US Economy Recovered Significantly in Q3

The US economy recovered significantly Q3 quarter as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased 7.4% over the quarter, an annual rate of 33.1%, recovering about two-thirds of the ground lost as the pandemic took control.

Consumer Confidence fell by less than half a point in October

• Durable goods order in September increased $4.3 billion, or 1.9 percent. The increase, up two consecutive months followed a 0.4 percent August increase, according to the US Census Bureau.
• Shipments of manufactured durable goods in September, up four of the last five months, increased $0.7 billion
• Inventories of manufactured durable goods in September, up following three consecutive monthly decreases, increased 0.4 percent.

Manufacturing Activity Strengthened in October Buoyed by Increased Shipments and New Orders

The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond released its Fifth District Survey of Manufacturing Activity and reports manufacturing activity strengthened in October buoyed by increased shipments and new orders. Manufacturers were optimistic that conditions would continue to improve in the coming months.

CFNAI Declined in September

Led by some further moderation in the growth of production-and employment related indicators, the Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) declined to +0.27 in September from +1.11 in August. The index’s three-month moving average (CFNAI-MA3) moved down to +1.33 in September from +3.22 in August.

What do the numbers mean? A zero value for the monthly index has been associated with the national economy expanding at its historical trend (average) rate of growth; negative values with below-average growth (in standard deviation units); and positive values with above-average growth. Periods of economic expansion have historically been associated with values of the CFNAI-MA3 above -0.70 and the CFNAI Diffusion Index above -0.35.

Conversely, periods of economic contraction have historically been associated with values of the CFNAI-MA3 below -0.70 and the CFNAI Diffusion Index below -0.35. An increasing likelihood of a period of sustained increasing inflation has historically been associated with values of the CFNAI-MA3 above +0.70 more than two years into an economic expansion. Similarly, a substantial likelihood of a period of sustained increasing inflation has historically been associated with values of the CFNAI-MA3 above +1.00 more than two years into an economic expansion.

US Drill Rigs Running Up 5 From Prior Week

There were 287 drill rigs running in the US last week, up 5 rigs from the prior week, down 543 rigs from 1 year ago. In Canada, 83 rigs were running, up 3 rigs from the prior week, down 64 rigs from 1 year ago.

US Raw Steel Production Less Than 10% Away From the 78% ACUR of a Year Ago

In the week ending 10/24/20 US raw steel production was 1,542,000 net tons at an ACUR of 69.7 percent. The production figure is .5 percent higher than the previous week. We are less than 10% away from the 78.0 % ACUR of 1 year ago.

Midwest Economy Index Rose in September

The Midwest Economy Index (MEI), which approximates quarterly growth at a monthly frequency, rose to +4.30 in September from +1.55 in August. Contributions to the September MEI from all four broad sectors of nonfarm business activity and all five Seventh Federal Reserve District states increased from August.

VOTE ON NOVEMBER 3

New Supreme Court Justice Sworn In

Amy Coney Barrett was sworn in as a Supreme Court Justice on Monday evening in a win for American justice, the neutrality of the justice system and the American people.

Violence in Philadelphia Streets

All facts are not yet in, but rioting has broken out in Philadelphia overnight (Monday) after police apparently shot a man who was charging at two officers brandishing a knife. I can only assume he was a black male. There is no good reason for the arson, looting and violence attached to this. Should the police have been stabbed? Should they not have responded to the call for help in the first place? I mean, this is horse shit. If this anarchy continues, people who commit crimes will be killed. The leftists want violence in the streets? Move them to Syria, Afghanistan, Venezuela or north Africa, where they can find all the violence they desire. It does not belong in the United States.

As of Wednesday the anarchists continue to burn, loot and destroy the property of others. Do you see what is happening? A criminal who happens to be black, which is the only excuse they need to riot, is the uncalled-for response. It is bullshit, racism is bullshit, a liberal narrative to accomplish 2 things: 1-suppress the black voice 2-create division in the country. The reality is, racism only exists among liberals, they are alone I am tired of hearing about it, tired of the results of this nonsense. Look what it has done to our country. Look at the precipice it has brought us to the edge of.

It makes no sense. The United States and her citizens are the most caring and charitable people on the planet. No one does or has done, anything near what this country has done for others. It is time to right the wrongs by pushing back, to call out what we know to be a non-truth. We will lose our freedoms to these assholes if we do not stand for the flag and what she stands for, to practice what we know to be good and right (faith in God, faith in family, faith in choice, faith in freedom and justice for ALL).

Excerpts from:
The American Experiment is on Life Support by Andrew A. Michta

“Death to America” is a common refrain from Antifa rioters from Portland, Ore., to Kenosha, Wi. Children are in the streets calling for the country’s destruction while mobs of college kids trash public spaces, filming themselves as though part of a performance-art spectacle. Neither political party has been willing or able to end this anarchy. Extremism becomes more entrenched in American politics with each passing day.

These acts of violence encapsulate five decades of neo-marxist indoctrination in American schools, colleges and universities. The left’s “long march” through the institutions is all but complete. Extreme intolerance has now replaced the liberal notion of negotiated compromise that is the sine qua non of democracy. America’s young, especially those raised in middle-class or affluent homes, have been so brainwashed that they no longer notice how absurd it is to call for the eradication of their own nation-state, and to do so in the lingo of Iran’s mullahs.

Their ignorance of history is the hallmark of the current crisis. Few seem able to grasp the complex, often painful, but on balance, grand story of America-one that is an example of what people committed to individual freedom can achieve. Instead, they have been indoctrinated to reduce American life to a racial binary of whites vs “people of color.”

The violence suggests that tribalism based on group identity is poised to succeed the larger national community that for more than two centuries has protected and expanded freedom around the world. The American nation-state is a unique experiment, unparalleled in history; a political project that grew from an established Anglo colonial settler culture, and that forged a distinct national identity strong enough to acculturate the many ethnic groups that have immigrated, while preserving a strong sense of its unitary creed.

…The power of the American ideal offered millions something that no other nation could, namely the chance to reinvent and renew one’s life, advance one’s position and create a better future for one’s children. The passionate nationalism of America has been rooted in the belief in exceptionalism as a people ordained for greatness and that equality of opportunity under the law could constrain the base impulse of a man.

It is a tragedy that the young seem to have jettisoned this foundational American ideal, or more likely were never exposed to it in the first place…

Elites, especially the professoriate, bear much of the responsibility for this state of affairs. For decades in classrooms and lecture halls they laid the groundwork for the present moment. The politics of intolerance preached in nearly every realm of American life assumes that those in “flyover country” are in effect no longer fellow citizens as they are incapable of grasping the shibboleths of the globalist international order.

…The assault on the constitutional right of citizens to speak freely unless they affirm first the increasingly intolerant orthodoxy has been unrelenting. The nation’s freedom is being abridged by incessant charges of structural racism, white privilege, homophobia and intolerance, with few pausing to consider the effect on liberal traditions.

..As cities burn and racialists push to re-segregate public spaces, the deconstruction of the American nation is coming dangerously close to completion…the neo-marxist left is separating the institutions of American democracy from their national foundations. If they succeed, the US will over time lose its republican culture and morph into a state in which the new aristocracy wields power over a disenfranchised and impoverished populace. The stakes are in full view for anyone to see.

Mr. Michta is dean of the College of International and Security Studies at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Germany.

Suppression of Speech

In my view it is extremely disturbing that journalists are refusing to cover the Biden family scandal, that Twitter, Facebook et al, constantly suppress conservative views on their platforms. I believe that media suppression of fact is a very dangerous situation for democracy and our republic. Freedom of speech, outlined in the first amendment, is written to encourage debate, discussion of issues and facts. Suppression of free speech happened in Hitler’s Germany and in every dictatorship and socialist regime.

Crooked politicians are a dime a dozen, Biden will pay for his crimes, either here on earth or at the gates of hell, but he will pay. Suppression of free speech is the larger issue. To keep America free, it is incumbent on all of us to vote red on November 3.

The Girl Scouts of America, after congratulating Amy Coney Barrett on her appointment to the Supreme Court faced backlash from the left and deleted their statement as being political. Horse shit. What was that I said about free speech?

As an American citizen, how do you want our country to move forward for you and your family:

SECURE BORDERS? OPEN BORDERS?
MORE GOVERNMENT? LESS GOVERNMENT?
A STRONG MILITARY? A WEAK MILITARY?
LESS TAXATION? MORE TAXATION?
LESS GOVERNMENT REGULATION? MORE GOVERNMENT REGULATION?
FAIR TRADE AGREEMENTS? QUID PRO QUO TRADE AGREEMENTS?
PROPER CARE FOR OUR VETERANS? DON’T CARE FOR OUR VETERANS?
MERIT BASED IMMIGRATION? THE SHIT WE HAVE NOW?
RESPONSIBLE HELP FOR THE POOR? THROW MONEY AT THE PROBLEM?
TEACH AMERICAN HISTORY TO OUR CHILDREN? ERASE AMERICAN HISTORY?
RESPECT OUR FLAG? DON’T GIVE A SHIT?
SAY THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE IN SCHOOL? WHAT IS THAT?

Infrastructure X (Keystone & Dakota pipelines) Regulation Reform XX 1 in 2 out
Individual Tax Reform XX Entitlement Reform
Business Tax Reform XX Education Reform X
Healthcare Reform Veterans Administration Reform X
Rebuild our Military X Trade Reform X
Secure our Borders (The Wall) XX Lead the world from the front XX
Help for the poor XX Drain the swamp X as we speak
Peace through unmatchable strength Support Israel X
Destroy ISIS XX Extreme Vetting XX
Conservative Supreme Court nominees XX American Jobs XX

I will track these campaign promises and will check them off as each is accomplished adding those I have missed as they become apparent. This is quite an agenda and will be difficult to achieve all in one term, but I believe the American people are behind him and know these things need to be done. Now, if he can get our legislators to support him instead of fighting him….

As of September 2018: Trump Administration Accomplishments

As you can see above, the listed accomplishments are from 2 years ago. Many more victories for America and the American people have been added to the list below since that time.

* Almost 4 million jobs created since election.
* More Americans are now employed than ever recorded before in our history.
* We have created more than 400,000 manufacturing jobs since my election.
* Manufacturing jobs growing at the fastest rate in more than THREE DECADES.
* Economic growth last quarter hit 4.2 percent.
* New unemployment claims recently hit a 49-year low.
* Median household income has hit highest level ever recorded.
* African American unemployment has recently achieved the lowest rate ever recorded.
* Hispanic-American unemployment is at the lowest rate ever recorded.
* Asian-American unemployment recently achieved the lowest rate ever recorded.
* Women’s unemployment recently reached the lowest rate in 65 years.
* Youth unemployment has recently hit the lowest rate in nearly half a century.
* Lowest unemployment rate ever recorded for Americans without a high school diploma.
* Under my Administration, veterans’ unemployment recently reached its lowest rate in nearly 20 years.
* Almost 3.9 million Americans have been lifted off food stamps since the election.
* The Pledge to America’s Workers has resulted in employers committing to train more than 4 million Americans. We are committed to VOCATIONAL education.
* 95 percent of U.S. manufacturers are optimistic about the future-the highest ever.
* Retail sales surged last month, up another 6 percent over last year.
* Signed the biggest package of tax cuts and reforms in history. After tax cuts, over $300 billion poured back into the U.S. in the first quarter alone.
* As a result of our tax bill, small businesses will have the lowest top marginal tax rate in more than 80 years.
* Helped win U.S. bid for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
* Helped win U.S.-Mexico-Canada’s united bid for 2026 World Cup.
* Opened ANWR and approved Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipelines.
* Record number of regulations eliminated.
* Enacted regulatory relief for community banks and credit unions.
* Obamacare individual mandate penalty GONE.
* My Administration is providing more affordable healthcare options for Americans through association health plans and short-term duration plans.
* Last month, the FDA approved more affordable generic drugs than ever before in history. And thanks to our efforts, many drug companies are freezing or reversing planned price increases.
* We reformed the Medicare program to stop hospitals from overcharging low-income seniors on their drugs-saving seniors hundreds of millions of dollars this year alone.
* Signed Right-To-Try legislation.
* Secured $6 billion in NEW funding to fight the opioid epidemic.
* We have reduced high-dose opioid prescriptions by 16 percent during my first year in office.
* Signed VA Choice Act and VA Accountability Act, expanded VA telehealth services, walk-in-clinics, and same-day urgent primary and mental health care.
* Increased our coal exports by 60 percent; U.S. oil production recently reached all-time high.
* United States is a net natural gas exporter for the first time since 1957.
* Withdrew the United States from the job-killing Paris Climate Accord.
* Cancelled the illegal, anti-coal, so-called Clean Power Plan.
* Secured record $700 billion in military funding; $716 billion next year.
* NATO allies are spending $69 billion more on defense since 2016.
* Process has begun to make the Space Force the 6th branch of the Armed Forces.
* Confirmed more circuit court judges than any other new administration.
* Confirmed Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
* Withdrew from the horrible, one-sided Iran Deal.
* Moved U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem.
* Protecting Americans from terrorists with the Travel Ban, upheld by Supreme Court.
* Issued Executive Order to keep open Guantanamo Bay.
* Concluded a historic U.S.-Mexico Trade Deal to replace NAFTA. And negotiations with Canada are underway as we speak.
* Reached a breakthrough agreement with the E.U. to increase U.S. exports.
* Imposed tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum to protect our national security.
* Imposed tariffs on China in response to China’s forced technology transfer, intellectual property theft, and their chronically abusive trade practices.
* Net exports are on track to increase by $59 billion this year.
* Improved vetting and screening for refugees, and switched focus to overseas resettlement.
* We have begun BUILDING THE WALL. Republicans want STRONG BORDERS and NO CRIME. Democrats want OPEN BORDERS which equals MASSIVE CRIME.

“MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN”

and

“KEEP AMERICAN GREAT”

Have a great weekend…. God bless America!

Buy American made products whenever you can, it’s good for you, good for your friends and neighbors and good for our country.

If you are hiring…try to hire a veteran…. they are loyal, disciplined, hardworking…and they deserve our support.

By the way, if you wish to comment on my rants or offer any other insights you may have, you are encouraged to email me.

TEDDY ROOSEVELT ON IMMIGRANTS IN AMERICA…1907

In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person’s becoming in every facet an American and nothing but an American. There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag…We have room for but one language here and that is the English language…and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.”