American Politics

[Canada]

Once again Canada you just spew unsubstantiated drivel with no basis in fact.

Here are some examples: https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/...ce=getresponse.

South Australia gets 60% of its power from renewables. It now has the lowest wholesale prices in Australia. Around 2.8 USc kWhr. Its dropped from being the most expensive in Australia when the supply was predominately gas fired to the lowest.

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2019/10/...of-0-0169-kwh/

UAE solar park tendering power at 1.7 USc per kWhr.

There are many examples but you don't want to acknowledge the truth you just want to be a rah rah boy for the idiot party of science deniers.

I read your articles and The writer of your article said this.

Wholesale electricity spot price in 2021 cents per kilowatt hour.

To make myself look useful and hide the fact I sneakily pay a guy in the Philippines $2 an hour to write these articles, I've accounted for inflation by converting the average wholesale spot prices for each financial year into today's money. This is so people can see the real trends in electricity prices and not have inflation mislead them into thinking things are worse than they are.

The USA Energy Information Administration (EIA) says this.

2019 US wholesale solar prices more than double wind, gas as renewables use reaches record levels: EIA.

Dive Brief:

According to the USA Energy Information Administration (EIA), last year the average USA Wholesale price for solar electricity was $83/ MWh more than double the price paid to producers of electricity generated by wind, fossil fuels, or nuclear.

The United States' use of renewable energy grew for the fourth consecutive year, to account for 11% of total energy consumption in 2019, according to the agency.

California's high prices largely skewed the national average roughly a third of USA Solar capacity is located in California, where the average wholesale price of electricity is more than double the the national average of $36/ MWh.

I think the EIS is more reliable than a guy in the Philippines that was paid $2.

This site is a little more accurate. utilitydive.com/ news /2019-us-wholesale-solar-prices-more-than-double-wind-gas-nuclear-eia /587364/.

I guess you are the only one in USA that is getting this cheap power while the rest of us just keep getting power bill increases.

[Travv]

Gold or silver backed currency has the effect of encouraging countries to manufacture and export to gain gold or silver to maintain the value of their currency. On gold and silver backed dollars, the USA became a major manufacturer. Once Nixon went off the gold backed dollar, the USA no longer needed to export to gain gold and silver from other countries. Thus the USA did not protest when China bought up large numbers of US factories and shipped them to China. We went from manufacturing hard goods to manufacturing green pieces of paper with dead politicians printed on the front. As one analyst put it, the USA has the export profile of an agrarian colony of China. We ship them soybeans, corn and meat and cardboard / wood and they ship us manufactured goods. Sort of like the American colonies and Great Britain before the revolutionary war. This works great until you go to war and realize you are no longer "the arsenal of democracy" and other countries can cut off your war supplies. . .

One of the smartest moves the US ever made. I don't know why anyone would want to use specie currency. It's way too restrictive.

[GDreams]

You are kidding Right? How much has electric bill decreased since we introduced this cheap wind and solar energy over the past 10 years. Every country electric bills increased dramaticaly with green power. Liberals tell you how cheap this new electricity will be while their bills skyrocket.

Once again Canada you just spew unsubstantiated drivel with no basis in fact.

Here are some examples: https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/...ce=getresponse.

South Australia gets 60% of its power from renewables. It now has the lowest wholesale prices in Australia. Around 2.8 USc kWhr. Its dropped from being the most expensive in Australia when the supply was predominately gas fired to the lowest.

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2019/10/...of-0-0169-kwh/

UAE solar park tendering power at 1.7 USc per kWhr.

There are many examples but you don't want to acknowledge the truth you just want to be a rah rah boy for the idiot party of science deniers.

[Goatscrot]

The US defaulted when it went off the gold standard.

One of the smartest moves the US ever made. I don't know why anyone would want to use specie currency. It's way too restrictive.

[Goatscrot]

We are a country that values freedoms. That includes the first amendment and the right to make campaign contributions which relate to our interests. Calling it "corrupt" doesn't make it "corrupt. " You were right the first time though when you called it legal. There are though some disclosure requirements and limitations, and you are free to withhold support from candidates that accept $ from certain entities.

I mean in the past you've been in here supporting full on socialism in the way of worker cooperatives. The Crazy Bernies have had their chance at national politics. Better luck next time.

The longer I live away from America, which has been two decades plus now, the more I find the American definition of freedom comical and sad. Freedom? Well, I when you don't have to worry about healthcare costs, education for your children, a nice pension, a living wage, and enough time off to enjoy it, and to pursue some of the things that you enjoy, and have a good social safety net under you in case you lose your job, then you're free. As long as you're stressed and worrying where the next paycheck comes from and have to, "work for a living," then you're really not free.

And yes I do believe that the balance of power between labor and capital must be maintained and the only way to maintain it is through proper regulation and legislation.

[Horatio]

The US defaulted when it went off the gold standard.

Sure if you've defaulted on your debts. The US has never defaulted on its debts.

I was referring to actually paying off your debts.

[Beijing4987]

Look it up on the internet. From "the creature from Jekyll Island 🌴: "The method by which the Federal Reserve creates momey out of nothing: the concept of usury as the payment of interest on pretend loans; the true cost of the hidden tax called inflation; the way in which the Fed. (Creature) creates boom-bust 💥 🕳 cycles" A tv program hosted by Glenn Beck discussing this may have led to the cancellation of said TV program.

[Golfinho]

Simply put, most countries (or business for that matter) pay back debt, by taking-in more than they spend.

The US debt will never be repaid. Be under no illusions. But no need to lose sleep over it.

[Spidy]

Simply put: A debt that cannot be repaid, won't be repaid. (Economics 101).

Simply put, most indebted countries (or businesses for that matter) either default or have their debts restructured, or have their infrastructure and assets sold off and 'privatized'.

Sure if you've defaulted on your debts. The US has never defaulted on its debts.

I was referring to actually paying off your debts.

[Spidy]

And we have no one else to blame but ourselves as we have created a system of government that has legalized payola in the form of lobbying and we continue to elect politicians from two parties that are completely vested into the corrupt system.

If what you're saying is, "....we need to take money out of politics", then I agree. Especially 'big donor money'.

[ChuchoLoco]

Quoting Abraham Lincoln is in vogue these days. Hey, he had a war to attend that was draining the coffers, so he instituted a 3% income tax on everything over $800 per year. And he taxed imports to prove that tariffs work against those trying to rape the good old USA. Ronnie "Star Wars" Ray Gun had a few zingers: "trees cause pollution, ketchup is a vegetable" tomato 🍅 Said he dint trade rockets for hostages in Lebanon, though the facts dispute his feeling. George HW Bush pardoned all the culprits in this scandal to protect himself. USA has a checkered history in central and South America and around the world.

Don't forget Iran Contra and all that white shit they dealt and all the Nicaraguans who were killed and all the crack heads who they helped create.

[Beijing4987]

Quoting Abraham Lincoln is in vogue these days. Hey, he had a war to attend that was draining the coffers, so he instituted a 3% income tax on everything over $800 per year. And he taxed imports to prove that tariffs work against those trying to rape the good old USA. Ronnie "Star Wars" Ray Gun had a few zingers: "trees cause pollution, ketchup is a vegetable" tomato 🍅 Said he dint trade rockets for hostages in Lebanon, though the facts dispute his feeling. George HW Bush pardoned all the culprits in this scandal to protect himself. USA has a checkered history in central and South America and around the world.

[Golfinho]

Sorry, I can't speak to your "minted coin" reasoning. Simply put, most countries (or business for that matter) pay back debt, by taking-in more than they spend..

Simply put: A debt that cannot be repaid, won't be repaid. (Economics 101).

Simply put, most indebted countries (or businesses for that matter) either default or have their debts restructured, or have their infrastructure and assets sold off and 'privatized'.

The fiat money issuer can theoretically 'mint' a trillion-dollar coin and stick it in the Federal Reserve's Treasury account. The concept has been out there for a while now.

[Travv]

"Washington D. C. —For a long while now, the climate has been undergoing a change to become more like the climate it feels it should be. While many have embraced this, a number of intolerant people just won't accept this change. This includes 78-year-old President Joe Biden, who, in another example of executive overreach, signed numerous executive orders to try to stop the climate from evolving.

"I remember how the climate was back when I was a kid and going to the movies only cost a nickel," Biden rambled to the press, "and that's the way it always should be!

This is a stark change from the Trump administration, which always accepted the climate and didn't force it to be something it didn't want to be. President Trump even helped the climate undergo carbon dioxide treatment to assist in its change.

The new Biden executive orders effectively deny the climate's existence, saying they will only accept the climate as valid if it's cooler. Experts are unsure what psychological effects this will have on the climate, but many expect it to lash out with hurricanes and such. . ."

Semisatire Babylon Bee.

[GDreams]

The Biden administration plans to review the phase one USA -China trade deal, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Friday. Based on publicly available data, it's hard to imagine they'll find anything other than a debacle.

Driving the news: China isn't even close to fulfilling its end of the deal — having come up 42% short of its commitment, Chad Bown, a fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, reported late last week.

The phase one deal was meant to be the Trump administration's reward for USA Farmers, manufacturers and other business owners who had been bludgeoned by Trump's tax on American businesses via the trade war's tariffs.

What was supposed to happen: The trade war was billed as a plan to bring China to its knees by choking off the all-important American market with 25% tariffs on many imports that would rein in the USA Trade deficit, boost American exports and slow China's rise as a global superpower.

What really happened: "The trade war with China hurt the US economy and failed to achieve major policy goals," a recent study commissioned by the USA -China Business Council argues, finding that the trade war reduced economic growth and cost the USA 245,000 jobs.

Last year, the USA Trade deficit widened to its largest on record. In the fourth quarter, the USA Goods trade deficit hit its highest share of GDP since 2012 and the USA Current account deficit jumped to its highest level in more than 12 years in the third quarter.

Foreign direct investment to the USA Fell 49% in 2020 — outpacing the overall global decrease of 42%.

These trends had all been moving in this direction since 2017, and were accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic as Trump refused to remove tariffs despite their strain on businesses.

The big picture: "The tariffs forced American companies to accept lower profit margins, cut wages and jobs for USA Workers, defer potential wage hikes or expansions, and raise prices for American consumers or companies," analysts at Brookings noted in August.

The other side: China's trade surplus last year hit a record $535 billion, up 27% from 2019. Exports rose 21.1% in dollar terms in November year over year and 18.1% in December from a year earlier, touching an all-time high.

For the full year, the trade surplus with the USA Was $317 billion, 7% higher than in 2019.

Foreign direct investment to China rose 4% to $163 billion.

Reproduced from Peterson Institute for International Economics; Chart: Axios Visuals.

Most economists agree that trade deficits don't actually hurt an economy. And while the USA Trade deficit with China did decrease somewhat during Trump's time in office, the deficit increased with other countries and overall.

Meanwhile, China's trade surplus and its trade with other countries increased.

The bottom line: In addition to hurting USA Businesses and workers, tariffs also drive up prices, and inflation expectations are starting to rise.

The USA Current account deficit also is helping further weigh down the value of the dollar, economists say, another factor that could boost inflation.