Another Republican President, Another Recession.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A global computer chip shortage has made it harder for consumers to get their hands on cars, computers and other modern-day necessities, so Congress is looking to boost chip manufacturing and research in the United States with billions of dollars from the federal government.

Both the House and Senate have passed major legislation on the matter and the effort is one of lawmakers’ final opportunities before the November election to show voters they are addressing the nation’s strained supply chains.

Now they have to work out considerable differences in the two bills. And Senate Republicans are already digging in before the negotiations formally begin.

President Joe Biden has made the semiconductor legislation a top priority, but he’ll need the support of 10 Senate Republicans, and perhaps more, to get a bill to his desk. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell emphasized that point when congressional leaders recently announced which lawmakers will serve on the committee that works to reconcile the two bills.

“Without major concessions and changes from House Democrats, this legislation has no chance of becoming law,” McConnell said.

House Democrats say their voices need to be heard during negotiations.

“We need to make sure that everyone has input,” said Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., chair of the New Democratic Coalition, a group that has 19 members participating in negotiations. “We have a strong bill in the House, and I think there’s important components there that the Senate should also consider.”

WHERE THINGS STAND

House and Senate leaders have selected lawmakers to join a committee tasked with merging the two bills into one.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi chose 49 Democrats and one Republican, Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, the only GOP member to vote for the House bill. Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy selected 31 Republicans for the committee.

McConnell and Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer each picked 13 senators.

The House has approved its participants, while the Senate still has some procedural work to do before it can do that.

The Senate bill is projected to increase spending by about $250 billion over 10 years. The House bill would boost spending by more than $400 billion over the period.

WHERE THERE IS MUCH AGREEMENT

The Senate and House bills allot more than $52 billion for semiconductor production and research. Grants and loans from the federal government would subsidize some of the cost of building or renovating semiconductor plants.

“The chips funding is absolutely the foundation of this bill — it’s a bipartisan foundation,” said Josh Teitelbaum, senior counsel at Akin Gump, a law and lobbying firm. “I think it is what is driving this toward the finish line.”

SOME OVERLAP, BUT KEY DIFFERENCES

Both bills authorize a big boost in spending for the National Science Foundation, but they have different priorities for the research receiving funding.

The Senate bill provides $29 billion over five years to a new directorate focused on strengthening U.S. leadership in artificial intelligence, semiconductors, robotics and other cutting-edge technologies.

The House bill provides $13.3 billion over five years to a new directorate for science and engineering solutions. It lists climate change, environmental sustainability and social and economic inequality as part of the directorate’s focus.

The two sides will have to hammer out their competing visions for the National Science Foundation and the new tech directorate.

The two bills also establish regional technology hubs — with the Senate dedicating $10 billion to the program and the House dedicating $7 billion. The Senate bill calls for 20 such hubs, while the House bill authorizes at least 10.

The seed money would go to regional organizations seeking to advance a variety of economic and national security priorities.

The approach has bipartisan support from lawmakers with big rural and minority constituencies who want to ensure the money is not concentrated in universities or communities where a lot of tech research is already done.

WHERE THERE ARE MAJOR DIFFERENCES

The bills diverge on supply chain issues, trade, immigration and climate change, to name a few areas of disagreement.

One of the big-ticket items is a $45 billion program in the House bill to enhance supply chains in the U.S. There was no such provision in the Senate bill. The money would provide grants, loans or loan guarantees to companies, local governments and tribes trying to build or relocate manufacturing plants producing critical goods.

“This is a real area of focus for companies and for communities who want to try to bring back manufacturing,” Teitelbaum said. “There’s a lot of interest in including this funding in the final package.”

Another stark difference is on trade. The House reauthorizes a program that provides training and financial assistance for those who lose their jobs or have their hours cut because of increased imports. The Senate has no such provision.

“It’s not going to move without trade adjustment assistance,” Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., said of the bill.

Meanwhile, the Senate bill includes a trade provision that would exclude more products from tariffs the Trump administration put in place on goods imported from China. Those exclusions have almost all expired. The Senate bill reinstates them, a priority of business groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The House bill addresses immigration, while the Senate bill does not. It would create a new visa category for entrepreneurs and would allow those with an ownership interest in successful ventures to apply to become lawful permanent residents.

The House bill, unlike the Senate bill, also touches on climate change. It dedicates $8 billion to a fund that helps developing countries adjust to climate change. That could be a nonstarter for Republicans, who object to using U.S. taxpayer money for that purpose.

No one expects the negotiations to be easy.

“I have a hard time explaining to my friends and constituents,” said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, “that when the White House is in favor of something, when Democrats are in favor of something, Republicans are in favor of something, the House is in favor of it, and the Senate is in favor of it, we still can’t seem to get it done. But I hope that we will take advantage of this opportunity.”

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hanimmal said:

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Roger A. Shrubber said:

when a faux talking head calls a republican out multiple times, you know they done fucked up...

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Energy and commodities writer Javier Blas at Bloomberg News revealed that, this week, the United States hit an all-time record of crude and refined oil products it is exporting.

Only twice in history has the number jumped above 10 million barrels per day and this week captured one of those days, setting the record.

CHART OF THE DAY: The U.S. exported a RECORD amount of crude and refined oil products last week, surging above 10 million b/d for the only 2nd time ever. \n\nThe U.S. is acting as the barrel of last resort to a global energy market hungry for oil | #OOTTpic.twitter.com/HvrrL7pVRW
— Javier Blas (@Javier Blas) 1650465732

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This happens at a time that Republicans have complained that there is an energy crisis. According to the GOP leaders, there is an oil shortage that is causing the increase in gas prices while blaming President Joe Biden for restricting drilling.

"President Biden is covering for his own self-made energy crisis," whined Sen. Ted Cruz at the end of March. "This is the third release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in under a year. Since day one, Biden has waged war on American energy by killing the Keystone pipeline, halting oil and gas leases, and increasing burdensome regulations on fossil fuels."

IN OTHER NEWS: 'Libs of TikTok' deletes thousands of tweets after owner's identity is exposed

Biden responded by saying that there are thousands of leases that oil companies were granted but that they aren't using now. In fact, Biden released 34 percent more drilling leases than former President Donald Trump did in his first year. Now, Biden is coming under fire from climate activists because he agreed to open up federal lands for drilling. It was a campaign promise he is breaking.

As White House press secretary Jen Psaki explained in a briefing, the Keystone pipeline doesn't actually create oil, it just delivers it. At the same time, the pipeline hasn't even been built yet, so it would have no help in solving a problem happening today.

The existing Keystone Pipeline already delivers oil from the Alberta Tar Flats all the way through refineries in Cushing, Oklahoma, Port Arthur and Houston. Texas. It also delivers oil to Steel City, Nebraska, pictured in this story about a leak that led to 17,000 gallons of oil being dumped on South Dakota. The Texas Tribune posted photos in 2013 of the pieces of the pipeline being built in Ted Cruz's own state.

"If Americans entrust House Republicans with the majority, we will focus on real solutions to lower gas prices, not ridiculous political spin that won’t solve our energy crisis," claimed House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (CA). He didn't explain what that plan was, however. It's unknown if the GOP would return to purchasing Russian oil if they take over the House and Senate in November.

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hanimmal said:

https://apnews.com/article/covid-business-health-economy-unemployment-629c9afb8baaaed5502b12573ff27822View attachment 5122737

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Roger A. Shrubber said:

i'm curious how much of this is because of a strong job market, and how much is because a lot of people exhausted their benefits?

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Oil prices have collapsed as the coronavirus and the COVID-19 illness it causes have largely halted global travel and slowed down other energy-chugging sectors such as manufacturing. It has devastated the oil industry in the U.S., which now pumps more crude than any other country.

But some producers have been reluctant to ease supply. The cartel and other nations on Sunday agreed to allow Mexico to cut only 100,000 barrels a month, a sticking point for an accord initially reached Friday after a marathon video conference between 23 nations. The nations together agreed to cut 9.7 million barrels a day throughout May and June.

The group reached the deal just hours before Asian markets reopened Monday and as international benchmark Brent crude traded at just over $31 a barrel and American shale producers struggle.

Video aired by the Saudi-owned satellite channel Al-Arabiya showed the moment that Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, a son of King Salman, assented to the deal.

“I go with the consent, so I agree,” the prince said, chuckling, drawing a round of applause from those on the video call.

But it had not been smiles and laughs for weeks after the so-called OPEC+ group of OPEC members and other nations failed in March to reach an agreement on production cuts, sending prices tumbling. Saudi Arabia sharply criticized Russia days earlier over what it described as comments critical of the kingdom, which finds itself trying to appease Trump, a longtime OPEC critic.

Even U.S. senators had warned Saudi Arabia to find a way to boost prices as American shale firms face far-higher production costs. American troops had been deployed to the kingdom for the first time since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks over concerns of Iranian retaliation amid regional tensions.

“They’ve spent over the last month waging war on American oil producers while we are defending theirs. This is not how friends treat friends,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer, a Republican from North Dakota, before the OPEC+ deal.

U.S. producers have already been reducing output. The American Petroleum Institute lauded Sunday’s global pact, saying it will help get other nations’ state-owned oil production to follow the lead of U.S. producers that are trying to adjust to plunging demand.

Brouillette said the U.S. did not make commitments of its own production cuts, but was able to show the obvious — that plunging demand because of the pandemic is expected to slash U.S. oil production.

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh also told state television that Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates would cut another 2 million barrels of oil a day between them atop the OPEC+ deal. The three countries did not immediately acknowledge the cut themselves, though Zanganeh attended the video conference.

Officials said other planned cuts would stand in the deal, meaning an 8 million barrel per day cut from July through the end of the year and a 6 million barrel cut for 16 months beginning in 2021.

“This will enable the rebalancing of the oil markets and the expected rebound of prices by $15 per barrel in the short term,” said a statement from Nigeria’s oil ministry.

Mexico had initially blocked the deal but its president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, had said Friday that he had agreed with Trump that the U.S. will compensate what Mexico cannot add to the proposed cuts.

“The big Oil Deal with OPEC Plus is done. This will save hundreds of thousands of energy jobs in the United States,” Trump said in a tweet. “I would like to thank and congratulate President Putin of Russia and King Salman of Saudi Arabia.”

The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin held a joint call with Trump and Saudi King Salman to express support of the deal. It also said Putin spoke separately with Trump about the oil market and other issues.

Analysts offered cautious praise.

“The pure size of the cut is unprecedented, but, then again, so is the impact the coronavirus is having on demand,” said Mohammed Ghulam, an energy analyst at Raymond James.

But Ghulam and others worried it may not be enough.

“This is at least a temporary relief for the energy industry and for the global economy. This industry is too big to be let to fail and the alliance showed responsibility with this agreement,” said Per Magnus Nysveen, the head of analysis at Rystad Energy. “Even though the production cuts are smaller than what the market needed and only postpone the stock building constraints problem, the worst is for now avoided.”

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hanimmal said:

Thanks @jimihendrix1 for bringing this up the other day. It is interesting.

https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-donald-trump-ap-top-news-international-news-saudi-arabia-e9b73ec833e9a5ad304a69e3b9b86914View attachment 5151457
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — OPEC, Russia and other oil-producing nations on Sunday finalized an unprecedented production cut of nearly 10 million barrels, or a tenth of global supply, in hopes of boosting crashing prices amid the coronavirus pandemic and a price war, officials said.

“This could be the largest reduction in production from OPEC for perhaps a decade, maybe longer,” said U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette, who credited President Donald Trump’s personal involvement in getting dueling parties to the table and helping to end a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.

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jimihendrix1 said:

Also instead of cutting 10 Million Barrela a day, they ended up cutting 20 MILLION BPD.


'OPEC+ alliance will cut production by 20 million barrels …

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In a historic agreement, OPEC+ alliance has decided to slash the oil production by about 20 million barrels per day contrary to 9.7 million barrels as reported earlier, President Donald Trump said on Monday.

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https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/elections/delegate-count-primary-results.html

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jimihendrix1 said:

Yes, and tRump was asked long before the election if he would go along with the peaceful transfer of power, if he lost. He wouldnt answer the question.

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-- Stop the Steal, a controversial political group affiliated with Trump backer Roger Stone and the target of active Democratic lawsuits, has issued fresh guidance ahead of Election Day to a network of volunteer poll monitors, in an apparent effort to avoid running afoul of voting rights laws.

For weeks, the group has used incendiary rhetoric to motivate members to turn up at contested areas tomorrow to participate in a survey of voters leaving polling places. But after Democrats sued the group for alleged conspiracy to intimidate minority voters, Stop the Steal is now warning poll monitors against speaking to voters before ballots are cast, entering polling places, or wearing displays that promote a candidate.

Stop the Steal and Stone have come under intense scrutiny recently after attorneys for Democratic plaintiffs filed several lawsuits against them, along with the Trump campaign and various Republican state parties. Democrats have accused the defendants of conspiring to interfere with the votes of racial minorities in violation of longstanding civil rights laws dating to the post-Civil War Reconstruction Era through the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

In court filings, Democrats argue Stop the Steal’s exit polling operation serves no legitimate purpose, but is merely a pretext for harassing and intimidating likely Democratic voters of color. They say the ruse goes hand-in-hand with Donald Trump's heated, racially-tinged accusations of vote-rigging and his calls for supporters to monitor voting in “certain areas,” which Democrats argue is code for minority communities.

Stop the Steal maintains its mission is to ensure voting integrity by gathering exit poll data to compare to voting machine results in heavily-contested areas. Attorneys for the group argue its right to conduct an exit poll -- even one that fails to meet rigorous scientific standards -- is protected under the First Amendment.

But in a sworn affidavit to a Nevada federal court yesterday, Stone promised that Stop the Steal would issue guidance to its volunteers warning against certain conduct that could interfere with voters at polling places, and a list of rules Stone submitted to the court were later posted to stopthesteal.org.

The tone of new guidance, with its emphasis on sober self-restraint, starkly contrasts with other sections of Stop the Steal’s website featuring dire, urgent references to volunteers as “Vote Protectors” whose actions “will evermore determine whether the future generations of America continue to live a life of freedom.”

“Your help is needed, it is respected, and it is appreciated,” reads a message on the “About” section of Stop the Steal’s website. “With this movement, you will one day be able to tell your grandchildren about what you did to help SAVE AMERICA!!!”

Attorneys for the Democratic plaintiffs, and Stop the Steal and Stone were not immediately available for comment.

For his part, Stone has claimed in court filings to be a volunteer at Stop the Steal, not the group’s founder or leader. In his affidavit filed yesterday he vowed to personally comply with voting rights laws.

"I will under no circumstances be part of any effort, now or at any time in the future to violate the civil rights of any voter,” Stone's affidavit reads. “I will not target voters based on their race."

Bradley Schrager, an attorney for the plaintiffs said: "The problem is that STS has no manner of controlling or even monitoring its volunteers' conduct, and no assurance that this "guidance" will even be received by its people, much less followed."

The following are the rules Stone submitted to the Nevada federal court that were later posted to stopthesteal.org:

You must not:

1. Speak (or encourage anyone else to speak ) to any voter before he goes into a polling place, about ANYTHING, or who appears to be in line to vote or headed into a polling place.

2. Speak to ANYONE within 100 feet of the entrance to any polling place

3. Go inside a polling location for any reason other than to vote yourself, and when voting yourself and inside a polling place say or do anything not directly related to casting your own vote

4. Record by audio or video or any other method of sound or video reproduction the comments of anyone who has voted without that person’s permission

5. Wear or display any badge, button, or clothing that promotes any political candidate or party

6. Photograph the conduct of voting at a polling place or record the conduct of voting, or of any voter in line to vote (no matter how far distant from a polling place) or who appears to be headed into a polling place to vote or who is within 100 feet of a polling place even if that person has already voted

7. Without regard to distance from a polling place, ask any person who has not yet voted their name, address or political affiliation or how that voter plans to mark his or her ballot

8. It is our goal to conduct a neutral, scientifically-based and methodically sound exit poll at certain targeted precincts for the purpose of preparing the exit poll actual

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Pundits, economists and policymakers are talking about the possibility of a recession and rising unemployment. Whether these dour predictions come to pass, it’s clear the economy is struggling. It’s also clear GOP obstructionism is preventing policymakers from addressing economic weaknesses and helping people in difficult times.

“Recession” is a somewhat fuzzy term, but it’s generally defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth.

GDP in the first three months of 2022 was down 1.5 percent. Current estimates have second quarter growth at a meager .9 percent. If that falls a bit, we’d meet the common technical definition of a recession.

Usually, we think of recessions as a time of rising unemployment and joblessness. However, unemployment remains at historic lows.

Unemployment rates have been at 3.6 percent for three months. US businesses added 390,000 jobs in May. And employers continue to report difficulty in filling positions.

Pools, lakes and amusement parks have been unable to find lifeguards across the country. Fully one-third of public pools in the US may be shut down or have reduced hours because of staff shortages.


An economy can still slip into recession with low unemployment. But it seems contradictory to have an economic slowdown and a hiring crisis at the same time. If there are so many open jobs, why aren’t people taking them and boosting the economy?

The answer is the same one it has been.

We’re still in the middle of a pandemic.

Covid cases are rising. Hospitalizations are up 20 percent over the last two weeks. Deaths have stubbornly hovered around 300 a day.

Though government, businesses and the public have largely pushed for normalcy, covid continues to affect the economy in numerous ways.

When people get sick, they miss work and often have to quarantine. People remain cautious about travel and large public gatherings.

Congress initially responded to these economic shocks by trying to help those in need. The US passed multiple major spending bills, including a $1.9 trillion covid relief bill in March 2020.

The government sent $1,400 checks directly to citizens. It provided funds to fight covid and protect people from the disease. It extended unemployment benefits. It also expanded the Child Tax Credit, sending direct payments to families in poverty with children.

The stimulus spending was very successful. American’s real incomes increased. The economy grew faster in 2021 than in any year since 1984, adding 6.2 million jobs. Unemployment plummeted.

The Child Tax Credit expansion lifted millions of children out of poverty and cut monthly child poverty by about 30 percent.

The funds also spurred a massive vaccine rollout that saw half of the population receiving vaccines in six months. That achievement helped reduce cases and made the economic recovery possible.

Following the initial bill, however, Congress refused to pass any further relief, even amidst further pandemic spikes.

Republicans and conservative Democrat Joe Manchin killed Biden’s sweeping Build Back Better infrastructure bill. The same coalition has refused to provide further desperately needed funds to fight covid.

What this means is that the federal government is no longer providing a cushion to protect from covid shocks as a result the economy is slowing, which could lead us into a recession. Government spending has stalled out in large part because of inflation fears. In May the US annual inflation rate was 8.6 percent, the highest since 1981.

Conservatives insist that too much government spending has boosted prices. More spending would only cause more inflation, they argue.

The fact, though, is that US inflation rates are about the same as those globally. If every country is experiencing the same rising prices, it seems unlikely that relief funds in the US are the cause.

The main culprit is, again, covid. It has played havoc with supply chains, creating shortages of items like baby formula and tampons.

These shortages have been a major spur to inflation.

Another contributor is the war in Ukraine and the embargoes on Russian oil. Gas prices have risen, as of this writing, to an average of $5 a gallon. The price spike harms less affluent consumers and is a drag on the economy as a whole.

President Biden has limited control over Russia’s actions in Ukraine, and given the global nature of inflation, it’s unlikely that he can unilaterally bring down prices either.

The government could cushion the impact of these economic forces, however, as it did at the beginning of the pandemic.

Restoring the expanded Child Tax Credit would directly help families struggling with higher grocery prices. More funds for existing boosters, PPE, testing, air filtration, Paxlovid treatments and developing the next round of nasal vaccines could help the country, and the world, defeat covid and its ongoing disruptions.

If we’re concerned that we can’t afford to make these investments, there are revenue options. Senators just added $45 billion to Biden’s defense budget; we could take that off and use it to pay for programs that would help people.

Biden also has a plan to raise $1.5 trillion by taxing the richest 1 percent.

But Republicans won’t let the administration spend or raise revenue.

Instead, the Federal Reserve has been left to respond to the economic doldrums virtually by itself. It has used the one tool it has, delivering a major interest rate hike in an effort to bring down inflation.

Raising rates makes borrowing more expensive and reduces consumer demand, which is intended to slow the economy. That could lead to a recession, especially if the Fed continues to boost rates, as it is expected to do in the next months.

Getting inflation under control is important. But so is lifting children out of poverty and defeating a virus that is still killing 1,500 people a week and is disrupting every aspect of life including the economy.

We’ve seen that the government has the ability to help people in crisis. Whether we’re struggling with inflation or a recession, we’re not powerless. Or we shouldn’t be.

But Republicans are determined to shackle Biden and to immiserate working people. That keeps Biden’s approval low, which will benefit Republicans in the midterms. It also keeps average Americans from expecting too much, which pleases the GOP’s wealthy donors.

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hanimmal said:

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hanimmal said:

Thanks @jimihendrix1 for bringing this up the other day. It is interesting.

https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-donald-trump-ap-top-news-international-news-saudi-arabia-e9b73ec833e9a5ad304a69e3b9b86914View attachment 5151457
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — OPEC, Russia and other oil-producing nations on Sunday finalized an unprecedented production cut of nearly 10 million barrels, or a tenth of global supply, in hopes of boosting crashing prices amid the coronavirus pandemic and a price war, officials said.

“This could be the largest reduction in production from OPEC for perhaps a decade, maybe longer,” said U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette, who credited President Donald Trump’s personal involvement in getting dueling parties to the table and helping to end a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.

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DIY-HP-LED said:

What else is new? It's always been the plan to divide the fools so the rich don't have to pay taxes, they are just run by a different kind of con artist now and the base is determined to fuck themselves over an imaginary greater cause. You can't look at the republicans without looking at who votes for them and why, they have no rational reason as we have seen repeatedly demonstrated here.
What percentage of white voters voted for Trump and why, in spite of everything that was known about him?
Why did they reject reality and create their own?
Why did they go tribal to the point of near carry a spear and if Trump told them to put a bone through their noses they would have! Cheeto Jesus separated the sheep from the goats at the very least.

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hanimmal said:

When people who vote Republican see virtually nothing negative about Trump that is not edited/cherry picked and spun to high hell with a 'but Democrats...' added in to program in trigger phrases when it gets brought up in the real world, while simultaneously being spammed shit like Democrats are out to murder babies and drink their blood, hate religion and America, and are going to turn your nice rural neighborhood into the hood with all the immigrants that they are told over and over again are getting more from the government than they do, I don't really go down the whole 'all people voting for Republicans are racist (or whatever else).

They reject reality, because they are spammed at virtually every angle into a alternate reality. That is how you end up with people blaming Obama for not being in the White House for 9/11, that a economic collapse that occurred in the previous Republican administration is the incoming Democrats fault, that the elections are being stolen by 'them'. Basically they get programmed to 'but Democrats' or 'both sides' themselves into thinking they are right to vote for someone like Trump.

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Roger A. Shrubber said:

that is why social media and news outlets have to be held accountable for the content they publish. if a news outlet publishes a story, they better be able to verify it. if they can't, it's a fucking hefty fine, and a public apology and rectification, in prime time, on their front page, where ever it will embarrass them the most. tucker carlson's head would explode in about 3 days, not being able to spew venomous bilious lies about whatever makes his tanned testicles shrivel up currently...
social media platforms would have to hire "police" to monitor content, and anything offensive, threatening, hateful, or intentionally misleading would be taken down on the spot. any account offending three times in a year is permanently banned. anyone caught running any kind of bot, permanently banned....the fuckers who own them are rich, they can afford the personnel.

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hanimmal said:

Yeah it is annoying, and it is not just trolls spamming the word 'inflation' everywhere.

I watched the Sunday news shows and it is sad to watch the feedback loop reaching them. I think it was Face of the Nation that the host had a official on and actually started out with 'I know that there has been really good job gains for a long time now, but I don't want to talk about that, I want to talk about inflation (even if it is not something that there is any real way for a president to quickly fix (especially with foreign dictators and rich oil companies here screwing us all with their price hikes)).

And then after about 15 minutes of not listening to the responses so she could continue to say how bad everything was, they moved on to how Americans are feeling bad about the economy. For real? No shit Sherlock, with all the nonstop negging and utter lack of discussion of any of the many strong areas in our economy, across the board I wonder why people would be programmed to complain about the economy.

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