:
1) Effective immediately – rates increase to 6.5% 2) Fed ban on any future QE 3) Make any discussion of negative interest rates illegal 4) Force all TBTF banks to repay all former TARP and QE loans by the end of the 2016 1Q. Delinquent payments result in suspension of banking charters.
Janet then proceeds to moon the media cameras and exits the Chamber doors.
Rates are raised to ward off inflation. A drastic jump to 6.5% would cause people to starve to death.
I’m not kidding. Your policy will kill people.
In any case, if you want to get into a larger discussion on central banking, I’m not your guy.
Normally when the list of things you don’t know is so long, it’s easier to just list the ones you do. Normally.
Yellen just suggested to CONgress that rates could go negative without any intervention by The Fed. 🙂
In the words of Ben Bernanke “Subprime is contained and the recession is over”.
Yellen is getting battered by both Dems and Pubs this morning. Both sides are taking vicious shots at her. Poor woman. It’s tantamount to abuse. For years CONgress supported keeping rates artificially low and the cost of money ridulculously cheap. They wouldn’t know what it takes to accomplish real growth and stability in an economy if it bit them in the ass. Now they see the folly of their supported policies and need a fall woman to unload on. No idea why Yellen took over a sinking ship. She will get blamed for the actions of all the corrupted chairs that preceded her and ruined our economic system.
When businesses fail they must suffer the consequences of their failure. Otherwise it throws the entire economy into a tailspin. The Fed’s policies, the corrupted mortgage banking industry, the bailouts, the lack of prosecutions for financial fraud on Wall Street, the complicity of CONgress…..are now coming back to bite us. The chickens are coming home to roost.
We could’ve solved this problem back in 2009. It would have caused lots of pain. But it was curable. Now? We got beyond the point of no return. Brace yourselves.
Like foxes circling a henhouse. And to think this whole discussion began with you lamenting defeat of a bill requiring more Congressional oversight.
Yes, we’ve come full circle, haven’t we?
Look, I didn’t start the fire. I’m only watching it burn and explaining what we could have done to prevent it from turning into an uncontrollable wildfire.
You’re the folks who are claiming the fire is good! Not me! 🙂
Last three paragraphs
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/12/opinion/on-economic-stupidity.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region®ion=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region
I’m sorry. When Krugman basically told us that debt is good and more debt is better I promised myself that I would never read one of his articles again. Someone should hand him a world history text. We know what happens to debtor nations in the end. Time after time, without fail. Go follow Krugman’s money trail when you get the opportunity. You might be surprised where it leads! 🙂
Here, now you don’t have to read the whole thing:
“Now, the idea of making the Fed accountable sounds good. But Wall Street isn’t the only source of malign pressure on the Fed, and in the actually existing U.S. political situation, such a bill would essentially empower the cranks — the gold-standard-loving, hyperinflation-is-coming types who dominate the modern G.O.P., and have spent the past five or six years trying to bully monetary policy makers into ceasing and desisting from their efforts to prevent economic disaster. “
Ya gotta love Krugman’s partisan mantra. Someone should remind him that the dems owned the majority in both the House and Senate in 2007-08.
While you’re at it remind him that the TARP vote went like this:
House of Reps
___________
Yea votes – Dems 172; Pubs 91
Nay votes – Dems 63; Pubs 108
Senate
_____
Yea votes – Dems 41; Pubs 33
Nay votes – Dems 10; Pubs 15
I rest my case.
I am not a Republican. I am not a Democrat.
You had a case?
The fact that none of you acknowledge the implications of the TARP vote speaks volumes.
Can’t we have a real discussion?
I think you’ve beat this one to death, Z. Time to move on.
At least now you know the truth.
After his NH primary victory Donald Trump was quoted to say:
“Don’t believe those phony numbers when you hear 4.9 and 5% unemployment. The number’s probably 28%, 29%, as high as 35%, in fact, I even heard recently 42%”
The man has a point. Do you think anti-establishment Trump would have double-digit leads in the poll numbers if the unemployment rate was truly 4.9% and the economy was vacation post-card picture perfect?
I don’t.
Do I think that racist, sexist, xenophobic, insincere performer-cum-huckster and insult comic Donald Trump could have a double-digit lead in national polls OF REPUBLICANS?
Why, yes! Yes I do. But to the GOP’s credit, 50% of the ones in New Hampshire said that (to paraphrase) they totally rejected him.
The explanation is not that Trump’s Joe McCarthy-counting-commies impression when trying to nail down the true unemployment rate is valid. It’s that those jobs pay lousy wages and people are terrified of losing them. That is what happens when any increase in our collective economic wealth gets sucked upstairs.
There were 9 GOP candidates in the NH primary. The votes for the other 8 were not necessarily anti-Trump. One could say that each vote represented an anti-vote for the entire other 8. It’s only because all the attention is focused on Trump since he is way out in the lead at the state polls and in the national polls that people consider a non-Trump vote as an anti-Trump vote to the exclusion of every other candidate.
Using the same logic, one could say that 50% of the Iowa voters and about 38% of the NH voters rejected Bernie Sanders. In fact, that would be more accurate since there are only 2 dem candidates in the POTUS race.
And we must concede that Trump has one of highest levels of support from Independents and Registered Democrats than any other Republican POTUS candidate in recent memory. The polls show this.
Also, Trump cannot be categorized historically as a far-right conservative Republican. At one time he was a Democrat. And he has held what would be considered liberal viewpoints in past.
In September 2015 SURVEY USA took a poll of likely black and hispanic voters. 25% of the black voters and 31% of the hispanic voters supported Trump in a matchup against Hillary Clinton. These percentages far outdistance the number of black votes Romney got in the last POTUS election (only 6%) and Trump outscored Romney as well in the hispanic votes (31% vs. 27%). Historiically hispanics in America have largely favored democrats in high office election.
So as racist and sexist and xenophobic as some say that Trump is – it’s not being reflected in the groups that would seem to be most offended by such labels. He seems to be drawing in more dems, women and minorities than many of those running under the Republican banner in past years. And that should be a real concern to those anti-Trump advocates.
Oh, I understand that even though Bernie Sander won the popular vote in NH by a landslide (60% vs. 38%) that Hillary ended up with the same number of NH delegates. Something really smells there.
If I were a Democrat at this pointI would be much more concerned with the rigged or possibly corrupted process in the dem primaries that may steal the nomination Bernie than I would be with Trump.
In the primaries delegates are everything.
Those of you who are Democrats should protest.
YIKES! DOW is down about 320 (under 15,600). Quick, Yellen……drop the Fed rate to stimulate the investment markets before the bottom falls out!!!!
Oh wait…I forgot….we’re already at effective 0% levels!
Then declare QE4 and print….print….print!!!
And bring back Paulson and Geithner to formulate another trillion dollar plus bail out program for those Too Big To Jail!!!
Who cares what it does to Main Street? / sarc.
I just looked at a very compelling chart that illustrated the historical relationship between the price of gold and oil. Naturally the prices were adjusted for inflation. At today’s prices one could buy 44 barrels of black crude for an oz. of gold. The historical average is about 15 barrels.The old record high went back over a century. It was set in 1893. Now 2016 holds the record. The chart indicated various financial crises that occurred as the oil/gold relationship spiked in terms of the number of barrels of oil for purchase at the price of an oz. of gold. Pretty consistent over time.
You history buffs probably know what happened in 1893.
No wonder CONgress appeared short-tempered with Yellen during her congressional testimony this week.
We live in interesting times.
Astoundingly, the “interesting times curse”, like chop suey, lacks Chinese origin.
(Or is that only what they WANT us to think ?)
https://www.chinasprout.com/community/guestcolumns/21
*Your relationship of the 15 barrels for one ounce of gold related to the June 1979 price of $248 for gold and $18 dollars a barrel for oil. As the Saudi’s cut back the OPEC Oil production, that spiked the price of oil to over $40 dollars a barrel. That took the gold price to about $556 an ounce. The Silver, Platinum and Pladium all followed suit. Silver started about 2 ounces for a barrel of oil at $7.48 an ounce. As the run on gold took off….the pure speculation amp up the market to unsustainable levels…..$848 for gold…..$44 dollars for silver. Platinum grabbed an inordinate rise to about $100 more per ounce than gold. Today that relationship has reversed. Why is platinum $100 less an ounce than gold? Cause you can buy Kruggerands, China Pandas or Canadian Gold Ounces in Platinum….you have to buy bars. Gold is still overpriced. A few years before the opening trade connection to China goods…..you could buy a ounce of gold in China for about $60 bucks. The US Treasury however made those purchase illegal and you would have had to smuggle the gold out of China and into a US Possession…..breaking several Federal Laws in the process. What about the Gold Market in India? Not much info on that.
*Today Silver is selling for $15.72 an ounce…..almost the price of a barrel of oil ….almost. The Commodity Markets have become Globalized. No more cheap dates or independent states selling discount gold, silver or platinum. Too late kids. Buy gold at your own risk. Buy silver at your own risk. Maybe we should just stick with Hillary Hog Futures and call it a day!