Tag Archives: Economy

Dim Future

25 Monday Aug 2025

Posted by in Inactivity, Politics

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

        The future is not bright because our elected officials of both parties are more concerned about how to make sure they are re-elected in the next election than the distant future.

            Everyone knows we are running full speed into a debt disaster yet they keep cutting taxes and exempting more and more income from individuals and businesses. The longer those sitting in the capitol building run up the debt, the harder it will be to fix it. Remember, the economy boomed during the President Clinton Presidency and that tax rate while paying down the debt. Congress should go back to that rate and do away with more corporate exemptions lobbyists paid for. The longer they worry about re-election, the more painful it will be to ninety-nine percent of us.

            Social Security and Medicare are not being replenished by today’s workers. Again Washington knows how to fix it and most of us know also. A quick change to push the problem farther away is to remove the salary cap so all incomes pay into it whether it’s a wage or an investment. Cap all payouts to anyone with an income of over $150,000. As more robots replace humans, the human cannot pay into Social Security so a solution would be for the company to continue the social Security payment for that replaced human.

            Only a duped fool cannot see global warming is here and getting worse every day. Today’s Congress is bent on increasing the country’s contribution of carbon dioxide and methane. It seems we read every day they have done something to peel back laws and regulations designed to try to save humanity from a very ugly future. The future is much worse than today.

            Congressional members need to be more concerned about us than keeping their chairs.

Youngsters and Inflation

16 Saturday Aug 2025

Posted by in Inflation

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

        What is inflation and how does it affect people? I am 77 years old and I didn’t understand what it was until I was in my late twenties. A friend told me it was better to own a home than to rent because the value would go up and I could write off the interest on the mortgage. Then when building it I noticed a clipping under a glass countertop about how much a pair of tennis shoes would go up based on the inflation rate. The house we built has quadrupled in value plus some.

            In the early 1960s Dad was filling the Pick-up with $.27 a gallon of gasoline. When I got my GTO in 1967 I paid $.33. My first year at Murray State University the tuition had gone up a third to $120 a semester. My entire cost for a dorm room, five day meal ticket, and books was less than $1,000. My girl friend, now wife, and I drove the 125 miles back home on every other weekend for less than five bucks.

            The second year we didn’t get a full meal ticket and ate at restaurants for dinner. Several places had specials on certain days. Gino’s plate of spaghetti was less than a dollar, KFC on Sunday was a three piece for $.89, a big boy sandwich was large and it was still less than a dollar with a drink; fries and two drinks was just $.50 more. We became friends with the Thoroughbred Drive-in became we ate there several times a week. I could buy us 6 corn dogs or 7 hamburgers for a dollar. Fries and two drinks was $.50 more.

            My taxes for our house were $620 for the first few years. Now with our senior deductions we pay over 12 times more. My two year-old GTO cost $1,800 including taxes and today the taxes would equal that much for most two year-old ones.

            Yes, I really understand inflation now.         

The Real Trump Doctrine

12 Thursday Jun 2025

Posted by in Doctrine, President Trump

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

        I watched an episode of Washington Week on PBS. The main topic of discussion was the Trump Doctrine and Trump’s transactional diplomacy. They used the right words but missed the real meaning of the words. President Donald J. Trump’s doctrine is to make as much money as he can out of his last term and it is transactional if people, companies, and countries can put money into his pocket through various ways, they will get his support.

            The list of bribes goes from his stable coin to a 400 million dollar jet. Those are multi-million ones that are obvious. Remember all the items he sold to supposedly finance his campaign but went into his pocket. He is putting his name on a new golf course here but the huge development in the U.A. E. and “financed” by that country and licensing of two new hotels in Saudi Arabia is worth millions more.

            How does that matter to the average American? If a country wants to lower tariffs, put money in his pocket. India is negotiating on a lower tariff. Oddly Trump Jr. just put together a couple of hotel deals in India where they had not been allowed to do before. Don’t forget his strong arming of Canada and Denmark. Remember tariffs are a tax we pay and not the foreign country as he says. Ukraine only got his support after giving up their minerals which I am sure he will be involved in what companies dig them up, transport them, and utilize them.

            When asked about his oath he said it is a question that his lawyers should answer. He has violated it many times and as long as the Republicans are scared of him, he will continue. An impeachment is sure to happen in 2027 when the House and Senate flip to Democrats. He can be tried for much of the corruption without impeachment as it wasn’t a Presidential duty. More to come!    


               

Deep Debt Problem

20 Tuesday May 2025

Posted by in National Debt

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

        Do you remember President George Bush II saying something to the effect of “Who is better at managing your money, you or the government?”  He then cut income taxes causing a growing National Debt after President Bill Clinton had paid off the 30 year, 20 year and much of the ten year bonds. National Banks around the world were pleading with the Treasury to stop since they used the bonds as their financial reserve like they formerly used gold.

            Then President Trump came along and wanted to cut his taxes even more putting America even farther in the red. Now he is telling Congress and the Senate to not only renew his old cuts but cut them even more. He just said these additional cuts would be paid for by his tariffs. He says his taxes are going to be fairer to the poor (who don’t pay taxes) and the middle Class (which is getting smaller). Think about it. A Tariff is just another tax and raises the cost of living more on the poor and middle class than the wealthy because the wealthy can better afford it. That is a back door or a great sleight-of-hand tax on the average American. Remember Trump’s famous quote on the wall “Mexico will pay for it,” now it’s “China will pay for the tariffs.”

            The point is we are supposed to be the American Government and spend the money we give it to benefit us. We elect people to have the government do what we need done and they are failing to do that. They are cutting programs the people need and running us into a disastrous debt that they don‘t have the guts to fix. They could take us back to Clinton’s taxes and end the exemptions that reduce the taxes even more on the rich.

            Remember the famous mechanic saying, “Pay me now or pay me later!” Well, it is later.

Tariffs Are Inflationary

21 Saturday Sep 2024

Posted by in Inflation, President Trump

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

        I just bought a microwave to replace a decades old one. It is a little more complicated than the old one but cost less than half the old one cost. It will take a little while to become comfortable with it.

            After Menard’s rebate the cost will be about $98.00.  Let’s give Menards’s a small profit after expenses and say it cost them $85.00. Transportation to the Menards’ warehouse from the West coast harbor is $2.00. The shipping from China to the West Coast is probably $3.00. That leaves the cost to Menards at factory about $80.00. Now I don’t know if these numbers are correct but former President Donald Trump has repeatedly stated he would impose a 20% to 50% tariff on Chinese manufactured products. A 20% tariff would have added $16.00 to my price of $98.00. The cost would now be $114.00.

            Tariffs cause inflation when they are applied and raise the cost of products to all Americans and do nothing to punish China because no microwave is made here. If a product isn’t made here to compete with an imported one then it doesn’t create competition. It just costs more.

            Before income taxes the main source of income for the Federal Government was tariffs. In spite of what politicians say, decreasing or adding the cost to an import is a political decision. Reducing tariffs can reduce inflation or raising tariffs will increase inflation. Trump has talked about inflation – far from being the highest in his lifetime – but on his first day he would raise tariffs on all imports. Economists say that could raise inflation to over twelve percent. Think about the plans Trump spouts before voting for him.

The Perfect Trade Arrangement

05 Friday Jul 2024

Posted by in Trade Agreements

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

        Few people agree with the trade agreements the Federal Government makes with other countries. America makes agreements with China and manufacturing jobs flow to China putting Americans out of work. It lowers the price of those manufactured goods and thus the inflation rate. Bringing those jobs back raises the inflation rate. The greater the import tariffs the greater the price and inflation.

            If we cannot get governments to work out an official agreement, then how can a perfect agreement be made? The surprising location is across the Southern border. It involves two wars which may never be concluded because both countries cannot afford to lose. The trade agreement is such that few people realize how our side causes both wars.

            The agreement is we manufacture and import the much needed items and export them across the border. Those on the South side export their product to us. All this is done with little if any publicity for our exports but lots for the imports.

            The traded items are the guns we sell to the Mexicans and other cartels to fight each other and the Mexican Police and Army. Their export to us is heroin, cocaine, and other drugs. Hundreds of law enforcement people are killed each year by the guns exported from America. Tens of thousands of civilians on both sides of the border die from those guns and drugs. Thousands of Mexicans and other Latin countries’ citizens cross our borders each month to get away from the gangs shooting people with the guns we exported illegally. We exported the gangs and the guns, so who is to blame? The cartels would be out of business if we could stop using drugs and exporting the guns.

Biden’s Dilemma

27 Monday May 2024

Posted by in Gasoline, President Biden

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

        The price of gasoline is critical to inflation, interest rates, economic and the upcoming election in November. The price of gasoline determines world politics and wars. What would you do if you were President?

            The price of gasoline is dependent on the price of oil which is dependent on the amount of oil for sale. The amount of oil produced by OPEC is supposedly tightly controlled by voluntary agreements among its members. Another “restriction” is the sanctions imposed by the United Nations and members of NATO.

            Oil is currently selling for less than $80 per barrel. Iran is allowed to sell one million barrels a day to comply with the UN sanctions but it sells over three million to China and India. By law, we can sanction the small refineries in China but they wouldn’t care since they have little or no trades with outsiders. The only way cut them back to one million would be to board the mega-tankers and confiscate the oil by taking them to another port. After two or three tankers are held the others would be unlikely to carry above sanctioned amount. The loss of two million barrels would raise prices twenty to thirty dollars or more. It could also cause a higher level of violence by Iran and push their nuclear path to a bomb.

            Russia’s sanction is to not sell oil above sixty dollars but they go around this by moving oil on a Russian-flagged tanker and in the middle of the Black Sea transferring oil to other countries’ flagged tankers. The oil is then sold at market price. Stopping this would mean encountering Russia’s Black Sea Fleet and a shooting war with NATO. Price of oil would skyrocket.

            So what would you do and when?