Glenn Beck: Why Trump Must Audit Fort Knox’s Gold Reserves Now!

 

[VIDEO] What's the real state of the United States' gold reserves at Fort Knox? And then I have more questions.

Such as why are we holding so much gold there?

Ben Shapiro explains failure of SVB

 

[VIDEO] If Dave Ramsey wasn't that clear about what happened other than trying to state that what happened to Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank isn't likely to happen at a bank near you. I think there were some points in this discussion without bringing up politics or the culture war about where these banks went wrong. There were some mismanagement and perhaps the expectation that the Federal gov't will swoop in and save the day. So perhaps mismanagement because Uncle Sam got you! 

Bill O'Reilly: Proof Biden is worse than Trump

 

[VIDEO] Bill O'Reilly explains President Trump has to deal with coronavirus, however, there were no supply chain issues or inflation or high gas prices (well I added gas prices it's true though). Now we have President Biden coronavirus is still an issue, but not to where it was blown up to in 2020. And consider we have high gas prices, inflation and supply chain issues.

The emphasis on green energy has hurt everyday Americans (meaning that because of an emphasis on eliminating fossil fuels gas prices has gone up), food prices have gone up, over the holiday season consumers were concerned about having Christmas presents for example, we have inflation.

2020 was a rough year as the nation was shut down over coronavirus concerns. However after the election President Trump was able to ensure the development of a vaccine. Meanwhile many Americans wanted Trump out believing the hype of the MSNBC or CNN of the world and the verdict is clear to me Biden hasn't made anything better. President Trump seems to have better results.

O'Reilly: Where's the empathy, Bran.... Joe Biden?

 

[VIDEO] I suppose O'Reilly is making reference to poll with regards to the economy. Is there much empathy from Let's Go Brandon as far as the economic effects of inflation on low-income Americans?

Glenn Beck speaks with former Pres. Trump

 

[VIDEO] They discuss a number of things including that horrible withdrawal from Afghanistan the Bran....Biden administration's handling of the pandemic and even the economic issues of inflation and rising gas prices. It sounds like Donald Trump wants to run again promoting that his administration handled a lot of these issues the best. However, we won't know if he'll run for President again until after the 2022 midterms which Beck refers to as something of a course correction.

And let's not forget we're now at one whole year since the "insurrection".

O'Reilly: Inflation ROARS under Bra...Biden

 

[VIDEO] Bill O'Reilly talks about the state of the economy and President Joe Biden's statement with regards to inflation currently.

#HappyThanksgiving

 

[VIDEO] I'm a fan of Dave Ramsey and while I haven't gone full in on his baby steps I do follow him on ig and definitely enjoy watching his clips on YouTube. And on this Thanksgiving morning I see him talk with Ben Shapiro discussing personal finance, current state of the US economy, and steps to take to become a millionaire.

My own personal message, I hope you're thankful today. Don't let the thieves of joy who reside on the left take away your blessings. As long as you're still alive and healthy you can change your own life for the better.

Yes in life there are things you can't control, however, in life you can control you. As long as you can control you if there is something you're not happy about then you can do something about it. As of late, that's what I'm trying to do.

As Ramsey advocates if you take control of your finances then you can have money in the bank. Which is what I hope for you in the future.

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Rubin Report: Trump achievement that was shockingly ignored

 

[VIDEO] Blake Masters speaks with Dave Rubin. Masters is running for U.S. Senate from Arizona and he discusses former President Trump's management of the economy. Creating economic growth to the point where wages went up, according to Masters wages had stagnated for decades until 2016.

Hmmm, I need to find out how to find this data and see for myself.

Either way I'm not too surprised it's been ignored. Orange man bad and doesn't deserve any credit for his accomplishments and whatever he did that worked we need to do the opposite. For example the aforementioned border.

Hong Kong continues to fight against Chinese authoritarianism

[VIDEO] The protests in Hong Kong against Chinese control have gone on for three months. And now we see mention in this 11 minute video of some HK activists seeking independence. We learn more about the governor structure of HK which most representatives to the government are really just mainland Chinese communists and prominent stakeholders within Hong Kong.

So whether HK wants universal suffrage for their government or independence it seems the activists of HK will have a real fight on their hands against PRC control of this former British colony.

Capitol Fax: “Official violence” for the bottom, not for the top

Rich Miller before he shut down his blog for the weekend - as is often customary when there isn't an election or major news - wrote a post about what happened to Eric Garner in New York. Mr. Garner had been on video approached by police and a confrontation ensued where he lost his life in a chokehold.

Alas the investigation of Garner's death which resulted in the police officer involved in his death cleared of any wrong doing. In addition to that this comes on the heels of what happened in Ferguson, MO before the Thanksgiving holiday.

Protests sparked after the clearing of the officer involved in the shooting of Michael Brown and this week more protests after the clearing of the office involved in the death of Garner. You may have seem some of these protests on your social media feeds - instagram, facebook, or twitter.

Regardless since Miller's blog is basically a policy/political blog he takes a look at the laws that are on the books in this nation that only serve to imprison more people. And while there are laws governing petty crime few laws to govern those individuals who are at the top of society.

What's going on here?

The Atlantic: Ex-journalist's life as a retail worker...

I tweeted this story earlier today about a ex-journalist who was forced to take a retail job after having a long prosperous career. Then unfortunately he made one bad move and he was out of a job. In some respects I sympathise with him because I'm sort of in the same boat as he is.

My situation is slightly different than his in his case he got off to a great start until one event caused his career to unravel. In my case, I'm still looking for mine and illustrated one example recently where unfortunately it didn't work in my favor.

Every now and then we hear stories about how x-amount of jobs were added to the economy, but seemingly not enough to offset the number of unemployed right now. Thankfully I do have a job, but at the same time you got your start now it's time to move ahead to something better. The question that keeps hitting my mind is what does it take?

We got to keep moving and we got to keep plugging away. Best wishes to those out there looking.

Hat-tip Woodlawn Wonder!

Washington Examiner: McDonald's want ad demands bachelor's degree, two years experience for cashier

Wow, this is unbelievable. A bachelor's degree to even operate a cash register and sell hamburgers. This is a classic McJob and to start probably won't make enough money to pay off student loans. There had better be opportunities for growth here! Why take it if you won't go anywhere in the business?

Via Instapundit!

What about these payroll taxes?

When I started typing this, I had been watching the FOX Business network and they're talking about one aspect of the "fiscal cliff" compromise. Here's a piece from MSNBC:

Politicians in Washington made much hubbub last week about a bipartisan deal to soften or postpone some $600 billion in scheduled tax hikes and government spending cuts. President Barack Obama said the deal would shield 98 percent of Americans from a middle-class tax hike.

Nevertheless, for most workers, rich and poor alike, taxes went up on Dec. 31 as a temporary payroll tax cut expired. That cut – a 2 percentage point reduction in a levy that funds Social Security – was put in place two years ago to help the economy, which was still smarting from the 2007-09 recession.

About 160 million workers pay this tax, and the increase will cost the average worker about $700 a year, according to the Tax Policy Center, a Washington think tank.

“It stinks,” said Beverly Renfroe, an accountant for a realty firm in Jackson, Mississippi. “I definitely noticed a decrease.” The pain will trickle through the economy over the next few weeks. Already, the new rate of 6.2 percent has trimmed paychecks for about half of the 200,000 employees whose paychecks are processed by Advantage Payroll Services, a payroll firm based in Auburn, Maine.

Oh dear, it seems to get worse:

Some Americans will also pay higher income taxes this year. Congress and Obama let income tax rates rise for households making more than $450,000 a year, a partial repeal of tax cuts put in place under President George W. Bush. The wealthy will also pay a new tax to help fund a health insurance reform passed in 2010.

These will have a smaller impact on the wider economy because they affect fewer people. But taken together, this year’s tax hikes could subtract a full percentage point from growth, Feroli said.

Most economists see economic growth of roughly 2 percent this year, a lackluster pace held back by the government’s austerity measures that is likely to do little to reduce unemployment.

Failure to postpone government spending cuts due to begin around March would slow growth more, further frustrating the economic recovery.

And worst still!

The blow to the economy from the tax hikes will hurt the most during the first half of the year as people adapt to their smaller paychecks.

Consumer spending, which drives more than two thirds of the economy, will likely grow at a mere 1 percent annual rate in the first quarter, and 1.5 percent in the second, said Sven Jari Stehn, an economist at Goldman Sachs in New York.

 It's all about the economy and alas we're continuing to struggle out there. Hopefully when the current fiscal cliff compromise is reconsidered in the next couple of months or so Washington may consider to find ways to alleviate this new pressure. Hopefully someone out there will say wait a minute here, this isn't helping us?

Well one can only hope, yes?

BTW, Washington Post is even more stark: "The bad news: The expiration of the payroll tax cut this January will basically wipe away all of last year’s gains." 

Ward Room: "Chicago Fixes Elections, Not Jobs Reports"

Well do Chicago politicians cook job report numbers? It's a slam against the President who cut his teeth in Chicago politics. This year as he seeks re-election we're hearing that more and more. Today we hear it from the former CEO of General Electric:

Former General Electric chairman Jack Welch says the new unemployment numbers issued by the Obama Administration are no more reliable than election totals issued by the Chicago Machine.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate dropped to 7.8 percent, the lowest figure since President Obama’s first month in office. That’s also an important threshold because we’ve been hearing all year that no president has ever been re-elected when the unemployment rate is above 8 percent.

“Unbelievable jobs numbers..these Chicago guys will do anything..can’t debate so change numbers,” Welch tweeted on @jack_welch, his personal account.

It was essentially debunked:

Seasoned political veteran and former Chicago Alderman Dick Simpson, who recently wrote a book on Chicago corruption, said that's probably not the case.

"What Chicago's known for is fixing elections, not for cooking reports," he said. " ... that seems an odd argument."

It’s as though Short Pencil Louie, the infamous precinct captain who used to erase Republican votes and write in Democratic votes, has been promoted to director of the BLS.

All this to say many people are critical of these job numbers. In fact you can watch this example over at Newsalert. A common slam against the President is the economy particularly jobs and from those who want to see Obama gone from the White House we're going to see doubt about the jobs numbers.

"Sussing the Competition"

Well, I think this is one example of how the job market operates currently: "No matter how much you want this job, there are 652 other people who want it, too." That is how many responses to a fake Craiglist ad posted by another frustrated job seeker and all 652 during the course of a 24 hour period. More jobseekers than jobs out there right now and this fake ad was a cruel prank, but still it illustrates a point.

Found this article via Instapundit who added this comment: "Employment during the era of hope and change". No doubt a dig against the Obama economy.

Obama Fails to Stem Middle-Class Slide He Blamed on Bush

This story is from Bloomberg:

Barack Obama campaigned four years ago assailing President George W. Bush for wage losses suffered by the middle class. More than three years into Obama’s own presidency, those declines have only deepened.

The rebound from the worst recession since the 1930s has generated relatively few of the moderately skilled jobs that once supported the middle class, tightening the financial squeeze on many Americans, even those who are employed.

“It started long before Obama, but he hasn’t done anything,” said John Forsyth, 58, a railroad-car inspector and political independent from Lebanon, Ohio. “He kept pushing this change, change, change, and he hasn’t done anything.”

Underlying the erosion of the middle class, defined by some economists as the middle 60 percent of income earners, are trends that stretch back decades, including competition from lower-wage workers overseas and technological advances that allow factories and offices to produce more with less labor.

As a candidate in 2008, Obama blamed the reversals largely on the policies of Bush and other Republicans. He cited census figures showing that median income for working-age households -- those headed by someone younger than 65 -- had dropped more than $2,000 after inflation during the first seven years of Bush’s time in office.

Yet real median household income in March was down $4,300 since Obama took office in January 2009 and down $2,900 since the June 2009 start of the economic recovery, according to an analysis of census data by Sentier Research, an economic- consulting firm in Annapolis, Maryland.

You know I was thinking about writing a post about being middle-class although there was very little to add on my part statistics wise. We do hear about the "death of the middle-class" especially watching cable news. Of course we can always ask if this pronouncement is exaggerated.

Back to this article, there's a lot more to chew here than I could convey in a post. You should read the whole thing!

Hat-tip Instapundit!

Geithner in Chicago: Obama ‘prevented’ a depression

Tim Geithner

Our Treasury Secretary visited Chicago on Wednesday and he made some comments as well:

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner delivered his boss’ argument for re-election during a Chicago speech Wednesday, asserting that President Barack Obama’s policies “prevented” a depression while laying the foundation for stable growth.

Geithner said that in Obama’s first six months in office, the president presided over a large jump in economic output. He said the American economy is in better shape than those of other nations.

The treasury boss also took swipes at Republican critics who argue for deep spending cuts.

“A growth strategy for the American economy requires more than just promises to cut taxes and spending,” Geithner said. “We have to be willing to do things, not just cut things.”

His partisan broadside followed by a day Obama’s attack on Republican budget proposals. The president called them “thinly veiled social Darwinism.”

What say you? Do you agree with Secretary Geithner?

Electronic Village: What Has Barack Obama Done for Black Folks?

There is a list of accomplishments provided here of President Obama. What's more important is the symbolism of the Presidents ascension as a man of color at least to a lot of people who aren't of the predominant group of people in this nation.

I'm sure many who read this blog would challenge this list of accomplishments Obama has during his tenure in office. I'm sure many would take aim as the "Affordable Care Act" being one of those things that many who oppose Obama would point a finger at easily. Still the conclusion:

The challenges faced by President Obama have been unique and powerful -- two traditional wars, war on terrorism, BP oil spill, natural disasters, near-depression level economic, high unemployment and a do-nothing Congress. Yet, he continues to fight for us. At the end of the day I suspect that the Black community is going to realize that Barack Obama is a better choice for a second term as our president than any of the folks currently running for the GOP nomination.

I would hit Obama on his handling of the economy. I don't agree with any bailouts and the stimulus program doesn't appear to have produced any desired results as stimulating the economy and providing jobs. That's the main thing with me jobs. We have a long way to go in undoing the damage of the financial crisis that brought Obama into the White House in 2009.

Non Tradition Markets, Non Traditional Clients

Hmmm, what can I say? The Woodlawn Wonder of I Hate My Developer talks about riding the CTA Red Line to downtown. Well I have noticed as she had that it seems the vendors who likes to operate on the Red Line during the day rarely panhandle their wares beyond downtown at least. If they're not panhandling they're begging.

The next question is what is it with the Dan Ryan line that sees that type of activity?

Well she mentioned seeing a white guy doing some panhandling as the train headed south of Roosevelt Road. Well Roosevelt Road just so happens to be the South Loop and since that's the new hot neighborhood there is a lot of activity at that stop.

Anyway, she won't even venture a guess that the police are selectively enforcing the law only north of Roosevelt Road, but she makes a general comment about the state of the economy. She sees that we're seeing white people in some "very traditional south side institutions". Therefore it just shows her that we're not going to be coming out of this recession anytime soon. BTW, the south side for the most part is largely populated by Blacks.

You know it almost seems like a racial comment, but only a general commentary. I won't say that the police aren't enforcing the panhandling laws on the CTA Dan Ryan route of the Red Line. At the same time, she's only noting the times we are living in right now.

U.S. can avoid bank nationalizations: White House

From Reuters. I most certainly hope the will avoid nationalizing banks:

"I think we will be able to avoid that," White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos." He added that bank nationalization was "not the goal" of the administration.

Emanuel, however, cautioned he had not seen the results of "stress tests" on 19 lenders whose balance sheets are being scrutinized by regulators. They include Citigroup Inc., Wells Fargo & Co.and Bank of America.

The findings will be used to determine who may need more government capital.

These are some tough economic times right now. A lot of businesses are struggling, but I certainly hate for America's important industries being taken over by the government. I'm not sure if that's good for the long term.

One could even argue this is already happened with the auto industry with GM having their CEO "fired" by the government after recieving bailout dollars. I already said I didn't sympathize, but things are tough right now. Government does have a role, but then what role should that be?