#gary hassett

[spilladabalia]

Whirlwind - 'Til The Following Night

[indiejones]

INDIES 75 GREATEST WORLD BATSMEN (TEST + ODI CRICKET COMBINED) OF ALL TIME (150+ yrs) !

Given that ckt-viewing has traditionally been one of the most occupying & engaging activities of the culture as well as pastime, of more than a handful of top nations of the world, for atleast the past ¾ century, that we know of via video footage, we at Indies landed up on an exciting idea of compiling a most comprehensive list of the Greatest 75 World Batsmen (Test + ODI cricket combined) Of All Time! This idea of a combined (Test + ODI) list seemed the most compelling to Indies, given it’s cricketing outlook/ideology of considering Test match cricket to essentially be 2 100 over-a—side games clubbed together & carrying forward from one to the other, at end of which one side OUGHT to win. And so players with a solid yet winning game, contributing towards win of their side, thru their careers, across eras, continents, continental playing conditions, & different legendary oppositions, in both the (longer) formats, mostly make the cut! PS. Also included in this greatest of all cricket lists, are those first-class batsmen, who despite less opportunities on intl circuit given political or other climes of times, stacked up such huge numbers, displaying such high skill sets, broke their way into this list, even via back door route. And fairly & squarely at that! And criteria of ranking, that also partly & most weightily reflects this aspect, broadly including factors like: 1. Technical skill set 2. Physical/Statistical contribution to the game, given their era & conditions of play. 3. Aesthetic cultural value to the connoisseur. & 4. Their contribution to the legacy of the game. And here it is! 1.Sachin Tendulkar 2.Don Bradman 3.Rahul Dravid 4.Mohammad Azharuddin 5.Brian Lara 6.Gary Sobers 7.Viv Richards 8.Wally Hammond 9.Mohinder Amarnath 10.Virender Sehwag 11.Zaheer Abbas 12.Vijay Merchant 13. George Headley 14.Saeed Anwar 15.Sunil Gavaskar 16.Vijay Hazare 17.Sanath Jayasuriya 18.Martin Crowe 19.Clive Lloyd 20.Javed Miandad 21.VVS Laxman 22.Desmond Haynes 23.Kumara Sangakkara 24.Hashim Amla 25.David Warner 26.Jacques Kallis 27.Ricky Ponting 28.Gordon Greenidge 29.Greg Chappell 30.David Gower 31.Adam Gilchrist 32.Aravinda de Silva 33.Sourav Ganguly 34.Quinton de Kock 35.Kane Williamson 36.Dimuth Karunaratne 37.Denis Compton 38.Len Hutton 39.Mark Waugh 40.David Boon 41.Michael Bevan 42.Ross Taylor 43.Angelo Mathews 44.Navjot Singh Sidhu 45.Geoff Marsh 46.Mahela Jayawardene 47.Dean Jones 48.Alastair Cook 49.Arjuna Ranatunga 50.Kepler Wessels 51.Inzamam-ul-Haq 52.Graham Gooch 53.Matthew Hayden 54.Glenn Turner 55.Mohammad Yousuf 56.Mike Hussey 57.Virat Kohli 58.Steve Waugh 59.Marcus Trescothick 60.AB De Villiers 61.Dinesh Chandimal 62.Steve Smith 63.Ken Barrington 64.Colin Cowdrey 65.Joe Root 66.Martin Love 67.Lindsay Hassett 68.Clyde Walcott 69.KS Ranjitsinhji 70.Bob Simpson 71.Barry Richards 72.Graeme Pollock 73.Frank Worrell 74.Herbert Sutcliffe 75.WG Grace

[bandstolookup]

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moonchild trio

moonraker

weird little boy

painkiller

Patton & rahzel

omar lnx

naked city

General Patton vs the X-ecutioners

John zorn

Christian Fennesz and Mike Patton

The Ace Kefford Stand

Bedlam

Blue Murder

Big Bertha

Emerson, Lake & Powell

Forcefield

Peter Green Splinter Group

Casey Jones & His Engineers

Minute by Minute

Phenomena

Cozy Powell's Hammer

Rainbow

Saints and Sinners

The SAS Band

The Sorcerers

bob oxblood

sector 27

Spirit

Strange Brew

yardbirds

moon rat

marshmello

Young Blood

streetwalkers

cozy Powell

ashes divide

the vandals

judson crane

helios

zhao cong

little boots

ólafur arnalds

deru

nathan johnson

jay dee's ma duke collection

wang leehom

robert miller

john lenehan

dexter britain

honeyroot

cliff martinez

beacon trees

taylor lipari-hassett

robert miller

rob simonsen

lykke li

steve gutheinz

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orchard heights

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appalachia castle

freckleland

mark mothersbaugh

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peter born and john

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stephen christian

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eola ferry

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animal island

isaac carpenter

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tim halperin

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analog heart

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rough party

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david buckley

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team ezy

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founder

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PYRMDS

cherry glazerr

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ELOHIM

raf rundell

the black jackets

root basket

BT

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max aruj

hunter hunted

assuming we survive

r. lum. r

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dark thoughts

elliot basin

julien rose baker

jesus piece

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recent rumors

movements

yam haus

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walls

gerd Janson

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eddie c

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teen runnings

connan mockasin

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gary's gang

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whale song

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currents

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meg mac

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methvl ethel

alex the astronaut

g flip

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life fucker

abject pax

fit for a king

like moths to flames

claude oak

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craig finn & tad kubler

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ranking roger

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chuck prophet

mark stewart

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jackson couzens

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charlie harper

uk subs

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matthew thomson

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pete wylie

itch

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ian prowse

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[justsomeantifas]

Here’s your dose of “What the Fuck Is Going On” news (April 7th 2017 Edition)

Obviously there’s a lot to cover regarding the missile attacks at Syria but it’s too much to cover here. You can see a couple of the main headlines with links here or you can follow the constant updates here or here. As of right now, there are reports that at least 15 Syrians died in yesterday’s missile strikes, counting 6 soldiers and 9 civilians. (source)

The Senate has officially confirmed Neil Gorsuch as a Supreme Court justice. This vote was only made possible after the Senate republicans changed the rules to allow the vote to move forward. This was the longest Supreme Court vacancy since 1862. (source)

The U.S. government has dropped it's request for Twitter to identify users behind an anti-Trump account. As a result, Twitter is dropping their lawsuit against the request. The Twitter account, ALT_uscis, is critical over Trump's immigration policies and claims to be former employees of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office. (source)

A top aide at the White House reported that Trump is supposedly looking to replace some people in his administration. The two main people that might be replaced are White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and chief strategist Steve Bannon. However, the rumors around Bannon stem from the belief that he is ready to quit, which he says is false. Some on the shortlist to replace Priebus include Kevin McCarthy, Wayne Berman, David Urban, and Gary Cohn. (source)

Reports show that Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, withheld dozens of meetings and contacts with Russian officials when he applied for top-secret security clearance. When applying for this clearance, he was required to disclose all contacts with foreign governments. Kushner's lawyers are referring to the omissions as a "mistake." (source)

The head of the House Freedom Caucus has signaled that the conservative group will vote for the republican health care bill if the changes promised by the White House are included in the legislation. Republicans have been working to revive the bill and making changes to win over the members of the Freedom Caucus. (source)

Trump announced that he plans to nominate American Enterprise Institute scholar Kevin Hassett to be chairman of his Council of Economic Advisers. (source) Trump also nominated Neomi Rao, an associate law professor at George Mason University, was nominated to run the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. (source) And picked former Army lieutenant colonel and current Tennessee state Sen. Mark Green as Army secretary. (source)

Documents revealed that Vermont’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has been regularly working with immigration officials to identify undocumented immigrants who went to the agency to apply for identifications. (source)

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is shutting down a program that helps states adapt to the effects of climate change, such as rising sea levels. This is part of the EPA's shift away from climate change programs under Trump. (source)

FCC chairman Ajit Pai has plans to roll back net neutrality. Early blueprints show that Pai would cancel the government's net neutrality rules and encourage internet providers could be encouraged to commit in writing that they won’t slow down or block internet traffic. However, the proposal has not been officially released and could still change. (source)

Trump is preparing to sign an executive order that will undo restrictions on offshore drilling. The order is also expected to begin the process of revoking the decision to indefinitely withdraw most U.S. Arctic waters and some Atlantic Ocean acreage from future leasing. This move could benefit companies, such as Exxon Mobil, that are currently focusing their offshore drilling programs on the Gulf of Mexico. (source)

New regulations are set for Monday dealing with school meal programs, gas pipelines, and synthetic marijuana: 

The DEA is planning a temporary ban on six synthetic cannabinoids because they pose an “imminent hazard to the public safety.” This will go into effect immediately. (source)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is updating the eligibility requirements for school meal programs by raising the income threshold for the families of students who receive free and discounted school meals. This will into effect July 1, 2017. (source)

The Department of Transportation is moving forward with new guidelines for the operators of gas pipelines. This will go into effect immediately. (source)

If you would like to support “What the Fuck Is Going On” news and it’s almost-daily posts you can support my Patreon, donate, or follow on Twitter. 

[straightouttatshirt-blog]

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[morganbelarus]

Buy-the-Dip Believers Rejoice After White House Tries to Ease Trade Tension

Gary Cohn’s departure from the White House won’t end the bull market, at least not yet.

The S&P 500 Index stormed back from losses of almost 1 percent to end little changed, as investors heeded a strategy that’s worked more often than not during the nearly nine-year bull run: Buy the dip.

This time the rally was sparked by comments from White House officials that suggested the Trump administration isn’t spoiling for a trade war and that key allies may be spared the most severe tariffs. That’s a turnaround from Tuesday evening, when Cohn’s resignation as President Donald Trump’s top economic adviser roiled global markets, sending futures on the S&P 500 to the worst opening print in nearly three years on concern retaliation was imminent.

Those initial worries may have been overdone.

“What Gary Cohn’s resignation signals is that the tariffs are going to go through,” Chris Harvey, head of equity strategy at Wells Fargo Securities, said by phone. “As that occurs, the probability of a trade war increases, but does that make a trade war a guarantee? Does that make a trade war an absolute? No, it doesn’t.”

That view gained currency late Wednesday when White House Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Kevin Hassett indicated the trade policy is not yet finalized. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders later said “there are potential carve outs” for Canada and Mexico if the U.S. implements stiff tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.

The buy-the-dip mantra is the same one strategists touted earlier this year, as U.S. stocks slumped into the first 10 percent correction in two years. The argument still holds, Harvey says: Fundamentals look good, earnings are strong, and there’s still room for stocks to rise. 

Stocks should climb about 8 percent from their current levels, he wrote in a note to clients Wednesday, saying “the equity pullback from the January ’18 high is a buyable pullback.”

Stocks spent most of the morning session lower, though at levels well off their overnight lows as investors weighed the likelihood that the Trump administration would follow through on its most protectionist policy plans. The S&P 500 turned higher in afternoon trading, as insiders including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross played down the chances the situation would escalate.

Mnuchin told Bloomberg News that the “objective is not to create a trade war,” and Ross indicated the administration is open to exempting specific countries from the tariffs.

“This could be a negotiating ploy -- the whole tough talk on tariffs and make America great again and America first,” Matt Schreiber, president and chief investment strategist at WBI Investments, said by phone. “America’s been doing pretty fine lately, we just need to continue along that path, because the economy has been extremely strong, fundamentals have been strong and if we can continue along those lines this could be great.”

That’s not to say tighter trade restrictions aren’t on investors’ minds. Domestically focused small caps in the Russell 2000 Index rose 0.8 percent, while multinationals in the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.3 percent as investors picked winners and losers based on their exposure to international markets. In the S&P 500, consumer shares fared worst Wednesday, while health-care providers paced gains.

Trade worries aside, Schreiber said there’s another reason to be optimistic: buybacks. Last month, Canaccord Genuity strategists noticed a surge in repurchase authorizations, suggesting companies will be at the ready to boost markets on their down days. During the stock market correction, the Goldman Sachs corporate buyback desk experienced its busiest week on record.

But even zeroing on trade policy alone, the protectionist policies touted over the past couple days could be more bark than bite, according to Evercore ISI’s Terry Haines.

“Investors should understand the Cohn departure as the end of his influence in a difficult White House, but not to overreact to it,” he said, adding “there will be no trade war but also no trade peace.”

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[thisdaynews]

How the economy could make or break Trump in 2020

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/how-the-economy-could-make-or-break-trump-in-2020-2/

How the economy could make or break Trump in 2020

As year four unfolds, several key numbers and trends will determine just how much the economy will help Trump overcome impeachment, low approval ratings and serious shortcomings with women and minority voters.

“The stock market he’s got. Wages he’s got. The consumer side of the economy is working really well,” said Gary Cohn, Trump’s first National Economic Council director. “The soft underbelly is [that] capital expenditure is not there.“

“He stood there in Pennsylvania and talked about bringing steel mills back and what’s happened is we’ve cut steel lines,” Cohn said. “We gave companies a big tax cut then took it away with tariffs. These are the pieces that are missing. I think he could have had it all. And he doesn’t have it all.”

Here’s a guide to some of the key economic trends and numbers in Trump’s fourth year that could help determine if he survives the rest of the chaos that swirls around his presidency each day.

Manufacturing

U.S. manufacturing fell into recession for all of 2019, according to data from the Federal Reserve, with industrial production dropping 1.3 percent for the year — a sore spot for a president who promised his tough approach to trade would return robust factory growth to the American heartland. Industrial production dropped 0.3 percent in December alone.

The worst case scenario for Trump on this front is that approval of the new NAFTA deal and a truce in the tariff battle with China fail to revive the manufacturing sector. Factories showed some positive signs early last year only to fall back again, hit by a strike at GM and a big hit from Boeing halting production of its 737Max jets.

But there are at least some signals that the worst could be past.

Completing the first phase of the China trade deal “in theory ought to boost the manufacturing sector in the short term,” Pantheon Macroeconomics chief U.S. economist Ian Shepherdson said in a note to clients. China’s commitment to boost its purchases of U.S. factory goods by $33 billion relative to 2017, before the trade war began, amounts to a 1.5 percent increase in manufacturing.

That’s “not a macro game-changer, but not trivial, either,” he said. On the downside, much of the existing China tariffs remain in place, a continuing drag on manufacturing costs.

Key date to watch:Feb. 3. The next manufacturing report from the Institute for Supply Management comes out the first weekday in February. Can the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement and the China deal help push the index back above 50, into expansion territory? That would be a big win for the White House, especially if it’s sustained and Trump can talk about real manufacturing growth.

Jobs and economic growth

Trump is on solid ground bragging about job creation under his watch, with the three-month average still close to 200,000 new jobs a month and unemployment at a historically low 3.5 percent. He has not, however, delivered year after year of economic growth above 4 percent — as he promised during the campaign and when touting the 2017 tax cut bill.

U.S. economic growth nearly hit 3 percent for 2018 after the tax bill unleashed a wave of initial corporate spending. But growth slowed again in 2019 as the trade war intensified and the rest of the world slowed down, with the fourth quarter not expected to exceed 2 percent.

Trump badly needs more robust GDP numbers to tout on the trail. And at least some of his more ardent economic supporters think he could get them. Residential construction spiked to a 13-year high in December and consumer spending remains strong.

New homes often come along with spending on other durable goods and can help drive up GDP even in the face of continuing trade pressure and other worries that could mount over the outcome of the election in the second half of the year.

“It’s highly likely that there’s very strong growth at least in the first half of the year that is sort of tempered later by threats over election uncertainty, which tend to slow things down a bit,” said conservative economist Kevin Hassett, who formerly served as chair of Trump’s Council of Economic Advisers. “Also, it’s worth noting that wages are growing faster for those without a college degree than with a college degree.” That, presumably, would help Trump among his blue-collar base.

Key dates to watch:July 30, when the initial estimate of second-quarter GDP is released. Most estimates for the first quarter are still around 2 percent. If Trump is going to get a 2020 bump in GDP that he can take into the heart of the campaign season, this is likely when it would come.

Oct. 2:This will be the final jobs report before Election Day. The numbers will be important all year, but the final reading of the campaign cycle will indicate whether the trends in job growth and low unemployment remain steady. If the numbers soften — as some economists expect — and unemployment is rising, it wouldn’t be deadly for Trump but it could deliver some nasty headlines and make his pitch to voters more difficult.

Swing-state jobs numbers

While the national jobs numbers look strong, that’s not entirely the case in some key swing states such as Pennsylvania where the unemployment rate is ticking up and hit 4.3 percent in November. Among the drivers: plant closings and threatened layoffs like those made by Allegheny Technologies, which said it could lay off at least 100 workers due to tariffs on imported steel used in making final products.

Unemployment in Michigan is also higher than the national average, at 4.0 percent. Swing-state Wisconsin is in better shape at just 3.3 percent. Ohio may only barely be a swing state anymore but it also boasts a jobless rate of 4.2 percent that has been rising for the last few months.

Ohio was also on track for a net job loss in 2019, the first time since the Great Recession, according to the Columbus Dispatch, which also called into question Trump’s claims of bringing automotive jobs to the state.

These numbers will likely only matter if a Democrat can go into these states and make the case that Trump has not actually improved economic matters much, if at all, despite his robust Make America Great Again claims.

“The question is whether Joe Biden or somebody can go in there and come up with something different and something better,“ Cohn said. “And frankly they’d start with most of the women and minorities in the world hating Trump and they’d have to add to that.”

Key dates to watch: Swing-state employment figures will come from monthly reports on job trends that lag behind the national figures. Moves in the wrong direction, especially in the Midwest, will create an opening for the eventual Democratic nominee as Election Day approaches.

Read More

[trumpchronicle]

@realDonaldTrump: RT @nealshact: On the second anniversary of the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, our economic predictions have been vindicated, write Gary Cohn and Kevin Hassett https://t.co/vcE9nU4eUf

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[trumpfeed]

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[fullspectrum-cbd-oil]

Factbox: Trump Administration Departures, Firings, Reassignments

U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday said White House Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Kevin Hassett would leave his post “shortly,” making him the latest high-level departure from the administration.

Trump’s White House has had the highest turnover of senior-level staff of the past five presidents, according to figures compiled by the Brookings Institution think tank.

Here are some senior figures who have been fired, quit or otherwise changed roles in the administration.

2019

Randolph “Tex” Alles — the head of the U.S. Secret Service — left in May as part of a broader shake-up of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The White House tapped James Murray, a career Secret Service agent, to take over.

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. She resigned in April amid Trump’s rising anger at a surge in migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. Kevin McAleenan, who had led the U.S. Customs and Border Protection commissioner, was chosen as acting DHS secretary.

Linda McMahon – The Republican fundraiser was one of Trump’s first Cabinet picks. She served as director of the Small Business Administration until March, when she resigned to join Trump’s re-election campaign. Trump nominated U.S. Treasurer Jovita Carranza to the position in April.

Clete Willems – A key figure in trade talks with China and a deputy to Trump’s top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, Willems said in March he wanted to spend more time with his family.

Heather Wilson – The U.S. Air Force secretary, once considered a top candidate to become defense secretary, decided to return to academia.

Bill Shine – Eight months after being hired as the White House communications director, he resigned to work on Trump’s re-election campaign. A source close to Trump said the president had lost confidence in the former Fox News executive.

2018

Jim Mattis – In a candid resignation letter that laid bare his growing divide with Trump over Syria and Afghanistan policies, the defense secretary abruptly quit, shocking allies and Congress. Trump named Mattis’ deputy, Patrick Shanahan, a former Boeing executive, to the role in an acting capacity soon afterward.

Ryan Zinke – Trump’s first interior secretary left at the end of 2018 amid investigations into his use of security details, chartered flights and a real estate deal.

John Kelly – A retired Marine Corps general, Kelly was hired as White House chief of staff to bring order to the chaotic Trump White House, but ultimately fell out with his boss. Trump named his budget director, Mick Mulvaney, to the job on an acting basis on Dec. 14.

Jeff Sessions – The Republican former U.S. senator from Alabama was finally forced out as attorney general on Nov. 7 after months of being attacked and ridiculed by the president for recusing himself from a special counsel probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. He was replaced briefly by Matthew Whitaker until William Barr was confirmed to the job.

Nikki Haley – The former South Carolina governor stepped down at the end of 2018 as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Trump first put forward State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert as her successor, but she later withdrew. Trump has since nominated Republican donor and U.S. Ambassador to Canada Kelly Craft for the position.

Don McGahn – Trump said in August the White House counsel would leave, amid strains between the two over the Russia probe.

Scott Pruitt – The Environmental Protection Agency chief quit in July under fire over a series of ethics controversies.

David Shulkin – White House officials said in March that the Veterans Affairs secretary would resign.

H.R. McMaster – The national security adviser was replaced in March by John Bolton.

Rex Tillerson – The secretary of state was fired by Trump in March after long-standing tension between them.

Gary Cohn – The National Economic Council director and former Goldman Sachs president said in March he would resign. Trump picked Larry Kudlow to replace him.

Hope Hicks – The White House communications director, a long-serving and trusted Trump aide, resigned on Feb. 28.

Rob Porter – The White House staff secretary resigned in February after accusations of domestic abuse from former wives.

2017

Omarosa Manigault Newman – The former reality TV star was fired as assistant to the president in December.

Tom Price – The Health and Human Services secretary quit under pressure from Trump on Sept. 29 over travel practices.

Stephen Bannon – Trump’s chief strategist was fired by Trump in mid-August after clashing with White House moderates.

Anthony Scaramucci – The White House communications director was fired by Trump in July after 10 days on the job.

Reince Priebus – Replaced as chief of staff by Kelly, Priebus lost Trump’s confidence after setbacks in Congress.

Sean Spicer – Resigned as White House press secretary in July, ending a turbulent tenure.

Michael Dubke – Resigned as White House communications director in May.

James Comey – The FBI director, who led the Russia probe before the special counsel was appointed, was fired by Trump in May.

Michael Flynn – Resigned in February as Trump’s national security adviser. Flynn later pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.

Sally Yates – Fired in January by Trump as acting attorney general.

(Reporting by Washington Newsroom; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh, and Alistair Bell)

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[takebackthedream]

Check Your Wallet: Can You Find the $4k Pay Raise Trump Promised? by Frank Clemente

It was a promise that couldn’t have been clearer: when President Trump sold his tax scam to Congress and the American people, he said the average family would see a $4,000 pay raise from their employers. “I would expect to see an immediate jump in wage growth,” added Kevin Hassett, head of Trump’s Council of Economic Advisors.

That was last October. The tax bill passed in December, and it’s now Labor Day, a good time to review how if at all the Trump-GOP tax scam is actually serving working people.

For most of them there’s a simple answer: it’s not. They’re still waiting for that $4,000 pay raise they were promised. Trump admitted as much (unknowingly perhaps) when he boasted during a speech marking the six-month anniversary of the tax cuts that “more than 6 million workers have received bonuses, pay raises, and retirement account contributions” because of the new law.

But do the math. Six million workers are barely 4% of the overall U.S. workforce of 155 million. So how about the other 96%? Incredibly, when you add in the rising cost of gasoline, prescription drugs and other necessities, real wages for most Americans have declined from a year ago.

Meanwhile, the wealthy and big corporations – let’s face it, the real intended beneficiaries of the tax cut law – aren’t waiting. They saw an immediate reduction in their taxes. For corporations, their tax rate was slashed from 35% to 21%.

Multinationals also got a $400 billion U.S. tax discount on their untaxed profits stashed offshore, and the chance to pay about half the domestic tax rate on future foreign earnings.

Many Republicans justified the huge tax cuts by saying they would spur economic activity and increase government tax revenues. President Trump’s top economic adviser, Gary Cohn, said that “we can pay for the entire tax cut through growth.” Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said that even “a modest amount of economic growth” could “cover the cost of this bill.” And White House budget director Mick Mulvaney went so far as to say the tax cut “actually generate[s] money.”

So what really happened?

Corporate tax receipts to the U.S. Treasury have plummeted—by over 40%, from $264 billion last year to $149 billion this year. Meanwhile, corporate profits have soared – up over 8%, reaching nearly $2 trillion in this year’s first quarter alone.

And what have corporations done with this windfall? Instead of spending on pay raises for their workers, they bought back their own stock. A lot of it. More than $700 billion worth of stock buybacks have been announced since the Trump-GOP tax law was enacted. That’s 100 times more than the $7 billion workers got in bonuses and raises.

Stock buybacks are a Wall Street maneuver that artificially raise the price of a company’s shares. Who benefits? Mostly CEOs, who receive a lot of their compensation in the form of stock, and other wealthy, well-connected shareholders, not rank-and-file workers.

The tax cuts have also added almost $2 trillion to the deficit. Now Republicans are trying to cover the hole they created by cutting critical public services that are important to working families.

Trump wants to cut Medicare and Medicaid— even though he promised during the campaign he wouldn’t touch them – as well as the Affordable Care Act (ACA). His cuts total $1.3 trillion over 10 years. Upping the ante, Congressional Republicans want to cut $2 trillion from these services. If adopted, this will mean millions of Americans will lose their insurance coverage. Premiums will soar for millions more, the age of Medicare eligibility will go up and prescription drugs will be even costlier.

Stagnant wages, rising costs, a ballooning deficit, cuts to healthcare and other vital services. Sadly, American workers won’t find much to cheer about this Labor Day in the much-ballyhooed tax cut law. But if a new Congress repeals the tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations and invests the money to make healthcare more affordable, provide free tuition to public colleges and rebuild infrastructure, then next Labor Day workers may really have something to celebrate.

Frank Clemente is executive director of Americans of Tax Fairness.

[opedguy]

Trump’s Tariffs Threaten Global Trade War

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), March 2, 2018.--Announcing March 1 that he intends to slap foreign steel producers with a 25% tariff and 10% for aluminum, 71-year-old President Donald Trump said he intends to win the trade battle to save the steel and aluminum industries.  Called a risk for a trade war by economist Adam Posen, the former New York Federal Reserve Board member couldn’t see how preserving the U.S. steel and aluminum industry helps the U.S. economy.  Accounting for about 1% of U.S. Gross Domestic Product, the steel and aluminum industries have a minor impact on the U.S. economy, compared with business from multiple sources.  Like the beleaguered coal industry, Trump campaigned to save the steel and aluminum industries from cheap foreign competition.  “This is straight-up stupid,” Posen told CNBC.  “This is fundamentally incompetent, corrupt and misguided,” seeing zero benefit to the U.S. economy.

            Protectionist policies can backfire, inviting retaliation from foreign countries, looking to sell into U.S. markets.  Trump’s banking on lucrative U.S. markets to carry enough clout to force foreign suppliers to suck-it-up and accept tariffs as the new normal doing business in the U.S.  Automakers, airplane manufacturers and other large alliances industries, like Samsung and General Electric, could see manufacturing prices rise soon, expecting retaliation from foreign countries.  Energy prices have been steadily rising since Trump took office Jan. 20, 2018, adding to inflationary pressure currently dragging down the economy.  While Posen attributes the recent 1,000-point-plus sell-off to Trump’s tariffs, investors’ real concerns have more to do with rising interest rates, something Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell could take the Federal Funds rate up a full point in 2018.

            Given the rising interest rates, the last thing markets needed to digest was a possible trade war.  Instead of leaving a good thing alone, Trump’s felt inclined to monkey with the economy, passing tax reform Dec. 22, 2017, hoping to create incentives for U.S. and foreign businesses to move back to the States. Watching the Dow Jones Industrials, Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 plummet in response to a possible trade war isn’t what investors needed, after February’s 3,200-point plunge.  “Steel is just a tiny input in the U.S. Gross Domestic Product [GDP]—which is why it’s so crazy. You mess up your entire trading system for an industry that has a total of 80,000 jobs,” said Posen, noting the U.S. steel industry accounts for only 36,000 jobs or less that 1% of U.S. GDP. Posen sees industries hit by the tariffs account for over 6.5 mllion jobs or about 5% of U.S. GDP.

            Reviving the U.S. steel, aluminum and coal industries at the expense of the U.S. economy makes no sense.  Trump’s own Chief Economic Adviser Gary Kohn and Chairman of the Council of Economic advisors Kevin Hassett both oppose slapping tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum.  Instead of seeking subsidies for the ailing steel and aluminum industries, Trump decided to go against his economic advisers to launch a trade war.  While the U.S. only imports about 30% of its steel and aluminum, it still hurts the defense divisions of GM and Ford, both making tanks and armored personnel carriers.  What’s beyond ironic, tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum hurts the Pentagon and American taxpayers by escalating prices of war materiel. “It’s time to stop pretending there was any sense at all,” said Posen.  It’s all about giving a handout to particular U.S. steel and aluminum producers  . . “ Posen said.

            When you consider that sharp rise of the VIX [stock market volatility index] in the last month, markets needed more stability not chaos.  “In national security terms, it makes no sense because it’s hitting our military allies like Western Europe, South Korea and Japan, and it doesn’t directly hit China.  It’s a tax on consumers.”  When you think the U.S. competes with Russian as a major arms supplier, raising prices on defense-related hardware only discourages foreign buyers.  Raising defense-related prices only harms Pentagon sales across the globe, giving China and Russian more chance to win otherwise U.S. business.  Defense Secretary James Mattis expressed concerns over what rising prices would do to Pentagon arms sales.  Investment banks like Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan expressed concerns about how a trade war could impact the bottom line on the U.S. treasury.

            If the European Union, China and Russia slap retaliatory tariffs on the U.S., it’s going to drive down global business in the U.S.  Tariffs “are likely to escalate trade tensions,” said Goldman Sachs global investments.  Tariffs can only have the effect of offsetting global business activity, creating havoc in world markets, leading more stock markets sell-offs.  Markets react to threats to global business by profit-taking, transferring cash from stocks and into safe havens like bonds and precious metals.  Tokyo-based financial services firm MUFG warned “if signs emerge of an escalation in trade tariff measures globally, it will prompt a dramatic deterioration in the current optimism over the outlook of global growth,” raising fears of recession. Trump’s tariff war panders to his base but does little to protect steel and aluminum workers, especially if he plunges the U.S. and global economy into recession.

About the Author.    

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.  

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[goldrolloverira]

Inside the Trump White House on the trade wars

Axios/Jonathan Swan/2-25-2018

“Sources with knowledge of the discussions tell me James Mattis, Gary Cohn, Rex Tillerson, and Kevin Hassett all think Wilbur Ross did a terrible job on Commerce’s 232 investigation and strongly disagree with his recommendations. (This is the continuation of an ideological battle that’s played out throughout the Trump administration between the free-traders and the protectionists.)”

MK note:  An interesting peak behind the curtain. . . .Hard to know where this all ends.

[politiciandirect]

Report: Free-Traders Gary Cohn, Steve Mnuchin Trying to Weaken Trump’s Expected Tariffs on China

Report: Free-Traders Gary Cohn, Steve Mnuchin Trying to Weaken Trump’s Expected Tariffs on China

Getty Images by John Binder26 Feb 2018Washington, D.C.0 26 Feb, 201826 Feb, 2018 The avid free trade-wing of President Trump’s administration is trying to convince him to weaken his economic nationalist agenda, which is expected to include harsh tariffs on potentially hundreds of imported Chinese goods. White House advisers Gary Cohn, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, Kevin Hassett, and Everett…

[trumpchronicle]

@realDonaldTrump: RT @Jon_Hartley_: "Tax Reform Has Delivered for Workers", write Gary Cohn and Kevin Hassett in the @WSJ https://t.co/t3txK81wha

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