When Trump left office in 2021, he bequeathed Biden a nation mired in a deadly pandemic, which he had managed poorly. Biden led America out of it, and to an economic recovery featuring full employment, rising wages, expanded worker rights, and near-normal inflation. Voters punished his stand-in, H[...]
Archive for November, 2024
Kari Lake has no future in politics
Kari Lake tried to jump from the news business, where she was a TV anchor, to major political office without any political experience. It didn’t work. What happened was predictable: It was too wide a crevasse. She fell in twice, losing a race for Arizona governor in 2022, and a Senate race in [...]
The influence of money in politics
Elon Musk spent $130 million to help elect Trump, and Tesla stock jumped the day after Trump won, making Elon $25 billion richer on paper. That’s according to Barrons, a weekly investing magazine, which reported those numbers in its November 11, 2024, print edition at page 15. Stock gains asid[...]
The GOP screwed the middle class, so why did Trump win?
I’m not sure I agree with this Mother Jones article’s assessment (read it here) of why Trump won the 2024 election. But it has some interesting statistics. Summary: Wealth inequality has exploded under Republican governance. To wit: “In January 1981, when Reagan took office, the h[...]
Trump’s first retribution target: Jack Smith
The federal criminal cases against Trump will wind down. Not because he’s innocent, but because when a criminal is elected president, national priorities take precedence over justice. Trump has won the prerogative from voters to not be prosecuted for his crimes. Now, his political allies are c[...]
November 8th, 2024 - 6:01 pm § in Law and Courts, Schools & Colleges
How 12 college students just ruined their lives
They lured a gay man to a rooming house by going on Tindr and pretending to solicit sex; when he arrived they grabbed him, forced him into a chair, then punched, kicked, and spit on him. They threw him to the floor every time he tried to leave. Twelve students are charged with “first degree [&[...]
Joe Kent is a serial loser
Joe Kent (photo, left; bio here), is an ex-military guy who tied himself to Trump and far, far-right politics who’s run for Congress twice in a GOP-leaning swing district that includes Vancouver, Washington, across the Columbia River from Portland, Oregon. Two years ago, in 2022, Kent was slow[...]
Trump’s retribution list
“Donald Trump ran a campaign based on retribution. Now he is perfectly positioned to carry it out,” Politico said (here) the day after the 2024 election. Here’s the “enemies list” compiled by Politico, in case you want to check whether you’re on it: Joe Biden R[...]
November 6th, 2024 - 10:53 pm § in Donald Trump, Economics
Hello inflation, old friend
Brace for it: “Trump’s win could lead companies to push up prices. Here’s why.” ” … U.S. retailers that depend on foreign suppliers are prepared to pass along the cost of his proposed import tariffs to consumers, potentially leading to higher prices for a range of[...]
November 6th, 2024 - 12:55 pm § in America, Democrats, Donald Trump, Economics, Politics, Republicans
Silver linings in the 2024 elections
Trump’s re-election delivered a shock to Democrats and liberals, but all is not lost. First, however, a couple of preliminary observations. The pollsters were right; the White House race was a 50-50 tie. It really was close; Trump got 50% to 51% in all the battleground states. It was soooo clo[...]