American Politics

[GeneHickman]

Dr. Cornel West: "What we are witnessing is America as a failed social experiment" why not judge or score presidents by the level of corruption. Carter got payback because of the evil done to Iran by the CIA fomenting a coup and installing the puppet "Peacock throne" of the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. His sister, Fatimeh Pahlavi, was smarter. Ronald Reagan was down a rabbit hole of Alzheimer's, continuing the be movie role. He made movies starting a chimpanzee, and in a western on TV. Big Ron. The lobbyists were counting their loot, from the man with the dyed hair wearing a Teflon suit.

Can we judge presidents by what they did in retirement?

Who is Cornel West, and why does he have any legitimacy beyond that of a barking dog? Sorry but these morons taking things to a ridiculous extent. Blacks in america need to look into their own cultural failings too.

[Beijing4987]

Dr. Cornel West: "What we are witnessing is America as a failed social experiment" why not judge or score presidents by the level of corruption. Carter got payback because of the evil done to Iran by the CIA fomenting a coup and installing the puppet "Peacock throne" of the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. His sister, Fatimeh Pahlavi, was smarter. Ronald Reagan was down a rabbit hole of Alzheimer's, continuing the be movie role. He made movies starting a chimpanzee, and in a western on TV. Big Ron. The lobbyists were counting their loot, from the man with the dyed hair wearing a Teflon suit.

Can we judge presidents by what they did in retirement?

[EihTooms]

Jimmy Carter was not the worst, but he was pretty bad when you sum it all up, IMHO. But the guy we got now takes the cake.

Carter's average annual jobs creation record is among the best of any president. Better than Reagan's. Well, better than any Republican's actually. But not as good as Clinton's. About on par with LBJ's. Not bad for the president who took over after "our long national nightmare." And he achieved that by only modestly increasing the national debt about as normally as it was ever done post WWII. Unlike Reagan, the next president, who presided over less of an average annual jobs gain while skyrocketing the national debt to do it.

Carter was the only Democrat since the immediate post WWII years that was in office during the creation of a recession. However, it was not your ordinary recession. First of all, it was intentionally induced by Carter's Fed Chairman Paul Volker in order to cool down an over-heated economy that was producing many more jobs than there were applicants to take them, triggering wage inflation. It was not the result of a lousy economic policy. Almost the opposite of that. Volker's mission was to tame inflation, which he accomplished. He did that by raising Fed Funds rates dramatically in late 1979 and into early 1980, which naturally produced the planned controlled recession, establishing a somewhat steady decline in interest rates going forward.

But it almost didn't even qualify as a recession by its classic definition of two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth. That second (consecutive) quarter was only down -0.7%, not even one percentage point. So by that second quarter in mid 1980 we were already recovering from that purposely induced mini recession, the shortest one since records have been kept for such things. Possibly, if one more car had been sold at one car dealership in each state during that second consecutive quarter it might not have even qualified as a recession.

By the 4th quarter of 1980, GDP growth had recovered to +7.5%. The following quarter saw +8.5% GDP growth with no change in policy from the Carter years. However, as soon as major policy changes were made under Reagan by late 1981/early 1982, we plunged into what is now the 3rd or 4th worst economic downturn of the past 100 years or so.

Oh, btw, Carter was the president that insisted that Congress change the 401K rules so the rank and file employees of a company could enjoy that rather miraculous tax advantaged retirement investment opportunity rather than allowing it to be the exclusive offering to the top execs in the company. And he cut the Capital Gains Tax by a greater percentage than just about any other president too boot, from 39% to about 28%. Anybody have a fairly secure retirement due to the tax advantaged miracle of their 401K account even though they were not ta top level exec in their company can thank Carter for that. I am one of those people.

[The Cane]

Regardless of one's political leanings, at this very moment in time, in the eyes of the entire world America is divided and weak!

[The Cane]

History is going to show me as being incorrect in my assertions (made between 2002 and 2016) that George W. Bush was America's worst President.

Jimmy Carter was not the worst, but he was pretty bad when you sum it all up, IMHO. But the guy we got now takes the cake.

[ScatManDoo]

History is going to show me as being incorrect in my assertions (made between 2002 and 2016) that George W. Bush was America's worst President.

[ScatManDoo]

[Deleted by Admin]

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[MonkeyPaw]

Am I misunderstanding what you have written?

Are you asserting that the service sector in Hong Kong is the biggest? That HK's service sector is bigger than the service sector of the United States, which comes in at #2?

Your "facts" seem to be false facts.

Please give us the details of your fraud upon us taxpayers.

What lie did you give? What statistic did you give, or false information you propagated while performing tasks in your official capacity? Only you can educate us on what lies you told for pay in your official capacity.

Of course you are "misunderstanding," why didn't you just Google the numbers? Don't be lazy. Did you not see that I reported USA's service sector 80% of GDP, while HK is higher? Probably in the 90%'s. That would make the HK higher in terms of % of GDP, right amongst major countries or previous major autonomous recognized entities. I'm not a math genius but I'm pretty sure 90% is greater than 80%. I could be wrong. And also didn't I say the USA is #1 in service sector productivity? So that means they are #1 in service sector in terms of revenue. Because you obviously can't compare "largest" by counting number of employees or businesses because population varies from country to country. So really quit trying to get people to argue with you because you are bored and lonely. And if you don't know by know most data reported and history is all biased, then you keep living in whatever lala land reality that makes you happy. But you seem so unhappy. By the way, mix in a review now and then or share some info on girls and sex instead of whining and complaining and arguing all the time. Geez, go look at your own post history. You seem stressed out, go out and have some sex and tell us about it.

[ScatManDoo]

"USA is #1 economy in terms of GDP in the world and they #1 military in the world. But here is catch, they are also #1 in healthcare expenditure in the world and their economy is only 2nd behind (Hong Kong - Still belongs to China) in terms the service sector (80% of GDP) and #1 in service sector output or productivity. So, you've found the weakness. If you can't beat the army, then attack the service sector industry with something health related. A second wave or spike would pretty much destroy the USA and plummet us into a depression."

Am I misunderstanding what you have written?

Are you asserting that the service sector in Hong Kong is the biggest? That HK's service sector is bigger than the service sector of the United States, which comes in at #2?

Your "facts" seem to be false facts.

There is no opinion, no perspective, no bias in the above statement. Those are just facts (not even my own) coming from yeah, somebody with an MBA in Global Business and was also a "healthcare worker and administrator at a very high level." And yes, there are skewed numbers when it comes to patients deaths. How do I know? I have myself ordered them changed, government officials have told us, physicians I work with have changed them, and the rest of entire hospital system have all reported chart data according to how we want or the best way to get funding for us to stay in operation.

Please give us the details of your fraud upon us taxpayers.

What lie did you give? What statistic did you give, or false information you propagated while performing tasks in your official capacity? Only you can educate us on what lies you told for pay in your official capacity.

[ScatManDoo]

Yes, Chinese wherever they are knew more or less instinctively the implications of viral outbreak and potential severity so they moved quickly to protect themselves. Why? Because they've been living under these conditions probably like forever. Americans and Westerners did think and act this way once upon a time, but had come to believe killer disease had been conquered or controlled. We've all spent enough time in China and surrounding region to have seen them masked everywhere. Now, in China did you mask up as well, and carrying disinfectant, and laid in a stock in your luggage and carry-on? Likely not, because as a Westerner you had no first-hand or collective memory of wet market outbreak or bushmeat infection or bad bat soup.

If you noticed the response of China's neighbors, Vietnam for example sealed their border and banned Chinese in January. Reason being they knew the realities of life Chinese-style. The USA evidently didn't: to them China was merely source of cheap labor, cheap goods, and a place that took dollars. They were blinded to it as a source of pandemic disease. Are you so willfully partisan as to actually believe that Obama (or any other politician of your choice) would have taken the action the Vietnamese did? Trump, like any President at this stage is merely the figurehead-in-chief. As long as money (fortunes for the 1% and corporations) was being made, China was not going to get locked out.

Trump ignored his medical experts, who possessed the knowledge and experience you have outlined.

I believe that President Obama would not have been so cavalier, since he demonstrated that he was listening to his medical experts, and attempting to give funding where these experts recommended. Republicans shot down that $2 billion bill that President Obama was supporting back in 2014.

I guess you didn't have time to view the 88-second snippet I provided a link to:

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/ob...aredness-2014/

[Golfinho]

So your assertion is that Chinese people residing or visiting the United States were the cause...

Yes, Chinese wherever they are knew more or less instinctively the implications of viral outbreak and potential severity so they moved quickly to protect themselves. Why? Because they've been living under these conditions probably like forever. Americans and Westerners did think and act this way once upon a time, but had come to believe killer disease had been conquered or controlled. We've all spent enough time in China and surrounding region to have seen them masked everywhere. Now, in China did you mask up as well, and carrying disinfectant, and laid in a stock in your luggage and carry-on? Likely not, because as a Westerner you had no first-hand or collective memory of wet market outbreak or bushmeat infection or bad bat soup.

If you noticed the response of China's neighbors, Vietnam for example sealed their border and banned Chinese in January. Reason being they knew the realities of life Chinese-style. The USA evidently didn't: to them China was merely source of cheap labor, cheap goods, and a place that took dollars. They were blinded to it as a source of pandemic disease. Are you so willfully partisan as to actually believe that Obama (or any other politician of your choice) would have taken the action the Vietnamese did? Trump, like any President at this stage is merely the figurehead-in-chief. As long as money (fortunes for the 1% and corporations) was being made, China was not going to get locked out.

[ScatManDoo]

I think it is crazy that the United States is being pushed to reopen when we are experiencing 20,000 new cases every day. To me, 20,000 new cases everyday will lead to about 2,000 daily deaths. By opening up for business too early, when the virus is too widely spread in all 50 states. I believe we may get to over 240,000 deaths in the next 100 days. But by then, the president will be encouraging all schools to reopen so he can get to half a million.

So I guess I should fix my incorrect math.

Should have written "to me, 20,000 new cases everyday will lead to about 200 daily deaths". But with the opening up, that could peak again into the 2,000 daily deaths rates, as we were experiencing in peaks during April. Especially with all the efforts to hide, manipulate or outright lie about the statistical results as we experience them for the rest of the year.

[MonkeyPaw]

The following is a message from an infectious disease physician. I think it expresses the sentiments of all of us physicians at this time:

This has easily been the longest 2 months of my career, and, for that matter, my life. COVID-19 has changed everything. The way we live, the way our kids learn, the way we work. It has trashed the economy, exploded unemployment, and harmed businesses, many of them, sadly, beyond repair. But here's the deal: it's real and it's here and it's still spreading.

As a healthcare worker, I'm exhausted. Physically, mentally, and emotionally. As a manager in the the healthcare industry, it's been one of the longest, most stressful things I've tackled.

First off, the truthers and the conspiracy people and the protesters, you're not helping. The people bitching CONSTANTLY about the governor's or whatever level of government's handling of things, it's not constructive.

Do you want to know why medical people, real medical people, not some crackpot quacks and kooks with a YouTube account or Facebook page, are taking this seriously? Because it's serious. And we're serious people when it comes to people's health and their lives. Yes, it mostly kills at-risk populations (the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions) but it also kills perfectly healthy people with no prior diagnoses and we don't know why. I'm so tired of people acting like there's information that's being cooked up or withheld. You know why there's lots of gaps in the information? Because we're still learning about this virus every day. It's new. It's never been seen.

Not sure where you are getting at, but I merely stated facts. Are these facts wrong? Some people deny the facts because the facts can, and have, change and the people who give you the facts, can also be bias. It has happens all the time and has happened throughout history. But once again, are the facts I reported wrong?

"USA is #1 economy in terms of GDP in the world and they #1 military in the world. But here is catch, they are also #1 in healthcare expenditure in the world and their economy is only 2nd behind (Hong Kong - Still belongs to China) in terms the service sector (80% of GDP) and #1 in service sector output or productivity. So, you've found the weakness. If you can't beat the army, then attack the service sector industry with something health related. A second wave or spike would pretty much destroy the USA and plummet us into a depression."

There is no opinion, no perspective, no bias in the above statement. Those are just facts (not even my own) coming from yeah, somebody with an MBA in Global Business and was also a "healthcare worker and administrator at a very high level." And yes, there are skewed numbers when it comes to patients deaths. How do I know? I have myself ordered them changed, government officials have told us, physicians I work with have changed them, and the rest of entire hospital system have all reported chart data according to how we want or the best way to get funding for us to stay in operation. It works the same as when business owners who file their taxes and look for loopholes. We will take advantage of the system when we can to get paid. We do what we have to do and what we can get away with, if not more. I don't know what type of robotic, let me believe what the authorities tell me, world do you live in. But we are corrupt people, living in a corrupt world, you, me, and the rest of the world. This is how it works in hell. And if you don't believe the world is a "living hell," you have to take off those rose colored glasses, and look around. The USA is rioting, burning, and dying as I type. And Hong Kong as well. Chaos. I am so glad I got stuck in Pattaya to avoid all this drama.

Now as for the mask thing, you can blame your own "give me liberty or give me death thing". By the way, I am American, along with passports of other citizenships including Hong Kong. And I will admit, my people in USA have so much ego, that I often confuse it as ignorance and stupidity. Or are they all in one? If you are wondering how to fix it all, how about more empathy and less ego "by all. " By the way, A week ago, I wrote, watch China and Hong Kong and the USA response during this time of crisis. Was I wrong again? No conspiracy, some just can see more than others and have better insight and intuition. Call it wisdom. But sometimes when we try to share this wisdom, it's like telling a small child there is no Santa. They will kick, cry, and whine because they just can't comprehend the truth, so the rest of us need patience.

[The Cane]

If find the racist tone to your comments offensive.

For some people, no matter what, it's always all about color. This is not the first time from this poster, and it won't be the last.

[Beijing4987]

https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign...d-donald-trump

Nixon looked sinister and his upper lip was sweating. Some say those who only heard the debate on radio thought Nixon had won.

What were the sources of East Coast wealth? Please enlighten me.