Labor and Working – Page 27 – The Tarbabys Blog

Homeowners left in the lurch after major insurance companies deem state ‘essentially uninsurable’: ‘Too many landscapes are ready to explode’

The Cool Down

Homeowners left in the lurch after major insurance companies deem state ‘essentially uninsurable’: ‘Too many landscapes are ready to explode’

Kaiyo Funaki – October 24, 2024

Another turbulent wildfire season in California has left residents without insurance for some of their most valuable assets.

What’s happening?

According to a report from Wired, insurance companies are either hiking up premiums for homeowners or dropping policies altogether in fire-prone California.

For example, Allstate refuses to accept new customers, while Liberty Mutual and State Farm have stopped renewing plans for tens of thousands of customers — some of whom had been with a company for decades and have resorted to state-operated coverage that is far more expensive.

“My whole family has been with State Farm for maybe 75 years. They sent us a letter in July saying that they would keep us if they could, but had no choice and were canceling in August,” Suzanne Romaine, a resident of northern California’s Siskiyou County, told Wired.

The issue has become so prevalent that several counties have requested state officials to declare a state of emergency for insurance prices. Climate research and technology nonprofit First Street Foundation has even regarded parts of the state as “essentially ‘uninsurable.'”

Why are the rising insurance rates driven by wildfires concerning?

As global temperatures continue to climb, so will the frequency and destruction of wildfires.

According to Wired, California has suffered $30 billion in losses from wildfires since 2017. In that same period, the state experienced nine of its 10 largest fires and 13 of its 20 most destructive ones.

This past summer, first responders battled the fourth-largest fire in state history — one that spawned fire tornadoes and contaminated water supplies.

“The drying out of the U.S. Southwest since 1980 has created so much kindling that too many landscapes are ready to explode,” Char Miller, a professor of environmental analysis at Pomona College, said. “The planet is warming rapidly, which increases the desiccation of vegetation and establishes near impossible conditions in which to fight fire.”

These conditions — coupled with improper forest management, the state’s restrictive fire insurance regulations, and economic restraints — have created an untenable situation with few winners.

“If you suppress rates and try to tell companies that they can only charge X, and they start losing money, eventually they are going to say: ‘I’m going to be super picky at that artificially low premium,’ or ‘We’re not going to write anybody, and will come back when things get reasonable,'” said David Russell, an insurance and finance professor at California State University, Northridge. “And that’s what you’ve seen with State Farm.”

What’s being done about the rising insurance costs?

Wired noted that California has initiated its Sustainable Insurance Strategy, which would allow insurance companies to utilize wildfire risk models that rely on future projections, whereas previous models used only historical data.

The state will also create a public risk model that will prevent private models from overestimating the future risk of wildfire losses that result in overcharged customers. Additionally, California is expediting rate increase approvals to get private insurers to return.

“There are changes afoot that could bring insurance supply back to the market. This cannot happen fast enough,” Russell added.

The economy is a priority for Americans as they head to the polls. Here’s what’s really going on behind the numbers.

Business Insider

The economy is a priority for Americans as they head to the polls. Here’s what’s really going on behind the numbers.

Madison Hoff – October 24, 2024

Polling suggests the economy is important to voters in this year’s presidential election.
The economy is doing well across a wide variety of metrics.
But there are some weak points — like a growing federal debt load.

Election Day is less than two weeks away, and the economy is top of mind for many Americans.

Twenty-eight percent of likely voters in a poll from The New York Times and Siena College conducted from September 29 to October 6 said the economy was the “most important” issue for their vote, which was the highest share among all issues. A Pew Research Center survey from August 26 to September 2 found that among registered voters, 68% of Kamala Harris supporters and 93% of Donald Trump supporters said the economy was “very important” to their vote.

Additionally, an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll conducted in October found registered voters were nearly split on who they thought would do a better job handling different areas of the economy, such as jobs and unemployment.

The good news is that the economy is broadly doing pretty well these days.

“We’ve seen new highs for the stock market’s major averages, falling inflation, the Federal Reserve shifting into easing mode and a job market close to the level associated with full employment,” Mark Hamrick, a senior economic analyst at the financial-services company Bankrate, said in recent commentary.

While data suggests the US economy is robust, Americans may not agree. The index of current economic conditions from the University of Michigan’s Surveys of Consumers has stayed stubbornly low throughout the pandemic recovery.

Kurt Reiman, a cohead of ElectionWatch at UBS Global Wealth Management, told Business Insider that he didn’t think people felt “euphoric” about the economy. “Voters are reminded daily of the high price of goods and services — whether they’re renewing their car or home insurance or they’re going to the grocery store,” Reiman said.

They’re not necessarily off base. There are a few less-rosy data points out there, like rising long-term unemployment and a historically high level of federal debt.

As people get ready to head to polling locations or vote by mail, here’s how the US economy has been looking.

The unemployment rate has been under 5% since September 2021

After it rose to about 15% during the pandemic in April 2020, the unemployment rate has fallen to historically low rates. Even though the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.3% in July — the highest rate since October 2021 — it has since dropped.

While unemployment remains low, the average time unemployed workers were out of a job increased to 22.6 weeks in September. So those out of work are spending more time looking for their next job.

Job gains have cooled but remain strong

The economy keeps adding jobs, but the labor market has slowed from its red-hot pandemic recovery.

The cooler-but-strong job growth is one indication that the US has continued to avoid a recession — the last one being in 2020.

There aren’t as many job openings per unemployed person as a few years ago

One key measure of the labor market has been turning against job seekers. The number of job openings per unemployed person rose to a record-high ratio in 2022 during the “Great Resignation” but declined to 1.1 openings per unemployed person in August and looks more like prepandemic levels.

It’s not impossible to find a job, though. Hamrick said there’s “still a reasonable chance that someone who’s going to be a job seeker will have a measure of success” depending on their sector and location.

The inflation rate has slowed dramatically

Based on year-over-year increases in the consumer price index, inflation has been mostly slowing down after spiking in 2021 and 2022.

While inflation has slowed, Hamrick said, consumers feel constrained by still high prices. However, Hamrick said, “Americans will continue to claw back some” lost buying power as long as inflation continues to settle down while the job market holds up.

Wages have been catching up, and real wages, which are adjusted for inflation, grew 1.5% in September from a year ago.

The Federal Reserve has targeted a soft landing where inflation comes down without mass layoffs. So far, that seems to be happening. Additionally, the Fed cut interest rates in September — the first cut in four years. There’s a high chance it will decide to do a smaller cut in November, depending on how the data looks and other factors.

Real disposable personal income per capita has been looking healthy

Real disposable personal income per capita — a widely used measure of the money people have to spend or save — spiked in the early pandemic because of stimulus checks in 2020 and 2021 and the expanded child tax credit for the 2021 tax year.

While real disposable personal income per capita cooled off as inflation accelerated in 2022, it has been gradually rising — and is above where it was before the pandemic and close to the prepandemic growth trend.

The S&P 500 in 2024 has hit several all-time highs

This year, the S&P 500 has been historically high multiple times. MarketWatch reported Saturday that it had hit 47 record highs this year. This index of large publicly traded US companies reflects corporate America doing quite well, and the rising figures may be good for people’s retirement-savings portfolios.

Reiman chalked it up to strong consumer spending, slowing inflation, and lower interest rates leading to higher corporate profits and valuations.

Confidence among home builders is still low compared with recent years

While the labor market is showing a lot of strength, the housing market is one area of the economy where there are some concerns. More single-family builders are feeling better about housing than a few months ago but are falling short of the confidence seen a couple of years ago. That’s based on the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index, which tracks the health of the single-family-housing market.

The index, based on what single-family builders surveyed reported, was a not-too-confident reading of 43 out of 100 in October.

Federal public debt as a share of GDP is elevated

Reiman said the Biden administration would be “handing off an economy with higher levels of debt than when taking office.” Federal debt is high compared with GDP, even beyond the spike of the debt as a share of GDP during the pandemic.

While federal debt as a share of GDP was slightly above 100% before the pandemic, recent figures are much higher than in the past. Federal debt was 120% of GDP in the second quarter of this year. In the long run, a high debt-to-GDP ratio may lead to expensive interest costs and tax hikes or spending cuts.

U.S. confirms North Korean troops are in Russia. What it means for the war in Ukraine.

Yahoo! News

U.S. confirms North Korean troops are in Russia. What it means for the war in Ukraine.

Dylan Stableford – October 23, 2024

U.S. officals said Wednesday that North Korea has deployed thousands of troops to Russia, confirming claims by Ukrainian and South Korean officials that Pyongyang is aiding Moscow with manpower amid Russia’s ongoing war with Ukraine.

“We are seeing evidence that there are North Korean troops that have gone to Russia,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters traveling with him in Rome. “What, exactly, they’re doing is left to be seen. These are things that we need to sort out.”

At the White House, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that U.S. intelligence officials have determined that North Korea moved at least 3,000 soldiers by ship into eastern Russia earlier this month. The soldiers then traveled to multiple training sites in eastern Russia where they are currently undergoing training.

“We do not yet know whether these soldiers will enter into combat alongside the Russian military,” Kirby said. “But this is certainly a highly concerning probability.”

How did we get here?

Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un appear to toast with wine glasses. — In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un toast during a reception in Pyongyang on June 19. (Vladimir Smirnov/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)More

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang in June. The two sides emerged from the summit with a strategic agreement expanding their economic and military cooperation.

Late last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused North Korea of sending a military delegation to Russia and preparing to send 10,000 soldiers to help Moscow’s war effort.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service said North Korea had shipped 1,500 special forces to Russia for training and eventual deployment in the war.

North Korean and Russian officials denied the reports of North Korean troops in Russia. U.S. officials were unable to confirm them until Wednesday.

What it means for the war

Dozens of North Korean soldiers in neat rows. — North Korean soldiers march during a parade in Pyongyang on Sept. 9, 2018. (Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images)

North Korea has one of the largest militaries in the world with over 1 million active personnel.

Russia has already used dozens of North Korea-made ballistic missiles against Ukraine, according to Reuters, and has received arms and munitions from Pyongyang.

But the use of North Korean troops on the ground in Russia’s fight against Ukraine would be an escalation in its war, now in its third year.

“That is a very, very serious issue,” Austin added. “And it will have impacts not only in Europe, it will also impact things in the Indo-Pacific as well.”

It’s also an indication that the bloody conflict has taken a toll on Russia’s military. U.S. military officials estimate that more than 600,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded since the war began, in 2022.

“You’ve heard me talk about the significant casualties that [Putin] has experienced over the last two and a half years,” Austin said. “This is an indication that he may be even in more trouble than most people realize.”

“Let’s be clear,” Kirby said. “If North Korean soldiers do enter into combat, this development would demonstrate Russia’s growing desperation in its war against Ukraine.”

He added: “If Russia is forced to turn to North Korea for manpower, this is a sign of weakness, not strength, on the part of the Kremlin.”

What’s next?

Austin said Wednesday that the U.S. would continue to monitor the troop buildup to assess why they are there — and whether North Korea can be considered a “co-belligerent” in the war.

The U.S. recently announced that it would provide more than $800 million in additional security assistance to Ukraine.

And Kirby said the U.S. is “on track” to provide Ukraine with hundreds of air-defense systems, artillery, armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles — “all of which will help keep Ukraine effective on the battlefield.”

At least 3,000 North Korean soldiers now inside Russia, US says

CNN

At least 3,000 North Korean soldiers now inside Russia, US says

Natasha Bertrand, Shania Shelton, Haley Britzky and Nikki Carvajal, October 23, 2024

At least 3,000 North Korean soldiers arrived in eastern Russia this month, the White House said Wednesday, and while it remains unclear what exactly they will do, it is a “highly concerning probability” that they will join the fight against Ukraine.

“We assess that between early- to mid-October, North Korea moved at least 3,000 soldiers into eastern Russia,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said. “We assess that these soldiers traveled by ship from the Wonsan area in North Korea to Vladivostok, Russia. … We do not yet know whether these soldiers will enter into combat alongside the Russian military, but this is certainly a highly concerning probability. After completing training, these soldiers could travel to western Russia and then engage in combat against the Ukrainian military.”

Earlier Wednesday, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was the first senior US official to confirm on the record that North Korea had deployed troops to Russia as North Korea and Russia have forged increasingly friendly ties since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

“We are seeing evidence that that there are North Korean troops that have gone to Russia,” Austin told reporters traveling with him in Rome on Wednesday. “What, exactly, they’re doing is left to be seen.”

The US does not believe the North Korean troops have reached Ukraine, but the movements have generated deep concern as a potentially serious escalation in the conflict. Austin said the US is still trying to determine what role the North Koreans will play and whether they intend to travel to Ukraine.

“If they’re a co-belligerent, their intention is to participate in this war on Russia’s behalf, that is a very, very serious issue, and it will have impacts not only on in Europe — It will also impact things in the Indo Pacific as well,” Austin said.

Kirby said Wednesday that the US has briefed the Ukrainian government and are keeping in close consultation with allies and partners.

A senior administration official said earlier Wednesday that the training of North Korean soldiers and possible preparation to send them to find to Ukraine is a sign of serious desperation on Russia’s part.

In Rome, Austin said Putin “may be even in more trouble than most people realize.” Kirby added that turning to North Korea for manpower “would be a sign of weakness, not strength, on the part of the Kremlin.” Kirby also said the move is a violation of UN Security Council Resolutions.

Asked what North Korea will get in return for helping Russia with manpower, Austin said the US is still trying to determine that as well.

In recent months, Moscow and Pyongyang have deepened their anti-United States military partnership and the growing alliance has concerned officials in Kyiv and Washington.

“I can tell you one thing, though,” Kirby said Wednesday. “If they do deploy to fight against Ukraine, they’re fair game. They’re fair targets.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly warned that North Korean troops are joining the war on Russia’s behalf, telling a NATO summit last week that “10,000” soldiers and technical personnel were being prepared.

A source in Ukrainian intelligence previously told CNN that a small number of North Koreans have been working with the Russian military, mostly to help with engineering and to exchange information on the use of North Korean ammunition.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s spy agency, the National Intelligence Service, said Friday that North Korea has shipped 1,500 soldiers, including special forces fighters, to Russia for training.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

CNN’s Kevin Liptak and MJ Lee contributed to this report.

Striking photographs document environmental decay on world’s largest lake

CNN

Striking photographs document environmental decay on world’s largest lake

Zoe Whitfield, CNN – October 18, 2024

Moving from Tehran to the more northerly lakeside city of Rasht aged 13, Khashayar Javanmardi’s youth was punctuated by weekends and extended holidays on the Iranian coastline of the Caspian Sea. “It was a dreamy place,” the photographer reminisced on a phonecall with CNN. “It was my utopia; everything happened for me at the Caspian.”

Diluting this picturesque vignette, Javanmardi recalled the nuisance of the accompanying gammarus: an amphipod crustacean similar to a freshwater shrimp that would nibble at his feet whenever he ventured into the water. He had always hated them, but as he grew aware of their absence, alarm bells started to ring. “That was the first thing I noticed change,” he said. “Later I read that, due to pollution, they were extinct. They had been food for bigger species…”

Climate change and a lack of rainfall has caused one of Iran's longest rivers, the Ghezel Ozen, to almost completely dry up, resulting in a devastating loss of aquatic wildlife. (Image taken in February 2022). - Khashayar Javanmardi 2024 courtesy Loose Joints — Climate change and a lack of rainfall has caused one of Iran’s longest rivers, the Ghezel Ozen, to almost completely dry up, resulting in a devastating loss of aquatic wildlife. (Image taken in February 2022). – Khashayar Javanmardi 2024 courtesy Loose JointsMore

Situated between Europe and Asia, the Caspian is the world’s largest inland body of water; a colossal-sized endorheic basin — or a major lake — that is also bounded by five countries, Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. In recent years it has been the source of much concern for those privy to its shorelines, owing to what the UN Environment Programme has described as “an enormous burden of pollution from oil extraction and refining, offshore oil fields, radioactive wastes from nuclear power plants and huge volumes of untreated sewage and industrial waste introduced mainly by the Volga River (which flows through Russia and into the Caspian Sea).”

It was anxieties about the water’s biodiversity that kickstarted Javanmardi’s decade-long photography project, highlighting the environmental and social impact of the area’s man-made deterioration. A new monograph “Caspian: A Southern Reflection,” published by Loose Joints, is the result of this extensive survey and operates simultaneously as a warning and an invitation to learn. “This project is the essence of my life and career,” acknowledged Javanmardi, speaking from Lausanne in Switzerland, where he is based today. “As an artist, I’ve always wanted to be an honest witness.”

Locals call it the lake "Mother Caspian." One shepherd told Javanmardi of the lake's decline; "It’s like we were not good to our mother, we were not that kind to our mother and now she’s sad and she’s not going to share her love.’” Image taken January 2021. - Khashayar Javanmardi 2024 courtesy Loose Joints — Locals call it the lake “Mother Caspian.” One shepherd told Javanmardi of the lake’s decline; “It’s like we were not good to our mother, we were not that kind to our mother and now she’s sad and she’s not going to share her love.’” Image taken January 2021. – Khashayar Javanmardi 2024 courtesy Loose JointsMore

The book oscillates between landscapes, portraits and the quiet scenes that fit somewhere in the middle. On one page three family members stand facing out to rough white waves, the foot of a presumed fourth poking out of the window of a car to their left; elsewhere a mustached man sits alone at a plastic table, a look of despondence creeping across his face. Pictures of abandoned ships and other discarded objects further foreground the damage, coupled with a sense of loss.

Nominated at last year’s Prix Elysée (one of the world’s most prestigious photographic prizes run in conjunction with the Elysée Museum, also in Lausanne), an early iteration of the project received the special jury mention. Subsequently, the museum’s director Nathalie Herschdorfer penned the book’s introduction, describing how throughout its pages “we discover scenes that leave an aftertaste of desolation” and noting that “the inhabitants who pass through these landscapes, often photographed from a distance, express loneliness mixed with a sense of sorrow.”

The illegal dumping of waste close to the Caspian Sea is increasing pollution, as runoff seeps into the groundwater and directly contaminates the sea. - Khashayar Javanmardi 2024 courtesy Loose Joints — The illegal dumping of waste close to the Caspian Sea is increasing pollution, as runoff seeps into the groundwater and directly contaminates the sea. – Khashayar Javanmardi 2024 courtesy Loose Joints

“A question that I asked people was, ‘what is the role of the Caspian in your life?’,” said Javanmardi, who began working on the project at Iran’s Anzali Lagoon. “They were really open, sharing their memories and how they feel. They call it the Mother Caspian and one guy, a shepherd, said ‘it’s like we were not good to our mother, we were not that kind to our mother and now she’s sad and she’s not going to share her love.’”

Indeed, while the Caspian was once a major hub for movement between Iran and Europe, in the last century it became a venue for leisure. Today though, Iran’s Environment Department says its waters are contaminated with over 120,000 tons of pollutants annually — domestic and industrial as well as oil remnants — while Javanmardi estimates the fishing rate has slumped by 70%. “If it shrinks, people’s lives shrink,” he explained, citing further statistics that project water levels could drop by between nine and 18 meters by the end of the century. Military activity, namely Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, is a further aggravating cause (the former is suspected of having used its Caspian Flotilla to launch a number of strikes).

Abandoned boats at Kiashahr Port, northern Iran, taken in July 2022. - Khashayar Javanmardi 2024 courtesy Loose Joints — Abandoned boats at Kiashahr Port, northern Iran, taken in July 2022. – Khashayar Javanmardi 2024 courtesy Loose Joints

Furthermore, the photographer characterized language as at the core of the negligence: though it’s widely talked about as the Caspian “Sea”, the Caspian is technically a lake, a categorization that would imply stricter regulations by the respective governing bodies around waste and pollution (than the sea). “They (politicians) don’t call it a lake, and one of the reasons is that if they change it, the whole conversation around regulation would change,” Javanmardi suggested.

His objectives for the project have always been to raise awareness, he continued. “That’s my goal, and so I tried to use the body of water as a way to communicate culture and politics, global politics — because this is not just about Iran,” he said. “I’ve tried to show how the Caspian is still alive. For me, it’s the last cry of life — you always feel something is in the air when you see the photos. I like to give this space to the audience, to feel this.”

May 2020: A farmer rests while water is pumping from the lagoon to his farm. Extracting water directly from the lagoon has no regulation. - Khashayar Javanmardi 2024 courtesy Loose Joints — May 2020: A farmer rests while water is pumping from the lagoon to his farm. Extracting water directly from the lagoon has no regulation. – Khashayar Javanmardi 2024 courtesy Loose Joints

Despite the recklessness of higher political powers, during his travels Javanmardi found a sense of community in the people he met. “How they pay attention to the environment and are careful and in love with the Caspian, this is something that makes me hopeful,” he shared. “As long as I see this spirituality, that people know how privileged they are to live beside that sea… I know, as a person from there, we won’t let it be ruined.”

“Caspian: A Southern Reflection” by Khashayar Javanmardi is published by Loose Joints and out now

Maddow Blog | Trump blames Zelenskyy and U.S. for Putin’s war in Ukraine

MSNBC – Maddow Blog

Maddow Blog | Trump blames Zelenskyy and U.S. for Putin’s war in Ukraine

Steve Benen – October 18, 2024

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump meeting on Sept 27, 2024 in New York City.

There’s no evidence that the Kremlin has prepared talking points for Donald Trump to share with the American public. But if the former president were, hypothetically, receiving rhetorical scripts from Moscow, the Republican candidate probably sound an awful like he sounds now.

The New York Times reported, for example, on the GOP nominee’s latest comments regarding Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Former President Donald J. Trump blamed President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine for Russia’s invasion of his country in a podcast interview released on Thursday, inverting the facts of the largest military action in Europe since the Second World War. … Mr. Trump, in a rambling, muddled answer on a conservative podcast, was criticizing President Biden’s leadership when he abruptly brought up his skepticism over the administration’s continued military aid to Ukraine.

“I think Zelensky is one of the greatest salesmen I’ve ever seen,” Trump said, repeating a familiar refrain. “Every time he comes in, we give him $100 billion. Who else got that kind of money in history? There’s never been. And that doesn’t mean I don’t want to help him, because I feel very badly for those people. But he should never have let that war start.”

A Washington Post analysis explained, “Even in the context of Trump’s long-standing obsequiousness to Putin, it’s hard to understand how Zelensky would have prevented having his nation be invaded. He could, in theory, have taken the approach that many Trump allies have since endorsed: simply agreeing to cede some or all of Ukraine to Russia, a move that would have prevented the damage incurred to the country’s buildings but amplified the damage done to its sovereignty.”

Later, in the same podcast interview, the Republican went from blaming Zelenskyy to saying he also blames his own country’s government, claiming that President Joe Biden helped “instigate” the conflict.

The only person Trump didn’t blame was Vladimir Putin — who, incidentally, is the one person responsible for the deadly and disastrous conflict.

The comments came just days after the former American president refused to say whether he’s had multiple, secret conversations with Putin since leaving the White House, though he added, “[B]ut I will tell you that if I did, it’s a smart thing.”

Which came on the heels of allegations that the former Republican president, while in office, secretly sent Covid-19 testing equipment to Putin at the height of the pandemic, even as people in his own country struggled to gain access to such resources. (While Trump denied the allegations, the Kremlin — to the extent that its statements have merit — said Trump did, in fact, send Covid tests to Moscow.)

Which came on the heels of Trump refusing to say whether he wants our Ukrainian allies to prevail in the war against Russia.

Which came on the heels of Trump denouncing U.S. efforts to combat Russian misinformation campaigns, going so far as to characterize Russia as a victim.

Which came on the heels of the GOP candidate talking up the possibility of lifting U.S. sanctions against Russia.

Which came weeks after Trump publicly congratulated Russia over a historic prisoner swap.

Which came on the heels of the Republican pointing to Putin for validation to justify his position on Ukraine.

Which came on the heels of the former American president celebrating the fact that Putin was echoing his talking points about the 2024 election and Trump’s multiple criminal indictments.

Which came on the heels of Trump telling a Mar-a-Lago audience how “smart” Putin was for invading a neighboring country.

Which came on the heels of Trump describing Putin’s invasion of Ukraine as “genius” and part of a “wonderful” strategy.

Which came on the heels of years’ worth of Trump kowtowing, genuflecting, and repeatedly showing abject weakness toward his Russian ally.

‘So evil’ and ‘dangerous’: Trump doubles down on calling Democrats ‘enemies from within’

NBC News

‘So evil’ and ‘dangerous’: Trump doubles down on calling Democrats ‘enemies from within’

Nnamdi Egwuonwu and Raquel Coronell Uribe – October 15, 2024

CUMMING, Ga. — Former President Donald Trump doubled down Tuesday on his remarks over the weekend referring to Democrats as the “enemy from within.”

During a taped town hall of all-women voters in Cumming, Georgia, with Fox News’ Harris Faulkner, the host asked Trump about his “enemy from within” comment, which he made during the network’s “Sunday Morning Futures” this past weekend.

During that interview, Trump told host Maria Bartiromo that California Rep. Adam Schiff and other Democrats were “lunatics” and a bigger threat to the U.S. than foreign adversaries like Russia or China.

“I always say, we have two enemies,” Trump said, adding: “We have the outside enemy, and then we have the enemy from within, and the enemy from within, in my opinion, is more dangerous than China, Russia and all these countries.”

He also suggested that the military could be called in to handle any unrest on Election Day from “radical left lunatics.”

Trump doubled down on those comments during his Tuesday night town hall, also calling Democrats “evil” and “dangerous.”

“They’re Marxists and communists and fascists, and they’re sick,” Trump added. “We have China, we have Russia, we have all these countries. If you have a smart president, they can all be handled. The more difficult are, you know, the Pelosis, these people, they’re so sick and they’re so evil,” Trump said.

The town hall airs at 11 a.m. Wednesday.

Vice President Kamala Harris has used Trump’s comments against him this week, calling a second Trump term “dangerous” at a Pennsylvania rally and releasing an ad titled “Enemy Within.”

Harris called Trump “increasingly unstable and unhinged,” saying he plans to use the military against American citizens and is “out for unchecked power.”

“A second Trump term is a huge risk for America,” she told supporters in Erie, Pennsylvania.

Faulkner gave Trump a chance to clarify his comments Tuesday at the town hall taping, asking him how he responded to Harris’ claims that he was “unhinged” and “out for unchecked power.”

Trump defended his comments, calling them “a nice presentation.”

“I wasn’t unhinged,” Trump said.

He also doubled down on his claims about Schiff, who led the prosecution in his first Senate impeachment trial.

“I use a guy like Adam Schiff because they made up the Russia, Russia hoax,” Trump said. “It took two years to solve the problem. Absolutely nothing was done wrong, etc, etc. They’re dangerous for our country.”

Asked to comment on Trump’s Tuesday remarks, a Schiff spokesman pointed to a pair of posts on X that the congressman in response to Trump’s Sunday interview.

“Donald Trump is openly threatening to call in the military to suppress his political opponents,” one of the posts reads. “We must defeat him this November and never let him fulfill his dictatorial ambitions.”

Representatives for Harris’ campaign and Pelosi did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Trump in Chicago interview defends call for tariffs on imports, does not commit to peaceful concession if he loses

Chicago Tribune

Trump in Chicago interview defends call for tariffs on imports, does not commit to peaceful concession if he loses

Rick Pearson, Chicago Tribune – October 15, 2024

CHICAGO — Former President Donald Trump used an appearance before the Economic Club of Chicago on Tuesday to deliver a strong defense for using tariffs on foreign imports to grow jobs and the economy, dismissing criticism it could lead to consumer price increases and a resurgence of inflation if he is elected.

The Republican presidential nominee also warned that the country is on the verge of World War III because of conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East and questioned the intelligence of Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential contender, to solve economic and foreign issues.

Trump’s unusual visit to a nonbattleground state with three weeks left in the campaign lacked any mention of his long-standing criticisms of Chicago and violence. He offered the more than 500 people in attendance, largely major business executives supportive of his campaign, a backhanded compliment by noting that he appeared before the Detroit Economic Club last week and, “I think you people are probably even wealthier. OK?”

The former president also veered wildly from questions posed to him by John Micklethwait, the editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News, and restated past criticisms of the “fake media” and “corrupt press.”

Asked about a potential Justice Department move to break up Google parent Alphabet, Trump complained that its search engine’s algorithms display a preponderance of negative stories about him.

“I think it’s a whole rigged deal. I think Google’s rigged, just like our government is rigged,” he said. But he stopped short of saying the tech giant should be broken up.

He again defended the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, by Trump supporters seeking to block President Joe Biden’s Electoral College certification and claimed there had been a “peaceful transfer of power.” But Trump did not commit to a peaceful concession should he lose to Harris in November.

Trump has touted imposing tariffs as part of his protectionist America First agenda for restoring and bringing in jobs and new manufacturing into the United States, most often citing China as a major threat.

But in speaking for just more than an hour at a downtown hotel ballroom, Trump also warned that U.S. allies, including members of the European Union, Japan and South Korea, had taken advantage of import rules at the expense of the United States’ economic well-being.

“Our allies have taken advantage of us more so than our enemies,” Trump said.

“They screw us on trade, so bad the European nations,” he said, adding to it the cost of U.S. support for NATO, “so they’re taking tremendous advantage of us.”

With an estimated 40 million U.S. jobs that rely on trade, accounting for more than a quarter of the nation’s gross domestic product, Trump said his answer was an easy one for companies wanting to avoid tariffs and the higher costs associated with their goods.

“All you have to do is build your plant in the United States, and you don’t have any tariffs,” he said.

Economists have repeatedly argued tariffs would amount to a national sales tax. Asked about the contention the tariffs would hit consumers on the roughly $3 trillion worth of current imports, Trump said, “The higher the tariff, the more likely it is that the company will come into the United States and build a factory in the United States so it doesn’t have to pay the tariff.”

For the auto industry, Trump threatened tariffs of as high as “2,000%” to prevent foreign companies from importing cars. He said the move would price those companies out of the American consumer market unless those car companies begin building new and more manufacturing facilities in the U.S.

Trump spoke of the decline of the U.S. steel industry until he imposed tariffs on Chinese steel. He also repeated his opposition to the potential acquisition of U.S. Steel by Japan-based Nippon Steel.

“There are certain companies you have to have. There are certain things you have to have. Steel, you have to have if you go to war,” Trump said. “While we’re talking about it, we have never been so close to World War III as we are right now with what’s going on in Ukraine, Russia and the Middle East.”

On the neck-and-neck Nov. 5 presidential election, Trump reiterated many of his insults he’s made about Harris on the campaign trail.

“I never thought I’d say this: She is not as smart as Biden if you can put it that way. We had four years of this lunacy and we can’t have anymore. We’re not going to have a country left,” Trump said.

Trump also continued to voice his baseless grievance that the 2020 election was stolen from him, saying he believed the election was “100%” crooked. Speaking about Jan. 6 again, he said his supporters had a right to protest and said of the day of the attack that “it was love and peace” and then “some people went to the Capitol, and a lot of strange things happened.”

The former president also lied when he said none of the Capitol rioters had a gun. As a result of the attack, there were 129 people charged with ‘using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer,” the Poynter Institute found.

It was Trump’s first public appearance in Chicago since his July 31 conversation before the National Association of Black Journalists convention in which he notably questioned the racial identity of Harris, the first Black and Asian American woman to become a major party’s presidential nominee.

Trump sandwiched the trip to Chicago between a visit Monday evening for a rally in suburban Philadelphia that was cut short due to people who became overheated and a Tuesday evening appearance in Atlanta for a “town hall” on women’s issues.

Democrats have been using the Supreme Court’s reversal of a federal right to abortion to try to motivate women voters to cast ballots opposing Trump and down ballot Republicans for their anti-abortion stance.

In addition to economic clubs in Chicago and Detroit, Trump also visited the Economic Club of New York in September, where he said revenue from tariffs would more than cover the need to help provide child care assistance for working parents.

“We’re going to be taking in trillions of dollars, and as much as child care is talked about as being expensive, it’s — relatively speaking — not very expensive, compared to the kind of numbers we’ll be taking in,” he said.

_____

(Tribune reporter Rebecca Johnson contributed.)

Trump vows to levy ‘horrible’ tariffs on imports, rejecting fears of inflation spike

West Virginia Watch

Trump vows to levy ‘horrible’ tariffs on imports, rejecting fears of inflation spike

Jennifer Shutt – October 15, 2024

The Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump, on Tuesday, Oct. 15, spoke to the Economic Club of Chicago. In this photo, he speaks to attendees during a campaign rally at the Mosack Group warehouse on Sept. 25 in Mint Hill, North Carolina. (Brandon Bell | Getty Images)

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump defended his plans for steep tariffs on Tuesday, arguing economists who say that those higher costs would get passed onto consumers are incorrect and that his proposals would benefit American manufacturing.

During an argumentative hour-long interview with Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait hosted by the Economic Club of Chicago, Trump vehemently denied tariffs on certain imported goods would lead to further spikes in inflation and sour America’s relationship with allies, including those in Europe.

“The higher the tariff, the more likely it is that the company will come into the United States, and build a factory in the United States so it doesn’t have to pay the tariff,” Trump said.

Micklethwait questioned Trump about what would happen to consumer prices during the months or even years it would take companies to build factories in the United States and hire workers.

Trump responded that he could make tariffs “so high, so horrible, so obnoxious that they’ll come right away.” Earlier during the interview, Trump mentioned placing tariffs on foreign-made products as high as 100% or 200%.

Harris-Walz 2024 spokesperson Joseph Costello wrote in a statement released following the interview that “Trump showed exactly why Americans can’t afford a second Trump presidency.”

“An angry, rambling Donald Trump couldn’t focus, had to be repeatedly reminded of the topic at hand, and whenever he did stake out a position, it was so extreme that no Americans would want it,” Costello wrote. “This was yet another reminder that a second Trump term is a risk Americans simply cannot take.”

Smoot-Hawley memories

Micklethwait noted during the interview that 40 million jobs and 27% of gross domestic product within the United States rely on trade, questioning how tariffs on those products would help the economy.

He also asked Trump if his plans for tariffs could lead the country down a similar path to the one that followed the Smoot-Hawley tariff law becoming law in June 1930. Signed by President Herbert Hoover, some historians and economists have linked the law to the beginning of the Great Depression.

Trump disagreed with Micklethwait, though he didn’t detail why his proposals to increase tariffs on goods from adversarial nations as well as U.S. allies wouldn’t begin a trade war.

The U.S. Senate’s official explainer on the Smoot-Hawley tariffs describes the law as being “among the most catastrophic acts in congressional history.” And the Congressional Research Services notes in a report on U.S. tariff policy that it was the last time lawmakers set tariff rates.

Desmond Lachman, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative-leaning think tank, wrote last month that Trump’s proposal to implement tariffs of at least 60% on goods imported from China as well as 10 to 20% on all other imports could have severe economic consequences.

“It is difficult to see how such a unilateral trade policy in flagrant violation of World Trade Organization rules would not lead to retaliation by our trade partners with import tariff increases of their own,” Lachman wrote. “As in the 1930s, that could lead us down the destructive path of beggar-my-neighbor trade policies that could cause major disruption to the international trade system. Such an occurrence would be particularly harmful to our export industries and would heighten the chances of both a US and worldwide economic recession.”

CRS notes in its reports that while the Constitution grants Congress the authority to establish tariffs, lawmakers have given the president some authority over it as well.

The United States’ membership in the World Trade Organization and various other trade agreements also have “tariff-related commitments,” according to CRS.

“For more than 80 years, Congress has delegated extensive tariff-setting authority to the President,” the CRS report states. “This delegation insulated Congress from domestic pressures and led to an overall decline in global tariff rates. However, it has meant that the U.S. pursuit of a low-tariff, rules-based global trading system has been the product of executive discretion. While Congress has set negotiating goals, it has relied on Presidential leadership to achieve those goals.”

The presidency and the Fed

Trump said during the interview that he believes the president should have more input into whether the Federal Reserve raises or lowers interest rates, though he didn’t answer a question about keeping Jerome Powell as the chairman through the end of his term.

“I think I have the right to say I think he should go up or down a little bit,” Trump said. “I don’t think I should be allowed to order it. But I think I have the right to put in comments as to whether or not interest rates should go up or down.”

Trump declined to answer a question about whether he’s spoken with Russian leader Vladimir Putin since leaving office.

“I don’t comment on that,” Trump said. “But I will tell you that if I did, it’s a smart thing. If I’m friendly with people, if I have a relationship with people, that’s a good thing, not a bad thing.”

Journalist Bob Woodward wrote in his new book “War” that Trump and Putin have spoken at least seven times and that Trump secretly sent Putin COVID-19 tests during the pandemic, which the Kremlin later confirmed, according to several news reports.

Trump said the presidential race will likely come down to Pennsylvania, Michigan and possibly Arizona.

The Economic Club of Chicago has also invited Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris for a sit-down interview.

JD Vance Awfully Quiet After Report on How His Mom Got Health Care

The New Republic – Opinion

JD Vance Awfully Quiet After Report on How His Mom Got Health Care

Hafiz Rashid – October 14, 2024

JD Vance credited Donald Trump for his family being able to get off of Medicaid and onto private health insurance, at the vice presidential debate earlier this month. But he isn’t telling the whole story: that it was due to Obamacare.

Vance’s mother was able to buy private insurance through the Affordable Care Act’s insurance marketplace, run by Ohio, after overcoming substance abuse, becoming financially stable, and earning too much to stay on Medicaid. At the debate, Vance was also referring to a cousin in Florida who got private insurance through the state marketplace, a campaign spokesperson told The Washington Post.

Vance said that Trump fixed a lot of issues with the ACA after Republicans failed to repeal the bill early in his presidency. But this belies the fact that Vance’s family members reaped the benefits of the ACA despite Trump and the rest of the GOP repeatedly attempting to undermine, and then remove, it.

If Trump had been successful, the ACA and its marketplaces would not exist in their current form, if at all, said Andrew Sprung, an independent health analyst, to The Washington Post.

“If any Vance family members transitioned to the marketplace because they earned out of Medicaid, they should be grateful that Trump and Republicans in Congress failed to repeal and replace the marketplace with an alternative that would have provided far less affordable coverage,” Sprung said.

Vance’s current praise of Trump also goes against what he was saying in 2017, when the then president and Republicans in Congress were trying to repeal and replace the bill. Back then, Vance said that Republicans’ proposals would hurt low-income Americans.

“The ‘full repeal’ bill is nothing of the sort—it preserves the regulatory structure of Obamacare, but withdraws its supports for the poor,” Vance wrote in a column for The New York Times seven years ago.

Vance’s health care proposals, like Trump’s, essentially bring back health insurance companies’ ability to charge more for preexisting conditions. This would hurt the same low-income Americans Vance was supposedly concerned about in 2017, and stick older Americans with those conditions with a higher bill, and that could include Vance’s family members.