The Carville Rule still holds. It's the economy, stupid.
We can dicker over the best way to help Ukraine, and how much Europe should help instead of asking Uncle Sam to do all the heavy lifting again. But we shouldn't hold Ukraine hostage over that.
And parroting Kremlin propaganda is a red line that should have never been crossed.
And Zelensky can be politically obtuse. Still, God looks after drunks and fools.
“I think the outcomes President Trump and his administration want from places like European nations, Canada, Mexico, etc. are good. I agree with them.”
OK, I could but for the sake of simplicity won’t argue your agreement with Trump’s goals vis a vis Europe and Mexico..
But Canada?? With exception of oil and maybe gas we have a YUGE Balance of payments surplus with Canada. Why crap on Canada? And no, illegal fentanyl is not a good answer. Compared to Mexico that’s insignificant. And you can’t possibly agree with making Canada the 51st state. So why??
Clicking love for this a million times over. Re: Ukraine (which I'm more upset over this admin's behavior towards her than I was w/Biden's about Israel-he was tepid): you're exactly correct, and the same argument exists w/Israel (if Israel lays down arms, she's gone; if the Arabs that hate her do, there's peace) and for the love of God, I can't understand why the same people that understand one, don't get the other.
It's irrelevant whether Trump likes Zelensky or not; the facts are plain about the reason for the invasion and by whom (it wasn't NATO, Putin made clear in his manifesto). Denigrating Ukraine and its leaders, in the open, removing intel and military aid, threatens a besieged country's morale -and lives- and emboldens her, and the civilized world's, enemies. These are the same types of actions as Biden's against Israel that Republicans rightly railed against. As Seinfeld said: "What's the deal?"
In addition, our behavior at the UN is shameful: we just voted against a G7 proposal to establish a task force to monitor Russia's nefarious "shadow fleet" of oil tankers (2024 estimate @1400 ships) which Putin uses to avoid sanctions and literally scrape the sea bed (anchor dragging) to cut power/communication cables (w/China's help) in the Baltic Sea. Russia acts w/China in military exercises near Alaska via the "air, surface, and subsurface," including surveillance. We must stay strong in NATO because they are flexing within the entire Arctic region.
This isn't "Peace through Strength."
You can't be the only one to speak up, Erick. Other Republicans MUST do the same.
Erick's view also reflects mine on all this, especially the immorality of attributing wrongful conduct to Ukraine or its leaders as a justification for withdrawing our support. Regarding any allegations against Zelenskyy in particular, the ones I've heard pale in comparison to what we absolutely know is true about Putin.
While I also mostly support what DOGE is trying to do,* I would only add my concern that the administration proceed in a constitutional manner, which may require authorizing legislation.
* That is, with exceptions such as eliminating the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is/was a relatively small agency with no authority to even award contracts, wasteful or otherwise; the elimination of which only serves the interests of financial institutions who want to rip people off.
"Indecision and wavering on tariffs breed uncertainty in the markets."
True, but to hell with the Markets in the short term in respect to the final goals being pursued. The Markets have not tracked with the economic circumstances of the American working class.
"Companies need to be able to plan."
This is true, but all companies do is wait for the final decision.
"Going back and forth may be a fun game to discombobulate others in negotiations,"
Trump does not want tariffs, he wants Making America Work Again.
"but it risks disrupting the economy and provoking a recession by forcing businesses and individuals to make decisions they otherwise need not make."
Only the 3-4 trillion of Democrat debt spending after the pandemic has kept Erick's stock and real estate portfolio healthy. But the small business and working class economy has been crap... really.
"They will make their decisions because of the uncertainty Trump’s wavering on tariffs fosters."
There is no wavering... they will either delay until decisions are made, or decide to maintain the status quo because they have implemented a plan for if and when tariffs hit.
Erick, Trump is being transparent. He is telling the world what he is doing at the time he is doing it. Go back to the Obama era and the six years of a jobless recovery when the markets were hyper volatile after the Great Recession... there was no transparency. THAT is what causes uncertainty in the markets.
Your scold here is a bit inane if you think about it. What is the alternative to Trump delaying? We know that you prefer no tariffs. But if you are demanding Trump just make the decision and not delay, then tariffs it will be. And it will be across the board tariffs. Myself, I would rather wait for the overheated emotional response from these other nations to subside into acceptance that their tariffs against the US are their bargaining chip. I would welcome another delay if that is the potential outcome.
Make no mistake: I still can't stand him. However, I would give Trump credit for having apparently learned that you impose tariffs for reasons other than raising revenue, including the protection of key industries or to get other countries to lower trade barriers against American goods.
I have never been a complete free trader and there are flaws in its underlying assumptions, but there is an economic theory called "comparative advantage" which makes a fairly compelling case to the effect that a world full of tariffs means a world that is, on the whole, poorer. This is why I favor tariffs on a much more limited scale than Trump seems to be contemplating.
I don't disagree with either goal. However "comparative advantage" theory suggests that one ultimately has to choose one or the other.
This theory generally posits that if one country grows crops while another manufactures things - each more efficiently than its counterpart - both countries fare better doing only what it does best and then trading for that which it no longer produces. One flaw that I have always seen in the theory is that it says nothing about how the increased wealth gets distributed within each country. By way of illustrating my point, I have little doubt that the US, Canada, and Mexico are all on the whole richer because of NAFTA. In the U.S., however, the wealth that was generated flowed to the American corporations that relocated their operations elsewhere. Meanwhile, their workers got screwed.
All that said, I still think I agree with the notion (suggested by the theory) that we can have good manufacturing jobs or cheap goods, but probably not both. Far from being an actual economist, I take no position as to which is preferable. I'm just sayin' . . . .
Hard to accept when some of us are seeing decreases in stock prices nearing 25% in the last 50 days. I am all for trying to negotiate better terms but some of us are getting hammered.
Do you think the stock market went hyperbolic over the last 5 years because the companies were so amazing and valuable? No...stock prices rose because alot of the printed money by the Biden administration went into buying more stock and inflation. Look at a 10 year chart of the S&P. See the massive increase/bubbles after early 2020 and 2022? The market will decline more until it reaches a normal support area, which a healthy stock market would have had if not for all the money pumping.
Could also be attributed to more people having time on their hands and more ability for retail investment through platforms like Robinhood? I started investing during that period but had more to do with knowing stocks would rebound and a good few years previously that put money in my pocket.
Character does indeed matter. That is what we’re judged by, our actions, which is what character is.
That said, we now all pontificate far too easily with far too little reflection, an endless stream of knee-jerk bloviations and half-baked prognostications.
Might I politely remind you that only three weeks ago you wrote the following:
“With an American-Ukrainian mineral deal done, Russia must understand the United States will continue to help Ukraine if the Russians are not prepared to end the war… If Putin drags out talks and does not seem vested in ending the war, the Trump Administration will redouble American efforts to help Ukraine.”
And for Trump to offhandedly remark the other day that “Well, [Ukraine] may not survive anyhow “ is beyond an obscenity..
As Keynes was quoted as saying: “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?".
How long before this site concedes that Trump is on a path for an economic disaster due to his obsession on self-destructive protectionism and a security disaster in the Ukraine by his mis-guide appeasement, if not outright indifference, to the Russian agression.
Whatever was potentially positive from a Trump Presidency - secure borders, lower regulation, lower taxes, lower inflation, merit over DEI, resistance to anti-Semitism - will be lost when the full impact of protectionism and appeasemennt erase any national consensus in support of a Trump presidency.
HIs treatment of Canada borders on the insane, his treatment of Ukraine is even worse,
Trump's fundamental economic ignorance is truly frightening.
I love ya, Erick, because you remind me of Rush, but I've got to say you can be a wet blanket on more than one occasion. I long for Rush's optimism.
I don't think Trump views the tariffs as a 'fun game'. The only tariffs he's wavering on is Canada & Mexico because he wants to give them a chance, which they apparently keep blowing. We don't know what's being said behind closed doors. If he's not giving them a goal to meet, then shame on him, but neither country, especially Canada, is making a serious effort to stop fentanyl. That's all they need to do - show him a serious effort. He's not wavering on China, and Lutnick has said the April 2 reciprocal tariffs are coming and staying. Reciprocal tariffs are only fair.
I think we've said we don't want to pay anymore in regards to Ukraine. I hope you elaborate on the moral rationale. Honestly, I don't like either party, and certainly, there was some funny business on the part of Ukraine's govt involving our weapons and funds. I'm still saying let the Europeans deal with it. Sorry, I'm an isolationist. I'm tired of foreign wars that only exchange one thug or another.
The economy cannot be fixed in a few months. Even the first two years of Reagan wasn't fun, but by the end of his first term, it was morning in America again. But, hey, I forgot, the American public has been trained to want instant gratification. They're attention spans only last a few minutes. Fixing our trillion dollar debt and the economy will take resolve, which apparently the younger generations lack. I thank God that our current generations weren't fighting WWII because we would have thrown in the towel after the first setback. The Greatest Generation went through the Great Depression, which taught them perseverance, sacrifice and resolve. You don't become the Greatest Generation without a lot of character building in the form of hardships. Question is - are we going to give in to the public demanding instant gratification or are we going to trust the plan and persevere to the end because we know it's right?
As for the Tate Brothers - who cares? I don't even know who they are and why we're spending so much time on a couple of losers/thugs.
I must say that I don't give a rat's patootie about what people think of Trump. I look strictly for results, and such a long time in office (a whopping two months) I look at what's been accomplished and relish what might be coming.
Good Morning People I don’t personally know how to run a government and don’t want to we all have to slow down let some of the Shit Storm pass, I do agree DJT needs to slow down and Listen to some of his People before he comes Off the rails. Can’t get it all done in one day God Bless America
Erick: I played a little game this morning when I first saw your "Might As Well Say It" headline. I thought, what could Erick possibly say? And I made list. None of my guesses really hit home, but I am confident that they soon will. Here's the list: 1.) Trump should be impeached, 2.) Trump is a Russian asset, 3.) Trump is insane, 4.) Trump is trying to destroy the rule-of-law, 5.) Trump really is an insurrectionist, 6.) Trump is trying to put us into a recession, 7.) Trump is trying to destroy the world's democracies, including ours, 8.) Two of Trump's illegitimate sons have the last name "Tate," 9.) the "pee tape" is real, 10.) MAGAs really are stupid.
They’ve been showing since 2016. And, for the most part, they have proven to be correct. But, just so you know, the above were tongue in cheek, but as with all things Trump, you just never know.
Trump should spend as much time analyzing the middle class' increasing costs as he does applauding the federal workers firing. The middle class elected him to review and lower the cost of life...groceries, rent, fuel, etc. For those on fixed incomes, it's becoming increasingly difficult to pay the ever increasing cost to live.
At the risk of being judged a cynic, I will go ahead and say it: For too many of our political "leaders," getting re-elected is a higher priority than doing the right thing. Getting our national house in order is no different than a family getting their house in order and deciding to live within its means. It is the right thing to do, and doing the right thing on a familial basis could mean that we literally freeze our credit card (Clark Howard's advice to avoid impulsive spending), forego eating out, or planning a "staycation" in lieu of heading to the beach. Getting a household budget back in order requires self-discipline, and self-discipline requires us to do the right thing even when doing so is unpleasant. Regrettably, our society has largely lost any appreciation for self-discipline; and thus we cannot tolerate difficult but necessary decisions.
The Trump Administration has made some good decisions and some that seem to be short-sided. Like the Trump Administration or not, it needs our prayers more than our criticism. We need the introspection to examine ourselves and honestly evaluate whether the government cuts that hurt are for the good of our nation irrespective of the pain that they might cause us individually. I fear that we have lost the maturity and morality required to suffer individually for the good of the whole.
And maybe this shows where our prayers for reform should begin. We should pray for the reformation of our own hearts first and then for the reformation of our leaders' hearts. We should first pray for the renewing of our minds - a renewal that can only come through the transformation that is wrought by a Higher Power. And by "a Higher Power," I unashamedly mean the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised to give us in His final hours before He went to the cross to redeem us.
To be succinct, let us resolve to pray more and gripe less and to be transformed rather than conformed.
I totally agree. I’m also curious to see what President Trump‘s actual game plan is because so far one hell of a roller coaster ride. …….I have a question. Do you know what Congress is doing regarding actually writing laws to vote on, regarding all of the executive orders? Are they doing what they are supposed to be doing? Because otherwise in four years all of this can get turned around just as quickly….
Erick, I get sick every time I get a bill that goes up....I get sick every week I go to grocery store. I saw an item this week that had gone up over $1.00 in less than a month, not to mention coffee, and other items. I being a senior on SS only gets sick about it all. I get sick hearing about people paying so much for rent, and I get sick to hear every time Trump opens his mouth he brags about everything he is going but nothing seems to get done. I am also sick of so many losing jobs and it appears that they just go in and say, "your fired, your fired, your fired without seeing exactly what their position entails. I am more concerned not at 78 than I have ever been and I voted for Trump and would do so again but we have got to start seeing a little something positive here.
YES!!!
The Carville Rule still holds. It's the economy, stupid.
We can dicker over the best way to help Ukraine, and how much Europe should help instead of asking Uncle Sam to do all the heavy lifting again. But we shouldn't hold Ukraine hostage over that.
And parroting Kremlin propaganda is a red line that should have never been crossed.
And Zelensky can be politically obtuse. Still, God looks after drunks and fools.
“I think the outcomes President Trump and his administration want from places like European nations, Canada, Mexico, etc. are good. I agree with them.”
OK, I could but for the sake of simplicity won’t argue your agreement with Trump’s goals vis a vis Europe and Mexico..
But Canada?? With exception of oil and maybe gas we have a YUGE Balance of payments surplus with Canada. Why crap on Canada? And no, illegal fentanyl is not a good answer. Compared to Mexico that’s insignificant. And you can’t possibly agree with making Canada the 51st state. So why??
Clicking love for this a million times over. Re: Ukraine (which I'm more upset over this admin's behavior towards her than I was w/Biden's about Israel-he was tepid): you're exactly correct, and the same argument exists w/Israel (if Israel lays down arms, she's gone; if the Arabs that hate her do, there's peace) and for the love of God, I can't understand why the same people that understand one, don't get the other.
It's irrelevant whether Trump likes Zelensky or not; the facts are plain about the reason for the invasion and by whom (it wasn't NATO, Putin made clear in his manifesto). Denigrating Ukraine and its leaders, in the open, removing intel and military aid, threatens a besieged country's morale -and lives- and emboldens her, and the civilized world's, enemies. These are the same types of actions as Biden's against Israel that Republicans rightly railed against. As Seinfeld said: "What's the deal?"
In addition, our behavior at the UN is shameful: we just voted against a G7 proposal to establish a task force to monitor Russia's nefarious "shadow fleet" of oil tankers (2024 estimate @1400 ships) which Putin uses to avoid sanctions and literally scrape the sea bed (anchor dragging) to cut power/communication cables (w/China's help) in the Baltic Sea. Russia acts w/China in military exercises near Alaska via the "air, surface, and subsurface," including surveillance. We must stay strong in NATO because they are flexing within the entire Arctic region.
This isn't "Peace through Strength."
You can't be the only one to speak up, Erick. Other Republicans MUST do the same.
Erick's view also reflects mine on all this, especially the immorality of attributing wrongful conduct to Ukraine or its leaders as a justification for withdrawing our support. Regarding any allegations against Zelenskyy in particular, the ones I've heard pale in comparison to what we absolutely know is true about Putin.
While I also mostly support what DOGE is trying to do,* I would only add my concern that the administration proceed in a constitutional manner, which may require authorizing legislation.
* That is, with exceptions such as eliminating the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is/was a relatively small agency with no authority to even award contracts, wasteful or otherwise; the elimination of which only serves the interests of financial institutions who want to rip people off.
"Indecision and wavering on tariffs breed uncertainty in the markets."
True, but to hell with the Markets in the short term in respect to the final goals being pursued. The Markets have not tracked with the economic circumstances of the American working class.
"Companies need to be able to plan."
This is true, but all companies do is wait for the final decision.
"Going back and forth may be a fun game to discombobulate others in negotiations,"
Trump does not want tariffs, he wants Making America Work Again.
"but it risks disrupting the economy and provoking a recession by forcing businesses and individuals to make decisions they otherwise need not make."
Only the 3-4 trillion of Democrat debt spending after the pandemic has kept Erick's stock and real estate portfolio healthy. But the small business and working class economy has been crap... really.
"They will make their decisions because of the uncertainty Trump’s wavering on tariffs fosters."
There is no wavering... they will either delay until decisions are made, or decide to maintain the status quo because they have implemented a plan for if and when tariffs hit.
Erick, Trump is being transparent. He is telling the world what he is doing at the time he is doing it. Go back to the Obama era and the six years of a jobless recovery when the markets were hyper volatile after the Great Recession... there was no transparency. THAT is what causes uncertainty in the markets.
Your scold here is a bit inane if you think about it. What is the alternative to Trump delaying? We know that you prefer no tariffs. But if you are demanding Trump just make the decision and not delay, then tariffs it will be. And it will be across the board tariffs. Myself, I would rather wait for the overheated emotional response from these other nations to subside into acceptance that their tariffs against the US are their bargaining chip. I would welcome another delay if that is the potential outcome.
Make no mistake: I still can't stand him. However, I would give Trump credit for having apparently learned that you impose tariffs for reasons other than raising revenue, including the protection of key industries or to get other countries to lower trade barriers against American goods.
I have never been a complete free trader and there are flaws in its underlying assumptions, but there is an economic theory called "comparative advantage" which makes a fairly compelling case to the effect that a world full of tariffs means a world that is, on the whole, poorer. This is why I favor tariffs on a much more limited scale than Trump seems to be contemplating.
I think Trump is in favor of robust global trade that does not result in the US losing too many good-paying manufacturing and industrial jobs.
I don't disagree with either goal. However "comparative advantage" theory suggests that one ultimately has to choose one or the other.
This theory generally posits that if one country grows crops while another manufactures things - each more efficiently than its counterpart - both countries fare better doing only what it does best and then trading for that which it no longer produces. One flaw that I have always seen in the theory is that it says nothing about how the increased wealth gets distributed within each country. By way of illustrating my point, I have little doubt that the US, Canada, and Mexico are all on the whole richer because of NAFTA. In the U.S., however, the wealth that was generated flowed to the American corporations that relocated their operations elsewhere. Meanwhile, their workers got screwed.
All that said, I still think I agree with the notion (suggested by the theory) that we can have good manufacturing jobs or cheap goods, but probably not both. Far from being an actual economist, I take no position as to which is preferable. I'm just sayin' . . . .
Hard to accept when some of us are seeing decreases in stock prices nearing 25% in the last 50 days. I am all for trying to negotiate better terms but some of us are getting hammered.
Do you think the stock market went hyperbolic over the last 5 years because the companies were so amazing and valuable? No...stock prices rose because alot of the printed money by the Biden administration went into buying more stock and inflation. Look at a 10 year chart of the S&P. See the massive increase/bubbles after early 2020 and 2022? The market will decline more until it reaches a normal support area, which a healthy stock market would have had if not for all the money pumping.
Could also be attributed to more people having time on their hands and more ability for retail investment through platforms like Robinhood? I started investing during that period but had more to do with knowing stocks would rebound and a good few years previously that put money in my pocket.
The working class has been hammered for decades.
And they're getting hammered right now via 401k's.
A well balanced and measured post, thank you.
Character does indeed matter. That is what we’re judged by, our actions, which is what character is.
That said, we now all pontificate far too easily with far too little reflection, an endless stream of knee-jerk bloviations and half-baked prognostications.
Might I politely remind you that only three weeks ago you wrote the following:
“With an American-Ukrainian mineral deal done, Russia must understand the United States will continue to help Ukraine if the Russians are not prepared to end the war… If Putin drags out talks and does not seem vested in ending the war, the Trump Administration will redouble American efforts to help Ukraine.”
And for Trump to offhandedly remark the other day that “Well, [Ukraine] may not survive anyhow “ is beyond an obscenity..
As Keynes was quoted as saying: “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?".
How long before this site concedes that Trump is on a path for an economic disaster due to his obsession on self-destructive protectionism and a security disaster in the Ukraine by his mis-guide appeasement, if not outright indifference, to the Russian agression.
Whatever was potentially positive from a Trump Presidency - secure borders, lower regulation, lower taxes, lower inflation, merit over DEI, resistance to anti-Semitism - will be lost when the full impact of protectionism and appeasemennt erase any national consensus in support of a Trump presidency.
HIs treatment of Canada borders on the insane, his treatment of Ukraine is even worse,
Trump's fundamental economic ignorance is truly frightening.
Admit it.
I love ya, Erick, because you remind me of Rush, but I've got to say you can be a wet blanket on more than one occasion. I long for Rush's optimism.
I don't think Trump views the tariffs as a 'fun game'. The only tariffs he's wavering on is Canada & Mexico because he wants to give them a chance, which they apparently keep blowing. We don't know what's being said behind closed doors. If he's not giving them a goal to meet, then shame on him, but neither country, especially Canada, is making a serious effort to stop fentanyl. That's all they need to do - show him a serious effort. He's not wavering on China, and Lutnick has said the April 2 reciprocal tariffs are coming and staying. Reciprocal tariffs are only fair.
I think we've said we don't want to pay anymore in regards to Ukraine. I hope you elaborate on the moral rationale. Honestly, I don't like either party, and certainly, there was some funny business on the part of Ukraine's govt involving our weapons and funds. I'm still saying let the Europeans deal with it. Sorry, I'm an isolationist. I'm tired of foreign wars that only exchange one thug or another.
The economy cannot be fixed in a few months. Even the first two years of Reagan wasn't fun, but by the end of his first term, it was morning in America again. But, hey, I forgot, the American public has been trained to want instant gratification. They're attention spans only last a few minutes. Fixing our trillion dollar debt and the economy will take resolve, which apparently the younger generations lack. I thank God that our current generations weren't fighting WWII because we would have thrown in the towel after the first setback. The Greatest Generation went through the Great Depression, which taught them perseverance, sacrifice and resolve. You don't become the Greatest Generation without a lot of character building in the form of hardships. Question is - are we going to give in to the public demanding instant gratification or are we going to trust the plan and persevere to the end because we know it's right?
As for the Tate Brothers - who cares? I don't even know who they are and why we're spending so much time on a couple of losers/thugs.
Hear! Hear!
I must say that I don't give a rat's patootie about what people think of Trump. I look strictly for results, and such a long time in office (a whopping two months) I look at what's been accomplished and relish what might be coming.
Good Morning People I don’t personally know how to run a government and don’t want to we all have to slow down let some of the Shit Storm pass, I do agree DJT needs to slow down and Listen to some of his People before he comes Off the rails. Can’t get it all done in one day God Bless America
Erick: I played a little game this morning when I first saw your "Might As Well Say It" headline. I thought, what could Erick possibly say? And I made list. None of my guesses really hit home, but I am confident that they soon will. Here's the list: 1.) Trump should be impeached, 2.) Trump is a Russian asset, 3.) Trump is insane, 4.) Trump is trying to destroy the rule-of-law, 5.) Trump really is an insurrectionist, 6.) Trump is trying to put us into a recession, 7.) Trump is trying to destroy the world's democracies, including ours, 8.) Two of Trump's illegitimate sons have the last name "Tate," 9.) the "pee tape" is real, 10.) MAGAs really are stupid.
In the vein of "me think thou dost protest too much" . . . your suspicions are showing.
They’ve been showing since 2016. And, for the most part, they have proven to be correct. But, just so you know, the above were tongue in cheek, but as with all things Trump, you just never know.
Trump should spend as much time analyzing the middle class' increasing costs as he does applauding the federal workers firing. The middle class elected him to review and lower the cost of life...groceries, rent, fuel, etc. For those on fixed incomes, it's becoming increasingly difficult to pay the ever increasing cost to live.
Agreed
At the risk of being judged a cynic, I will go ahead and say it: For too many of our political "leaders," getting re-elected is a higher priority than doing the right thing. Getting our national house in order is no different than a family getting their house in order and deciding to live within its means. It is the right thing to do, and doing the right thing on a familial basis could mean that we literally freeze our credit card (Clark Howard's advice to avoid impulsive spending), forego eating out, or planning a "staycation" in lieu of heading to the beach. Getting a household budget back in order requires self-discipline, and self-discipline requires us to do the right thing even when doing so is unpleasant. Regrettably, our society has largely lost any appreciation for self-discipline; and thus we cannot tolerate difficult but necessary decisions.
The Trump Administration has made some good decisions and some that seem to be short-sided. Like the Trump Administration or not, it needs our prayers more than our criticism. We need the introspection to examine ourselves and honestly evaluate whether the government cuts that hurt are for the good of our nation irrespective of the pain that they might cause us individually. I fear that we have lost the maturity and morality required to suffer individually for the good of the whole.
And maybe this shows where our prayers for reform should begin. We should pray for the reformation of our own hearts first and then for the reformation of our leaders' hearts. We should first pray for the renewing of our minds - a renewal that can only come through the transformation that is wrought by a Higher Power. And by "a Higher Power," I unashamedly mean the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised to give us in His final hours before He went to the cross to redeem us.
To be succinct, let us resolve to pray more and gripe less and to be transformed rather than conformed.
I totally agree. I’m also curious to see what President Trump‘s actual game plan is because so far one hell of a roller coaster ride. …….I have a question. Do you know what Congress is doing regarding actually writing laws to vote on, regarding all of the executive orders? Are they doing what they are supposed to be doing? Because otherwise in four years all of this can get turned around just as quickly….
Indeed, without authorizing legislation, much of it might well be turned around in far less than four years.
Erick, I get sick every time I get a bill that goes up....I get sick every week I go to grocery store. I saw an item this week that had gone up over $1.00 in less than a month, not to mention coffee, and other items. I being a senior on SS only gets sick about it all. I get sick hearing about people paying so much for rent, and I get sick to hear every time Trump opens his mouth he brags about everything he is going but nothing seems to get done. I am also sick of so many losing jobs and it appears that they just go in and say, "your fired, your fired, your fired without seeing exactly what their position entails. I am more concerned not at 78 than I have ever been and I voted for Trump and would do so again but we have got to start seeing a little something positive here.
And exactly why would you vote for him again?