Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Dr. Strangelove]

Justice John Paul Stevens has died. RIP. Third longest serving justice in history and the only one still living who had been on the Court before the 1980's.

Sandra Day O'Connor and Anthony Kennedy are the only two justices from the 80s who are still alive.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/16/politics/john-paul-stevens-dead/index.html

[Dr. Strangelove]

Crazy bit of trivia about John Paul Stevens that gives an impression as to how old he was: He was 12 years old and at Wrigley Field for the famous game where Babe Ruth "called his shot" in the 1932 World Series

[froot loops]

I believe he just gave a speech a couple months back. I remember reading about it.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Rush Limbaugh essentially admitted today that he's either been a lying fraud for most of his career or that he's a lying, fraud NOW in service to Trump. Not sure which is worse.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Not a fan or Rush but his changing opinion on the US debt and deficit spending (two different things BTW) shouldn't shock anyone. Opinions vary on whether or not deficit spending (spending beyond revenues) and public debt (what the US borrows to finance spending) and for good reason or at least for supportable reasons.

Of course, fears, usually unfounded, involving "the children" always crop up when amateurs start arguing about "the US debt." Seemingly incongruously, most economists will argue reducing the debt through decreased spending or less borrowing should occur when the economy as measured by GDP is expanding (usually at or above 4% - but that is debatable). An expanding GDP keeps the debt to GDP ratio in a good place (and that place is also debatable - World Bank says the tipping point is 77%). Depending on how one measures it the US debt to GDP ratio is around 106% or 78%. But, this calculation is thought by some economists to be useless ....... the US is highly unlikely to default on its debt repayments like, for example, Iceland and Greece have. That is because the US economy is so durable.

I don't buy the argument that we are spending our children's futures and therefore have to cut spending to balance the budget but that's just me. A good case can also be made that we should. The real problem is that since the mid-90s, passing budgets and continuing resolutions on spending has become a tool of the dominant party in Congress to extract concessions from the opposition. When the President does not hold a majority in both the House and Senate he can expect the opposition party, like it is doing right now, to say, if you want X, you have to give me Y. It sucks, shouldn't be like that but, aside from a few years in the 80s and 90s it has been the way things are.

So, we're going to watch this stupid, political dance for a while. Meanwhile, maybe the most important thing in keeping the US economy in the expansion mode - trade between the US and China - which, IMO, supports deficit spending and borrowing, is getting pushed to the sideline of relevant issues.

[froot loops]

You can have evolving views on deficit spending, that is fine but comments about the federal debt and spending too much during a financial panic like 2008-2009 was ridiculous. A lot of the debt rise happened because revenue from taxes fell because of the crash along with a rise in spending to combat the crash. That is totally expected, the real criticism is they didn't spend enough initially and because the hacky Republicans won the house in 2010, they never got another crack at the apple.

What Limbaugh's comments reflect is not some evolving views because you can expect him to find religion again once the GOP is out of power. It's merely a talking point when they are out of power and not a true belief to bring down the debt like you see in Germany right now (which is harming the European economy).

The deficit was a somewhat bigger deal back in the 80s and 90s. The reason being that higher debt and deficits did have some correlation with higher interest rates. That seems to have dissipated. I've not seen a definitive reason why, but maybe it is do to how much more the world is integrated since the Wall fell and China started modernizing it's economy. The demand for the US dollar is so great that it offsets that.

[Ghengis Jon]

The country should be run like a household. Sure there are times when you run a deficit (take out a loan or mortgage), but don't spend more than you make and keep your checkbook in the black. Pretty simple. Projections about growth/revenue/GNP/etc is simply part of the gov't funded Otherwise Unemployable Economists Enrichment Program (OUEEP).

[crashcourse]

you ask for a november 2020 miracle that gets trump re-elected

I give you the mod squad

spend as much time calling Pelosi and biden racist as they do trump

equate immigration detention centers to Nazi concentration camps that slaughtered 8 million

ban coal ban medical insurance companies ban student debt ban cows

anybody thasnt agree with us is racist or sexist or phobic insert prefix here

no role for white guys either dem or republic

AOC and the other three are a perfect foil

I've heard the phrase if you don't like it get the hell out for years and years

but now that trump says it its racist

[iam416]

[Jeff Buchanan]

Yes they are ...... if only to inform the somewhat educated conservative electorate what whackos the progressive left is made up of. Is it going to cause them to re-elect Trump? At this point, no.

For the rest, that includes most under 40 voters, what they are saying is exactly what they want to hear from elected representatives. Just ask Hannibal.

[Ghengis Jon]

This is the result of political tribalism where both sides put party over country and leave the citizens fooked. Dems seem to be saying, "Hey, if it's okay that the GOP can elect an imbecilic kook to the White House, so can we !!!"


....clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am...stuck in the middle with you.....

[froot loops]

AOC asked the most impactful question of Chairman Powell last week, she's not that wacky. Getting the chairman to admit the Fed's long term inflation rate projections has been painfully wrong to the economy is a BFD. It won't make your Fox News segment but it was a good question. In fact as I said before getting that admission would help Trump as it gives the Fed cover to cut rates because a president jawboning the Fed almost always cause the opposite reaction. Thats why for the last thirty years presidents have been wise enough to not speak about the Fed.

Tlaib asked the second best question of Powell last week. He was confused and gave a false answer but her question was legit.

[froot loops]

That said, I'd rather they pipe down along with the leadership side also piping down. They should have laser focus on getting this clown out of office.

[iam416]

AOC is a wackjob and painfully ignorant. As is the entire Mod Squad. Pretty indisputable at this point.

[THE_WIZARD_]

AOC is a wackjob and painfully ignorant. As is the entire Mod Squad. Pretty indisputable at this point.

...thank you...Mr. Obvious...