swordfish
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Posts posted by swordfish
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Bidenomics......Anyone else thinking Biden could potentially go down in history behind Carter on the economy?
You almost have to admire the brass of the Biden White House. The Census Bureau reported Tuesday that Americans are poorer under Bidenomics, and the President quickly changed the subject to blame Republicans for rising child poverty on his watch. As usual, too many in the press corps bought the spin.
Mr. Biden is trying to avoid the real story, which is that the Census Bureau says median household income adjusted for inflation fell last year by $1,750 to $74,580. It is down $3,670 from 2019. Households in the fourth income quintile—those making $94,000 to $153,000—lost $4,600 in 2022 and $6,700 since 2019. Middle-class Americans who think they’re losing ground are right.
The reason is that inflation has outpaced the earnings growth from work. Real median earnings for full-time workers last year fell $3,620 for men and $2,880 for women despite a tight labor market that had companies paying more to attract and keep workers. The female-to-male earnings gap declined to 16% from 18% in 2019, but mainly because inflation has eroded men’s wages more than women’s. Wages in industries with more female workers such as healthcare and hospitality rose faster than those with more male workers such as manufacturing. But neither men nor women kept pace with the cost of living.
By most statistical measures, income inequality also declined last year. Even when excluding capital gains, higher earners saw a bigger drop in real incomes than Americans at the lower end. One reason is the latter group includes many seniors whose Social Security checks are adjusted for inflation.
Real incomes at every decile were lower and income inequality was greater than in 2019. Americans in the bottom 10% of earners were 6.3% poorer last year than in 2019 while those in the top 5% saw their incomes decline 4.1%. Inflation invariably punishes lower-income Americans more than the affluent.
These numbers don’t take into account most transfer payments that Congress enacted or expanded as part of its $6 trillion in Covid relief. These include $3,200 a year in stimulus payments per adult and $2,500 per child; a $3,600 per child tax credit whether or not you paid any taxes; larger health insurance, earned income and child-care tax credits; and more generous food stamps.
These provided temporary income boosts in 2020 and 2021, but at the cost of fueling the historic inflation surge that gutted real incomes. Thus after-tax median real income last year fell $6,220 as some, but not all, Covid transfer payments lapsed. Americans with college degrees last year saw the biggest after-tax real income decline ($9,860), perhaps because they benefited most from the expanded tax credits.
Democrats passed their $1.9 trillion Covid bill in March 2021 with the goal of hooking the middle class on bigger government. But the big political surprise is that Americans weren’t thrilled with the handouts. A Hill-HarrisX poll in July 2021 found that 60% of voters, including nearly half of Democrats, thought the child tax credit expansion was too expensive and no longer needed.
Yet there Mr. Biden was on Tuesday lashing Republicans in Congress for not extending the expanded the child tax credit.
“We cut child poverty by nearly half to record lows for all children in this nation largely by expanding the Child Tax Credit,” he declared. “The rise reported today in child poverty is no accident—it is the result of a deliberate policy choice congressional Republicans made to block help for families with children while advancing massive tax cuts for the wealthiest and largest corporations.”
The child poverty rate did jump to 12.4% from 5.2% in 2021, but that is roughly the same as before the pandemic. The expiration of the expanded child credit accounted for about a quarter of the increase in the child poverty rate, though its impact was offset by an increase last year in food stamps, free school lunches and housing subsidies. Most of the increase in child poverty owed to the end of stimulus payments, inflation and higher taxes.
Mr. Biden has apparently forgotten that Republicans didn’t control either branch of Congress in 2021 or 2022. West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin blocked an extension of the expanded child tax credit because it was estimated to cost $1.2 trillion over a decade.
And which tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations is he talking about? Maybe he’s confused and is referring to the Inflation Reduction Act’s green-energy corporate welfare and subsidies for electric vehicles and solar panels that largely benefit the affluent.
The annual census data tell the real story of Bidenomics: A gusher of unprecedented and unnecessary social-welfare spending helped to produce the highest inflation in 40 years that has made Americans poorer. The last thing Congress should do is heed Mr. Biden’s demand to do it all again.
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Yeah - DJT was indicted because of a questionable (at best) statement during a phone call.......Yet even with a video where Joe says "S.O.B." in a very overt quid-pro-quo bragging moment the MSM says there's no evidence.......Almost like they got their marching orders directly from the White House......
Oh - wait.....https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/4201590-read-biden-administration-memos-media-impeachment/
Forget the bank records, shell companies, SEC complaints, sworn testimony, IRS whistleblower statements, FBI informant files, emails, texts, WhatsApp messages, photos, speakerphone calls, voicemails, White House visitor logs, Air Force 2 travel logs, Joe’s pseudonym email addresses and a parade of Hunter’s shady foreign benefactors lining up for handshakes with Joe in Beijing, breakfasts at the VP’s residence and dinners at Café Milano, not to mention millions of dollars in filthy foreign lucre for no discernible product or service other than access to Joe.
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4 hours ago, Impartial_Observer said:
I have long monitored the RV industry for economic trends. I’ll be honest it was somewhat confusing over the last three years.
I haven’t watched cable news since April of 20, but I did catch most of Biden’s speech in Vietnam…..wow. I was hoping his handlers would shut it down before they did. I think when you look at McConnell, Biden, Fetterman, Feinstein, it’s pretty sickening to me that their handlers are so obsessed with power and greed they would allow their loved ones to be subjected to all this.
I don’t know about you… but I’m going to bed….I have long monitored the RV industry for economic trends. I’ll be honest it was somewhat confusing over the last three years.
Since the pandemic started the industry has been "balls to the walls" building, consolidating, restructuring to the point of the highest shipping year ever in 2022. SF's opinion was that in 2021, there was nothing else for people to do with the shut-downs in place. People weren't spending their disposable income on airfare, hotels, restaurants, etc. but they still wanted the ability to travel. It didn't hurt that Holcomb designated the RV industry as "essential" either.
I haven’t watched cable news since April of 20, but I did catch most of Biden’s speech in Vietnam…..wow. I was hoping his handlers would shut it down before they did. I think when you look at McConnell, Biden, Fetterman, Feinstein, it’s pretty sickening to me that their handlers are so obsessed with power and greed they would allow their loved ones to be subjected to all this.
I don’t know about you… but I’m going to bed….SF is truly surprised that Biden is still around. I predicted originally that he was a placeholder since the previous Democrat President (Obama) didn't even endorse him due to the obvious corruption the former VP had as baggage and expected him to be gone shortly after the 2 year mark. Now it's just sad. The likes of having the President as geriatric as he is is appalling and he is truly getting worse. The fact that they cut him off mid-sentence was very telling to me - He was really ready for bed.
I would (kinda - given the current congressional roster age) be in favor of an upper age limitation.
SF isn't ready to make a solid prediction but I am leaning heavily towards Biden getting replaced before the end of the year if the Democrats really want a viable candidate for 2024.
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The President pretty much stated in the first year of his term his plan was to slow the economy down. Mission accomplished. (6 - 8 months ago)
A reliable historic bellweather to the economy is the RV industry. Historically - What happens in the RV industry leads the greater economy by about 9 months to a year. The RV industry began it's retreat in May of 2022. Today it is shipping less than 1/2 of 2022 product with deep layoffs that hit last year and deeper ones this year. Companies still producing are running 1 week on and 2 weeks off with limited staff. Elkhart County unemployment is over 5% leaning on 6%. Get ready - SF believes this is where the rest of the economy is heading.
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So the geriatric members of the House and Senate are making their intentions known for the upcoming 2024's.....
Nancy's in.....at 83.....
Nancy Pelosi, 83, confirms she is running AGAIN: Former Democrat speaker reveals she wants two more years in Congress - and to help San Francisco's recovery
- 'Now more than ever our City needs us to advance San Francisco values and further our recovery,' Pelosi wrote on X
- The former House speaker stepped down from her leadership position last year
- San Francisco is experiencing a major crime wave including smash-and-grab robberies and carjackings
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Never mind that S#!^ - here comes Trump......
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SF doesn't think Mayor Adams is wrong.....but aware that this has been going on for decades in TX, AZ, CA & FL. The phrase "The chickens have come home to roost" comes to mind.....But farmer Joe and his farmhand Kamala appear oblivious.....
https://nypost.com/2023/09/07/nycs-first-day-of-school-sees-influx-of-migrants/
The first day of classes kicked off in New York City on Thursday as schools grapple with the influx of migrant students, with some buildings turning away kids as 21,000 children seeking asylum inundated already jam-packed classrooms.
The line to get inside Newcomers High School in Long Island City stretched around the block early Thursday as frustrated teachers vented that the building had already hit capacity, pushing students at Gotham — a different school inside the building — to a facility across the street.
“It’s a capacity issue,” a teacher told The Post. “They should have worked this out two days ago!”
Many of the migrant students were beaming and proudly wearing their Queens shelter IDs around their necks.
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NYC Mayor is complaining about 110,000 migrants out of the almost 5 million that have crossed the border since January, 2022. He's asking for more money when he should be asking for the President to actually finish the border wall. The border states governors are finally letting these sanctuary cities share the struggles the administration is choosing to ignore.....
Mayor Adams warns migrant crisis will ‘destroy’ NYC, rips Biden for failing to help.
“Started with a madman down in Texas who decided he wanted to bus people up to New York City.”
The first migrant-filled bus from Texas arrived at Midtown’s Port Authority on Aug. 5, 2022, and thousands more in the rest of the five boroughs in the following months.
“110,000 migrants we have to feed, clothe, house, educate the children, wash their laundry sheets, give them everything they need, health care,” Adams said.
Texas has sent over 13,000 migrants to New York, according to data shared by Abbott earlier this week.
The mayor said the Big Apple receives around 10,000 migrants a month, at first from Venezuela but then Ecuadorian nationals and Russian-speaking individuals came up from Mexico as time went on.
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With our current President's adherence to the left's climate agenda, SF can see this coming potentially before he leaves office.......
The Climate-Change ‘Emergency’ Is Coming for You
We’ve not fully arrived at crazytown. But the urge to curtail individual freedom is visible in countless blueprints for a controlled future.
Two years ago during Covid lockdowns, I wrote about climate control freaks, facetiously anticipating a future headline: “Bad CO2 Day, Lockdowns Enforced.” A joke that would never happen, right? Well . . .
Last month President Biden was asked on the Weather Channel if he was ready to declare a national climate emergency and responded, “We’ve already done that.” Asked again if he declared a climate emergency, he said, “Practically speaking, yes.” There is no official emergency, but the president certainly thinks we need one.
The fawning press gave him a break—he didn’t really mean that, did he? But the notion of a national emergency today isn’t farfetched. The United Nations website blares: “What you need to know about the Climate Emergency.” The European Parliament has declared one. So have hundreds of jurisdictions in at least 39 countries, including the U.K., Canada, Japan and Bangladesh. Climate-activist teenager Greta Thunberg gave away the game in 2019 when she said, “I want you to panic,” and, “I want you to act as if you would in a crisis.” Emergencies are an excuse to do whatever you want.
U.S. presidents can declare national emergencies, as spelled out in the 1976 National Emergencies Act, but they must be explicit: “When the President declares a national emergency, no powers or authorities made available by statute for use in the event of an emergency shall be exercised unless and until the President specifies the provisions of law under which he proposes that he, or other officers will act.” I’ve searched far and wide for such provisions and can’t find them.
No matter, we’re living as if we’re already under emergency conditions. As of Aug. 1, the Biden administration has halted the sale of lightbulbs with less than 45 lumens of brightness per watt. Incandescent bulbs don’t make the cut and are now banned. Thomas Alva Edison is rolling over in his grave. Will electricity be rationed next?
Oops, too late. In September 2022, the California Independent System Operator—which runs the state’s power grid, attached to sporadic renewables—declared an “energy emergency alert,” urging residents to ration power from 4 to 9 p.m. In March, the European Union mandated energy consumption be cut by 11.7% by 2030. Brits are urged to turn their heat off at night for “emissions savings.” The Swiss considered jail time if your thermostat is set above 66 degrees in the winter. Sit in the cold and dark and like it! And wait till you see the menu. The EU already allows crickets and mealworm larvae as food. Are high-protein maggots next?
This nonsense could never happen in the U.S., could it? Well, in 2016, New York University professor Matthew Liao suggested, “possibly we can use human engineering to make the case that we’re intolerant to certain kinds of meat.” He even suggested deploying a “Lone Star tick where, if it bites you, you will become allergic to meat.”
Add to the mix the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, which has an “ambitious target in 2030” of no meat, no dairy, no private vehicles and only “three new clothing items per person per year.” Plus one short flight every three years. That sounds like climate lockdowns to me. Who are these kooks? “A global network of nearly 100 mayors” including 14 in America: Austin, Texas; Boston; Chicago; Houston; Los Angeles; Miami; New Orleans; New York; Philadelphia; Phoenix; Portland, Ore.; San Francisco; Washington and Seattle. Michael Bloomberg is president of the board. Better stock up on socks while you can.
When you declare an emergency, anything goes. The Biden administration pushes electric vehicles, and this summer we had a glut of them—inventories were 92 days, double what is typical. As of midyear, Ford had 116 days of unsold Mustang Mach-Es. Maybe because saner Americans are becoming preppers and loading up on good old gasoline-fired cars before California’s Advanced Clean Cars II Regulations, which other states follow, outlaws them in 2035. Vroom, vroom.
Emergency-preparedness edicts abound: Gas stove bans. No plastic bottles for sale at San Francisco Airport. A new proposal from New York City’s Department of Environmental Protection would effectively ban coal- and wood-fired pizza ovens. A city official reports that fewer than 100 restaurants would have to install prohibitively expensive emissions controls, so it must be a real emergency if New York is tracking down these last few ounces of carbon.
Climate lockdowns still sound like crazytown, but the urge to curtail individual freedom is visible in countless government, media and think-tank blueprints for a controlled future. Saner minds should prevail—the Climate Emergency Act of 2021 evidently died in committee—but we need constant vigilance to stand guard against the climate-excuse assaults on our liberties. To show how adolescent this has become, last year Swiss Environmental Minister Simonetta Sommaruga suggested that residents “shower together” to save energy. OK, now we’re getting somewhere.
Write to kessler@wsj.com.
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Wondering if you would get arrested for indecent exposure for mooning or flashing one of these things?
Asking for a friend.......
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Yeah, the former VP had nothing to do with Hunter's business........Yeppurs....Influence peddling? Nawwww.......
https://nypost.com/2023/08/30/1000-emails-exchanged-between-hunter-bidens-firm-and-vp-office/
Hunter Biden’s firm, Joe’s VP office exchanged more than 1,000 emails: records
Hunter Biden’s Rosemont Seneca Partners investment firm traded more than 1,000 emails with Joe Biden’s office during his time as vice president — and hundreds remain hidden because of executive privilege asserted by the White House, documents released by the National Archives show.
The 861 emails that reference Rosemont Seneca were sent or received by the Office of the Vice President between January 2011 and December 2013, according to America First Legal, which obtained the messages from the National Archives and Records Administration and released them on Wednesday.
The White House refused to allow the release of 200 emails referencing Hunter Biden’s firm, citing executive privilege.
“Release would disclose confidential advice between the President and his advisors, or between such advisors,” NARA informed America First Legal in response to its records request.
Hunter Biden and his business associates frequently used their direct line of communications with the Office of the Vice President to leverage access to the Obama White House, the trove of emails show.
White House guest lists, seating assignments, and biographies of guests for various official events, including the 2012 United Kingdom State Dinner, the 2013 Turkey State Luncheon and the 2014 France State Dinner, were shared with Rosemont Seneca employees.
One email contains an invitation forwarded to the White House for then-Vice President Joe Biden to attend an event at the UCLA Burkle Center for International Relations, and another invites then-second lady Jill Biden to participate in a World Food Program campaign.
Invitations from the White House for several events that Hunter Biden presumably attended or had requested tickets for guests for are also shown in NARA’s document dump.
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1 hour ago, Muda69 said:
12-Year-Old Boy Removed From School Over 'Don't Tread on Me' Patch: https://reason.com/2023/08/29/jaiden-colorado-gadsden-flag-dont-tread-on-me-school/
Liberal idiots are always trying to re-write history to further their agendas.......
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How can anyone be surprised?
https://nypost.com/2023/08/29/migrants-entered-us-with-help-of-smuggler-who-has-ties-to-isis-report/
The FBI is reportedly scrambling to find more than a dozen Uzbek nationals who sought asylum in the US earlier this year after intelligence officers discovered they traveled to the southern border with the help of a smuggler who has ties to ISIS.
Officials are working to “identify and assess” all of the individuals who gained entry into the country, National Security Council spokesman Adrienne Watson told CNN.
They are also scrutinizing a number of migrants as possible criminal threats, two unnamed federal officials told the news network. But authorities say no specific ISIS plot has been identified.
“There was no indication — and remains no indication — that any of the individuals facilitated by this network have a connection to a foreign terrorist organization, or are engaged in plotting a terrorist attack in the United States,” Watson stressed.
Authorities say the migrants requested asylum at the border with Mexico earlier this year and were screened by Homeland Security.
Nothing in any of the intelligence community’s databases raised any red flags, CNN reported, and they were all released into the US pending a court appearance.
It was only later that the FBI learned of a smuggling network helping Uzbeks into the US — which involved at least one individual with ties to ISIS.
The bureau began a nationwide search for the migrants, and also worked with Turkish authorities, who apprehended the smuggler and other members of the network, the report said.
It has since received more information from that unnamed smuggler to aid in the bureau’s investigation, officials said.
Ever since, Homeland Security has been detaining, vetting, and ultimately expediting the deportation of migrants who “fit the profile associated with individuals who were facilitated by this network,” Watson said.
The ISIS-linked smuggler is not believed to be a member of the terrorist organization, but is rather an independent contractor who has personal sympathies with the organization, the NSC rep said.
The intelligence community also says it is unlikely he was assisting the migrants at the behest of ISIS, and most are simply believed to be seeking a better life in the US.
But many have not yet been located, and more than 15 who have been tracked down are still under scrutiny as possible criminal threats.
The discovery of the ISIS-linked network has set off alarm bells in Washington, at a time when Republican presidential candidates harp on the security of the southern border.
An urgent classified intelligence report was circulated to President Biden’s top cabinet officials in their morning briefing book, CNN reported, and the revelation kicked off a slew of urgent meetings among top national security and administration officials.
Staff on key congressional committees have also been informed.
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Man, this Biden administration is not trying to gain any new fans......
President Biden's alcohol czar says Americans may be told by officials to have no more than two beers a week.
Director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) George Koob told the Daily Mail on Thursday that the U.S. may follow Canada's footsteps on alcohol guidelines.
The Joe Biden Presidency Thread
in OOB Forum
Posted
"His pretend life sounds pretty interesting"
https://www.foxnews.com/media/biden-berated-claiming-taught-political-theory-university-pennsylvania-pretend-life
Biden said, "Democracy is at stake, folks. Our democracy is under attack. And we gotta fight for it. I taught at the University of Pennsylvania for four years. And I used to teach political theory. And folks, you always hear every generation has to fight for democracy. And I found myself – it's automatic, we didn't have to believe it – but we do. We do."