“Go back to Puerto Rico”

“Republican Rep. Jason Smith yelled a potentially racially charged remark across the aisle as Democratic Rep. Tony Cárdenas was at the podium.” (Roll Call)

This behavior provides an insight into the sheer callousness of some people.

Nonetheless, this provides a good example to remember what has happened in Puerto Rico, as they now face an impending food crisis, as funding for food assistance runs out. Should that happen, we will need to start calculations of excess fatalities, based on Mr. Trump’s niggardliness and racism.

For now, a recap of excess casualties including the official estimates, and those I calculated.

Figure 1: Cumulative excess deaths from September 2017, for simple time dummies OLS model (blue), OLS model adjusting for population (green), and Quantile Regression model adjusting for population (red), Milken Institute point estimate (black) and 95% confidence interval (gray +), Santos-Lozada, Howard letter (purple). Source: author’s calculations, Milken Institute (2018), Santos-Lozada and Howard (2018).

My methodology is reported here. Mr. Trump has not pointed to any documentation to substantiate his skepticism regarding the official estimate of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

72 thoughts on ““Go back to Puerto Rico”

  1. Moses Herzog

    WOW. Just…. WOW. You know, I guess the actual existence of guys like Jason Smith doesn’t bother me in and of itself. These people are always going to be a certain segment of the population, they will always be there. What bothers me (and again as a white male it bothers me maybe more than readers or the host of this blog might imagine), is the numbers of people who will vote for the donald trumps and the numbers of people that will vote for the Jason Smiths. That is what should be frightening to people. Is the sheer absolute numbers and % of people in this country that not only accept that, but seemingly cheer them on.

    I am sure this will create some laughter and cackles by those reading this blog, but I have faced (maybe what other people would view as “mild”) racism. I had mainland Chinese who would sometimes spit at my feet. Another guy who intentionally opened a car door on me. I had a large beer bottle thrown at my legs while sitting alone eating dumpling soup—by a University student I had no connection with at all. And at least two times (that I remember at the moment, there were probably more if I sat and tabulated it) where I was physically threatened in a bar (was two white guys dating two Chinese girls, and there were about 7 guys at a table nearby that didn’t seem to appreciate us dating these two girls, who both were conservatively dressed and conservative in their behavior, by ANY standard, not conservatively dressed “for a western girl”). And I will give them it was really brave and macho of 7 Chinese guys to physically threaten two white males and the two petite girls they were dating. It was really gutsy for 7 guys to do that…… maybe they can share that story of patriotic fearlessness with their grandchildren someday…… Most of these things only maybe “rattled” me for a few minutes.

    But I will tell you something that really hurts. When you date a girl over an extended period of time and there’s genuine feelings there, and people look at her in a certain way because she is dating “a westerner” or a “white guy” (there are derogatory terms for whites and/or foreigners in Chinese of course). If I wanted to date a girl there, I had to face that—it was part of the territory. And mostly it really didn’t get to me. But when someone you care for is getting abuse and castigating eyes everywhere you go because she is sharing time with you, she is suffering because she cares to spend time with you, it really hurts, and there’s no getting around it. She didn’t sign up for it. She was not a looking for a ticket to America. She wasn’t looking to have gifts lavished on her. She was from one of the poorer regions of China (not the countryside, but if it’s an economically despondent city, what’s the difference?) and majoring in mathematics at a teachers’ university in the province. She wasn’t “hunting out” foreigners at a western/foreigner hangout. Her hometown classmate & best-friend took pity on a lonesome foreigner and introduced me to her. She was not “searching out” foreigners. It was quite the reverse, and I was extremely lucky she agreed to see me again. She was taking that crap, including from some members of her own family, because (“fool” that she was, and that is the only single way she could be described as a “fool”) she thought I was a half-way decent human being worthy of spending her time with. Time that most University students in China attending good universities don’t really have.

    I think just one emotion can largely dictate whether someone is racist or not—the ability to feel empathy. Apparently there are many people in this world and in America specifically that do not and will never have that emotion in their toolbox. I didn’t vote for the orange leather-skinned bastard. So, you know, take a bow MAGA people—take a bow

  2. Moses Herzog

    I don’t know, I guess I get confused easily. I always thought it was the mixture of cultures and origins that made America such a vibrant, strong, and unique place. Including the food, music, energy, and human capital of Latin America. But I guess the primate animal known as donald trump who has the fear of God put into it when it hears the word “investigation” said out loud is here to teach us different. I will just be what donald trump and the Republicans call a “loser” and “weak” and just keep on going on enjoying those cultures and people.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iz5Tif0RZiI

  3. ilsm

    US’ sins of omission are dwarfed by the militarist empire’s sins of commission.

    O Tempores O Mores

  4. mrp

    And perhaps democratic lawmakers can go back to “partying” in Puerto Rico in the middle of yet another federal government shutdown.

    But identity politics and racism always win the day for some.

  5. Bruce Hall

    No doubt; really stupid remark. Was it racist or simply a snide call-out to Democrats who were, supposedly, “vacationing” in Puerto Rico during the government shutdown as Smith claims? Hard to attribute intent, but inappropriate in the setting regardless.

    1. noneconomist

      I kept waiting for a Democrat to do what that South Carolina Republican rep did during one of Obama’s SOU speeches: scream out “You’re a liar!” Didn’t happen, but given who was speaking with thousands of his lies already documented, it certainly could have. Multiple times.
      But faux applauding (thank you, Mr. President, for helping elect a ton of women–who, like us, oppose you– to public office all over the country ) and sneering won the day. No need to utter a famous phrase like “Read my lips” when other methods work just as well. Or better.

  6. joseph

    Sorry, Moses, but I don’t think that someone who refers to the foreign women he was dating as “petite” and “girls” should be lecturing people on racism.

    Really, you should knock off the offensive sexism. Nobody thinks you are being clever.

  7. baffling

    remember menzie, PR is some caribbean island. it is NOT part of the united states. what was that fool from PR doing in the US capital building to begin with? he should have been arrested and deported by ICE. now we are being invaded by puerto rico in addition to the southern border. can we fence in that island as well?

    1. pgl

      Since Sammy has not provided the definition – permit me!

      https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/niggardly

      Definition of niggardly
      1: grudgingly mean about spending or granting : BEGRUDGING… management was being niggardly with raises.— Dana Canedy
      2: provided in meanly limited supply… niggardly funding of planetary science.— Richard Wolkomir

      But then there was that “David Howard incident” in 1999.

      1. ilsm

        TR, a great fan of Alfred Thayer Mahan’s selling the great White Fleet, used the term “niggardly” to describe anyone who questioned why a ‘rich’ country years behind Germany on “social security” should have a fleet to patrol its empire.

          1. ilsm

            pgl,

            Dahlgren’s navy (civil war naval guns named after him) weapons ‘process’ started the US’ MIC. That word helped sell it!

  8. Moses Herzog

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h810bO-4LIs

    I had read about her some, but both of these items were news to me as of just today. Ocasio-Cortez’s grandfather died shortly after Maria. He was in a nursing home in Puerto Rico.
    https://www.businessinsider.com/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-trumps-tweets-puerto-rico-2018-9

    And also, not terribly surprising when we think of her intelligence quotient and her education—she has some Sephardic Jew ancestry. They were escaping persecution in Spain. I’m assuming the % isn’t very high, but obviously enough for her to note.
    https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium-welcome-to-the-tribe-aoc-s-jewish-ancestry-draws-praise-and-criticism-online-1.6729319

    1. Moses Herzog

      The deeper question is, are the possum and the House Judiciary Committee working TOGETHER in the evil left wing conspiracy against donald trump?? Is the possum the robotic ringleader of an evil pizzeria joint where they discuss higher marginal tax rates for the wealthy in the backroom?? Is the possum a ghostwriter of black market birth certificates for brown-skinned people born in Hawaii who MUST have been born in Africa because…….because…….. they have brown skin?? Tune in to Alex Jones late afternoon InfoWars to find out……
      https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2019/02/07/possum-spotted-daylight-outside-washington-post-office-what-does-it-mean/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.830abda212f8

      Plus Alex Jones has an amazing deal on pills for your prostate if you played with your winky too much. They are called “WhiteTrash Power Placebos”. Aimed at the rural European-blooded man who never got his GED. Coming soon to a 3am infomercial near you.

      1. ilsm

        Moses,

        It is a rolling coup! Started before the inauguration.

        Someone in the pentagon working with the service HQ’s and US Transportation Command has devised a force redeployment plan for Syria occupiers to come out.
         
        https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-military-sets-april-target-date-for-leaving-syria-11549573965?mod=e2fb&fbclid=IwAR1dAbQ1x7XLx9hRtsRwdU1eb-t0_eLPgdx2wKvhgT7zW1cirKTlQO1qF_U&ns=prod/accounts-wsj
         
        Sorry for the pay wall.

        Can the bi partisan war mongers in congress stop Trump pulling US troops out of Syria by April?
         
        https://www.lawfareblog.com/can-congress-constitutionally-restrict-presidents-troop-withdrawals  
         
        Article One section 8.   Raise an Army.  No funds for more than 2 years which is why the DoD budget process is a perpetual scam.  To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;
         
        How the pro-war democrats think they can keep the US military dissecting Syria to secure room for  Salafist nutcases is beyond me!   If they put a stipulation in an appropriation the CinC would disband the units in place, take the unit designators and put the units in mothball, and tell dept of state to go save US citizens.
         
        Next we will have Nancy Pelosi declaring herself legitimate leader of the US! Like the war press is calling Guaido.

  9. Moses Herzog

    I’m so glad we’re moving to a cashless society and a society without paper currency. After all, nothing like this would ever happen in the future when you have no paper money on hand, no physical money, and EVERYTHING is digital based…… RIGHT……. ??? Just like the Euro, the “experts” have all the answers for you. Don’t be “backwoodsy” ok??
    https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-02-08/livid-wells-fargo-customers-report-direct-deposits-missing-glitches-continue

    Of course putting your money in an NCUA certified credit union would be a step in the right direction—but I wouldn’t want you village idiots with your money in a bank to feel “socialist” or anything. Your money is “safe” and “secure” in a large bank. I saw bank commercials on the TV and pop-up internet ads declaring large banks “safe and secure” so, what could POSSIBLY go wrong?? Just keep on as normal. NCUA Credit Unions are for “dirty liberals”. There’s nothing wrong here. Don’t read the newspaper either. FOX news has you covered.

  10. PeakTrader

    “…Mr. Trump’s niggardliness and racism.”

    Trump’s ex-black girlfriend doesn’t understand why some people believe Trump is racist.

    Maybe, because those people view people, and diversity, only by race.

    1. Barkley Rosser

      And Sally Hemings is quite sure that Mr.Jefferson was not a racist, and Strom Thurmond was not a racist since fathered a child with an African American woman, even though in 1948 he led the Dixiecrat walkout from the Dem convention when it adopted a racial civil rights plank, and later he led the southern Dems into the GOP after LBJ supported those same civil rights laws while Barry Goldwater and the GOP did not.

      1. PeakTrader

        Barkley Rosser, the Democrat party has a long history of racism. And, we see it today in Virginia (along with sexism).

        Only two Republicans in the South voted for the 1956 Southern Manifesto:

        “The manifesto was signed by 101 politicians (99 Southern Democrats and two Republicans)…The Congressmen drafted the document to counter the landmark Supreme Court 1954 ruling Brown v. Board of Education, which determined that segregation of public schools was unconstitutional.”

        Without 80% of Republicans supporting the Civil Rights Act, it would’ve failed. How many Republicans voted against it, because they believed it was unconstitutional, like Goldwater.

        “Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona voted against the bill, remarking, “You can’t legislate morality.” Goldwater had supported previous attempts to pass civil rights legislation in 1957 and 1960 as well as the 24th Amendment outlawing the poll tax. He stated that the reason for his opposition to the 1964 bill was Title II, which in his opinion violated individual liberty and states’ rights. Democrats and Republicans from the Southern states opposed the bill and led an unsuccessful 83-day filibuster, including Senators Albert Gore, Sr. (D-TN) and J. William Fulbright (D-AR), as well as Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV), who personally filibustered for 14 hours straight.”

        1. pgl

          Yes there were a lot of DixieCrats back in the 1950’s. But after LBJ passed the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act – these racists magically turned Republican. C’mon Peaky – it appears you flunked your history classes. We know you flunked economics.

          BTW – I’m sure you have read the National Review. Check out the writings of its founder Bill Buckley. Some eloquent pose all designed to promote white nationalism as something that Yale should have thought. Of maybe you don’t realize how Buckley was as his prose is over your head. It seems you flunked 3rd grade English too.

          1. Menzie Chinn Post author

            PeakTrader: And running a high pressure economy had nothing to do with the decline in the *overall* poverty rate (which is what you have plotted).

          2. PeakTrader

            Menzie Chinn, the “high pressure economy” was underway after the JFK tax cuts, the huge boost in government spending, and the wartime economy, after 1964.

          3. pgl

            “Only three southern Democrats turned Republican.”

            Really? So Alabama is a blue state? Peaky lives in a truly alternative universe where Nixon never pursued the Southern Strategy.

        2. noneconomist

          Your foray into history, PT, is only a bit more successful than your forays into economics.
          You are correct that without Republican votes there would have been no Civil Rights Act(s). You either fail to mention–or likely do not know–that many of the Republicans who were staunch supporters were members of the hated Eastern establishment, the one Goldwater said he would have been happy to eliminate in the mid 1960’s. They were the Rockefeller Republicans who were heavily booed and berated at the 1964 Republican convention. They combined with Midwestern moderates and conservatives to assure passage.
          Today, these Republicans barely exist, having been sent to the trash heap as RINO’s. Or worse. Ideologically, they weren’t you.
          And speaking of Goldwater, who was it who was it who carried four heavily Democratic states in the deep south in the 1964 election? That would be the very same Goldwater who easily won Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi, carrying the latter with 87% of the vote.
          For some reason, those who harken bark to the politics of those southern Democrats never seem to mention the make-up of their members. For decades, the largest religiously affiliated group in the south has been the Southern Baptists. They were represented by the likes of Faubus, Barnett, Thurmond, Maddox, et. al. (Wallace was Methodist) You don’t have to travel through too many hoops to ascertain their roles in politics of that day. Combined with other Protestant fundamentalists, they were shakers and movers in most southern states.
          You can either learn history or regurgitate what you’ve been told. Obviously, you prefer yours warm and tasty the second time around.

          1. PeakTrader

            Noneconomist, if you’re trying to dispute my statement, you failed.

            Obviously, you’ve proved you don’t understand economics either.

            Nixon also complained about the Eastern Establishment.

            It should be noted, Bush 41 voted for Hillary over Trump, along with many Eastern Establishment Republicans.

          2. noneconomist

            More cluelessness. No surprise, PT.
            Had it not been for those Eastern Establishment Republicans–in both the House and Senate– there would have been NO passage. After Goldwater’s nomination, numerous black Republicans–Rockefeller supporter Jackie Robinson prominent among them–bolted the party.
            Check the votes: the ten Republicans then representing states in the old confederacy ALL voted against the first Civil Rights Act.
            Thurmond switched parties because of his opposition to Civil Rights. Read (or listen to) just about any Wallace campaign speech, c. 1962, and you might think you’re listening to a Republican campaigning now.
            Protestant fundamentalist leaders in the South–mostly Democrats–were also opposed.
            But, please. Point out my misunderstanding(s). Exhibit more of your brilliant insights and knowledge. The history classes you took at LSU (Leningrad State University) were not doubt quite informative.

          3. Barkley Rosser

            Your claims about the supposed paucity of southern Dems becoming GOP are ridiculous. I personally know far more than three who did so here in Virginia where I have lived for over 40 years.

            The entire Byrd machine made the switch en masse after George McGovern wan the Dem prez nomination in 1972. A leading member of the machine was Mills Godwin. He served as governor in the 60s as a Dem and then did so again in the 70s as a GOP. Senator Harry Byrd, Jr. himself went halfway, becoming an independent, although clearly tilting to the GOP. But his Independent status allowed him to always be able to caucus with the ruling party in the Senate, whichever it was.

    2. noneconomist

      And Trump is a big defender of traditional marriage including all three of his. “ex black girlfriend” three wives, paid off pornstar and beauty queen. The guy is a saint whose devotion to God and Christian values should be beyond question.
      No wonder he was such a big hit at the National Prayer Breakfast.

      1. Moses Herzog

        Even at the Methodist church my mother attends (in a southern state) they all fawn over donald trump. Literally fawn over him. Clear now into 2019, he is their hero. And regularly bad-mouth Pelosi (for different reasons than I badmouth the woman). You know, maybe I’m rationalizing my own preferences because I tend to be anti-social anyway. But as I get older I find it’s harder and harder and harder to hold on to my Christian beliefs. But the ironic thing is, if I just read my Bible at home, I find it’s easier to hold on to that thin thread of belief than to interact with the Church goers who fawn over trump, are closet racists, praise guns (I kid you not, the Sunday school teacher was a big believer in guns, he “accidentally” shot himself and bleed to death on his back porch last early December. Big NRA cheerleader. Well, he got what he wanted didn’t he??).

        We’re left with TWO possibilities 1) An NRA man who owned multiple guns and played with guns his entire life was DUMB ENOUGH to “accidentally” shoot himself just outside of his house while “cleaning his gun” and his wife and daughter were out shopping. 2) A man who taught Christian values and the value of human life to large numbers of people, who assumably knew his Bible very well and read it and taught it EVERY week—decided suicide with two women under your roof to look after is acceptable behavior.

        When I go to church, which has been years since I went, I listen to these people talk and I think “WTF am I doing with these nutsos?? And do I really wanna “believe” in the same things THESE people do??? Honest to God, I feel more comfortable wandering Buddhist temples in China—I feel I am intermixing with people who actually DO have a brain.

      2. PeakTrader

        Trump is a big admirer of women.

        And, he picks better women, including to work in his administration, than Bill Clinton.

        1. pgl

          He dates gold diggers. Come to Manhatten – these bimbos are a dime a dozen. Now as far as who works in the Trump White House all I see is [###] and lying Sarah Yuckebee Sanders and lying and [####] Kelly Anne Conway. Maybe you do not realize it but both of them are almost as stupid as you are. [edited by MDC]

      3. pgl

        Peaky does not know this but it is generally well known. He was married to Marla when he dated this woman. He was also doing Melanie at the same time. What a guy!

        Of course in Trump’s defense – Marla was doing her bodyguard. I guess the Donald was not good enough in the sack for Marla!

    3. pgl

      Do you even know this lady’s name? Or who her parents are? Didn’t think so. Then let’s try this – when did he go out with this lady? The last question matters as we would know who Trump was married to at the time? I guess adultery is OK by you.

      1. PeakTrader

        Pgl, you should find something more important to do than keep track of all the women, who throw themselves at Trump, like learning Econ 101 or History 101.

        1. noneconomist

          Speaking of History 101, you might want to study resistance to integration in the South, often led by Southern Baptists. (Well known to those who’ve actually studied history rather than regurgitated it: it took Southern Baptists longer to apologize for roles in perpetuating slavery and segregation than in did for Africaaners to apologize for apartheid).
          Among those excoriating liberals over the Brown decision was Rev. Jerry Falwell–founder of Trump’s second favorite university– who said Earl Warren and the court simply were unaware that it was God who wanted to keep the races separate, especially in schools.
          Oh, those liberal Democrat Southern Baptists. What were they thinking?
          It was only natural, I suppose, that they morphed–like Strom Thurmond– into freedom loving Republican conservatives. Although there were conservatives like the aforementioned Barry Goldwater who had no problem with anyone wanting to put a foot up the Rev. Falwell’s considerable backside.

          1. PeakTrader

            Noneconomist, do you believe the three top Democrats in Virginia accused of racism and sexism are really Republicans?

            Very few Southern Democrats became Republicans – I think, it was three in the ‘40s to the ‘60s.

            Of course, rewriting history and ignoring what’s happening today are Democrat pastimes.

          2. noneconomist

            Three southern Democrats in Congress? State legislatures? General population?
            Are we talking about the 1960’s or today?
            There’s no rewriting here. I mentioned historical fact. You jumped to 2019. That being the case, Mike Espy should have own the Senate seat in Mississippi.
            You’re even more clueless than usual. And you have no idea how clueless you really are. Situation normal.

        2. pgl

          You bring up his affairs and then write this? BTW – they threw themselves at his money. Or was it his daddy’s money?

  11. Moses Herzog

    Random thoughts here, drinking past expiration date coffee, and cheap chocolate wafers. I am thinking about what I believe to be the two biggest issues for trump’s run in 2020–the Mueller investigation and international trade. We know he’s not going to be impeached, Senate Republicans have made it clear they won’t allow it. So the best we can hope for is some more shocking stories get verified, House of Representatives hearings are televised, and they guy is pretty well as embarrassed as he can be. These are all basically givens, as it’s a given 35%–40% will vote for him regardless of Mueller and regardless of House of Rep hearings televised.

    So then we go to the trade deal with China. Does it get done?? We can guess Mnuchin or staff very closely connected to Mnuchin are going to do the “heavy lifting” there. So here we have to play a little exercise in game theory (of which I know little about). The question is, how does Mnuchin behave on the assumption he wants to keep his job past 2020?? Does Mnuchin want to keep it??? I think he does, or why stand 8 feet to the right of trump as he defends Nazis?? It shows he likes the job and wants to keep it. So, how does Mnuchin play out the China trade?? Mnuchin is basically stuck with 2 possible results. 1) Do a deal and see nearly no progress from China, or promises that won’t be kept and see the deficit and trade stay the same or worsen. 2) Don’t do a deal, again the trade deficit could stay the same, but more likely worsens, and trump has to blame someone as the “deal maker” who didn’t get the deal done. Who does he scream at and blame THIS time?? Most likely Mnuchin, and Mnuchin goes from a guy highly favored in trump’s eyes to a guy with less than 40% chance to stay on the administration going past, say March of 2020.

    I think Mnuchin gets a deal done in China, but is fired at least by March of 2020, due to the terms with China, staying nearly exactly the same as before the first initial trump tariffs—along with trump STILL having to explain deficit numbers that are unchanged or worsening. Again, Mnuchin becomes a very easy sacrificial lamb either way—Mnuchin just lasts longer or delays his firing, by making a “deal” with China. So the deal has to get done for headlines.

    Although if there is a “Predict It” wagering line on the deal/ no deal with China, and Menzie knows what that is, I sure would be fascinated to know what the current betting line is.

  12. Moses Herzog

    There were those amongst us who were saying a long time ago that the donald trump “tax cuts” were not going to help working class Americans or middle class Americans AT ALL and that in fact it would punish middle class Americans and reward those sitting on large bank accounts.
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-09/the-u-s-cut-taxes-why-will-fewer-folks-get-refunds-quicktake?srnd=premium

    Lo and behold!!! Look what happened. Now they are all on Twitter crying about not getting any refund and how much MORE they are paying in federal taxes. Maybe next time they’ll pick up a damned newspaper instead of watching these people:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sld27PfAF3M

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lz0yOmbaQNs

    There you have it from Wilbur folks, if your taxes are much higher now and you don’t get your paycheck from work—just go get a loan. It’s really simple.

  13. Moses Herzog

    Oh look, it’s one of Bruce Dogberry’s and “Princeton”Kopits’ cousins. He’s crying and upset because he just learned how to read at a 4th grade level while filling out tax forms.
    https://twitter.com/DennisMJordan/status/1092784259864109057

    Wait until Bruce Dogberry’s cousin Dennis gets a hold of some books discussing how the national debt grew exponentially under Ronald Reagan. The whole world is going to turn upside down for the man-child named Dennis, who finally became literate on the morning of February 5th while filling out his tax forms. I thought FOX “news” had eliminated the need to be literate and read major newspapers. Well, damn it all anyway…… that’s what I thought…..

    These are trying times for Evangelical voters and Jesus-freak voters. It’s getting where virtue signaling Catholics can’t even trust a corrupt “leader” who takes payments from the Russian Mob, sells out America for self-dealing from Russian organized crime, siphons off the presidential inauguration funds to deepen his and his daughter’s pockets, and screws around on his 3rd wife with public fornicators. I mean if you can’t trust that type of person, who can you trust Dennis?? Next thing you know, the middle management of your Church will be busted for a worldwide infestation of pedophiles predatorily molesting children of the congregation and then the raping of nuns by priests. Oh wait, that already happened.
    https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/pope-admits-nun-abuse-catholic-church-790874/

    No worries Mr. Dennis Jordan. The Pope will punish them…… sometime tomorrow….. or maybe the Pope will punish them a week from now…….. or maybe the Pope will punish them a month from now….. or maybe the Pope will punish them a year from now…… AFTER the Pope forms an “organizing committee for abuse conference”. You “keep the faith” Dennis. donald trump will fix this thing where rich corporations pay less while you pay more Dennis. donald trump and the Republicans in the Senate will fix that increased tax you’re paying so the big corporations can pay less right around the same day the Pope punishes those pedophile priests. Don’t you worry Dennis Jordan. It’s going to happen. Any day now Dennis.

    Now that you’ve learned how to read Dennis Jordan, I’m gonna put you in a Book Club with Bruce Dogberry and “Princeton”Kopits and we’ll start you three guys out with “Humpty Dumpty Sat on a Wall” and then we’ll move you up to anything Oprah Winfrey recommends.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Orjbwv8H9zM

    1. Anonymous

      Mose,

      You roll out a sample size of 1!!!!! Poor fellow. Must pay huge real estate tax on is McMansion. Probably huge annual excise tax on his Audi or Porsche SUV he drives alone with no cargo.

      I roughed my taxes. I am sending a check on the day after Patriots Day (Mass celebrates Lexington and Concord so we get to take 15 Apr as a holiday)………

      The check is a lot less than last year, bc I use the standard deduction and do not have a huge house note nor pay huge state and local taxes, that is I have not itemized for years.

      My sample size is also exactly 1 as well!

      1. noneconomist

        Why am I guessing you were one of those guys who–until 2017–was very concerned with deficits and debt and all that borrowed money? Or that you’re now ok with using borrowed money to finance a tax cut much like Reagan’s in 1981 and Bush II’s in 2002?

        1. Anonymous

          Under another post by Menzie – this troll got angry that Menzie did not included data on Wisconsin employment that will not be released until May 2019. I guess this troll has a magical Trump crystal ball!

    1. Moses Herzog

      If she’s under the impression rain will wash away her LIE of being Native American, it won’t. Standing in the rain is standard fair for one of these females whose big goal in life seems to be convincing everyone she is “put upon” by the world. That schtick is going to get old real fast just like Hillary’s “everyone is trying to get at me through my husband’s record” schtick. That gets you about 2 weeks of sympathy, so come end of February (we’ll give her longer because she’s obviously slow to catch on to things) she better find a new schtick. This is also a huge indication she has decided to continue on with the Native American LIE, because the sharp thing to do is to come clean on the lie before she makes the “official” start. She’s not very “street smart” or she would have had this done at least by December or late January. “I apologized on the phone” is not going to cut it at a Presidential debate. She’s going to need another answer—and she hasn’t got one.

      Mike Konczal is one of the sharpest policy guys out there (strongly leans to the left, but as about as sharp-minded as they get). The best excuse Konczal could come up with was “She put Native American on her Texas State Bar form ‘for statistical purposes’ “. That’s horse-shit, and the sad thing is Konczal KNOWS it’s horse-shit. Now if one of the sharp minds like Konczal, the best Konczal can do is come up with “she wrote Native American on the form because she wanted that .09% in the government stats” you’ve got problems. You need an answer for the LIE, Miss Warren has NONE

      Now, if Miss Warren cleans up her lie (i.e. publicly admits it was a lie and genuinely apologizes) I will consider voting for her—until then she’s sewer drainage sitting next to Hillary to me.

    2. Moses Herzog

      Here is ONE of the forms in question. I am certain Miss Warren put this on many forms, including some of her application forms or work related forms at eastern schools she worked at:
      https://twitter.com/AmyEGardner/status/1092941590555971585

      In this video there is another form (I’m assuming a different year, because the terminology she uses is different). One form she says “American Indian”. Another form Miss Warren says she is “Native American”.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txZnhdhMmT0

      This is CNN and Washington Post folks, not other sources we could mention. Now, Barkley Junior may get his Depends or Tena brand off-kilter because of this, but it’s not a left vs right issue. It’s not even a gender issue, which as an old white male Barkley Junior is a master of Gender Studies, just so everyone knows. It’s an issue of someone running as an official candidate for President of the USA, who has a problem deciphering truth from LIES. And I think, as we have found out over the last 2 years, that’s an important characteristic when you’re talking about the leader of a nation.

      1. Barkley Rosser

        Wow, Mose, yoiu have really nailed it. Miss Warren put “American Indian” on one form and “Native American” on another one. That certainly settles it. Why she is nearly as bad as Miss Clinton and Miss Pelosi. Thank you, Mose, for these profound and deep insights.

  14. Moses Herzog

    What if someone described the numbers and the source of donald trump’s illegal immigrant workers as “a pipeline”, what would you think??
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/my-whole-town-practically-lived-there-from-costa-rica-to-new-jersey-a-pipeline-of-illegal-workers-for-trump-goes-back-years/2019/02/08/8cdbc1dc-2971-11e9-97b3-ae59fbae7960_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.2ff0bc3f7c86

    I guess Republican Jason Smith wouldn’t tell them to “Go back to Costa Rica” when they are providing cheap labor and zero benefits costs on his rich pals’ payrolls. Again, no punishment for the Republican who employs illegals. Why do the white men who knowingly employ illegals always evade punishment?? If you’re serious about getting rid of illegals, then you punish the white men who employ them. Of course you don’t need to punish those who employ them, because the Bruce Dogberry Halls of the world and the PeakIgnorances of the world, and the CoRevs of the world don’t want or need them to be punished. Republicans only need a white faced Republican barking/pretending he’s against illegals on the TV, and they got their vote. Half of these Republican bastards have illegals working in their homes as nannies and maids, and illiterates like Bruce Dogberry and CoRev think they are “upset” about illegals?!?!?!? There are no bounds to the amount of stupidity of your non-college white trash Republican.

  15. Moses Herzog

    Using the Presidential Inauguration to self-deal and enrich himself. And having his daughter involved in the contract negotiations. Of course Ivanka knew and did nothing about it. Orange Excrement and his daughter, “Little Miss Innocent Blonde”—two American patriots.
    https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-inc-new-evidence-emerges-of-possible-wrongdoing-by-trump-inaugural-committee

    A segment lifted verbatim from Justin Elliot’s and Ilya Marritz story:
    “A spokesman confirmed that the nonprofit 58th Presidential Inaugural Committee paid the Trump International Hotel a rate of $175,000 per day for event space — in spite of internal objections at the time that the rate was far too high. If the committee is deemed by auditors or prosecutors to have paid an above-market rate, that could violate tax laws prohibiting self-dealing, according to experts.
    Tax law prohibits nonprofits from paying inflated prices to entities that are owned by people who also control or influence the nonprofit’s activities.
    “Every legitimate nonprofit is very concerned with this,” said Doug White, a veteran adviser to tax exempt organizations, speaking generally. “You’re benefiting a private person, and you’re using the nonprofit to do it.”
    The inaugural committee also spent at least $1.5 million at a hotel in which the investment firm of the committee’s chairman, Tom Barrack, held a small stake.
    In addition, the inaugural nonprofit appears not to have disclosed multiple gifts to the committee on its tax return, as required by law.
    Trump’s inaugural committee spent more than $100 million, almost twice the amount spent on the next-most expensive inaugural party, that of Barack Obama in 2009. In addition to probing how the nonprofit spent its money, investigators are examining whether the inaugural received improper donations from foreigners. Inaugural nonprofits are prohibited from receiving donations from people who are not U.S. citizens.”

  16. pgl

    Peaky wants to claim that the War on Poverty did not lower U.S. poverty but all he provides as some chart from an article by Ezra Klein which does show a large decrease in the officially measured poverty rate. Never mind the vast research on why this measure understates the true decline in poverty. He fails to provide what Ezra was talking about so permit me:

    http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/09/the_poverty_numbers_you_should.html

    A link to an actual article! Why did Peaky not provide that? Oh wait – here is what Ezra said:

    “We’ve seen a big jump in the poverty rate in the past two years, of course, but we also saw a mild increase in the years before that. Between 2001 and 2007, the poverty rate increased from 11.7 percent to 12.5 percent. But the economy grew in every one of those years. This was the first period since we began keeping records in which the economy expanded but poverty went up — usually, economic expansions bring the poverty rate down.”

    Ezra was discussing the Bush43 era. Others have noted that the policies under Reagan likely increased income inequality. But Peaky in his usual incompetent and dishonest style blames this on LBJ.

  17. pgl

    Note how Peaky is abusing an outdated measure of the poverty rate when this paper from over 5 years ago provided an Anchored Supplemental Poverty Measure:

    https://courseworks.columbia.edu/access/content/group/c5a1ef92-c03c-4d88-0018-ea43dd3cc5db/Working%20Papers%20for%20website/Anchored%20SPM.December7.pdf

    “Poverty measures set a poverty line or threshold and then evaluate resources against that threshold. The official poverty measure is flawed on both counts: it uses thresholds that are outdated and are not adjusted appropriately for the needs of different types of individuals and households; and it uses an incomplete measure of resources which fails to take into account the full range of income and expenses that individuals and households have. Because of these (and other) failings, statistics using the official poverty measure do not provide an accurate picture of poverty or the role of government policies in combating poverty. To address these well-known limitations, the Census Bureau recently implemented a supplemental poverty measure (SPM) which applies an improved set of thresholds and a more comprehensive measure of resources. The Census Bureau has released SPM statistics for 2010- 2012 (Short, 2011, 2012, 2013). From these reports, we know that using the SPM results in a higher overall threshold, more income, but also more expenses. The net effect is a slightly higher overall poverty rate – 16.0 percent with SPM vs. 15.1 percent with OPM in 2012. These reports also illustrate the crucial anti-poverty role played by programs not counted under the OPM (programs such as SNAP/Food Stamps and EITC).”

    The charts in this paper were widely discussed after its publication. Of course liars like Paul Ryan just ignore this evidence. And we see that PeakDishonesty does too.

    1. PeakTrader

      Pgl, obviously, you don’t understand poverty:

      HOW THE WELFARE STATE DEVASTATED AFRICAN AMERICANS

      “The out-of-wedlock birth rate among African Americans today is 73%, three times higher than it was prior to the War on Poverty. Children raised in fatherless homes are far more likely to grow up poor and to eventually engage in criminal behavior, than their peers who are raised in two-parent homes. In 2010, blacks (approximately 13% of the U.S. population) accounted for 48.7% of all arrests for homicide, 31.8% of arrests for forcible rape, 33.5% of arrests for aggravated assault, and 55% of arrests for robbery. Also as of 2010, the black poverty rate was 27.4% (about 3 times higher than the white rate), meaning that 11.5 million blacks in the U.S. were living in poverty.”

      1. pgl

        PeakDishonesty repeats the lies of Paul Ryan and when I provide an important December 2013 research paper – this dishonest troll just ignores it. Instead he finds some rightwing rant to post but does he even tell us where he founds this insanely stupid words. Of course not but I found it:

        http://archive.discoverthenetworks.org/viewSubCategory.asp?id=1672

        C’mon Peaky – we know you know how to provide links. So why didn’t you? In case anyone wants to know what this Discover the Network is, check here:

        https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/discover-the-networks/

        “A Questionable Source”.

        Like every other bit is dishonest garbage Peaky peddles. Hey Peaky – next time be a man and admit to your sources.

    2. PeakTrader

      “Children who are raised in broken families are far more likely to drop out of high school, use drugs, commit violent crimes, have children outside of marriage, develop mental health problems, become homeless, drop out of the labor force, go on welfare, and experience poverty. Indeed, the poverty rate for single-parent families is almost six-times the rate for married-couple families.

      “The best anti-poverty program for children is a stable, intact family,” according to former Clinton administration officials William Galston and Elaine Kamarck.”

      1. pgl

        More quotes without admitting to your source. Are you really this incompetent? Or just being a scaredy cat that we might figure out what your right wing questionable source is.

        Same old incompetent PeakDishonesty!

        1. noneconomist

          You forget: he’s an expert in history, economics, international relations, sociology, any academic discipline. Just ask him.
          I forgot geography. He told me that my residence in the Sierra foothills must mean I live near Reno If near is 100 miles—and if the Sierra foothills are on the side, not the west—then he’s right on. Again.
          Is that guy amazing or what?

  18. pgl

    PeakRacist is now quoting intellectual garbage from a group led by David Horowitz. Who is the guy you ask?

    https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/david-horowitz

    “In 1988, David Horowitz founded the Center for the Study of Popular Culture in Los Angeles to “establish a conservative presence in Hollywood and show how popular culture had become a political battleground.” In 2006, the center was rebranded the David Horowitz Freedom Center (DHFC) and turned its focus toward “the efforts of the radical left and its Islamist allies to destroy American values.” Under Horowitz’s direction, the Freedom Center has launched a network of projects giving anti-Muslim voices and radical ideologies a platform to project hate and misinformation. Funding these figures and ideas fits into Horowitz’s multi-front information war against the political left, which he claims has a stranglehold on mainstream culture. A fellow conservative has called him “something of a Stalinist,” and his FrontPage magazine ironically carries the tagline “Inside every progressive is a totalitarian screaming to get out.” Horowitz took to far-right politics after participating in the radical left politics of the 1960s.”

    Peaky’s kind of guy! There is a lot more. Horowitz is anti-immigrant as well as racist.

    Wait, wait – could PeakRacist actually be the infamous David Horowitz?

  19. Erik Poole

    An inappropriate but entertaining response to Jason Smith would have been to invite him to speak in tongues.
    ….

    OK, that was meant to be a joke because Rep. Smith is a member of the Assemblies of God church. I say that because I have met Pentecostal missionaries who do speak in tongues but are still really nice people who had taken active stands against racism.

  20. pgl

    That PeakRacist tried to tar President as a racist only shows the depth of intellectual garbage that he spews whenever he lies to us. Let’s see what the main newspaper of Atlanta (my birth city) had to say:

    https://www.ajc.com/news/national/jimmy-carter-speaks-about-racism-and-why-shouldn-keep-quiet/Fj2X1qSaiZC293HLvChdlM/

    “For the most part, former President Jimmy Carter seems to shy away from the national spotlight. But now he’s speaking out on a “resurgence of racism” he finds troubling. Carter spoke at a summit of Baptist leaders trying to create partnerships between black and white Baptist churches. The former president said staying quiet about discrimination is an acceptance of it and called on Baptists to help change things. And Carter tried to keep politics out of the conversation, but he did tell the group: “I think there will be a positive reaction after this election. And I think the average person in America now will be looking at how to do better things, how to have a superb American policy on peace and human rights and other aspects of life. I think we’ll raise our standards as a public and I believe our next president will accommodate that inclination.”

    This was two months before the 2016 election. Alas Peaky’s boy Donald Trump won and exactly the opposite occurred. Do not blame Jimmy Carter as he abhorred racism whereas Trump may be the most racist President we have ever had. Which is exactly why PeakRacist adores him.

  21. Moses Herzog

    In the name of transparency I want to make clear, I haven’t contributed any of my own money to this. However, I think this is a very legit fund and a legit cause, and if anyone feels moved to contribute, it’s a worthy cause, and I think something you can be proud of taking part in if they achieve their goal. The first link is where you contribute, the 2nd link is an explanation of what exactly you are contributing to. I believe it’s a female student, very near to graduating, who is under very near-term threat of being deported–as the debt I guess will be labeled as a crime. But certainly the threat of deportation, for whatever reason, appears real:
    https://www.gofundme.com/help-her-to-stay-in-the-us?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=fb_co_shareflow_w&fbclid=IwAR3w2u0xmXEVMBL_RfinokxUWQ1UGeHoEC-F3l7bwImNqDUTgA5p3tqoYTo

    http://www.oudaily.com/news/gofundme-page-created-in-support-of-international-student-facing-deportation/article_7f11d5e2-2b55-11e9-b88f-bfbab022739e.html/?x=2345678

    Even something like $10, I am positive she would be grateful. It does NOT have to be a large contribution. It can be something quite “small”. What you feel you can handle and feel good without burdening your own personal situation is enough.

  22. baffling

    an overaggressive war on drugs which sent a disproportionate number of young black males to prison for minor and nonviolent drug offenses was a major contributor to the problem of single unwed mothers raising children in poverty alone. perhaps if we had a better model for incarceration, the african american community would have fewer issues? come on peak, you need to at least acknowledge the conservative contributions to the poverty problems in america today. how many ex-cons did you work with at the bank?…ok, bad example. racially biased laws and judicial systems have not been helpful to the poor, african american communities.

  23. Moses Herzog

    These are the things that give me a lump in my throat and make me proud to be an American. Not making useless fences on a border.
    https://youtu.be/43mHWUkarzw?t=184

    If you don’t believe people like that father piloting that Chinook helicopter and his family don’t make America stronger, then I am sorry to tell you, you live with a very narrow view of the world you inhabit, and that narrow view obstructs you from seeing some of the more beautiful things in this life.

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