During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England, the English Parliament put forth measures designed to reform the theological doctrines and rituals of the Church of England. This church was founded during the reign of Henry VIII in 1534 after separating papal authority from England to annul his marriage to his first wife and marry Elizabeth’s mother. From then on, the Puritan movement flourished both in prosperity and persecution.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) has clashed with comedian Seth Rogen on Twitter, calling Rogen a “moron” in a recent tweet exchange, according to a report by The Hill. “All jokes aside, @Sethrogen is a moron,” Sen. Cruz tweeted early on Sunday. “It’s your party that believes in govt power: to shut your business, to oppress … Keep Reading
President-elect Joe Biden is immediately demand Congress grant legal status to an estimated 11 million illegal aliens in the United States, according to the Associated Press. Biden has announced this will be the focus of his early administration. He plans to put forward legislation for consideration by Congress, given that Democrats now control both the … Keep Reading
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Freedom Caucus Chairman Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) have written a joint letter to President Donald Trump calling on him to immediately withdraw all troops from the “endless wars” in Iraq and Afghanistan. “Thank you for leadership and effort to bring our troops home and end the endless wars. We, the … Keep Reading
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has endorsed Manny Sethi for U.S. Senate in Tennessee, according to a report by the Nashville Tennesseean. “Tennessee deserves a true conservative who supports President Trump, is pro-liberty, and will fight out-of-control federal spending,” Paul stated in his endorsement message. “I believe Dr. Manny is the right choice. Like me, he’s … Keep Reading
During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England, the English Parliament put forth measures designed to reform the theological doctrines and rituals of the Church of England. This church was founded during the reign of Henry VIII in 1534 after separating papal authority from England to annul his marriage to his first wife and marry Elizabeth’s mother. From then on, the Puritan movement flourished both in prosperity and persecution.
On April 29, 1962, President John F. Kennedy held a dinner honoring Nobel Prize winners of the Western Hemisphere, considered the brightest minds at the time. To the winners, President Kennedy remarked: “I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone. Someone once said that Thomas Jefferson was a gentleman of 32 who could calculate an eclipse, survey an estate, tie an artery, plan an edifice, try a cause, break a horse, and dance the minuet.”
The Virginia Senate Election of 2019 saw Democrats taking control over both chambers of the Virginia Legislature for the first time since 1994 and ultimately controlling the state government by flipping both the House and Senate. Democrat Ralph Northam was sworn in as Virginia Governor in 2018. Not surprisingly, this Democratic stranglehold on the legislature and governorship made for easily passable proposals such as gun control measures. This includes a state law banning the ownership of “assault weapons,” universal background checks, limiting the magazine capacity in the state, and a red flag law. The legislation of the ban introduced in…
With the U.S. political landscape having been dominated by the two-party system, it is unlikely that an actual libertarian-conservative movement or party will emerge and evolve in terms of voting support. The semblance of political pluralism with the political factions in the Democrats and Republicans bloc doesn’t really change anything. If anything, this shows that system just contains various political factions under a same political label.
The 2018 Texas Republican Convention finished up this past weekend, and many pressing issues were on the agenda. In a clear sign of the times, the firmly red state added planks into their party platform expressing sympathy with relaxing marijuana laws. “Texas Republicans, like the majority of Americans, are ready to see more sensible marijuana policies enacted,” said Heather Fazio, who works at Texans for Responsible Marijuana Policy. “Our state wastes valuable criminal justice resources arresting between 60,000-70,000 Texans annually. Delegates took a stand this week for a better approach.” The Texas Republican Party not only favors legalizing medical marijuana…
President Donald Trump has signed the groundbreaking FIRST STEP Act into law, and the black community is elated. At the signing ceremony, former Obama aide Van Jones hailed Trump’s success and praised the movement for freedom behind Trump. “The freedom of the people who are trapped in a broken system, the freedom of people who are trapped in addiction, the freedom of people who are trapped in poverty, those are the people that your opportunity zones are targeted at, your opioid policies are targeted at, and your criminal justice policy is targeted at,” Jones declared. “And when you’re trying to…
While Republicans everywhere were cheering and pounding brews following Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court last week, the Queen of the Never Trumpers – Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) – was whining alongside the liberals. The former Ron Paul revolutionary turned sniveling Jeff Flake Republican took to Twitter to whine following Kavanaugh’s confirmation. The Republican establishment actually found its backbone and stood up for due process against a leftist witch hunt that would have shocked George Orwell himself, but the self-centered Amash is crying about being overshadowed. The GOP Establishment has been more powerful and more dominant in the 115th…
The wife of Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Kelley Paul, has called out Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) for his recent vocal endorsement of aggressive intimidation of Republican politicians by left-wing activists, in an op-ed for CNN. “I now keep a loaded gun by my bed,” Mrs. Paul wrote. “Our security systems have had to be expanded. I have never felt this way in my life.” She reminded readers that her husband has been the victim of two left-wing assassination attempts last year, including a mass shooter at a congressional baseball practice, and a local brute who left Sen. Paul hospitalized for…
Bipolar disorder causes mood swings that vary between depression and mania. Those with type 1 bipolar disorder will have very extreme manic episodes that may be accompanied by psychosis. If anyone has had experience with an adult family member who developed bipolar disorder type 1, they would know of the issues associated with how it may cause a person to hallucinate things happening, or even believe things happened from the past that never occurred. This is prevalent in people who go untreated for their disorder or those who will refuse to regularly take their medication. Recently, with the controversy over…
Raucous cheers of “USA, USA, USA,” flowed through the crowds at President Donald Trump’s Saturday-night rally to support Republican congressional candidate Rick Saccone in Moon Township, Pennsylvania. The speech was quintessentially populist, or rather, “Trumpian,” free flowing, direct, braggadocious, and sometimes quite humorous. Trump then took time to critique a recent piece by Peggy Noonan which ridiculed his demeanor and deemed it as not “presidential.” Trump mocked Noonan’s concept of what it means to be presidential. The enthralled crowd chuckled as Trump imitated a stiff, tight-lipped, rank-and-file politician. Noonan, Trump added, “is writing like I’m some kind of Neanderthal.”
Retail investors are in love with dividends more than they should be with significant fan followings and discussion forums online dedicated to the worship of dividend stocks. Clearly, dividends are seen as important because public companies love to brag about how consistent their dividend payments have been and how much they’ve raised them. Dividends are beloved because they give investors the allure of safety. Retail investors feel that a dividend payment is secure which means the investment is secure. However, in the financial crisis, dividend stocks fell about the same amount as the S&P 500. To be clear, dividend payments…
The Fed funds rate is a hotly debated topic because it’s the main policy tool the Fed uses. There is economic data which can be interpreted to support every argument. Furthermore, after the metrics are taken into account, the goals are subject to interpretation. Just because the core inflation rate goes above 2%, doesn’t mean the Fed needs to hike rates, as we have previously discussed. The Fed could determine that its mandate of creating stable prices is hit when the core inflation is 3%, as an example. We’ve seen the Fed ignore the data in 2017 because it felt…
Marvel’s Black Panther is smashing box office records left and right, due in no small part to the mainstream media’s dogmatic marketing campaign, while triggering strong emotions left and right, if you catch my drift. There has been much talk of the politics of this movie and yet they cannot be overstated. Set in an “Afro-futurist” world unencumbered by white influence or oppression, but somehow light-years ahead of the Western world in technology and sophistication, the isolationist nation of Wakanda is led by King T’Challa, also known as the Black Panther. It exists beyond an invisible barrier or wall separating…
President Trump deserves applause for boosting the prospects for this county’s forgotten manufacturing workers, notably in steel and aluminum. Democrats lately have neglected these Americans. Hillary Clinton barely campaigned among them in Michigan in fall 2016, and she thoroughly ignored them in Wisconsin. Alas, Trump is doing this all wrong. He likely will hurt the very middle class that he has championed since his escalator ride onto the political stage. Trump aims to protect U.S. metal makers with new taxes of 25 percent on foreign steel and 10 percent on overseas aluminum. “Tariffs” is just a jumped-up word for taxes on…
President Donald Trump announced last week that he plans on slapping a 25 percent tariff on steel and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum. Everyone seemingly lost their minds in response. Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals, and the mainstream media all had the same reaction: they universally opposed it. Where’s the other side to this story? The fact that no mainstream media outlet, politician, or think tank “economist” is willing to even mention the other side of the story will raise questions in every critical mind. Clearly the political and media establishment are all on-board for free trade. But…
In the financial media, it’s easy to see what the economists and analysts think about the current economy because usually they propose more of the same when asked about the future. It’s simple to extend the current trend indefinitely, but that’s not always a good idea, nor is it realistic. Even during economic expansions, there are mid-cycle slowdowns. While a slowdown doesn’t mean a bear market is coming for the overall market, it could mean a correction is coming in at least a few sectors. Therefore, it should affect how you allocate capital.
The purpose of this article is to objectively examine trade policy and its impact on the economy. While there will be discussion of government policy, our review is not negatively nor positively inclined towards any particular administration. During the presidential campaign trail, then Candidate Trump stated that he’d renegotiate trade deals to stop other countries from ripping America off. Following the election, for the first year of his presidency, it appeared there wouldn’t be any trade wars as promised. This belief existed because Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping last May in which he negotiated a deal to open…
One of the biggest generational differences which causes a disconnect between baby boomers and millennials is student debt. Many baby boomers are confused why college graduates don’t immediately move out of their parents’ house like baby boomers did. The issue is that once a student graduates, they become debtors. It’s a vicious cycle which turns compound returns against borrowers. For example, say you graduate with $40,000 in debt and you owe a 4% interest rate for 15 years. While the federal government expects the loans to be paid back in 10 years, it takes the average Wisconsin graduate 19.7 years…
Now that I have several children, I’m often in the company of other parents who talk about the way things “used to be.” When the issue of child safety comes up, I hear parents sadly shake their heads and say things like “it’s not like it was when we were kids … the world is so much more dangerous now.” Usually, the sentiment behind this idea is that there are more murders now than there used to be. Now, I’m not exactly known for being a Pollyanna, but I am willing to admit when things are not, in fact, getting…
Investors are trying to get a reading on where inflation will go in the next 12 months because it’s a key variable for forecasting asset prices and the Fed funds rate. As you can see from the chart below, the year over year core CPI will hit near 2.5% in late 2018 if the month over month increase is 0.16% in February and 0.19% going forward.
According to the usual news sources, Donald Trump’s new budget proposal “envisions steep cuts to America’s social safety net” and will “gut social programs.” Most of the cuts were proposed to pave the way for more Pentagon spending. In truth, Trump’s proposal doesn’t matter, and Congress will set to work piling on more deficit spending for both social programs and for the Pentagon. But, the debate of “gutting” social programs will no doubt be used to perpetuate, yet again, the myth that the United States is ruled by libertarian social Darwinists who ensure that no more than a few pennies are spent via…
We’re going to dedicate another article to re-discovering the relationship between the 10 year bond and the stock market. With bond yields skyrocketing in the 4th quarter of 2017 and the first 2 months of 2018, it’s more important now than ever to understand the relationship. The confusing aspect, which started during the correction in early February 2018, is that the financial media headlines blame yields going up for the stock market decline, but the yields and stocks often act in correlation. In a previous article, we discussed that historically when the 10 year bond yield gets to 5%, stocks…
Some analysts speculated if the Fed would try to keep rates low to support the government’s spending binge. However, instead of worrying about the debt, the $400 billion spending plan and the tax cuts are being used as an excuse to raise interest rates and let the government bonds on the Fed’s balance sheet expire. At a conference on February 27th, which was right after Powell’s first Congressional testimony, Yellen and Bernanke were asked about the biggest risk factor facing the economy. Bernanke said geopolitical events and Yellen worries about how the Fed balances growth versus inflation. While these are…
With the first stock market correction in over a year, having occurred in early February, there were many media narratives about what caused the selloff. We think it was driven by the unwind of the short VIX trade. Buying protection wasn’t considered important with the VIX at record lows in 2017. However, when nobody thinks there’s a need for protection, it’s probably a good idea to buy some especially since it’s cheap. Shorting the VIX is shorting protection. The stock market was like a car driving 80 miles per hour where the riders were betting against the need for air…
We’ve discussed the price to income ratio of housing in a previous article. This gave us an idea of how expensive housing has become. We’ll discuss some of best points why real estate is too expensive and then provide the counterpoint explaining why housing isn’t in a bubble.
