News

Too Many Cooks Spoil the Broth.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Yesterday the US Census Department released it’s annual report Income and Poverty in the United States:2018.  It’s 77 pages of some heavy statistical comparisons of who we are, how much we make, and how we are doing v. previous years.   In general there is pretty good news in it.

More Americans than ever are working.  Wages rose an average of 3.3% for men and women alike.  The percent of families and singles living in poverty reached record lows.  These wins occurred regardless of skin color as well.   Economists find much to like during a deep dive into deep details.

Trump’s unprecedented combination of  “Hire American” and economic growth policies is helping create those wage gains nationwide.  The growth policies pressure companies to hire more workers.

What follows is excerpted from a Breibart article printed yesterday.

The “Hire American” policy suppresses the inflow of legal and illegal migrants and also blocks demands from businesses for special infusions of cheap foreign labor, such as extra refugees, asylum-seekers, visa workers, and legal immigrants. 

Trump’s low-immigration policies have prompted many progressives and Democrats to claim he is racist. But his growth and “Hire American” combination is pressuring companies to compete for Americans workers — including blacks and Latinos — by offering higher wages and better benefits.

One expected impact of the shortage is a growing number of non-white Americans who are being hired and are getting wage increases.

Each year about 4 million Americans enter the workforce after high school or college graduation.  This includes about 800k of more highly skilled professionals in  the business, engineering , medical, etc. world.

But the federal government then imports about 1.1 million legal immigrants and refreshes a resident population of about 1.5 million white-collar visa workers.

The net effect of the two keeps the labor wage market in check even in good economic times.  In tougher times it drives the supply of good workers up and wages are held in check or even decrease.   This makes American workers from all corners unhappy.  This makes the corner of Wall Street happy.  Good supply and low prices of in demand assets is always welcome by shareholders.

Which brings us to claims that Trump is a racist for his immigration and buy/hire America(s).  Maybe he is a racist.  It isn’t today’s post purpose to discuss.

It’s purpose is to ask if you scream about the amount of college debt, are concerned about individuals ability to repay, and want it forgiven by the government should you reexamine the effect of immigration on a society who’s population growth relative to yesteryear has slowed.  If more work qualified immigrants (legal or not) enter the work force percentage wise v. US qualified workers you exacerbate the problem.

Wall St. benefits.  Americans scream that the rich get richer.   Students struggle with loans.  Americans scream that we should help them. Millennials struggle to find work.  Americans scream about the labor market.  Wages rise too slowly.  Americans scream about the income gap.

A good recipe has just the right amount of ingredients working together for a better meal.   Balancing the outcome is a very delicate process.  Put too much of one ingredient in and you spoil the soup.  There is a big pot on the stove right now.  Shouldn’t we step back and let the head chef decide how much of one is too much of one?  After all can’t we agree that home cooked meals taste best?

One Love That Is Shared by Two

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

In a interview with the Washington Post earlier this week noted progressive Barbara Streisand described the United States electoral college system as “antiquated” and advocated replacing it with a system that allows the winner of the popular vote to win the election.

She went on to say, “If I could, I would end the antiquated electoral college. Twice in the last 20 years the popular vote winner was denied the presidency. This is an assault on our democratic principles, where the dictum should hold true: one person, one vote.”

And she isn’t the only voice from the left touting a change away from the now 243 year old way of electing presidents.  South Bend, Indiana mayor and announced Democratic Presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg suggested making the reform as well calling it undemocratic.  Streisand would change it now if she could as she said, while Mayor Pete would do so down the road a bit.

We wonder if of the above is exactly why our founding fathers put the process in place at the outset.   We submit the following counterpoints.
  • That is, they had the foresight to realize that a ground swell could occur.  And when it did a simple popular vote taken on the matter could eliminate the electoral college vote and replace it with, well, a simple popular vote.  Stated differently, over the course of time, this would open up the opportunity to repeatedly manipulate how the president was elected.
  • What Barbara should know, and likely does, is if one person could do anything unilaterally in our union it would not be a democracy.
  • Citing twice in the last 20 years as a reason fails to speak to the fact that a) its happened only five times in 243 years, and b) it happened in a span of 12 years when in 1876 Rutherford B. Hayes won the electoral college and lost the popular vote and again in 1888 when Benjamin Harrison did the same.  The logic sounds much like two bad hurricanes in 20 years proves climate change, so we must change and now.
  • And, we’re supposed to be United States, not necessarily always united people.  States, as an entity all to themselves, have rights in our union and therefore each have two senators with equal say to senators from other states.
  • Buttigieg says that we won’t know in the 2030’s which party would benefit.  One, yes we do Pete.  Two, if we don’t know which would benefit why change from the current, unless you don’t believe in states’ rights.
  • Buttigieg hails from Indiana.   It’s a state that could be the poster child for why the electoral college is in place.  It has a) below average population making the two electoral senate seats important to them, b) is driven by farming creating a need for perspective that is anything but urban (ask them right now if they want a voice in who is the next president considering the effect on the state that tariffs are having).

The 77 year old Oscar winning Streisand might be an expert on “antiquated.”  It looks more and more like her party’s current front runner sure does.   But she is no expert on democratic principles.  She should  know that what she and other left voices are advocating to eliminate this “assault on our democratic principles” is actually an assault on our democratic principles.

Aren’t the real experts our founding fathers?

Rates Fall But Stocks Don’t

Posted on by Jim Carlton

Independent Investment Management designed to protect and grow your wealth.

JIM CARLTON
Managing Director
Chief Investment Officer

Friends

 

Yields on bonds fell this morning which spooked the stock market at the open, but the bulls rallied the troops and stock buyers appeared and drove sticks higher by midday. Trading was quiet in the afternoon, but the bulls can be encouraged that they were able to hold onto the hard earned gains.

 

By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 258 points to finish the day at 26,036. The S&P 500 was up 18 points to close at 2,887. Gold was down $3.10 to trade at $1,548 per ounce, while oil was up $1.00 to trade at $55.93 per barrel WTI.

 

As mentioned, interest rate declines have been triggering stock sell offs. Did we break that cycle today, or was it just a one day phenomenon? It will be something to watch for.

 

Have a nice evening everyone.

Jim

10200 Grogan’s Mill Road, Suite 340
The Woodlands, TX  77380 
(281) 298-2700 Phone
(877) 824-4299 Toll Free
(281) 298-2760 Fax

[email protected]        www.chjwealthmanagement.com

Investment Advisory offered through Carlton, Hofferkamp & Jenks Wealth Management, LLC (“CHJ”).

*Numbers and figures sourced from the following: Bloomberg.com, CNBC.com and Finance.Yahoo.com.
The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. To determine which investment(s) may be appropriate for you, consult your financial advisor prior to investing. All performance referenced is historical and is no guarantee of future results. All indices are unmanaged and cannot be invested into directly.

CHJ Wealth Management,
10200 Grogan’s Mill Road,
Suite 340
The Woodlands, TX 77380

“How” and “Why” Matter.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Journalism 101 teaches to insure that the “who”, “what”, “when”, and “where” is included in every lead of a story.  Optional, but also important, is the “how” and the “why.”  Getting the first four “w’s” in is relatively easy.  Figuring out the how and the why is harder as it sometimes requires some interpretation.

Take late last week as an example.   In a span of 48 hours on Thursday and Friday (when) President Trump (who) castigated (what) Fed Chairman Powell (who)
on Twitter (where) of not being aggressive enough with rate cuts and economic commentary.  He barely took a breath, then he ORDERED American companies importing manufactured goods and the like from China (he pronounces it as CHII Nah) to find a way to bring the manufacturing back to the U.S.  By mid Friday morning he announced further tariffs(import taxes) almost across the board on goods coming from across the Pacific from said China.

The result of his actions and words seems, at the outset, that Powell said nothing, American companies did nothing not already planned, and China said “we’ll see your bet, and raise you one or five.”  The other result is again, at least for a day, the American stock market and those still open abroad, tumbled hard.

We think his political base added the to the story by questioning “how” he did this?

How he swung three times seemed almost petulant, petulant like a child that is.  In the Trump Tower when you hold the decisions as to who gets massive building contracts and what your expectations are and when they get paid is one thing.  When you ORDER (we use all caps because he did in the Tweet) American companies around you cross way too far into government attempted control on free enterprise at a minimum.  At the maximum you sound like a second grader who doesn’t get his way on the playground.  Plus, it’s the exact opposite of the many government regulations that he has pulled back to free businesses up.

In the tariff tiff he seems to think that he can bully China like he bullied Mexico.  Maybe.  Maybe not.  It seems to have not worked so far.

The Powell undressing is tired.  Take the repeated rants indoors already.  You hired him Mr. President.

We think even his political base questioned “why” as well.

Why did he do all of the above?  Well, we admit that every time he seems to have face planted off a newly built tower he actually has packed a parachute and landed just fine, and ready to fight for the American people for another cause on another day.

And, just this AM he is tweeting that China is ready to come to the table.  Maybe Powell will cut again and again and sooner.   And, maybe more American companies will build or rebuild factories here.

But, when how Americans feel about their investments (401k, education, house) turns south, they stay home if they voted for you prior, and turn out if they voted against you prior.  The very recession talk (at this point talk) that you are trying to squash becomes self fulfilling.

The tightrope that is being walked is high, higher than most Trump Towers built.  The fall would be unpleasant for all.  How you walk across, and why you walk across matters greatly in the next 15 months.

On Thursday you anointed yourself as “The Chosen One” to combat the decades long China advantage in import and export tariffs.  China seems to have chosen too.  Their choice looks like they want to see if  “The Chosen One” is chosen again in November of 2020.

A small fracture in the Trump base and someone else will need to “Keep America Great.”  Perhaps there will be another “Chosen One?”  Although that seems as cloudy as the smoke created from last week’s outbursts.  The lead candidate against Trump was in New Hampshire, was asked about New Hampshire, and sung the praises of Delaware.

It’s another week.  Can the American political leaders gaffe meter possibly keep up?

 

Tweet Storm Drenches Stocks

Posted on by Jim Carlton

Independent Investment Management designed to protect and grow your wealth.

JIM CARLTON
Managing Director
Chief Investment Officer

Friends

Everything looked to be just fine. Despite the Chinese
announcement of additional tariffs (which sent stock futures lower right before
the open), Fed Chair Powell’s opaque speech at Jackson Hole seemed effective enough
to settle things down, and by about 9:15 stocks had actually worked their way
into positive territory. Then, the President went nuclear. He blasted Jay
Powell then declared China the “enemy” and last, but certainly not least he
wrote – “American Companies are hereby ordered to immediately start looking for
an alternatives to China…”. Now, I could be wrong, but I don’t think an
American President can order corporate America to “bring their companies home”.
Regardless, stocks collapsed and the selling got worse as the day wore on. The
demeanor of the President finally negatively affected stocks today. Many market
participants might agree with what the President is trying to accomplish, and
it’s not easy, but today the markets were unnerved by his temperament and
impulsiveness.

By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 623
points to finish the day at 25,628. The S&P 500 was down 75 points to close
at 2,847. Gold was up $29 to trade at $1,538 per ounce, while oil was down
$1.43 to trade at $53.92 per barrel WTI.

We appear to be in a full-fledged trade war now (well, at
least until the next tweet), but that would likely force the Fed to be even
more accommodative than they might have been already leaning. So, let’s just
catch our breath, see what the President unveils this afternoon, and prepare
for next week. Remember, headline filled days like today are not to be acted
upon. Long term investment goals are achieved through patience, planning and
determination. We’ll be back at it for you next week.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Jim

10200 Grogan’s Mill Road, Suite 340
The Woodlands, TX  77380 
(281) 298-2700 Phone
(877) 824-4299 Toll Free
(281) 298-2760 Fax

[email protected]        www.chjwealthmanagement.com

Investment Advisory offered through Carlton, Hofferkamp & Jenks Wealth Management, LLC (“CHJ”).

*Numbers and figures sourced from the following: Bloomberg.com, CNBC.com and Finance.Yahoo.com.
The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. To determine which investment(s) may be appropriate for you, consult your financial advisor prior to investing. All performance referenced is historical and is no guarantee of future results. All indices are unmanaged and cannot be invested into directly.

CHJ Wealth Management,
10200 Grogan’s Mill Road,
Suite 340
The Woodlands, TX 77380

Crazy. Crazy. Chomp. Chomp.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Are you ready for some football?  Tomorrow afternoon the Florida Gators kick off the NCAA football season with the Miami Hurricanes.  We can’t wait for 3pm.  And, thankfully we won’t have to wait longer than that.

We won’t have to wait longer to watch the Hurricanes because we won’t need to worry about watching The Weather Channel worrying about a hurricane.  Those pesky storms can get in the way of our fun this time of the year.  But, so far this year so good.  Tropical storm Chantal churns weakly over 500 miles off of the east coast.  It’s only the third named storm this year from the east- a weak start to the season.

Another plus is that, while the game is in Florida, we assume Orlando is far enough inland that Andrew Yang considers it high enough ground in his Democratic debate plea to “move everyone to higher ground now” since it was too late in his opinion to reverse the effects of climate change.

All of which brings us to two events this week that has us puzzled.  Governor Jay Inslee from the great state of Washington ended his campaign for president.  Inslee’s platform started and ended with his six prong, detailed approach to a climate change solution.  His fire burned out on it’s own.   Meanwhile, yesterday Bernie Sanders unveiled his $16.3 trillion plan to combat climate change.

Others have put forth their plans, Elizabeth Warren among them.  But her plan was a meager 2 trillion.  Bernie was considered a bit crazy four years ago running against Hillary Clinton.  But, in the race to crazy it seems Bernie has been left out recently in the torrential rain.  No more.  This plan calls for the most massive government outlay of all.  Crazy indeed.  Bernie chose California of all of our 50 states to chose from to announce his plan.  Hmm.

Aside from all of the announced future benefits of the plan, the greatest part is that Bernie says that the plan will “pay for itself.”  If you ever concern yourself with the small matter of the 22 trillion and counting debt that this country is in, this must be relief welcomed by you much like getting electricity restored after a storm knocks yours out.

Two point three trillion dollars of the cost would come from income taxes from new jobs generated under the plan.  The plan doesn’t estimate the income taxes lost by current jobs in fossil fuel industries that would be leveled like a tornado that would also be eliminated, we assume, with this plan.  Another $1.2 trillion would come from reduced military expenses related to oil shipping routes.  We assume(you know what happens when you assume) the military would not be redeployed in any other way.

The plan is to lower the two largest causes of U.S. harmful emissions by 71% by 2030, and “help” developing countries to lower theirs by 36% in that same time with a $200 billion appropriation. At press time no developing countries had yet commented on whether they would accept the government handout, though we assume (damn it, again) that they graciously would.

Sanders also boldly claims that his new Green New Deal will “end unemployment” based on the sheer number, estimated at 20 million, of jobs it would create. With only 6 million American workers(who want to or are capable to work) currently unemployed we will need 14 million more people here, and soon.  One current problem with the clean energy economy is that a 2019 Brookings Institute study found that the workforce is “older, dominated by male workers, and lacks racial diversity.”  Where could we ever find them?  Our guess is to look south to the border towns that are so global warming dry this time of the year.  Sounds like a win win to us.  Open the borders like floodgates on a climate change caused swollen Mississippi River.

And, in an effort to be even more inclusive, the plan includes $40 billion for a “climate justice resiliency fund” for under-resourced groups like Native Americans, people with disabilities, and the elderly to “prepare for climate change.”  Presto, Elizabeth Warren qualifies in two of the three ways.

Sports are a great escape from all of the day to day craziness.  We’re counting on the Gators.  Hurricanes must be stopped by 2030.  Why wait?  Let’s get started Saturday.

Welcome to Fantasy Island!

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

We have two questions for you.  One, do you believe that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone gunman in the assassination of John F. Kennedy?  Two, do you believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the plot carried in the assassination of John F. Kennedy?  Those are two questions that sound alike but are actually very different.

We have two more questions.  One, do you believe that Jeffery Epstein lived his life as the luckiest pedophile and sex trafficker alone?  Two, or do you believe that Jeffery Epstein had significant help along the way to being one of the biggest scumbags to ever walk on two legs on planet earth?

How do you have a personally owned fantasy island for pedophilia? How do you have a staff and a “girlfriend” complicit in procuring underaged girls?  How do you have many, many “guests,” some high profile, that all are able to whistle past the long arm of the law?

How do you strike a deal with the long arm for non-prosecution that not only shielded Epstein from further prosecution, but protected his alleged co-conspirators back in 2007?  I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine and ten of my closest soon to be indicted friends who I might have video of and might be blackmailing.

But it goes on.  Rearrested on 7/9/19 for more charges of the same, but outside of his plea deal details, Epstein was locked up in the NY Metropolitan Correctional Center.  After what either was or not an attempted suicide on his own life three weeks ago, Epstein was placed on suicide watch.  Then he was taken off of same.  Why would he be judged safe from himself days after he attempted to hurt himself?  So, did someone attempt to hurt him, or did he decide to hurt himself?

But it goes on.  Now off of suicide watch, Epstein was locked down in an area where inmates are supposed to be checked on every 30 minutes.  But, on Saturday morning in a three hour window of no checks made, he allegedly committed suicide by hanging.  You can kill yourself by hanging in between 30 minute checks, but why the three hour window of supposed incompetence by his not one, but two guards?  The NY Times reports that the two guards fell asleep at the same time.  If one was going to sleep on the job, would they want the other to cover for them, and then vice versa?  Why both simultaneously?  Security tapes prove the lack of checks, but the range of the video does not span wide enough to include the actual event.  Why would Epstein have access to materials that could be used to hang himself?  Or did he?

But it goes on.   Epstein was arrested over a month ago.  Why was his St. Thomas area private island just served a warrant and searched on Monday?  Wouldn’t or shouldn’t have his arrest back in July opened the doors to all of his properties for search and seizure?

But it goes on.   The names tossed out by credible sources of who was on his private jet and his private island, or was his friends with possible massage benefits spans Silicon Valley, Wall St., The Capital, and a former White House resident-William Jefferson Clinton.  Would any of them, along the way, have had any influence on any of the above?

Some secrets, believed to be suppressed in 2007, are best if taken to the grave.  Some secrets cannot see the light of day from the grave.  It is believed that Epstein had extensive video recording abilities on the island and in his NY and Florida homes.

Our answers to the above four questions?  Lone gunman?  Yes.  Carry out the plot alone?  No.  Epstein acted alone?  Hell no.   Did said scumbag have help from other powerful scumbags in life?   Hell yes.

And, did he in his death?  Let’s find out.  The Justice Department has been sleeping on this rancid mess for a lot longer than those two guards.  May the truth be told.

 

 

 

 

Recession Fears Pummel Stocks

Posted on by Jim Carlton

Independent Investment Management designed to protect and grow your wealth.

JIM CARLTON
Managing Director
Chief Investment Officer

Friends

Stocks took a beating today fueled by lousy economic numbers overnight in Germany and China, and a yield curve inversion in the closely watched 2/10 year Treasury note spread. Now, late in the day the actual spread is not inverted (the 2 year is at 1.58% while the 10 year is at 1.59%), but for overreacting’s sake, we’ll just say that they are. You know the drill, an inverted yield curve either means we are heading into recession or at least it will be the cause of one. Yes, for whatever reason you choose (political, doomsday punditry, self-loathing) we are once again determined to talk ourselves into a recession. Given the overwhelming negative sentiment at the moment, stocks simply didn’t have a chance today.

By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 800 points to finish the day at 25,479. The S&P 500 was down 85 points to close at 2,840. Gold was up $11 to trade at $1,526 per ounce, while oil was down $2.01 to trade at $55.09 per barrel WTI.

Yes, folks we will experience another recession at some point. As a matter of fact, if we are lucky enough to live for a couple more decades (fingers crossed) we are going to experience more recessions and more bear markets for stocks. Capitalism produces business cycles. Now, central bankers have been desperately trying to eliminate business cycles for some time, but eventually they face diminishing returns for their efforts (see Japan). We are likely to see the Fed cut rates again soon (never give up), but it is questionable just how that will help. I guess if mortgage rates drop to 1% the housing sector is safe. And, by the way for investors and planners who need to provide income at retirement, negative interest rates might be a problem (yes, more than a trillion dollars of debt has negative yield around the globe- I’m not kidding). So… will the Fed be able to get out in front of this coming recession and cut it off at the pass? Are negative yields coming to a financial institution near you? Or, will the “don’t fight the Fed” vigilantes prove to be right once again as TINA shows off her market powers? Insert thinking guy emoji.

Have a nice evening everyone.

Jim

10200 Grogan’s Mill Road, Suite 340
The Woodlands, TX  77380 
(281) 298-2700 Phone
(877) 824-4299 Toll Free
(281) 298-2760 Fax

[email protected]        www.chjwealthmanagement.com

Investment Advisory offered through Carlton, Hofferkamp & Jenks Wealth Management, LLC (“CHJ”).

*Numbers and figures sourced from the following: Bloomberg.com, CNBC.com and Finance.Yahoo.com.
The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. To determine which investment(s) may be appropriate for you, consult your financial advisor prior to investing. All performance referenced is historical and is no guarantee of future results. All indices are unmanaged and cannot be invested into directly.

CHJ Wealth Management,
10200 Grogan’s Mill Road,
Suite 340
The Woodlands, TX 77380

Win One for the Old Gaffer!

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

What a presidential race we would have if it were a racist v. a racist.   So far we have one contestant and reigning champion signed up for it.  Will we get another?

Donald Trump is a racist.  Numerous TV news shows, late night shows, radio shows, comics, and civic leaders tell us this every day.  He provided even more fodder for their cannons in the last two weeks.  First he called Baltimore rat infested.  It turns out that “infested” is a racist term.  Who knew?  Now we do.

Congressman Elijah Cummings in 1998 called his Baltimore district drug infested.  Maybe it wasn’t a racist term then.  Or, maybe what happened twenty years ago is too far back to really bring up about a person’s past.  Don’t tell now Supreme Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh that though.  You may recall that he all but stood trial in front of the Gentleman from Baltimore who proceeded over his House confirmation hearings.  Kavanaugh’s high school behavior of over 30 years ago was front and center for over a week of hearings.

And yesterday the Trump administration announced that it is implementing a new rule changing green card criteria to more closely examine immigrants’ financial resources. It makes it more difficult for immigrants who came to the country legally to stay as permanent residents if they’ve used or are likely to use public benefits like food stamps, Section 8 housing vouchers, or Medicaid.  “Racist,” said one CNN commentator this AM.  “White nationalist,” said another.  “He only wants people in this country that look like him,” the first commenter added on.  What is strange about those character assassinations though is that Trump didn’t target any race with the new rule proposal.  He targeted any and all that are most likely to “lay on the country’s leg” regardless of skin color.

Which brings us to the need for another racist to join the fray to get to the racist v. racist showdown.   So far Democratic front runner Joe Biden hasn’t been labeled a racist.  He has been the owner of a few, ok several, spoken gaffes.  Gaffes sounds so much nicer than racist doesn’t it?

He said late last week that “we believe in the truth, not facts!”  His audience actually cheered.   Well the truth of the matter is that the next day in another stump speech he also said “that poor kids are just as bright and talented as white kids during a campaign speech to Hispanic and Asian voters in Iowa.”  Is that a fact?  After an awkward pause (dare we call it a senior moment?) he added “we,wa, wealthy kids, black kids, Asian kids, but I’m serious.”  His audience actually cheered.  If you watched the link above you can hear the CNN crew agree that it was just another gaffe in a history of gaffes that Biden makes.  Gaffes still sounds so much nicer than racist doesn’t it?

Of course 30 years ago Joe Biden stood with congressmen labeled as segregationists and spoke out opposing federally mandated school bussing.  It was at least another gaffe don’t you think?  Was it racist?  Kamala Harris took him apart on stage about it but said she didn’t think he was a racist.  Whew.  It’s funny how that works.  And, thirty years ago, like with Cummings’ comments, is probably too far back to really bring up a person’s past.  But, she did.  Again, don’t tell that to now Supreme Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh though.

So, for now, if Biden holds on to his Democratic nomination lead we’ll only get to see the “Old Gaffer” v. the racist.  Biden says that his gaffes are just “Joe being Joe.”  But, with each gaffe the Democrats are more and more concerned if they can “just win one for the Old Gaffer.”

Why?

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Today we wonder why.

The head of the NRA warned the Trump administration yesterday that suggesting that more stringent and universal background checks for gun owners would not be “welcomed” by a great number of his supporters.  Why not have a thorough check?  If you want future citizens/immigrants thoroughly checked why not a future gun owner?

Donald Trump always says that he never attacks people until provoked.  He states that he only counter punches and does so twice as hard as when he is first attacked.  If that is entirely true, and we doubt it, why not put the jabs aside yesterday on his two city (Dayton and El Paso) tour?  Those that protested his arrival and talked about him after he departed the two cities couldn’t put their attacks aside which is shameful.  But,  President Trump could have and should have risen above the fray on the one day that rising above the polarization was warranted.  Two wrongs don’t make a right.

Meanwhile, about a dozen outspoken Democrats have called for Mitch McConnell to recall the Senate to either approve pending gun legislation or create new gun law.  Why wasn’t this urgent need an urgent need prior to the past two weekend’s shootings?  It’s as reactionary as the TSA making you take off you shoes after they figured out you could actually put explosives in your shoes and walk straight through those reactionary security screening machines designed to detect those explosives.

Why did they go home for six weeks in the first place? Isn’t there infrastructure, prescription costs, healthcare, and a ballooning deficit to attend to?  Why don’t they mandate six week vacations for all?  Think of how many tropical drinks you could suck down through ocean saving paper straws in 42 consecutive days off.

When the Democrats held the House and the Senate in the first two years of the Obama Administration why didn’t they pass stricter gun control measures?  When the Republicans held the House and the Senate in the first two years of the Trump Administration why didn’t they pass stricter gun control measures?

Why couldn’t New York Mayor Bill De Blasio, appearing on The Sean Hannity Show last evening, affirm that he supported gun ownership for citizens who passed background checks, were deemed mentally stable, and who had not been convicted of a felony?   He was asked every which way and declined each time.  Thankfully he is polling at less than one percent in his run for the Democratic Party’s 2020 presidential nomination.

It’s positions like his from the left that slow or stifle any real meaningful dialogue.  If you are from the right you have every right to worry about giving an inch and having people try to take a yard.  If you are a proponent of the Second Amendment why would you want to give an inch when someone in a big government (De Blasio) position, running for the biggest government position of all, is protected by guns doesn’t feel like you should have that same right?  Didn’t some of his running mates publicly state that they would go door to door confiscating guns?  Good luck with that.

Why does it feel like the national narrative has changed from Russia, Russia, Russia to racist, racist, racist?

Why don’t we impeach Trump? Isn’t being a racist, a white nationalist, a white supremacist, or having white privilege an impeachable offense?  Clearly those heinous beliefs combined with collusion and obstruction can get it done.

Then we can blame someone else the next time a mentally ill person decides to “go off” on a group of innocent people in any town in any moment for any reason.  Then, after a week of lip service we can go back to our daily routines until it happens yet again.  And, then we can look around the halls of Congress and find someone else to blame.  Well, we can if they are in session.