Truth told among a sea of lies

[Honda]

Well Trump got one thing right. He told the American people that if Biden was elected the stock market would become a disaster.

[Kevin]

I think that if Trump had been elected, it would have been the same result. The main reason for the stock market's swoon is inflation, in my opinion, and anyone who remembers the pain that Volcker dished out to put that genie back into the bottle would be nervous about the rough waters we are sailing into. And our present round of inflation is not specifically Biden's fault, though he helped mightily. It is the result of dumping truckloads of cash into the economy to keep it afloat during the pandemic coupled with pent up demand, along with a tenuous supply chain that even now is still causing shortages.

I think that the real problem here is Jerome Powell, who didn't put the brakes on hard enough a year ago. They were still singing from the "don't worry, be happy" songbook. They were late to the game and now we are going to have at least a few years of this pain. Even at that, however, I remember how inflation was just assumed to be a feature of our economy back in the 1970s. Volcker's main contribution was changing that mindset and it is a pernicious mindset. Inflation is a thief, robbing people of their future. Biden should have been jawboning Powell hard for the last year. Instead, we are getting boned.

[Honda]

Maybe so but I can say this for sure, whether you like Trump or not, he has more knowledge of markets, finance, the economy and business in his little finger than Joe Biden has in his whole mind and soul.

[Kevin]

My dog has more going on mentally than Biden. That's a low bar. Biden once had a useful skill - lawyer. He's squandered that and now his sole skill seems to be getting elected, which means he can sell himself to others. He's ingratiating but so is my dog.

I don't see Trump as a good businessman in terms of knowledge of markets or finance. He's been bankrupt many times. He is a profoundly ignorant man in many ways, totally incurious about anything that isn't about him making money. Trump's skill, I think, is his unrivaled ability to know what people want. He was into personal branding as a business model long before anyone else. He started in real estate but switched gears to personal branding as a lower risk activity without any real overhead. His image is what he sells and that doesn't entail dealing with building permits or inspectors or councils or clients. I think it also explains a lot of his actions in non-business realms. He is all about selling his image in an era when there is a camera everywhere. He figured that out before anyone else and how to monetize it and that, to me, is where his true skill is. I don't discount that skill. The best businessmen know their customers and Trump understands his.

But traditional knowledge of finance and markets? Nah. He understands his customers and what they want and works every minute to give it to them. It is a real skill and I mean that sincerely, so he's one up on Biden, who has none beyond getting elected that I can tell.

[Sandman]

Inflation, stock market issues.. they are world problems.. energy uncertainty due to Putin war..

Maybe we could have handled it better but we are talking degrees..

Tv/radio talk show entertainers And the Foxish venues have found that blaming Biden sells….

This is not a pro Biden observation, just a not his fault this time observation..

Just my opinion, I could be wrong..

[FredK]

It was coming after covid. Demand for stuff including gas drove prices higher as people got out and are starting to go back to doing what we did before. However not all want to go back to the old job(s) and now I see those people shortages are also affecting prices.

But it's easy to nblame the guy at the top and BS about the last or next guy might do. Been through the 70's and even buying a house with an interest rate 0f 13% in the "good old days". This will shake out but not sure if we will ever have house rates as low as the 1 and 2's even again.

[Truckman]

My dog has more going on mentally than Biden.

As if on cue:

President Joe Biden mistakenly called out for the late Rep. Jackie Walorski, the Indiana Republican who died in a car crash in August, while giving opening remarks at a White House conference on hunger, nutrition and health.

"Jackie, are you here? Where's Jackie," he said looking out into the audience on Wednesday morning. "She was going to be here."

Not to make light of the dead, but you could get odds on which of them still has the most active brain cells......Ben

[Honda]

As if on cue:Not to make light of the dead, but you could get odds on which of them still has the most active brain cells......Ben

Yes and with Putin threatening nuclear war I have such a sense of comfort in this administration especially the president.

[Kevin]

He'll be find as long as his body man reminds him that he is President and we support Ukraine, not Russia. And to stop calling the leader of Russia "Khrushchev". These pesky nuclear standoffs have a sameness to them, so cut him some slack...

[UTAH]

What matters during the first year of a Presidency is the people an American President appoints and fires. A gifted President creates a structure that balances out their weaknesses - and complements their strengths. A President who plays to his base will win a second term but leave a system in place likely to be dismantled by the next President.

My brother and I are close but are political opposites. As a result, we've both learned to avoid political discussions.

Hunter