Pumping the brakes, Latest views
Yesterday I got a request from the solar company for a copy of my one million dollar umbrella liability policy that was required to connect to the LCEC solar grid. I immediately forwarded the policy hoping this meant things would continue to progress with minimal delay. When I asked what the estimate was for flipping the switch I was not happy with the answer, somewhere around 30 days. I’m going to be calling LCEC this morning to see what I can do to get some acceleration on that timeline. It would be unfortunate to have the array in the backyard for a month twiddling it’s thumbs.
This weekend has standard fare on the menu including trying to get more of the Xmas buying task completed so I can move on to just enjoying the season.
I was very surprised on Wednesday when I heard Hilary Clinton was on the Stern show. I heard maybe an hour of the interview which I found to be very interesting. Howard has always been a big Hilary fan and during the 2016 election he repeatedly said how he would have loved to have her on the show. The lack of time restriction and free flowing style of the conversation gave insight into Hilary that probably would have been helpful in her presidential bid.
Speaking of presidential politics, my views on it have shifted somewhat in the last 6 months or so. In 2016 I was all about Bernie and his progressive ideas that basically were the next step, building on some of the ideas that Obama tried to get rolling. I thought the way Hilary won was definitely shady and I think the “super delegate” system is utterly ridiculous. However, I also think that the bitter stance that Bernie took about Hilary being the nominee possibly was a deciding factor leading to King Clown being in the White house today. Bernie’s half hearted endorsement pushed a lot of his supporters to more or less waste their vote on the independent candidates in 2016 to make a statement, which had an impact in close states. I know my brother Patrick who is a HUGE Bernie supporter did exactly that.
So I still love Bernie but to be quite honest my biggest concern is getting a candidate that will beat Trump. Despite the utter lunacy of the last three years up to and including the current impeachment process, there is a dangerous chance he could get reelected because some key economic numbers are good. His short sighted corporate tax breaks and regulation roll backs have resulted in lots of profit reaping for those in the penthouse looking down. The average Joe is not better off, especially if he is smart enough to figure out that he basically traded a few less tax dollars for paying more for goods and services courtesy of tariffs. Employment numbers are also at some of the best levels ever however that doesn’t factor in that workforce participation is actually at a historical low, somewhere around 63%. People that aren’t looking for jobs don’t count as being unemployed. This is the same participation number under Obama, yet he was vilified for it while Donald sweeps it under the rug.
The most damning and telling truth about the propped up economic prosperity is that despite some big numbers elsewhere in the economy they have not had the affect on deficits that they had in the past. Usually when the economy is booming the federal deficit shrinks. Remember those years where Clinton actually was running at a budget surplus? Well the stable genius instead has thrown long term viability in the dumpster for short term gains. The deficit has exploded under Trump. But you know what, most people just are too lazy or unfocused to care.
They see the stock market is high and unemployment is low and that is good enough for them. If their own tiny circle of life is ok most are unlikely to be concerned with the big picture, it’s a shortcoming of human nature. Until a pile of shit is in your own front yard you don’t care about it. So anyway what all this ranting means in a nutshell is if the main numbers in the economy remain at this level, it is going to be difficult to shake people out of their lack of common sense coma. A popping stock market bubble that seems to be long overdue, would go a long way towards helping the election outcome.
So anyway, this situation has morphed my ideas about the most viable candidate for the democrats. If I am being honest the extremely progressive ideas that candidates like Bernie and Elizabeth Warren present, while being idealistic and definitely greater good based, are also too polarizing and just unrealistic in today’s political environment. To actually accomplish what they propose would basically require ripping out most of the current sitting Congress and implementing term limits. They would never be able to get anywhere with these ideas without progressive support from both the House and Senate, which I just don’t think is there. It’s great that they say they want to make all of these sweeping changes but if they have no shot of actually making them happen and their policies are like throwing gas on the Trump acolytes fire, does it serve the end goal of getting the insanity out of the White House?
So with my revised thought process the two candidates I really like are Buttigieg and Yang. Both men are incredibly intelligent, young, and offer more middle viewpoints that still push towards the progressive side without creating the sort of noise and memes that phrases like “wealth tax” invoke. Yang is pretty far back in the pack but Buttigieg at least has some momentum in Iowa so we will see if that translates into actual traction. Unfortunately being a gay man will carry the same if not more discrimination from some people that also hated Obama. It’s pretty pathetic that the religious right would never consider a gay candidate but will openly embrace Trump who never met a moral he wasn’t happy to walk on top of.
Ok enough ranting, let’s enjoy the weekend.