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Kamala Harris booked exclusive interview with Brett Baier on Fox

I don't know what government can do to drive prices down.

As for college costs (I know that’s not all you’re talking about), they need to get more stingy with lending. Let out funds per semester, with performance benchmarks. Limit loan sizes to the expected incomes of people having the degree they’re pursuing - no different than a mortgage being tethered to the value of a property,

But, in general, if inflation is ultimately the product of government spending too much money, then wouldn’t logic dictate….
 
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So now you're a mind reader?
You know what people 'think'?
What a rare gift......

LMAO!
Here's what Trump said:

I got indicted for nothing, for something that is nothing. And a lot of people said that’s why the Black people like me, because they have been hurt so badly and discriminated against, and they actually viewed me as I’m being discriminated against. It’s been pretty amazing but possibly, maybe, there’s something there.
 
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You’re exactly right. The Mega TV Ministries steal millions from Christians hanging on their every word.

Ministers in most communities are poorly compensated and some of the lowest wage earners in their communities.
Sorry, it’s not stealing, unless the church is being fraudulent. People can freely choose to spend their money how they like.
 
Sorry, it’s not stealing, unless the church is being fraudulent. People can freely choose to spend their money how they like.
Okay they’re conning many donors. I have many older Christian clients who get caught by these conmen. They watch on TV and send a donation. The next thing they know they’re on a monthly donation plan giving hundreds of thousands they really can’t afford but these conmen have preyed on their Christian hearts. I have so much disgust for these conmen.
 
he aint the royal gemstones. he's excited to go to some joint in rural indiana to eat buffet pizza. come on dude
Never said he is getting rich. But it pays the bills and at least in the towns around me a house is provided. Not bad.

My overall comment about the money grab is more at the macro level. Just saw the Los Angeles dioceses settled their sex scandal for over 880 million. Last I heard total settlements are between 3 and 4 billion. Don't get me started on the televangelist and megachurches.

Religion started out as something good but now seems to be little more than a transfer of money.
 
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Never said he is getting rich. But it pays the bills and at least in the towns around me a house is provided. Not bad.

My overall comment about the money grab is more at the macro level. Just saw the Los Angeles dioceses settled their sex scandal for over 880 million. Last I heard total settlements are between 3 and 4 billion. Don't get me started on the televangelist and megachurches.

Religion started out as something good but now seems to be little more than a transfer of money.
personally i view it as the opposite. i think the decline in church attendance has been a negative on communities. weekly/daily spending time, introspection, thinking about being a good person, in fellowship with your neighbors, a sense that there are things bigger than you, accountability, on and on has been very important in keepign people connected.
 
Never said he is getting rich. But it pays the bills and at least in the towns around me a house is provided. Not bad.

My overall comment about the money grab is more at the macro level. Just saw the Los Angeles dioceses settled their sex scandal for over 880 million. Last I heard total settlements are between 3 and 4 billion. Don't get me started on the televangelist and megachurches.

Religion started out as something good but now seems to be little more than a transfer of money.
I'm an atheist, but you are overstating your case.
 
Yeah, sure.

Which one of these tickets are you running to vote for and why?
I'm not running to vote for anybody. I'm just noting that your screed isn't tethered to reality, in particular this part:
I just watched Harris being interviewed by Bair. Holy shit. What the **** is there to vote for?

All the Republicans who are now voting for her are frauds. All the Democrats voting for her are blind partisans.
Blanket statements like those are just silly.
 
I'm not running to vote for anybody. I'm just noting that your screed isn't tethered to reality, in particular this part:

Blanket statements like those are just silly.
I stand by them.

Republicans like Cheney who are voting for her are frauds. She has very little in common with what someone like him built a political career upon. Dems voting for her only do so because she's the Blue Team candidate, blind partisanship. If she's elected, we'll be in worse shape than we're in now. The same can be said for where we'll be if Trump is elected. It's a question of how much worse.
 
As for college costs (I know that’s not all you’re talking about), they need to get more stingy with lending. Let out funds per semester, with performance benchmarks. Limit loan sizes to the expected incomes of people having the degree they’re pursuing - no different than a mortgage being tethered to the value of a property,

But, in general, if inflation is ultimately the product of government spending too much money, then wouldn’t logic dictate….

On college costs, I don't know if our problem stems from philosophy and religious studies majors. In fact I suspect much of our current issues stem from Americans not taking philosophy. I don't know that basically eliminating it would help. And that would be the result.

Once I retire I will start a thread on university costs. I am not an expert on that side, but I have some theories that will not endear me.

Cutting aid programs is an idea, I am not necessarily critical except we will be faced with a lot of kids being locked out. Or an even larger glut of MBAs, which are practically ubiquitous already.

I think I would be OK with funding X% of a STEM major and X-Y of all others (including lawyers and MBAs). We can haggle over numbers.

As to your last paragraph, I keep hawking the spending freeze. But inflation is only partly government (maybe a big part but we had inflation in the 1800s when there was almost no government). I do not know any factory worker who would agree to 0% inflation with no more raises, ever.
 
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Because things I want to buy cost so much more now, it's impacting me. Most people use the term as including a current high cost of living in relation to their own wealth/income. That's how I'm using it, too.

I am not alone:

I get that feeling and understand that you aren't alone in that feeling, but in terms of policy looking forward are you looking for deflation?

It's estimated that prices have grown around 20% over the last four years when that growth would have been 8% to 10% if we were hitting FED targets. Meanwhile, average wages in the U.S. have grown between 18% and 25% over that time depending on what statistics you are looking at. The positive thing that is going to improve the situation is wage growth that outstrips inflation, which has been the case since January 2023.

Maybe it's just my personality that focuses on solutions when I hear about a problem, but it seems like the solution is already in place. That's what puzzles me when I hear that it is one of our most pressing problems.
 
On college costs, I don't know if our problem stems from philosophy and religious studies majors. In fact I suspect much of our current issues stem from Americans not taking philosophy. I don't know that basically eliminating it would help. And that would be the result.

Once I retire I will start a thread on university costs. I am not an expert on that side, but I have some theories that will not endear me.

Cutting aid programs is an idea, I am not necessarily critical except we will be faced with a lot of kids being locked out. Or an even larger glut of MBAs, which are practically ubiquitous already.

I think I would be OK with funding X% of a STEM major and X-Y of all others (including lawyers and MBAs). We can haggle over numbers.

As to your last paragraph, I keep hawking the spending freeze. But inflation is only partly government (maybe a big part but we had inflation in the 1800s when there was almost no government). I do not know any factory worker who would agree to 0% inflation with no more raises, ever.

I would hazard to guess that anybody who got a college degree that was actually worth what it cost to obtain isn't having too much problem affording the loan payments. The fact that we have a massive epidemic of distressed student loans just practically screams that a whole lot of the degrees are simply not worth the cost.

The deal I've made with my sons is that I'll pay for their college -- but it'll be prorated based on their major and the progress they make towards a degree in that field. I think this is eminently sensible, and I don't know why any student lender wouldn't approach education finance similarly.

As for inflation writ large, in the 1800s, we may not have had a huge government. But the 3 highest years of inflation in that century were 1862, 1863, and 1864. Any guesses as to what may have caused that? They had a pretty expensive event around that time.

And keep in mind that the federal government has always been the only American entity legally allowed to issue currency. Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon.
 
I get that feeling and understand that you aren't alone in that feeling, but in terms of policy looking forward are you looking for deflation?

It's estimated that prices have grown around 20% over the last four years when that growth would have been 8% to 10% if we were hitting FED targets. Meanwhile, average wages in the U.S. have grown between 18% and 25% over that time depending on what statistics you are looking at. The positive thing that is going to improve the situation is wage growth that outstrips inflation, which has been the case since January 2023.

Maybe it's just my personality that focuses on solutions when I hear about a problem, but it seems like the solution is already in place. That's what puzzles me when I hear that it is one of our most pressing problems.
It’s not a subjective feeling w/r/t my own financial situation. It’s a fact. As it is with many, many others. Calling it a feeling is condescending and incorrectly interprets the data. Want to say we can’t govern the nation based on your own personal financial issues? Fine. But please don’t minimize the actual fact of the situation. (Dems doing it are not helping themselves out, either—it’s bad politics, see my response to Marv).

Re solutions for the nation, I think it’s pretty reasonable to question whether or not Kamala Harris is a candidate who will be focused on or effective at implementing govt policy that gooses (or at least does not hamper) wage growth overall. What in her background gives you faith in her on that issue?
 
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And unemployment was 6.3%.
3.7 pre Covid. Low inflation. Low rates. Low unemployment. Harris Biden came in and blew up the border and with progressive ideology as set forth in a vox article in this thread blew up inflation

From defund to the border progressive ideas are a disaster
 
I stand by them.

Republicans like Cheney who are voting for her are frauds. She has very little in common with what someone like him built a political career upon. Dems voting for her only do so because she's the Blue Team candidate, blind partisanship. If she's elected, we'll be in worse shape than we're in now. The same can be said for where we'll be if Trump is elected. It's a question of how much worse.
Cheney is not a fraud. He is a war head and goes where there is support for his agenda to push for war.

Harris is the biggest phony and liar in the political scene. If not a liar then she is really struggling to push the puppet masters message who appointed her to be the candidate without a single vote.

Now for something completely different, Scumbag Zelensky is threating to become a Nuclear nation if not let into NATO. Who couldn't predict that Ukraine would eventually become an enemy. Imagine going to an interview to present your case to join an alliance and that is what you respond with. I'd say F off and no more money or backing from the US. I've already said that. Of course the current US regime ponies up 425 mil more in money and weapons.

 
Cheney is not a fraud. He is a war head and goes where there is support for his agenda to push for war.

Harris is the biggest phony and liar in the political scene. If not a liar then she is really struggling to push the puppet masters message who appointed her to be the candidate without a single vote.

Now for something completely different, Scumbag Zelensky is threating to become a Nuclear nation if not let into NATO. Who couldn't predict that Ukraine would eventually become an enemy. Imagine going to an interview to present your case to join an alliance and that is what you respond with. I'd say F off and no more money or backing from the US. I've already said that. Of course the current US regime ponies up 425 mil more in money and weapons.

They gave up their nukes in the 90s in return for a promise they'd be protected by the US, UK, and Russia. They were the 3rd or 4th largest nuclear power in the world when they gained independence. I guess what's old is new again.
 
I stand by them.

Republicans like Cheney who are voting for her are frauds. She has very little in common with what someone like him built a political career upon. Dems voting for her only do so because she's the Blue Team candidate, blind partisanship. If she's elected, we'll be in worse shape than we're in now. The same can be said for where we'll be if Trump is elected. It's a question of how much worse.
I hear some liberals say that any one voting for Trump is an asshole and an idiot. I likewise find their blanket statements to be silly.

I disagree with you that we'll be in worse shape if Harris is elected. Much like the blanket statements, I find such fatalism silly.
 
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3.7 pre Covid. Low inflation. Low rates. Low unemployment. Harris Biden came in and blew up the border and with progressive ideology as set forth in a vox article in this thread blew up inflation

From defund to the border progressive ideas are a disaster
So many excuses and ones you won't accept when looking at Biden's record. Yeah, Covid happened...and it impacted lots of stuff. Inflation was primarily driven by it. There is a margin that the extra stimulus Biden passed that he is responsible for...much like there is a margin over the economic performance of the rest of the world that he should get credit for (but you won't give.) And now border crossings are lower than they were at the end of Trump's Presidency.

All this to say, the economic results we'll get from a Harris Presidency aren't gonna be that different than from a Trump Presidency.
 
I explained myself above. I find the argument about the current rate of inflation pedantic when people are complaining about "inflation" in the news or in normal communication. As the Gallup poll I linked shows, everyone understands that using that word, in general parlance, captures all recent increases in cost of living, not just the one right this very second. Wasting so much ink on the argument that economists use the term rate of inflation to mean just what is going on right now seems like a dodge by the Dems (so is the conspiracy theory that people don't really feel the affects of this, it's just mind control by the Right Wing Media).

And you can cite average stats all you want--the polling I linked tells the tale. I don't fit any of the categories of people you list that are doing "quite well" and I'm not sure why I should change my opinion on whether things are affecting me or not based on other people not being affected.

Going forward, which candidate is least likely to implement policies that will not create more inflation? As I stated previously, I don't think there is a good option. I can correlate lower inflation to Trump's policies vs. Biden/Harris, but have no idea what is coming down the pike or whether or not Trump just got lucky his first go around. His current policy prescriptions sure seem to portend higher inflation, not less.
Just an FYI...the inflation rate in Jan 2020 (so pre pandemic) was 2.5, compared to the current 2.4...

"Consumer prices increase 2.5 percent in the 12 months ending January 2020. The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers increased 2.5 percent for the 12 months ending January 2020, the largest 12-month increase since the year ended October 2018."

 
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It’s not a subjective feeling w/r/t my own financial situation. It’s a fact. As it is with many, many others. Calling it a feeling is condescending and incorrectly interprets the data. Want to say we can’t govern the nation based on your own personal financial issues? Fine. But please don’t minimize the actual fact of the situation. (Dems doing it are not helping themselves out, either—it’s bad politics, see my response to Marv).

Re solutions for the nation, I think it’s pretty reasonable to question whether or not Kamala Harris is a candidate who will be focused on or effective at implementing govt policy that gooses (or at least does not hamper) wage growth overall. What in her background gives you faith in her on that issue?
You're a little sensitive here, Brad. You haven't offered any quantifiable stats about your situation, so all anyone has to go on is how you feel about your situation. There's nothing wrong with that. I'm just referring to things that can be quantified. the only "actual fact" that you offered is data on how people feel about their situation, so I'm confused by why that triggered you.

Of course it's reasonable to ask whether Harris will be beneficial or not to wage growth. I'm merely pointing to the fact that wage growth is currently significantly outpacing inflation and that inflation currently is nearing Fed targets (near the same spot that it was before the pandemic hit in Trump's Presidency.) As such, the problem that you identified seems to be faced with the best possible solution (I can't imagine anyone honestly wants deflation, so wages outpacing inflation is the best possible outcome.)
 
So many excuses and ones you won't accept when looking at Biden's record. Yeah, Covid happened...and it impacted lots of stuff. Inflation was primarily driven by it. There is a margin that the extra stimulus Biden passed that he is responsible for...much like there is a margin over the economic performance of the rest of the world that he should get credit for (but you won't give.) And now border crossings are lower than they were at the end of Trump's Presidency.

All this to say, the economic results we'll get from a Harris Presidency aren't gonna be that different than from a Trump Presidency.
it's simply not accurate. inflation was 1.4 under trump. unemployment 3 percent plus. rates low. gas low. homes low. those are facts.

then biden/harris came in on the heels of the summer of love with a progressive agenda. they were going to expand the social welfare state. become transformative. cradle to grave benefits. this wasn't covid mitigation. this was their philosophy from the start. and as a result flooded the market with cash. look at the month by month inflation: it spiked as a result. 41 year high.

the border. same faulty social worker logic. cut off deportations. cut funding. reverse remain in mexico and asylum agreements nad title 42. then the numbers spiked like crazy. doubled the nonconfined docket.

these are all facts. so no a harris presidency looks nothing like a trump presidency.

what's more she's a chronic liar. no criminals crossed the border. they want a national ban on abortion. trump is 2025. it's all bullshit. add in that she's stupid and she's simply unfit.

i could clean up her mess in five minutes. folks here's the deal. we were faced with a one in a century pandemic. anxiety was through the roof and out of an abundance of caution local governments closed schools and businesses. people were scared as to how they could afford to live. in an effort to ameliorate that anxiety in an already unsettling time we kicked out stimulus. in retrospect it was a bit too much and as a result prices rose. but remember at the same time we were able to stave off a recession. we've learned a great deal and are better positioned going forward in the event of another crisis.

on the border we all hurt over the suffering of our fellow humans. we endeavored to create a more humane approach. we didn't expect crossings to occur at the rate they did. we're now working on a bill that will close the border. if congress is resistant we will use our executive powers to do so. we understand the strain it is placing on communities and assure you we will remedy same.

but trump.... that's what we get. she's a vapid radical progressive that's out of her league. the ultimate ending to the woke fiasco
 
Just an FYI...the inflation rate in Jan 2020 (so pre pandemic) was 2.5, compared to the current 2.4...

"Consumer prices increase 2.5 percent in the 12 months ending January 2020. The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers increased 2.5 percent for the 12 months ending January 2020, the largest 12-month increase since the year ended October 2018."

do we get a refund for the 20 percent over four years
 
I disagree with you that we'll be in worse shape if Harris is elected. Much like the blanket statements, I find such fatalism silly.
We must have different definitions of "worse shape".

We definitely have different definitions of fatalism.
 
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I would hazard to guess that anybody who got a college degree that was actually worth what it cost to obtain isn't having too much problem affording the loan payments. The fact that we have a massive epidemic of distressed student loans just practically screams that a whole lot of the degrees are simply not worth the cost.

The deal I've made with my sons is that I'll pay for their college -- but it'll be prorated based on their major and the progress they make towards a degree in that field. I think this is eminently sensible, and I don't know why any student lender wouldn't approach education finance similarly.

As for inflation writ large, in the 1800s, we may not have had a huge government. But the 3 highest years of inflation in that century were 1862, 1863, and 1864. Any guesses as to what may have caused that? They had a pretty expensive event around that time.

And keep in mind that the federal government has always been the only American entity legally allowed to issue currency. Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon.

What is a degree worth having? A great example, English majors. I know a couple who have done great because corporations, and others, have a need for people who can write. Other people get the degree and teach, needed job but isn't going to pay great at the beginning. To an extent your success is based on what one does with one's knowledge. I am sure there are accounting majors working in churches and other NFPs not making a ton of money.

Of course it is about the averages. Didn't Limbaush used to tell his listeners to do what they love? He made money in radio, I know a lot of people who went into radio and money was VERY hard to come by. I don't know that a philosophy, history, or geography degrees can't be turned into something very lucrative. But they do require people willing to find the way to do that.

One buddy had a PhD in history, became a grant writer very much in demand. His success rate at getting grants was abnormally high, so his employer loved him. I don't know kids are leaving high school capable of writing, or speaking, as effectively as business needs. Most majors can provide that. Not saying they do, but one should learn to formulate ideas and write/speak with a history degree as much as a business degree. If they don't, that's a problem in the curriculum for the history program.
 
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it's simply not accurate. inflation was 1.4 under trump. unemployment 3 percent plus. rates low. gas low. homes low. those are facts.

then biden/harris came in on the heels of the summer of love with a progressive agenda. they were going to expand the social welfare state. become transformative. cradle to grave benefits. this wasn't covid mitigation. this was their philosophy from the start. and as a result flooded the market with cash. look at the month by month inflation: it spiked as a result. 41 year high.

the border. same faulty social worker logic. cut off deportations. cut funding. reverse remain in mexico and asylum agreements nad title 42. then the numbers spiked like crazy. doubled the nonconfined docket.

these are all facts. so no a harris presidency looks nothing like a trump presidency.

what's more she's a chronic liar. no criminals crossed the border. they want a national ban on abortion. trump is 2025. it's all bullshit. add in that she's stupid and she's simply unfit.

i could clean up her mess in five minutes. folks here's the deal. we were faced with a one in a century pandemic. anxiety was through the roof and out of an abundance of caution local governments closed schools and businesses. people were scared as to how they could afford to live. in an effort to ameliorate that anxiety in an already unsettling time we kicked out stimulus. in retrospect it was a bit too much and as a result prices rose. but remember at the same time we were able to stave off a recession. we've learned a great deal and are better positioned going forward in the event of another crisis.

on the border we all hurt over the suffering of our fellow humans. we endeavored to create a more humane approach. we didn't expect crossings to occur at the rate they did. we're now working on a bill that will close the border. if congress is resistant we will use our executive powers to do so. we understand the strain it is placing on communities and assure you we will remedy same.

but trump.... that's what we get. she's a vapid radical progressive that's out of her league. the ultimate ending to the woke fiasco
It's simply accurate. Inflation in January 2020 was 2.5%. You're wanting to use inflation numbers at the end of his term, but insist that we must use unemployment numbers pre-Covid. You just don't like being called on it because you recognize that the lower inflation number at the end of his term is linked to the high unemployment number. If he gets credit for one, he gets credit for both.

The rest of it is just your usual silly partisan rants. Crossings are currently below the end of Trump's term. The economy is back to a solid inflation number and a solid unemployment number. I totally get people who prefer Trump over Harris. I just grow tired of dishonest arguments about it.
 
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We must have different definitions of "worse shape".

We definitely have different definitions of fatalism.
Well, I suspect we have similar definitions of "worse shape", but we definitely have different opinions about what the candidates and what they will bring. Your late night rants sound fatalistic to me, but maybe just needlessly cynical will do.
 
It's simply accurate. Inflation in January 2020 was 2.5%. You're wanting to use inflation numbers at the end of his term, but insist that we must use unemployment numbers pre-Covid. You just don't like being called on it because you recognize that the lower inflation number at the end of his term is linked to the high unemployment number. If he gets credit for one, he gets credit for both.

The rest of it is just your usual silly partisan rants. Crossings are currently below the end of Trump's term. The economy is back to a solid inflation number and a solid unemployment number. I totally get people who prefer Trump over Harris. I just grow tired of dishonest arguments about it.
Not in the least. We can use 2.5. I’m fine with. Love our triggered calif partisan hack going personal. I gave you facts. 41 year high. Progressive bs. Border progressive bs. Defund progressive bs. I grow tired of not very bright people trying to circumvent the truth bc they’re woke morons.
 
Cheney is not a fraud. He is a war head and goes where there is support for his agenda to push for war.

Harris is the biggest phony and liar in the political scene. If not a liar then she is really struggling to push the puppet masters message who appointed her to be the candidate without a single vote.

Now for something completely different, Scumbag Zelensky is threating to become a Nuclear nation if not let into NATO. Who couldn't predict that Ukraine would eventually become an enemy. Imagine going to an interview to present your case to join an alliance and that is what you respond with. I'd say F off and no more money or backing from the US. I've already said that. Of course the current US regime ponies up 425 mil more in money and weapons.

Zelensky is a scumbag for wanting nukes? He needs them more than the US does.
 
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What is a degree worth having? A great example, English majors. I know a couple who have done great because corporations, and others, have a need for people who can write. Other people get the degree and teach, needed job but isn't going to pay great at the beginning. To an extent your success is based on what one does with one's knowledge. I am sure there are accounting majors working in churches and other NFPs not making a ton of money.

Of course it is about the averages. Didn't Limbaush used to tell his listeners to do what they love? He made money in radio, I know a lot of people who went into radio and money was VERY hard to come by. I don't know that a philosophy, history, or geography degrees can't be turned into something very lucrative. But they do require people willing to find the way to do that.

One buddy had a PhD in history, became a grant writer very much in demand. His success rate at getting grants was abnormally high, so his employer loved him. I don't know kids are leaving high school capable of writing, or speaking, as effectively as business needs. Most majors can provide that. Not saying they do, but one should learn to formulate ideas and write/speak with a history degree as much as a business degree. If they don't, that's a problem in the curriculum for the history program.
There's obviously nuance in what you're paying for when you're paying for a college degree. Some people favor it being a vocational program. Others see it as a time to mature and discover what you want to do with your life. Others still see it as a chance to party and go to football games or a place to find a spouse.

I think we put too much of a focus on money as being the measuring stick for success when there are lots of other things that are part of a successful life that college can play a role in. The big key is being able to pay the bill in the cost-benefit analysis when all is said and done.
 
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