Commentary

The Legal Gymnastics Behind Obamacare | Mises Wire

Posted on by johnbarleycorn12

On December 14, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor ruled Obamacare unconstitutional because its individual mandate requiring people to have health insurance “can no longer be sustained as an exercise of Congress’s tax power,” since the tax that enforced it is now gone.
— Read on mises.org/wire/legal-gymnastics-behind-obamacare

This was bad policy from the beginning as a way to transfer the costs of healthcare from employers to the taxpayers. The Chamber of Commerce, big business, and the Democrats were all in. The GOP ran on repealing it to get elected, and did nothing. Robert’s was the deciding vote and he was another sad legacy of the Bush administration.

I have learned over the years to follow the money 💰. Right after Obamacare was passed, big Pharma and the big insurance companies stocks skyrocketed. Taxpayers and the working class insured wound up paying more and getting less.

Trump v the Federal Reserve | Armstrong Economics

Posted on by johnbarleycorn12

QUESTION: Mr. Armstrong; A spectacular call. You gave the day and the market bottomed within 100 points of your number. You always nail it. I find it curious how they blamed Trump and the Fed. Can Trump fire the head of the Fed? I really think he seriously needs to attend your WEC. He would have seen this move coming. Congrats! FG ANSWER: No. President Trump’s comments about firing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell are really off the wall. The problem is he has the classic TV talking heads view that stocks will crash with higher interest rates. Trump’s frustration with the central bank chief intensified following the interest-rate increase and months of stock-market losses. He is oblivious to the real crisis which is the low-interest rates are destroying the pension funds. Meanwhile, the media blames Trump for his tweets and the talking heads attribute the decline to interest rates. Powell cannot publicly state why rates have to rise or he would create a real debt panic. Trump is clueless as is Capitol Hill with the monumental crisis in global debt. For now, the news will bash the stocks when down, and when investors/traders see there can be no flight to bonds as quality, the real panic will begin. I wish I could reverse this mess, but reality states Trump’s handlers are rooting for the Deep State and would never let me near him. The Democrats want the stocks to crash for they can blame Trump and try to win the losers to vote for their team. The shame here is this is not about running the nation or the economy to benefit all, it is just about winning the 2020 election. Since the ECM turns in January 2020 rather than the elections in November 2020, this is indicating that we may have a psychological shift prior to the elections.
— Read on www.armstrongeconomics.com/international-news/politics/trump-v-the-federal-reserve/

The rise in interest rates will mean that banks can start paying interest on savings at guaranteed rates for specific dates, six months, one year etc. This will create real wealth and stop the need for endless money printing and risky investments. A win win for everyone except shaky derivatives and those who deal in them.