How did the stimulus from 18 months ago cause Germany's energy prices to increase by 19%, food prices to increase by 17%, and CPI be 11.6% in October?

As for Germany producing oil and gas....they don't. It was a major mistake for them to get hook on Russian gas. Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden warned them repeatedly that exactly what is happening today would happen. They didn't listen.

One of these things is not like the others.

Interesting strategy, Cotton.

Gas prices suck. Crime is ridiculous. Inflation is through the roof. Housing purchases are impossible. Food prices are soaring. We're as close to nuclear war as we've been in many of our lifetimes. The stock market is shit. But don't elect the other guy because things could get bad?

Very persuasive.

Oh they can get much worse if democracy crumbles.

Depends on who the other guy is, if you haven't noticed they are trying to get election deniers elected as SoS, you know the people who certify elections, if that happens they can try and overthrow an election they lose, think this is hyperbole? Go ahead and elect them, and good luck to you. So it comes down to what do you want? A democracy, free and fair elections or lower food/gas prices and as it looks right now it's neck and neck. and I'm gobsmacked that someone like Mark Finchem could get elected to anything let alone responsible for certifying elections, but here we are, I know people are hurting and that sucks, but right now maga must be stopped at all costs.

My wife has her new business and its definitely non-essentials. We haven’t seen any slowdown in purchasing the last couple months. It’s hard to tell if we’re not getting as big of a holiday pick up as we would expect since this is the first year she is doing this full time. However, it’s not fallen off as I would have expected given purchasing power decrease that we are seeing. So you’re right it’s weird. I’m not sure what gives.

I think the McDonald’s by us is hiring at $19 an hour. I mean holy crap. I started my first job at 5 an hour or so in 1998, inflation adjusted that is 9.17. So its a major increase there. At some point people will start taking the jobs. We only do annual raises, I’ll be interested to see what we do then. It should be hopefully clear by then how the economy is doing with the rate hikes that we have had.

In Colorado, we haven’t seen the home pricing really drop yet which is interesting. You’d think there would be some relief there given the mortgage rates. I’m definitely glad we locked in at 2.8 we did for our house here. There is no way we are moving anytime soon now given how little we are paying in interest comparatively for our house.

Beside stopping funding to Ukraine, and letting their buddy Putin take over a sovereign country, what specifically will the GOP do to address these issues when they control Congress?

Let's play.

What specifically have the Dems done that warrants reelection?

It's hyperbole because you've lumped in all people who had questions about the 2020 election as "election deniers". For one example, if you are in PA and you don't like what PA did with mail-in ballots you might say they PA legislature acted improperly and there are ballots counted that shouldn't have been. You might want that rectified before the next election and you might talk about that being important. That doesn't make you an election denier.

You guys need to stop with the hyperbole.

You didn't answer the question.

What specifically will Greene, Oz, Walker, Boebert, Vance, Johnson, Gibbs, Majewski, Mastriano, Cox, Palin, etc do when they control Congress? You seem convinced they have a better plan but cannot explain what that plan is.

Uh no.

You don't just get first in vig. I'm not convinced of anything, but I'm asking you to convince me why the group that has overseen where we are today should be reelected. And I'm asking you to give me something more than the other side will be worse or the other side has no plan.

You're in power. What is your plan? What are you going to do?

If you look at global metrics over the last year or so, the US is doing far better than most other countries. Including things like inflation.

I am not sure if being graded against your peers in similar positions is the best metric but it certainly is a pretty good one.

Not surprised you cannot answer the question, even Conservatives realize the GOP has no plan.

Republicans’ Plan to Fix the Economy Is … We’re Still Waiting
https://www.bloomberg.com/...n-to-fix-the-economy




This is from Allison Schrager, a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering economics. A senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a Conservative think tank.

There is a reason Republicans can never explain what their plan is.......they do not have one besides throwing rocks.

I'll play - They don't deserve to be reelected, but...

They don't threaten democracy either. They don't deny the outcome of the last election. They understand that Jan 6th was a very serious attack on our form of government, and they don't excuse those people. They didn't make phone calls to GA, and they actually support law enforcement. They aren't trying to undermine the medical profession's ability to care for women. They actually care about the health care programs. They understand that there is more than one religion in the US and all of them must be respected.

I will be voting for Kathy Hochul on Tuesday, as bad as she is, because the guy running against her is the opposite of all those things. I'm a registered republican, but until that side understands the system they are representing I will have to side with the opposition for a while.

---

"...the street finds its own uses for things"

Noone on the ballot on Tuesday can do anything about any of those things except very tangentially crime and the stock market. And guess what? Crime isn't ridiculous and the stock market isn't shit. Comparing stock market performance by president is one of the dumbest possible exercises but if that's how you're going to vote, the best return at this point in a presidential term was Obama and the full term MVP was Clinton. Biden's behing Trump and tracking right alongside GHWB and, of course, crushing the disastrous performance of GWB. It's honestly pretty depressing listening to folks who plan to vote like my 2 year old: "I want everything to be perfect all the time and if it's not I'm going to ignore everything that's going on in the world, refuse to engage in any thoughtful analysis, blame you and throw my toys!" David Frum had a better analogy:

https://twitter.com/...8VdZUyWqmB5sSC7GQVKA

"A woman and her grandson are walking on the beach. A sudden wave pulls the boy to sea. Distraught, she prays, "Lord God, return him safe, and I will keep your mitzvot and give to charity." Another wave deposits the boy, wet but well. The woman turns to heaven. "He had a hat.""

Re. crime specifically:

https://www.pewresearch.org/...t-does-the-data-say/

(click through to the article if you're inclined to complain about the selection of crimes shown below)

---

"Are you sure we're going fast enough?" - Emil Zatopek

Wrong again. I'm choosing not to answer. I'm holding you accountable for the question I asked you first. You don't get to dodge my question with a question.

What, specifically, is the plan if D's are elected to address crime, the border, inflation, gas prices, nuclear war, etc, etc.

You have the big-boy pants. You want to keep the big-boy pants. What are you going to do. And answer without using the words "Trump, GOP, or Republicans."

So you think Kathy Hochul has performed well enough on crime in NY to keep her there?

I think I'm safe in general. I don't like people that use scare tactics to get what they want. I ride the subway regularly - never seen a problem. The statistics just aren't there.

No address my other points.

---

"...the street finds its own uses for things"

Why do you lie? I clearly asked you first. You have no answer, so you launch into this bizarre deflection dance.

If you read this thread, and others, you will see that I have addressed this topic in depth. It is clear that the US economy is performing far better the vast majority of the Western democracies. I have posted repeatedly about the positive things the Democrats have done. I like the release of the SPR. I like the PACT act, the IRA, the CHIPS and Science Act, Safer Communities Act. I like that America is no longer an embarrassment on the world stage. I dislike how large the ARP was. I dislike performative stunts like student debt relief that will go nowhere.

You are unable to explain what the GOP's plan is because they have no plan.

[quote JFHJR

Wrong again. I'm choosing not to answer. I'm holding you accountable for the question I asked you first. You don't get to dodge my question with a question.

What, specifically, is the plan if D's are elected to address crime, the border, inflation, gas prices, nuclear war, etc, etc.

You have the big-boy pants. You want to keep the big-boy pants. What are you going to do. And answer without using the words "Trump, GOP, or Republicans."[/quote]
I'll answer though you obviously didn't direct the question at me and I don't speak for who you responded to.

crime,

Crime barely needs addressing. GOP scare mongering notwithstanding. See my post above. To the extent the current historically low crime levels are deemed too high the right response is to continue to do the only thing that has always proved effective to reduce crime - improve the economy. Crime goes up in the Summer (more when it's hotter). It goes up when there's economic dislocation and anxiety. We're just emerging from a once in a lifetime pandemic that shook the world economy like a snow globe. The right response? Take a beat. Wait. See where we actually are and respond deliberately if at all.

the border,

Pass a comprehensive immigration plan that Ds have been pushing for for decades. Right size our legal immigration so that we don't have to deal with the inflationary pressure caused by a stupidly tight job market and don't have the hypocrisy of GOP congress members and candidates bitching about illegal immigration while employing illegal immigrants in their business ventures. Fix all of that then "get tough" on the border. I'm not averse to a nation wide asylum seeker distribution compact but TX etc. have to back immigration reform first. The only reason we don't make progress on this issue is that the GOP would rather maintain a permanent (though for 80% of the country non-existent) "crisis" on the border to make political hay.

inflation,

Wait it out. Sorry, not sexy enough for you I'm sure but that's the reality. We're doing better than most peer countries. We should be grateful. Vote for whatever's behind the curtain if it makes you feel better but there is no answer here.


gas prices,

Exactly what we're doing. Increase domestic production and accelerate the shifty away from a resource the price of which we'll never control. Of course, Americans want cheaper gas yesterday and will vote for whoever pretends they have a plan to achieve that but they're lying. Our current course is the correct one.

nuclear war,

The Biden admin has rebuilt NATO, re-established the moral leadership and soft power of the US. I'm not comfortable with a heightened risk of nuclear war but I'm far more comfortable with that marginally increased risk that I would be with a GOP congress cutting off funding to Ukraine, handing an ally over to fucking Russia and putting the stability of the rest of Europe fully in play. I still can't believe the GOP has become the party of geneflucting to Putin. How did we get here? What happened? What would Reagan say?

---

"Are you sure we're going fast enough?" - Emil Zatopek

What are the actual crime statistics for NY State that you believe support the idea that she hasn't? I'm not aware of anything useful. Much less anything that cross-references and compares to other states.

I urge you to read this, about NYC specifically (which is obviously NOT NY state)

https://www.bloomberg.com/...-crime-stat-reality/

This is an amazing chart:

---

"Are you sure we're going fast enough?" - Emil Zatopek

Spot on Bretom. Agree with all of your points.

Crime is surging (in Fox News coverage) - The Washington Post

It's a bit amsuing that back during the #BLM protests (and I'm talking about the legal, peaceful protests that dominated), there was a lot of finger-wagging about how they needed to "look at the data" and that disproportionate police violence against black people barely exists.

I wonder how many of the finger-waggers are now hysterical about perceived crime.

Ok, answer me this, what incentive do Republicans have to fix any of those issues? Versus being able to blame Democrats for them?