Trump says he will blunt the central bank’s autonomy should he win a second term. This could be disastrous.

by Rod Williams, Aug. 10, 2024- There are a lot of reasons to fear a Donald Trump second term, the primary one being that Donald Trump is an authoritarian at heart who attempted a coup that failed but his next coup attempt may succeed. 

Second on my list of reasons to fear a Trump second term is that I believe he will greenlight Russian aggression, destroy NATO, and abandon America's leadership role in the world. 

I would say my third reason is that Trump is mentally and temperamentally unfit. He flies by the seat of his pants, relies on his instincts instead of data and informed analysis, and reacts to events emotionally rather than rationally and is not well-grounded in a set of principles to guide his actions. Along with that, he thinks he is the smartest guy in the room and sees no need to read or prepare or seek advice.  I think this was always true of Donald Trump, but in his first term this characteristic was curtailed and mitigated by establishment and sane people who keep him within the guardrails. This was because Trumpism was new and the people he had to rely on were establishment and sane. In a second Trump term he will not have those kinds of people to steer him. He will be surrounded by loyal sycophants who are as crazy as he is. 

There are other more specific things that I fear from a second Trump term. I fear he will end the Federal Reserve's autonomy and unleash runaway inflation. When Trump was President he appointed Jerome Powell as chairman of the Federal Reserve, a position to which President Biden has since reappointed him. While Trump served as president, Powell angered Trump by keeping interest rates higher than Trump wanted. Trump unsuccessfully tried to browbeat the Fed chair and Federal Reserve Board members into lowering interest rates and called them "boneheads” and at at one time asked in a social media post who was a bigger “enemy,” Mr. Powell or China’s president Xi Jinping (link). In 2019 Trump said the Fed should set interest rates at zero.

On Thursday Trump said presidents should be allowed to influence the Federal Reserve in setting interest rates. This is frightening. High interest rates are never popular. They are not popular but often necessary to curtail inflation. Where politicians can set interest rates or "print money," nations experience massive inflation. People almost always want cheap money. They see the answer to raising prices as having more cash in their pockets. They want to pay off accumulated debt with money that is worth less than when they borrowed it. Cheap money is a populist demand and a demagogue's response. 

With government Debt to GDP in the United States reaching an all-time high of 126% and with interest on the debt exceeding the total defense budget and being almost as much as we spend on Medicare, runaway inflation is a real possibility. We need an independent Fed to cool the economy when it gets overheated. We do not want a Fed that reacts to popular opinion. Allowing presidents to have more say over interest rates would reverse a long-standing norm of central bank autonomy and could lead to a disaster. 

According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump didn’t explain in detail what kind of role he envisions for himself in setting interest rates, arguing only that he should have a say in setting them. But, he said he is more qualified to make decisions than many Fed officials about monetary policy because of his business experience. “I made a lot of money,” he said. “I was very successful, and I think I have a better instinct than, in many cases, people that would be on the Federal Reserve or the chairman.”

A group allied with Trump has produced a document outlining options for curtailing the Fed’s independence. To read more about Trump's call for curtailing central bank's independence and what the Trump allied group has called for, and what others are saying about Trump's proposal follow this link, this one, and this. 

 

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Trump picking Vance is just one more sign that Trump is categorically unfit for office.

From Sarah Longwell, Republican Accountability PAC, Aug. 9, 2024- At this point, you’ve probably heard people call JD Vance “weird” dozens, maybe hundreds of times. As someone who consumes politics all day, I’m even getting a little sick of it. But often things are cliches because they’re true.

And the truth is, there is something genuinely unsettling about Trump’s VP pick:

• He’s hostile to no-fault divorce and has even suggested that women should stay in violent, abusive marriages.
• He proposed that parents of children under 18 should get extra votes.
• He claimed “childless adults” are “more sociopathic” and make America “less mentally stable."
• Supports InfoWars lunatic Alex Jones, saying that he represents “important truths.”
• Admitted to being “plugged into a lot of weird right-wing subcultures.”

And it’s not just the substance of what he believes, but also the style. Vance is steeped in a particular strain of online, right-wing thought that is angry, punitive, and deeply unappealing to the great majority of American voters. And anyone who believes these far-out ideals—let alone campaigns on them—should be nowhere near the White House.

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TN continues legal push to cut Nashville council in half. I say enough is enough. Give it a rest.

by Rod Williams, August 9, 2024- As reported in The Tennessean today, State officials are appealing a court ruling that let Nashville keep its 40-person Metro Council. On July 29th, a split panel of three judges struck down a state law passed in 2023 that capped councils for all metropolitan governments in large cities at 20 members. In effect, the law as it was written only applied to Nashville. Two of the three judges said this violated protections for home rule in the Tennessee Constitution. The Tennessee Attorney General's office filed its appeal Wednesday of this week.

State legislators justified passing the law capping the size of a cities governing body in the name of efficiency, but I don't think anyone is buying that. This law was passed, along with other laws that took certain decision-making powers away from Nashville and gave them to state officials, as a way to punish Nashville after the Metro Council rejected a draft agreement to host the 2024 Republican National Convention. 

The State needs to give it a rest. This is pure vindictiveness. After the Council refused to pursue attracting the Republican National Convention, which we would have likely gotten, the State retaliated with a series of measures to punish Nashville. These included taking over the Sports Authority, the Airport Authority, a measure to protect racing at the Fairgrounds, a measure abolishing Metro's police civilian review board, and the measure to cut the size of the Council. I understand the State's frustration, but this vindictiveness is too much. 

Metro should have pursued the Republican convention. The City rejected it for no other reason than it was a Republican convention. To host it certainly would not have implied support for the Republican Party or Donald Trump. We host a lot of conventions that may not represent the views of the majority of Nashvillians. We recently hosted a Bitcoin convention. That does not constitute an endorsement of Bitcoin. 

Hosting a major party convention is a big deal. Milwaukee attracted over 50,000 visitors. Nashville is a more fun place than Milwaukee and if Nashville had hosted, the number of visitors would have probably been even greater. The economic impact for Milwaukee was estimated to be a $200 million revenue boost. I am always a little skeptical of the claims of a financial boost from any major event because often it is a gross estimate and not a net calculation. Hosting a big convention, like a major party convention, means other conventions do not take place during that time period and other tourist who would have been here or not here because the convention takes all of the hotel rooms. So, while the claim of economic benefit may be inflated, to host such a convention is never-the-less an economic plum. Also, it cast a spotlight on the city which attracts other tourist and other conventions and maybe corporate relocations. That is a hard intangible to measure but it is a benefit of hosting such an event. 

Hosting major events can be disruptive and inconvenient for a few days to people who go downtown and there is always the threat of disruptive protest and violence at a political convention. However, I think Nashville was foolish for rejecting the Convention. I would feel the same way if it were the Democrat convention we were considering. 

The City was petty for rejecting the Convention and the State was vindictive for the City's pettiness. Metro has won on most of the efforts to punish it. The law abolishing Metro's version of a police civilian review board did survive. The measures that failed did so because they violate the Home Rule Amendment to the Tennessee Constitution, which prohibits that state from passing measure that only impact one city without approval from the local residents of the city impacted.

Some critics of the state's actions will make the argument that this vindictiveness on the part of the State is hypocritical because Republicans are quick to condemn the Federal government imposing its will on a state and they see the relationship of federal to state, analogous to the relationship between state and city. I reject that analogy. States have real sovereignty; cites do not. Home rule gives cities a certain amount of sovereignty; the Federal government does not give the States their sovereignty. Cities are chartered by the state. It the state wanted to abolish a city; it could do so. The Federal government has no authority to abolish a State. 

Some critics of the state action will lump all State actions curtailing Nashville's decision making into the same bucket. I don't. When Nashville tried to impose requirement on developers that they build so many units of affordable housing in each new development, a policy called "inclusionary zoning," the state passed a law preventing the city from doing so. Some years ago, when the city attempted to become a sanctuary city, the state stepped in and prevented Nashville from doing so. The recent action regarding civilian review boards falls in this bucket of political and economic policy decisions. There are others, that do also but do not come immediately to mind. If not for the State our progressive city would probably have its own minimum wage law, and rent control, and price controls, and would protect what is called "gender affirmation health care" for minors, and would ban Big Gulps. I am pleased that the State preempts the city from taking certain actions and stops Metro from becoming the San Francisco of the South. 

So, while on policy issues, I support state supremacy and preemptions; when it comes to taking over the Sports authority, or the Airport authority or reducing the size of the council this are governance issues. These vindictive actions by the State are as distasteful as was Metro's pettiness in rejecting hosting the Republican convention. The State needs to give it a rest and return to a normal relationship. 

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Tennessee U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles’ campaign finance reports still don’t add up

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The U. S. has borrowed $5 billion each day this fiscal year

Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, August 8, 2024- The United States borrowed $1.5 trillion in the first ten months of fiscal year 2024, including $242 billion in July, according to the latest Monthly Budget Review from the Congressional Budget Office. 

The following is a statement from Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget: 

We’re nearly at the end of fiscal year 2024, and while most of America is focused on the momentum in the race for the White House, beneath the surface our nation’s fiscal health has continued to worsen. We’ve just surpassed $35 trillion in gross debt, and today’s CBO projections estimate we’ve borrowed another $242 billion in July, or $5 billion each day this fiscal year.

Regardless of who wins this November, the next president will have to confront a laundry list of fiscal decisions shortly into their term, including trillions in expiring tax provisions, a debt ceiling that will need to be raised or suspended, expiring spending caps, and major trust funds edging ever close to insolvency. These decisions will have lasting impacts beyond the next four years, whether we choose to address them thoughtfully and responsibly, or whether we choose to continue down the path of careless indifference. 

Our fiscal trajectory cannot be left on autopilot – the stakes are far too high and the consequences far too steep to leave our national debt climbing in perpetuity. Considering the sheer size of the challenges we already face – interest costs on course to exceed our defense and Medicare budgets, deficits barreling toward $2 trillion, and no plan in the works to turn things around – how can we afford to sit idle any longer? 

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David French: If Conservatism is going to Have a Viable Future, then Trump has to lose.

David French

by Rod Williams, August 7, 2024- David French is one of my favorite political commentators. He is a local guy, and I have seen him speak several times. Once I saw him when he was the guest speaker at a First Tuesday event some years ago. This Spring, I took a class on the Constitution he taught as part of David Liscomb's continuing education program. The class was called "The American foundings." It was excellent and I hated to see it end. 

David is a conservative scholar, and his politics is informed by his Christian faith. He is a former attorney who has argued and wow several high-profile religious liberty cases. He has been a columnist for National Review, a fellow at The National Review Insitute and a senior editor at The Dispatch and is currently a columnist for The New York Times. To read his Wikipedia profile, follow this link. 

I am in total agreement with this statement from David French.

 

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Gov. Bill Lee says he is perplexed by gloating Trump calling him a ‘RINO’

Key Points

• Donald Trump slapped the GOP governor with the “RINO” moniker following the Senate District 2 primary
• Incumbent Sen. Jon Lundberg, who carried Lee’s school voucher bill, lost to Bobby Harshbarger
• Harshbarger’s mother is Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger, a friend of the president

BY ANDY SHER, Tennessee Journal, August 7, 2024- Republican Gov. Bill Lee confessed Wednesday to being flummoxed by Donald Trump labeling him as a “RINO,” the acronym for Republican in Name Only, last week on the former president’s social media site Truth Social. “I can't really explain what that was about,” Lee told reporters Wednesday following an event where he spoke to the Department of Environment and Conservation and advocacy groups. But Lee still pledges to support Trump's bid to return to the White House. Read more.

Rod's Comment: I can help Gov. Lee out on this one. It is because now it is the Republican Party that is Republican in name only. Former standard bearers such as Mitt Romney, John McCain, both George Bushes, and Ronald Reagan would all be considered RINO's now. The Republican Party is now the Trump Party. The modern Trump era Republican Party is the party of the Trump cult. Even if you kiss his ass, if you are not Trumpy enough the Cult of Trump will label you a RINO. Wear it as a badge of honor!  

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Do You Qualify For Tax Freeze or Tax Relief this Year?

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FBI agents execute search warrant on Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles, NewsChannel 5 confirms

By: Phil Williams, News Channel 5, August 6, 2024 -  FBI agents executed a search warrant late last week on Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles as the first-term Republican faces continuing scrutiny over fraudulent campaign financial reports that he filed, NewsChannel 5 has confirmed.

Following NewsChannel 5's revelation, Ogles posted a statement on social media admitting that his cell phone had been seized by the FBI. (read more)

Report: FBI executed search warrant on Andy Ogles’ home after he won GOP primary

By Erik Schelzig, Tennessee Journal, Aug. 6, 2024 - Federal agents reportedly executed a search warrant at the home of controversial U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles after he won the Republican nomination to serve another term in the 5th Congressional District seat. Ogles' attorney G. Kline Preston declined to confirm or deny whether the search warrant was issued, the news station reported. The congressman's campaign finances have come under heavy scrutiny since he first ran for Congress in 2022. The lawmaker in May filed revision to all 11 Federal Election Commission disclosures he had filed to that date to eliminate any reference to a $320,000 loan he had originally claimed to have made to his campaign two years earlier. (Read more)

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Trump’s Unhinged, Bizarre, Speech in Georgia

by Rod Williams, August 5, 2024- I consume a lot of news, and I have watched a lot of Trump speeches.  Trump is certainly entertaining. He is never boring. He is a showman and has his own schtick. He has a sense of humor and a biting wit. He kind of reminds me of the comedians of bygone era, people like Mylton Byrle and Don Rickles and others whose schtick was insult humor, except of course, Trump is much more mean-spirited about it. 

I never actually cared for insult humor, but a lot of people like it. A lot of people like bullies, too. Bullies are often popular kids in grammar school.  Trump appeals to the worst in people and that is part of his appeal. When Trump mimics and makes fun of a reporter with a disability, some people find it really funny. Remember his 2016 primary opponent Carly Fiorina and the insults? “Look at that face,” he told Rolling Stone magazine of Fiorina. “Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?” When Trump calls Kamala Harris “dumb as a Rock,” “crazy,” “nuts” and “Laughing Kamala,” a lot of people find that really funny. Trump has mastered appealing to the worst juvenile and cruel instincts in people. Probably some of the people who laugh at Trump for insulting people, are the same people who would correct that behavior in their own children. 

All of his rallies contain a lot of repeat material. He almost always renews the claim of the stolen election, and his speeches are peppered with lie after lie, and, of course, lots of name calling and insults. He also makes promises of how much better things will be when he is reelected. A lot of this is just pandering and lacks logic or a basic understanding of civics or economics. A lot of what he says is unscripted and raises a lot of eyebrows like saying he will be dictator on day one and telling his "beautiful Christians" that if they vote for him this time, they will never have to vote again. I kind of doubt that the call to replace the income tax with a massive tariff on imports was well thought out. I doubt he had the input of any economist when coming up with that one. 

After watching Trump's recent Atlanta rally, I really think Trump is becoming unhinged. He has always seemed unhinged, but he seems to be getting worse. If you missed the rally, you can watch at this link. 

For one thing, his opening act was Marjorie Taylor Green. Remember Jewish space lasers that caused the California wildfires? She is even too crazy for a lot of the Trump crazies. For the hardiest of hardcore MAGA Republican she may fire them up, but for college educated suburban moms, she is a turn-off. You would think Trump would want to attract moderates and traditional Republicans and independents and those soccer moms instead of repelling them. I don't get it. 

Trump's whole rally on Saturday except for the energetic and personable Michaelah Montgomery, seemed designed to push people out of the Trump camp rather than add people. His strategy seems to be to make sure that his base turns out, at the expense of widening the base. We know that this does not work. The only time Trump has won was in 2016 and that was against the not well-liked Hillary Clinton. Even in that race, he lost the popular vote. 

 When Trump entered the White House in 2017, it was the Republicans who controlled both the House and the Senate. In 2018 he cost Republicans the House and in 2020 he lost the Presidency and then went on to cause the loss of the Senate. You may recall that Trump's refusal to concede his own race and his casting doubt about election integrity in Georgia dampened Republicans turn out, leading to the loss of those Senate seats and Republicans losing the Senate. In the 2022 midterm elections, despite President Biden’s unpopularity and voter concerns about the economy and inflation, candidates recruited and endorsed by Donald Trump mostly lost their elections and Republicans failed to regain the Senate. 

One would think that Trump would learn that you win elections by additions not subtraction. Since I hope Trump loses this election, I hope he keeps it up, but I don't get it. I think it is a failing strategy. I would have thought that if Trump wanted to win this election, he would have picked a reassuring figure, a kind of normal Republican, as his running mate, instead he picked someone who reinforced the MAGA message. There was no "balancing the ticket" with the selection of J. D. Vance.

In Atlanta he went on a rampage against Georgia Governor Brain Kemp. Kemp is much more popular in Georgia than Trump, having won his election by a comfortable margin, while Trump is a loser in Georgia. If he didn't have something nice to say about Kemp, he could have said nothing. 

Keep it up Trump; keep it up! 

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Former Trump White House Press Secretary Joins those Deserting Donald Trump for Kamala Harris

Stephanie Grisham

by Philippe Naughton, Daily Beast, Aug. 04, 2024- Dozens of well-known Republicans including a couple of former Trump White House staffers have switched allegiance to endorse Kamala Harris in the latest blow for Donald Trump. ... 

They include a former Trump White House press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, ... “I might not agree with Vice President Kamala Harris on everything, but I know that she will fight for our freedom, protect our democracy and represent America with honor and dignity on the world stage,” Grisham said in a statement.

“I encourage other Trump administration officials who saw the tyrant we worked for in office to speak out and stand with Kamala Harris this November to keep integrity in the White House and ensure democracy for our country.” (link)

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