We are experiencing the biggest scandal in America's political history right now.

[mudwhistle]

Lot's of things cause inflation. An increase in the money supply is just one of them.

An increase in money supply would not cause inflation if business people would not increase prices, and if people would put their money into savings or appreciable investments instead of wasting their money on non-appreciable crap.

Yes.....lots of things cause inflation.

But this is what is causing it now.

Next

 

[mudwhistle]

Idiot! The median monthly cost of rent alone increased 12% since before the pandemic, from $909 in 2019 to $1,015 in 2021. By comparison, overall inflation was about 6% during this span.

That 6% inflation number is bogus.

FYI, economies are local.

Ask anyone you know that lives in CA, NY, NJ, or even Chicago.

If you say they should be paying $1,015 for rent they'd laugh in your face.

I live in TN and it's difficult to find anything for less than $1200.

 

[SweetTea]

THEN POST THEM.

https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-joe-hunter-biden-golf-buris-idUSKBN27F306

First link that came up after a Google search. Devon Archer, pictured in the photo, was on the board at Burisma with Hunter.

 

[kyzr]

P.S. The Bush v. Gore case was only heard by SCOTUS because there may have been a violation of the 'Equal Protection Clause' of the Constitution. A FEDERAL LAW.

Article I sec. 4:"The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature"

The fact is that in all 50 states, there will be law suits brought by either Pro or Anti Trump people to either force his disqualification or to stop his disqualification. The outcome of those law suits will be determined by State judges. Whichever side loses will appeal to SCOTUS.

SCOTUS will not hear 50 appeals. They will either decide to hear a subset of the appeals (probably 4) which will have to be rolled into one case, or they will simply decide not to hear any of them and leave the State courts decisions stand.

On one hand, they should just leave it to the State courts per the Constitution, on the other hand it's hard to believe that they would pass up such a monumental decision. In the end, even if they hear the appeals, they will still rule in favor of Trump's disqualification - and that means that he will be disqualified in all 50 States.

I like your summary. We'll see how it plays out.

 

[Hum Dinger]

Yes.....lots of things cause inflation.

But this is what is causing it now.

Next

Guess again!

It's business people like sealybobo 's drug dealing buddy that drive inflation (see Post #755)

 

[mudwhistle]

In Sales, I'd think that only the top 10% should get bachelors, maybe the next 20% associates. The rest could probably function without any college degree.

How much have you used of what you learned in college? Salaries should be based on productivity, not academic credentials. If colleges are worth a damn, people with higher degrees should excel .

I'm a college dropout. I have 3 years in Electrical Engineering school. Not having a bachelors meant that my salary level was held down for many years - even though I was given the workload of an degreed Engineer. I was listed on a government (Navy) contract as an electrical engineer, but sure wasn't paid as one.

The reason I didn't steer my 2 son's away from college is that they've both been straight 'A" students. The older one graduated Valedictorian in both grammar school and high school. The younger one went to a high school that specialized in engineering, science & Math. He's now in 2 colleges (and costing me 2 tuitions). He's in flight school & majoring in Computer Engineering. My sons fall well within the 10% highest academic achievers. If they didn't look so much like me, I'd wonder if they were really mine.

I really think that we're out of balance as a society. We need more labor & skilled labor who should get paid more, and less white collar bureaucrats and mouse pushers - and far less executive clowns!

You should be proud of your kids.
If they're smart, they'll invest their money in property and frankly turn themselves into conservatives.
If you own property you're going to lean toward the right.
Course most billionaires are Democrats.
Can't say Republicans, because those assholes are just as bad at running the government as the Democrats.

 

[sealybobo]

In Sales, I'd think that only the top 10% should get bachelors, maybe the next 20% associates. The rest could probably function without any college degree.

How much have you used of what you learned in college? Salaries should be based on productivity, not academic credentials. If colleges are worth a damn, people with higher degrees should excel .

I'm a college dropout. I have 3 years in Electrical Engineering school. Not having a bachelors meant that my salary level was held down for many years - even though I was given the workload of an degreed Engineer. I was listed on a government (Navy) contract as an electrical engineer, but sure wasn't paid as one.

The reason I didn't steer my 2 son's away from college is that they've both been straight 'A" students. The older one graduated Valedictorian in both grammar school and high school. The younger one went to a high school that specialized in engineering, science & Math. He's now in 2 colleges (and costing me 2 tuitions). He's in flight school & majoring in Computer Engineering. My sons fall well within the 10% highest academic achievers. If they didn't look so much like me, I'd wonder if they were really mine.

I really think that we're out of balance as a society. We need more labor & skilled labor who should get paid more, and less white collar bureaucrats and mouse pushers - and far less executive clowns!

I can't argue with most of what you say. Just some thoughts. The best students in MI go to UofM. The second best students go to MSU. Eventually the UofM students work for the MSU students. It's the well rounded B students who rise to the top of the corporate ladder. The brilliant ones go into engineering or science and never leave. They are brilliant at one thing but can't run the marketing, IT or finance departments. Most CEO's can.

We see at a lot of companies the asians are all stuck in the brilliant department. Because they don't have the people skills.

I have never worked for a place who didn't hire some asshole who didn't have a degree. But they had experience. I'm always angry about those guys and gals who got to skip college and still landed where I landed. But guess what? If we lose our jobs, which most people do, I have that college degree. It opens doors. They check off the box.

The president of my company didn't finish college. Think about that. But that's rare. He went to the big company in my industry and bounced around different departments. So he learned a lot about every angle of that industry. Then he got a good paying sales job at my company. We only have around 10% of the market. But he got a good paying sales job because he knows the industry. Then our President went back to Europe and god damn if the German owners didn't make him the President of US Operations. That's pretty cool.

A lot of times, even guys with college degrees have to do this to get ahead. My brother worked for Ford. Ever hear me brag about him? He's a VP for a fortune 500 making $1 million a year. Yes, I tell him he's overpaid and would do it for half as much. Anyways, he started at Ford as a Mid level manager in HR. You could only get this job if you have a masters from MSU. If you make college unaffordable my brother may have never done this. We were poor. Don't go to college you say? Do something else? What else pays $1 million dollars a year? LOL.

Anyways, so one day he goes from Ford to Visteon when they split up. What was he thinking we all said. But then he became a little bigger fish in a little smaller pond. Rises up the ranks and becomes a VP at Visteon. Then goes to another Fortune 500 for more money and now he's at another Fortune 500 making $1 million a year.

I want my kids going to college. If not a masters at a good school, get a bachelors. If not at a good school, go to Eastern Michigan U like I did. If not go to community college and get an associate. Then you can go to work for a good company and if they like you they'll pay for college and promote you.

I hate this "not everyone should go to college" argument. It's settling. A race towards the dumbing down of our society.

I'm thinking about all the people I know who have college degrees compared to the ones who don't. No question. The college educated are better people all around.

 

[sealybobo]

Guess again!

It's business people like sealybobo 's drug dealing buddy that drive inflation (see Post #755)

Not just him. I showed that grocery stores and other stores were gouging us. They raised prices on speculation and those bad things never happened. They didn't give the money back or lower prices when those bad things didn't happen. And why should they? We keep spending.

 

[sealybobo]

You should be proud of your kids.
If they're smart, they'll invest their money in property and frankly turn themselves into conservatives.
If you own property you're going to lean toward the right.
Course most billionaires are Democrats.
Can't say Republicans, because those assholes are just as bad at running the government as the Democrats.

Small business owners tend to be Republicans. Not because Republicans lower their taxes but they talk a good game. When Republicans say they lowered taxes for small business' it's usually not my buddies business' who's taxes are lowered

It defines small business by firm revenue (ranging from $1 million to over $40 million) and by employment (from 100 to over 1,500 employees). For example, according to the SBA definition, a roofing contractor is defined as a small business if it has annual revenues of $16.5 million or less.

And I don't think taxes are their biggest problem. It's rent. Funny thing about rent. No one is opening brick and mortar business'. Half the strip malls are empty. But rent doesn't go down. Maybe if commercial rent wasn't so high people would rent out these office spaces. Supply and demand doesn't seem to be working.

 

[The5thHorseman]

Fact check: Joe and Hunter Biden not pictured golfing with Burisma CEO

First link that came up after a Google search. Devon Archer, pictured in the photo, was on the board at Burisma with Hunter.

Social media users have been sharing a photograph of four men golfing and claiming that it shows Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden with the CEO of Burisma, a holding company operating in the Ukrainian natural gas market. This claim is false


I'm convinced....thanks.

 

[Hum Dinger]

You should be proud of your kids.
If they're smart, they'll invest their money in property and frankly turn themselves into conservatives.
If you own property you're going to lean toward the right.
Course most billionaires are Democrats.
Can't say Republicans, because those assholes are just as bad at running the government as the Democrats.

I doubt my sons will ever be conservative. They're further to the left than me. You'd be proud of me if you heard some of our dinner table debates.

I'm a land owning white male with a high income, yet I'm liberal.

That's because I have much greater life's experience than the vast majority of Americans. I grew up in an extremely wealthy town (not far from where Trump grew up). Most of the childhood friends grew up to be super conformist spoiled brats.

I've worked for Federal military contactors, in several privately owned factories, for small businessmen and for large global corporations. Not to mention having to live on minimum wage before going to Engineering school.

I see the inherent unfairness of the American system - not capitalist, but more opportunistic. Closer to a feudal system than most people realize.

At least the Democrats posture at caring about the American people, the Republicans have always only cared about the wealthiest. That didn't change with Trump. He just panders to unhappy & angry people while using them to establish a new feudal state with himself as emperor.

 

[mudwhistle]

Small business owners tend to be Republicans. Not because Republicans lower their taxes but they talk a good game. When Republicans say they lowered taxes for small business' it's usually not my buddies business' who's taxes are lowered

It defines small business by firm revenue (ranging from $1 million to over $40 million) and by employment (from 100 to over 1,500 employees). For example, according to the SBA definition, a roofing contractor is defined as a small business if it has annual revenues of $16.5 million or less.

And I don't think taxes are their biggest problem. It's rent. Funny thing about rent. No one is opening brick and mortar business'. Half the strip malls are empty. But rent doesn't go down. Maybe if commercial rent wasn't so high people would rent out these office spaces. Supply and demand doesn't seem to be working.

I think we need to come to the conclusion that both parties really don't have our best interests in mind.

I cannot be a Democrat anymore. (I once was)

They want to take away our AC, Cars, and our Gas Stoves to save the planet.
They think killing our pets and our food sources will cut down on CO2 emissions.
They also think they have the right (in CA) to cut your kid's sex organs off without parental consent.
To me that's a no-brainer.

 

[sealybobo]

You should be proud of your kids.
If they're smart, they'll invest their money in property and frankly turn themselves into conservatives.
If you own property you're going to lean toward the right.
Course most billionaires are Democrats.
Can't say Republicans, because those assholes are just as bad at running the government as the Democrats.

The biggest businesses also accounted for more than 20% of the total annual payroll in 2018, paying their employees an average $73,590 a year compared to $52,743 for establishments with fewer than five employees.

from 100 to over 1,500 employees can be considered a small business. I think some companies may have chains around the country but only 5 employees at each location.

So McDonalds is probably a small business.

 

[Hum Dinger]

I can't argue with most of what you say. Just some thoughts. The best students in MI go to UofM. The second best students go to MSU. Eventually the UofM students work for the MSU students. It's the well rounded B students who rise to the top of the corporate ladder. The brilliant ones go into engineering or science and never leave. They are brilliant at one thing but can't run the marketing, IT or finance departments. Most CEO's can.

We see at a lot of companies the asians are all stuck in the brilliant department. Because they don't have the people skills.

I have never worked for a place who didn't hire some asshole who didn't have a degree. But they had experience. I'm always angry about those guys and gals who got to skip college and still landed where I landed. But guess what? If we lose our jobs, which most people do, I have that college degree. It opens doors. They check off the box.

The president of my company didn't finish college. Think about that. But that's rare. He went to the big company in my industry and bounced around different departments. So he learned a lot about every angle of that industry. Then he got a good paying sales job at my company. We only have around 10% of the market. But he got a good paying sales job because he knows the industry. Then our President went back to Europe and god damn if the German owners didn't make him the President of US Operations. That's pretty cool.

A lot of times, even guys with college degrees have to do this to get ahead. My brother worked for Ford. Ever hear me brag about him? He's a VP for a fortune 500 making $1 million a year. Yes, I tell him he's overpaid and would do it for half as much. Anyways, he started at Ford as a Mid level manager in HR. You could only get this job if you have a masters from MSU. If you make college unaffordable my brother may have never done this. We were poor. Don't go to college you say? Do something else? What else pays $1 million dollars a year? LOL.

Anyways, so one day he goes from Ford to Visteon when they split up. What was he thinking we all said. But then he became a little bigger fish in a little smaller pond. Rises up the ranks and becomes a VP at Visteon. Then goes to another Fortune 500 for more money and now he's at another Fortune 500 making $1 million a year.

I want my kids going to college. If not a masters at a good school, get a bachelors. If not at a good school, go to Eastern Michigan U like I did. If not go to community college and get an associate. Then you can go to work for a good company and if they like you they'll pay for college and promote you.

I hate this "not everyone should go to college" argument. It's settling. A race towards the dumbing down of our society.

I'm thinking about all the people I know who have college degrees compared to the ones who don't. No question. The college educated are better people all around.

It's better to have a society full of educated morons than uneducated morons. I'll agree with that much.

My experience is that since the I.Q. distribution is a bell curve, the number of people of mediocre and low intelligent is far greater than high intelligence people. High intelligence people are hated and persecuted by the low and mediocre people. That's why they stay in the 'Brilliant Department'. They are not liked. God knows how many frenemies I've had.

People that excel in the corporate world are 'People Persons', they may not be very bright and are usually piss poor at management and leadership. The brilliant people could do the higher management jobs much better, but they are too disliked. Those that do get those jobs are the ones that become billionaires.

When I worked for that Navy Contractor, I was acting department manager for about 9 months. My department got the highest rating by far from the Navy while I was manager. I could have kept that job, but wanted to return to the U.S. and finish my degree.

I don't find that college educated people are in any way better than non-college educated other than higher pay. I've found that most of the factory workers I've worked with are really good people.

 

[mudwhistle]

The biggest businesses also accounted for more than 20% of the total annual payroll in 2018, paying their employees an average $73,590 a year compared to $52,743 for establishments with fewer than five employees.

from 100 to over 1,500 employees can be considered a small business. I think some companies may have chains around the country but only 5 employees at each location.

So McDonalds is probably a small business.

I worked at TRANE for 8 years after I retired from the military.
They had around 2000 employees in the Clarksville TN plant.
Now they're down to 900 employees.
That's not exactly a small business.
They paid people who were maxed out $14/hr.
I think everyone should work in an assembly line for $20K/yr and learn how hard it is.

 

[mudwhistle]

It's better to have a society full of educated morons than uneducated morons. I'll agree with that much.

My experience is that since the I.Q. distribution is a bell curve, the number of people of mediocre and low intelligent is far greater than high intelligence people. High intelligence people are hated and persecuted by the low and mediocre people. That's why they stay in the 'Brilliant Department'. They are not liked. God knows how many frenemies I've had.

People that excel in the corporate world are 'People Persons', they may not be very bright and are usually piss poor at management and leadership. The brilliant people could do the higher management jobs much better, but they are too disliked. Those that do get those jobs are the ones that become billionaires.

When I worked for that Navy Contractor, I was acting department manager for about 9 months. My department got the highest rating by far from the Navy while I was manager. I could have kept that job, but wanted to return to the U.S. and finish my degree.

I don't find that college educated people are in any way better than non-college educated other than higher pay. I've found that most of the factory workers I've worked with are really good people.

Most of the time an education just makes you less sociable and more of a dick.

 

[Hum Dinger]

Most of the time an education just makes you less sociable and more of a dick.

A college education is more of a certification that the person is an extreme conformist. If regurgitating whatever the professors tells you doesn't do it, being in massive debt from student loans certainly keeps them in line.

 

[mudwhistle]

A college education is more of a certification that the person is an extreme conformist. If regurgitating whatever the professors tells you doesn't do it, being in massive debt from student loans certainly keeps them in line.

One thing I learned from college....you have to put in the work by yourself.
You can't just show up and pass.

 

[mudwhistle]

A college education is more of a certification that the person is an extreme conformist. If regurgitating whatever the professors tells you doesn't do it, being in massive debt from student loans certainly keeps them in line.

The prof teaches you enough to learn to teach yourself.
And you have to get to class early so you can get a seat up front to ask questions.
Also, you need to make sure you understand the material in advance or you'll be lost during the lectures.

 

[sealybobo]

It's better to have a society full of educated morons than uneducated morons. I'll agree with that much.

My experience is that since the I.Q. distribution is a bell curve, the number of people of mediocre and low intelligent is far greater than high intelligence people. High intelligence people are hated and persecuted by the low and mediocre people. That's why they stay in the 'Brilliant Department'. They are not liked. God knows how many frenemies I've had.

People that excel in the corporate world are 'People Persons', they may not be very bright and are usually piss poor at management and leadership. The brilliant people could do the higher management jobs much better, but they are too disliked. Those that do get those jobs are the ones that become billionaires.

When I worked for that Navy Contractor, I was acting department manager for about 9 months. My department got the highest rating by far from the Navy while I was manager. I could have kept that job, but wanted to return to the U.S. and finish my degree.

I don't find that college educated people are in any way better than non-college educated other than higher pay. I've found that most of the factory workers I've worked with are really good people.

From personal experience, based on all the people I knew in high school who didn't go on to college or their family business, are poor, divorced, slackers, white trash, tend to be Republicans/conservatives, valhalla. Tend to drive around with the confederate flag on their car. Have iligitimate kids they don't take care of, tatoos all over their bodies.

My family is always amazed with me because I'm a chameleon. I go to Florida and fit right in with the white trash. Probably because I'm a partier. Got some weed? Dude!

I'm not saying they aren't good people. They love this country, their families, etc. They just aren't that classy.

Example. My cousin is marrying for the 3rd time. He's got the racist tatoos. A good person deep down but what a ******* loser. The women he picks up. Don't get me started. Well his dearly departed father was a drug addict and he was raised by his grandmother, so what do you expect? But deep down he's a good person. I love him. I just wouldn't recommend him to a woman.

I know it's gold diggery but all the women we dated when we were younger asked, "so what do you do? What college do you go to?" And the answer better be good.

Also, I think it's sad telling kids not to go to college. Especially when I see my rich nephews and all their friends all going off to school. One kid is a slacker. He went to University of Montana? Another kid is going to be a plumber but his father owns a plumbing business.

I just think it's sad to see all these kids excited to go off to college, parents have the money to pay for it, and you think about all the kids and parents who aren't moving their kids up to school for their freshmen year.

If you don't want to go to college, cool. But I think if you want to, you should go. And be able to afford it. Even if you aren't sure what you want to do be or major in. Go do it!

I just don't see why they have to finish in 4 years. If you can't afford that, take 8. Better finish in 8 years and only owe $20K than finish in 4 and owe $100K.