Why I'm for Hillary, Why Putin is for Trump amd Some Thoughts on Debt

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Why Putin is for Trump

What’s with Trump and the Russians?  In the last posting, I promised more about this.  Here goes, despite the fact that Donald is very hard to pin down on anything, saying things and then “sort of” modifying them when criticized.  And then repeating his position later on but with a different rhetorical stance.  But let’s make a few observations:

 Donald

A couple of weeks ago, Trump raised new questions about our commitment to automatically defending our NATO allies if they are attacked, saying he would first look at their contributions to the alliance.  This, of course, greatly alarmed our NATO allies in eastern Europe, on the Russian border.  It certainly comforted Vladimir Putin, who would love to restore the Soviet “empire” as it existed at the end of the Second World War, to which a strong NATO is the prime obstacle.

Trump has repeatedly commented that Putin is a strong leader, but it never seems clear as to whether he was saying this with admiration, or just to contrast Putin’s leadership with that of Barack Obama of whose leadership he is highly critical. (Remember when he also questioned his birthplace.)  In any event, Putin had to have been pleased by Trump’s words, taking them as uttered with as much admiration as an American Presidential candidate might safely risk.

As for the Crimea, long a part of the Ukraine (in the days of the Tsars or the U.S.S.R., it didn’t matter for at that time, all Russia was then "one," as Putin wants it again), it seems from what he says that Trump is willing to consider it part of Russia instead of part of the Ukraine.  The problem is that a Russian-backed coup already took it over, making it part of Russia back in 2014.  Trump, in his sublime ignorance of foreign affairs and refusal to listen to knowledgeable Republicans, was unaware of this. 

A few years back, the now-independent Ukraine threw out their Putin-backed President, Victor Yanukovych, and installed its present government which opposes both Russia’s seizing of the Crimea and Russia’s continued support of pro-Russian dissidents in the eastern part of Ukraine.  Oblivious of this, Trump seems ready to accept Russia as the rightful owner of the Crimea and seems to deny the Russian involvement in eastern Ukraine, which includes Russian troops masquerading as locals.  If I were Vladimir Putin, I would be wearing a Trump button and a “Make America Great" hat!

Vladimir

Incidentally, it doesn’t help that Trump’s present campaign manager, Paul Manafort, a professional lobbyist and political consultant, was the same political consultant who ran lobbying efforts for that same ousted pro-Putin Ukrainian President Yanukovych as well as dictators such as African despots Jonas Savimbi and Mobutu Sese Seko.  Certainly, Manafort has Russian connections and they are pro-Putin.

As for the possibility that Donald Trump himself has business connections with Russia (which might be why he is reluctant to release tax returns) is strengthened by his appointment of Carter Page as his adviser on Russia.  The National Review, not noted as a liberal publication, reported back in March that “Carter Page is an out-and-out Putinite. A consultant to and investor in the Kremlin’s state-run gas company, Gazprom, Page has a direct financial interest in ending American sanctions against the company. Not only that, but Page is tight with the Kremlin’s foreign-policy apparatus and has served as a vehement propagandist for it.”

Read the full National Review article by clicking right here.   Be sure to read the final sentence.

Needless to say, birds of a feather flock together.   Paul Manafort, Carter Page, Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump!  Hmmm?  Read the full National Review article and learn where Trump gets some of his weird ideas.  Be sure to read the final sentence of the article. This is just another reason why Donald Trump must not be our next President.

Jack Lippman

                                                  

Why I'm For Hillary

Unabashedly, I am for Hillary Clinton in the upcoming Presidential election.  Sure, she has some shortcomings, all of which you can be made aware of in a grossly exaggerated manner by spending a few minutes watching Fox News.  A minute of Sean Hannity should do the job.  

But anyone who is a “doer,” as is Hillary, invariably is not right 100% of the time.  And her explanations are reasonable.  Her experience and credentials certainly qualify her for the Presidency.  Her opponent, as this blog has pointed out, is eminently unqualified to be President.  He has no government experience, possesses questionable business ethics and has a temperament ill-suited for the job of the leader of the nation to which most of the free world looks for support and understanding.

 

I likened him in my last posting to a school bus driver without a driver’s license, no experience with either busses nor school children and who got the job only through political pull.  Just as you would not knowingly put your child on a school bus with such a driver, you should not even consider voting for Donald Trump for President.

Donald Trump, although he has secured the Republican Party’s nomination, is not a Republican.  Although appearing on the G.O.P.’s line on the ballot, he is his own person, a loose cannon, beholden to no one but himself.  His successes thus far are the result of the support of bigots who like his anti-immigrant positions and want America to be like the place they incorrectly recall it once was almost a century ago, the support of the ignorant who, like Trump, know nothing about economics, foreign affairs and history and most of all, the support of the gullible, who see in his snake-oil salesman pitches, a hope for easy solutions to the difficult problems which our global economy and technological advances present. 

If elected, Trump will resort to authoritarian methods to grope for solutions to these problems, destroying the framework established by the Constitution of the United States. This “deal maker” will not hesitate to deal with the devil if it suits his ends.  Donald Trump is a danger to the bedrock of democracy as it functions in our republic.  He must be defeated.  Republicans must join with Democrats to accomplish this.  It's not about political parties.  It's about our country. 

(A few weeks ago, I suggested that Republicans who cannot bring themselves to vote for Trump, but were not willing to vote for Hillary Clinton, might vote "Libertarian," at least taking a vote away from Trump.   That strategy, however, is now questionable since the two independent candidates are now serving to dangerously reduce the margin between poll-leader Clinton and Trump.  Intelligent Republicans:  Save you party.  Vote for Clinton or stay home.)

Hillary Clinton, at least, offers solutions to these problems.  They are neither simple nor inexpensive but they outline a reasonable way to better our economy, create jobs and maintain a peaceful world.  Trump offers only bombast.

So, I guess you know where I stand.  But why am I so vehement about the necessity of defeating Donald Trump?  A few months ago, I celebrated my eighty-fourth birthday.  Who knows if I will be around to vote in 2020 and thereafter?  All senior citizens should take it upon themselves to vote to save our country from one who threatens to tear it apart.  Seniors, your 2016 Presidential vote, perhaps the last one you will ever cast although I certainly hope not, will be the most important Presidential vote in your lifetime.  Even if you have never before "gotten involved" in an election campaign, you should do so now!

 

Centenarian shown voting as family watches. If he can, you can too!

JL

                                                   

Trying to Understand Debt

(Because economists with impeccable credentials often disagree, I have in the past likened “economics” to astrology or alchemy.   Followers of the contradictory ideas of esteemed twentieth century economists like Milton Friedman and John Maynard Keynes abound today.  There is vast disagreement as to the role of government in our economy, too.  With all of that in mind, as someone with little background in economics, I feel that I can throw my two cents into this confusing mix and offer some thoughts about “debt.”  If you have your ideas, please pass them on to me!  JL)

In an ideal world, there would be no debt.  Individuals wouldn’t owe anything to anyone. Businesses wouldn’t owe anything to anyone.  Governments wouldn’t owe anything to anyone.  How could this miraculous situation come about?  Easy!  Nobody would borrow anything in the first place, so nobody would owe anyone anything!  It would be great if we all were King Midas and have all the resources we might ever want or need, but that is not the case.

Individuals wouldn’t borrow via a mortgage to purchase a home.  Auto loans (and leases) wouldn’t exist.  Students couldn’t borrow to pay tuition.  Businesses wouldn’t be able to borrow funds or issue bonds to bring in money to expand and grow.  Governments (at all levels, local, state and national) wouldn’t be able to issue bonds to bring in money to meet their expenses and pay for long range projects.

But in this ideal debt-free society, few people would own homes or automobiles, higher education would be affordable only for the very rich, and business and governments would grind to a halt, since the money coming in from purchases or taxes would be inadequate to keep businesses, and government, from operating.  Expansion or growth would be impossible.  Unemployment would be rampant.

BUT THAT’S NOT THE WAY IT IS!  Money is available to be borrowed for all of these purposes.  It’s known as credit. And credit has a price.  It is known as “interest.”  Interest rates vary, dependent on the borrowers’ supposed ability to repay what they borrow, but basically, all interest rates in this country are developed from what the Federal Reserve Bank determines to be the “prime rate,” the rate they charge banks when they lend them the funds which the banking industry cautiously pumps back into the economy for the many purposes discussed above. 

Janet Yellin heads the Fed which sets the prime rate for borrowing.  Yes, that number is 18 Trillion!

In the arcane world of monetary policy, there is supposedly some relationship between that interest rate and unemployment, based on the idea that a lower prime rate would encourage borrowing for business expansion and hence reduce unemployment, increasing consumer spending and enhance the growth rate of the nation’s economy. Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn’t.  

In a global economy, all of this is far more complicated because all nations do more or less the same thing and the availability of credit, and its corresponding debt, transcend international boundaries and currencies. Often, for lay people, economists, politicians and even bankers, what goes on defies understanding and conflicting theories as to how to manage debt abound at the highest levels worldwide. Visit Greece to see this confusion in operation!

Speculative markets offering the opportunity for the trading of the debt “instruments” (bonds) which make all of this possible can affect the cost of credit too.  Also, the United States Treasury sells all sorts of “paper” all over the world to bring in money to run the country.  Those who hold that paper, mostly Treasury bonds, are our government’s creditors, holding our debt.  Time for Tylenol, Aleve, Motrin or whatever you take when your head starts spinning!  This is not easy stuff.

So when politicians cry over the National Debt as a political issue, they usually ignore (or are ignorant of) where this debt comes from, and why it exists.  It isn’t an evil thing, irresponsibly developed.  Even though it is never thoroughly understood, debt is the other side of credit, without which all power would be centered with those who have great wealth and have no need to borrow.  The availability of credit, and its other side, debt, is what makes growth for everyone in a democracy possible, not just for King Midas.  

JL

                                               

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