10 thoughts on “Monday Open Thread”

1. Not that Dear Leader really cares about armed forces readiness or capabilities, or the health and fitness of our children, or how dangerous to world peace is his constant saber rattling is, but this headline from The Gazette could upset his dark worldview if it somehow made it into his daily cartoon scribble:

   TOO FAT TO FIGHT: COLORADO NONPROFIT SAYS MILITARY THREATENED BY CHILDHOOD OBESITY

   Even the kids in America's fittest state (who knew?-ed.) are too fat to fight their nation's wars, a pro-military nonprofit argues in a new study.

   The military has long bemoaned America's tubby youth, and the Council for a Strong America says Colorado is part of the problem, with more than 27 percent of the state's children categorized as overweight.

   "Low levels of physical activity and the obesity epidemic are contributing to an unprecedented readiness problem for our armed forces," the nonprofit said.

   I won’t vouch for the non-profit in question. They surely do profit from the stoopid amounts of Air Force bases, Armed Forts, the NORAD installation, defense contractor drone, satellite and other work, and the new cybersecurity center  planned for our area. 

   But they might just want to have a fit armed force if we ever do go to war, which is looking more likely every day Republican National Leaders sit on their hands as Trumps throws grenades into our diplomacy. 

   If he knew our future soldiers are looking to be too fat to fight, would it change his tone?

   NO.

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2. Trick-or-Treat! Trump is passing out goodies to everybody. 

   The chief economist at the White House announced that I'm going to get $4,000 pay raise due to the fact that taxes on corporations and the rich are going to be cut.

   Of course since I'm on the individual insurance market, I'll need to use some of that money to pay for the increase in my health insurance premiums – 20% times $10,000/ year is $2,000.

   But frankly, I don't really see any motivation for my boss to pass his savings on to me. 

   I do see how trickle-up economics could work. It's much simpler:

   Give everybody a $4,000 tax break directly. For my part, I promise that I will use my savings to buy stuff, which means that businesses everywhere will be booming. I'll go out to dinner a bit more, buy a new computer, or maybe even take a vacation to Puerto Rico.

   See, trickle-up economics will fix the Puerto Rico economy.

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   1. In terms of economics, there is actually a lot of research on this.

      The economic multiplier of a tax break to the poor is 1.5 to 2 because they have financial needs like going to the doctor or fixing up the car. The multiplier on the wealthy is about 1.1 (Mostly, they just put their money in the bank).

      This does depend on the state of the economy. In the depths of a recession, people stop buying things, so extra money in their pockets is highly stimulative. At the same time giving business a tax break to produce more has zero economic benefit when demand is low.

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3. (NOT the Onion)

   Trump joked Pence 'wants to hang' all gay people, New Yorker reports

   

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   1. Don't ask the Yam, either. Unless Pence is actually running the domestic side while Little Donnie threatens North Korea, he's already done incalculable damage to LGBT civil rights in his first 10 months.
      Trans military ban
      Ending anti-discrimination policy for Federal employees
      Pulling DOJ off of discrimination cases in the private sector.
      Oh, and this little gem just hit the wires: re:https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/another-obama-decision-reversed-now-it-s-about-food-safety-n810296?cid=public-rss_20171016

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4. Can’t imagine that I’d ever say this, but . . . 

   . . . thank you, Steve Bannon!

   https://newrepublic.com/minutes/145320/steve-bannon-given-democrats-gift-will-use-it

    

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5. Last night, Al Michaels made a sad instead of a funny (and Chris Collinsworth revealed himself as a boob who doesn't read the news,) and people got butthurt.

   Yes, sexual harassment/assault is a more serious societal issue than injured/losing football players, but is there no room for flip jokes about current events left in our popular culture?

   http://thehill.com/homenews…

   "NBC veteran football announcer Al Michaels has apologized after making a joke about disgraced media mogul Harvey Weinstein during a game between the New York Giants and Denver Broncos on Sunday night.

   "I mean, let's face it. The Giants are coming off a worse week than Harvey Weinstein and they're up 14 points," Michaels jabbed in the third quarter.

   "Only my L.A. guy comes up with that one. There you go," chuckled color commentator Cris Collinsworth.

   "All you have to do is read the papers. Any paper," added Michaels."

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6. Oopsie?

   Doug Lamborn bought stock that was later linked to a colleague’s insider trading inquiry

   Lamborn and his wife bought stock in the company in 2016 and again in 2017. Financial disclosures show the couple currently owns between $30,000 and $102,000 of Innate stock.

   But the six-term congressman is refusing to answer questions from The Denver Post about his stock purchases, declining multiple interview requests through a spokesman.

   His office also did not respond to written questions sent last week about whether Collins tipped Lamborn to the stock and shared inside information before the purchase.

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7. Nixon couldn’t have done it swampier . . . 

   https://newrepublic.com/article/145323/donald-trump-installing-mole-mueller-probe

    

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8. Was this already linked here today? A must read.

    

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