THE TRUMP BALLOON
The Trump boomlet is fueled by disgust with the gutless, brain dead, duplicitous GOP “leaders” in Congress, who – in the immortal words of Henry Clay – “aren’t worth the powder and shot to kill them.”
But Cleveland debate watchers saw he has no solutions for illegal immigration, Islamic terror, or anything else. The evening’s big winner was former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina.
“Carly Fiorina is the Ronda Rousey of politics,” said an admiring John Hinderaker of the Power Line blog. Ronda Rousey is a (gorgeous) Mixed Martial Arts fighter who Sports Illustrated said is “the world’s most dominant athlete.”
Ms. Fiorina won the debate, said 22 percent in an online poll conducted by Survey Monkey for NBC News. Mr. Trump was second, at 18 percent. But 29 percent said The Donald did the worst job in the debate. His net score of –11 tied him for last with Sen. Rand Paul.
He still leads the GOP field. But now that the real Donald Trump is emerging, I don’t think it will last.
Join the forum discussion on this postFROM SCHUMER TO SULEIMANI
I am not very good at predicting political events, and I did not expect Senator Chuck Schumer to announce his opposition to the Iran deal before the August recess.
Schumer will now bear the full brunt of his party’s rage. It has already cost him money, no small matter. In my world, anyone willing to pay a steep price for his actions isn’t cunning, but brave.
As a matter of fact, it is much more difficult – at least for me – to account for those who are supporting the Grand Bargain with Iran.
This is because the whole issue boils down to a simple, straightforward question: do we really want to pay Iran to kill Americans?
Just in case you missed it, I’ll ask you again: Do we really want to pay Iran to kill Americans? Because that’s what Obama’s deal does.
OUR MAFIA OF REGULATORS
What is the purpose of financial regulation?
Advocates of more and more financial regulation say it is necessary to protect the consumer against greedy bankers and other financial professionals and institutions. The latest power grab is the Labor Department’s “Conflict of Interest Rule.”
The awful irony is that every day, government fails in its fiduciary responsibility to spend taxpayer money wisely. If the administration spent more time making sure that the Veterans Administration, the Office of Personnel Management, the IRS and others are well managed and not corrupt, rather than taking on a largely non-problem and turning it into one, Americans would be better off.
The Labor Dept’s power grab is as if a guy from the mafia comes and tells you that for a big fee, he is going to protect you from the carwash overcharging you.
A WOLVERINE STRATEGY FOR THE SOUTH CHINA SEA
On May 26, the State Council Information Office released an English-language version of the Chinese Military Strategy.
Short, sweet, and immensely more readable than its American counterpart, the PRC’s military strategy is notable for its transition to an overt, “active defense” posture for Chinese military forces. Among the many salient points is the emphasis on gaining “the strategic initiative,” which is one of eight specified strategic tasks for the Chinese military.
Recent activities in the South China Sea (SCS) illustrate the reality that China has already seized the strategic initiative in those waters.
A passive U.S. response will only continue to demonstrate to China the usefulness of its approach. We need the opposite of a passive response.
A wolverine is a nasty, aggressive predator that is not only difficult to eat, but dangerous to be around and worth avoiding. A “wolverine” strategy, intended to improve the offensive counterair and countermaritime capabilities of SCS nations threatened by China – Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines – would hold part of the key to neutralizing China’s initiative.
IT’S IMPORTANT TO HAVE FUN WHEN YOU’RE RETIRED
Hi. My name is Bill. Working people frequently ask retired people like me what they do to make their days interesting.
I tell them it's always important to have fun.
For example, the other day I went downtown and went into a shop. I was only in there for about 5 minutes and when I came out there was a cop writing out a parking ticket. I went up to him and said, "Come on, man, how about giving a retired person a break"? He ignored me and continued writing the ticket.
So I decided to have fun with this cop and called him a "Nazi ." He glared at me and after he slapped the ticket on the windshield, he started writing another ticket.
I asked him what was that for. "Worn tires," he replied. So I called him a "doughnut eating Gestapo." He finished the second ticket and put it on the windshield with the first. Then he started writing a third ticket.
HALF-FULL REPORT 08/07/15
We could spend all day talking about the Pub candidates’ debate last night (8/06), which is why we won’t. Instead, there’s a link to the full transcripts at the end of this HFR, plus a selection of the best quotes.
Right now, we’ll cut to the chase and answer the two easy questions. First, who won? Carly Fiorina and Ted Cruz. We’ll get back to them in a moment. Second, who lost? Answer: rhymes with Chump.
He said nothing of substance whatever – try to find a counterexample in the transcript. A close personal friend of mine has a net worth much higher than Trump’s, has known him for many years, and has intimate familiarity with his business dealings. Here is what he tells me…
We have the fun read of the week, the laugh of the week, and the shock of the week – that’s who the HFR Hero of the Week is, you won’t believe it.
ISRAEL MUST DO THE UNTHINKABLE TO PREVENT THE UNIMAGINABLE
The Obama administration seems peeved that almost everyone in Israel, left and right, has no use for the present Iranian–American deal to thwart Iran’s efforts to get the bomb.
Obama and his negotiators seem surprised that Israelis take quite seriously Iranian leaders’ taunts over the past 35 years that they would like to liquidate the Jewish state and everyone in it. The Israelis, for some reason, remember that well before Hitler came to power, he had bragged about the idea of killing Jews en masse in his sloppily composed autobiographical Mein Kampf.
Given the 20th century’s history, Israel has good reason not to trust either the United States or Europe to ensure the security of the Jewish state. Indeed, Roosevelt’s men in the War Department did nothing to prevent the Holocaust they knew was occurring.
Israelis have learned from the experience of the Holocaust that, for good or evil, Jews are on their own and can never again trust in the world’s professed humanity to prevent another.
ZERO AND THE 25TH AMENDMENT
“Government works better now than probably it ever has,” President Barack Hussein Obama told the Daily Show’s Jon Stewart last month.
In which alternate universe is the president dwelling? He certainly isn’t living in America. It seems he is living in an alternate reality created by a pathological narcissism – among other mental maladies.
Being clinically nuts isn’t one of the grounds for impeachment (“Treason, Bribery, or other High crimes and Misdemeanors”), under Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution. Maybe it’s time to consider Article II’s Section 1, Clause 6 and the 25th Amendment designed to clarify it. It’s probably the only way for SloJoe Biden to live in the White House.
Consider how Martian it is of Zero to make his claim given this small sample of examples to the contrary:
US FRACKERS HAVE SCREWED THE SAUDIS
If the oil futures market is correct, Saudi Arabia will start running into trouble within two years. It will be in existential crisis by the end of the decade.
The Saudis took a huge gamble last November when they stopped supporting prices and opted instead to flood the market and drive out rivals, boosting their own output to 10.6m barrels a day (b/d) into the teeth of the downturn.
Bank of America says OPEC is now "effectively dissolved". The cartel might as well shut down its offices in Vienna to save money.
If the aim was to choke the US shale industry, the Saudis have misjudged badly, just as they misjudged the growing shale threat at every stage for eight years. This link, by the way, is a delightful read, headlining US oil producers telling OPEC, “Anything you can do we can do better.”
OPEC now faces a permanent headwind. Each rise in price will be capped by a surge in US output. Saudi Arabia is effectively beached.
THE PUERTO RICO DEATH SPIRAL
Puerto Rico has triggered the biggest municipal default in US history, risking years of bitter legal warfare with creditors and an austerity "death spiral" with echoes of Greece.
The island Commonwealth finally ran out of money yesterday (8/03) after a desperate effort to stay afloat, and missed a final deadline for a $58 million payment - handing over just $628,000.
It implies a sweeping default on much of its $72 billion debt burden, equal to 100% of Puerto Rico’s gross national product (GNP) and more than five times the debt ratio of California or Texas.
Puerto Rico clearly allowed a debt crisis to creep up during the boom years, when the underlying rot was hidden from view and creditors lent without a second thought, banking on an implicit guarantee from the US sovereign state that did not in fact exist.
Clearly there’s blame on both sides with neither taking responsibility. What can be done?