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Statement from Jerome Powell

federalreserve.gov

641–650 of 871 posts

Re: Statement from Jerome Powell

#641

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And that happened even after they arrested him and tried to put him in jail. What's happening now might be shocking but not unexpected at all.

>tried to put him in jail They really didn't. It was a dog and pony show under the belief that he would not make his way back into power. The dems/reps did not want to set a precedent of holding a president to account for doing terribly illegal things. They didn't intend to actually do anything to prevent this. And so here we are.

I'm not sure I entirely agree with that. I wonder if the Democrats didn't delay prosecution until late 2023/early 2024 in order to have it be a headwind against Trump running again.

If so, they have been well-paid for that bit of "strategy". Trump was able to delay the cases long enough that the election came first, and now he has immunity at least while in office.

Re: Statement from Jerome Powell

#642
post #492

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> This is the political will of a plurality of American voters. > This fallacy gets repeated over and over, but it's obviously false. And it's used to condemn and justify . Most politicians, including Democrats , like to pretend that winning means the unpopular policies they happen to like are the will of the people. They will constantly gaslight you on it. In reality, American politics gives people coarse choices t…

It's true that partisan politics provides only coarse choices. That's true of America's bipartisan system as well as multiparty parliamentary systems. But the parties are still dynamic coalitions that can change dramatically over time. Just look at the difference between the 1950s Democrats vs the 2000s Democrats, or the 2015 Republicans vs the 2020 Republicans. The coarse options that are available at election time…

> It's true that partisan politics provides only coarse choices. That's true of America's bipartisan system as well as multiparty parliamentary systems. But the parties are still dynamic coalitions that can change dramatically over time. Just look at the difference between the 1950s Democrats vs the 2000s Democrats, or the 2015 Republicans vs the 2020 Republicans.

You're missing my only point, which is how (say) a coarse 51% victory for a coalition gets frequently and deliberately misrepresented as "the American people" wanting that coalition's unpopular policies.

American politics isn't really about representing the American people, it's about minority ideological factions jockeying for power to subject the American people to their vision. Hence the rise of campaigning that's mostly attacking the opponent. A recent example is the Democrats vis-a-vis Trump: despite all their rhetoric, their behavior over the last decade belies an attitude that they think they use the repulsion he generates to avoid moderating themselves and still win.

Re: Statement from Jerome Powell

#643
post #519

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In defence of young people, it's "determined" by the people who actually go out and vote the same way a child "determines" what's for dinner when asked "would you like broccoli or brussels sprouts?" American democracy is broken. Not in an abstract, hand-wavy feelings way but a hard, numerical, mathematical way. A two party system results in no real choice. First past the post results in a two party system. America us…

There was a real choice in 2016, 2020 and 2024. Trumps opponent was every single time very different to him.

Democrats continue to offer up horrible candidates, and their idiotic primary system confirms those horrible candidates every 4 years. A slice of cheese could have beaten Trump, but somehow the DNC managed to offer up the most boring, milquetoast, unlikable, uncharismatic, centrist candidates they could find and beat him once out of three times. They're just kicking own-goals over and over, and they're not learning which direction to run down the field.

Re: Statement from Jerome Powell

#644

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're missing some history that pushed former Democratic vorers to vote Trump. Taxpayer funding of NGOs that were writing grants to organizations that were effectively censoring onlinespeech. This and the Disinformation Board, and the direct phone calls from US senators and Congressmen to takedown opposition ideas n social media was a direct attack on the First Amendment by the Democrats. Yes Trump's FCC threats ove…

This “both sides” bullshit is so tired. You’re exaggerating and misleading with most of this, but even if all of this was true, it represents about a week’s worth of what Trump has done. They just shot a woman in the face, immediately started calling her a terrorist, and show no intention of even investigating it. I don’t give a single fuck about the DNC “chastising” someone when held up against this kind of slide in…

Peek mind virus would be now, to dismiss your rebuttal as "extreme left censorship" or something and not think further about anything you brought up. I have seen this delusional behavior too many times, it is really tiring.

Re: Statement from Jerome Powell

#645

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There is ample ability to change events, but people must believe they can act and act together, as they have for centuries of democracy and for all human history. This is the political will of a plurality of American voters. They certainly can't claim they didn't know what they would get, and they seem unconcerned by any of these actions that many of us find terrifying. It is difficult to see how we can democracy o…

> This is the political will of a plurality of American voters. Trump has (amongst?) the lowest approval of any president at this point in his tenure, even lower than his first term. * https://news.gallup.com/poll/699221/trump-approval-rating-dr... * https://www.natesilver.net/p/trump-approval-ratings-nate-sil... > It is difficult to see how we can democracy our way out of this situation. Assuming there is no martial…

I'd love it if the other party would show evidence of being willing to elect vertebrates. Of course I'll still vote for whoever is most likely to win against the authoritarians, but at the moment that seems to be a bunch of worms.

Re: Statement from Jerome Powell

#646
post #568

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is the political will of a plurality of American voters. This fallacy gets repeated over and over, but it's obviously false. Have you really never voted for a candidate who went on to do things you didn't agree with? It's a quintessential fact of politics that voting for a candidate is not equivalent to an endorsement of everything that candidate does in the future. It's a premise that is obviously false when…

Trump still has plenty of support from large swathes of Americans despite his increasingly more overt actions. For many, he _is_ doing what he was elected to do. This _is_ what the American voter wants. The American voter wants illegal immigrants out, does not care how it happens. They also want cheap oil and are willing to overlook the implications of international military action if it means they get it. They also…

... and many just post-hoc rationalize their already irrational decision to vote for him. If you would ask them, illegal farm workers are still very welcome in red states, i guess.

Re: Statement from Jerome Powell

#647
post #449

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are headed for complete fascist take over. Going through a phase that Europeans went through a century ago, end up destroying themselves. It’s very concerning that they have nukes. JD Vance said something about the risks UK and France owning nukes, I think he just wanted to start the conversation because I think he believes that it’s actually US that is the risk. We know that the guy is not actually a Trump ideo…

I think it'd be a mistake to assume that JD Vance is not exactly what he portrays himself as at this point. He certainly seems onboard with everything thats happening and is happy to defend it and push the boundaries for more lawlessness.

I'm not sure...

My read is that Vance may be a pure opportunist. He may be doing what he has to in order to stay in Trump's good graces, because that's where power is right now. But I've seen him put out very quiet "yeah, that's the administration's position, but I don't actually agree with it" messages once or twice.

I don't think he's someone who is under sway of the Trump cult of personality. I suspect that Vance's agenda is Vance.

Re: Statement from Jerome Powell

#648
post #542

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These are all before the 2024 election: https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-could-try-buy-greenlan... https://www.wired.com/story/trump-cia-venezuela-maduro-regim... https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/how-trumps-wish-for-more-f... https://www.hks.harvard.edu/centers/mrcbg/publications/end-f... Trump voters are either willfully ignorant or gleefully supportive. Maybe not the first time, but definitely the second and…

Are those links to a manifesto? You haven't answered my other points. It's just post-hoc rationalisation because you're angry.

> Are those links to a manifesto?

Statements about policy goals can only debated if... they appear in a "manifesto"?

With all respect: WTactualF? Trump didn't even have a manifesto! This is just a license to excuse whatever vote you want.

The obvious truth is that the guy is an intemperate loon, has always been an intemperate loon, and is behaving like an intemperate loon in office, and along policy axes that you could absolutely see ahead of time.

Re: Statement from Jerome Powell

#649

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is the political will of a plurality of American voters. This fallacy gets repeated over and over, but it's obviously false. Have you really never voted for a candidate who went on to do things you didn't agree with? It's a quintessential fact of politics that voting for a candidate is not equivalent to an endorsement of everything that candidate does in the future. It's a premise that is obviously false when…

He is the most popular Republican president, among other Republicans, we have had in our lifetime. Anecdotal: I live in a red state with red friends and red family. They might not like this or that but they are unwavering in their support for Trump the man. It is still very uncomfortable to say even the most superficially negative thing about him or his policies. So, maybe there is some internal dialog going on there…

What you observe is cognitive dissonance resolved by ignorance. I dont have any advice for you, since i dont know your close ones, but a warning. When these conflicts dont get resolved in a constructive way, this behavioral conditioning might lead to repulsion targeting you. I have lost a long time childhood friend, even though my approach to him was always calm but persistent for over a decade.

Re: Statement from Jerome Powell

#650

Shots fired. Even the republicans will not be able to ignore this and they know that if Powell caves in the American economy will likely collapse. So who will speak up in his defense?

> Even the republicans will not be able to ignore this Oh boy would I love to join you in whatever alternate dimension you live in.

Money rules everything and if there is one thing the donor class will not lose is their money. They are willing to turn a blind eye to the ripping up of the Constitution but as soon as you rip up the money, phone calls will be made, meetings will be had, and Vanguard and JP Morgan and Walmart will get what they want.
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