The complicated status of Obamatrade in Congress
Link here. To sum up, the fast track trade authority for Obama actually passed, but the companion part of the law, dubbed TAA, failed badly. Since the Senate had passed both, the approved law needs to go back to conference so that both houses pass the same bill, or the House can vote again on the portion that was defeated.
That the House leadership is still fighting for this considering the strong opposition from the voters as well as from their own caucus tells us how little they understand the present political situation.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Link here. To sum up, the fast track trade authority for Obama actually passed, but the companion part of the law, dubbed TAA, failed badly. Since the Senate had passed both, the approved law needs to go back to conference so that both houses pass the same bill, or the House can vote again on the portion that was defeated.
That the House leadership is still fighting for this considering the strong opposition from the voters as well as from their own caucus tells us how little they understand the present political situation.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
I re-post this slightly refined letter I was compelled to write and send to Larry Kudlow, not to be redundant but to reinforce your observation, they don’t get it. many of the talking heads don’t get it and the politicians certainly don’t get it, they are scaring the hell out of the American people.
During his show he railed against the insanity of not granting the president what all other presidents were granted since Roosevelt, the ability to conduct “free trade”. Although he forgot to mention the associated new laws that are being considered that would give this president and all following presidents new powers to “free trade” the American people down the river!
Listening to Larry Kudlow this Saturday morning 6/13/15, the media attempts to shape the public’s view:
Dear Larry,
With all due respect, listening to you this morning on the subject of this trade process or bill is like your first caller has stated, confusing. The people of America object to this entire TPA trade bill process or any new law that results from it because they see it as:
1. Further empowering this particular president. They do not want any more of Obama’s “good works”.
2. The fact that you have just said that “you don’t care what words are in the agreement”, that is further confusing to me, much like those annoying words in Obamacare that are before the Supreme Court where the states are to set up the healthcare exchanges. Words in agreements and laws have meaning and consequences!
3. The secretive nature of the process (just like Obamacare) where as now Paul Ryan has said just like Nancy Pelosi said “we have to pass it before you the American people can know what is in it”. An outrageous attitude towards the people of America at the least and possibly treasonous at the max. Enough of that, politicians are scaring the hell out responsible American people that pay for everything through taxation and are the people that they work for (or should be working for), not against.
4. The people of America see the Liberals actively importing ILLEGAL “IMMIGRANTS” into America in order to forever secure their political dynasty, and the Republicans wanting to further import immigrants into America to lower their corporate masters overhead in order to lower their labor costs. The results of these activities is to further erode actual naturally born Americans standard of living and what appears to be the creation of a One World style governance system where America’s sovereignty is again further eroded.
5. Your insider perspective and promotion of what you constantly say you are a proponent of “free trade”, without including the context of the previously listed American voter concerns is disrespectful? Condescending? Elitist? Biased? Dismissive? Agenda driven? Choose one. Much like the difference between admiring a lion from 20 feet outside its secure enclosure in a zoo and admiring a lion from 20 feet on the plains of Africa. Two very different perspectives and realities.
So your inability to understand (which I find hard to believe) or your choice to not understand how the American people feel on this issue, like I said, confuses me, as it confuses many, many other Americans in your listening audience.
Thank you.
Nicely written. Two minor suggestions: 1. Remove the caps from “immigrants” while also dropping the CAPS. Instead, capitalize “ILLEGAL”. The issue here is the illegal nature of the immigration, not the immigrants themselves. 2. Make reference to this very thoughtful article at HotAir on the subject of free trade: Free Trade is America’s Best Weapon. While the author is entirely in favor of free trade, he takes an intelligent look at the present trade agreement and wants to puke.
Thank you, I will take your suggestions and I will look into the HotAir article.
Just to be perfectly clear, I have not one bit of a problem with any person, of any race or color that comes from anywhere to America to better themselves and their family’s lives and share in the true freedom found in America and who accepts the process of becoming an American. None what so ever.
Some of the nicest and most patriotic people I know are from some place else, hell only two generations ago my family was them.
Unrelated but related:
Yeah, you did it. Say good by to any new start up business’s in L.A. and the destruction of any marginally surviving business’s of all sizes.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/los-angeles-raises-minimum-wage-15-hour-article-1.2257814
Creating a maximum minimum wage (not a minimum wage) of $31,000.00 per year, much like the mandating of healthcare has nothing to do with the actual economics of business it has to do with the attempted socialization of the economy. At what point will the city of L.A. mandate that all citizens must buy one $20.00 hamburger every day? Or even better, begin to discuss the subsidization of business’s when they begin to fail because the city can not afford for people to loose their jobs and them to go out of business? Imagine, an unskilled high school dishwasher mandated to be paid $31,000.00 per year. This is the attempt to transform transitional and menial jobs into BS careers. The stupidification and meanialization of America continues.
This is the feel good intellectualization of business that the left loves to dabble in, the end result? Bigger and better fascism?
I like listening to Larry Kudlow on the radio. He is truly patriotic and loves the United States. He makes intelligent and well thought out economic points and he has a very kind outlook on the plight of penniless immigrants attempting to better their lives by coming to America.
Unfortunately, he continuously conflates legal immigration with the illegal alien invasion. Whenever he does this on his radio show, almost all of his callers soundly chastise him for the error. Usually by the end of his show he has been made aware of his error and modifies his comments. Then, weeks later when the subject comes up again, his point of view has become “reset”. A most curious phenomenon. Perhaps caused by his interactions at the WSJ or CNBC?
Perhaps it has something to do with the media people that wear bow ties?…
A side note,
Mr. Kudlow warned time and again that quantitative easing (unfettered printing of fiat money) was going to cause hyper inflation. It hasn’t. So now he says perhaps Chairman Bernanke was right.
Then, minutes later, he will criticize the banks for leaving that money on deposit at the Fed and blame the lack of monetary velocity on the zero interest rate.
Never does he connect the two points.
If you print money like the Weimar Republic, you can get away with it and not inflate your money into worthlessness as long as the money doesn’t get used.
The Obama administration has (wittingly or unwittingly) stumbled on a very important principle that has saved it from certain destruction. As long as the interest rates remain near zero, the unbacked worthless money on deposit at the Federal Reserve will not be used and inflation will remain low.
Unfortunately, all those trillions of dollars are still sitting in a big pile. Like the biggest tsunami in history held in a reservoir. Raising the interest rates will incentivize the banks to invest that money. Raising the rates too quickly will cause that money to be put in circulation too quickly. That will open the spillways and flood the economy with increasingly worthless currency. Then we will see hyper inflation.
$12.99 a carton milk and $9 a gallon of gas anyone?. Of course we will be told Climate Change caused it, not bad monetary policy.
I’m hoping that the progressives aren’t planning for a nasty trick on the next administration. I’m hoping conservatives in our government will see the danger and take steps to mitigate it (considering the current crop of establishment republicans I don’t have much hope)
I hope I’m wrong. but no one is talking about this danger.
Gold is the currency of kings. Silver is the currency of nobles. Barter is the currency of commoners. Debt is the currency of slaves.
I listen to him most every Saturday and he inevitably always says something that sets me off, not being able to just call him up and challenge him I thought a letter was best, whether he sees it or not. (he has not responded to my emailed letter)
You make good points about the supply of money and when it does or does not get used and inflation. The FED has ruminated about raising rates for years now but IMO that will not ever happen until there is actual concrete measurable growth and confidence in the economy. When might that happen? I would think about the first or second quarter of just about any newly elected American oriented president of either party.
Fiat currency is entirely based on confidence, economic confidence, military confidence, contractual confidence and judicial confidence and one thing is for sure, this current president exudes everything except confidence in exactly those areas.
This is an example of how overt the anti American actions of this Democrat administration have become related to illegal immigration. Illegal immigration that the government apparently has these illegals immigrants calculated into the equation already. We will see the anti American actions on the Republican side when we see how far they are willing to go to pass their corporate masters trade bill.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jun/16/obama-amnesty-extends-businesses-hire-illegals/
Look at what they do, not at what they say. Why? Because they must lie to retain their power. Today Donald Trump announced that he will be running for president, say what you will about him when you listen to his speech he says what needs to be said. Whether or not he will stay in till the end with the intent to win remains to be seen. At the least he will drive the conversation into the direction that the actual people of America need it to be driven in.
https://youtu.be/tmPi7rufCjg
We will see.
The bigger chunk of money will be for the people who are making around $15 now. If the illiterate burger flipper deserves $15, they will demand and deserve much more.
I think the the city and state governments are already planning how they are gonna blow the increased tax income.
PeterF,
You are correct about quantitative easing and hyperinflation. Most likely, we will not see any appreciable inflation until the economy begins to recover and the money that is now in savings starts to be spent on the expansion of various companies; once the money begins to circulate. As any third grader can tell you, when you have a larger supply of something, its value goes down, so soon a $10 bill will be worth less than it is now and will buy you less lunch than it does today.
We know that the economy is not recovering because of the zero interest rates at the Fed. It is well known, at the Fed, that they should never take interest rates below 1%, because after that, there is nowhere to go. That 1% is the rate they go to when it is time to panic.
The Fed has long used the overnight rate to make borrowing for expansion (or house improvement, car purchasing, appliance purchasing, etc.) easier, and this puts pressure on the economy to grow faster. There are very few times when the Fed went as low as 1% (until Obama, never below), and they always raise it at very early signs of a growing economy (this pressure strategy has been very effective in the past, and careful, rapid control has been important to prevent growth at too great of a rate).
The Fed’s interest rates have been down to 0% for six years, indicating that the economic growth is anemic. At these rates, the economy should be booming (all caps in a larger font, as well as fireworks, would be appropriate here), but it is not. The Fed went beyond panic rates, had nowhere to go, so they started printing money. Lots, and lots of money. We used to have a supply of $850 billion, but for that past few years, the Fed has arranged for the creation of around $1,000 billion annually. For more than half a decade, they have been beyond beyond-panic.
Oh yeah, higher wages means higher taxes for the city and state and federal government, I expect they will eventually all be on board. All ass backwards, expect nothing else until a George Washington appears (If George Washington appeared today I suspect he would be so embarrassed by the association with Washington DC that he would change his name)