Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Wednesday, March 07, 2018
Trump Plays with Trade Fire / Politics / Protectionism
By: Peter_Schiff
With his announcement last week of broad tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, President Trump launched what could be the first salvo of an all-out global trade war. Seemingly itching for a fight, he gleefully tweeted that "Trade wars are good, and easy to win." It seems like Trump thinks the conflict will play out much like Ronald Reagan's 1983 week-long invasion of Grenada rather than the more telling quagmires that unfolded in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq. He's wrong.
Apart from overestimating America's bargaining position, Trump and his supporters grossly misunderstand the nature of international trade and how Americans have benefited from a system that has allowed us to continually consume foreign goods on credit. While this "benefit" has also placed a cost on domestic industries, I don't believe that Trump has any idea how a trade war can reduce current American living standards.
Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, March 06, 2018
Jeff Sessions the Mr. Magoo Buffoon / Politics / US Politics
By: BATR
Pick your poison for the Trump administration's biggest failure. Russian demonization by the State Department, movement of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem or adopting the threat of an aggressive use of nuclear weapons are all high on the list. All of these topics deal with foreign policy. However, the country ignores or dismisses such concerns because the bombs are not yet hitting our shores.
What does impact every inhabitant is that the rule of law has become an utter joke, especially under the regimes of the last three Attorney Generals. Sadly President Trump got snookered by former Senator Jeff Sessions when he was picked to lead the Department of Justice, better described as UNJUSTICE by anyone who has half a brain left to admit the true condition of the top cops, head attorneys or government pseudo magistrates.
Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, March 05, 2018
Trump to Declare War on Fed Central Bank / Politics / Central Banks
By: Michael_Pento
We are only a little over one year into the Donald’s Presidency and what we know most for sure is that our new President loves debt. Not only did debt and deficits get the cold shoulder in the recent State of the Union, Trump played “Let’s Make a Deal” with the Lords of the Swamp Mitch and Chuck to increase government spending by 13% over current levels. We also know that he prefers a weaker dollar, which he hopes will engender balanced trade—along with trade tariffs it now seems. But most of all, he loves as a rising stock market that he views as a report card for the administration and his success.
Sunday, March 04, 2018
Putin - The Man Who Stopped Washington’s Regime Change Rampage / Politics / GeoPolitics
By: Mike_Whitney
Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, February 28, 2018
China Growing Peoples Unrest Following Xi Jinping Declaring Himself as New Emperor / Politics / China
By: Submissions
Rongxian Mu writes: Cities across China such as Zunyi are increasingly witnessing out breaks of unrest following Xi Jinping's announcement to declare himself at least Emperor for life and likely to seek a dynastic rule of China some decades down the road. The people of China are not going to stand for this and thus a growing resistance against the rule of the communist elite is taking place and spreading across China, none of which is being reported on by the official media.
Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, February 28, 2018
More State Regulations and Higher Minimum Wage / Politics / US Politics
By: BATR
Disputing that the economy is healthy has been an occupational job for decades. Still the government unemployment stats paint a picture that full employment is upon us. Undercounting the permanently discouraged may just be the largest category of growth that goes under reported. However the empirical data for the real causes and disincentives of both the employer and employee are usually glossed over. No doubt the shift in actual job requirements are constantly changing, but the effects of switching the ground rules makes some state governments non-competitive with other jurisdictions.
The New York Law Journal digs into the weeds to illustrate a proposed regulation that cannot help improve the plight of labor in 'No Help Wanted': The Regulation and Elimination of Retail Positions outlines an absurd example of governmental interference.
Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, February 26, 2018
Xi Jinping Seeks to Become Permanent Dictator of China, Time for a New Peoples Revolution! / Politics / China
By: Submissions
Rongxian Mu writes: The central committee of the communist party of China comprising 200 people has decided to do away with the 2 term 10 year limit for appointed dictators of our great nation, which at least gave the illusion of choice by the 5000 or so communist party members every 10 years, instead now the way is being paved for Xi Jinping to be appointed as dictator for life!
Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, February 25, 2018
Bastiat Knew the Proper Limits of Government Force / Politics / UK Politics
By: Frank_Hollenbeck
High school students in the United States are usually required to take a course in government. They learn about the structure of government but rarely discover the appropriate role of government or the justifiable limits for the use of force in our society. If they did, one of their required readings would be Frédéric Bastiat’s treatise The Law, a seminal mid-Nineteenth-century work that describes eternal truths about life and how we pursue justice. These truths are just as valid today as they were then.
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
Goofy Indictments Divert Attention from Criminal Abuses at the FBI and DOJ / Politics / US Politics
By: Mike_Whitney
“If the election is ‘disrupted’ by voters changing their votes due to Russians posting on Facebook, then the problem is not that Russians are posting on Facebook, the problem is that voters are changing their votes based on posts they read on Facebook.” Bill H, comments line Sic Semper Tyrannis “God help America. We’ve lost our damn minds.” Publius Tacitus
Robert Mueller’s Friday night indictment-spree, is a flagrant and infuriating attempt to divert attention from the damning revelations in the Nunes memo (and the Graham-Grassley “criminal referral”) which prove that senior-level officials at the FBI and DOJ were engaged in an expansive conspiracy to subvert the presidential elections by spying on members of the Trump campaign. The evidence that the FBI and DOJ “improperly obtained” FISA warrants to spy on Trump campaign affiliate, Carter Page, has now been overshadowed by the tragic massacre in Parkland, Florida and the obfuscating indictments of 13 Internet “trolls” who have not been linked to the Russian government and who are being used to conceal the fact that the 18 month-long witch hunt has not yet produced even one scintilla of hard evidence related to the original claims of “hacking or collusion”.
Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
National Identity Demands Restrictive Immigration / Politics / Immigration
By: BATR
Honest onlookers must admit that major segments of society hate America and want to destroy what little remains of a Republic. The intent of forging a limited form of government with distinct separations of power is a major impediment to the culture of collective governance. The Bill of Rights stands in the way of the totalitarian model that globalists advocate. For these proponents of authoritarianism, civil liberties are not based upon natural law, but only exist as a moving target of convenience that disseminates relativism. Open borders and unchecked immigration is designed to pollute the population pool with foreign cultural heritages that have limited historic understanding in the essential tenants that established our country or command in the use of our language. Unobstructed migration hastens the deteriorated demographics that destroy our time-honored society with the inevitable collapse and replacement of constitutional protections.
Tuesday, February 20, 2018
The Prisoner Promised Land / Politics / Social Issues
By: BATR
Apprise just how much the perception of the world has changed in the last fifty years since the preeminent British series, The Prisoner first aired its run of 17 produced episodes. Essential background is available in the Solitary Purdah essay, The Sovereign Man is the Real Prisoner. For those of a generation who never viewed the definitive treatment of the ongoing globalists attempt to eradicate the human spirit, the subject matter may well be beyond their capacity for understanding. As the collective consciousness is channeled into a communal controlled "PC" culture, most are unable to master philosophical reasoning much less independent thinking. For these clones, utopia is the village and conformity is a continual price to be paid to belong and be happy.
Monday, February 19, 2018
US-China Trade War Escalates As Further Measures Are Taken / Politics / China US Conflict
By: GoldCore
– Trade war between two superpowers continues to escalate
– White House likely to impose steep tariffs on aluminium and steel imports on ‘national security grounds’
– US may impose global tariff of at least 24% on imports of steel and 7.7% on aluminium
– China “will certainly take necessary measures to protect our legitimate rights.”
– China is USA’s largest trading partner, fastest-growing market for U.S. exports, 3rd largest market for U.S. exports in the world.
– If the U.S. continues to escalate its trade actions against China, experts say retaliation is likely.
– Global markets are unprepared, investors should invest in gold to protect portfolios
Tuesday, February 13, 2018
GOP Adopts Democrat Big Deficit Spending / Politics / US Politics
By: BATR
If you ever had doubts that the Federal Government experiment has failed, the bipartisan busting of the budget has made it clear that Congress abdicates their sacred duty to defend the nation from internal enemies of the people. Forget the preposterousness argument that the United States must have the most expensive military to expand the evil empire that has been built up since the end of World War II. Real national defense starts at our own water's edge and needs to relinquish any absurd notion that our own safety is enhanced by having deployments to every corner of the globe. As long as the State Department expands their interventionism, diplomacy is scarified upon the alter of continuous military bombing. Eliminating the restrains of sequesters to tamp down the size and intrusions of gun boat intimidation are a step backward. Actual national defense is diminished by the garrison bases located far from our own homeland.
Tuesday, February 06, 2018
Hostilities - Bitcoin, Stocks, America.... / Politics / US Politics
By: James_Quinn
I don’t like going to the movies. Too much hassle, too many commercials and previews, too expensive, and 90% of the movies are worthless drivel, SJW inspired crap, or government buoyed propaganda. Last weekend was my wife’s birthday and she wanted to see a movie. When she shockingly suggested a western, I reluctantly agreed. So my wife and one of my sons got in the car and headed to an old Franks theater in Montgomeryville that only charges $8.50. I had seen a brief review of Hostiles on-line and saw it got a decent rating on rotten tomatoes. I was looking forward to being mildly entertained.
The next two hours and fifteen minutes of this dark, somber, violent, morally ambiguous treatise about the old west cannot be described as enjoyable. But I did find it riveting and thought provoking. Christian Bale, as Captain Joseph Blocker, mournfully carries out his duties without a single smile crossing his bearded countenance for the entire movie. The tone, atmosphere and message of this film reminded me of my favorite western and subject of the final part of my five part series based on Clint Eastwood movies – Unforgiven. One of the soldiers in Hostiles even has dialogue almost matching Will Munny’s foreboding exchange at the end of Unforgiven:
Read full article... Read full article...
Saturday, February 03, 2018
Here Come Bigger Paychecks! / Politics / Government Spending
By: Rodney_Johnson
So far in 2018, New England froze over and the government shut down. And it’s only January!But just like with Christmas, there are some things that never happen fast enough. One of them is any change that gives workers bigger paychecks. With February just around the corner, that change is coming fast!
The IRS has published the new withholding tables reflecting the recent tax reform. By the pay period ending February 15, employers should have built these rules into their payroll calculations.
Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, January 31, 2018
Kalifornia Open Warfare on Business / Politics / US Politics
By: BATR
The People's Republic of Kalifornia is a prime example of centralized technocratic planning under the protection of a monolithic legislature that is entirely rooted in a Marxist "global warming" climate of totalitarian collectivism. Business in this cage of redistribution exists to support the extortion demands of the Sacramento commissars. Decades of reporting definitively conclude that the Golden State has depleted their wealth creation resources because of persistent disincentives and outright penalties for conducting legitimate business. The citadel of punitive regulations has been claimed by California, the undisputed champion of anti-capitalism.
Tuesday, January 30, 2018
How to Surpass the Middle-Income Trap / Politics / Social Issues
By: Dan_Steinbock
China will surpass the middle-income trap by continuing to implement structural reforms and focusing on economic development. The lesson to other emerging economies is to distinguish good growth policies from self-serving agendas in the advanced West. According to the World Bank, high-income economies ($12,236 or more) include the US, Western Europe and Japan, while upper middle-income economies ($3,956 -$12,235) feature Turkey, Russia, Brazil and China, among others.
Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, January 24, 2018
Tax Cuts Supercharge the Economy / Politics / Taxes
By: BATR
If you get your fake news from the corporatist filtered media, the sky is falling now that the Trump tax cuts are law. Pounded into the skulls of the dense hard heads of diminished grey matter is that the benefits of putting more cash into the pockets of everyday workers is peanuts. The collectivists who operate under communist economic doctrines fear that their normal class warfare rhetoric is hitting a wall of worry from their pro redistribution base. This factor requires telling an even bigger lie. Unleashing the animal spirits of confidence in growing the economy is now a reality, and the defenders of slicing a shrinking pie cannot bear the contrast of a vibrant and expanding economy.
Tuesday, January 23, 2018
Worse than Watergate - Release the Memo - Investigate Uranium One / Politics / US Politics
By: BATR
The utter farce of the Mueller investigation into Trump collusion with Russia demonstrates the most obscene and overwhelming pattern of government deceit and deflection in decades. Enough has been written on this trolling probe to convince sincere and honest people that the protection racket thugs are running a confidence game against the populace and has abandoned any prospect of justice. Still, the fake news gatekeepers that select what is suitable for the apathetic public to hear see or read keeps the fairy tale narrative going to prevent looking into the true crimes committed by the cabal of establishment globalists.
Tuesday, January 23, 2018
Medicare Premiums Are A Shared Pool - Coming Changes That Will Transform Retirement / Politics / Government Spending
By: Dan_Amerman
A critical component of financial planning for retirement is that many healthcare expenses are a shared expense for those 65 and older, as a matter of current law and design. A 65 year old pays the same Medicare Part B premiums as a 95 year old, and someone in perfect health pays the same premiums as someone with multiple serious health issues.
By law, 25% of total Medicare Part B expenses are funded by Medicare premiums, which are usually withheld from monthly Social Security benefits. So, when the average expenses of Medicare increase on a per person basis - then so do the premiums.
Read full article... Read full article...