Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Wednesday, January 10, 2018
Small Business Tax Reform / Politics / Taxes
By: BATR
One aspect of the Republican Tax Reform that everyone can agree upon is that it is not perfect. Fox business reports in What tax reform really means for small businesses.
"Instead of lowering the tax rate on all pass-through businesses, the final bill allows pass-throughs to deduct up to 20% of income. But who can deduct how much depends on what type of business you run and a corresponding formula".
Stop right there. It should be entirely clear that the political realities and influence of corporate lobbyists supersede that of ordinary businesses.
Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, January 09, 2018
Failure of War Party Foreign Policy / Politics / US Politics
By: BATR
The continuous foreign policy failures of the entrenched establishment goes back well over a century. Notwithstanding, the missed opportunity with the collapse of the Soviet Communism has emboldened the war party of the American Empire to become the main existential threat not only to our own country, but to much of the rest of the world. The militarists who chant "Thank You for your Service" are actually committed to expand the Wounded Warrior dupes, who are expendable. The United States never learned the lessons of Viet Nam. Volunteering to fight in unnecessary foreign adventures has caused more gratuitous suffering than any improvised explosive device that blows off limbs.
Monday, January 08, 2018
Why Trump’s Tax Plan Might Be Counterproductive / Politics / Taxes
By: John_Mauldin
Whether you like Trump or not, the new administration is making some good things happen.
The combined impact of deregulation, tax cuts, and (possibly) infrastructure spending will push back against the Fed’s monetary tightening and keep the economy on roughly the same course as in 2017.
If the Republican tax bill isn’t what you wanted, join the club—I was a charter member as my Thoughts from the Frontline readers know.
Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, January 08, 2018
Blowup with China or North Korea Could Change Almost Everything Overnight / Politics / GeoPolitics
By: MoneyMetals
Mike Gleason: It is my privilege now to welcome in Gordon Chang, author, television pundit, and columnist at the Daily Beast. Gordon is a frequent guest on Fox News, CNBC, and CNN, among others, and is one of the foremost experts on Asian economics and geopolitics, having written books on the subject and it's great to have him back on with us.
Gordon, it's a real honor to have you on again, and thanks so much for your time today. I know it's been a busy week for you given all of your media appearances, and we're grateful that you could join us today. How are you?
Gordon Chang: I'm fine, thank you, and thank you so much, Mike. I really appreciate the opportunity.
Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, January 08, 2018
The Way to the New Cold War / Politics / New Cold War
By: Dan_Steinbock
Despite continued nuclear threats, all US postwar presidents have failed to reset relations with Russia. Why?The “New Cold War” between the US and Russia began a decade ago. The elevated tensions in the Korean Peninsula are only a part of the collateral damage around the world.
But what led to the new friction? The simple response is the Wolfowitz Doctrine.
Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, January 07, 2018
Student Debt Slavery II: Time to Level the Playing Field / Politics / Student Finances
By: Ellen_Brown
The lending business is heavily stacked against student borrowers. Bigger players can borrow for almost nothing, and if their investments don’t work out, they can put their corporate shells through bankruptcy and walk away. Not so with students. Their loan rates are high and if they cannot pay, their debts are not normally dischargeable in bankruptcy. Rather, the debts compound and can dog them for life, compromising not only their own futures but the economy itself.
Read full article... Read full article...“Students should not be asked to pay more on their debt than they can afford,” said Donald Trump on the presidential campaign trail in October 2016. “And the debt should not be an albatross around their necks for the rest of their lives.”
Thursday, January 04, 2018
War, Peace and Recession 2018 / Politics / GeoPolitics
By: EconMatters
December and January are usually two busy months for researchers as they release prediction/forecast of the New Year. We are going to briefly discuss two such forecasts here.
Top 5 World War III Crises
The first one is a geopolitical forecast, 5 Places World War III Could Start in 2018, published last month. Now let’s take a quick look at the top five crises that could lead to the greatest conflict in 2018:
Wednesday, January 03, 2018
There is a Tyranny in the Womb of Every Utopia / Politics / Social Issues
By: BATR
The Millennial Utopian Society - In order to understand the millennial phenomena that has influenced the beginning years of the 21st century, acknowledgement that the under thirty sect is quite different from their parents generation is crucial. Back some fifty plus years the popular saying coined by Jack Weinberg was "Don't trust anyone over 30". The crowning irony is that this mindset was expressed during the "Free Speech Movement at UC Berkeley which was a struggle by students over the right to engage in political speech on campus, which helped to catalyze broader political activism on campuses around the country over student rights, civil rights and the Vietnam War".
Wednesday, January 03, 2018
“The lie is the rock on which this republic rests.” / Politics / US Politics
By: Barry_M_Ferguson
I stole this quote from Andrew Jackson whose actual quote was, “The Bible is the rock on which this republic rests.” Of course, the United States is not the country, or republic, that is was when the extraordinary genius of Andrew Jackson graced the presidency. Jackson also once said, “One man with courage makes a majority.” With that courage, President Jackson exterminated the plague of a central bank, balanced the country’s budget, and left the US taxpayers owing no debt to anyone on the planet. Without Jackson’s courage, the country has been growing debt since he left office in 1836. Plantation slavery has been replaced with debt slavery and sovereign rule has been replaced by bankster domination. We can only pray, ‘Please Lord, send us another leader with Jackson-like courage’.
Read full article... Read full article...
Saturday, December 30, 2017
Critical Impact Of US Medicare Premiums On Social Security Inflation Indexing / Politics / Inflation
By: Dan_Amerman
Medicare premiums are already eating Social Security inflation indexing from the inside, there have been effectively no real increases in net Social Security benefits for those 65 and over in recent years. And we are just getting started.
Experts agree that the Medicare program has far worse expected financial problems than Social Security over the long term. What is little understood, however, is that Medicare premiums are the back door whereby the health care expenses of an aging nation consume the individual standards of living that can be provided by Social Security. This process can entirely change our personal standards of living in retirement and needs to be fully taken into account when making financial planning decisions.
Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, December 27, 2017
Student Debt Slavery Bankrolling Financiers on the Backs of the Young / Politics / Student Finances
By: Ellen_Brown
The advantages of slavery by debt over “chattel” slavery—ownership of humans as a property right—were set out in an infamous document called the Hazard Circular, reportedly circulated by British banking interests among their American banking counterparts during the American Civil War. It read in part:
Read full article... Read full article...Slavery is likely to be abolished by the war power and chattel slavery destroyed. This, I and my European friends are glad of, for slavery is but the owning of labor and carries with it the care of the laborers, while the European plan, led by England, is that capital shall control labor by controlling wages.
Tuesday, December 26, 2017
Military/ Intelligence/ Security Industrial Complex Rules / Politics / Intelligence Agencies
By: BATR
When Harry Browne wrote and first published back on January 1, 1973 How to be Free in an Unfree World, few people realized just how much more difficult it would be to apply his rational lessons to a world completely gone mad in a rush to hasten Armageddon. Listening to Harry Browne back in 1980 at a monetary conference, the audience was eager to unlock the keys to attain financial security. Well, in the succeeding decades, most astute observers of the financial conditions have found a way to acquire, at least a modest degree of fiscal accomplishment.
Monday, December 25, 2017
Towards "Nuclear Winter”? / Politics / Nuclear Weapons
By: Dan_Steinbock
All efforts to resolve the elevated nuclear tensions in the Korean Peninsula should be subject to extreme caution, due to the potential of massive collateral damage of death, destruction, radiation and environmental collapse.Reportedly, Washington is drawing up plans for a “bloody nose” military attack on North Korea to stop its nuclear weapons program. According to high-level sources, the White House has “dramatically” stepped up preparation for a military solution in recent months amid fears diplomacy is not working.
Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, December 24, 2017
Magical Christmas Lights Helium Balloons at Peace Gardens, Sheffield / Politics / Holidays
By: Anika_Walayat
Here's a magical optical illusion created by use of these transparent Christmas lights helium balloons as this video from Sheffield's Peace Gardens illustrates where their two giant bauble and box present walk in light displays as if by magic reappear within the helium balloons.
Read full article... Read full article...
Saturday, December 23, 2017
Internet, the Weapon of Mass Disruption / Politics / Internet
By: Richard_Mills
The ever-increasing digitalization of our world has meant advances in technology that would have been unimaginable 30 years ago when the Internet first entered the popular lexicon. Created by the U.S. Government in the 1960s to build robust communications via computer networks, “Internet” as it was then called had no means of electronic mail, telephony or file sharing, which are the building blocks of today's world-wide web.
More recent inventions like e-commerce, cloud computing and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) have transformed the way we do business and conduct our personal lives. We take for granted the ability to shop and bank online, have a constant cell phone connection either through broadband or wifi, stream music and videos, or talk to each other across thousands of miles through Skype and FaceTime.
Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, December 21, 2017
Here’s Why China Unofficially Ended the Dispute with South Korea / Politics / China US Conflict
By: John_Mauldin
BY PHILLIP ORCHARD : The countries of East Asia are worried about the coercive power of Beijing’s pocketbook. And perhaps they should be.
China is flush with money, and as it continues to pour massive amounts of aid and investment into the region, it’s only a matter of time before Beijing tries to cash in.
Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, December 21, 2017
20 Positive Trends That Will Make You Feel Good About the World in 2018 / Politics / Social Issues
By: John_Mauldin
I’m probably one of the most optimistic people you will ever meet. I’m confident in the future of humanity. But I also recognize that we must overcome many challenges to get to the future we ultimately want.
In other words, I try to stay balanced.
For whatever reason, we tend to tune into bad news more eagerly than we do good news. The media is partly to blame, because murders, fires, and nasty weather sell advertising. But something deeper is at work.
Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, December 19, 2017
Christmas in an Amazon Culture / Politics / Amazon
By: BATR
Remembering the days when you shopped until you dropped seems to be from a time when socializing meant actually interacting with other people. Toys "Я" Us has lost its appeal because the reverse dynamics of spoiling the toddlers resists the challenge of braving the elements and cold temperatures to put wrapped presents under an artificial tree. Now, if it cannot arrive at the door delivered by USPS, UPS or FedEx; it's just not desirable. The consumer culture has made a giant leap into the cyber space of emptiness and irrelevancy. Spending money and spreading the wealth no longer operates under the same rules that enriched the growth in the (PCE) personal consumption expenditures. The void of satisfaction in buying trendy gadgets and stylist apparel feeds a basic isolation from meaning or contentment.
Tuesday, December 19, 2017
Today’s Technological, Monetary, and Political Forces Are Raising a Perfect Economic Storm / Politics / Social Issues
By: John_Mauldin
Identifying incentives is key to analyzing trends and forecasting what different players will do next.
Those who control the tech are intent on bringing the era of superautomation forward as fast as possible. That’s obvious. But between dicey Federal Reserve policies and possible tax reforms, all kinds of businesses seem to get new incentives to automate sooner rather than later.
Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, December 17, 2017
Nader Explains the Ongoing Collapse of the Democratic Party / Politics / US Politics
By: Jesse
"People of privilege will always risk their complete destruction rather than surrender any material part of their advantage. Intellectual myopia, often called stupidity, is no doubt a reason. But the privileged also feel that their privileges, however egregious they may seem to others, are a solemn, basic, God-given right." John Kenneth Galbraith
The last presidential election was obviously, and by choice of the parties, a contest between the lesser of two evils. The Democratic candidate was the choice of the party insiders, and the Republican of people who had just had enough, and were willing to believe the unabashed nonsense of a conman in their desperation.
Read full article... Read full article...