Well, March Madness will be thrust upon Americans later this month, so everyone get ready for the various brackets for the NCAA basketball tourney. Madness may be the operative term for the world these days, but please note things are usually not as bad as reported, as good news is vastly underreported and does not have as high a bounce as a negative news.
Here are few thoughts as a wander this Wednesday.
The Coronavirus will be more prevalent than first thought, but it seems not as deadly as other viruses. Still, those who are not in good physical shape with breathing issues, circulation issues, obesity issues, etc. should be prepared to more abruptly deal with symptoms. Sadly, since the US president has made this a personal political issue, listening to politicians talk, whose first mission is to protect the Trump brand, is not reassuring. I want to hear from experts.
Many financial people have forewarned that using stimulus tools to prop up an economy and stock market when it is going pretty well is not the best time to deploy them. When they are used now, what will you use later? The economy is still doing pretty good, but has been softening for more than a year. And, the stock market has been in need of a downward adjustment for some time. But, the president views the stock market as a key barometer, so he takes it personally when it falls, even though, he has little ability to control it long term. Yesterday, the market did not react very well to the Federal Reserve lowering interest rates 50 basis points (1/2 %). To me, it was seen as a panicky move, but smarter people than me will have to judge this (note, the market got a bump today in reaction to Biden’s success in the primaries).
While I like Bernie and will vote for him if he is the nominee, America breathed a sigh of relief yesterday with former VP Joe Biden’s rebound performance. As an independent and former Republican and Democrat, I am fiscally conservative and socially progressive. I very much believe in helping people with opportunities and to climb a ladder when disenfranchised. But, we need to pay for things. Right now, we have $23 trillion in debt and it is projected to increase to over $35 trillion by the end of the decade. We must deal with this obstacle, while we do other things – pay for infrastructure improvements, shore up the ACA, Social Security, etc. With this in mind, while both are good people, Biden will be better positioned to bring folks together to do that – Democrats, independents and even some Republicans.
If Bernie wins the nomination, I hope he pulls in a more moderate Democrat as his VP candidate. If Joe wins, it would be great if he tapped someone a little more progressive than he is. One of the dilemmas is the Democrats need to think about the future, as neither person is a spring chicken. I like listening to folks like Pete Buttitieg, Andrew Yang, etc. as they have a well-considered ideas, even if you don’t agree with every thing they say.
Whatever happens, Democrats need to vote for their candidate as four more years of the most corrupt and deceitful president in my lifetime, including the corrupt Richard Nixon, will not be good for America. I have said and written this to Senators and my Congressman, but regardless of party, we cannot have a president who acts the way this incumbent does. He is a national security risk and quite simply, America is no longer trusted as before, because the president is not trustworthy. Plus, we cannot lose sight of more aggressively addressing climate change and environmental degradation that have been made worse and would deteriorate more on his continued watch.
musingsofanoldfart 
Hello Keith. I do not think the Republicans are interested in working with any non-Republican no matter who they are. Jesus himself could be president and they still wouldn’t work with him and would work to deny him anything / everything. They learned from McConnell’s treatment of Obama. They think a compromise is when they get everything they demanded and the Democrats apologize for not giving in faster. The days of statesmanship are over, now they wouldn’t be caught dead eating together or having late night drinks with Democrats. The right wing media would crucify any Republican who praised a Democratic bill. Biden says he can work with the Republicans, they will deal with him as good old boys, did he forget his 8 years in an administration the Republicans tried to destroy? The only way to move the country forward is to have the Democrats win all branches of government, or at least keep the government as divided as possible. Winning the Senate seems more important to me now that even the presidency. Hugs
Right on.
I am old enough to remember when it did make sense to reach across the aisle, try to appeal to persuadable moderates, and so on. That those days are gone is a tragedy, compounded by Biden’s inability to learn from his experience as VP (or from the consequences of bankruptcy “reforms” he championed earlier).
Mellow, collaboration is not a dirty word. But, it is hard. Biden has a better shot to get some collaboration than anyone running. He has built more goodwill because of his career. The GOP would be wise to support Biden to regain their party from the corruption and deceit that exudes from their leader. That won’t happen, but they do not fully realize the damage Trump has done to our country and their party. Keith
Indeed, collaboration is not a dirty word. Neither is collegiality. Nor compromise. Sadly, I have come to believe that nothing short of a blue tsunami could shock the GOP into rejecting Trumpism and returning to being a responsible center-right party.
Mellow, I agree the blue tsunami would send a message that decency, integrity and compassion matter. It frustrates me with the rationalization of poor behavior, lies and corruption by the incumbent. Keith
Scottie, I am with you on having the Democrats in majority. It has saddened me to see the Repiblicans fail to hold this president accountable, even worse rationalizing illicit and unethical behavior. To be frank, the GOP leadership needs a clear message that integrity and decency matter.
I do think Biden is genuinely liked by more than a few Republicans and would draw Independents in. If you ever want a glimpse of the kind of person Biden is, watch him console Meghan McCain before her father’s death on The View. It is truly a compassionate gesture that we need more of these days.
Bernie has created a lot of enthusiasm, but Trump wants to run against Bernie. I will vote for Bernie, but I know many who wont. That concerns me. I said in 2016, America is not smart enough to elect a Bernie, but we are dumb enough to elect Trump. Keith
Keith I do not think tRump wants to run against Bernie. He is on audio tape saying that he was worried about Bernie in the 2016 election and that if Hillary had picked Bernie he would have had a lot tougher time winning. The sad fact is half the party wants Bernie but has to fight the other half of the party and tRump also. However I just spent some time reading this post and it is interesting that so many Republicans instead of fighting tRump want the Democratic nominee to be as close to Republican as possible so they feel comfortable voting for them. Instead of cleaning their own home they want to come to someone elses and mess it up also. What do you think? Hugs
https://theoutline.com/post/8744/republicans-advice-to-democrats?zd=3&zi=gmq6dsns
Scottie, I am going to have to push back on you. Trump would love to run against Bernie. Trump looks for props as he sells – a socialist will be painted as a communist, even though, they are not the same thing.
As an independent who is concerned with debt, Bernie is a little too aspirational with his programs. Setting aside all he wants to do, we have debt and infrastructure issues. And, as I say to my Republican friends cutting spending nor increasing taxes will solve the problems alone. We will have to do both, as the math will not otherwise work.
Sadly, no politician is openly talking about these fiscal matters, certainly not Trump. Keith
Hello Keith. I agree tRump will call Bernie a communist and other things. Frankly his is going to school yard bully who ever the nominee is, we just have to deal with it. It is his mentality level and sadly none of his cult followers can see the decline from even several years ago. I have a young person who comments on my blog regularly who constantly calls Sanders a communist even though I have corrected him with evidence to the contrary about 6 times already. It is the State Propaganda TV push to smear Sanders.
Maybe tRump’s feelings have changed. All I know is I have heard the audio recording and in it he expresses he was worried about Bernie, not Hillary. Hugs
Scottie, he may have been more scared of Bernie in 2016, but as incumbent, he and his party (and sycophants) have been highlighting socialism in a bad light. It started with Venezuela (although their main problem was an unhealthy reliance on petroleum sales).
They have seen it as a winning issue. What troubles me is people don’t realize we have socialist underpinnings in our economy with Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Unemployment, and Workers Comp. What we need is s debate over the right balance, not an either/ or as we are both. Keith
Good musings, my friend. You’re so right … whoever wraps up this nomination, the goal is to get every single democrat and independent out to VOTE! This nation will not come out intact if Trump wins another 4 years. My best guess is that Biden will be the nominee and that he will choose Kamala Harris for his running mate, or possibly Cory Booker, but my money’s on Kamala.
Jill, I like Kamala and Cory. If it is not Bernie, you can take it to the bank, Trump will play up how Bernie was cheated. In fact, he already is doing it. Again, while Trump is a horrible manager, he is an adroit salesman. Keith
I do believe that Biden can beat Trump. And Bernie failed to get much support from the millennials (WHY?) and this raises the question whether he could mount a strong campaign.
Hugh, I agree that Biden can beat Trump, so we will see the Lindsey Graham, Ron Johnson and Devin Nune’s of Congress to start investigation of the Bidens. In a call to Johnson, I shared that is his call as head of the Senate Homeland Security committee, but also shared my concern that no witnesses were called in the impeachment trial, especially after the number of credible witnesses in the House. I called Trump a national security risk. Keith