Monday, December 12, 2016

Donald Trump becomes President-elect...Stocks take a dive


Yeah...sure

They all did well during Barack Obama's administration but put the skids on when Donald Trump was elected. These are Standard and Poor's stocks that excelled under Obama, some even soared like online retailer Amazon.com (AMZN), alcoholic beverage seller Constellation (STZ) and real-estate investment trust General Growth (GGP) all with 1,000% growth since 2008 when President Obama took office. They now trail the 3% regular rise in the S&P 500 since the Trump win. There is also a rapid decline in bond prices according to USA Today.

Investment experts expect a significant change in government policy under Donald Trump, particularly on globalization, which many of the down companies depend on. And as well they might, considering the new President-elect changes his mind daily, his word is worth very little, and shows fits of being unstable at times. Here's an example of why the concern...
Constellation bought U.S. distribution rights to Corona and other Mexican brews in June 2013. Mexican beers now account for 90% of Constellation's beer business, which is more than half the company's revenue, Ramey says.
Constellation is a top maker of wine and beer including brands like Robert Mondavi and Black Velvet. Here's another quote from USA Today...
"His tough talk on larger, unregulated companies (and) industries has many spooked that he’ll do something negative, or that he’ll be friendlier to competition," says Daniel Kurnos, analyst at Benchmark Capital.
Bernie Sanders had said if Donald Trump planned to fight the outsourcing of many U.S. companies, he was with him all the way. Then the Carrier Indiana plant situation arose with Trump demanding the company change its position on sending jobs to Mexico. As it turns out more than half of the Carrier jobs still went south. Just another Trump deception.

Congressional members with NRA blood on their hands


Rep. Ed Whitfield
 Recipients of cash from the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) (1988-2016) who refuse to pass gun control laws that would save lives, as reported by The Nation magazine. Call them today!


Congressman: Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY)
Total amount received: $34,850
Tel. Number: (202) 225-3115

Bernie Sanders,"unhappily," sorry we'll have pathological liar in White House





As I am sure the rest of us sane individuals are, but there is nothing we can do about Donald Trump getting there, but maybe something can be done about his staying there. The Bern made reference to Chuck Jones who challenged the President-elect's outright lie that he had saved all the Carrier jobs at the Indiana plant, when in fact more than half are still going to Mexico. Sen. Sanders concludes that Trump's message here to unions and their workers was that if you continue to stand up and fight, my administration will go after you. Just as he did with Chuck Jones on Twitter.

MSNBC's Chris Hayes questioned Bernie on the appointment of "Andrew Puzder, CEO of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s, who supported Trump during his campaign, praising him as a 'pragmatic centrist' and 'negotiator.' The Senator took the opportunity to remind those who voted for the President-elect that all those promises of standing up to the establishment were all "crap," my word but still accurate. Pudzer, who is anti-worker, and who pays his workers as little as possible--many of whom have to get federal assistance--is adamantly against raising the minimum wage.



When Chris Hayes asked Bernie Sanders about the reality of all this, referencing how Barack Obama has established his legacy from his accomplishments, particularly, bringing the economy back from near disaster under George W. Bush--now that's reality. At this point we have another Republican in the White House, and Hayes wondered if reality would hit when under Trump wages decline, outsourcing continues, and the economic squeeze on the middle-class advances, will the public, particularly his supporters, blame it on the President-elect or Bernie, Hillary, the Democrats?

The Bern hopes to build a movement of grass roots supporters who do see the reality of what just happened in this election, plus what will be taking place under Donald Trump. I know I'm in!









Sunday, December 11, 2016

Congressional members with NRA blood on their hands


Rep. David Vitter
Recipients of cash from the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) (1988-2016) who refuse to pass gun control laws that would save lives, as reported by The Nation magazine. Call them today!


Congressman: Sen. David Vitter (R-LA)                                                                                                   Total amount received: $35,250                                                                                                  
Tel. Number: (202) 224-4623

Cry baby Trump just can't take criticism, is Twitter deranged



If Donald Trump was going to start World War III, and his mouth does have the capability of doing that, he most likely would announce it to the world on Twitter. This mentally challenged psychopath jumps on social media the moment anyone questions his...whatever he thinks he is. Okay, he is the President-elect, a mistake this country must now live with. Robert Reich, former secretary of labor in the Clinton administration now a professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, gets on Trump's case about the effects from his whining criticism.

When Chuck Jones, local Indiana union leader who is President of United Steelworkers 1999, criticized Donald Trump because he falsely claimed he had saved 1,000 Carrier jobs, a blubbering Trump replied on Twitter...
"Chuck Jones, who is President of United Steelworkers 1999, has done a terrible job representing workers. No wonder companies flee country!"
Following that, Jones received death threats.

You will remember the Boeing fiasco where Trump said out of the blue, "We want Boeing to make a lot of money but not that much money." That was a qualification to an earlier statement after the Boeing CEO lightly rebuked the President-elect for being against trade. After which Trump had tweeted...
"Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!"
The outset was that Boeing took an immediate hit, then we found out that Boeing did not even have this $4 billion order.

Donald Trump has used the power of his position and big mouth to intimidate people in the real estate industry, and now he has brought this same level of sleaze to the White House. And with the GOP control of Congress featuring some of the biggest morons in politics, we're in for a tough four years. Or, once again, maybe not?

Saturday, December 10, 2016

Congressional members with NRA blood on their hands


Sen. Richard Burr
Recipients of cash from the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) (1988-2016) who refuse to pass gun control laws that would save lives, as reported by The Nation magazine. Call them today!


Congressman: Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC)                                                                                                 Total amount received: $35,700                                                
Tel. Number: (202) 224-3154

Just another example Donald Trump not serious about his presidency


The new President-elect is skipping intelligence briefings, blowing them off as if the security of the United States is not a priority to him. And maybe it isn't, as he continues to plan new Trump hotels in Taiwan; Russia is probably next. I've said from the beginning of Donald Trump's rise in the polls that he was doing it for one thing...Donald Trump. President Obama has ordered his daily intelligence to be given to Trump and Mike Pence to keep them abreast of the current status of our security and what the global situation is. Trump has schluffed off most, attending at best one a week.

But, then, why not have an uninformed President; all of his supporters were uninformed. He's not required to attend these briefings but Presidents in the past have welcomed the opportunity to have a heads-up on where the nation and world stands before taking office. Not Donald Trump. And if he does have his mind on things other than the US, like where his next hotel will go, well, a lot of us told you so. This hasn’t gone unnoticed, according to MSNBC...
"Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.), the ranking members on the Senate Intelligence and Foreign Relations Committees, respectively, noted they find it 'particularly troubling' that the president-elect 'has mostly declined to take the daily intelligence briefing' – breaking with what other presidents-elect have done for decades."
Former CIA Director Leon Panetta is concerned with the situation and when you consider Donald Trump's lack of experience in governing--zilch/nada--it should send up warning signs to everyone, especially those in the Pentagon, that this president might be AOL when those important decisions need to be made. Of course, the man has never been presidential and never will. Here's another MSNBC statement worth quoting...
".. it’s hard not to feel uncomfortable with these circumstances. The least experienced, least knowledgeable presidential candidate in American history – prone to believe weird conspiracy theories and disregard facts he finds inconvenient – is preparing to take office soon, and at this point, he seems passively indifferent towards security information."
The whole thing is alarming but what is even more alarming is that these uneducated rednecks that elected him knew he was not presidential material before they voted. 

Friday, December 9, 2016

Drop the College and drop the 2nd Amendment



Never before have I seen a case made so eloquent for ridding ourselves of a "relic" bestowed on us by the Founding Fathers. We have a few but this is one that happens to be in the spotlight now as the bungled finish of the 2016 Presidential election becomes evident. For the second time in 16 years, the out-of-date Electoral College has given the White House to the person with the least popular vote. And this year it is significant: Hillary Clinton has scored over 2.2 million more votes than Donald Trump. John Nichols does an excellent job of making his case in The Nation...
"The Electoral College is an abomination: an antidemocratic relic of the unconscionable compromises made during America’s founding that should never have been allowed to linger into the 21st century."
Now I'll get to the Electoral College in a later post but this one is devoted to just how much Nichols' article applies to the 2nd Amendment. Read it again, but this time substitutiing the 2nd Amendment for Electoral College...
The 2nd Amendment is an abomination: an antidemocratic relic of the unconscionable compromises made during America’s founding that should never have been allowed to linger into the 21st century.
I hear the gun nuts coming out from under their rocks now but even the "antidemocratic" portion, above, can be defended. It is against my democracy to have to be in a public place with some guy or gal who feels it necessary to walk around with an assault rifle on their shoulder, a weapon that belongs only in law enforcement and the military. Yes, they have a right, but that should extend no further than their front door. But even the right to defend yourself in the home shouldn't include assault rifles. Individual rights go just so far and can be limited, as agreed by the Supreme Court.

The fight over guns will go on until enough of the "right" people are killed, and by that I mean those most verbal over gun rights that preclude any responsible  control at all. And by the lunacy of some of their rhetoric, I wonder if even then.

More on the Electoral College later.

Thursday, December 8, 2016

How about concentration camps for racists?


Okay, too severe. Besides, you wouldn't want to collect that much lowlife together in one place, the smell would be horrendous. Think what it would do to insurance rates in nearby communities and the depreciation of homes.  Perhaps to harsh, or maybe not harsh enough for these mutants from humanity. It is impossible to describe these dregs of the earth without the use of words this bad. And it all stems from an organization originating from the South, where I was raised, the Ku Klux Klan.

This all comes from an article I read on CNN by Rob Crilly, who went to a KKK rally in Roxboro, NC, where the Klan was staging a rally that almost no one went to. They called it a kalvacade, organized by the group's Imperial Kommander, Amanda Barker, designed as a victory for the election of Donald Trump. Remember that basket of deplorables, apparently it overflows in North Carolina? Crilly commented that in Roxboro, he had seen "...the future of the alt-right."

And yes, come January 20, of 2017, the alt-right will reside in the Donald Trump White House in the form of Steve Bannon, former head of Breitbart News, a known racist, woman hater and anti-semitic. Bannon will be at the top of the totem pole in the Trump administration as the chief strategist, no doubt guiding policy in the alt-right direction which is to establish white nationalism in the United States. And Donald Trump regularly spewed during the election he would represent all people.

It is unimaginable to me how the American public made it possible for a man like Donald Trump to become President. I realize that concentration camps for these uneducated rednecks is a stretch, but I wonder how many out there today would relish the opportunity to get as far away from these lunatics




Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Congressional members with NRA blood on their hands


Rep. Paul Ryan
Recipients of cash from the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) (1988-2016) who refuse to pass gun control laws that would save lives, as reported by The Nation magazine. Call them today!


Congressman: Rep. Paul Ryan Speaker of the House (R-WI)
Total amount received: $36,800
Tel. Number: (202) 225-3031

Bernie sanders blasts Donald Trump's billionaire Cabinet



In an interview with Chris Hayes of MSNBC, Bernie Sanders was his usual self in describing President-elect Donald Trump's Cabinet picks of billionaires and millionaires. Hayes showed a clip of Trump's rhetoric criticizing Wall Street, saying they wouldn't get away with anything. Well, they got away with the "golden goose" in the Cabinet choices he has made so far. See Matt Rocheleau's line up. Rocheleau comments:
"Collectively, the wealth of his Cabinet choices so far is roughly four times greater than President Obama’s Cabinet and nearly 30 times greater than the one George W. Bush led at the end of his presidency."
And this is just half of the Cabinet so far. Bernie points out that, not only is Trump not criticizing Wall Street, he is appointing its insiders to help him run the country. The Bern deemed it sheer hypocrisy and laughable in the following video...


Chris Hayes talks about how happy Wall Street must be with only billionaires and millionaires so far to determine the future of the middle class. I hope those uneducated redneck supporters of Donald Trump are looking at this and realize what a momentous mistake they have made. Something tells me these people may never realize just how bad they are being screwed. There are more Cabinet members to be chosen but there is no reason to think it will change.

As Bernie Sanders said, we have elected a fraud and a phony.

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

The new President-elect just can't keep his mouth shut


President -elect Donald Trump
Just coming off a major diplomatic faux pas by taking a call from Taiwan's President--a no-no since Beijing is recognized by the U.S. as China's head--Donald Trump has now "...accused China of keeping its currency artificially low and of military posturing in the South China Sea -- home to a tense territorial dispute." Here's Trump at his best...
"Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete), heavily tax our products going into their country (the US doesn't tax them) or to build a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea? I don't think so!"
CNN reports there has been no reaction from Beijing yet on either issue as I reported earlier. But according "...to the People's Daily -- the Communist Party's official mouthpiece --"the call set a bad precedent." The spokesman for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lu Kang, says China is only interested in U.S. policy, not Donald Trump's style. The People's Daily also said, "China will not take it lightly.

This has to be the first time a President-elect has started a "war," with a foreign power before they even take office. I am, of course, speaking of a war of words. Chinese international relations expert, Victor Gao, said, "...that Trump could say what he liked as President-elect but his comments would have huge global consequences once in office." Sounds like a mandate to me from someone who is an expert on U.S.-China relations.

Congressional members with NRA blood on their hands


Rep. Sam Graves
Recipients of cash from the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) (1988-2016) who refuse to pass gun control laws that would save lives, as reported by The Nation magazine. Call them today!


Congressman: Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO)
Total amount received: $37,100                                                                               Tel. Number: )202) 225-7041

Don't miss the No Kings Protests tomorrow

U,S. House Speaker, Mike Johnson, has branded himself as a certified idiot and the GOP as scared beyond comprehension of tomorrow's No K...