Friday, December 30, 2016

Donald Trump takes credit for Obama economy



What is even more bizarre than the fact that he won the presidency is that Donald Trump just claimed it is he who should take credit for the improved economy. Here's his tweet...
"The U.S. Consumer Confidence Index for December surged nearly four points to 113.7, THE HIGHEST LEVEL IN MORE THAN 15 YEARS! Thanks Donald!"
In fact it is President Barack Obama who has slowly but carefully returned the economy to prosperity after the devastation of the George W. Bush administration. Trump, hopefully won't be responsible for another GWB debacle, the possibility of which could be many times that of Bush's. Anyone who has to feed their ego with this kind of bullshit must have an enormous inferiority complex. Can you imagine this man sitting in the Oval Office when Russia's Putin says something to piss him off, and off go the missiles starting world war III.

CNN Money says "... consumer confidence was making a comeback for years before Trump even began his campaign." Right after George W. Bush put the economy in the toilet, and just as Barack Obama was entering the White House...
"...in the depths of the Great Recession, the index hit a low of 25.3. Before Trump was elected, it had climbed all the way back to 100.8 in October."
All thanks to President Obama, of course. Now what will Donald Trump do with what he is being given?


T-rump stupid things


'I'd bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding'

The full quote...
"In the Middle East, we have people chopping the heads off Christians, we have people chopping the heads off many other people. We have things that we have never seen before -- as a group, we have never seen before, what's happening right now. The medieval times -- I mean, we studied medieval times -- not since medieval times have people seen what's going on. I would bring back waterboarding and I'd bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding."
Thanks to Newsday.


The wealthy have taken away the American Dream



In the past, the American Dream provided that 90% of children could expect to earn more than their parents. In the last 50 years that has dropped to 50%. And that's not all, "...the bottom 50% of the American population earned an average of $16,000 in pre-tax income in 1980. That hasn't changed in over three decades." By comparison, the wealthy earned on average $428,000 in 1980, but today average $1.3 million a year. That's close to a 300% increase, where the have-nots remain stagnant. In other words, what Bernie Sanders was saying during his Presidential campaign was all true.

I have several friends who are Republicans, not necessarily have-nots, but certainly not even close to the top 1%, who don't seem to worry about this inequality. Some have commented that the rich should be rewarded because they worked for it but that brings up the question of how many were given their wealth...like Donald J. Trump. And then there's the suppression of those of us working stiffs by the corporations supported by the conservative GOP. Pew Research says from 1971 to 2015...
"...the nation’s aggregate household income has substantially shifted from middle-income to upper-income households, driven by the growing size of the upper-income tier and more rapid gains in income at the top."
There's more...
Fully 49% of U.S. aggregate income went to upper income households in 2014, up from 29% in 1970. The share accruing to middle-income households was 43% in 2014, down substantially from 62% in 1970.


CNN Money says that wages aren't going up for the bottom 50%, that inequality has grown and is on track to widen further. And the government, who is supposed to be the friend of the poor, isn't helping...
"The U.S. tax system is supposed to help the poor. Yet even after-tax income shows that the bottom 50% averaged just $25,000 a person in 2014, according to the latest data. That's just a touch above the $20,000 someone in the bottom half earned way back in 1974 (after adjusting for inflation)."
What makes all this worse is the fact that those in the top 1% not only laud their wealth over the lower echelons, but also use it to screw them further by buying elections. I'm talking about the Koch brothers. 

Thursday, December 29, 2016

Trump foreign policy ludicrous and threatening


Donald Trump on Defense
The incoming president's transition debacle has come up with another plan to make America a third world country, and this time it involves the defense of the nation. The Trump minions have decided that the top priority for our defense should be to "develop a strategy to defeat/destroy ISIS." CNN likens ISIS as "...ultimately no more than a nuisance for the United States."
"As a point of comparison, ISIS and ISIS-inspired attacks have killed fewer Americans than gun violence by a factor of more than 1,000 to 1."
The balance of the priorities includes...
"...build a strong defense", "develop a comprehensive USG cyber strategy" and "find greater efficiencies."
 Where's Russia? Where's Iran? Where's China? And where is the head of the country whose head displays the same erratic behavior as this country's president-elect, Kim Jong Un, President of North Korea? Donald Trump may have a personal relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia he thinks will assure a peaceful alliance, but that would just show how ignorant and naive the man is. And there is no way Trump can cuddle up with the other three countries. Jonathan Cristol of CNN says...
"The only entity on Earth that has the capability to destroy the United States is Russia, and it is notable, if unsurprising, that Russia is not on Trump's list. Russia has over 1,700 deployed nuclear warheads and can strike the East Coast of the United States within 20 minutes."
Cristol wonders further if Donald Trump plans to follow through on his campaign promise to "... withdraw the United States from the world." Here's what The Hill says...
"...Trump often belittles our allies, minimizing threats posed by adversaries. He lambastes assumptions upon which U.S. foreign policy is predicated, but his disjointed, incoherent proposals provide no discernible substitute, especially for existing alliances."
One would hope that beneath all this loud mouth bluster there might be something of substance. So far there is absolutely no evidence of that.

T-Rump stupid things


"(Obama) doesn't have a birth certificate. He may have one, but there's something on that, maybe religion, maybe it says he's a Muslim. I don't know. Maybe he doesn't want that."





Donald Trump revives racism in South



The United States is a racist and sexist country, has been, is, and, perhaps, always will be. Bigotry has lain almost hidden for several years, starting in the late 1960s, after civil rights laws were passed. Before that I lived in the South and it was rampant, right out in the open for all to see. And it was accepted. Tragically by both whites and blacks. I grew up in it but never accepted it, thus, leaving that part of the country for more tolerant places. They exist on the outside, but deep down there is always that feeling, at least for some, that you are better than someone else.



We saw racism rear its ugly head here in Arizona with the state's immigration bill, SB1070, which was eventually stripped of its major parts and no longer has any influence. Arizona former disgraced Sheriff, Joe Arpaio, tried his best to continue the harassment of Mexican illegals but was finally stopped by the Federal government, was then voted out of office, and is the focus of several lawsuits. The "N" word is less prevalent than it used to be, but a recent comment on my blog proves it is still in use. It was in response to a post of how Trump's election might hurt the country...
What a joke, the market is breaking records every day since we elected a real President, your buckwheat nigger "president" was and is the biggest failure of all time
I also did another post earlier on how North Carolina has maintained a steady parade of racist laws:
"North Carolina continues its racist mandate." The state seems hell-bent on proving that racism is not dead, but is thriving in that state. Immediately following Donald Trump's election the Ku Klux Klan was displaying its robes for all to see, crying out its support for Trump. Confederate flags were being flown everywhere, an accepted symbol today for racism. Former KKK leader, David Duke told Time magazine, "He and Donald Trump have the same message." CNN has this observation...
"At first glance, comparing some Trump supporters to ex-Confederates may seem absurd, even insulting. But historians say both groups developed an uncanny ability to obscure the role race played in transformative events and to persuade millions of Americans to go along with the charade."
More...
"Trump's victory may mark the resurgence of the Old South in another more sinister way: The return of 'racial amnesia.'"
And all it took was a raving maniac. 

Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Minimum wage increases to depend on local governments



Twenty-one states and twenty-two cities are increasing the minimum wage while Donald Trump's selected Secretary of Labor, Andrew Puzder, is a longtime critic of the concept. He's the guy who heads up fast food chains, Hardee's and Carl's Jr., so those of you out there who are minimum wage increase advocates might want to avoid these eateries. Try McDonalds or Burger King. In the case of one state, Arizona, where I live, they are fighting the minimum wage bill that passed in November, blaming it on the harm it will do to the state's health care system, which is pure bullshit.

The Arizona Republic claims that is only a smoke screen to cover the fact that businesses just don't want the minimum wage increased. I have lived in Arizona for over 20 years and this state has always been the backward state of the Union, all because it is and has been under Republican control for years. But that may be changing. In the state increases, some are piddly, like five or ten cents an hour, with others higher. Arizona voted $10 and hour, the biggest of all at 24%. In my judgment, that is a reaction by Progressives, finally coming out of the woodwork, to the long GOP control here.

CNN Money says...
"In the absence of action from Congress in terms of raising the federal minimum wage, which has remained at $7.25 since 2009, states and localities have taken matters into their own hands."
The restaurant industry is also a critic of raising the minimum wage, which is allowed to pay a minimum of $2.13 an hour, if the salary combined with tips equals the federal minimum wage of $7.25. Anyone who doesn't think that is poverty wage--and apparently Andrew Puzder doesn't and if he does, he simply doesn't care--is completely without compassion. But then, that would describe the majority of the Republican Party, particularly its new leader, Donald Trump. My guess is, though, some of these unfortunates even voted for Trump with hope that will never be realized. 

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