News

Crime Solved

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Yesterday BBR posted content questioning what some cities and their leadership were doing about the ramp-up in flash mob theft.  We specifically cited Lori Lightfoot’s ignorant response(s) which put the responsibility back on the retailers.  Lightfoot is no gumshoe, but we digress.

We also observed that about twenty national retailers penned a letter asking the federal government for help.  Well, what do you know?  Yesterday, Jen Psaki, WH Press Secretary was asked what the reasons for this spike were and what help the Biden Administration would provide back to the local level.

“I would say, we have seen, I’m not going to attribute the reasoning from here,” Psaki said. “What I will tell you is we have seen an increase in crime over the course of the pandemic. There is a range of reasons for that.”

Psaki didn’t go into any of the range of reasons.  But she did cite the pandemic.  We are aware of several side effects of Covid-19 and its variants like the loss of taste and smell, but not the loss of merchandise in stores.   Who knew that planned robberies were a viral symptom?

What is even stranger is that this side effect seems to be acutely affecting San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, New York, and Minneapolis.   All of these cities lead the way in mask mandates and social distancing.  We wonder if asking their police to stand down prior to the pandemic during the “mostly peaceful” protests could be a root cause as well.

Maybe.  “The president has proposed additional funding in the budget to make sure local police departments and cops have the funding they need,” Psaki said. “We also have worked directly with police departments in areas where they are seeing the highest impact of the crime, the retail theft—which we have great concern about.”

So, it seems that defunding the police and causing mayhem was the ticket to getting elected while refunding the police might be needed to get reelected.

Also.  “One of the root reasons of crime in communities is guns and gun violence, and we’ve seen that statistically around the country,” Psaki said last week.  Chicago might even agree.

No one asked her if any guns have been brandished during the smash and grab crimes.  They haven’t been.  But, it’s always a good day to take a shot at gun control that way when a store owner shoots a “victim or two” we can take to the streets again protesting these senseless shootings.

And finally.  She added: “Our focus is currently on doing what we can to make sure the funding is out there to the communities that need it the most.”

Which communities need it the most?  The ones cited above that elected them in the first place.  It’s always a good day to throw federal money at your local political bases.

So there you have it.  Just one day after asking, ye shall receive.

This is governance at its finest.

Problem day one, fixed day two.

Now, these cities can go back to enforcing the reinstated mask mandates to save even more lives.

 

 

Crime Time

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Long before Kamala Harris was named Border in Chief she ran quite poorly for Commander in Chief.   Prior to that she was a Senator, and prior to that she was the Attorney General for the State of California.

As AG her number one job was to prosecute individuals that the state felt were guilty of a crime.  You would think she knows a criminal when she sees a criminal.  You would also think that she would know well enough to refrain from jumping to conclusions until facts around such cases are researched.

Back in 2019 when the Jussie Smollett circus came to a town known as Chicago, Kamala tweeted, “@JussieSmollett is one of the kindest, most gentle human beings I know. I’m praying for his quick recovery. This was an attempted modern-day lynching. No one should have to fear for their life because of their sexuality or color of their skin. We must confront this hate.”

Well, that didn’t age well.  Madame VP has yet to tweet or publicly speak to the Smollett guilty verdicts nor her rush to judgment.  Remember BBR lecture no. 23- never let facts get in the way of a good narrative.

There are/were so many lessons to be learned right there in the Windy City.

But, the Mayor of the Windy City, Lori Lightfoot disagrees.  You would think she would know better as well.

Her thoughts?   She essentially told the retail community to fix the crime issue themselves.

She specifically mentioned security guards at the door, entrance cameras, merchandise “either chained and roped or put behind glass” and customers being “buzzed into” stores.

On Thursday, Illinois Retail Merchants Association President Rob Karr flatly rejected all of the mayor’s ideas.

He branded the suggestions “extraordinarily disheartening,” “misinformed” and “false”—yet another example of how Lightfoot “continues to point fingers and play the blame game.”

And he continued, “We’d be getting screamed at for [racial profiling].  And furthermore, it would push more people to simply go online. Why would you go to a store if you can’t touch, feel and try on the merchandise?”

And online is where the stolen merchandise is going for resale. Looks like these mobs “fence” the goods on Al Gore’s internet.

As if brick-and-mortar didn’t have enough problems dealing with online, now they are paying for the products, displaying them, losing the cost dollars when stolen, and watching online third-party “retailers” gain 100% profit from them.

If the local government won’t help, how about the federal government?

Twenty CEOs at major retailers sent a letter addressed to congressional leadership on Thursday asking lawmakers to pass legislation to help curb illegal business activity by anonymous vendors online.

What to do?  What to do?

With her border now under control, maybe Biden can assign the former AG, now VP, to tackle this difficult situation.

Her judicial eyesight is so good she can spot a crook on a snowy night at 4 AM from hundreds of miles away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See What You Want

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Justice is Blind!

You might say, “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

And, therein lies the crux of the problem.  We only can see what we choose to see.  And what some people are seeing these days they would choose not to if they could.

What they see is a well-oiled, well-funded, far-left-leaning operation that has permeated all walks of society with a media backing that is relentless.

Let’s take the People of Wisconsin v. Kyle Rittenhouse as an example.  Actually, let’s review what got us to this moment.

First, 911 gets a domestic situation call that devolves into a black convicted felon male wielding a knife.  He repeatedly refused to obey police commands, gets a knife from a car, and is shot and paralyzed.  It’s all on video if you look.

The media screams social injustice.  Many see it the same way.  Predictably bad characters riot, loot, wield weapons of their own, and burn down Kenosha, WI.  The police stood down and the mayor refused an offer from the feds to call out the national guard.

A 17 year old named Kyle Rittenhouse, who should have been nowhere near the nonsense, decided to “protect” private property (including his grandfathers) and brought a long gun to do so.  Rittenhouse killed two and wounded another.

Some see this as “racist.”  How?  Well, no matter the color of the deceased, they were having a “mostly peaceful” protest of yet another injustice by white cops on a black man.  Others see it as self-defense.

Then-candidate Joe Biden saw a white supremacist he said.  Others see it as his 2nd Amendment right to bear arms just like some of the armed protesters.

If we fast forward to the trial concluded last Friday, we saw witnesses after witness admit that Rittenhouse acted only after provocation.  It was so bad for the defense that the assistant prosecutor buried his face in his hands for several seconds, plenty long enough for the jury to see.

You could even see the confrontations unfold on a grainy video shot at the scenes.  Why grainy?  The prosecution had another much higher resolution video that they didn’t share with the defense attorneys.  Why let the world see clearly what happened?

The prosecution sees a mistrial for withheld evidence.  The judge saw red.  The ruling is pending.  And, so is the verdict.

While we wait, what do we see?  Outside of the courtroom growing crowds that only see it one way or the opposite have gathered.

BLM is there as well.  White kid shoots three white dudes, is prosecuted and defended by white attorneys, and the whole mess is presided over by a white judge.

Can you see the connection yet?  Maybe it’s right there and you can’t?  Maybe it’s not there at all?

Twelve jurors might be able to see out of the window from above. And, what they see is that their lives might be in danger or changed forever if the verdict is met with the same response that the initial police shooting had.

That original shooting, by the way, was investigated by the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the local police.  All of them called it a necessary use of force.  But, today’s media never ever let the facts get in the way of a good narrative.

And, speaking of necessary force, hundreds of national guard troops are at the ready for any post-verdict violence.  If they were there, as offered at the first hint of possible unrest, they would not need to be there now.

Even the Kenosha Mayor can see that now.  Can’t he?

Did you just say, “I’ll believe that when I see it?”

 

 

 

 

 

Big Stage, Bright Lights

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Be careful what you wish for.  Sometimes the big stage and the bright lights are too big and too bright.

Ask the Kenosha prosecuting attorney if he agrees with the above.  He’s either smart reaching for a mistrial or real dumb at his job.  We’re picking plum dumb.

The Rittenhouse case is going so poorly that you would think the witnesses he called were defense witnesses.  The judge has all but tossed him from the courtroom.

If you got behind a microphone and asked “why was Kyle Rittenhouse even there?” should you also ask yourself why were the protesters there?  Ah yes, they were protesting (rioting and burning down the town) because of perceived social injustice.

However, the video proved otherwise, and it’s not even debatable.  The DOJ investigated and declined to press any charges against the officer.  It was deemed a necessary shooting.

But, never, ever let facts get in the way of a good narrative, especially in an election year.

Well, if you can’t make a case against the officer, try the “white supremacist” AK-toting teenager. Somebody has to pay.

We would ask LeBron James, but we already know that he isn’t afraid of the bright lights.  He tweeted after Rittenhouse took the stand and broke down, “what tears?????”  There are plenty King, you just aren’t looking in the right place.

Blake is paralyzed.  Two protesters are dead.  Shop owners lost their place of business.  Employees lost their jobs.  All for nothing.  Nothing.   Maybe King James should devote more time to furthering his expertise on human relations in the People’s Republic of China.

There is blood on the hands of more than Rittenhouse in this one.

Ask Kamala Harris if she agrees with the above.

The VP, her nervous laugh, and “cringe-worthy” moments travel together.  This time she descended on France for whatever reasons that pale compared to the mess that this side of the pond is in.  Undeterred, Harris broke into some drivel about “The Plan” in front of worldwide cameras and decided now was a good time to throw in a bad attempt at a French accent.

You can run, but you can’t hide.  And, she can’t run for any office again and be taken seriously.  And, the race is on.  She’s trying to run from the Biden Administration and the Biden Administration is trying to run from her.  Ten months into the second-highest job in the land and her approval rating sits at 28%.

As a reminder, she was so popular in the party that she withdrew from the presidential nominee process before the first primary with a less than a 1% poll number.

Ask Joe Biden, when he wakes up if he agrees with the above.  His approval rating stands at 38%.

Why? Afghanistan, border chaos, vaccine mandates, out-of-control social program spending, decades high inflation, a November 2nd ballot box wake-up call, and Senator Joe Manchin comes to mind.

Sunday his Department of Energy Secretary took to the talk shows.  Jennifer Granholm said oil is a global market “controlled by a cartel, the cartel is called OPEC.”  To think that just a dozen months ago America was darn near energy independence.  Asked if she would ask the US producers to ramp up production, she laughed loudly and said, “that is hilarious.”

Folks paying $4-6 a gallon don’t get the joke.  Inflation is the biggest tax on the low to middle-income families you can assess.  They spend all that they make to provide for their families.  The more things cost, the less they can buy.

Be careful what you wish for.

 

 

Yin and Yang

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

If America had a nickel for every time a politician said “we need to come together as a nation and move forward,” America wouldn’t be in debt.  Well, it still would be actually based on the “free” for all mentality we have in place now.  But, go with it anyway.

The truth is we never come together in the absolute sense of the phrase.  We aren’t even built that way as the checks and balances that our founding fathers (can you still say that?) put in place some 245 years ago create what used to be a purposeful debate.  And, we should thank them for that.

But, way back when we did a much better job of putting the country first and the agendas of factions thereof second.

Remember when House Majority Leader Tip O’Neill and Ronald Reagan would top off Tip’s glass of Scotch and hammer out a deal while Tip got hammered?

Bill Clinton’s tenure at the top produced nearly balanced budgets and a budget surplus once or twice.  He signed into law the three strikes and you’re out legislation.  The border was ours and we protected it well.   As a friendly reminder, Clinton was a Democrat.  But most all Americans saw these policies as effective, not just the more moderate left back then.

No more, and close isn’t close.

So, what to do?  Well solving it on just one quick dip of the pen in the ink well is far too ambitious.  But, with an early eye on 2024, we have an idea to try on.

Biden has no shot unless you count his three and counting “vaccine” shots.  Kamala will be off creating a new gameboard phenomenon called “Where’s Kamala?”  She’s practicing and perfecting it now.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the President and Vice President of the United States, Ron DeSantis(R) and Tulsi Gabbard(D).

Did you see the R and D inside of those parentheses?  Of course, you did.

Forget if you like DeSantis or not. The pendulum always swings and it’s swinging right now.  The Republicans will return to the highest office in the land, mail-in ballots or not. It’s him or someone else from the right.

The point is, what if he used his Floridian stones to go where only Abe Lincoln and Andrew Johnson have gone before?  Nominate the opposite party as your running mate.  He’s not afraid to make bold moves and take chances.

At a minimum, for the Republicans, it would(should) neuter the every four-years “war on women” nonsense that the Dems drag out.  The cries of misogyny would be dampened.  And it reaches across the aisle like never before.  It might even make Morning Joe happy, or infuriated, or both.

She seems very even-keeled, intelligent, and moderate in her views. She could be the yin and Ron the yang.  Her actions (military service) and her words always seem to try to put America, not her party, first.

And, most of all “we could come together as a nation and move forward.”

Couldn’t we?

Sure, probably, maybe, doubtfully, no chance.

 

A Free Chicken

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Ok, it’s time for Congressional Jeopardy.  Welcome, everyone!  What a great group of contestants we have today.  Let’s get started.

Madame Speaker, please select.

“I’ll take Marketing 101 for $100.”

This game-changing business owner famously declared “focus groups are worthless, we know what our consumers want more than they do.”

Senator Manchin buzzes in. “Who is Steve Jobs?”

“Correct, and boy was he, please select.”

“Marketing 101 for $200”

“This American President famously believes he knows more about what Americans want than they do.”

Rep Jayapal buzzes in.  “Who is President Joe Biden?”

“Correct. Unfortunate.  But, correct.  Please select.”

“How about Campaign Slogans for $100.”

“The date that “Build Back Better” got reduced to “Better Not Build Back.”

Senator Manchin.

“What was Tuesday?”

Correct again, please select.

“Let’s take Now What? for $100.”

And the clue is, ha, well, “Now What?”

Jayapal.  “Spend more?”

“In the form of a question, please.”

“What is spend more and offer a free chicken in every pot?”

No sorry.

Madame Speaker buzzes.  “What is blame Trump?”

No sorry.  “Impeach Trump?”  No, still sorry.

Senator Manchin, do you want to take a shot?

“What is you better pay attention to what Virginia just told you.”

Correct.  Select again.  We have but a minute remaining in Double Jeopardy.

Let’s take “All things Minnesota” for $1000.

The clue is, “enough of this nonsense already.”

Senator Manchin. “What is the police defund just got a refund.”

“Correct.”  Bahhhhh.  “Time is up.  We see Manchin in the lead with $12,000, Madam Speaker with $2,000, and unfortunately Rep Jayapal with -$200 which makes you unable to play Final Jeopardy.

Jayapal asks, “why not?”  Alex Trebek’s fill-in responds, “you actually have to have your own money to risk money.  And the category today is Famous Bills.  We’ll be back after this commercial word.”

The video cuts to the commercial  “Hello, I’m President Biden.  As you know I have a job that requires long hours.  If you’re like me and sometimes fall asleep in meetings, or interviews, or summits, try NoDoz. It gets the job done when I’d rather sleep on it.”

“Welcome back to Final Jeopardy, the category again is famous Bills, and the clue is, “This Bill now carries a price tag of somewhere between $1.7 and $3.5 trillion dollars?”  “Good luck.”

Do do do, dah, dah, dah, dah, dah, dah doo, doo doo doo, dum, dum, dum.   Pens down, please.

“We go now to Madame Pelosi. Let’s see what she wrote.  ‘What’s the cost of paying off all of Bill Clinton’s dalliances?’  No sorry.  How much did you wager?”

“I wagered $1,000,000.”  Well, you only had $2,000, so I’m not sure how you can do that.”

“I’m the Speaker, I can do anything I want.”

“And to Senator Manchin.   He wrote, ‘The Reconciliation Bill, vote for it and America will vote you out in 2022.'”

“CORRECT.”  Let’s see how much you wagered?  “Your entire political career!”

And Senator Manchin you are our Congressional Jeopardy Champion!

Congratulations!”

doo, doo, doo, dah, dah, dah…

 

 

 

The Friendly Skies

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

United Airlines marketed the jingle “fly the friendly skies.”   And, one pilot of United’s very worthy adversary, Southwest Airlines, should have taken note, perhaps.

We write “perhaps” because, in spite of AP reporter Collen Long’s outrage expressed on her Twitter account, there is no clear-cut audio or video of the reported SWA pilot uttering “Let’s Go Brandon” as passengers were about to deplane in Alberquerque this past weekend.  Not yet.

Predictably both sides of the divided country quickly stepped up to either defend the yet unnamed pilot or want to have him fired by sundown in New Mexico.

Fox News had their roundtable of five on the Outnumbered show yesterday take turns citing examples of either Alec Baldwin or Robert DeNiro screaming “F Trump” into microphones, or even that has been redheaded comedienne (her name escapes us) that faux beheaded Trump as justification for the pilot’s behavior.

There are few more staunch supporters of the freedom of speech than BBR.

But, the above examples are individuals acting as individuals.  You don’t have to like what they said or did any more than watching the American flag being set ablaze. You just have to respect their right to do so.

So, simply stated he had a right to say what he said.  And, because of that, the airline has a right to take whatever disciplinary action it deems appropriate against the pilot.  He was on their time earning his dime.

The SWA pilot was representing SWA.  And a company spokesperson released the following statement yesterday.  “Southwest Team takes pride in providing a welcoming, comfortable, and respectful environment for the millions of customers who fly with the airline each year, and behavior from any individual that is divisive or offensive is not condoned.”

A wise owl once said, “you can say anything you want on your last day.”

Whether the purported incident did or did not happen is still for debate. What is not debatable is that a corporate line is a corporate line.

And, now a pilot, vaccinated or not, might have to join the unemployment line. His freedom of speech wasn’t free.

At a minimum he’ll get his wings clipped a bit.

Meanwhile, “Let’s Go Brandon” seems to have a lot of air under its wings.

 

 

Meet The Depressed

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Rush Limbaugh used to mockingly refer to the NBC Sunday morning news show as “Meet the Depressed.”

Perhaps it is an apropos name even if just for a week for the party in power.

Yesterday, Halloween Day, host Chuck Todd delivered some scary news for Democrats.  An October 23-26 NBC News poll was discussed and answers to it disseminated.

“The overarching message, Americans have lost their confidence in President Joe Biden and their optimism for the country. At least they have right now. Just 22% of adults say we are headed in the right direction. A shocking 71% say we’re on the wrong track and that includes a near majority of Democrats who are saying that,” Todd said.

Did he say “a near majority of Democrats as well?”  It is spooky indeed that the left-leaning network and its marquee show would even kick off the broadcast with that.

Further, fifty-four percent of Americans disapprove of the job Biden is doing, while only 42% approve.  The numbers are in a free fall from a similar poll conducted just two months ago.

The further you dive into the details the worse it gets for team Biden on some issues.  On border security, inflation, crime, national security, and the economy the president is underwater by 18-27 percent vs how Americans think that Republicans would handle such needs.

All of this sets up as an early tell.  Later this week Biden travels back from Europe to Virginia to lend a political hand.   Republican Glenn Youngkin is within striking distance of Democrat Terry McAuliffe in the Virginia governor’s election.  This statistical dead heat comes just one year after Biden routed Trump in the state by 10 points.

Can McAuliffe survive after he told parents that they shouldn’t have a say in what their children are taught?  Biden is ridin’ to the rescue.

The good news about the scary news is that the midterms are a year away.  Poll numbers can change significantly by then.  But will they?

The Dems currently hold all of the power, but constantly argue over spending more, or a lot more money than this country can afford?  Too much candy isn’t too good for you.

Will Halloween time a year from now be a trick or a treat for the Democrats?

Fish Like Hell, and Make Up Lies

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Hook, line, and sinker.  It’s all there for your eyes to peruse the ruse in one sentence.  Wear some sunglasses though.

“It seems to me almost every sensible progressive revenue option that the President wants, that the American people want, that I want, seems to be sabotaged,” he said.  He would be Bernie Sanders, of all things the Senate Budget Chairman.

Is there such a thing as a “sensible progressive revenue option?”

If you have enough lines in the water surely someone (Sinema, Manchin, someone, Buehler, anyone) will bite, won’t they?

As Democrats face a self-imposed deadline to pass a sweeping reconciliation spending bill and a bipartisan infrastructure plan they appear in danger of doing neither – again.

You make your bed, and you lie in it.  Months ago Madame Speaker Nancy Pelosi caved or got in cahoots (take your pick) with the far, far left.  She agreed to tie the two bills together.

It sounded good at the time.  When you’re the majority on both floors of the Congress and are reeling in a fish for a President what could go wrong?   What went wrong is that they thought they had all of the fish in the boat, but two are unexpectedly swimming upstream.

It seems like the fishing license has a renewal date, too.

President Biden is leaving the United States Thursday for an international trip that will include, among other things, a climate summit.   “The president looked at us in the eye and he said, ‘I need this before I go represent the United States in Glasgow,’” Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said Sunday.

Ah, yes, the bull rush close.  Get them in the boat before there’s too much slack in the line and the hook gets loose.

“American prestige is on the line,” he added.  Really?  Sounds like good cop, bad cop.

“It’s the effing progressives,” one moderate Democrat anonymously told Fox News. The moderate accused progressives of asking for “unreasonable things.”  It sounds like some are ready to jump overboard.

Maybe, just maybe, they’re asking for a haul that exceeds any sensible fishing limits?  Elon Musk thinks so.  He’s had enough.   They threw out the chum and grabbed the gaff to hook the rich.

How about a 15% tax on all billionaires making over 100 million?   “Eventually, they run out of other people’s money and then they come for you,” he wrote on Twitter.

Musk could face up to $50 billion in taxes for the first five years under the plan if implemented.  We are reminded often that everyone should pay their fair share.  In his case, the fair share exceeds the gross domestic product of some developed countries.

If you let a group of angry, unintelligent fishermen (call them “the squad” maybe) wet a line long enough they’ll eventually fish an area dry. It’s why gill nets are banned.

The Democrats could extend their own self-imposed deadline again.  But, before you know it, it will be winter and then 2022.

Remember, 2022 is a midterm election year.

That’s when fishing poles are quickly replaced by reelection polls, and Americans take the bait all over again.

 

 

Ho, Ho, No

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Yes DC, there is a Santa Claus.

“With holidays coming up, you might be wondering if the gifts you plan to buy will arrive on time,” President Biden said from the White House yesterday. “Today we have some good news: We’re going to help speed up the delivery of goods all across America.”

And ole Joe, one of Kris Kringle’s older elves is here to help.  The White House responded to the roughly 66 container ship backlog by finalizing an agreement for the Port of Los Angeles/Long Beach to become a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week operation just like the hours that Santa’s helpers keep this time of the year.

The hope is that nighttime operations will help to break the logjam and get that temporary inflation, which isn’t so temporary, under control.

Want to know a Santa’s secret?  The port has been operating 24/7 for the last 21 days.  Want to know another?   Consumer prices climbed 5.4% from a year ago, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday, way above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.

Higher energy, food, and shelter costs were prime drivers of price increases in September.   There isn’t too much energy coming into LA’s ports.  And, it accounts for zero shelter cost increases.

Ah, but it’s been said before, and savvy politicians will say it again.  And, again.   Never, ever let a good crisis go to waste.  Alas, the president is trying to use the predicament as a selling point for his policy plans that are undergoing congressional scrutiny.

“We need to take a longer view and invest in building greater resiliency to withstand the kinds of shocks we’ve seen over and over, year in and year out, the risk of a pandemic, extreme weather, climate change, cyberattacks, weather disruptions,” he said.  That’s a mouthful of leftist cookies and milk if we’ve ever heard it.

What’s so weird about this is that Santa and his elves work in the harshest climate of all, the North Pole.  And, we’ve seen over and over, year in and year out that jolly ole Nick guy and his reindeer get to millions of homes, up and down chimneys, and deliver on promises all in one 24 hour window.  That’s a supply chain logistics model to emulate if ever there was one.  And, yet, it doesn’t work this year.  Hmm.

And, lost in all of this is that the ports are but one small piece of the puzzle.  Up and down the supply chain- wages, raw material shortages, manufacturing shortfalls, lack of truck drivers, lack of retail workers, etc all have a role.  Oh, and the government is stuffing money in the stockings hung on the mantle without care.

Rudolph’s red inflation nose is flashing so bright, that the Fed might need to deliver an interest rate lump of coal increase sooner than later.   That, of course, assumes coal is still an allowable fuel source should the Democrats pass the Reconciliation Bill, but we digress.

University of Michigan economist Betsey Stevenson noted on Twitter the “economy is in a very fragile and unprecedented place.”  “No one really knows what’s going to happen,” wrote Stevenson, a former member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers under President Barack Obama.

Maybe Santa could trade in his old, old sleigh. We hear used vehicles are commanding top trade-in dollars these days.

The problem with that is he’d need to buy a pricey new one.

And, those come from China, through the LA port, and are back-ordered until mid-2022 we heard.