“Because I Say So” Isn’t Good Enough!

With six months until the Iowa caucuses, it seems like a good time to put some necessary ground rules in place, for the coming election cycle. Stephen Moore, an author, former senior economics writer for the Wall Street Journal, and President Trump’s nominee for Federal Reserve governor earlier this year, provided an excellent example of why, in a recently released article that he titled “Democrats Rooting for Recession.” The article takes the approach that Democrats are desperate to remove President Trump and would be willing to plunge America into recession, exclusively in order to “expose” his economic failure. While giving a speech to high-wealth investors in San Francisco, he was asked, “Will there be a recession?” He responded, “I’d never say never, but I don’t see a recession in 2020.” However, ongoing Treasury yield inversions tend to disagree.

A woman in the audience shouted, “I want a recession so we can get rid of Trump.” Moore asks, “Do you really want millions of people to lose their jobs… and earn less money? That doesn’t sound very patriotic or compassionate.” The woman crossed her arms and scoffed. Moore’s article continued, “We see Democratic leaders and the ‘unbiased’ media openly rooting for a recession. The drumbeat for an economic contraction has been nonstop for the past two weeks… All of this negativity has made Democrats appear so bloodthirsty for power that they want American workers to suffer so they can reclaim the crown.” The disparity between the two political parties has become so intense, it seems that in order to be a “Democrat,” you must subscribe to socialism and if you purport to be a “Republican,” then you must subscribe to isolationism, with no middle ground. I’m absolutely positive it’s not what the Founding Fathers had in mind. But Fake News is at the core of all of this and reality has to come into play!

I’ll discuss the Democrat “platform” next time, but for today Moore’s bullet points in this article seem to come directly from the Republican playbook. He says the “facts” are being ignored:

• We have the lowest inflation rate in 50 years. Not true! Bureau of Labor Statistics report numerous lower rates over the past 50 years, as well as negative rates, and as recently as 2015.
• We have the lowest interest rates in most people’s lifetimes. The 30-year mortgage rate in many markets is down to 3.5%. When Jimmy Carter was president, rates for mortgages hit 20%. Not true! Highest average 30-year mortgage rate was 18.63% under Reagan in 1981 and the lowest was 3.31% under Obama in 2012. The average annual interest rate during Jimmy Carter’s term ranged from 7.38% to 9.19%.
• The wealth of American families and businesses recently reached $100 trillion for the first time ever. As more than half of all families own stock, this wealth burst affects nearly everyone. This statement is hard to evaluate when the facts are that 78% of America is living from paycheck to paycheck, has more debt than any previous generation, and actually dies with an average debt of $61,554.

REALITY has to have a solid and common foundation in upcoming political discussions and penalties need to be created and enforced for candidates promoting fabrication, absurd extrapolation, or outright misrepresentation. This is a critical time for our country. It’s a time for factual discussion, platforms based on factual information, and real, verifiable, and factual information that candidates and voters alike can access, count on, and refer to. No matter who wins the election, we have difficult times ahead and it’s imperative that Americans protect their families, assets, and legacies. One of the best instruments for such protections is physical precious metals. Call the experts at American Bullion for assistance at (800) 653-GOLD (4653).