2020 US Presidential Election

[Luman]

Joe Biden has been upgraded from Taliban Employee of the Month, to their employee of the year. Let's give him a nice round of applause for this monumental accomplishment.

 

[Luman]

Biden's approval ratings, on many issues, such as COVID-19, etc., not just Afghanistan, are dropping like a lead balloon. How anybody could vote for a man who was bin Laden's first choice for President even before dementia set in, is beyond my ability to comprehend.

(CNN) President Joe Biden's approval rating is at its lowest point in his presidency. In the average of polls, he stands at about 47%. That's a steady decline from the beginning of this month (51%), last month (52%) and beginning of June (54%).

It would be easy to assign Biden's decline to the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, but, as the data shows, Biden has been trending downward for a while. The truth is that he is losing ground on a number of key issues.

The coronavirus pandemic, for example, had been one of Biden's best issues. He was trusted more than former President Donald Trump to handle it in poll after poll during last year's election. Trump likely would have won in 2020 had people trusted him more.

Biden's approval rating on the coronavirus had consistently been in the 60s for the first six months of his presidency. That declined to the high 50s in July and has been sunk to the 50s in the month of August.

Biden's approval rating on the coronavirus had consistently been in the 60s for the first six months of his presidency. That declined to the high 50s in July and has been sunk to the 50s in the month of August.

Biden's also seen his numbers on the economy drop. During August, Biden's average approval rating on the economy has been just 47%. That's down from the 51% it averaged during the month of July.

Again, this drop can be assigned to a reaction to real world events. Consumer sentiment declined greatly during the first half of August, according to the University of Michigan.

The decline of Biden's economic approval rating should be worrying to him. As I noted previously, Biden's economic approval rating has been closely tied to his overall approval rating. Right now, both of them are at 47% in the average of polls.

Worse for Biden is that the economy is viewed as the second most important problem (behind the coronavirus), according to Gallup. It shouldn't be surprising, therefore, that a drop in Biden's economic approval rating coincides with a drop in his overall approval rating.

Biden's declining approval ratings on the coronavirus and economy has been punctuated by how Americans see him handling the troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.

In July, before the troop withdrawal, Biden averaged a 58% approval rating when it came to getting the troops out of Afghanistan.

Biden's average approval rating on Afghanistan stands at a mere 34% today. You rarely see anything close to a 24-point drop on a president's handling of an issue in such a short period of time.

The fact that three big issues are going against Biden at the same time makes it difficult to figure out what is driving his overall approval rating down. It's probably all three to some degree.

Indeed, the entire mood of the country has taken a dive recently. Just 33% of the country say the country is going in the right direction in an average of recent polling.

This 33% is notable because optimism in the country under Biden had been reaching levels it hadn't seen in a long time. At the beginning of last month, 43% of Americans agreed the country was going in the right direction. The last time 43% said the country was going in the right direction was back in 2009.

The current 33% is much more like the readings we saw on this metric during the Trump administration.

The big question going forward is how do American minds change from here. An issue for Biden is that even when the last American troops leave Afghanistan that probably won't change people's perceptions on the coronavirus or the economy.

Still, the fact that Biden's ratings have shifted as much as they have over the last month may be an indication that Biden's once stable ratings are more susceptible to shifting around that was previously thought.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/28/politics/biden-afghanistan-polling-analysis/index.html

 

[Juan]

If you're invested in the markets then that's a good thing. A taper tantrum now could really fuck things up with the state the world is in.

The problem with being able to invent money willy nilly, and out of thin air, is the runaway inflation it causes. They tried reducing interest rates to nothing, but that still wasn't enough to stimulate growth, so once again, central banks resorted to QE which is almost like using negative interest rates. The governments around the world have dug themselves a hole so large that there's no way of fixing it anymore. The best they can do is delay an inevitable collapse by constantly printing more and more money which is merely papering over a huge fundamental problem.

If they taper now then they'll put a lot of businesses in a very precarious position. Asset prices are still soaring, and there are worldwide product shortages in pretty much every sector. The cost of construction materials has gone insane, and so has the cost of computer chips and various other things. The FED creates $85b every month to artificially keep things afloat, and this is at the cost of debasing the dollar. It's a real shit show.

Eventually, they will have to taper because they'll have no choice unless they want to bring about hyperinflation and/or other problems, but the balance is impossibly difficult to get right.

It seems there is sufficient growth, and full employment in the US, and inflation is going through the roof, but still the FED does not want to do its job and raise interest rates. Those guys of the FED are paid for nothing.

The role of central banks has always been to keep inflation in check. Central bankers are not and should not be politicians. They have a clear mandate to contain inflation, and they are not fulfilling their duty. They keep making up excuses and losing time.

In the meantime there is a huge bubble in stock and real estate. The more the tough decisions are delayed, the harder the fall will be.

 

[Ed209]

It seems there is sufficient growth, and full employment in the US, and inflation is going through the roof, but still the FED does not want to do its job and raise interest rates. Those guys of the FED are paid for nothing.

The role of central banks has always been to keep inflation in check. Central bankers are not and should not be politicians. They have a clear mandate to contain inflation, and they are not fulfilling their duty. They keep making up excuses and losing time.

In the meantime there is a huge bubble in stock and real estate. The more the tough decisions are delayed, the harder the fall will be.

There's been an ongoing property bubble in the UK for years. It's getting ridiculous. The working classes can no longer get on the property ladder. A parking space in London will set you back more than the cost of a massive house up north, that's how insane it is.

Tapering is a relatively new concept because it's only within the last 20 years that governments have had to print ridiculous amounts of new money. This problem will not go away. What will happen to all the government debts? They are no longer realistically serviceable, but everyone seems to have their heads in the sand because there's no real solution. Instead, everyone plays a game of ignorance and are seemingly happy to pass the burden onto the next generation, and when they realise it's impossible, they will pass it onto the next generation also, and the entire time this happens the debt bubble becomes larger.

The money we spend is no longer backed by anything, so policymakers can just make shit up. They print money out of thin air to which they then owe themselves interest upon. The whole thing is bonkers. The official inflation figures are never accurate, either. You only have to look at the rise in the price of assets that are considered essential.

The entire monetary system will eventually be digitised. That's the way things are heading because no matter how you look at it, the current financial system is a gigantic sinking ship. Governments need to control the supply of money, though, because that is their primary source of power and influence. I've been in the markets long enough to see first-hand how corrupt it all is. A lot of us here have. The bankers almost ruined the world in 2008, but they got away with it. They used our tax money to bail them out in the UK, it was outrageous.

 

[Luman]

Notice how the Biden lovers are trying to deflect the current situation in Afghansain to international banking, while the world is focused on how the elected president of the United States is mishandling his position to the point where his approval and opinion poll ratings are now at the lowest point since his inauguration.

 

[Wrfortiscue]

Notice how the Biden lovers are trying to deflect the current situation in Afghansain to international banking, while the world is focused on how the elected president of the United States is mishandling his position to the point where his approval and opinion poll ratings are now at the lowest point since his inauguration.

My social media feed would be exploding if this were Trump… yet all I hear are crickets. At least it masks my tinnitus somewhat lol.

 

[Ed209]

Notice how the Biden lovers are trying to deflect the current situation in Afghansain to international banking, while the world is focused on how the elected president of the United States is mishandling his position to the point where his approval and opinion poll ratings are now at the lowest point since his inauguration.

I think the Biden administration has been an absolute car crash.

 

[Juan]

The money we spend is no longer backed by anything, so policymakers can just make shit up. They print money out of thin air to which they then owe themselves interest upon. The whole thing is bonkers. The official inflation figures are never accurate, either. You only have to look at the rise in the price of assets that are considered essential.

Transactions need a collateral, and the best collateral are treasuries and government bonds.

Central bankers have no excuse for being irresponsible.

When the economy collapses Powell and Lagarde should be tried for it, for not doing their jobs, for knowingly letting a massive bubble expand.

 

[Juan]

Notice how the Biden lovers are trying to deflect the current situation in Afghansain to international banking, while the world is focused on how the elected president of the United States is mishandling his position to the point where his approval and opinion poll ratings are now at the lowest point since his inauguration.

You never answered why the Republicans got the world into a war in Irak in the 90s on fake evidence, pretending there were non-existent weapons of mass destruction. Could you comment on that, which is the origin of all our current troubles?

You did not tell me either if you have any Afghan refugees living next to your place, like I do here in Spain.

 

[Ed209]

Transactions need a collateral, and the best collateral is treasuries and government bonds.

They created this mess when they moved over to fiat. This gave them the possibility to print endless amounts of unbacked money, and now that decision is coming back to bite them in the ass. To get out of this mess, they are constantly creating more money to make government bonds that they can issue to other countries and institutions, etc. The US currently has a debt-to-GDP ratio of 107%, and they are still printing $85b a month in bonds! A study by the world bank found that an extended period above 77% slows economic growth. More to the point, though, is when are these debts ever going to get paid when the GDP of all the major economies is nowhere near the threshold to pay them down. It's the exact opposite. The UK has been in a budget deficit for pretty much every year of my life. The US has a $3t deficit, so where is the money going to come from to pay the $28t debt that is ever-expanding? More government bonds? It's absurd.

What makes the situation worse is that every country is in the same boat, and they all owe each other vast sums of money. They will never pay each other back because the debt bubble is out of control. Instead, they will all continue to issue each other bonds whilst firmly keeping their heads in the sand hoping that a future generation will sort it all out. I don't think people, in general, know how bad the current situation is because most are oblivious.

This is what gave rise to crypto, and it's the reason why more and more people, countries, and institutions are using it as a life raft.

 

[Luman]

You never answered why the Republicans got the world into a war in Irak in the 90s on fake evidence, pretending there were non-existent weapons of mass destruction. Could you comment on that, which is the origin of all our current troubles?

You did not tell me either if you have any Afghan refugees living next to your place, like I do here in Spain.

To answer your question about the Republican and Democratic support of the war in Iraq in the 90's, if that is what you want to know, this is from WIKI:

The Gulf War was a war waged by coalition forces from 35 nations led by the United States against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait arising from oil pricing and production disputes.

On 2 August 1990, the Iraqi Army invaded and occupied Kuwait, which was met with international condemnation and brought immediate economic sanctions against Iraq by members of the UN Security Council. UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher and US president George H. W. Bush deployed forces into Saudi Arabia, and urged other countries to send their own forces to the scene. An array of nations joined the coalition, forming the largest military alliance since World War II. Most of the coalition's military forces were from the US, with Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and Egypt as leading contributors, in that order. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia paid around US$32 billion of the US$60 billion cost.​

Question Two, regarding Afghan refugees in NYC:

There are over 800 languages spoken in NYC, and hundreds of ethnic groups. It is impossible to know where everybody is from. I do know that in NYC, we have Afghanis, and they are extremely concerned about their relatives that have remained in Afghanistan, that were translators or had other jobs with the American embassy, that Biden will no doubt leave there to face the consequences of cooperating with those who oppose the Taliban and al Qaeda.

 

[Damocles]

To answer your question about the Republican and Democratic support of the war in Iraq in the 90's, if that is what you want to know, this is from WIKI:

The Gulf War was a war waged by coalition forces from 35 nations led by the United States against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait arising from oil pricing and production disputes.

On 2 August 1990, the Iraqi Army invaded and occupied Kuwait, which was met with international condemnation and brought immediate economic sanctions against Iraq by members of the UN Security Council. UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher and US president George H. W. Bush deployed forces into Saudi Arabia, and urged other countries to send their own forces to the scene. An array of nations joined the coalition, forming the largest military alliance since World War II. Most of the coalition's military forces were from the US, with Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and Egypt as leading contributors, in that order. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia paid around US$32 billion of the US$60 billion cost.​

Saddam was a bloody philanthropist compared to what Dubya Bush and company have unleashed on the world.

At this point, anyone still playing the Blue vs Red game needs to be checked for an aneurysm.

 

[Luman]

Saddam was a bloody philanthropist compared to what Dubya Bush and company have unleashed on the world.

At this point, anyone still playing the Blue vs Red game needs to be checked for an aneurysm.

Bold mine.

Biden is the first candidate for this.

 

[Luman]

This is an unedited excerpt from an old speech given in Delaware by the current President of the United States of America.

 

[Wrfortiscue]

needs to be checked for an aneurysm.

Yeah I'm going on Wednesday lol.

 

[Juan]

The Gulf War was a war waged by coalition forces from 35 nations led by the United States against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait arising from oil pricing and production disputes.

So Republicans started a war for economic reasons. Great.

There are over 800 languages spoken in NYC, and hundreds of ethnic groups. It is impossible to know where everybody is from. I do know that in NYC, we have Afghanis, and they are extremely concerned about their relatives that have remained in Afghanistan, that were translators or had other jobs with the American embassy, that Biden will no doubt leave there to face the consequences of cooperating with those who oppose the Taliban and al Qaeda.

So you are saying you do not have any Afghan refugees next to your home like I do here in Spain. Republicans start a war and then we, Spanish people, have to deal with the consequences. Why don't Bush and Cheney go fix the mess they created?

Another bit of history for you:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War

"The Bush administration based its rationale for the Iraq War on the claim that Iraq had a weapons of mass destruction (WMD) program, and that Iraq posed a threat to the United States and its allies. Some US officials falsely accused Saddam of harbouring and supporting al-Qaeda. In 2004, the 9/11 Commission said there was no evidence of an operational relationship between the Saddam Hussein regime and al-Qaeda. No stockpiles of WMDs or an active WMD program were ever found in Iraq."

 

[Luman]

So Republicans started a war for economic reasons. Great.

So you are saying you do not have any Afghan refugees next to your home like I do here in Spain. Republicans start a war and then we, Spanish people, have to deal with the consequences. Why don't Bush and Cheney go fix the mess they created?

Another bit of history for you:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War

"The Bush administration based its rationale for the Iraq War on the claim that Iraq had a weapons of mass destruction (WMD) program, and that Iraq posed a threat to the United States and its allies. Some US officials falsely accused Saddam of harbouring and supporting al-Qaeda. In 2004, the 9/11 Commission said there was no evidence of an operational relationship between the Saddam Hussein regime and al-Qaeda. No stockpiles of WMDs or an active WMD program were ever found in Iraq."

Thank you but I know how to use wiki, as I already have.

You originally asked for information about the military action in Iraq in the "1990s", which I addressed, now you are bringing up the one that occurred in the 2000s.

I don't care much for any war, but Afghanistan attacked us and had to be dealt with.

You still fully support Biden, but nothing you can say will convince anybody with half a brain that he is not a terrible leader who has caused a major disaster through his inept handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan which will have negative repercussions for a very long time, for many people.

If your country did not want Afghani refugees, they did not have to take them.

Joe Biden's handling of this is a disgrace, he should resign or be impeached but nobody in their right mind would want Kamala Harris as president, so I doubt that he will face impeachment.

 

[Greg Sacramento]

any Afghan refugees living next to your place

I have several, along with many more from other countries who live rent free in million dollar houses. Many receive both California and federal assistance. Free everything and monthly assistance checks.

Foreign neighbors next door and on my street, receive State and federal disability and free everything when not being disabled. They ride around the neighborhood on dirt bikes doing wheelies. They also own new expensive vehicles and motorcycles.

We also had a few American born, who worked all their lives and paid taxes. We had a target neighborhood fireworks explosion several years back and three of these Americans received severe tinnitus and auditory nightmares. The police did nothing. All three were rejected for State and federal disability three times. They had to sell their homes because they know longer could afford them. Because they didn't have financial assistance, two paid $150,000 a year to live in dump nursing homes until their money dried and the other had to move to another State to live in someone's basement.

I've always been an extremely caring and giving person, but California only cares about votes and rich making money off of real estate, rent subsidies and iPhones.

 

[Luman]

The majority of Biden's advisors are women, and if the male advisors are suburban punks like him, and these people are advising on life-dependent, important military-level national security decisions, I'm sorry to say that his strategies will fail, miserably. They have been failing because these people do not know the first thing about what they are doing, in these instances, and neither does he.

"About three-quarters of his top 100 aides previously worked in President Barack Obama's administration, according to a new analysis that also shows a majority of key staff are women and nearly 40% are non-white or Hispanic.

That's despite the fact that Biden has insisted his White House is not an extension of Obama's."

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...use-staff-worked-obama-and-female/7706857002/

 

[Ed209]

The majority of Biden's advisors are women, and if the male advisors are suburban punks like him, and these people are advising on life-dependent, important military-level national security decisions, I'm sorry to say that his strategies will fail, miserably

I don't like Biden, at all, but I don't see what it matters if his advisors are male or female. One has a penis and the other has a vagina, but both have brains that are capable of constructing thoughts.

You can be critical of specific people, but not an entire gender, that's ridiculous.

 

[Juan]

I have several, along with many more from other countries who live rent free in million dollar houses. Many receive both California and federal assistance. Free everything and monthly assistance checks.

Foreign neighbors next door and on my street, receive State and federal disability and free everything when not being disabled. They ride around the neighborhood on dirt bikes doing wheelies. They also own new expensive vehicles and motorcycles.

We also had a few American born, who worked all their lives and paid taxes. We had a target neighborhood fireworks explosion several years back and three of these Americans received severe tinnitus and auditory nightmares. The police did nothing. All three were rejected for State and federal disability three times. They had to sell their homes because they know longer could afford them. Because they didn't have financial assistance, two paid $150,000 a year to live in dump nursing homes until their money dried and the other had to move to another State to live in someone's basement.

I've always been an extremely caring and giving person, but California only cares about votes and rich making money off of real estate, rent subsidies and iPhones.

I think this is a universal trend everywhere Greg. In Spain we received a flood of immigrants who just jumped a fence from Morocco. All is recorded on tape and of course all of this is illegal. They are minors and for that NGOS and our inept government do not agree on what to do with them. Every month they cost almost 2 million euros, live for free, eat for free and are provided for free with healthcare and education.

This is all ridiculous, as I find ridiculous that some 100 countries have signed a petition to provide a safe area in Afghanistan to arrange a full scale evacuation. Do political leaders want that the Western World takes care of millions of Afghans? Why? They are not our responsibility, despite the ridiculous and useless war started by US Republicans.

Here in Spain there are Afghan families of like 20 members arriving... it is all a nonsense...

I still do not understand why Bush and Cheney were not held accountable for starting a war on fake evidence, since weapons of mass destruction were never found in Irak... from that point everything went downhill, the Afghanistan war etc etc.

 

[Juan]

If your country did not want Afghani refugees, they did not have to take them.

For your information, we are taking some refugees that will stay and some others that in theory are enroute to go to the US, and only temporarily here, although the truth being said, I think this is an US trick and those refugees will finally stay in Spain of course... and we will have to pay to provide them with everything, shelter, food, healthcare...

So yes, you Republicans create the mess and then others have to deal with the consequences..

You originally asked for information about the military action in Iraq in the "1990s", which I addressed, now you are bringing up the one that occurred in the 2000s.

I don't care much for any war, but Afghanistan attacked us and had to be dealt with.

Sorry but I did not see "Afghanistan", as a country, attacking anyone or declaring war on the US.

And yes, you recognised that the 90s Gulf War was started by Republicans due to economic reasons.

And the 2000s Irak war was started by Republicans on fake evidence, the non-existent weapons of mass destruction.

 

[Greg Sacramento]

I still do not understand why Bush and Cheney were not held accountable for starting a war on fake evidence, since weapons of mass destruction were never found in Irak... from that point everything went downhill, the Afghanistan war etc etc.

Agree.

 

[Luman]

Sorry but I did not see "Afghanistan", as a country, attacking anyone or declaring war on the US.

And yes, you recognised that the 90s Gulf War was started by Republicans due to economic reasons.

And the 2000s Irak war was started by Republicans on fake evidence, the non-existent weapons of mass destruction.

The country of Afghanistan allowed bin Laden, who no doubt paid off the leaders, to set up his terrorist network al Qaeda, in their country. Bin Laden then planned and executed the attacks of 9/11, which killed 3,000 people and did untold other damage both in injuries and economically. We politely asked Afghanistan to turn this terrorist over to the United States and they refused. While on the run, Bin Laden said many times that worse attacks were being planned. We had no choice but to disrupt Al Qaeda and hunt down bin Laden.

Our strategy worked, further attacks by bin Laden and al Qaeda stopped, and we killed bin Laden. Now, in 2021 Biden surrendered to the Taliban and caused this current disaster and crisis in the Afghanistan withdrawal.

Biden is a disgrace, and those who voted for, and/or supported, him should be ashamed.

 

[Damocles]

This is an unedited excerpt from an old speech given in Delaware by the current President of the United States of America.

Slightly edited excerpt of the same thing.

 

[Luman]

Slightly edited excerpt of the same thing.

Yes, and those are his exact words, from a speech in Delaware.

To understand how anybody actually voted for this man is beyond my level of comprehension.

 

[Juan]

The country of Afghanistan allowed bin Laden, who no doubt paid off the leaders, to set up his terrorist network al Qaeda, in their country. Bin Laden then planned and executed the attacks of 9/11, which killed 3,000 people and did untold other damage both in injuries and economically. We politely asked Afghanistan to turn this terrorist over to the United States and they refused. While on the run, Bin Laden said many times that worse attacks were being planned. We had no choice but to disrupt Al Qaeda and hunt down bin Laden.

Our strategy worked, further attacks by bin Laden and al Qaeda stopped, and we killed bin Laden. Now, in 2021 Biden surrendered to the Taliban and caused this current disaster and crisis in the Afghanistan withdrawal.

Biden is a disgrace, and those who voted for, and/or supported, him should be ashamed.

You seem to be stuck at some point in time (2001, "groundhog day"), and of course due to your Republican obsessions you cannot go back to the root cause of all our current troubles, which happened BEFORE the 9/11 attacks:

- The 90s Gulf War was started by Republicans due to economic reasons.

- And the 2000s Irak war was started by Republicans on fake evidence, the non-existent weapons of mass destruction.

 

[Luman]

Here's our friend Biden, as usual, with daily examples of his ineptitude and highly questionable character. Today he referred to one of his advisors, Cedric Richmond, a Black man who is 47 years old, as "boy". For those who are not from the United States, this word is considered a highly offensive term when used in reference to African American men.

Now, this puppet has at least three major catastrophes to handle: The hurricane, the Afghanistan withdrawal, and COVID-19, He has completely screwed up the last two, let's hope that the hurricane goes better.

https://www.foxnews.com/.../biden-calls-black-adviser-boy...

 

[Luman]

I don't like Biden, at all, but I don't see what it matters if his advisors are male or female. One has a penis and the other has a vagina, but both have brains that are capable of constructing thoughts.

You can be critical of specific people, but not an entire gender, that's ridiculous.

Not a single woman in the history of the United States was ever forced to be in the armed forces, even to do paperwork. Some have joined voluntarily, which is commendable, some have been heroes, but they are in the very small minority of females and are barred from combat roles.

Why are men forced to kill or be killed but women get a pass if, as you say, they both have brains and the only difference is women have a vagina instead of a penis? The reason usually given is that they aren't as strong as men. But why were they never drafted to do non-combat things? Most women simply do not understand warfare as well as men, and there are reasons for this. Women get to vote for people of both sexes who can send boys off to war, but girls are exempt from the draft, and warfare combat if they do join.

 

[kingsfan]

Notice how the Biden lovers are trying to deflect the current situation in Afghansain to international banking, while the world is focused on how the elected president of the United States is mishandling his position to the point where his approval and opinion poll ratings are now at the lowest point since his inauguration.

I think your mistake here is assuming anyone, at all, loves Biden. Just because many united in their disgust for our last president and were willing to accept any necessary evil to eliminate him does not mean they are at all happy with the option that was provided to them.