Today is one of those clean out the “notebook” days. In the course of my writing I am constantly jotting down tidbits I may want to use in a future article. Today is a day to put a lot of that to use. Ready for some “quick hits”? Let’s explore.

At the moment the American economy is in pretty good shape. However, I liken the situation to the smoke alarms going off in your house. It may not mean that there is a fire but you had better pay attention.

I picked up an interesting tidbit from Donny Deutch’s show last weekend. President Trump likes to brag about the stock market’s rise under his administration. (The reality is he tries to take credit for everything from Election Day 2016 on.) Under Trump the stock market has gone up 25% which is certainly very admirable. Under Obama during the corresponding time period it went up 46%. Remember Trump claims to have been handed a total mess and that without him the whole economy would have gone, “Down the tubes”.

One of the things that bother me the most is when eligible voters refuse to vote because they say their vote doesn’t matter. If your vote is so unimportant than why are the Republicans working so diligently on voter suppression?

I’m not predicting the following but it wouldn’t be a total surprise from a President who is good at controlling the news cycle and is also increasingly desperate. Remember Attorney General Bill Barr is a sycophant who believes in the Nixonian all powerful presidencies theories. What about the arrest of Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Eric Holder, Joe Biden, Robert Mueller or all of the above and several more? It’s not as far fetch as it first seems and it would certainly change the narrative. Furthermore Bubba would love it.

Despite the bad salesman false front it has become obvious that Trump is already very concerned about his reelection chances. It was relatively late in the 2016 campaign that he started telling his base that they had no choice but to vote for him. Using the economy – an extremely risky strategy for any president– he has already overtly delivered that message. He hasn’t said it in so many words yet but the: I’m a racist and you’re a racist so vote for me message has already been delivered.

The reality is that you can stand with Trump or stand with American values but not both.

Unless she transfers to the campaign I think Kellyanne Conway will be standing with Trump in the White House to the end. However, I thought it might be amusing to write up a want ad type job description. Here it goes:

Wanted Senior Advisor to the President of the United States.

• Must have the ability to defend the indefinable.   

• Must have the ability to ignore reality in favor of desired narrative.

• You will be the chief spokesperson to the press. When they ask questions you lie while maintaining a straight face. Occasional expressions of indigence a plus.

• Ignore how you think the press and the public with above room temperature IQs will receive your comments. They are not the administration’s target audience.

• By the way, you can pretty much forget about the Senior Advisor part of the job; this President doesn’t listen to his “advisors” anyway.

 

Something that has concerned me since George W. Bush’s Great Recession that wasn’t solved under Obama (he was kind of busy saving the global economy and getting the domestic one back on track) has only gotten worse under Trump. We know we have a social mobility problem but in addition to that we have a persisting mobility of labor problem. One of the many great strengths of the American economy is that in the past workers could move about the country pretty freely in pursuit of job opportunities. Since about 2007 a large portion of our labor force has found themselves effectively trapped where they live. Even young people are facing serious challenges moving away from home because if they can get a good job offer elsewhere buried under crushing student debt they can’t afford to leave their parents’ homes.

I hope this article made you both think and chuckle. Mostly I hope parts of it angered and motivated you!

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