Please note that you can leave a comment on any of our posts at our Facebook page.  Subscribers can also comment at length at our Angel's Corner Forum.

FINAL SUBSCRIPTION DRIVE OF 2018 – HELP!

OUR FIRST WEEK WAS REASONABLY GOOD, BUT WE'VE GOTTEN SLUGGISH AND ARE FALLING BEHIND.  PLEASE GIVE US A BOOST

This week we launch the final subscription drive of the year.  We depend on subscriptions and donations to keep going.  We lean heavily on them to cover the rising costs of research, modernizing of technology, and renting the bandwith to stay on the internet. 

We have a superb, self-selected readership that is both mature and sane.  In our almost 11 years of posting we have expelled only one subscriber, and we got an apology from his wife. 

As a subscriber or donator you will receive our twice-a-week emailed page called The Angel's Corner, which contains our Forum.  You may submit posts to the Forum of any reasonable length and on any subject you choose.  It is our most popular feature.   But the most important reason to subscribe or donate is to keep Urgent Agenda coming to you. 

To participate, simply go to the right-hand column, opposite this appeal. You'll see SUBSCRIPTIONS.  You may subscribe or donate using PayPal or any of the other methods listed.  We especially recommend SENDINC, as it has proved so popular with our members.  Instructions are given.  If you wish to use regular mail, send me an email at comments@urgentagenda.com, and I'll give you the address of our armed bunker.

I hope you join us.

NOVEMBER 20,  2018

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:55 P.M. ET: 

GREAT BREAKTHROUGH IN EDUCATION – FROM DAILYWIRE:   A university in the United Kingdom is so concerned about the fragile egos of its students that it has banned lecturers from using capital letters when assigning work.  Leeds Trinity released a memo to its staff regarding their students in which the university stated that uppercase letters might “scare them into failure.” In addition to that ruling, the memo also instructed the teachers to make sure their writing was friendly and eschewed overbearing and negative language.  The memo stated, “"Despite our best attempts to explain assessment tasks, any lack of clarity can generate anxiety and even discourage students from attempting the assessment at all. Generally, avoid using capital letters for emphasis and "the overuse of 'do', and, especially, 'DON'T'."  Historians 500 years from now will look at documents like this as examples of the mentality that destroyed Western civilization.

SAD – FROM THE HILL:  Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams (D) defeated incumbent GOP Rep. Mia Love by fewer than 700 votes in a hotly contested race for Utah’s 4th Congressional District, turning the district blue for the first time in six years.  The race had been initially too close to call, with both McAdams and Love at different points taking a slight edge over each other. In the end, the Associated Press called the race for the Democrat on Nov. 20.  Polls had showed McAdams with a slight edge over Love, with Sabato's Crystal Ball shifting her race from a “toss-up” to “leans Democrat” just days before the election.  Love had faced an uphill battle in the district, where President Trump's approval rating has been underwater amid a midterm election that has been widely framed as a referendum on the president.  Mia Love is talented, an African-American Republican in a very white state.  I hope she stays in politics. 

SHRINKING OF AN INDUSTRY – FROM HOT AIR:  Contrary to suggestions of a slow-down, the number of Americans severing their ties to cable and satellite TV soared to the largest number ever during the third quarter this year.  For the first time satellite and cable TV providers lost more than a million subscribers from July through September this year. To be exact, they lost 1.1 million customers. Which is a lot of of monthly fees gone poof!  Dish TV lost 367,000 satellite subscribers in the third quarter compared to gaining 16,000 in the previous third quarter. It added only 26,000 new ones to its Sling service this time.
In a financial report AT&T said DirecTV lost 359,600 satellite subscribers during the quarter, while adding only 49,000 new subscribers to DirecTV Now, its streaming TV service...“Cord cutting does not appear to be slowing at all,” according to MoffetNathanson, a media and telecommunications research firm.  Technology advances and devours the technology it replaces.

November 20, 2018       Permalink 

WE ARE OVERWHELMED BY OBNOXIA – AT 2:20 P.M. ET:  What is it with Democrats?  They keep tormenting us despite our kindness and warmth.  Can we send them to charm school?  Maybe provide warm and cuddly service animals?  Anything to stop the behavior.   Consider Stacey Abrams, from NPR: 

Democrat Stacey Abrams isn't backing down from her fight against what she calls voter suppression tactics and election mismanagement after losing the Georgia governor's race. In fact, Abrams said she experienced the problems in her state firsthand — after nearly being denied a ballot during early voting.

In an interview with Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee said that when she went to vote last month, a poll worker initially told her that she had requested an absentee ballot and couldn't cast an in-person vote. Abrams replied that she never filed for an absentee ballot, and after a conversation with the site's manager, the matter was quickly resolved.

"I did it quietly. I didn't turn it into a major conversation because, for me, it was about getting through the process," Abrams said. Followed by cameras to the polls, she said kept the snafu under wraps because "I was not trying to embarrass anyone, but I did want it fixed."

Oh please.  That's not voter suppression.  That's incompetence.  And there's plenty of it.  She keeps talking about voter suppression but hasn't provided one bit of proof.  Show us the evidence.  Stacey, you lost an election.  Prepare for the next one.

And get this ego, out of control, from Breitbart: 

Left-wing billionaire Tom Steyer, who spent millions in the 2018 midterm elections pushing for the impeachment of President Donald Trump, is preparing to launch a campaign for president in 2020, according to Politico.

Politico’s Alex Thompson wrote Monday evening:

The former billionaire investor, climate activist and impeachment agitator Tom Steyer will take several steps toward a 2020 presidential bid Tuesday.

That will include a six-figure web ad buy on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram along with a full-page ad in USA Today and other Gannett newspapers outlining a political platform, a revamped TomSteyer.com, and the announcement of five town halls across the country, the first of which will be in the crucial early primary state of South Carolina, according to copies of the ad and platform provided to POLITICO.

The first town hall is set for Dec. 4 in Charleston, S.C., and the next will be in Fresno, Calif., sometime in December, according to Aleigha Cavalier, senior communications adviser for TomSteyer.com who also works for Steyer’s climate-focused group NextGen America. There will be one town hall for each of the “5 rights” on Steyer’s platform: the right to an equal vote, to clean air and water, to learn with pre-K education through college, to a living wage, and to health.

Steyer has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on other Democrats’ campaigns in recent years. He was the party’s top donor in 2014 — buying few wins but allowing him to force the party to stage an all-night talk session about climate change on the Senate floor.

In 2018, he spent over $100 million on an effort to push for impeachment, reinforcing that message the day after the election in a New York Times op-ed.

COMMENT:  I think we've all felt the wanting of Steyer.  It's all around us.  I just don't know how America will be able to resist.

As far as Stacey is concerned, she'd best be silent for a time.  She's wearing out her welcome.

November 20, 2018       Permalink

IT'S THE ECONOMY – AT 11:32 A.M. ET:  You may have noticed a number of economic stories that have come to the fore in the last week.  The reason is that the 2020 campaign has begun, and the economy will probably be the deciding issue.  If it remains strong, Trump could be re-elected, possibly by a substantial margin.

But if the economy goes south, Trump could be defeated by a new face, and could even face a primary challenge from one of the vast number of Republicans who intensely dislike him.

First the good news, from Townhall:   

A new poll from Gallup shows President Trump's approval rating on the economy just hit a new high.

According to the numbers, 53 percent of Americans give "positive remarks" on his economic policies. Gallup's bottom line: "Americans' relatively high approval ratings for Trump's handling of the economy reflect the public's overall positive sentiments on a number of economic indicators, including some readings that are as high as or higher than they have been in at least 18 years."

Meanwhile, it isn't just Gallup that shows an improvement for the President on this issue. CBS News also has a new report showing a whopping 74 percent of Americans rate the economy as good.

But the cloudy news, from CNBC:

Goldman Sachs believes the U.S. economy will slow significantly in the second half of next year as the Federal Reserve continues to raise interest rates and the effects of the tax cut fade.

"Growth is likely to slow significantly next year, from a recent pace of 3.5 percent-plus to roughly our 1.75 percent estimate of potential by end-2019," wrote Jan Hatzius, chief economist for the investment bank, in a note to clients on Sunday. "We expect tighter financial conditions and a fading fiscal stimulus to be the key drivers of the deceleration."

The bank sees the economy expanding at 2.5 percent in the fourth quarter of this year, down from 3.5 percent last quarter. Real GDP growth will come in at 2.5 percent again in the first quarter of 2019, but then will slow to 2.2 percent, 1.8 percent and 1.6 percent in the next three quarters, respectively.
Goldman sees the Fed raising rates this December and then four more times in 2019. It will do so because inflation will reach 2.25 percent by the end of next year because of tariffs and increasing wages, the bank predicted, noting there was also a chance of an "inflation overshoot."

"With a large overshoot of its labor market target under way, the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) will likely be reluctant to stop until it is confident that the unemployment rate is no longer on a downward trajectory, a point we expect to reach only in early 2020," the note said.

COMMENT:  Of course, the president will have an argument ready if things slow down.  He'll claim, and possibly with some merit, that the slowdown started with the election of a Democratic House, as investors were frightened off by the prospect. 

That may work, or not.  But Trump's trump card is a strong economy.   His backup is the chaos in the Democratic Party. 

A year from now we'll be looking at actual candidates, and CNN will tell us that they will save America from TRUMP or BUSH or CHENEY or FOX NEWS.

November 20,  2018     Permalink

NOVEMBER 19,  2018

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:55 P.M. ET:

AMERICAN VOTERS ACTING SILLY – FROM RASMUSSEN:  Michelle Obama has been making the rounds promoting her new book, prompting buzz about a potential presidential run, which she has vehemently denied. But with the midterms over and the focus on 2020, voters think she’d stand a chance.  A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that, in a hypothetical matchup, 50% of all Likely U.S. Voters would vote for Obama over President Trump. Forty-three percent (43%) would vote instead for Trump’s reelection.  By comparison, a survey in January found TV personality Oprah Winfrey beating Trump 48% to 38% in a hypothetical 2020 matchup. Last month, Democratic fan favorite Senator Elizabeth Warren just barely edged out Trump 46% to 44% in a hypothetical matchup.  I assume these numbers would change dramatically if any of these characters actually ran, and had to prove themselves.

A GOOD STATEMENT – FROM CNN:  The founder of the Women's March is calling for the movement's current co-chairs to step down for allowing bigotry into their mission.  Teresa Shook, a lawyer and educator who founded the Women's March movement, accused the group's current co-chairs -- Bob Bland, Tamika Mallory, Linda Sarsour and Carmen Perez -- of associating with bigoted outside groups and tarnishing the Women's March's initial goals in a post on her Facebook page Monday.  The co-chairs "have steered the Movement away from its true course. I have waited, hoping they would right the ship," Shook wrote. "But they have not. In opposition to our Unity Principles, they have allowed anti-Semitism, anti-LBGTQIA sentiment and hateful, racist rhetoric to become a part of the platform by their refusal to separate themselves from groups that espouse these racist, hateful beliefs."  "I call for the current Co-Chairs to step down and to let others lead who can restore faith in the Movement and its original intent," Shook added. "I stand in Solidarity with all the Sister March Organizations, to bring the Movement back to its authentic purpose."  A great statement, but I doubt if the leftist, bigoted fanatics will step aside. 

GLOBAL WARMING NEWS – FROM THE WEATHER CHANNEL:   Another blast of cold air is expected to bring one of the coldest Thanksgivings on record for some Northeast cities.  A strong area of high pressure from the Arctic Circle will descend southward across Canada and into the Northeast, sending temperatures plummeting toward levels more common on New Year's Day, not Thanksgiving Day.  For some Northeast cities, high temperatures on Thanksgiving could be close to the coldest on record no matter what day of the month the holiday was celebrated (e.g. Nov. 22, Nov. 24, Nov. 26, etc.)...Low temperatures Thanksgiving morning and Black Friday will likely be 15 to 25 degrees below average for late November.  Al Gore could not be reached for comment.

November 19, 2018       Permalink

UNFORCED ERROR – AT 5:30 P.M. ET:  That is President Trump's ridiculous dispute with retired Navy Admiral William McRaven, who commanded the SEAL forces that killed Osama bin Laden.  It is a dispute the president can't win.

McRaven has a distinguished military record.  He has the support of a good part of the defense establishment.  He has also been harshly critical of the president, and has made statements about Mr. Trump that are over the top.  But what the public sees right now is the admiral's bin Laden raid, and all those medals.  The details are insignificant.  It is not a dispute the president needs.   Calling McRaven a Hillary Clinton fan, which may be true, is petty and beneath the presidency.  The president should put this behind him.

That being said, former military officers, if they make political statements, become fair game.  We do not have, nor should we have, a separate military class.  If you don't believe that, I give you two words – Douglas MacArthur.  MacArthur, a hero of both World War I and World War II, commanded UN forces in Korea after North Korea invaded South Korea in June of 1950.  But he became increasingly vocal about his disagreements with President Truman over strategy in the Far East, and Truman finally fired him.

The firing stunned America.  MacArthur returned home, not only as a hero, but as a martyr – the man who stood up to the unpopular president.  He was invited to address a joint session of Congress.  A Republican from Missouri, Dewey Short, pointed to the five-star general during the speech and said, "That's God up there."  Many Americans felt the same way.

Problem was, this god was selling a message that, once Americans understood it, they did not buy.  It was a message calling for expanded conflict. 

MacArthur wanted very much to be president, and fully expected that he might be drafted by the Republican Party in 1952.  But, at the party convention, he got one delegate vote.  The American people, in the fullness of time, had rejected him. 

I sense, and it is only my own speculation, that MacRaven sees himself in political office, and has thus become very assertive in his opposition to Mr. Trump.  If that is the case, he should recall the MacArthur example.  A military officer is thanked for his service, which is sincerely appreciated, but judged as a political figure once he enters the arena. 

Move on, Mr. President.   Don't pick unnecessary fights.  And be careful, Admiral.  Recall the old French proverb that the graveyards of the world are filled with indispensable men. 

November 19, 2018       Permalink

SELLING THE PRESIDENCY – AT 2:22 P.M. ET:  That's what it is.  The presidency provides a kind of franchise, and it's being sold before our eyes.  Oh wait.  This is Barack Obama, come to save us.  He isn't selling the presidency.  Why, he's only engaged in well-deserved personal revenue enhancement.  Thoroughly ethical.  Perfectly okay.  From Fox: 

The cash keeps rolling in for Barack and Michelle Obama.

And it may not be long before they’re billionaires.

The New York Post reported the Obama's are on their way to becoming a billion-dollar brand, amid highly lucrative deals for books, speeches and Antefix videos.

The latest example of cashing in comes with the former first lady’s new memoir, “Becoming,” which was released last week and was part of a $65 million book advance for both of the Obama's

The Obama's in 2017 inked the $65 million deal after leaving the White House for books written by both the former president and first lady. It is the highest amount ever paid for a presidential memoir.
According to the New York Post, the former first lady also could make millions from appearances on her 10-city tour as she promotes her autobiography.

The paper reported that Michelle Obama can command $225,000 for other paid speeches. The former president makes $400,000 per speech.

Obama, as a former president, also receives a $207,800 annual presidential pension.

COMMENT:  Can you just imagine if a Republican were cashing in this way?  CNN would be on it 24 hours a day.

But this is Barack, so it's okay.

You'd think the man would have the decency to give back his presidential pension, or contribute all of it to Wounded Warriors.

November 19, 2018       Permalink

TRUMP STRONG – AT 11:08 A.M. ET:  Despite some pretty obvious verbal gaffes and miscues – like not going to Arlington on Veterans Day – President Trump continues to rise in the polls.  I have no idea why, and we can't pin it to a particular act.  But maybe there's a bit of a backlash to the reality that the nutty Dems will control the House.  From the Rasmussen daily tracker: 

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Monday shows that 50% of Likely U.S. Voters approve of President Trump’s job performance. Forty-nine percent (49%) disapprove. 

The latest figures include 36% who Strongly Approve of the way Trump is performing and 41% who Strongly Disapprove. This gives him a Presidential Approval Index rating of -5.

COMMENT:  So far so good.  The 2020 race has begun.  The calendar is about to change.  During 2019 we will see the emergence of the Democratic field of thousands, and maybe one or two primary challengers for the president.

November 19,  2018     Permalink