Donald Trump

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

40 minutes ago, Jon Letendre said:

we are up against people who have long ago switched, explicitly, to: "By any means necessary."

Jon,

This is exactly the position Trump intends to fix. He doesn't want to fight "by any means necessary" people with his hands tied.

Michael

 

[Selene]

Does OL need a safe room thread for the offended?

A...

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

3 hours ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

For people like me who believe in counterpunching hard after a line has been crossed (and I think like you), the ending gives me goosebumps. It deals with a philosophical fundamental, one the tut-tut-tutters refuse to acknowledge. 

 

After showing images of the violent protestors at Trump's rallies and the weakness and hypocrisy of the tut-tut-tut establishment politicians, the video asks in big bold letters:

Did anyone really think the people destroying America were going to relinquish power peacefully?

Dayaamm!

That's inspiring.

Finally somebody came out and said it.

Michael

Note,

This video was originally embedded on OL from Trump's Facebook feed. It has since been removed from Facebook.

So I found another version online and fixed the embed.

Between that and OL being attacked and Trump probably cleaning up in today's election, it seems some people are not amused.

 

We are making a difference, folks. A small one, but it's real.

Michael

[Jonathan]

2 hours ago, Jon Letendre said:

Jonathan, you are setting a very negative tone.

You know what could happen next if you keep this up. You know Roger's considered opinion of situations like this. You won't be the victim if you keep this up, knowing as you do what might happen next.

I'm just going to go and hide in my safe space!

J

[Jonathan]

37 minutes ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

Regardless, if I am at a rally and I see someone getting ready to throw something at Trump, or hitting other people at the rally, I will take that person out. I'm not waiting to see if he hits Trump first, or kills someone first, nor am I waiting for the cops to arrive.

 

Oh my God, Roger, did you hear that?!!! MSK is inciting riots! He loves violence and is insane and a Nazi! He's going to roast babies and eat them! He just admitted it!

J

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Here is the soul of the Trump campaign.

This is something I believe people in our neck of the woods should embrace, even those who don't like Trump.

This is from Rush Limbaugh yesterday (my bold): Callers Report on Trump Rallies.

The context is they were discussing violence and Trump rallies. The caller was talking about his teenage kids.

Quote

 

RUSH:  So you didn't beat up any Trump protesters?  You didn't see it happen?

CALLER:  No.  The kids were -- you know, they're all seniors, they're about 17, 18, so they grabbed signs and they were shouting USA next to the protestors.  That's about as heated as it got.  But they had a blast.  But I gotta tell you, the most impressive thing they got out of it.  I mean, they loved the whole thing.  But the most impressive thing they got out of it was watching a guy fly away in a jet that he paid for with his own money.  I mean, everybody in the parking lot was looking like, wow, you know, success. 

. . .

RUSH:  Now, John, I want to make sure I heard you correctly.  You said your two kids were with you, 17 and 18, and the thing that really jazzed them was when it was over and that plane leaves, the fact that Trump paid for that plane with his own money is what they were talking about?

CALLER:  Oh, yeah.  It was weird.  We're all stuck in the parking lot there 'cause there's only a couple lanes out and it was packed.  So when Trump's plane started going toward the runway, whatever you call it, when he's going to taxi.

RUSH:  Right.

CALLER:  Anyway, everybody in the whole parking lot stops, and they're all looking at this big plane.  It's hard to describe.  But there were just heads all over the place. 

RUSH:  Yeah, but what's the big deal to your kids about the fact that he paid for it?  How'd they even know that?

CALLER:  Oh, well, it's got his name on it, and, you know --

RUSH:  Well, yeah.

CALLER:  -- they know the taxpayers didn't buy it for him, so --

RUSH:  Ah.  There you go.  So they were impressed that he had enough money to buy it himself, or what's the deal with it?

CALLER:  Oh, yeah.  That's what I say, Rush.  I mean, these kids are all 17 and 18.  I went with my son and a bunch of his friends from high school, but they're all really impressed with his success, and despite all the things the media says about --

RUSH:  See, they want it.  They want it and they think they can get it.

 

Trump's capitalism success is an inspiration to young people.

Michael

[Jonathan]

26 minutes ago, Selene said:

Does OL need a safe room thread for the offended?

A...

Yes, please! We need more safe spaces! I'm scared and my feelings are hurt at all of the incitement of violence going on here!

J

[william.scherk]

From an intriguing article at 538: The GOP’s Establishment ‘Lane’ May Have Always Been A Dead End:

-- for those of a wonkish bent, the site Greenpapers is a trove of detail ...

Edited March 15, 2016 by william.scherk
Fixed image size and appearance.

[Brant Gaede]

45 minutes ago, Jonathan said:

Yes, please! We need more safe spaces! I'm scared and my feelings are hurt at all of the incitement of violence going on here!

J

Wimp.

--Suck It Up

brant

[Brant Gaede]

1 hour ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

Looks like the Trump thread is pissing someone off big time.

OL just suffered an attack on the server.

We were shut down for a bit, but now all is well.

Michael

Damn. Foiled again!

--Ted Cruz

[merjet]

Is Ohio Republican primary ballot too confusing?

It is no doubt confusing for anybody who doesn't know before going or doesn't take the time to ask at the polling place.

[Brant Gaede]

4 hours ago, merjet said:

I don't know about the US in total. I do know that China's sovereign wealth fund owned $1.3 trillion of U.S. Treasuries as of June, 2015. It's likely a little higher now. Anyway, it's at least 1.3/18.1 = 7.2% of all US Treasury debt. As the saying goes, money talks.

Suppose a POTUS wants to threaten China with import duties like Trump has done. What will China do? Well, the response could be for China to start selling their US Treasury holdings. Also, to the extent import duties reduce China's exports to the US, it goes hand-in-hand with such selling. They don't need to hold them to conduct trade with the US. Selling, of course, likely means interest rates on US Treasuries rise. The average rate on Treasuries was recently 2.04%. It probably wouldn't quickly affect the overall rate the US has to pay on Treasuries, but each 1% rise would mean an added outflow of 0.01*18.1 = $180 billion annually. Enough 1%'s, and you're talking real money. A 5.55% rise is $1 trillion. Compare it to Federal gov't revenues, spending, and the deficit. In fiscal year 2015 federal government spending was $3.7 trillion, revenue about $3.3 trillion ($438 billion deficit).  

There's talk, talk, talk, at the bully pulpit and then there's real-politic, which can be an obstacle course.

The 1.3 trillion of U.S. Treasuries represents money given to the U.S. and spent by the U.S. and  is now merely a book-keeping entry. Those Treasuries do not come back to the U.S. until the maturity dates. When that happens they are rolled over or replaced by dollars manufactured at will by the Dept. of the Treasury. If, speaking hypothetically, they were all to mature next week and China wanted dollars then dollars it will get--next week. (No muss, no fuss. Interest rates would be completely oblivious to this.) The problem then for China is what to do with those dollars? The same problem as before except the word was "Treasuries." It could buy commodities and push up the price as it did for years with copper. It could give every Chinese $1000,  etc. The trade deficit, which created those reserves, was money taken out of the U.S. economy, eventually turned into Treasuries (money to the U.S. government) and in turn put back into the U.S. economy by U.S. government expenditures creating a circle of consumption destructive of capital which, properly speaking, comes from savings. China is holding the bag on this one. No leverage at all against the U.S. or its economy. If it had U.S. dollar debts the money would be useful for reduction of that debt. Other countries in SE Asia have a lot of private if not public dollar debts. Those debtors are hurting for dollars to service that. Making things worse is the dollar has greatly appreciated against almost all the world's currencies. They are in an effective deflationary bind respecting those debts. The dollar going up tends to take the world down. China is the major exception. You want to export to the U.S. to get dollars. The U.S. consumer is getting more and more tapped out, however. The economic international circle is threatened with less traffic.

To recap: U.S. Federal Government debt is no debt at all. It's a fiction. The dollar debts of Illinois and Puerto Rico are real debts; so are personal debts. Student loan debt is real debt but greatly defaulted on. Mortgage debt is secured by real property. Auto loans are secured by autos. Credit card debt is secured by write-offs and collections and personal financial probity which, generation by generation, is eroding. There's little danger of economic collapse, just a slow continuous grind down for stated and other reasons. I could see it coming 40 years ago out of the increasing role of government in the economy. Real wages have been stagnant for maybe 16 years. The constant demand for dollars to service debt keeps the value of the dollar up. It's not the only reason, but it's a big one.

--Brant

[Jonathan]

50 minutes ago, Brant Gaede said:

Wimp.

--Suck It Up

brant

Help me, Roger! Brant's being a brownshirt and violating my safe space and inciting riots! He's traumatizing me with violence!

J

[Brant Gaede]

Who me?

Nobody here but us chickens.

--Cluck Cluck

^{brant the fox}

[KorbenDallas]

10 hours ago, Roger Bissell said:

You're so right. I'm very surprised that I wasn't surprised over that. 

REB

Ha!  I stand corrected.  Nice one REB

[KorbenDallas]

10 hours ago, Brant Gaede said:

Go back to your ivory tower and stop pretending to be a farmer?

How about go back to the docks and stop writing books like The True Believer?

--Confusionist Says

Go Trump!

 

[merjet]

1 hour ago, Brant Gaede said:

The 1.3 trillion of U.S. Treasuries represents money given to the U.S.

To recap: U.S. Federal Government debt is no debt at all. It's a fiction.

Lent, not given. It's no more fiction than any other debt.

[william.scherk]

Mr Trump is due to hold a press conference/victory speech any moment:

 

[KorbenDallas]

18 minutes ago, william.scherk said:

Mr Trump is due to hold a press conference/victory speech any moment:

 

Go Trump!

 

[Peter]

Is there a case of the sanction of the victim as Michael suggests? (As an aside, that shut down was kind of scary. Microsoft popped up and said it might be a bogus site masquerading as the real thing, after I went directly to OL without going through a particular message from my Hotmail account. It asked me to confirm objectivistliving.com was a real site. I did.)

Roger quoted the Tea Party Patriots: . . . . Seeking to provoke violence is not the answer. To the protesters, we say, knock it off. You may not like Donald Trump, but he has every right to speak to his supporters as he campaigns for the highest office in the land. It’s called the First Amendment, and it applies to him as much as it does to you. Your plans to provoke confrontation are beneath the great traditions of civil disobedience – Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., advocated and practiced nonviolent protest, to ensure themselves the moral high ground. . . . end quote

Should Trump be more polite and deceitful about his intentions like other politicians? What if other candidates spoke the truth?

Hmmm? Sounds like a Jim Carrey movie. The scene: In the background we can hear Dire Straits. "Now look at them yo-yo's that's the way you do it. You play the guitar on the M.T.V. That ain't workin' that's the way you do it. Money for nothin' and chicks for free. Now that ain't workin' that's the way you do it."

A politician named Bernie Sanders can't lie for 24 hours due to his grandson's birthday wish. The following day, Bernie realizes that he is unable to do anything dishonest. He cannot lie, mislead, or even deceive by withholding a true answer, often uncontrollably blurting out offensive and painful truths that anger his supporters. Things come to a head at a town hall meeting when he realizes that he is unable to even ask or answer hypothetical questions when he knows the answer will be a lie.

I am Bernie Sanders so good afternoon you schmucks. I am soon to become your supreme leader. Shut up and let me talk. I said I would care for our veterans, but I didn’t mean it. As President, I won’t give any veteran shit if they fought in an illegal war like Vietnam or Iraq.

Some people in the audience BOO him and one shouts out, “But you said you would support those who fought for their country!”

Liar, Liar! Somebody punch that bastard, yells Bernie. They were war criminals. Now about racial justice. We need more laws to keep white people, especially Republicans in their place. A living wage? As a start, I will put wage and price controls in place. An executive will make the same as the guy in the mail room. I will reduce the concentration of wealth & wage inequality by confiscating the bank accounts of anyone who has over 50 grand in the bank. Will I reform Wall Street? I will shut it down. Will I use force to accomplish this? You betcha. You will obey your Supreme leader or else.

The end.

Sander’s voting record on a slew of issues are on the site, On The Issues.

Peter

[merjet]

On 2/24/2016 at 1:04 PM, william.scherk said:

Donald Trump on VP pick: We need a political insider

Washington (CNN)Who would be Donald Trump's vice president?

He still won't say -- but the GOP front-runner divulged Wednesday that it would likely be an insider in contrast with his outsider status.

"I do want somebody that's political, because I want to get lots of great legislation we all want passed," Trump said Wednesday in a Q&A at Regent University. "We're going to probably choose somebody that's somewhat political."

Kasich.

[Jon Letendre]

43 minutes ago, merjet said:

Kasich.

Strong maybe.

[Jon Letendre]

Attorney General Chris Christie

[Peter]

Who da Veep? Cruz, Fiorina, or Rubio. Cruz, Texas. Hispanics. Tea party guys and gals. Rubio Florida. Establishment middle of the road types. Fiorina - women to cut into Hillary's presumably biased vote. Carson for Surgeon General. With her husband laid up in a snow mobile accident Sarah Palin is my choice for mistress and a cabinet post: Madam Suckretarty of State. (I'm sorry. My subconscious made me say that.)

Peter 

[Jon Letendre]

WILLIAN MCGURN:

Now, it’s certainly possible that a President Trump would seed the federal agencies with men and women who would abuse their powers for Trumpian outcomes. In real life, however, the compulsion to decree to one’s neighbor what’s best for him (and use the federal government to enforce it) is an affliction of modern American liberalism. In other words, the kind of people Hillary Clinton, if elected, would rely on to fill the federal bureaucracies, every last one of them eager and willing to impose rules on the American people that would never fly in Congress. 

What kind of rules and regulations? Here are a few instances from recent years:

• In the run-up to the 2012 presidential election, the IRS targets groups regarded as enemies of the president—pro-Israel, pro-life, pro-tea-party, etc. When this became public, its officials, including the new IRS commissioner, John Koskinen, make clear their contempt for congressional panels trying to investigate.

• In a frontal assault on religious liberty, the Department of Health and Human Services issues a mandate that would force the Little Sisters of the Poor, Catholic nuns who run homes for the elderly poor, to offer their employees contraceptives the sisters regard as a violation of their faith. They are threatened with fines of $100 per employee per day if they refuse, which adds up to $70 million a year—equal to about a third of their operating budget.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/?state=nwa

Not so how long link will work, paid article?

Wall Street Journal