03-17 Politically Incorrect Daily

March 17, 2023March 17, 2023 Joe Messerli Daily Memes bailouts, Fed, government spending, supply & demand

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Latest Big Tech Censorship Push

These types of posts are being removed or covered as “false information” by those totally non-partisan, not-connected-to-government-at-all tech algorithms.

Don’t Worry, the Government Is Only Going After the Rich People for More Taxes 👌

IRS Looking to Introduce New Program to Erase Cash Tipping Altogether

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There’s no doubt the FED’s massive expansion of the money supply the past few years has majorly contributed to runaway inflation, but it’s only one of many causes. Another is, of course, the insane government spending that’s been supercharged through Covid, which only shifts the demand curve (and therefore the price) of nearly everything. It also has to do with all the input cost increases of products & services. Think about an income statement of a business and their price determination models. In other words, what do they have to pay to produce the items they sell? 1) Labor costs, where there are massive shortages, jacking up wages. 2) Energy, where Biden & the climate change freaks have tried everything to stifle fossil fuels, while Russian tensions have disrupted supply. 3) Supply chains, where stupid Covid rules and China tensions have disrupted flow. 4) Real estate, where low interest rates & “free” money drove prices insanely high. And the list goes on and on of areas where government interference drove compliance & input costs up.

Which brings me to the FED and their recent string of interest rate increases. It’s the only tool in their toolbox to contract the money supply, and it works by essentially wrecking the economy. It does this by triggering a recession, mostly by making it too expensive to borrow for houses, cars, business expenses, etc. But it’s not working on inflation this time because Biden and other leftist world leaders have done nothing to address the other causes stated in the previous paragraph. In fact, they’re doubling down on the same stupid policies that caused inflation in the first place, such as Biden’s latest budget, including some of the largest spending increases in history, almost entirely financed by debt. Europe, Canada, and the U.S. keep creating tax/welfare programs that reward people for NOT working and punishing those who work more, which adds to labor costs. Plus, all those rules that sound good–such as paid maternity leave, six weeks vacation, required union membership, etc.–just add to the costs that are passed on to consumers in higher prices. As for the FED interest rate increases, they’re not having the same effect with big ticket items like houses & cars simply because of huge shortages of those essential items.

The recent string of big bank failures and the ones sure to come soon will be blamed on greed and lack of government regulation, but even the most stable, conservative, and well-run banks are on the cusp of failure, and the causes go beyond the “bank runs” of shaky depositors. Banks are doing what they always do — collect money for which they pay some low rate of interest, then lend or invest that money several times over at a higher rate. However, most were simply unprepared for the shockingly high increase of rates, which cause prices of mortgages and other long-term securities to plummet. “Risk-free” government bonds had double-digit losses last year. Why? Because why would you buy a 30-year bond paying 1-2% interest when you can get 5-6% now? In the case of mortages, ones locked into 3-4% rates for 15-30 years have much lower values when banks can now charge 7-8%. As for their mortgage payers, the increasing cost of living raises default risk. Do you see how stupid policies can cascade when you ignore basic laws of economics?

Speaking of bad economic policies, recent times have exposed the fallacy of minimum wage laws. Remember when there was a big push to raise minimum wages to $15 per hour? Well, the labor shortages have forced that wage without any laws. Are these workers better off financially? Of course not, because rent, food, transportation, and everything else has gone up at least as much as their wage. Related to minimum wage laws, liberal cities often do everything in their power to keep out Walmarts, dollar stores, and other businesses that lower the cost of living. The rational is that they’re low paying and put other local companies out of business. In other words, the companies that charge higher prices are your only choices–yet another reason your higher wage doesn’t go as far.

I don’t watch the “news” anymore, but I didn’t need to see videos to know the whole January 6th crap was a farce from the start. Anyone with common sense could see through the garbage “insurrection” gaslighting. The fact all the Big Tech companies simultaneously used it as cover to censor all questioning of the 2020 election should have been your first clue. Incidently, we know from history that Soviet, East German, and Cuban dictatorships could monitor populations & suppress freedom using nothing more than intimidation and word of mouth. What do you think a modern government/Big Tech partnership could do?

I have no doubt the Chinese use Tik Tok to spy on Americans and steal information, but don’t you think they use Facebook, Instagram, and other social media to do the same thing? More likely, the calls in government to ban Tik Tok are a way to protect the monopoly power of their buddies in Big Tech.

The recent crackdown on service worker tips should show you the “tax the rich” BS politicians always use to divide the country and sell tax increases never holds up. Here’s a quiz for you: do you think government efforts to reduce the take-home pay of service workers will increase or decrease labor shortages? And if there are fewer workers, will consumer prices increase or decrease? Hmmmm…who can predict? 🤔

08-02 Politically Incorrect Daily

August 2, 2022August 1, 2022 Joe Messerli Daily Memes Fed, government spending, inflation, Joe Biden, modern monetary theory

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Sorry, It Won’t End Anytime Soon

The Dems’ New Proposal Does Nothing To Lower Inflation – David Harsanyi

Continuing with the Dems’ calling bills the exact opposite of what they do (think “Affordable Care Act”, “Voting Rights Act”, “Employee Free Choice Act”), the new spending binge is hilariously called the “Inflation Reduction Act.” Let me break down why inflation won’t end as long as Biden is in office. The current inflation has 4 primary causes that have nothing to do with Russia-Ukraine:

The Labor Shortage. When you have a shortage of workers, wages go up, which sounds great, but unfortunately that adds to the input cost of every good & service we buy. A while back I wrote of the labor shortage causes and steps to fix it, none of which have been adopted by Biden.
Energy Costs. Biden’s war on fossil fuels filters into everything: transportation of goods, factory power costs, retail store air conditioning, and so on. Until the Dems unshackle the American energy industry, nothing will change.
Covid Restrictions & Requirements. China is the worst violator, but unfortunately, they and other countries have cut off or delayed crucial inputs. Western countries are slightly better for now, but every restriction, such as vaccine border checks, just slows down productivity and adds overhead costs.
Government Spending & Central Bank Money Printing. This is perhaps the biggest reason inflation is prevalent around the world. While getting my Finance degree in college and observing decades of financial history, I can’t think of a more insanely stupid economic policy than the now world dominant Modern Monetary Theory, which essentially says it doesn’t matter how much governments spend since they can just inflate their currencies indefinitely to cover it. An Economics 101 student should be able to diagram their first week why this is destined to fail. But the Democrats show no sign of slowing down, and the RINOs currently in control of the Republican Party aren’t much better. Central banks can help in the short-term by contracting the money supply, which they’re doing now by raising interest rates, but that mainly works because it trashes economies to the point that people don’t have money to spend, and it’s only a short-term fix. This inflationary cause can only be solved long-term by balancing budgets, paying down debt, and stabilizing currencies. Few politicians have the political courage to make the spending cuts. I’m optimistic this could be solved by a leader who can educate the public about why cuts are needed. People are now far more open-minded after seeing the results of the brutal Leftist policies.

By the way, watch closely as the Dems & media manipulate how results are presented. Specifically, they will use percentages of larger base numbers. For example, say the price of an item is $100 and increases $15 to $115 in year 2. This is a 15% inflation rate. Now say the cost increases $16 in year 3 to $131. This is a bigger price increase, but because you’re starting at $115, the inflation rate is only 13.9% [i.e. (131-115)/115]. Yippee!!!!!! Inflation is DROPPING!!!! Biden is AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME!!!!!

07-14 Politically Incorrect Daily

July 14, 2022July 14, 2022 Joe Messerli Daily Memes Donald Trump, executive orders, Fed, federal spending, Joe Biden

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As it becomes increasingly clear the Dems will face a shellacking in November, expect them to shift strategies to making Biden the fall guy. Rather than focus on his disastrous policies, they will look to make it a personal failure of Biden. As 2024 approaches, the media will run more and more stories of his deteriorating mental capacity. He’ll be given the hook for a new Democrat 2024 candidate who will advocate the EXACT same policies Biden has implemented. Sadly, at least 40 percent of the country will undoubtedly fall for it. Thankfully, the remaining 60 percent will be looking for freedom-oriented candidates who will do a 180-degree turn from everything in the Biden Titanic presidency.

There is absolutely no self-awareness or sense of irony in the fact the Fed wants cryptocurrency markets regulated to “stabilize their value.” 🙄

Speaking of irony and lack of self-awareness, Democrats who scream “tyranny” about the Supreme Court’s overturn of Roe v. Wade see absolutely nothing wrong with Biden signing illegal “executive orders” on abortion, Covid, and pretty much every other of his policies that have nowhere near majority support.

I love Trump’s political incorrectness and fighting spirit, but he too often makes unnecessarily divisive & attacking statements that alienate large blocks of voters. A recent example is attacking Elon Musk as a “bullshit artist.” True or not, what does this accomplish?! Musk has over 100 million Twitter followers and fans across the political spectrum. He’s one of the few public figures who’s had the courage to stand up for libertarian ideals recently, likely costing himself a ton of money (e.g. all the liberals who now refuse to buy Tesla’s). Republicans should cruise to an easy win in 2024, but if they nominate Trump, it will be another nail biter. Do you want to trust the Dems’ electoral machinery in another close election?

Every wonder why there’s such a massive pilot shortage in America that is causing cancellations & other problems? Part of it is of course the insanely stupid vax mandates & other Covid policies that drove away many pilots, but it’s also other government rules such as the mandatory retirement age of 65. Republicans have proposed increasing it, but of course, Biden Transportation Secretary, Pete Buttigieg, insists that he won’t allow it. This is such a monumentally stupid rule. It’s not like these pilots are flying military dogfights. They mainly have to monitor a lot of sophisticated technology that does most of the work for them. Plus, it’s not that difficult to implement some cognitive & reflex tests to make sure an older pilot is still capable. Why are the Dems so insistent on keeping this pilot shortage in place? You guessed it — climate change! They want as few flights in the air as possible (unless of course you’re talking about one of their private jets). The pilot shortage is intentional just like higher fuel prices are intentional.

Donald Trump’s biggest mistake in office was letting government spending & money printing continue unabated, but a close second was the disastrous staff he relied on at almost every level. His admin was dominated by back-stabbing Deep Staters pursuing a host of alternate agendas including America’s Dr. Mengele, Tony Fauci. To Trump’s credit though, he usually fired the incompetent and treasonous ones once he found out what they were like (e.g. Bolton, Comey, Sessions, Scaramucci, Tillerson, etc.). I’m sure Fauci would have been canned immediately after the 2020 election had Trump won another term. Biden has supercharged Trump’s spending/printing policies and somehow appointed an admin far more treasonous and incompetent. But unlike Trump, have you heard of one single Biden firing, despite the disastrous results? Janet Yellen, Pete Buttigieg, Merrick Garland, Mark Milley, Rochelle Walensky, Tony Fauci, and so on–could their performances be any worse?! Yet, all of them still have their jobs, and very few in the media question it in the least.