#1 BI snowflakes

movielover said:

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#1 BI name caller?

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Only if you allow for duplicates, because the Top 5 get repeated over and over.

1. "You didn't go to Cal."
2. "You're awfully ignorant."
3.
4.
5.
Go ahead, have a turn - fill in the blanks.


But let's not be confused. You ARE a Tru… what he said!

concordtom said:

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movielover said:

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#1 BI name caller?

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Only if you allow for duplicates, because the Top 5 get repeated over and over.

1. "You didn't go to Cal."
2. "You're awfully ignorant."
3. "Trumptards"
4.
5.
Go ahead, have a turn - fill in the blanks.


But let's not be confused. You ARE a Tru… what he said!

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#3 added.

movielover said:

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#1 BI name caller?

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How much money have you donated to Donald Trump's campaign?

movielover said:

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concordtom said:

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movielover said:

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#1 BI name caller?

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Only if you allow for duplicates, because the Top 5 get repeated over and over.

1. "You didn't go to Cal."
2. "You're awfully ignorant."
3. "Trumptards"
4. "Cool story, bro."
5.
Go ahead, have a turn - fill in the blanks.


But let's not be confused. You ARE a Tru… what he said!

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#3 added.

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#4 added.

Corporate news always does this to Democratic Presidents

1. Did you hear gas prices skyrocketed in 2021-22?

2. Did you hear about food price inflation in 2021-22?

3. Have you heard that <nominal> gas prices are now below 2012-14 levels?

4. Have you heard food price inflation over the last 4 months is now back to pre-pandemic levels? https://t.co/eFmjKpIdN1

— Mark Copelovitch (@mcopelov) June 27, 2023

The Dollar Store is still the $1.25 store now... and products are sometimes also 25% or more smaller - i.e. a 50% increase in price.

movielover said:

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The Dollar Store is still the $1.25 store now... and products are sometimes also 25% or more smaller - i.e. a 50% increase in price.

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I know you want America to experience a devastating deflationary recession. And I know you want America's enemies to be successful around the world. Good luck rooting against America.

Democrat Green policies are coming home to roost.

movielover said:

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Democrat Green policies are coming home to roost.

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I had to reschedule my solar appointment but will have it soon. Looking forward to a fat tax credit.

:/ pic.twitter.com/PKxKnlDGZJ

— internet hall of fame (@InternetH0F) June 27, 2023

Cal88 said:

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:/ pic.twitter.com/PKxKnlDGZJ

— internet hall of fame (@InternetH0F) June 27, 2023

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Al Bundy raised 2 kids in a 2 story home with a stay at home wife while working as a shoe salesman.

I wish we could go back to that time.

Unfortunately, that was the plot to a TV program and did not reflect reality.

dajo9 said:

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movielover said:

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Democrat Green policies are coming home to roost.

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I had to reschedule my solar appointment but will have it soon. Looking forward to a fat tax credit.

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You get a tax credit for being fat?

dimitrig said:

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Al Bundy raised 2 kids in a 2 story home with a stay at home wife while working as a shoe salesman.

I wish we could go back to that time.

Unfortunately, that was the plot to a TV program and did not reflect reality.

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The median home price in Chicago when that show was conceived was $78,500. Al's mortgage payment must have been around $500, accounting for higher interest rates.

movielover said:

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Democrat Green policies are coming home to roost.

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WHAT "Democratic Green policies?"

dimitrig said:

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Cal88 said:

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:/ pic.twitter.com/PKxKnlDGZJ

— internet hall of fame (@InternetH0F) June 27, 2023

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Al Bundy raised 2 kids in a 2 story home with a stay at home wife while working as a shoe salesman.

I wish we could go back to that time.

Unfortunately, that was the plot to a TV program and did not reflect reality.

---

WHY NOT go back to that time?

More specifically, WHY NOT go back to the New Deal policies that made the American Middle Class the most prosperous on Earth?

In fact, why would we not demand that our elected leaders re-orient our economic, trade, taxation, and labor policies so that working Americans could receive a greater share of the wealth that they generate, and have less go to corporate officers, shareholders, & private equity?

WHY NOT??

cbbass1 said:

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dimitrig said:

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Cal88 said:

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:/ pic.twitter.com/PKxKnlDGZJ

— internet hall of fame (@InternetH0F) June 27, 2023

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Al Bundy raised 2 kids in a 2 story home with a stay at home wife while working as a shoe salesman.

I wish we could go back to that time.

Unfortunately, that was the plot to a TV program and did not reflect reality.

---

WHY NOT go back to that time?

More specifically, WHY NOT go back to the New Deal policies that made the American Middle Class the most prosperous on Earth?

In fact, why would we not demand that our elected leaders re-orient our economic, trade, taxation, and labor policies so that working Americans could receive a greater share of the wealth that they generate, and have less go to corporate officers, shareholders, & private equity?

WHY NOT??

---

They'd rather fight for autocratic rule than the liberal policies that created the greatest middle class the world has ever known.

Caring about these issues is just a game of pretend for them. If that wasn't the case they wouldn't fight so feverishly for people who try to take healthcare away from the American people.

dajo9 said:

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cbbass1 said:

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dimitrig said:

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Cal88 said:

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:/ pic.twitter.com/PKxKnlDGZJ

— internet hall of fame (@InternetH0F) June 27, 2023

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Al Bundy raised 2 kids in a 2 story home with a stay at home wife while working as a shoe salesman.

I wish we could go back to that time.

Unfortunately, that was the plot to a TV program and did not reflect reality.

---

WHY NOT go back to that time?

More specifically, WHY NOT go back to the New Deal policies that made the American Middle Class the most prosperous on Earth?

In fact, why would we not demand that our elected leaders re-orient our economic, trade, taxation, and labor policies so that working Americans could receive a greater share of the wealth that they generate, and have less go to corporate officers, shareholders, & private equity?

WHY NOT??

---

They'd rather fight for autocratic rule than the liberal policies that created the greatest middle class the world has ever known.

Caring about these issues is just a game of pretend for them. If that wasn't the case they wouldn't fight so feverishly for people who try to take healthcare away from the American people.

---

They want the freedom to die of a preventable illness at considerable taxpayer expense in the ER like a Real American instead of treated at a reasonable cost like a commie.

dajo9 said:

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cbbass1 said:

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dimitrig said:

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Cal88 said:

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:/ pic.twitter.com/PKxKnlDGZJ

— internet hall of fame (@InternetH0F) June 27, 2023

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Al Bundy raised 2 kids in a 2 story home with a stay at home wife while working as a shoe salesman.

I wish we could go back to that time.

Unfortunately, that was the plot to a TV program and did not reflect reality.

---

WHY NOT go back to that time?

More specifically, WHY NOT go back to the New Deal policies that made the American Middle Class the most prosperous on Earth?

In fact, why would we not demand that our elected leaders re-orient our economic, trade, taxation, and labor policies so that working Americans could receive a greater share of the wealth that they generate, and have less go to corporate officers, shareholders, & private equity?

WHY NOT??

---

They'd rather fight for autocratic rule than the liberal policies that created the greatest middle class the world has ever known.

Caring about these issues is just a game of pretend for them. If that wasn't the case they wouldn't fight so feverishly for people who try to take healthcare away from the American people.

---

Greatest middle class came decades ago when manufacturing was competitive here and global trade and outsourcing were limited and consumer options were almost non-existent. We want iPhones every two years at prices that are affordable. Longing for that period in the past under different global economy is not going to make it happen. We are now a country of service and innovation and not manufacturing where high school education is going to afford a house with a picket fence. We are not creating the same level of middle class without retraining and appropriate education in the new industries. Raising minimum income to the level needed to live in CA is not going to make the average life in CA better. Enforcing criminal law, better education in public school with accountability for officials no matter the political pressures from the unions, and more job friendly regulation (CA has one of the worst and costly labor laws in the country for hiring hourly employees) will create a more competitive labor force. Detroit and Cleveland have one of the most liberal governments in America. But we are not going to dominate auto industry or auto manufacturing in the future. It isn't about liberal policies. It's about the new economy, and automation and AI, especially with China now leading in AI, will make it that much worse for average worker if we keep living in the past.

Healthcare is not why we don't have a stronger middle class. Most employees who can approach middle class have employer-provided healthcare insurance. And look at communities all over America, even in Georgia, Texas and North Carolina, where they focus on the new industries. They are wealthy with much larger community of minorities. It is about education, right skills and right industry and not prior policies that applied to 50 years ago when GM and GE were one of the largest and most profitable companies.

dimitrig said:

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dajo9 said:

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cbbass1 said:

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dimitrig said:

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Cal88 said:

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:/ pic.twitter.com/PKxKnlDGZJ

— internet hall of fame (@InternetH0F) June 27, 2023

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Al Bundy raised 2 kids in a 2 story home with a stay at home wife while working as a shoe salesman.

I wish we could go back to that time.

Unfortunately, that was the plot to a TV program and did not reflect reality.

---

WHY NOT go back to that time?

More specifically, WHY NOT go back to the New Deal policies that made the American Middle Class the most prosperous on Earth?

In fact, why would we not demand that our elected leaders re-orient our economic, trade, taxation, and labor policies so that working Americans could receive a greater share of the wealth that they generate, and have less go to corporate officers, shareholders, & private equity?

WHY NOT??

---

They'd rather fight for autocratic rule than the liberal policies that created the greatest middle class the world has ever known.

Caring about these issues is just a game of pretend for them. If that wasn't the case they wouldn't fight so feverishly for people who try to take healthcare away from the American people.

---

They want the freedom to die of a preventable illness at considerable taxpayer expense in the ER like a Real American instead of treated at a reasonable cost like a commie.

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Vaccinations for high risk folks was a reasonable mandate prior to Omicron. Expanding that to healthy people and mandating non-adults to get experimental emergency mRNA covid vaccines to attend school was borderline criminal.

This is what President Trump attempted to do by resetting trade deals, heavy tariffs on China, and cutting tens of thousands of useless regulations. His trade team was excellent. Skilled blue collar jobs pay more than fast food or Uber driving, but that's what the Wall Street Globalists have been pushing for years - eviscerating America's middle class. He also closed the China backdoor.

Arizona semiconductor manufacturing started to explode under President Trump, with TSMC and Samsung announcing large plants there, which then spurred supporting industries to build new facilities there. Arizona is a right to work state.

While we can improve teaching, people typically let parents off the hook. You'll often find the same teacher having 'success' when they're teaching motivated, reasonable students. (A Chinese business woman joined SFUSD the past year or two in some kind of parental oversight committee and enmeshed herself in the school and community. After a few months, she commented that she observed family turmoil severely impacting student performance and preparedness. She was immediately browbeaten and silenced. Some of our communities are plagued with gangs, drugs, and 50-80% don't have a Father in the home, which leads to a hist of problems.) The feedback I've received is that few high schools today offer shop (mechanics), a valuable stepping stone for many young men.

USMCA acknowledged some realities of current-day trading, and is helping build a Mexican middle class and strengthens North America. Last I read, Canada's liberal policies are bleeding valuable jobs from their job
base. President Biden stopped oil and gas drilling in ANWAR and stopped new oil pipelines that would reduce spills (but take away business from major corporations). Two small refineries have closed in northern California, and our two major refineries are at risk of closing as the state demands billion-dollar upgrades to both - already two of the cleanest refineries in existence. California is an energy island (blocked by the Sierras) and closing one or two of these plants will be a disaster, bur Governor Newsom is anti-oil.

oski003 said:

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dimitrig said:

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dajo9 said:

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cbbass1 said:

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dimitrig said:

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Cal88 said:

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:/ pic.twitter.com/PKxKnlDGZJ

— internet hall of fame (@InternetH0F) June 27, 2023

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Al Bundy raised 2 kids in a 2 story home with a stay at home wife while working as a shoe salesman.

I wish we could go back to that time.

Unfortunately, that was the plot to a TV program and did not reflect reality.

---

WHY NOT go back to that time?

More specifically, WHY NOT go back to the New Deal policies that made the American Middle Class the most prosperous on Earth?

In fact, why would we not demand that our elected leaders re-orient our economic, trade, taxation, and labor policies so that working Americans could receive a greater share of the wealth that they generate, and have less go to corporate officers, shareholders, & private equity?

WHY NOT??

---

They'd rather fight for autocratic rule than the liberal policies that created the greatest middle class the world has ever known.

Caring about these issues is just a game of pretend for them. If that wasn't the case they wouldn't fight so feverishly for people who try to take healthcare away from the American people.

---

They want the freedom to die of a preventable illness at considerable taxpayer expense in the ER like a Real American instead of treated at a reasonable cost like a commie.

---

Vaccinations for high risk folks was a reasonable mandate when prior to Omicron. Expanding that to healthy people and mandating non-adults to get experimental emergency mRNA covid vaccines to attend school was borderline criminal.

---

An insurance analyst has estimated 300,000 excess non-Cobid deaths in 2021 and 2022, with a standard deviation of 13? (A standard deviation of 3 was a once in 200 year occurrence.) These are deaths to working age, employed, healthy, insured individuals.

movielover said:

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This is what President Trump attempted to do by resetting trade deals, heavy tariffs on China, and cutting tens of thousands of useless regulations. His trade team was excellent. Skilled blue collar jobs pay more than fast food or Uber driving, but that's what the Wall Street Globalists have been pushing for years - eviscerating America's middle class. He also closed the China backdoor.

Arizona semiconductor manufacturing started to explode under President Trump, with TSMC and Samsung announcing large plants there, which then spurred supporting industries to build new facilities there. Arizona is a right to work state.

While we can improve teaching, people typically let parents off the hook. You'll often find the same teacher having 'success' when they're teaching motivated, reasonable students. (A Chinese business woman joined SFUSD the past year or two in some kind of parental oversight committee and enmeshed herself in the school and community. After a few months, she commented that she observed family turmoil severely impacting student performance and preparedness. She was immediately browbeaten and silenced. Some of our communities are plagued with gangs, drugs, and 50-80% don't have a Father in the home, which leads to a hist of problems.) The feedback I've received is that few high schools today offer shop (mechanics), a valuable stepping stone for many young men.

USMCA acknowledged some realities of current-day trading, and is helping build a Mexican middle class and strengthens North America. Last I read, Canada's liberal policies are bleeding valuable jobs from their job
base. President Biden stopped oil and gas drilling in ANWAR and stopped new oil pipelines that would reduce spills (but take away business from major corporations). Two small refineries have closed in northern California, and our two major refineries are at risk of closing as the state demands billion-dollar upgrades to both - already two of the cleanest refineries in existence. California is an energy island (blocked by the Sierras) and closing one or two of these plants will be a disaster, bur Governor Newsom is anti-oil.

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How did you feel about so many Republicans voting against the Chips and Science Act when it was intended to protect our nation against our over reliance on manufacture of semiconductors in Taiwan that now makes our protection of Taiwan existential imperative? Do you know what the biggest supply chain constraints and what drove even car prices the most (as cars becoming smarter)? Semi-conductors and tech components.

Also, resetting trade deals and heavy tariffs on China were opposing factors. We needed to set heavy tariffs in China (companies did need better guidance and more advance notice since supply chain are not things that you can shut on and shut off easily) to protect our national interest and counter the anti-competitive measures / IP theft that China was engaging in. But we needed other countries to come along to do that. And they were ready to do so. But Bernie Sanders and the far right Republicans fought against the trade deals we had in Asia that were supposed to counter our over-reliance on China and gather those countries to join our push against China. Instead, by killing the trade deals in Asia, we left an opening for China who jumped right in and entered into similar deals with the same Asian countries. And we made America less critical for China, and we lost a lot of leverage to pressure China. I would say the trade team during the Trump era were anything but skilled. From personal experience.

On education and parental involvement, I could not agree more. However, you cannot say that and ignore reality. To do that, you need to provide after-care programs and fund child-care programs. And Republicans are against that. I am for it, and my actions speak to my beliefs in my heavy contribution to the Boys and Girls Clubs financially and through volunteer hours from my entire family. And I disagree on providing mechanic education in high school. That is backward thinking. I would teach coding, IT support, data analysis and statistics. Things that are the high paying industries like manufacturing was 50 years ago. Manufacturing communities are dying. Look at Detroit and Cleveland. It is not about liberal or conservative policies. Pittsburgh was dying as well until they pivoted from manufacturing to tech/healthcare. Typically conservative states are now becoming wealthier by focusing on the tech industry, like the Tech Triangle in North Carolina and Austin in Texas. Even South Carolina and Georgia are expanding their tech community and brining the wealth and diversity that come with it. California does not have the largest wealth gap because of conservative policies. We are extremely liberal but have the highest gap in wealth and highest real estate and cost of living because of the industries generated by graduates of Stanford, UC Berkeley, etc. that generate mind-blowing wealth for those employees in tech industry. But we in California don't have a monopoly on tech, and employers and industries will follow where there is talent. As people moved out of California to work remotely in cheaper neighborhoods, it is creating a more diverse opportunity for tech companies to start or expand elsewhere, and the local universities are accommodating.

I also agree with you that we need to be energy independent. We are not quite ready to go green, and us making it harder or more costly for us is not making us greener globally when India will step in willingly to buy oil and resell to us or we give more power to repulsive regimes in OPEC.

But both the left and the right complain about rising costs and then put in measures that increase costs and then blame the other for the harm it does to middle and lower middle class. They invest in equities and put money in funds, or rely on their pensions, when that is what is driving short-term mentality of companies. When I was an executive, we would always talk about how great it would be to not have to give quarterly guidance and think long-term. But guess who focuses on these and punishes companies and executives who don't think short-term? The institutional investors and hedge funds. Who funds these institutional investors? The investors in 401(K), state pension funds (the biggest clients of hedge funds and activists who drive companies to expand margins, cut employee costs, and seek growth at all costs). It's like Americans are divorced from their realities and their own actions from what they say they believe. We all want our cheap Starbucks coffee, cheap clothes and shoes, cheap computers, TV, and smart phones, returns on equity and then complain about the actions that are required to give the consumers and personal investors what they want.

calbear93 said:

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movielover said:

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This is what President Trump attempted to do by resetting trade deals, heavy tariffs on China, and cutting tens of thousands of useless regulations. His trade team was excellent. Skilled blue collar jobs pay more than fast food or Uber driving, but that's what the Wall Street Globalists have been pushing for years - eviscerating America's middle class. He also closed the China backdoor.

Arizona semiconductor manufacturing started to explode under President Trump, with TSMC and Samsung announcing large plants there, which then spurred supporting industries to build new facilities there. Arizona is a right to work state.

While we can improve teaching, people typically let parents off the hook. You'll often find the same teacher having 'success' when they're teaching motivated, reasonable students. (A Chinese business woman joined SFUSD the past year or two in some kind of parental oversight committee and enmeshed herself in the school and community. After a few months, she commented that she observed family turmoil severely impacting student performance and preparedness. She was immediately browbeaten and silenced. Some of our communities are plagued with gangs, drugs, and 50-80% don't have a Father in the home, which leads to a hist of problems.) The feedback I've received is that few high schools today offer shop (mechanics), a valuable stepping stone for many young men.

USMCA acknowledged some realities of current-day trading, and is helping build a Mexican middle class and strengthens North America. Last I read, Canada's liberal policies are bleeding valuable jobs from their job
base. President Biden stopped oil and gas drilling in ANWAR and stopped new oil pipelines that would reduce spills (but take away business from major corporations). Two small refineries have closed in northern California, and our two major refineries are at risk of closing as the state demands billion-dollar upgrades to both - already two of the cleanest refineries in existence. California is an energy island (blocked by the Sierras) and closing one or two of these plants will be a disaster, bur Governor Newsom is anti-oil.

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Thoughtful reply.

We're behind in the semi conductor game, but making strides on the low and possibly midrange. Likewise, I think we should onshore more pharmaceuticals as a national priority. Not sure if Puerto Rico could succeed there.

Thank goodness Trump's election stopped other Globalist trade deals. He also inked new deals with other countries, incl Vietnam and South Korea. Peter Navarro alleges in his book that Jared Kuschner worked against his goals in the background, as did Gary Cohn. So they apparently weren't on board with MAGA. This is the difficulty with an outsider, they don't come with a staff of 2,000 to carry out their agenda. The Lobbyists do that. (Congress doesn't write bills, or a budget. They raise money and peacock on TV.) His tariffs hit China hard and boosted Mexico and Vietnam, among others.

Why are we allowing the Chinese such prominent roles in our research universities?

Trump masterfully used his trade powers to close our southern border when the Congressional wh--s refused to protect our country.

[On education and parental involvement, I could not agree more. However, you cannot say that and ignore reality.]

How about the reality that single-parent cultures are a disaster? More programs at poorly replacing Father's?

[And I disagree on providing mechanic education in high school. That is backward thinking. I would teach coding, IT support, data analysis and statistics. Things that are the high paying industries like manufacturing was 50 years ago. Manufacturing communities are dying....]

Now we're getting somewhere. You believe in a 75% white collar workforce? See, that's a huge problem. My MECHANIC (owner) has a degree from Cal, all of mechanics are Latino. His lead mechanic owns a home, is raising children, and has $$ to spend on hobbies and toys. Mechanics can't be exported, like carpenters, plumbers, etc. So while you sound well meaning, someone like you gets on the board and along with a few liberals and women, tube shop, etc. This has happened for decades. I've had several mechanics over the years who complained about the lack of trained, qualified mechanics, who now can charge $200 - $350 per hour. Like many "trades", Latinos are filling the void. It's quite stark to see Latinos making their way in the trades, opening their own businesses, building families, making $50,000 - $150,000, and our own young men are unemployed, working fast food, getting high, or involved with drugs, etc.

Jaime Escalante was a masterful Calculus professor in East Los Angeles, driven out by backbiting and envy, often from the union and union members.

[California does not have the largest wealth gap because of conservative policies. [Correct!] We are extremely liberal but have the highest gap in wealth and highest real ...]

Liberal policies pushed a lot of high-skilled, blue collar jobs out in SoCal where there was / is Hughes, McDonald Douglass, etc. High taxes, anti oil (energy), anti business, etc., along with failing schools, gangs, riots, busing, etc. Liberal policies also destroyed the traditional Black family, which played a part of the downfall of our cities.

There are tech hubs in Utah, Austin, North Carolina, etc.

[I also agree with you that we need to be energy independent.]

Liberals want to run the largest economy in the world on intermittent energy sources. Germany is starting to bleed high-pahing jobs bc of their whacky energy policies. Overeducated fools.

Maybe we should offer Mexico admission to the USA, phase it in over 20 years.

calbear93 said:

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dajo9 said:

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cbbass1 said:

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dimitrig said:

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Cal88 said:

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:/ pic.twitter.com/PKxKnlDGZJ

— internet hall of fame (@InternetH0F) June 27, 2023

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Al Bundy raised 2 kids in a 2 story home with a stay at home wife while working as a shoe salesman.

I wish we could go back to that time.

Unfortunately, that was the plot to a TV program and did not reflect reality.

---

WHY NOT go back to that time?

More specifically, WHY NOT go back to the New Deal policies that made the American Middle Class the most prosperous on Earth?

In fact, why would we not demand that our elected leaders re-orient our economic, trade, taxation, and labor policies so that working Americans could receive a greater share of the wealth that they generate, and have less go to corporate officers, shareholders, & private equity?

WHY NOT??

---

They'd rather fight for autocratic rule than the liberal policies that created the greatest middle class the world has ever known.

Caring about these issues is just a game of pretend for them. If that wasn't the case they wouldn't fight so feverishly for people who try to take healthcare away from the American people.

---

Greatest middle class came decades ago when manufacturing was competitive here and global trade and outsourcing were limited and consumer options were almost non-existent. We want iPhones every two years at prices that are affordable. Longing for that period in the past under different global economy is not going to make it happen. We are now a country of service and innovation and not manufacturing where high school education is going to afford a house with a picket fence. We are not creating the same level of middle class without retraining and appropriate education in the new industries. Raising minimum income to the level needed to live in CA is not going to make the average life in CA better. Enforcing criminal law, better education in public school with accountability for officials no matter the political pressures from the unions, and more job friendly regulation (CA has one of the worst and costly labor laws in the country for hiring hourly employees) will create a more competitive labor force. Detroit and Cleveland have one of the most liberal governments in America. But we are not going to dominate auto industry or auto manufacturing in the future. It isn't about liberal policies. It's about the new economy, and automation and AI, especially with China now leading in AI, will make it that much worse for average worker if we keep living in the past.

Healthcare is not why we don't have a stronger middle class. Most employees who can approach middle class have employer-provided healthcare insurance. And look at communities all over America, even in Georgia, Texas and North Carolina, where they focus on the new industries. They are wealthy with much larger community of minorities. It is about education, right skills and right industry and not prior policies that applied to 50 years ago when GM and GE were one of the largest and most profitable companies.

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You're looking at trade policy as if "Free Trade"/Globalism always was & always will be, and is 100% non-negotiable. That's simply not the case.

"Free Trade"/Globalist policies came about because the leaders of various industries, especially high tech, lobbied political leaders to create their dream scenario -- use cheap labor overseas, circumvent U.S. environmental regulations, bust unions, remake trade policy in their favor (at the expense of U.S. & European workers), and dramatically increase profits. They got exactly what they wanted, and over the last 30 years, they've destroyed the U.S. & European Middle Classes, while building better-educated & more prosperous Middle Classes in China, S. Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan.

The candidacies of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders were a protest against these Austerity policies.

The bottom line is that IF we are a small-d democracy (which we clearly are not), we would vote for leaders & representatives who would change these policies, because so many Workers/Customers/Voters are screwed by them. Any policy that is done through legislation can be undone, no?

Bernie lost, Trump won. But Trump was clearly not serious about making any changes to trade policy, or economic policy (other than the tax cuts that he passed in 2017). It's one thing to get people angry about a policy; it's far more challenging to change a bad policy into something better. Trump didn't have the knowledge nor the political will to do anything to help American Workers. He hates unions, and often complained about U.S. workers being paid too much (not that he was going to pay them anyway).

Before Globalism, there were no viable options to domestic manufacturing, so "competitive" was a meaningless term; its use only came about when "Free Trade" policies were first being discussed in the early 1990s, when it was clear that industrial leaders were going to put all of the world's workers in competition with each other. [Note: Although industrial leaders emphasized Productivity and "working smart" as the most important component of "competitiveness," the reality was that it's primarily based on the local cost of living.]

As I've said before, Neoliberalism/"trickle-down"/Austerity economic policies, as well as Globalism/"Free Trade" policies, are economically unsustainable. The best example of this is the game of Monopoly. The game is "rigged" in that all money flows to the wealthiest & most ruthless, and everyone else goes bankrupt.

As a society, we're close to the end of the 'game,' and transitioning to corporate/authoritarian rule & Fascism. This is coming from both political parties.

I think we agree 50% and disagree 50%. Rough guess.

On the issue of single-parent families, absolutely agree. There was a level of guidance and discipline that my father provided that, despite me growing up in a fairly high crime neighborhoods, kept me in check. Same with my friends. However, the real situation is that both parents often have to work in this economy. As such, if we want kids to care about education and to dream, we need to provide them with the tools and beliefs to do so. And that is where after-school programs come into play. Provide mentorship, place to play games and basketball, get tutoring for school. The more successful they are in school, the more they will want to do better. It is not intended to replace fatherhood. It is intended to address reality that in most cases, there is no parent at home when kids arrive from school. I was a latch-key kid but we had more of neighborhood feel. And my friends parents supplemented when my parents were late from work, and we would visit my friends' parents liquor store or bbq restaurant or my dad's mechanic shop and do our homework there and eat our meals. Not the same now. So, we have to deal with reality.

On the mechanics, I think you are missing a critical secular trends. EV and hybrid cars are making maintenance less frequent and need for mechanics in the future much lower. And there are only limited number of need for mechanics. We should not overpopulate in a dying industry. We should think around the corner and see where the next secular trends are going.

And finally, I know from personal experience the cluster**** that Trump's trade policies wreaked on corporations, and how we lost critical allies in Asia that we needed to fight China. Our deal with Vietnam and Korea were not better than what we had on the table that Trump killed. Instead China got free access that they would not have had. And that causes China to be more belligerent and bullies with us. We gave them Asia and they now also have Africa. There is less need and dependence on us. Trump blew that whether you want to see it or not. But he was absolutely right about China, and I think you are seeing even Biden keeping that in place.

Too many politicians not seeing around the corner. We in California will be shocked in the next decade what the shutdown and remote work has wreaked on their prior monopoly on tech. Apple can try to force people back into the office, but it will not happen. Instead, companies will jump in and provide remote work from anywhere in the US that will make tech industries open up in other parts of the country as it already has. That will create a snowball effect where these places will then start providing the same benefits for wealthy young professionals other than the prestige of having Apple on the resume. And then even Apple and other CA based companies will expand to those other places. Go to Austin or Research Triangle in Raleigh. Cheaper with just as many options on food and entertainment. They will continue to thrive until the same factors, like high income from tech employees escalating cost of living, liberal policies creating more crime and homelessness, etc. make them have the same issues San Francisco is having.

cbbass1 said:

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calbear93 said:

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dajo9 said:

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cbbass1 said:

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dimitrig said:

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Cal88 said:

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:/ pic.twitter.com/PKxKnlDGZJ

— internet hall of fame (@InternetH0F) June 27, 2023

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Al Bundy raised 2 kids in a 2 story home with a stay at home wife while working as a shoe salesman.

I wish we could go back to that time.

Unfortunately, that was the plot to a TV program and did not reflect reality.

---

WHY NOT go back to that time?

More specifically, WHY NOT go back to the New Deal policies that made the American Middle Class the most prosperous on Earth?

In fact, why would we not demand that our elected leaders re-orient our economic, trade, taxation, and labor policies so that working Americans could receive a greater share of the wealth that they generate, and have less go to corporate officers, shareholders, & private equity?

WHY NOT??

---

They'd rather fight for autocratic rule than the liberal policies that created the greatest middle class the world has ever known.

Caring about these issues is just a game of pretend for them. If that wasn't the case they wouldn't fight so feverishly for people who try to take healthcare away from the American people.

---

Greatest middle class came decades ago when manufacturing was competitive here and global trade and outsourcing were limited and consumer options were almost non-existent. We want iPhones every two years at prices that are affordable. Longing for that period in the past under different global economy is not going to make it happen. We are now a country of service and innovation and not manufacturing where high school education is going to afford a house with a picket fence. We are not creating the same level of middle class without retraining and appropriate education in the new industries. Raising minimum income to the level needed to live in CA is not going to make the average life in CA better. Enforcing criminal law, better education in public school with accountability for officials no matter the political pressures from the unions, and more job friendly regulation (CA has one of the worst and costly labor laws in the country for hiring hourly employees) will create a more competitive labor force. Detroit and Cleveland have one of the most liberal governments in America. But we are not going to dominate auto industry or auto manufacturing in the future. It isn't about liberal policies. It's about the new economy, and automation and AI, especially with China now leading in AI, will make it that much worse for average worker if we keep living in the past.

Healthcare is not why we don't have a stronger middle class. Most employees who can approach middle class have employer-provided healthcare insurance. And look at communities all over America, even in Georgia, Texas and North Carolina, where they focus on the new industries. They are wealthy with much larger community of minorities. It is about education, right skills and right industry and not prior policies that applied to 50 years ago when GM and GE were one of the largest and most profitable companies.

---

You're looking at trade policy as if "Free Trade"/Globalism always was & always will be, and is 100% non-negotiable. That's simply not the case.

"Free Trade"/Globalist policies came about because the leaders of various industries, especially high tech, lobbied political leaders to create their dream scenario -- use cheap labor overseas, circumvent U.S. environmental regulations, bust unions, remake trade policy in their favor (at the expense of U.S. & European workers), and dramatically increase profits. They got exactly what they wanted, and over the last 30 years, they've destroyed the U.S. & European Middle Classes, while building better-educated & more prosperous Middle Classes in China, S. Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan.

The candidacies of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders were a protest against these Austerity policies.

The bottom line is that IF we are a small-d democracy (which we clearly are not), we would vote for leaders & representatives who would change these policies, because so many Workers/Customers/Voters are screwed by them. Any policy that is done through legislation can be undone, no?

Bernie lost, Trump won. But Trump was clearly not serious about making any changes to trade policy, or economic policy (other than the tax cuts that he passed in 2017). It's one thing to get people angry about a policy; it's far more challenging to change a bad policy into something better. Trump didn't have the knowledge nor the political will to do anything to help American Workers. He hates unions, and often complained about U.S. workers being paid too much (not that he was going to pay them anyway).

Before Globalism, there were no viable options to domestic manufacturing, so "competitive" was a meaningless term; its use only came about when "Free Trade" policies were first being discussed in the early 1990s, when it was clear that industrial leaders were going to put all of the world's workers in competition with each other. [Note: Although industrial leaders emphasized Productivity and "working smart" as the most important component of "competitiveness," the reality was that it's primarily based on the local cost of living.]

As I've said before, Neoliberalism/"trickle-down"/Austerity economic policies, as well as Globalism/"Free Trade" policies, are economically unsustainable. The best example of this is the game of Monopoly. The game is "rigged" in that all money flows to the wealthiest & most ruthless, and everyone else goes bankrupt.

As a society, we're close to the end of the 'game,' and transitioning to corporate/authoritarian rule & Fascism. This is coming from both political parties.

---

Let's cut to the chase. What are your biggest investments? Which companies? And how much of their revenue is generated from outside the US? And if it is large (most likely 50%), why are you investing in those companies and promoting globalism? Just wanting to see if your reality matches your rhetoric.

And do you price shop? Because US manufactured goods are more expensive, and your iPhone was built mainly outside the US. So were the components in the computer you are using and the TV you have in your house. Do you want to pay a lot more while also deinvesting in equity? Otherwise your behavior is counter to what you say you believe.

Paul Ryan detoured Trump to tax cuts over closing the border and helping American workers first. Ryan is now a lobbyist.

Did you support TPP?

movielover said:

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Did you support TPP?

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Yes. We need to get over the idea that we will keep manufacturing in the US. Companies had already centralized most of their manufacturing to China. TPP was a means of moving manufacturing to other countries in North America, South America and Asia. It also required strong IP protection that was need for the US and for us to continue to invest and own profits in other countries without discrimination like we have in China and those same countries now. It also required basic human rights protection that ensured that we were not losing out due to countries using child labor or forced labor. It would increase the quality of life by reducing the cost of goods without over reliance on China. I especially don't understand the far right's opposition to this while opposing raising minimum wage. Their whole point against it was that global trade would reduce wages in the US. Well, if that is your concern, why are you against raising minimum wage? They also rail against China and yet killed the one treaty that was designed to pivot these countries against China.

Those countries still entered into it without US because the far left and the far right killed it. And China wanted to sign on right away with those same countries under the exact same terms. They settled for the RCEP that gave them a lot more leverage against the US.

Stupid politicians still not seeing around the corner and thinking manual labor is the future in the US killed it. And now Biden is against it because he wants environmental protection beyond what was negotiated. Stupid.

calbear93 said:

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cbbass1 said:

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calbear93 said:

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dajo9 said:

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cbbass1 said:

---

dimitrig said:

---

Cal88 said:

---

:/ pic.twitter.com/PKxKnlDGZJ

— internet hall of fame (@InternetH0F) June 27, 2023

---

Al Bundy raised 2 kids in a 2 story home with a stay at home wife while working as a shoe salesman.

I wish we could go back to that time.

Unfortunately, that was the plot to a TV program and did not reflect reality.

---

WHY NOT go back to that time?

More specifically, WHY NOT go back to the New Deal policies that made the American Middle Class the most prosperous on Earth?

In fact, why would we not demand that our elected leaders re-orient our economic, trade, taxation, and labor policies so that working Americans could receive a greater share of the wealth that they generate, and have less go to corporate officers, shareholders, & private equity?

WHY NOT??

---

They'd rather fight for autocratic rule than the liberal policies that created the greatest middle class the world has ever known.

Caring about these issues is just a game of pretend for them. If that wasn't the case they wouldn't fight so feverishly for people who try to take healthcare away from the American people.

---

Greatest middle class came decades ago when manufacturing was competitive here and global trade and outsourcing were limited and consumer options were almost non-existent. We want iPhones every two years at prices that are affordable. Longing for that period in the past under different global economy is not going to make it happen. We are now a country of service and innovation and not manufacturing where high school education is going to afford a house with a picket fence. We are not creating the same level of middle class without retraining and appropriate education in the new industries. Raising minimum income to the level needed to live in CA is not going to make the average life in CA better. Enforcing criminal law, better education in public school with accountability for officials no matter the political pressures from the unions, and more job friendly regulation (CA has one of the worst and costly labor laws in the country for hiring hourly employees) will create a more competitive labor force. Detroit and Cleveland have one of the most liberal governments in America. But we are not going to dominate auto industry or auto manufacturing in the future. It isn't about liberal policies. It's about the new economy, and automation and AI, especially with China now leading in AI, will make it that much worse for average worker if we keep living in the past.

Healthcare is not why we don't have a stronger middle class. Most employees who can approach middle class have employer-provided healthcare insurance. And look at communities all over America, even in Georgia, Texas and North Carolina, where they focus on the new industries. They are wealthy with much larger community of minorities. It is about education, right skills and right industry and not prior policies that applied to 50 years ago when GM and GE were one of the largest and most profitable companies.

---

You're looking at trade policy as if "Free Trade"/Globalism always was & always will be, and is 100% non-negotiable. That's simply not the case.

"Free Trade"/Globalist policies came about because the leaders of various industries, especially high tech, lobbied political leaders to create their dream scenario -- use cheap labor overseas, circumvent U.S. environmental regulations, bust unions, remake trade policy in their favor (at the expense of U.S. & European workers), and dramatically increase profits. They got exactly what they wanted, and over the last 30 years, they've destroyed the U.S. & European Middle Classes, while building better-educated & more prosperous Middle Classes in China, S. Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan.

The candidacies of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders were a protest against these Austerity policies.

The bottom line is that IF we are a small-d democracy (which we clearly are not), we would vote for leaders & representatives who would change these policies, because so many Workers/Customers/Voters are screwed by them. Any policy that is done through legislation can be undone, no?

Bernie lost, Trump won. But Trump was clearly not serious about making any changes to trade policy, or economic policy (other than the tax cuts that he passed in 2017). It's one thing to get people angry about a policy; it's far more challenging to change a bad policy into something better. Trump didn't have the knowledge nor the political will to do anything to help American Workers. He hates unions, and often complained about U.S. workers being paid too much (not that he was going to pay them anyway).

Before Globalism, there were no viable options to domestic manufacturing, so "competitive" was a meaningless term; its use only came about when "Free Trade" policies were first being discussed in the early 1990s, when it was clear that industrial leaders were going to put all of the world's workers in competition with each other. [Note: Although industrial leaders emphasized Productivity and "working smart" as the most important component of "competitiveness," the reality was that it's primarily based on the local cost of living.]

As I've said before, Neoliberalism/"trickle-down"/Austerity economic policies, as well as Globalism/"Free Trade" policies, are economically unsustainable. The best example of this is the game of Monopoly. The game is "rigged" in that all money flows to the wealthiest & most ruthless, and everyone else goes bankrupt.

As a society, we're close to the end of the 'game,' and transitioning to corporate/authoritarian rule & Fascism. This is coming from both political parties.

---

Let's cut to the chase. What are your biggest investments? Which companies? And how much of their revenue is generated from outside the US? And if it is large (most likely 50%), why are you investing in those companies and promoting globalism? Just wanting to see if your reality matches your rhetoric.

---

I see for the sake of this go around his rhetoric should match, but as a rule such is not necessary at all.
I find smoking distasteful and medically costly to society, but even though I don't own the likes of PM and BAT or Altria, I see no problem with owning same. People will not quit the habit whether I own it or not, and if they are stupid enough to be users, why not profit from it? I just don't like high dividend stocks that go down more than the dividend paid in either the short term or long term so haven't participated

OdontoBear66 said:

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calbear93 said:

---

cbbass1 said:

---

calbear93 said:

---

dajo9 said:

---

cbbass1 said:

---

dimitrig said:

---

Cal88 said:

---

:/ pic.twitter.com/PKxKnlDGZJ

— internet hall of fame (@InternetH0F) June 27, 2023

---

Al Bundy raised 2 kids in a 2 story home with a stay at home wife while working as a shoe salesman.

I wish we could go back to that time.

Unfortunately, that was the plot to a TV program and did not reflect reality.

---

WHY NOT go back to that time?

More specifically, WHY NOT go back to the New Deal policies that made the American Middle Class the most prosperous on Earth?

In fact, why would we not demand that our elected leaders re-orient our economic, trade, taxation, and labor policies so that working Americans could receive a greater share of the wealth that they generate, and have less go to corporate officers, shareholders, & private equity?

WHY NOT??

---

They'd rather fight for autocratic rule than the liberal policies that created the greatest middle class the world has ever known.

Caring about these issues is just a game of pretend for them. If that wasn't the case they wouldn't fight so feverishly for people who try to take healthcare away from the American people.

---

Greatest middle class came decades ago when manufacturing was competitive here and global trade and outsourcing were limited and consumer options were almost non-existent. We want iPhones every two years at prices that are affordable. Longing for that period in the past under different global economy is not going to make it happen. We are now a country of service and innovation and not manufacturing where high school education is going to afford a house with a picket fence. We are not creating the same level of middle class without retraining and appropriate education in the new industries. Raising minimum income to the level needed to live in CA is not going to make the average life in CA better. Enforcing criminal law, better education in public school with accountability for officials no matter the political pressures from the unions, and more job friendly regulation (CA has one of the worst and costly labor laws in the country for hiring hourly employees) will create a more competitive labor force. Detroit and Cleveland have one of the most liberal governments in America. But we are not going to dominate auto industry or auto manufacturing in the future. It isn't about liberal policies. It's about the new economy, and automation and AI, especially with China now leading in AI, will make it that much worse for average worker if we keep living in the past.

Healthcare is not why we don't have a stronger middle class. Most employees who can approach middle class have employer-provided healthcare insurance. And look at communities all over America, even in Georgia, Texas and North Carolina, where they focus on the new industries. They are wealthy with much larger community of minorities. It is about education, right skills and right industry and not prior policies that applied to 50 years ago when GM and GE were one of the largest and most profitable companies.

---

You're looking at trade policy as if "Free Trade"/Globalism always was & always will be, and is 100% non-negotiable. That's simply not the case.

"Free Trade"/Globalist policies came about because the leaders of various industries, especially high tech, lobbied political leaders to create their dream scenario -- use cheap labor overseas, circumvent U.S. environmental regulations, bust unions, remake trade policy in their favor (at the expense of U.S. & European workers), and dramatically increase profits. They got exactly what they wanted, and over the last 30 years, they've destroyed the U.S. & European Middle Classes, while building better-educated & more prosperous Middle Classes in China, S. Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan.

The candidacies of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders were a protest against these Austerity policies.

The bottom line is that IF we are a small-d democracy (which we clearly are not), we would vote for leaders & representatives who would change these policies, because so many Workers/Customers/Voters are screwed by them. Any policy that is done through legislation can be undone, no?

Bernie lost, Trump won. But Trump was clearly not serious about making any changes to trade policy, or economic policy (other than the tax cuts that he passed in 2017). It's one thing to get people angry about a policy; it's far more challenging to change a bad policy into something better. Trump didn't have the knowledge nor the political will to do anything to help American Workers. He hates unions, and often complained about U.S. workers being paid too much (not that he was going to pay them anyway).

Before Globalism, there were no viable options to domestic manufacturing, so "competitive" was a meaningless term; its use only came about when "Free Trade" policies were first being discussed in the early 1990s, when it was clear that industrial leaders were going to put all of the world's workers in competition with each other. [Note: Although industrial leaders emphasized Productivity and "working smart" as the most important component of "competitiveness," the reality was that it's primarily based on the local cost of living.]

As I've said before, Neoliberalism/"trickle-down"/Austerity economic policies, as well as Globalism/"Free Trade" policies, are economically unsustainable. The best example of this is the game of Monopoly. The game is "rigged" in that all money flows to the wealthiest & most ruthless, and everyone else goes bankrupt.

As a society, we're close to the end of the 'game,' and transitioning to corporate/authoritarian rule & Fascism. This is coming from both political parties.

---

Let's cut to the chase. What are your biggest investments? Which companies? And how much of their revenue is generated from outside the US? And if it is large (most likely 50%), why are you investing in those companies and promoting globalism? Just wanting to see if your reality matches your rhetoric.

---

I see for the sake of this go around his rhetoric should match, but as a rule such is not necessary at all.
I find smoking distasteful and medically costly to society, but even though I don't own the likes of PM and BAT or Altria, I see no problem with owning same. People will not quit the habit whether I own it or not, and if they are stupid enough to be users, why not profit from it? I just don't like high dividend stocks that go down more than the dividend paid in either the short term or long term so haven't participated

---

If the stock price of Altria continue to rise because the demand for their equity outpaces the sellers' desire to sell, they will not change their behavior and will in fact have more means to invest in marketing to get more people addicted. I personally would not invest. I also don't invest in Chinese companies that are listed, don't invest in pharmaceutical companies that engaged in opiate trade, etc. Otherwise, all of this is just hot air. We can't act as if someone else is enabling all the bad behavior we spend hours complaining about when we are happily part of the collective that inflame those same behaviors.

calbear93 said:

---

On the mechanics, I think you are missing a critical secular trends. EV and hybrid cars are making maintenance less frequent and need for mechanics in the future much lower. And there are only limited number of need for mechanics. We should not overpopulate in a dying industry. We should think around the corner and see where the next secular trends are going.

---

This is a good point. I also want to note that it's not unique to the US - China is struggling with the exact same thing now that they've made such great strides with economic growth and that 10% growth is unsustainable at scale.

China has been quite successful in building out its middle class. I believe you mentioned in another post recently that the US middle class of the recent past was the most successful middle class in the history of the world, but I think it's arguable that China currently has the best middle class in history. In 2000, just ~3% of China was considered middle class and by some estimates now it's 600-700 million or so. But that has implications, particularly given China's one child policy.

A lot of these kids have been driven to work hard in school from the age of 5 through college graduation with the expectation that suitable jobs will be waiting - as they have been for Chinese college graduates the last few decades. Unfortunately, it's not the case. Unemployment is soaring for young people in China even though they have lots of job openings. The reason is that there is a huge mismatch. They need factory workers, not college graduates. They need more people with vocational training, but everyone is pushing for college degrees in technical fields. A lot of graduates have begun posting photos of despair on social media because they've worked hard for the better part of two decades and there is no career in front of them.

Here's one article about this.

Quote:

---

JIN KEYU: You have master's students lining up in cigarette factories or becoming nannies in order to be employed. So that leaves a significant portion of the population and their families quite disgruntled.
RUWITCH: And that, Jin says, could make it harder for the government to address some of China's thorniest long-term challenges.
JIN: Unless their expectations are filled, they're not going to get married, which is a big problem, you know? They might not want to have kids because of the anxiety and the insecurity and the uncertainty. So it leads to a host of present, pressing problems.
RUWITCH: More and more college graduates are punting, applying for graduate programs to delay reality a little bit. Back at the Lama Temple in Beijing, Jose Qiu just shakes his head.
QIU: (Through interpreter) In our school, there were more grad students who entered this year than undergrads. So it feels like there's no advantage to getting a graduate degree. The only thing you can do is suck it up and keep on trying.

---

Here's another:

Quote:

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A record 11.6 million college students are expected to enter the job market this summer, but their prospects look bleak. Urban youth unemployment is at record levels, reaching 20.8% in May, and an influx of new job seekers will only increase the competition.

At the same time, the job market they will be competing in is under stress posing a risk to the government, which has so far been unable to reverse a trend partially of its own making. The slowing economy has been battered by the government's now-abandoned strict zero-Covid policy and a regulatory crackdown across the private sector, which accounts for 80% of jobs nationwide.

Among the industries hardest hit are tech and education, two sectors that would normally attract large graduate intakes.

All this makes for a depressing picture for students, many of whom already feel exhausted and discouraged after navigating China's notoriously competitive education system to reach this point with little to show for it.

"This master's degree…is finally…finished," one student wrote on the Chinese app Xiaohongshu, next to a photo of herself on the ground, barely clinging to her graduation cap and thesis packet. In another picture, she pretends to throw her thesis into a recycling bin.

In the comments, some younger students anxiously debate whether it's worth applying for graduate school, while older peers commiserate. One remarked: "Great post, it perfectly reflects the mental state of graduate students."

---

True about China's middle class, it is the largest case of a class rising from poverty in recorded history.

One thing about these underemployed youth though, is that they are not saddled with crippling student debt, they have access to affordable housing (home ownership very high, construction costs low and pop. declining), affordable transit and free healthcare. This means that they can manage to create a household on a lower salary (see Al Bundy in 1980s Chicago).

The problem with their young men getting married is the fairly large sex imbalance in their age group, a lot of them will have to look abroad in places like the Philippines to find a mate.



Looking at their pop. pyramid, they are going to have a huge number of younger boomers starting to retire this decade, so the prospects of graduates down the line should be a lot better.

China allegedly overestimated their population by 300 million, which will cause dramatic problems.