Great statements are considered great for a reason, and this one by Samuel Johnson about false patriotism certainly stands the test of time. Scoundrels will use patriotism for their own ends.
If it wasn't apparent when Donald Trump began his run for president, it is crystal clear now; that his brand of patriotism is noxious, uncompromising, divisive and exclusionary. It is not a patriotism that demands respect or a knowledge of American history.
It requires obsequiousness to the ruler.
It demands slander of anyone who is different, either by skin, sex, love or political belief.
It encourages ignorance, hatred and small-mindedness.
As we commemorate those who have fought for our freedom to challenge, to protest, to take to task, to account for the behavior and actions of those we elect, to disagree, to resist, and to just be a terrific nuisance to those who want something different from us, we must remember that change only comes when we make it inconvenient and painful for those in power to continue in power.
Have a great holiday.
For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest
Sunday, May 27, 2018
Sunday, May 20, 2018
Trumpflation! Are You Ready to Get Your Pocket Picked?
Yes, it's here. Trumpflation: that combination of rising wages, rising interest rates, a border that's closed to low wage labor, a trade war with China, tensions with our European allies over economic sanctions, and a dropping fertility rate.
What's it all add up to?
Well, it doesn't really add up, but the result will be rising prices, and wages that won't quite keep pace. Add in the nice gotcha that will hit many people's tax bills next April and you have a problem.
Of course, this is what can happen when you govern by chaos, ignorance and a commitment to making the wealthy wealthier.
Don't get me wrong; I'm all for a rising, healthy economy where anyone who wants a job can get one, and I believe that the economic expansion that began under Obama will continue to provide more employment and more money in the economy. Corporations have lots of cash on hand and many have committed to either building factories here or bringing production home from overseas. In and of itself, these would be positive developments and a wise president would leave this all alone, especially one who's told us repeatedly that he's a fan of laissez-faire economics.
The problems creep in when you poison the well with ideology. Isolating the country, threatening a trade war, slapping tariffs on goods that will harm American businesses and stoking a labor shortage because of short-sighted immigration policies will, I fear, stomp on this growth and lead to unintended, but decidedly visible, consequences.
Which we are already seeing. Gas prices are up. Food prices are up, even at my local warehouse store. Of course, the convenience of all of this is that when the government calculates inflation they exclude, you got it, gas an food prices. So while these are the components that affect people more directly, the real inflation rate will likely remain low while people scratch their heads about why goods cost so much more.
As for wages, I am glad to see that wages are rising somewhat, but they are not rising enough to cover the rising prices. The promise of the tax cut was that American corporations would create more high wage jobs and invest in new infrastructure. The reality is that most of the tax cut money is going into stock buybacks that do very little for workers. The federal minimum wage has not moved, and this Congress will probably not raise it. Now add in rising interest rates and cars, homes and debt will cost that much more. Unless workers are going to get 4-5% increases, at some point they will start losing money.
With fewer people coming to the United States either because they've been barred or scared off by the administrations intolerance and hatred, the labor supply is in real jeopardy. Quite simply, our economy has grown over the years because of new workers who come to this country. The birthrate has slowed, and even has revered in the past year, and countries that cannot replace their populations run the real and documented risk of stifling economic growth.
But at least we'll get to test that old adage that immigrants are taking low wage jobs from Americans. With fewer immigrants, both legal and undocumented, we'll finally see if Americans flock to the fields to pick our fruits and vegetables and to the meat packing plants. If wages stay low, then I don't see this happening. If farm and meat producers begin to pay higher wages, guess who else will pay more at the store?
If we had a real populist in charge, then perhaps we could look forward to working people getting ahead and a tax cut that didn't penalize regular people who live in states that voted against him. But we don't have a real populist in charge. We have a president who would rather rule chaotically and unpredictably, although his unpredictability is becoming far more predictable, which creates uncertainly, volatility, and inequality.
Which is exactly what this country can look forward to.
For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest
What's it all add up to?
Well, it doesn't really add up, but the result will be rising prices, and wages that won't quite keep pace. Add in the nice gotcha that will hit many people's tax bills next April and you have a problem.
Of course, this is what can happen when you govern by chaos, ignorance and a commitment to making the wealthy wealthier.
Don't get me wrong; I'm all for a rising, healthy economy where anyone who wants a job can get one, and I believe that the economic expansion that began under Obama will continue to provide more employment and more money in the economy. Corporations have lots of cash on hand and many have committed to either building factories here or bringing production home from overseas. In and of itself, these would be positive developments and a wise president would leave this all alone, especially one who's told us repeatedly that he's a fan of laissez-faire economics.
The problems creep in when you poison the well with ideology. Isolating the country, threatening a trade war, slapping tariffs on goods that will harm American businesses and stoking a labor shortage because of short-sighted immigration policies will, I fear, stomp on this growth and lead to unintended, but decidedly visible, consequences.
Which we are already seeing. Gas prices are up. Food prices are up, even at my local warehouse store. Of course, the convenience of all of this is that when the government calculates inflation they exclude, you got it, gas an food prices. So while these are the components that affect people more directly, the real inflation rate will likely remain low while people scratch their heads about why goods cost so much more.
As for wages, I am glad to see that wages are rising somewhat, but they are not rising enough to cover the rising prices. The promise of the tax cut was that American corporations would create more high wage jobs and invest in new infrastructure. The reality is that most of the tax cut money is going into stock buybacks that do very little for workers. The federal minimum wage has not moved, and this Congress will probably not raise it. Now add in rising interest rates and cars, homes and debt will cost that much more. Unless workers are going to get 4-5% increases, at some point they will start losing money.
With fewer people coming to the United States either because they've been barred or scared off by the administrations intolerance and hatred, the labor supply is in real jeopardy. Quite simply, our economy has grown over the years because of new workers who come to this country. The birthrate has slowed, and even has revered in the past year, and countries that cannot replace their populations run the real and documented risk of stifling economic growth.
But at least we'll get to test that old adage that immigrants are taking low wage jobs from Americans. With fewer immigrants, both legal and undocumented, we'll finally see if Americans flock to the fields to pick our fruits and vegetables and to the meat packing plants. If wages stay low, then I don't see this happening. If farm and meat producers begin to pay higher wages, guess who else will pay more at the store?
If we had a real populist in charge, then perhaps we could look forward to working people getting ahead and a tax cut that didn't penalize regular people who live in states that voted against him. But we don't have a real populist in charge. We have a president who would rather rule chaotically and unpredictably, although his unpredictability is becoming far more predictable, which creates uncertainly, volatility, and inequality.
Which is exactly what this country can look forward to.
For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest
Sunday, May 13, 2018
Happy Mother's Day
Remember not to post anything on the Internet you wouldn't want your mother to see.
Of course, that would exclude 99% of what's on the Internet.
Happy Mother's Day.
Of course, that would exclude 99% of what's on the Internet.
Happy Mother's Day.
Sunday, May 6, 2018
Common Among Celebrities and People of Wealth
Any claims that Donald Trump makes about being a populist are heretofore to be considered fraudulent.
This man is no populist.
He's barely popular.
And his policies will not help his constituents as much as they think.
The economic numbers that came out Friday were encouraging, and at this point it's Trump's economy. Unemployment is down for most every demographic group and wages are starting to edge upwards. But there are also fewer people in the work force and his aggressive anti-immigrant screeds are causing labor shortages that could spread from less attractive positions to jobs that make the economy work.
Then there's the trade policy that focuses obsessively on trade deficits, which are not necessarily the big problem we have with other countries. Many of those countries, including China, provide us with less expensive goods that wage-challenged Americans need in their daily lives. Plus, many American companies, such as Boeing, are worried that steel and aluminum will cost more and the Export-Import Bank, a real bugaboo for conservative Republicans, won't be around to help them weather foreign competition.
Add to that the inflation that is already showing itself in gasoline and food, and the tax bill that will be a very great surprise to filers come next April, especially in states like New Jersey and New York, and you have a mixture of economic news that is decidedly, well...mixed.
But the real outrage should be directed at the president's remarks regarding the deepening scandal over the payments he authorized to Stormy Daniels, authorizations he denied just a few months ago. His defense is that using Non Disclosure Agreements is a useful tool for the wealthy to fend off and otherwise manipulate less fortunate people is the height of unrestrained privilege.
President Trump is just as removed from anything populist as the next oligarch. He's spent his whole professional life trying to escape Queens, not trying to understand the middle and working class people who live there, including the immigrants that have made it the most multicultural borough in New York. Of course, those of us who've been subjected to his tabloid escapades since the 1980s already knew this. His best sell job was convincing the slim majorities of midwesterners that he was on their side.
And he misused the word role in his tweets, using roll instead. Nails on the blackboard to this teacher.
In the end it's the women and the cover-up that will sink him. Ain't it always so?
For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest
This man is no populist.
He's barely popular.
And his policies will not help his constituents as much as they think.
The economic numbers that came out Friday were encouraging, and at this point it's Trump's economy. Unemployment is down for most every demographic group and wages are starting to edge upwards. But there are also fewer people in the work force and his aggressive anti-immigrant screeds are causing labor shortages that could spread from less attractive positions to jobs that make the economy work.
Then there's the trade policy that focuses obsessively on trade deficits, which are not necessarily the big problem we have with other countries. Many of those countries, including China, provide us with less expensive goods that wage-challenged Americans need in their daily lives. Plus, many American companies, such as Boeing, are worried that steel and aluminum will cost more and the Export-Import Bank, a real bugaboo for conservative Republicans, won't be around to help them weather foreign competition.
Add to that the inflation that is already showing itself in gasoline and food, and the tax bill that will be a very great surprise to filers come next April, especially in states like New Jersey and New York, and you have a mixture of economic news that is decidedly, well...mixed.
But the real outrage should be directed at the president's remarks regarding the deepening scandal over the payments he authorized to Stormy Daniels, authorizations he denied just a few months ago. His defense is that using Non Disclosure Agreements is a useful tool for the wealthy to fend off and otherwise manipulate less fortunate people is the height of unrestrained privilege.
President Trump is just as removed from anything populist as the next oligarch. He's spent his whole professional life trying to escape Queens, not trying to understand the middle and working class people who live there, including the immigrants that have made it the most multicultural borough in New York. Of course, those of us who've been subjected to his tabloid escapades since the 1980s already knew this. His best sell job was convincing the slim majorities of midwesterners that he was on their side.
And he misused the word role in his tweets, using roll instead. Nails on the blackboard to this teacher.
In the end it's the women and the cover-up that will sink him. Ain't it always so?
For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest
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