Biden's America Last Program

[GURPS]

'What the hell does he know about economics?'​

Home Depot co-founder and billionaire businessman Bernie Marcus isn't sure he would be able to create the home improvement chain today if he tried given onerous regulations on small businesses and a challenging economic backdrop.

"I don't think so," Marcus — a well-known proponent of free market capitalism and small businesses — said on a new edition of Yahoo Finance Presents. "I think if we had the regulations that we have today, Home Depot would be a chain of 12 stores. I just don't think we could have grown."

Marcus also had some choice words for politicians, the Biden administration, and notably the occupier of the Oval Office.

"Most of the people in Washington never ran a business," added Marcus, who is also the new author of Kick Up Some Dust: Lessons on Thinking Big, Giving Back, and Doing It Yourself. "You have a president that never worked a day in his life — never worked a day in his life. What the hell does he know about economics? But he sure spouts about it a lot."

 

[herb749]

Oil Companies Report Record Profits, Biden Urges Them to Lower Prices​

Energy, Big Oil, ExxonMobil, Joe Biden, White House, Oil Companies, Russia, Gas Prices

AllSides Summary​

A number of oil companies released earnings reports this past week, revealing large profits in the wake of high gasoline prices. ExxonMobil, the largest oil company in America, recorded a record profit for the second straight quarter with $19.7 billion net income and $112.07 billion quarterly revenue. The earnings reports have drawn scorn from President Biden, who criticized oil companies for spending billions of dollars of profits on stock buybacks instead of lowering prices at the pump.
Key Quotes: A post from the President’s Twitter account read, “giving profits to shareholders is not the same as bringing prices down for American families.” Earlier this month, the President called for oil companies to use profits to lower prices, with CNBC (Center Bias) quoting him saying, “invest in America for the American people. Bring down the price you charge at the pump, to reflect what you pay for the product. You’ll still make a significant profit, your shareholders will do very well, and the American people will catch a break they deserve and get a fair price at the pump as well.”
For Context: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused turbulence in the global energy market. With many Western nations no longer importing Russian oil, a supply decrease allows remaining market players to raise prices.
How the Media Covered it: CNN Business noted the companies did not themselves reference that profits were record-breaking, attributing the decision to “consumer outrage over high gas prices.”

If they are selling oil to countries not receiving Russian oil, they are getting more money for that oil thus higher profits. Then with the restrictions being placed on oil drilling they are spending less and producing less that also is increasing prices & profits.

 

[GURPS]

Biden Admin Sued Over Withholding Baby Formula Shortage Information​

According to a complaint, the FTC ignored an August FOIA request from The Functional Government Initiative for records on its investigation into the shortage that affected families all over the country.

“FGI anticipates that officials and staff at FTC discussed and participated in making and implementing decisions about the investigation into the infant formula crisis… the public does not have an ability to easily evaluate the decision-making surrounding FTC’s investigation,” according to the lawsuit.

In May, the director of the National Economic Council Brian Deese admitted that the Biden Administration knew about a possible baby formula shortage months before in happened.

However, in a September report, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) blamed the shortage on a manufacturing problem at the Abbott Nutrition plant in Michigan.

Earlier this week, it was reported that one third of households are still struggling to get baby formula nearly a year after the crisis began.

 

[Kyle]

Biden Admin Sued Over Withholding Baby Formula Shortage Information​

From the WH: "If people had only used "Common Sense Birth Control" and aborted the little ####s there wouldn't have been a formula shortage."

 

[LightRoasted]

For your consideration ...

Oil Companies Report Record Profits, Biden Urges Them to Lower Prices

When actual inflation, aka unfettered expansion of the money supply, is taken into account, these companies are just experiencing normal profits.

 

[Hijinx]

For your consideration ...


When actual inflation, aka unfettered expansion of the money supply, is taken into account, these companies are just experiencing normal profits.

Well : Let me ask this. If a President stated that he was going to put you out of business, wouldn't you take as much profit as you could get away with while you still could?

 

[LightRoasted]

For your consideration ...

Well : Let me ask this. If a President stated that he was going to put you out of business, wouldn't you take as much profit as you could get away with while you still could?

Wouldn't matter, what with my super duper golden parachute retirement package. Run me out of business, and I'll still be fine. It's the people that depend on my business that will be the ones suffering the most.

Besides, when we were in a somewhat non-inflationary environment, oil companies had much smaller margins. To price their products as they do now, is to balance out prior losses. It's all about inflation, expansion of the money supply, anyway. They are not gouging the public, but taking advantage of the current economic climate. With the dollar losing more of its perceived value everyday, why not try and make up for it and get as many of those dollars as possible? I would.

Look at the stock market, the DOW, that number, today, 32,732, is representative of where the majority of inflation has gone. Which btw, is due for a serious correction, aka a huge crash. All because the fundamentals have been thrown out the window, and with people earning less and having their purchasing power robbed from them through inflation devaluing the dollar, means holding back on spending except for necessities, which, as things are playing out now, will very soon be reflected in the balance sheets of all these corporations. POP goes the bubble.

If the people are so brain washed from a lifetime of propaganda believing that those pieces of paper with numbers and some silly plastic strip in their wallet is money, then there is far more of a problem there than oil companies charging more.

Also, to put it in a bit of perspective ....... A quarter, 1964 and older, has a silver melt value of $3.48 of fiat currency. Would you look at that. $3.48? Just about the price of a gallon of gas. So in essence a gallon of gas really still only costs .25. But since we did away with our prior sound specie money system and adopted a fiat debt based currency system operated by private bankers, we now pay that $3.48 with currency created out of nothing.

Specie - gold and silver coin = real money
Currency - fiat, by dictate = acting as money

 

[Merlin99]

For your consideration ...


Wouldn't matter, what with my super duper golden parachute retirement package. Run me out of business, and I'll still be fine. It's the people that depend on my business that will be the ones suffering the most.

Besides, when we were in a somewhat non-inflationary environment, oil companies had much smaller margins. To price their products as they do now, is to balance out prior losses. It's all about inflation, expansion of the money supply, anyway. They are not gouging the public, but taking advantage of the current economic climate. With the dollar losing more of its perceived value everyday, why not try and make up for it and get as many of those dollars as possible? I would.

Look at the stock market, the DOW, that number, today, 32,732, is representative of where the majority of inflation has gone. Which btw, is due for a serious correction, aka a huge crash. All because the fundamentals have been thrown out the window, and with people earning less and having their purchasing power robbed from them through inflation devaluing the dollar, means holding back on spending except for necessities, which, as things are playing out now, will very soon be reflected in the balance sheets of all these corporations. POP goes the bubble.

If the people are so brain washed from a lifetime of propaganda believing that those pieces of paper with numbers and some silly plastic strip in their wallet is money, then there is far more of a problem there than oil companies charging more.

Also, to put it in a bit of perspective ....... A quarter, 1964 and older, has a silver melt value of $3.48 of fiat currency. Would you look at that. $3.48? Just about the price of a gallon of gas. So in essence a gallon of gas really still only costs .25. But since we did away with our prior sound specie money system and adopted a fiat debt based currency system operated by private bankers, we now pay that $3.48 with currency created out of nothing.

Specie - gold and silver coin = real money
Currency - fiat, by dictate = acting as money

Sort of agree and sort of disagree. Gold and silver don’t have much intrinsic value (unless you’re an engineer) they’ve just been given a nominal value by use. Most people wouldn’t know 18 karat gold from 10 karat or even brass.

 

[Hijinx]

Sort of agree and sort of disagree. Gold and silver don’t have much intrinsic value (unless you’re an engineer) they’ve just been given a nominal value by use. Most people wouldn’t know 18 karat gold from 10 karat or even brass.

Which is one reason I do not save gold as a safety for if the dollar goes bad.
I don't know much about it and I know it's really easy to get screwed.
I can tell gold from brass, but what it is worth and it's karat value is a mystery to me.
Like Diamonds or other safety valves. Too easy for some sharp operator to put the screws to me.

 

[LightRoasted]

For your consideration ...

Sort of agree and sort of disagree. Gold and silver don’t have much intrinsic value (unless you’re an engineer) they’ve just been given a nominal value by use. Most people wouldn’t know 18 karat gold from 10 karat or even brass.

"Don't have intrinsic value"? Are you kidding? The current dollars in your pocket have no value whatsoever let alone any intrinsic value.
Gold and silver must be mined using physical labor. Gold and silver must be refined using physical labor. Gold and silver must be coined using physical labor. THAT, is what gives gold and silver its value, that physical labor that is put into it, as well as its utility and as a means of exchange. It is labor that makes some thing have value. This is why gold and silver have been used as money for over 5000 years. Because they are finite and lasting and is very hard to manipulate. In addition to not being able to created out of nothing.

A felled tree in and of itself has no real value. But when someone comes along and turns that tree into a dining room set, now it has value because of the physical labor put into it to make it so, as well as that wood now has utility to be sat upon and eaten from.

 

[Monello]

Army Secretary Champions What's 'Important': Making 'Marginalized Communities' 'Feel Included'​

But these days, it seems, everyone should do the opposite of that suggested by John F. Kennedy during his 1961 inaugural address. Our new dictate: Demand what your country must do for you.

Apropos of the radical reversal, Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth recently laid out a Defense Department priority. During the Association of the Army’s annual conference, she asserted the branch isn’t woke — it’s just focused on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

The Army is here to care for those who’ve been harmed. It now sees each unique individual — including his or her color, sexual sensibilities, and self-perception — and it’s devoted to being inclusive:

According to data that I could find, minority participation in the military mirrors their percentage of the general population.

• • White, 58.1%
  • 
    Hispanic or Latino, 16.8%
  • 
    Black or African American, 14.2%
  • 
    Asian, 5.4%
  • 
    Unknown, 4.5%
  • 
    American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0% https://www.zippia.com/military-jobs/demographics/

So I'm not sure why they are always keening about the race numbers. If anything, women are under represented by a huge margin. I don't hear much about this disparity. Are some disparities more urgent than others? It would appear so.

This is a case of the army making a problem where 1 doesn't exist.

 

[Merlin99]

For your consideration ...


"Don't have intrinsic value"? Are you kidding? The current dollars in your pocket have no value whatsoever let alone any intrinsic value.
Gold and silver must be mined using physical labor. Gold and silver must be refined using physical labor. Gold and silver must be coined using physical labor. THAT, is what gives gold and silver its value, that physical labor that is put into it, as well as its utility and as a means of exchange. It is labor that makes some thing have value. This is why gold and silver have been used as money for over 5000 years. Because they are finite and lasting and is very hard to manipulate. In addition to not being able to created out of nothing.

A felled tree in and of itself has no real value. But when someone comes along and turns that tree into a dining room set, now it has value because of the physical labor put into it to make it so, as well as that wood now has utility to be sat upon and eaten from.

I'm going to stand on the no intrinsic value. They have value to an engineer because of their conduction abilities and ductility, but to the average person it's just a pretty bauble. A bushel of wheat now, that has intrinsic value as does coal, oil, wood...

 

[phreddyp]

I'm going to stand on the no intrinsic value. They have value to an engineer because of their conduction abilities and ductility, but to the average person it's just a pretty bauble. A bushel of wheat now, that has intrinsic value as does coal, oil, wood...

Try hauling that sh*t around to make a purchase, gold n silver will look good then!

 

[Gilligan]

Try hauling that sh*t around to make a purchase, gold n silver will look good then!

And when the SHTF, I'm going to laugh at the clowns that think they'll trade gold or silver for the food, ammo, firearms, shelter and medicines that I have stockpiled. .

 

[phreddyp]

And when the SHTF, I'm going to laugh at the clowns that think they'll trade gold or silver for the food, ammo, firearms, shelter and medicines that I have stockpiled. .

Most folks that own gold and silver do not actually have possession of it anyway.

 

[stgislander]

And when the SHTF, I'm going to laugh at the clowns that think they'll trade gold or silver for the food, ammo, firearms, shelter and medicines that I have stockpiled. .

Corona does not equal medicine.

 

[Merlin99]

Corona does not equal medicine.

Depends on what you’re trying to cure. If you’re bound up there’s nothing like Mexican ditch water to loosen up the tight sphincter.

 

[LightRoasted]

For your consideration ...

I'm going to stand on the no intrinsic value. They have value to an engineer because of their conduction abilities and ductility, but to the average person it's just a pretty bauble. A bushel of wheat now, that has intrinsic value as does coal, oil, wood...

This is because you've been fully programmed over your lifetime to believe your opinion.

Throughout history, three metals have been used as money: gold, silver, and copper. All share the five qualities of good money—durability, divisibility, portability, consistency, and intrinsic value—but in different proportions. All three metals can be bought for the same reasons as well—each is a long-term store of value, and as a medium of exchange. Gold has always been, and probably always will be used primarily as money. Copper will probably remain an industrial metal. Silver falls neatly in between them both in price, the way it’s used, and its use a money.

And when the SHTF, I'm going to laugh at the clowns that think they'll trade gold or silver for the food, ammo, firearms, shelter and medicines that I have stockpiled.

A SHTF scenario will be a short lived phenomenon. Soon after which stability will be brought back, hopefully with a sound monetary system once again. Me, I've got set aside provisions specifically to take advantage for bartering for gold and silver. Such as simple and cheap ball ammo for firearms I do not own. Because once a SHTF scenario is over, gold and silver will still have its value.

 

[Kyle]

Corona does not equal medicine.

Alcohol is an antiseptic.

 

[GURPS]

Kamala Harris to Announce Plans to Help Americans Heat Their Homes by Burning Billions in Cash​

Vice President Kamala Harris is announcing that $13 billion in federal funds from the “Inflation Reduction Act” (keep reading once you’ve stopped laughing) will go to help low-income families weatherize their homes in preparation for cold temperatures this winter.

“This includes providing direct consumer rebates for installations of heat pumps, heating, ventilating, and air conditioning systems, and water heaters, as well as for upgrading electrical wires,” reports the Washington Examiner. “The funds will also provide direct assistance to help with high heating costs through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP.”

One administration official said that the funds “will enable up to 1.6 million homes to make critical upgrades to their homes installing up to 500,000 heat pumps,” adding, “President Biden’s economic plan is helping households access energy efficient equipment the next time they need to make home repairs so they can save money on their utility bills — not just this year but for years to come.”