Filed under: Capitalism, Democrat Corruption, Domestic Policy, Economics, Economy, Employer Bonuses, Foreign Policy, Free Markets, Free Speech, Freedom, History, Media Bias, Politics, Progressivism, Taxes, The United States, Unemployment
Democrats learn with their mother’s milk that Republicans are basically quite stupid. If they were not they would be Democrats. Republicans give big tax cuts to the rich, and don’t care about ordinary folks, who may need help. They simply do not care about working people.
“[Donald] Trump’s economy is great for billionaires, not for working people,” Sanders likes to say. Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi grouses that under the Trump agenda, “the rich get richer, and everyone else is stuck paying the bill.”
Uh-huh. That’s been the standard liberal riff for the last couple of years as they try to explain how a president who they said would create a second Great Depression has created boom times with the lowest inflation and unemployment in half a century.
The facts, which the Left prefers not to take seriously, show something quite different. According to new Census Bureau data on the incomes of America’s middle class, Census Bureau researchers and statisticians at Sentier Research, the middle class has received gigantic income gains under Trump. The median or average-income family has seen a gain of $5,003 since Trump came into office. Median family income is now (August 2019) $65,976, up from about $61,000 when he entered office in January, 2017.
Under George W. Bush, the household income gains were a little over $400 in eight years. Under Barack Obama, the gains were $1,043. That was in eight years for each former president. Under Trump, in less than three years, the extra income is about three times larger. They were asked to triple check the unexpected numbers, and in each case the income growth was $5,000. The tax cut added an additional $2,500 to a typical family of four’s after-tax incomes, so after taking account of taxes owed, the income of most middle-class families is up closer to $6,000 in the Trump administration. (Yoo Hoo, Nancy Pelosi!)
Democrats were quite sure that under Trump, the economy was going to create a second Great Depression. Instead, we have boom times with the lowest inflation and unemployment in half a century. Dang.
Filed under: Capitalism, Democrat Corruption, Domestic Policy, Economics, Economy, Election 2016, Employer Bonuses, Free Speech, Freedom, Politics, Progressivism, Taxes, The United States, Unemployment | Tags: Good Economic News, Lowest Unemployment Since 1969, Plus 223000 Jobs
Investor’s Business Daily said on Friday “You have to look really hard at the May employment data to find anything even remotely resembling bad news about the economy. At some point, maybe the mainstream media will notice something’s changed dramatically, and for the better.”
Businesses added 223,000 jobs for the month, pushing the unemployment rate down to 3.8% — its lowest rate since April 2000 and matching the lowest rate ever, first set in 1969, according to the Labor Department. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected on average a 190,000 gain in jobs. And job gains in March and April were revised up by 15,000, so the number is even stronger than it looks.
Further cementing the idea of surprising strength, most economists now say that a mid-June hike in interest rates by the Federal Reserve is baked in the cake. When the Fed worries about too much good news, you know the economy’s strong.
But it’s even better than that, because minority employment right now is also booming. The unemployment rate for African-Americans fell to 5.9% in May from 6.6% in April. The May number is the lowest unemployment rate for African-Americans ever. Moreover, the 2.4 percentage point gap between the overall unemployment rate and the African-American rate is also the smallest since modern record-keeping of jobs and employment began in 1973.
Tyler Durden reported at Zero Hedge that Nancy Pelosi seemed to have reached “peak cognitive dissonance” this morning. He adds some dandy graphs if you like your facts illustrated.
In a prepared statement Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi panned the “strong” jobs numbers as bad for the middle class. She explained that::
May’s jobs report shows that strong employment numbers mean little to the families hit with soaring new costs under the Republican’s watch.
and she whined that:
…the President’s reckless policies are exploding gas prices, wiping out the few meager gains that some families should have received from the GOP tax scam, as wages remain stagnant.
Odd, because in fact wage growth is near its best (admittedly slow) since June 2009. Gas prices are up but just back to 2014 levels, well below the levels during President Obama’s reign and well in line with the average price at the pump during Obama;s entire 8 years. Then Pelosi summed up with what the Democrats plan is:
Democrats know that the American people deserve A Better Deal, with Better Jobs, Better Wages and a Better Future.
We are committed to creating millions of new good-paying jobs and raising wages, lowering the soaring cost of living for families and giving every American the tools to succeed in the 21st Century economy. Democrats will never stop fighting for the hard-working middle class families who are the backbone of our nation.
This is simply another example of the fact that the Democrats believe that the voters are stupid, and will fall for their propaganda every time. People just don’t pay that much attention to things, and are easily influenced by Democrats’ messages of caring and feelings.
I don’t think so. I think maybe that was one of the messages of the 2016 election. They’re not buying it.
Filed under: Bureaucracy, Capitalism, Domestic Policy, Economics, Economy, Employer Bonuses, Free Markets, Free Speech, Freedom, Media Bias, News, Politics, Taxes, Unemployment | Tags: Journalism Today, Obvious Facts, Trump Derangement Syndrome
The left-wing media is frantically busy fact-checking every word of the State of the Union Speech, defiantly positive that it was all a pack of lies. Yet the American people not only approved of the speech, they really liked it. Trump’s approval rating is up significantly, and that will not do.
Interest in the Super Bowl was way down, many people simply turned it off, extending their rejection of professional football throughout the season. At the Emmys, host Stephen Colbert promised an all-out assault on Trump, and the ratings came in at an all time low. The Grammys took an all-time 24% nosedive to 10 million fewer viewers. CNN, the noted fake news network, has had a ratings disaster, not one program ranked in the top 23. Movie attendance for Hollywood movies has reached a 24 year low.
Is it possible that there is a message here in all these collapsing ratings? What could it be? How come everything seems to be going down just as things are looking so decisively up? Taxes are way down, and the incomes of ordinary people are way up. Businesses are hiring, employment is up, unemployment is way down. Business is busy passing out bonuses, which on top of a tax cut is very good news for a lot of families.
The left-wing media is apparently so busy fact-checking the State of the Union speech and the Nunes memo, and their general fury at all things Trump, that they simply haven’t noticed these statistical details in the news.
Filed under: Bureaucracy, Capitalism, Democrat Corruption, Domestic Policy, Education, Employer Bonuses, Energy, Environment, Foreign Polidy, Health Care, Immigration, Iran, Islam, Mexico, Politics, Progressives, Taxes, The United States | Tags: Bringing Down a President, Political War, The New Administration
Republicans prefer their presidential candidates to be experienced governors who are practiced at dealing with difficult legislatures, lots of state agencies and troublesome problems that pop up unexpectedly—so when they are elected they can move into the White House more or less knowing what they are doing.
Democrats prefer glamorous candidates that they can admire. They fell in love with FDR, Jack Kennedy, Bill Clinton and Obama. Republicans seldom go to that extreme, though they have liked some better than others.
We elected Donald Trump, who, having spent his life in a very liberal New York City, is not as intense a Republican, or perhaps only lately a Republican. Nevertheless, he saw something disturbingly wrong with the Obama administration’s America, and he wants to fix it — hence the “Make America Great Again” baseball caps and the “draining the swamp rhetoric.” He hit a chord in vast numbers of angry American voters.
The White House and the presidential job were a bit startling to this Chief Executive Officer of his own empire, It’s far more intense than he had expected. Democrats in the Senate slow-walked every appointment that they could. Maxine Waters got in front of every available camera to insist on impeaching the president. Selecting the best person for each cabinet post means lots of interviews, lots of recommendations to sort through, and at 120 days he has finally completed the appointments.
I can sort of imagine the problems. He has his campaign staff with him, but many of the most important cabinet officers are still new to him. Each of them must start right in with a brand new office of old Washington hands, some willing, many unfriendly leftovers. Many of the appointments seem to be outstanding. Nikki Haley has hit the ground running at the UN. Some of the new people aren’t Republicans at all. Suspicions abound. Old familiar staff and family and new staff are sizing each other up and trying to decide if they can possibly work together.
Congress is moving at a slow crawl. The news media is hostile and trying to make a catastrophe out of every word by, about and from the President. The Democrats cannot accept the verdict of the American people and are trying to bring down this president. There are “Never Trumpers” among the Republicans. The Democrats really struck pay-dirt when they found the 5 year old tape of the presidential candidate making “locker-room comments” about women attracted to celebrities. Someone remarked that it was a “class issue”, and because of that comment, the elites determined that he was lower class, and thereby beyond the pale. Uneeded complications.
Trump is meeting with a wide variety of our most repellent foreign leaders in coming days, at his invitation. I think he just wants to size them up himself, rather than just rely on what he is being told. Some are disturbed that he is willing to meet with these heads of state.
The new staff is still sorting itself out and not satisfactorily. Some will be replaced, which will lead to further attacks from the Democrats. Staff dissension will be sorted out, communication will improve, and progress will be made. Bite your tongue. Allow the White House time to sort out the newness, they are under attack in an unexpected war. We’ve got an outstanding bunch of people there. Use your annoyance and anger to attack the left’s unrelenting venom.
Democrats are unaccustomed to any possibility that Republicans might actually respond. They remind us frequently that Mitch McConnell said early in Obama’s first term that his number one goal was to make sure that Obama was a one-term president, and how rude and crass a comment! That was apparently the whole of the Republican attack on the new Democrat president. Republicans are far too polite to really go on offense. They need your help. Hang in there. Praise the successes, and try not to criticize the flops too much. They need your encouragement, not your criticism. It’s still very early on.
Filed under: Bureaucracy, Capitalism, Domestic Policy, Economy, Employer Bonuses, Energy, Foreign Policy, Immigration, Law, National Security, Regulation, The United States | Tags: A Record of Accomplishment, Fair and Honest Reporting, Trump Derangement Syndrome
The President of the United States of America is often referred to as “the most powerful man in the world.” Well, yes, but there are all sorts of other superlatives that can be supplied. Maxine Waters keeps blathering on about impeaching Donald Trump and simultaneously claiming she never said any such thing. Democrats are clearly suffering from ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome,” which apparently results in not only psychiatric and psychological disorders, but ‘Trumporrhoea —” insomnia, exhaustion and gastrointestinal disorders. Pity that.
Presidents and noted politicians are simply ordinary human beings, with an oversize dose of ambition and self-regard, and a taste for the limelight. I suspect that most of us have no desire at all to run for office, even an important one. Once thrust into the spotlight of national attention, it’s almost impossible to escape. The media will deal with politicians depending on their political orientation.
“It would be difficult for those,” as Roger Kimball says, who get their news from outlets like “the New York Times, the Washington Post, MSNBC or CNN to have any sense of Trump’s stupendous accomplishments these past three months.”
Illegal border crossings are down by more than 90 percent. Sanctuary cities are on notice that defying federal law may lose federal grants. The Keystone and Dakota Access pipeline are moving ahead, and coal production is next. If Congress or agencies want a new regulation they have to get rid of two first, and executive orders are aimed at getting rid of inefficient regulations. The stock market is up about 2,500 points since the election and 3 percent growth may be on the horizon. That’s a pretty dramatic start. Do read the whole thing. And getting this U.S. citizen released from jail in nice too.
Aya Hijazi, a dual US-Egyptian citizen and her husband Mohamed Hassanein founded Belady, an NGO that promotes a better life for Cairo street children. They had been in prison in Cairo for three years, and her acquittal and that of her husband and four other humanitarian workers came about as the result of President Trump’s intervention.
That’s really a remarkable amount of accomplishment. Restoring deterrence, one bomb at a time, is pretty impressive as well. As historian Victor Davis Hanson notes, “the only thing more dangerous than losing deterrent power is trying to put it back together again.” Well done.
Filed under: Bureaucracy, Domestic Policy, Economics, Employer Bonuses, Humor | Tags: British Humor, The Empty Hospital, Yes, Minister
Sometimes comedy explains an issue even better than the facts do. We can laugh at the absurdity, but it makes us look at the real world with a slightly clearer eye.
Filed under: Capitalism, Crime, Economy, Employer Bonuses, Energy, Immigration, Media Bias, National Security, Progressivism, Regulation, Taxes, The United States, Unemployment | Tags: Lost Words Replaced, Obama is Poisonously Boring, The SOTU Speech
I did not watch the State of the Union speech last night. I’m not up for the hectoring, lecturing tone of Mr. Obama’s speeches. He long ago forgot the idea that he works for us — if he ever recognized it. I did, however, print out the prepared speech from the White House website under the assumption that it might offer a clue to what is coming for the coming year. I did, it does, and it’s not encouraging, but easily summed up as more of the same.
I wrote a fairly lengthy piece about it, and when I was nearly done — it vanished. Dunno what happened, it wasn’t in the trash, help from WordPress on how to recover lost posts didn’t help — just gone. Probably all for the best. Critical pieces abound, and mine will not be missed.
Mr. Obama is a Progressive, and lives, as I recently said, in an alternate reality. He finds America unsatisfactory and wants us to stop meddling in the world and turn the funds to making more people completely dependent on governmental largess, well, taxpayer largess, and take from the rich who are undeserving and give to those who are deserving. Social Justice and all that. American businesses and American people need more regulation, so they will behave better. The federal government, which is much better at regulating things, will tell businesses how to operate, raise the minimum wage, reduce obscene executive pay, give workers more time off and more say in their working conditions, and create more job training programs for those who can’t find a job.
Obama will empty Guantanamo, sending detainees back home with the insistence that they must behave better. He will continue releasing non-violent felons who are only drug dealers (dealers, not users) but arrested with illegal weapons, into free society, with the insistence that they must behave better. No one will be allowed to ask about a criminal record, so they will be able to get good jobs, become good citizens and vote Democrat in gratitude. The crime rate has been going down dramatically for a number of years, but Progressives do not understand the relationship between more crooks in prison, and a reduction in crime. Too complicated.
Obama will promote equal pay for equal work — which has been the law since 1963, but is ignored in the White House and in Hillary’s campaign.
Everybody needs a college education, so we will have to fork over for college tuition and room and board for everyone.
“We have the spirit of discovery in our DNA,” he said, because we built the space program, so now we need a new moonshot — America can cure Cancer. He is putting Joe Biden in charge of mission control. (not a joke)
America, which meddles too much, is the most powerful nation on earth. “No nation dares to attack us or our allies because they know that’s the path to ruin. Surveys show our standing around the world is higher than when I was elected to this office.” A little awkward when Iran just grabbed 10 of our sailors, two Navy small craft with all of their equipment, photographed them all in a humiliating kneeling position with hands over their heads in direct conflict with Article 13 of the Geneva Convention, and forced the female sailor to don a hijab. Humiliating for the administration. Great propaganda for the Mullahs, who will use the pictures to show how Iran humiliated the Great Satan.
Secretary of State Kerry groveled abjectly, apologized, did his doormat act, and the Iranians released the sailors — whether with their 2 ships and equipment, I don’t know.
Obama said “That’s why we built a global coalition, with sanctions and principled diplomacy, to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran. As we speak, Ian has rolled back its nuclear program, shipped out its uranium stockpile, and the world has avoided another war.” See how simple it all is?
This was dashed off a little more quickly than the previous lost and unrecoverable piece, so I may have missed some of the excitement. Sorry about that!
Filed under: Democrat Corruption, Employer Bonuses, Immigration, Politics, STEM Graduates | Tags: Foreign Students, Homeland Security, STEM Graduates
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is expanding a program that allows foreign students with degrees in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) to extend their stay in the U.S to work after graduation. Since, unlike native Americans, they are still defined as “students” they are not required to pay social security and Medicare taxes. The bonus given to employers for hiring a foreign STEM graduate will increase from $10,000 to $12,000. So an employer is more apt to hire a foreign graduate to work in their field of study, than to hire a new American STEM graduate.
Our nation will benefit from keeping international students here, educated in U.S. colleges and universities here while they receive additional training, rather than sending them out of the country,” Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Sarah Saldaña said in a statement Friday. “At the same time, U.S. employers will benefit from the increased ability to rely on the skills acquired by U.S. educated-STEM students, as well as their knowledge of markets in their home countries.”
And proud parents of new STEM graduates might wonder why their kids can’t seem to find a job? It was recently reported that Disney tech employees were let go, but required to train the foreign workers hired to replace them. There have been many cases of our high-tech companies hiring cheaper foreign workers, who because they are only here because of the H1-B program, are not likely to complain or be difficult for fear of losing their visas.
I don’t understand how this makes sense. Some say that Obama is attempting to change the electoral college which is based on population at the time of the election, so more immigrants can skew the vote. He is clearly trying to get more immigrants, legal and illegal, through a simplified citizenship process so they can vote in the 2016 election. Apparently we are to be troubled by this petty tyrant for years and years to come.
American Elephants 