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Sunday, July 29, 2018: Lest We Forget....
Let's just remember that Trump was not elected. He lost the popular vote but was appointed by the electoral college who are supposed to have the role of preventing an idiot like Trump from ever making to the Oval office.
Just to refresh everyone's memory, Hillary received 65,845,063 votes to the Trumpster's 62,980,160 votes. Trump lost the popular election by 2,864,903 votes or 2%.
Yes, he won the Electoral College by 77,000 votes, but that is only .06% (that's six one hundredths of 1%) and I think one could validly argue that those 77,000 votes were the result of James Comey's moral vanity and Putin's persistent meddling in Western politics.
Trump has no mandate but with the help of Mitch McConnell, he is making a mockery of our American democracy.
Thursday, July 26, 2018: We Have Officially Gone Over The Financial Cliff
The New York Times reported today that the Trump tax cuts have driven corporate tax receipts to a near 75 year low and that is helping to push the federal deficit to $1 Trillion over the next 10 years. The tax cuts were supposed to be offset by economic growth. Yep, right! Well, the offset isn't there and on top of that, Trump's policy on trade is about to cut government revenue further - making the deficit even larger. Even worse, to appease his base of farmers in the big RED heartland, he recently proposed a welfare system for farmers impacted by his stupid trade war that would cost up to $12 Billion. You are now seeing the folly of Republican economic policy.
Fact: Republicans are fiscally irresponsible. They love to talk about the tax and spend Democrats. Well friends, that is far more fiscally responsible than the borrow and spend Republicans.
Here is the bad part. If they retain control of our government, the Republicans are going to offset this massive deficit by taking it away from the common American. They will increase taxes for the 99% and provide fewer benefits for our most vulnerable Americans. On the line are federal tax deductions and exemptions, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, education, and all sorts of spending on programs that impact the environment and quality of life for the common smuck.
As they say, it isn't the fall that kills you - it is the sudden stop. We are a consumer-based economy, taking money away from the 99% will drive our economy into a tailspin further reducing Federal revenues. We will be in economic free fall and when we hit bottom, we will be a third world country.
Monday, July 23, 2018: And the Rich Get Richer…
A recently completed income inequality study done by Economic Policy Institute found that not only is there a significant gap between the income of the top one percent of Americans and the bottom 99%, but that gap has continued to widen. In 2015, the top 1% of American families earned 26.3 times more than the bottom 99 percent and that was a 4% increase over 2013. What makes this study even more disconcerting is that the increases occurred BT (before Trump). It would be folly not to expect the income gap to accelerate with the tax cuts for the wealthy that Trump and the Republicans pushed through.
So when did the rich start getting richer? According to the EPI study, "from 1928 to 1973, the share of income held by the top 1 percent declined in every state. This earlier era was characterized by a rising minimum wage, low levels of unemployment after the 1930s, widespread collective bargaining in private industries (manufacturing, transportation, telecommunications, and construction), and a cultural, political, and legal environment that kept a lid on executive compensation in all sectors of the economy."
So what changed? Well, starting in the 1970s, a small group of the super rich led by Charles and David Koch focused their money and political influence on gutting public unions, killing regulations that protect the common man, restricting the minimum wage, making higher education less affordable, and getting congress to reduce their taxes (the trickle down argument) while suppressing wages even in a period of low unemployment and high productivity. They were playing the long game and their strategy has paid off is spades. Today, the average employee needs to work more than a month to earn what the CEO earns in one hour.
But the gap in income is not the only change that has occurred during this period. Accumulated wealth has also seen a dramatic shift toward the 1%. Just prior to President Obama's 2014 State of the Union Address, the media reported that the top wealthiest 1% possessed 40% of the nation's wealth and the bottom 80% own only 7%. More recently, in 2017, an Oxfam study found that eight of the richest people in the world, six of them Americans, own as much combined wealth as half the human race.
In fact, the shift in income toward the rich is directly linked to the shift in wealth. In "Inequality for All", a 2013 documentary, Robert Reich argues that income inequality is the defining issue for the United States. He states that since the recovery started in 2009, 95% of economic gains went to those in the top 1% of net worth.
But enough is never enough for the rich. Except for a few benefactors who are committed to distributing their fortunes, the greed of the 1% is insatiable. Despite their gains and massive wealth, they continue to push their fascist agenda. I hope that the Trump supporters understand that they are the American proletariat - the class of wage-earners in our capitalist society whose only possession of significant material value is their labor-power.
Monday, July 16, 2018: Comrade Trump
Putin summoned Trump and like a faithful lap dog, Comrade Trump showed up at the appointed time for their meeting in Helsinki for which Putin (as is normal for him) showed up an hour late.
Trump kicked off the day of the meeting by blaming the United States for its poor relationship with Russia. While failing to mention:
- Russia's annexation of Crimea
- Its support for rebels in Ukraine
- Its support for the Assad regime in Syria
- Its meddling in the elections of the United States and in those of other countries
- Or the nerve agent poisonings in England that the British government has said the Kremlin was behind
I am certain that one of the first things on Putin's agenda will be to praise Comrade Trump for the fine work he is doing in advancing the Russian goal of undermining the EU. As a Finish protestor's sign read, "Trump-Putin – the two-headed monster."
Friday, July 13, 2018: A Democracy On Life Support
Steven Levitsky's and Daniel Ziblatt's book "How Democracies Die" outlines in detail the scenario playing out in America. One of their basic premises is that a democracy must be supported by two basic norms. The first is mutual toleration and the second is forbearance. Mutual toleration is accepting the opposition party as legitimate. Forbearance is self-restraint in the exercise of power. They argue that even our brilliantly designed Constitution cannot, by itself, guarantee the survival of the American democracy.
Right now the Trump and the Republicans in control of our country are deliberately and regularly violating both of the above norms. If they continue, we will end up with a constitutional crisis that will not end well. Mark Tushnet, a professor of law at Harvard, calls such behavior, "constitutional hardball" – exploiting the letter of the law to undermine its spirit. Worse is when they ignore the law knowing the apposing party's only recourse is a long and protracted court battle.
Whether it was the Mitch McConnell's refusal to take up President Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court (a violation of 150 year norm) or Trump's attacks on the legitimate media (the legitimate press being an important source of democratic strength), the Republican Party is making constitutional hardball the new norm.
But the real source for these changes is the cabal. They know that extreme polarization is the death knell for democratic norms. Their support of the tea party's takeover of the Republican Party is in fact a key part of their strategy to destroy our democracy. By encouraging the extreme world view of the right, they have fostered and underwritten a political rivalry than has devolved into partisan hatred. As we fight among ourselves, the 150 or so individuals controlling world politics continue to nudge American toward a fascists state whose sole purpose will be to serve their needs and wants.
Wednesday, July 11, 2018: Trump Is Nothing More Than A Distraction
Trump's horrific behavior is nothing more than a way to distract the American public from the fact that the cabal is pillaging our democracy. For the uninformed, the cabal is a nefarious group of rich folks who use their money and power to control elections and elected Republicans. It sounds like a conspiracy, but it is not. It is just a fact.
While everyone is focused on the really stupid stuff Herr Trumpster is doing, the cabal is working hard to cement its hold on federal and state governments and the federal courts to ensure that we emerge as the latest fascist state. Don't get me wrong, Trump supports all the things the cabal has on its "hit list". Trump is blinded by the fact that he wants nothing more than to be just like Putin and Kim. He is such a narcissist that he believes the cabal will install him as their chief potentate, but that will never happen. The cabal will get rid of him as soon as he has outlived his usefulness and they will replace him with a dictator of their choice.
For the clueless among his supporters, you can bet that at sometime in the next 2 1/2 years they are going to wake up one morning and say to themselves, "oh shit, I have been screwed royally." Let's hope for the rest of us, that point is not too late to save our democracy.
This fall is the tipping point. Rational Americans will either win at the polls and at least take back the House, or the cabal will win and we will be on the fast track to stamp out the last vestiges of our American democracy.
Wednesday, July 4, 2018: The Dogma Lives Loudly Within Her And That Ought To Scare The Hell Out Of You
Once again the Federalist Society prevails. Those who are distracted by Trump's unfounded references to the "deep state", might well get their heads out of their asses and look at the cabal that is rapidly turning the U.S. into a country led by fascists and fundamentalists. If you don't fall into one of those two categories, I would suggest you start looking for an exit sign.
One of Trump's candidates for SCOTUS, Amy Coney Barrett, is by all accounts someone who should cause us great concern. This woman is scary as hell. It is not that she is a Catholic. That part is fine. It is that she sits on the far right of fundamentalist spectrum. Ms. Barrett has long been active in a small, obscure Christian group called the People of Praise. She was raised in the group, married another member and together they are raising their seven children in it, according to people who know the couple. Folks, by any measure, People of Praise is a cult.
Members of the group swear a lifelong oath of loyalty, called a covenant, to one another, and are assigned and are accountable to a personal adviser, called a "head" for men and a "handmaid" for women. The group teaches that husbands are the heads of their wives and should take authority over the family.
Current and former members say that the heads and handmaids give direction on important decisions, including whom to date or marry, where to live, whether to take a job or buy a home, and how to raise children. The group believes in prophecy, speaking in tongues and divine healing.
There are some indications that both Ms. Barrett and the People of Praise may have tried to obscure Ms. Barrett's membership in the group. Links to issues of the group's magazine, Vine & Branches, that mentioned her have disappeared from its website, some of them very recently. One included an announcement that Ms. Barrett and her husband had adopted a child; another had a photograph of Ms. Barrett attending a women's gathering.
So ask yourself this, if there in no nefarious plan afoot, why make the effort to obscure the fact she is a member.
Tuesday, July 3, 2018: What Happens When Something Gets Too Top Heavy? - It Falls Over
I've decided that the rich have a fundamental flaw. They believe that somehow they can continue to suck up all the wealth in this country and there will be no consequences. I am not sure why, but they can't seem to grasp the most fundamental elements driving the American economy or that when we go over the economic cliff, it is likely all hell will break out. Maybe they do and just plan to head to some safe harbor on their yacht when the masses come after them with their AR15s. Me thinks they should read the history on what happens to fascists.
Here is reality. Anytime anything gets too top heavy, it either falls over or collapses. No question that life has never been better for the wealthiest 10 percent of families. They now own about 75 percent of the nation's total household wealth, as opposed to less than 35 percent in the 1970s and it is even better for the nation's richest 0.1 percent, who now own as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent, according to Deutsche Bank. For the other 90 percent of Americans, the ability to build wealth rests on the ability to save. Right now the personal savings rate in the U.S. is at 2.8 percent and heading in the wrong direction.
It is the masses of Americans who consume goods and services that drive the economy and frankly they are about to hit the wall economically if they haven't already. Real wages are still not keeping up with inflation; the cost of credit is about to jump significantly on the $13.21 trillion of consumer debt; average credit card debt per borrower is about $5,700 and growing at a rate of 4.7 percent while wages are growing at about 3 percent; and most retirement accounts have never recovered from the last Republican lead economic debacle. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the goose is about to croak.
Finally, the Republican bayonet trough the heart of the goose will be the bill that is going to come due for the Republican's $1.5 trillion tax give away to the wealthy and corporations. This "welfare for the rich and corporations" tax cut will take about $4,600 out of the economy each year for every man, woman and child in the U.S. You can't take that much out of the government coffers and not have an impact. The irony is that it will be the Trump supporters who benefited the least from the Republican tax cut - wage workers, farmers, retirees, and anyone else not in the top 10 percent of earners - that will end up shouldering the bulk of the financial mitigation needed to offset the damage the tax cut will cause to the economy. So if what I outlined in the previous paragraph doesn't scare the shit out of you, the impact of the tax cut should. We have reached that point in the American economy where the Republican economic policies are about to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs for the top 10%. When that happens, it all falls down.
P.S. Have you ever thought about how much that tax cut actually is? Well written in long form $1.5 trillion is $1,500,000,000,000 - yep folks that is 11 zeros following the 15. By that standard, a billion is chump change.
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