Thinking Out Loud

Give It A Try

Another week, another assassination attempt, but it surprises no one. Face it, we have enough crazies in this world that those on the fringe need not be incited. Something is wrong with our leadership that allows for this to happen. When the proper security change can be made with a telephone call, not doing so is a disservice. Come on Joe, how would you feel if they were shooting at you or Kamala?

That being said, on a “sarcastic” side, Ryan Routh, the assassin looking for a “hole in one,” should have been “put on the clock." After all, playing a golf hole only takes 15 minutes, and he was on site for 12 hours. I hope he picked up his litter.

To Scare Or Not To Scare

Here we go again. The markets and extinct politicians are sitting on the sidelines, just waiting for Jerome Powell to announce the Fed’s interest rate decision. If they lower 50 basis points, Joe and Kamala will not be happy. It will mean that “Bidenomics” did not work and that the king is dead. No one will be “cheering” for the queen to live all that long, either.

For that reason, and that reason only, Powell is going to lower by 25 basis points. They are going to tell everyone that the Fed will keep lowering for four to six meetings. Too bad the Fed, like always, is behind the curve. Recent rates should have headed higher. The increases should have started sooner. Yellen should have given up on mushrooms and Powell should have spanked her to stop printing money, but neither happened, so we are stuck.

I’m turning 70 next year, and despite Powell doing a decent job, the only chairman of the Fed worth learning from was Paul Volcker. It’s a shame from all sides, and we, the voting public, are the ones to suffer. Rates were too low for too long, but no one cared. It was inevitable that inflation would raise its head as too much money was dumped into the economy. That has not stopped, and quite frankly, it’s not going to stop unless you want another major recession or depression. Neither candidate has a solution, but at least Trump’s ideas will moderate the problem.

Drill Baby Drill

The only chance we have to keep rates lower, decrease our government spending, and keep taxes lower comes from energy. It’s not time for electric cars when the energy to drive them comes from hydrocarbons. Couple deregulation into the equation, and we just might have a temporary solution, but first, I want to hear what Kamala thinks. If we do have another debate, she needs to define the actual cost of 3.0 million houses and how she plans to give small businesses $50,000 each to start. I wish someone had $50,000 to give me when I was starting business after business.

I hate lies and the lack of reality that goes with them. Harris has had almost four years to “do her thing,” and in reality, all she and the “big guy” did was to make it worse. We are faced with spending $1.0 trillion to service our debt. Manufacturing is dead, and a future filled with importing products in a declining dollar market is obvious. Just how anyone can be so blind not to see the obvious is above me. Still, Kamala, I want to hear it from you. What’s your plan?

“Try to Remember” and The Fantasticks were as real as it gets. Off-Broadway was a wonderful place to dream. I had the pleasure of the lead role in this play, but I always wanted to sing “Plant A Radish.” You get what you plant, folks. Over the last twenty or so years, we have planted the seeds of inflation and financial ruin. No play or magic trick is going to make it all right. Tempering the suffering is what we have done, and we will continue to do. It’s time to bite the bullet, but no one has the “balls” to do it.