The Trump Presidency

[sturg33]

No it really isn't. There is video of the harassment. They posted it themselves.

... You can look it up

[sturg33]

So, three examples of how you are afraid the President will cost you money.




Seems legit.

The economy is without the question the one thing that impacts people's lives more than anything else.

Trump is lapping Obama.

To borrow a phrase from condescending leftists... "People should stop voting against their own self interests"

[57Brave]

No it really isn't. There is video of the harassment. They posted it themselves.

... You can look it up

who is " they" ?

[sturg33]

who is " they" ?

I don't have their social security numbers, sorry.

I just scanned their Facebook page though. That's a good brand y'all are building.

[57Brave]

who is "they"
Unless you can point to real people it just might well be O'Keefe or a mimic
Right?
Was in the ACORN case and others that followed


Something stinks about this whole affair

[sturg33]

who is "they"
Unless you can point to real people it just might well be O'Keefe or a mimic
Right?
Was in the ACORN case and others that followed


Something stinks about this whole affair

What stinks is your consistent defense of them.

These people wear masks to cover their face.

Here's one individual who wrote an op ed about being there... He somehow thinks this helps his case, and I'm sure in your mind it does.

Reading the Twitter replies was worthwhile.

James O'Keefe is not relevant here. You can let that go, Ok?

[Krgrecw]

to draw an analogy between Trump and a competent doctor or competence in any field is a bit rich

in addition to being a serial liar he is an incompetent and uninformed buffoon and a career criminal

but mumble mumble stuck market unemployment rate

if you look at the history of many great empires some of them thrived during periods of highly incompetent rule...check out the Romanovs and tsarist Russia for an interesting example

If trump is so incompetent and uninformed yet he got the economy rolling what does that say about Obama?

[nsacpi]

If trump is so incompetent and uninformed yet he got the economy rolling what does that say about Obama?

I really don't think this deserves an answer but here goes.

When Obama came into office in January 2009 we were in the midst of the worst financial and economic crisis since the Great Depression. The unemployment rate in January 2009 was 7.7%, having risen from 4.9% just a year earlier. It would continue rising rapidly before peaking at 10.1% in October 2009.

Both Obama and Bush in 2008 recognized the need for fiscal stimulus and large fiscal stimulus programs were enacted under both of them. I think in both cases some of the details of their fiscal stimulus programs were not optimal. But they were correct in diagnosing a need for massive fiscal stimulus. I think probably the largest mistake in fiscal policy during the Obama years took place from 2011 to 2015, when fiscal stimulus was withdrawn prematurely. I'm not going to try to apportion blame for that, except to make the observation that the Obama administration and the Republican controlled Congress could have done a lot better. To remove fiscal stimulus at a time when the unemployment rate was still very high and the economy struggling to gain traction did not make any sense.

In spite of those mistakes, by the end of 2016 the unemployment rate was down to 4.7%. Since then it has fallen further to 3.7%. Growth has accelerated in the past year, in part due to fiscal stimulus (mainly tax cuts). This has blown a $300 billion hole in federal finances. It is not hard to gin up the economy when you blow a $300 billion hole in federal finances. The question is whether it is wise. Fiscal stimulus is a good thing when unemployment is high. It is not such a good idea under current circumstances. Interest rates are rising, in part because of the high deficits and in part due to concerns about a potential rise in inflation.

Whoever is elected president in 2020 will have to grapple with the damage done to federal finances by the policies enacted in the past two years. It won't be fun cleaning up the mess.

[Krgrecw]

I really don't think this deserves an answer but here goes.

When Obama came into office in January 2009 we were in the midst of the worst financial and economic crisis since the Great Depression. The unemployment rate in January 2009 was 7.7%, having risen from 4.9% just a year earlier. It would continue rising rapidly before peaking at 10.1% in October 2009.

Both Obama and Bush in 2008 recognized the need for fiscal stimulus and large fiscal stimulus programs were enacted under both of them. I think in both cases some of the details of their fiscal stimulus programs were not optimal. But they were correct in diagnosing a need for massive fiscal stimulus. I think probably the largest mistake in fiscal policy during the Obama years took place from 2011 to 2015, when fiscal stimulus was withdrawn prematurely. I'm not going to try to apportion blame for that, except to make the observation that the Obama administration and the Republican controlled Congress could have done a lot better. To remove fiscal stimulus at a time when the unemployment rate was still very high and the economy struggling to gain traction did not make any sense.

In spite of those mistakes, by the end of 2016 the unemployment rate was down to 4.7%. Since then it has fallen further to 3.7%. Growth has accelerated in the past year, in part due to fiscal stimulus (mainly tax cuts). This has blown a $300 billion hole in federal finances. It is not hard to gin up the economy when you blow a $300 billion hole in federal finances. The question is whether it is wise. Fiscal stimulus is a good thing when unemployment is high. It is not such a good idea under current circumstances. Interest rates are rising, in part because of the high deficits and in part due to concerns about a potential rise in inflation.

Whoever is elected president in 2020 will have to grapple with the damage done to federal finances by the policies enacted in the past two years. It won't be fun cleaning up the mess.

So no credit for trumps tax cuts and rollback of regulations?

[goldfly]

Old tired orange one says if you don’t show respect he will pull credentials

He really wants a dictatorship here

[nsacpi]

So no credit for trumps tax cuts and rollback of regulations?

The tax cuts have stimulated growth. But the question is was this wise. I tried to provide some discussion of this in my post.

As for regulations, I think this is a fair criticism of Obama and the Democrats in general. They often did not base their regulatory decisions on sound cost-benefit analysis. I make the same criticism of Trump. There is a proper balance to be struck. Many regulations have worthy goals--cleaner environment, worker safety, food free of contamination, etc. But you want to properly account for the costs and try to achieve the goals in a cost effective way.

[goldfly]

So no credit for trumps tax cuts and rollback of regulations?

Why would you give credit to bad things like your examples?

[cajunrevenge]

So let me ask this, if Trump gets the credit for this boom then does that mean Bill Clinton is responsible for the boom in the 90's? Trump is just super charging an already good economy with shortsighted moves that will have long term consequences. Whenever the economy crashes he will blame Democrats wether thats tommorrow or 5 years from now.

[nsacpi]

In case anyone thought I was being overly harsh in calling Trump an incompetent and uninformed buffoon, today he had a meeting with the leaders of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. He began the meeting by blaming them for the war in Yugoslavia. After a few minutes, everyone realized that Trump was confusing Baltics with Balkans.

I'll just add a corollary to this. I realize that many white blue collar workers are tired of being disrespected and condescended to. Certainly this has happened to them over the years and is part of the explanation for their exodus from the Democratic Party. But when they choose a clown and buffoon as their champion to be held up as a great man (to be given so much credit for the economy among other things in spite of all the evidence he is a punk and a clown) that is not exactly a foolproof way to earn the respect of other people.

My business often requires me to make trips to the South. In spite of my fondness for talking some Northern smack, I actually like the South. But I have had some very bad luck the last couple years. My habit is to usually eat dinner and have a drink at the hotel bar. And there have been a few occasions where the talk has drifted to politics. People have volunteered to me that they are Trump supporters. I don't know why this happens. But it happens fairly early in the conversations, even before politics comes up. I try to be neutral and respectful. I'll say something to the effect that I'm not a fan but my mother voted for him and she has a lot more common sense than I do. But when these people start explaining to me why they support Trump it is so much drivel. It is unbelievable. I assume they are somewhat educated because I stay at nice hotels. But it is hard not to be contemptuous of Trump supporters after those kinds of conversations.

[goldfly]

The party of trump thinks wanting healthcare = being ruled by your wallet

Wow

[cajunrevenge]

okay, whats stopping you from buying health insurance right now? That someone else wont pay a part of yours?

[nsacpi]

okay, whats stopping you from buying health insurance right now? That someone else wont pay a part of yours?

if you're young and healthy it is really easy and cheap...even before Obamacare

[cajunrevenge]

Old tired orange one says if you don’t show respect he will pull credentials

He really wants a dictatorship here

I would love to see the press mock him by being over the top complimentary in their questions. For example....


"Mr. President, you clearly have been the best thing for the black community since MLK jr but some people take issue with you calling yourself a nationalist and believe this has racist undertones. Why do you think these people are so mistaken about the greatest President to ever President a country?"

[57Brave]

What stinks is your consistent defense of them.

These people wear masks to cover their face.

Here's one individual who wrote an op ed about being there... He somehow thinks this helps his case, and I'm sure in your mind it does.

Reading the Twitter replies was worthwhile.

James O'Keefe is not relevant here. You can let that go, Ok?

Telling that you equate understanding with "defense of"

The unibomber lived in a cabin in the middle of Montana, the pipe bomber a few weeks back was identified within days
Do you really think 2018 law enforcement is stumped by surgical masks ?

You have been unable to explain 2 sides of any argument yet you claim to know the authors thoughts of helping or hindering "his case"
His case is to tell the story of what happened.
He is a reporter. Let his bio tell the story:
Alan Pyke is a reporter for ThinkProgress covering crime, police, the cannabis industry, drug policy, housing policy, and political rhetoric. Alan is also a film and music critic for fun. Send him tips at: apyke@thinkprogress.org


On another note, thank you for filling in the blanks albeit Think Progress.
You might find their writing informative. Not convincing but informative. And with an open mind you might learn something.

Before you came back I did give you a shout out for turning me on to Freakonomics podcasts. Their stories , whether I agree with or not are informative and often thought provoking.
Hope you listened these past weeks on sport,creativity and duopoly.
Would be curious your take

[57Brave]

Like it or not, this is the standard