Ted Rall for September 13, 2019

so lets not give credit where credit isn’t due.

Seriously? Has a boss EVER given an employee a raise voluntarily?

“…and when I say economy, I mean Wall Street…”

Didn’t we just hear that times were not so good for you? Which is it?

It’s only the economy if you’re stupid.

Well.

The economy and jobs situation has been on a gradual ten year uptick. Trump didn’t start it, and for almost three years he has not managed to halt or reverse it. But it looks as if his luck may be running out and his make-it-up-as-you-go-along approach to economics is likely to wreck it all.

Remember who wrecked it last time? Bush the Smaller. Pretty much his last act as President.

And who inherited that situation but reversed it? Barack Obama. It’s like a Greek Fates Cycle where one party runs us into the ground and the other is doomed to dig us out only to see it all happen again.

In fact, going all the way back to Eisenhower, there has been a consistent pattern of Republican ruination of the economy followed by Democratic restoration of same.

The one blip was the falling economy during the Carter administration. But hardly his fault. Who could have known that OPEC would manifest and create worldwide economic turmoil with the so called Arab Oil Embargo.

And incidentally, Reagan didn’t fix it. Or Bush the Larger.

Clinton did.

And somehow, Republicans have the reputation of fiscal responsibility and Democrats have been regarded as spending us into ruin.

And the only tax cut that ever actually improved our economy was the one initiated by John Kennedy.

And when, may I ask, are the corporations going to start giving those raises that were promised with Trump’s trillion dollar deficit creating tax cut?

I mean, sure, they gave out the dividends to their shareholders, and bought back a lot of outstanding stock, but WHERE are those raises to their employees?

Yes, let’s pretend Wal-Mart and other Corps actually divest some of their money back to the people that actually make them their money.

A couple weeks ago, Ted told us that inflation was incredibly high, and that’s bad for Democrats. Now he tells us that the economy is doing great, people are getting raises…and that’s bad for Democrats. Funny how that works.

Every Republican/conservative presidency since 1929 has had a depression or recession, some had two. Conservatives have proved beyond the shadow of a doubt, that they cannot manage an economy or govern a country.

Yeah, Ted, since the first impulse of a large company when business is to great is to give line people raises. No, it’s to give bonuses to upper management and buy back stock if it’s publicly traded. The primary reason most companies raise salaries is to retain employees in a tight job market. There are exceptions, of course. But he’s right: Trump can behave like a brain damaged chimp on a daily basis, but if the capital markets are up mid-2020 and unemployment is still low, the a D pres candidate will have an even steeper hill to climb to replace Trump.And don’t forget even if Trump is gone in 2021, there will probably be a R-majority Senate, hundreds of lifetime Trump-appointed judges to deal with for the foreseeable future. But worst of all is the concept that out there there appear to be millions of people who think that Trump is doing a fantastic job. I don’t want to be all condescending and call them names, but that is really an existential difference among the American polity.Rall always makes me think. Usually to disagree with him. Signed, Mr Big Thinking internet user.

Back in the ’70’s when Friedman promoted primacy of shareholders as the only responsibility of corporations is when the disconnect between corporate policy and the rest of the stakeholders (including labor) occurred. It finally begins to look as if some at least of corporate poohbahs are beginning to understand that this is unsustainable for the economy and are becoming aware that recognition of responsibilities to labor and community are equally, if not more, important. Cross your fingers that this understanding spreads.

If you look at the stats, it appears that the greatest portion of raises has been going to the upper, upper echelon

Yes and with that huge tax cut and jobs bill in Dec 2017 we saw all those corporations and employers give long term pay raise…oh wait…no they didn’t; they gave one time bonuses. So we still have millions of Americans living in poverty and being replaced by automation or haven’t you been to a Walmart lately and notice the number of self serving registers drastically increasing.

Imagine where the market would be if Trump was playing a smart game with China and not alienating European markets.

It is a matter of priorities.

I’m more concerned about the environment. If the climate keeps shifting, it will destroy our agriculture sector, and food scarcity will run rampant. Then there will be the costal flooding that will cost billions to repair and mitigate. Constant wildfires on the west coast will ruin homes and lives…

I doubt people will say “well I’m starving from no food, but at least the economy is strong”.

The economy always recovers, even from a depression. The environment won’t recover, it will just shift and we will have to adapt, or die.

So Ted is doing well under the Trump economy?

Whole Foods offered health insurance to people working 20 hours or more per week. Next year, they will only offer it to those working 30 or more hours. The newscaster that reported this story said that this is shocking because Whole Foods is owned by Amazon which is headed by the wealthiest man in the world.

This cartoon doesn’t reflect reality. Companies are NOT handing out raises and many of the bonuses given were NOT related to the tax cut, they were already in the works and several were negotiated by a union. When companies had to pay higher tax rates, execs invested in their companies – improving facilities, training employees and hiring enough people to do the job rather than cutting people to line the exec’s pockets.

Where does this scene actually happen? Seriously? Where? Unemployment is low, but I don’t know anyone getting generous raises because of performance. Everyone I know is getting perfunctory raises of a few percentage points. The CEOs of their companies are getting huge raises and bonuses…but not the same thing.

I’m still waiting for that raise…. I’ve seen 4% in the last 10 years. A rising tide lifts all boats. Unfortunately, many of us don’t own boats….

The pent-up construction demand from the recession is on the decline. The projects are being completed.

All this is costing us is a $1 trillion annual deficit. The economy was strong when Trump took office, but yes, the tax cut accelerated it even more, but that tax cut is why the deficit is skyrocketing when, in a good economy, it should be shrinking. Cut spending, you say? Reducing the government outlay by $1 trillion would crash the economy, since it is that borrowed money being pumped in that is causing the boom. One way or the other, we will have to pay it. Now or later.

Yeah, that extra fifteen cents an hour is gonna make a HUGE difference in my life. Why, that’s . . . (doing math in head) . . . a whole SIX BUCKS every single week! Wow. I’ll be livin’ high on the hog now, boy, lemme tell ya.

If the only thing that matters to you is your wallet, you aren’t much different from the Grifter-in-Chief. There are more important issues than an economy that is continuing in the direction started by our previous president. People: health care, children in cages, voting rights, election security, minority rights, clean air and water, the future of the planet.