Peter Schiff on Recession

Peter Schiff today:

This morning has seen a trifecta of weak economic data. Aug. PMI & ISM manufacturing both came out even weaker than expected, while July construction spending unexpectedly fell. It’s becoming clear the #economy is entering a #recession just as #inflation is poised to turn higher.  

Bloomberg indicates manufacturing PMI was 47.9 vs consensus 48, ISM manufacturing was 47.2 vs. 47.5 consensus. Over the last year, the standard deviation of forecast errors is 0.5, so the -0.3 surprise is not statistically significantly different from average surprise of 0.17. Construction spending was down 0.3% m/m vs +0.1% consensus. The standard deviation of errors is 0.4 ppts, so once again the drop is within one standard deviation and not statistically significantly different from zero.

As for construction spending:

Goldman Sachs comments:

. Nominal construction spending decreased by 0.3% (mom sa) in July, against expectations for a 0.1% increase. Spending growth was revised up in June (+0.3pp to flat) and May (+0.6pp to +0.2%). Private construction spending declined by 0.4% in July, as private residential spending (-0.4%) and private nonresidential spending (-0.4%) both decreased. Public construction spending edged up in July (+0.1%), reflecting an increase in public nonresidential spending (+0.2%) but a decrease in public residential spending (-2.6%). Construction costs increased by 0.6% in July (mom sa, Census measure), indicating that construction spending decreased 0.9% in real terms.

Maybe recession is coming. Not sure these releases a persuasive. Note: Mr. Schiff has been predicting recession since November 2023.

66 thoughts on “Peter Schiff on Recession”

  1. Macroduck

    Back in 2009, Schiff said the dollar was doomed, gold would trade at $5,000 per ounce in “a couple of years” and the stock market was going to lose 90% of its value relative to gold:

    https://www.businessinsider.com/henry-blodget-peter-schiff-us-stock-rally-and-dollar-doomed-gold-going-to-5000-2009-9

    Schiff is a gold bug, a Ron Paul acolyte, and a bloviator. He made one correction call in 2006, that the housing market was in trouble. Lots of people made that same call.

    He always thinks the U.S. is on the verge of collapse, that inflation is just around the corner and that the dollar is doomed. Not a serious person. He hates the economic policies of both parties, in ways that keep leading him to bad market calls.

    2. pgl

      The story said he ran for the Senate. Yea in the Republican primary in Conn. in 2010 he came in 3rd to a couple of nitwits. His views on economics are pure nutcase materials.

    3. baffling

      schiff does not make bad market calls. he is not interested in calling the market. he is interested in sowing chaos and distrust in the market. he sells products that are supposed to “thrive” in those environments, so he tries to create the illusion of those things happening. he does not make money in a bad market, per se. he makes money with confused people in the market. he is a con man.

  4. James

    Menzie – as public service announcement – I would encourage folks to take a look around for signs of extreme weather events and impacts of climate change – https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2024/09/03/phoenix-100-degree-temperatures-record/ (Folks – places like Phoenix are becoming almost unbearable – and climate science predicts it will become worse.)
    And I would like to remind everyone that Trump thinks climate change is a hoax and rambles incoherently about electric boats and sharks while Harris/Biden administration has made enormous investments in renewable energy and programs to reduce CO2 emissions. And Harris and Walz both constantly address climate change in stump speeches – For more – see DNC platform https://democrats.org/where-we-stand/party-platform/combating-the-climate-crisis-and-pursuing-environmental-justice/
    It is astonishing to me that corporate media still does not question Trump or the GOP on his/their Climate Change is a hoax B.S. – along with many other issues – it should be a disqualification for Trump or anyone in the GOP to be a position to impact policy.

    1. Bruce Hall

      James, it makes sense that as the area of population comprising Phoenix becomes a larger and larger heat sink, temperatures will be higher. It’s a well-known phenomenon called the Urban Heat Island. But the larger issue is: why are people moving to the areas with hotter temperatures? With all of the warnings about heat killing people, why ignore that to move from places like New York to Florida or California to Arizona? Shouldn’t people be listening to the Federal government warnings of impending doom? Shouldn’t there be some sort of mandate requiring people to move to the sparsely populated northern states with much lower temperatures as a remediation effort for the safety and health crisis? People need to be forced to behave as the Federal government sees appropriate, just like the COVID shutdowns and masking and distancing mandates. It makes sense because we need to follow the science, not make our own decisions about what is best for us. If not, millions of people could die from living below the 35th parallel. There is plenty of room and low cost housing from Michigan to Idaho. Provide home purchase subsidies for “35th and higher” as long as they are powered by rooftop solar panels. Then put a “below 35th” climate change surtax in place to discourage further migration to the burning zones. And maybe even an “unrealized climate disaster tax” for all properties including and below the 35th parallel.

      We need to become more progressive in our thinking and policies and taxation.

      1. pgl

        Have you ever been to Phoenix. It is not a large city. Of course you have the world’s smallest brain.

        James – ignore this lying troll as he never engages in an honest adult conversation.

        1. James

          PGL – I worked with climate scientists and soil scientists such as D. Hillel and C. Rosenzweig (https://pubs.giss.nasa.gov/abs/hi02200i.html ) at the American Society of Agronomy more than ten years ago to do our first ASA-CSSA-SSSA policy statements on agriculture and climate change – I’ve been hearing/reading debunked troll B.S, about climate change for a long time.
          BTW – many of the scientists I worked with are on various IPCC working groups – for those interested – please go to a credible source of information – https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth-assessment-report-cycle/
          Also – I always wonder how these right-wing trolls can be so redundant and wrong and persistent with their disinformation – of course – some are paid lackeys of Putin – https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-tenet-media-right-wing-influencers-justice-department/

          1. pgl

            Impressive research. Of course Bruce Hall calls real science a Communist threat. Funny thing – Brucie seems to be working for Putin of late.

          1. pgl

            Weak rebuttal dude. You have not documented a damn thing about your bogus little claim. Try doing what James does – consult with credible scientist. Oh wait – any credible scientist would start rolling on the floor laughing the moment you walked into the room.

          2. pgl

            ‘The annual mean air temperature of a city with 1 million people or more can be 1.8–5.4°F (1–3°C) warmer than its surroundings.’

            Fine but the temperature was 110 degrees today and that other place I noted was 105 degrees. So a 5 degree difference? That’s it?

            Now as I noted – you probably advised those people with 105 degree temps to wear their winter coats.

            Come on Brucie – we have been through this before. We all get it. We know you are the biggest moron ever – so relax.

          3. pgl

            “I’ve been to Phoenix and actually played golf in September when it was 105º.”

            I bet you did like Trump and cheated while cruising in an air conditioned golf cart. MAGA!

          4. Ivan

            Classic true but irrelevant. Phenix is “big” – sure it is little boy. Big cities are warmer than small cities – sure but what does that have to do with record high temperatures making the city unlivable. You need to get out of mommies basement a little more.

      2. pgl

        A simplified urban-extent algorithm to characterize surface urban heat islands on a global scale and examine vegetation control on their spatiotemporal variability
        https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0303243418304653?via%3Dihub

        The paper comes with an app that clearly dumba$$ Bruce Hall did not use. I did. This effect for Phoenix was tiny. And Brucie tries to tell James his observations are this effect and not climate change. Bruce Hall – serial liar and still the dumbest troll God ever created.

        https://yceo.yale.edu/research/global-surface-uhi-explorer

      3. Macroduck

        Brucie, I noticed some typos. I’ve fixed a few of theme here”

        “…it makes sense that as the area of population comprising Phoenix is affected by climate change, temperatures will be higher. It’s a well-known phenomenon called the greenhouse effect.”

        See? It makes sense now.

        1. pgl

          Did you notice how Bruce Hall turned all Communist in his proposal to subsidize homes in Michigan? But Brucie – what about the DEFICIT? Oh wait – he’s going to tax people who live in Alabama! Tax the poor to subsidize rich people in NYC. Got it!

          1. pgl

            I already addressed your weak story. And I see you are ducking this:

            pgl
            September 4, 2024 at 5:14 pm
            A simplified urban-extent algorithm to characterize surface urban heat islands on a global scale and examine vegetation control on their spatiotemporal variability

            https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0303243418304653?via%3Dihub

            The paper comes with an app that clearly dumba$$ Bruce Hall did not use. I did. This effect for Phoenix was tiny. And Brucie tries to tell James his observations are this effect and not climate change. Bruce Hall – serial liar and still the dumbest troll God ever created.

            https://yceo.yale.edu/research/global-surface-uhi-explorer

          2. Macroduck

            Brucie,

            Providing me the same link doesn’t mean it’s an adequate response to my point. We also have record heat in non-urban areas, and that isn’t due to urban heat islands. There is a general rise in atmospheric temperatures. When you claim Phoenix is suffering record heat because it’s a city, you ignore a more important and more pervasive cause of record heat. And then you presume to question other people’s honesty? You’re a joke.

      5. baffling

        actually, bruce, many folks would probably reconsider relocation efforts if they actually new the truth. but you, like many others, are intent on spreading misinformation about the climate. because of that, many people fail to believe or understand the significant ramifications of climate change. so if you really want people to use their minds to make good decisions, provide them with accurate information. and not the misinformation you and others spew on these web pages.

    2. pgl

      Hey James – in light of the latest trash from MAGA moron Bruce Hall, I went to Accuweather to check on the projected highs for tomorrow. Phoenix 109 degrees. I choose Carefree for a small town in AZ as Bruce is best described as Mindfree. Forecasted temp? 104 degrees.

      I bet Brucie is tell the residents of Carefree to take their heavy coats and winter gloves!

    3. pgl

      100 days with temps above 100 degrees? Damn!

      My worst air conditioning bill ever was in the summer of 1978 when I was a graduate student living in Vanderbilt. I would get up at 5am to coffee and awful country music to get ready for an early morning run which usually started at the bank clock saying 78 degrees and ended up with it saying temps in the upper 80s. By the middle of the day temps would be in the high 90’s so no afternoon runs that summer. And before lying Bruce Hall chirps his moronic lies – Nashville is not a big city.

      Now that summer may have been a bit unusual but the weather forecast for Nashville has temps going into the 90s. So yea – Bruce Hall would have the citizens wear long johns and their winter hats. MAGA!

  5. pgl

    I noted in an earlier comment that corn, wheat, and soybean prices have declined. Macroduck smartly noted part of the reason was a weak Chinese economy. Well, it’s also copper and iron ore prices:

    Here’s why Iron ore and copper prices are plunging
    https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/here-s-why-iron-ore-and-copper-prices-are-plunging/ar-AA1pYuak?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=57703aa6c0dc4fc29d02a1b45fb32932&ei=9

    Copper and iron ore prices continued retreating this week as major Wall Street banks downgraded the Chinese economy. Data by TradingView shows that iron ore has crashed to $91.95, its lowest point since November 2022, and by over 36% from its highest level this year. Copper is also not doing well as it crashed to a low of $4.07, down by 21% from its highest level this year. Platinum, which is used to manufacture jewelry and catalytic converters has fallen by over 17% from the year-to-date high while palladium has crashed from over $2,000 in 2021 to $930 today.

    1. James

      I wonder if California multi-millionaire Hovde is using the same consultant that helped Ron Johnson put out almost identical smear ads against Barnes. Except those were even worse – darkening Barnes’ face and implying that Barnes was one of the street protesters. (yes – folks that is the WIGOP)
      It is interesting that with all the RNC campaign donations flowing into Donald Trump’s mystery fundraising firm https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/mystery-fundraising-firm-takes-millions-trump-campaign-rcna156755 and to pay his legal fees https://www.npr.org/2023/08/05/1192343919/a-large-amount-of-trumps-campaign-money-is-being-diverted-to-his-legal-fees and to promote Lara Trump’s singing career – https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/lara-trump-still-trying-her-175900825.html – how much is left over to help fund local field offices and assist down ballot GOP candidates? You have to be a multi-millionaire like Hovde to buy smear ads.

  8. pgl

    I wonder if Peter Schiff has read this:

    Factory orders rise in July after two months of weakness

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/factory-orders-rise-in-july-after-two-months-of-weakness/ar-AA1pZwB3?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=ed5d57df881c485fb412cd7d820b1352&ei=13

    Orders for U.S. manufactured goods rose 5% in July, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. The gain follows two straight monthly declines.
    The rise in factory orders in July was in line with the consensus forecast of economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal. According to the report, durable-goods orders surged a revised 9.8% in July on the back of higher aircraft orders. The increase is down slightly from the initial estimate of a 9.9% gain.

  9. pgl

    Trump-backed US Senate candidate faces scrutiny for derogatory comments about Native Americans

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/trump-backed-us-senate-candidate-faces-scrutiny-for-derogatory-comments-about-native-americans/ar-AA1pZZaJ?ocid=BingNewsSerp

    Tribal leaders in Montana urged Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy to apologize over remarks he made to supporters about Native Americans being “drunk at 8 a.m.” and throwing beer cans at him on the Crow Reservation. Audio recordings of Sheehy’s racial comments were obtained and published by Char-Koosta News, the official publication of the Flathead Indian Reservation. Sheehy, who is backed by former President Donald Trump, is challenging three-term incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Tester in one of the most closely-watched congressional races in the nation. A Republican victory could help decide control of the closely divided Senate. A Sheehy campaign spokesperson did not dispute the authenticity of the recordings, which the tribal newspaper said came from fundraising events held in Montana last November. Sheehy is heard commenting in one of the recordings that his ranching partner is a member of the Crow Tribe with whom Sheehy ropes and brands cattle on the tribe’s southeastern Montana reservation. “Great way to bond with all the Indians, to be out there while they’re drunk at 8 a.m.,” Sheehy says.

    Another member of Team Trump who is a flaming racist. MAGA!

  10. pgl

    Trump Said ‘We Have to Get Over It’ About School Shooting in Perry, Iowa, in January 2024
    https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-perry-school-shooting/

    Alas we had another school shooting – this time at a Georgia High School. Kamala Harris has addressed this tragedy. I have not heard anything from the gun lobby’s best friend yet but one has to wonder if Trump will repeat his pathetic “we have to get over it”.

  11. Baffling

    Rick stryker, corev, bruce hall and related wing nuts. Your gun politics resulted in more classroom murders today. Why do you fools continue to promote death and destruction in the classroom? Its about time you came to your senses and abandon your destructive views on guns and society. You cannot be both prolife and progun.

    1. Bruce Hall

      Dear baffled,

      It has come to my attention that alcohol is perfectly legal to consume alcohol, whether beer or wine or whiskey or whatever, although drunk drivers kill thousands of people. Of course, some of the people killed are the drunk drivers themselves, but let’s face it that legal alcohol is still killing thousands of people each year… far more than mass shooting by deranged people. So, we need to prioritize which rights we want to take away. It appears that alcohol is killing an order of magnitude more people than mass shootings, so let’s take away everyone’s right to imbibe as quickly as possible. And don’t forget the health care expenses related to alcohol abuse. Of course that accidental, right?
      https://www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/drunk-driving
      https://www.statista.com/statistics/811504/mass-shooting-victims-in-the-united-states-by-fatalities-and-injuries/

      Oh, but that’s not what you meant, right? Guns are mean; alcohol makes us all friendly.

      What about medications? Look at all of those medical miracles that are misused and kill people. Fentanyl is a legal, proscribed pain killer, but it kills thousands from misuse. Ban it immediately.

      Oh, but that’s not what you meant, right? Sometimes we need that pain killer to help people. But guns only kill innocent people, right? Police shouldn’t have guns; homeowners shouldn’t have guns. They are mean, like Trump. Bad guns. They don’t protect people and stop criminals. They can only be misused, right?

      Love your thinking.

      1. pgl

        That was not an answer to his comment. Unless you have downed 3 cases of beer by now. BTW drunk driving is illegal so call Uber.

      2. pgl

        No one is saying all guns held by all people must be banned. But get a clue moron. There is no reason why a troubled 14 year old should be allowed to carry a military assault weapon to school. Or did you not know what happened. I guess 3 cases of beer will do that.

      3. pgl

        I have not been to Michigan and a long time and I have never been to Bruce Hall’s KKK meetings. So maybe Brucie’s buddies brag about making money selling Fentanyl to teenagers. But I do know if Brucie tried to do this in Central Park, the NYC would throw his worthless rear end in jail.

        And maybe Brucie and his racist buddies get very drunk and drive home but if one got drunk in an NYC bar, the bartender would call him a cab.

        Just wanted to let Brucie know this given his fake concern over drug use and drunk driving. MAGA!

      4. Macroduck

        Here’s the trick:

        “So, we need to prioritize which rights we want to take away.”

        Now, this statement is constructed as a sort of step in a syllogism, but it’s not. It is a sly rhetorical trick used to move the argument un the direction Brucie wants.

        Whether Brucie is aware if what he has done, I can’t say, but he has used budgeting as his analogy: We can only afford so much in the way ifpublic spending, and have to prioritize. But privileges (which Brucie calls “rights”) aren’t subject to a budget – there is no need to prioritize. We can “afford” as many good laws as we want, as long as they don’t involve actual spending.

        Brucie then goes in to put words in baffled’s mouth – another rethorical trick. Baffled didn’t say police shouldn’t have guns, but Brucie pretended he did. Quite dishonest.

        1. Ivan

          Yes if you can’t argue with what a person actually said, then pretend he said something else. We are talking junior high cafeteria level debate whenever this clown comes here. The list of rhetorical fallacies from Bruce are longer than my weekly grocery list – but I think he is stupid enough to think he is being smart.

      5. Baffling

        Bruce, i noticed you did not address the issue of gun violence. Please stick to the topic. Once again, it seems as thoughgun violence in schools is acceptable to you. I call that cowardly. Rick stryker was smart enough to keep his trap shut on this issue. Can’t say the same about you bruce. You are certainly not pro life, by any stretch of the imagination.

  13. joseph

    Incidentally, today the 2-year and 10-year Treasury yields are equal — 3.76% — so no longer inverted by that measure.

    However, recessions sometimes occur after the yield curve reverts.

    I do think “this time is different.” We had an unusual transient burst of inflation cause by a supply shock accompanied by a Fed rate response. The bond market also believed that inflation was transient and that high rates would not last, resulting in the inverted yield curve.

    1. pgl

      New post. The recent rise in ADP may be small but the cumulative rise in the last year and a half is still huge.

  16. pgl

    The rightwing has seized upon households consuming dinner sausage as proof that Biden-Harris has given us a massive recession. Yea – a stupid claim made even dumber by their claims that sausage is a Giffen good. And yea pretend economist EJ Antoni is endorsing this trash. Which makes me wonder if this Heritage clown passed microeconomics. If he did he might know the following:

    Conditions for a Giffen Good
    As noted in the example above, there are certain conditions for a Giffen good:

    1. The good must be inferior
    The good must be an inferior good as its lower comparable costs drive an increased demand to meet consumption needs. In a budget shortage, the consumer will consume more of the inferior goods.
    As indicated in the example above, since rice is an inferior good, the household will consume more rice to maintain their household budget of $400.

    2. The good must form a large percentage of total consumption
    The total amount spent on the good must be large relative to the consumer’s budget. Only in such a scenario will an increase in its price create a significant income effect.
    As indicated in the example above, rice represents 80% of the quantity demanded of grains. In addition, rice forms half of the household’s expenditure.

    3. There must be a lack of close substitute goods
    The good must either have a lack of close substitutes or the substitute good must have a higher cost than the good. Even if there is an increase in the price of the good, the current good should still be an attractive option for the consumer. In other words, the substitution effect created by the increase in the price of that good must be smaller than the income effect created by the increased cost requirement.

    https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/economics/giffen-good/

    Somehow I don’t think sausage fits this at all. And we know Antoni is a poor excuse for an economist.

  17. pgl

    This all sounds like good news to me:

    https://www.bls.gov/news.release/prod2.nr0.htm

    Productivity and Costs, Second Quarter 2024, Revised

    Nonfarm business sector labor productivity increased 2.5 percent in the second quarter of 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today, as output increased 3.5 percent and hours worked increased 1.0 percent. (All quarterly percent changes in this release are seasonally adjusted annualized rates.) From the same quarter a year ago, nonfarm business sector labor productivity increased 2.7 percent. Unit labor costs in the nonfarm business sector increased 0.4 percent in the second quarter of 2024, reflecting a 3.0-percent increase in hourly compensation and a 2.5-percent increase in productivity. Unit labor costs increased 0.3 percent over the last four quarters, the lowest rate since the fourth quarter of 2013, when the measure decreased 2.2 percent.

    Which is why EJ Antoni and Peter Schiff will not mention this and you will not hear this on Faux News.

  18. pgl

    A story about soybeans that touches on a lot of topics we have discussed here. First of all US soybean farmers are seeing lower prices for their products given the recent bumper crop. And it turns out that Chinese pork producers are buying more soybeans. And the big winner?

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/china-s-soybean-crush-margins-hit-2-month-high-as-us-crop-supply-grows/ar-AA1q4kDy?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=c9732c466fc541308360c30dd28e5bdf&ei=9

    “China’s soybean crushing margins, which measure profitability for processing soybeans into meal and oil, have improved significantly after being in negative territory since June 2024. According to Shanghai JC Intelligence Co. Ltd., margins are now at their highest level in over two months. This recovery comes at a time when the United States is preparing to harvest a record crop, presenting an opportunity for increased Chinese imports.”
    The value chain in soybeans is sort of like the value chain for turning cows, pigs, and chickens into products buy at the grocery store. The farmer may get a low price but the processor gets a fat margin below the final product is sold. Yea I get that Bruce Hall tried to defend companies like Tyson Foods but something tells me the meat processing lobbyist fired him for incompetent representation. So maybe Brucie can defend these Chinese soybean processors. But the story has more:

    “Despite the improved margins, Chinese import demand from the United States has been relatively weak. In the 2024-25 season, the US sold only 2.89 million metric tons of soybeans to China, marking the lowest level in 18 years outside the period affected by the 2018-2019 trade war. This figure represents a 47% decline from the previous year. Much of China’s soybean needs have been met by Brazil, which has become a key supplier due to more competitive pricing.”

    That stupid Trump trade war has done so lasting damage to American soybean farmers.

  19. Willie

    I think the yield curve inversion is a result of what you describe. I don’t expect recession, especially if the fed finally lowers rates.

  20. Willie

    I think the inversion is a result of what you describe. I don’t expect recession, especially if the Fed lowers rates.

  21. Macroduck

    The Beige Book is grim reading. Odds are, Fed officials already had word that several Districts were showing signs of weakness, accounting for Powell’s “we’re ready to shore up the economy” speal in Jackson Hole.

  22. James

    Menize

    Ron “I spent four years of my Senate Session looking through a Russian hacked laptop of a private citizen to try and find disinformation on Joe Biden” Johnson is now claiming that the Great Depression was some kind of deep state conspiracy – https://digbysblog.net/2024/09/05/a-member-of-the-us-senate/

    Also why are corporate media journalists continuing to “sane-wash” Donald Trump? Just watch the clip where Trump answers the question about what or if he has a child care policy – this guy – I guess – is trying to recycle his tariff B.S. or something – seriously Trump is, as Mike Barnicle says, a “damaged, delusional, old man” https://digbysblog.net/2024/09/05/the-sane-washing-is-getting-worse/ And the corporate media is failing in covering Trump correctly.

    1. pgl

      Was Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz part of this deep state conspiracy? After all their 1963 classic never told us of these RonJon “revelations”. I guess the big bankers got tired of Republican rule and ushered FDR into office.

  24. pgl

    I may have criticized Trump as to his rambling over child care prematurely. At least he was not obnoxious JD Vance:

    No, calling Grandma isn’t the way to fix nation’s child care crisis
    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/no-calling-grandma-isn-t-the-way-to-fix-nation-s-child-care-crisis/ar-AA1q4BZP?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=d16515705eee497b917778c2467b9fd9&ei=13

    “One of the ways you might be able to relieve pressure on people who are paying so much for day care is to make it so that maybe Grandma or Grandpa wants to help out, or there is an aunt or uncle that wants to help out,” he told Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA. Puh-leez.

    Slap me on the forehead, where was Vance’s brilliant idea all those years we were paying more for child care than my paycheck could cover and it still meant a crazy scramble of pickups, drop-offs, carpooling and nanny-sharing held together with Scotch tape and spit? It’s especially tone deaf in this region, where a swath of professionals don’t live anywhere near family. Heck, only 55 percent of Americans, according to a recent Pew Research Center study, live within an hour’s drive of extended family.

    So Mamaw isn’t always nearby for free child care. The lack of affordable child care is a crisis in the United States.

    1. baffling

      vance is living in the conservative fantasy world of Mayberry, where everybody grows up in the same old town and never leaves. conservatives despise the fact that children need to move away (for college, work, etc) and break down the old hierarchy of small town usa. but this is a pipe dream. kids move away to the city, and parents and grand parents stay behind in the dead end town. vance himself did exactly that. he does not seem interested in giving others the same opportunities he received. he wants to keep the young folks jailed up in towns with dead end opportunities. all because he is too cheap to provide quality child care, and refuses to admit his approach is a failure.

      1. pgl

        Wasn’t Obie in Mayberry raised by his father (the sheriff) and his aunt? Where was mommy? I guess mommy ran away to open a studio of cats.

      2. joseph

        Well, Opie’s Aunt Bee was a post-menopausal woman so serving her only remaining purpose in life, childcare assistance, according to Vance.

        1. Moses Herzog

          Shameful that people who for whatever reason are single would want to have a pet isn’t it?? Gosh, one wonders how they show their face in public. I’m wondering, as Vance proceeds on to old age, will he receive the same kind of deep love from his children donald trump has?? Hope he’s got the high enough limit on the Capital One card he gives the kids or he may not get too many hugs and “I love you”s.

        2. Moses Herzog

          Dear Abby

          We have a neighbor, Hispanic guy. Kindest guy you’d ever meet in your life. He has six children he takes care of, one college age. Divorced for several years. One of the kids has autism, another child survived cancer. We pay ($10, what a price gouger, aye??) one of the younger ones to mow our front lawn (I do the back yard ‘cuz it’s kinda hairy with more obstructions). Works as a butcher about 6 days a week at a small grocery chain, leaves the house every workday around 4:00am, gets home at 2:00pm, has helped our family with rides to the hospital when we have transportation problems. I get him a small amount of beers and treats for the kids sometimes. Yes, he owns one cat. Is he a “cat guy” since he has no wife for many years now?? Or could he only be a “cat guy” if he had zero children??

          Signed,
          “Muddled in the Head in Flyover Country”

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