pianogonzology

Tuesday, February 12, 2019

One . . .

. . . of the 'good' things done by this president ? . . .

(from https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/big-businesses-promised-wage-hikes-trump-s-tax-cuts-what-n970081)

". . . Emerson's (Electric Co. of Sydney, OH) and other companies' payments (Emerson made a $1,000 "special contribution" to each employee's 401(k) retirement account) were a publicity bonanza for the Trump administration and the then-Republican-controlled Congress. Back in 2017, as the tax bill moved on the Hill, lawmakers claimed the cut they proposed in the corporate tax rate to 21 percent from 35 percent would trickle down to workers in the form of higher wages and bonuses. Emerson's action, and similar bonuses and wage increases, trumpeted by hundreds of companies like AT&T Corp. and Walmart Corp., provided proof the Republicans had their economic theory right. . . Or did they? For many of those same companies, a tiny fraction of the total number of U.S. businesses, executives haven't yet announced another round of bonuses or wage increases with the same fanfare — even though the tax law continues to mean billions for their bottom lines. Several advocacy groups that tracked the announcements said no new proclamations have been issued. Americans for Tax Reform, a conservative anti-tax group run by Grover Norquist which boasted last year of ongoing "good news" in bonuses and benefit increases, hasn't reported any announcement for three months. Americans for Tax Reform didn't respond to requests for comment. . . Most American businesses that announced bonuses and wage increases seem to be more like Emerson, which has "no plans to make an additional 401(k) contribution this year," a company spokeswoman said. . . That's what has made the promise of higher compensation so far elusive. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported nominal wages increased 3.2 percent in January year over year, and by less than one percent — three cents to $27.56 — month over month. While some economists have voiced enthusiasm about the improvement, other economists note that wages must grow for a sustained period to offset decades of stagnation. . ."

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Monday, February 11, 2019

Additional . . .

. . . troublesome FACTS . . .

". . .Violent crime has been dropping in El Paso since its modern-day peak in 1993 and was at historic lows before a fence was authorized by Congress in 2006. Violent crime actually ticked up during the border fence's construction and after its completion, according to police data collected by the FBI. . . Democratic officials immediately took issue with the picture Trump painted Tuesday night, saying the president was using their city to justify a pointless and unnecessary wall. . ."The facts are clear. While it is true that El Paso is one of the safest cities in the nation, it has never been '...considered one of our Nation’s most dangerous cities,'" the city's sheriff, Richard Wiles, an Democrat, said in a statement after Trump concluded his address. "And, El Paso was a safe city long before any wall was built.”. . ."

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Sunday, February 10, 2019

Nothing . . .

. . . that I, or anyone else, does musically hasn't already been done before

(from https://www.complex.com/music/2013/08/how-to-sound-smart-about-music/)
"This is so derivative."

"I like their older stuff better."

"They're okay, but they're not artists."

"This album was recorded in a barn in Marrakech."

"They're good, but [insert artist name]'s solo album is better."

"They're good on a 'technical' level."

"All of the songs sound the same."

"You've got to hear them live to understand."

"Pitchfork gave it an 8.4."

"It sounds like a hurricane punching a Dracula in the solar plexus."

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Saturday, February 9, 2019

Nixon-esque. . .

(from https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-goes-sweeping-house-investigation-russia-his-finances-n968701)

". . . Trump, in Nixon-esque fashion, attacked the ongoing investigations he faces during his State of the Union address. . ."If there is going to be peace and legislation, there cannot be war and investigation," he said. "It just doesn't work that way!" In his last State of the Union address, in 1974, President Richard Nixon called for an end to the Watergate probe. He would resign as a result of it later that year. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters after a Democratic Caucus meeting on Wednesday that Trump's comment "was a threat." "The president should not bring threats to the floor of the House," she said, adding, "He said he wasn’t going to cooperate unless we didn’t exercise our constitutional responsibility to oversight." "The bottom line is that we are as a country, we've always had Congress do oversight over the executive branch," (Chuck) Schumer said. "That's how the Founding Fathers set it up.". . . "And the president says if you investigate me I'm not going to make progress," he said. "That's already doing what he did with the shutdown. Holding the American people hostage. He's got something to hide. Because if he had nothing to hide, he'd just shrug his shoulders and let these investigations go forward. He's afraid of them.". . . "

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Friday, February 8, 2019

Your? . . .

. . . president?

(from https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/state-of-union-nancy-pelosi-clap-trump-sarcastic-democrat-republican-speech-a8765366.htm)
". . . His calls for political unity seemed particularly hollow given reports Mr Trump had mocked former vice president Joe Biden, and the late Republican Senator John McCain and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer just hours earlier during the State of the Union lunch, which was attended by several news reporters. . . Mr Trump said: “When I say something that you might think is a gaffe, it’s on purpose; it’s not a gaffe. When Biden says something dumb, it’s because he’s dumb.” . . He also reportedly described Mr Schumer as a “nasty son of a bitch”, and talking about Mr McCain, he said: “He wrote a book and the book bombed.” . . .Responding to Ms Pelosi’s standing ovation, US journalist Mark Gongloff wrote: “You could power Cleveland for weeks on this pure sarcasm energy”. . ."

. . . not mine . . .

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Thursday, February 7, 2019

Ad Hoc . . .

. . . study . . .

. . . by Sarah Huckabee Sanders . . . 'cause there's no readily available evidence of her statement's veracity . . .

(from https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/nearly-60-percent-trump-s-schedule-executive-time-report-says-n966376)
"While he spends much of his average day in scheduled meetings, events, and calls, there is time to allow for a more creative environment that has helped make him the most productive President in modern history," she said. "President Trump has ignited a booming economy with lower taxes and higher wages, established the USA as the #1 producer of oil and gas in the world, remade our judiciary, rebuilt our military, and renegotiated better trade deals. It’s indisputable that our country has never been stronger than it is today under the leadership of President Trump."

(from https://www.google.com/search?q=measure+of+U.S.+Presidential+%27productivity%27&oq=measure+of+U.S.+Presidential+%27productivity%27&aqs=chrome..69i57.12375j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8)
Search Results "measure of U.S. Presidential 'productivity'"
Web results

Productivity should be on the next president's agenda
https://www.brookings.edu/research/how-to-rev-up-productivity/
Oct 6, 2016 - The simplest measure of productivity is output per hour worked (labor productivity) and it has increased at only 1.3 percent a year from 2004 through 2015, in contrast to the pace of 3.2 percent a year from 1995 to 2004.

Which Presidents Have Been Best for the Economy? | Data Mine | US ...
https://www.usnews.com › Civic › Data Mine
Oct 28, 2015 - Former Republican President Ronald Reagan is widely recognized ... worker productivity and ultimately help drive both economic growth and wage gains. ... inherit problems without enough time to take preventive measures.

[PDF]Presidents and the US Economy: An ... - Princeton University
https://www.princeton.edu/~mwatson/papers/DemRep_BlinderWatson_July2015.pdf
by AS Blinder - ‎2015 - ‎Cited by 67 - ‎Related articles
The U.S. economy has performed better when the President of the United States is a Democrat rather than a Republican, almost regardless of how one measures performance. For many measures, including real GDP growth (on which we focus), the performance gap is large and significant.

TRUMP'S FIRST 100 DAYS: How they compare with Obama, Bush ...
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-first-100-days-how-compare-obama-bush-clin...
Apr 29, 2017 - When presidents take office, they have the most political capital to enact their agenda. Studies have found that it's the most productive time for legislative action. ... from a study that measured laws passed during Congress's first 100 days, ... to the American Presidency Project, while FDR penned over 3,700.
A productivity scorecard for the 115th Congress - Pew Research Center
www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/.../a-productivity-scorecard-for-115th-congress/
Jan 25, 2019 - Three decades of legislative productivity in U.S. Congress ... Congress and President Donald Trump to agree on a temporary funding measure ...

A President's First 100 Days Really Do Matter | FiveThirtyEight
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/a-presidents-first-100-days-really-do-matter/
Jan 17, 2017 - during their first 100 days using the U.S. Statutes at Large: .... Another hurdle to measuring presidential effectiveness: Productivity isn't just ...
What America's latest GDP figures reveal - Economic growth
https://www.economist.com/united-states/.../what-americas-latest-gdp-figures-reveal
Aug 2, 2018 - But on July 27th President Donald Trump was “thrilled” to announce that ... Using a smoother measure of growth, which compares quarterly GDP with the ... and that America's persistently disappointing wage and productivity ...

President Trump's repeated claim: 'The greatest economy in the ...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/.../president-trumps-repeated-claim-greatest-economy-...
Claim: “This is the greatest economy that we've had in our history, the best.”
Claimed by: Donald Trump
Fact check by Washington Post: Three Pinocchios
Feedback

Falling From First to Last: President Trump has signed the fewest bills ...
https://govtrackinsider.com/falling-from-first-to-last-president-trump-has-signed-the-f...
Dec 21, 2017 - GovTrack.us to track exactly what Congress is up to. As of today ... Counting bills is not a measurement of legislative productivity. There are ...
Productivity - Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/quicktake/productivity
Jan 25, 2017 - U.S. productivity gains were almost halved in the past decade compared ... This led to a more complex measure called total-factor or multi-factor productivity, ... U.S. President Donald Trump says he wants to invest at least $1 ...

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Wednesday, February 6, 2019

Different . . .

. . . but the same . . .

(from Thomas Jefferson; The Art of Power by Jon Meacham)
". . . Both Federalists and Republicans believed the fate of the United States could turn on the confrontation of the hour. In the broad public discourse, driven by partisan editors publishing partisan newspapers, there seemed no middle ground, only extremes of opinion or of outcome . . . "

Unique
rough demo Sept 2017

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