BloggeRhythms

It seems that those who predicted the end of the world as we know it should Trump become POTUS might have made some spectacular errors in judgement. Because, not only hasn’t anything untoward happened, expectations have quickly begun to look significantly brighter for many, if not most. 

One example comes from observing billionaire Warren Buffet who has apparently adjusted to Trump in only three days time.

To provide some background, back on August 1, 2016 Alexandra Mondalek @time.com, wrote: “Hillary Clinton may be having a tough time reaching average American voters, but she’s having no trouble courting billionaires.

“On Monday afternoon, Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett delivered a speech at a Hillary Clinton campaign event in his hometown, a few months after endorsing the Democratic nominee for president. 

“In December, Buffett formally endorsed Clinton, and has been campaigning for her on and off since. At a campaign event in 2015, Buffett opened for Clinton with the description of this economic reality: “The income of the top 400 is seven times what it was twenty years ago. I hope all of you are making seven times what it was twenty years ago, but you would really be the exceptions … They got a one-third tax cut at the same time their income went up seven-to-one in aggregate.” 

“Income inequality and taxes are two themes Buffett speaks about frequently (so much so that President Barack Obama named the idea of increasing taxes on the wealthiest Americans “The Buffett Rule“).

On the same day, August 1st, Josh Planos @ketv.com, reported: “During his remarks Monday at Omaha North High School, speaking ahead of Hillary Clinton at her campaign event, Warren Buffett commented on a new project of his: driving prospective voters to the ballot booth. 

“In his speech, Buffett personally pledged to drive 10 people to vote on Election Day, and said he wanted to see every registered voter in Nebraska's District 2 use their constitutional right.  

“He launched Drive2Vote.org shortly after. 

“Volunteer drivers will be solicited by the campaign to assist those in need of a ride to the polls. 

"A single congressional district could decide how the election comes out," Buffett says in a video on the site. "So if you're voting in Douglas County or Sarpy County this year, you're voting as a, we'll call it, a Super Voter. And should this election turn out to be very close, your vote and a very few votes could decide who becomes president. 

"Talk to your neighbors. Talk to your friends. Talk to your relatives. Make sure they've registered to vote. It's not that hard to do. Make sure that everybody that wants to vote can actually get out there and vote. 

"If this thing works out like I hope it will -- and I believe it will -- I think I may have a new profession: Warren Buffett, driver."

Thus, it’s quite clear that Buffett supported Bill Clinton’s wife quite passionately. 

But, that was then and this is now where yesterday according to William Watts @marketwatch.com: “Billionaire investor Warren Buffett was a sharp critic of Donald Trump during the presidential campaign, but said in an interview broadcast by CNN Friday that he expects the stock market to continue rising.

“The stock market will be higher 10, 20 and 30 years from now and it would have been with Hillary [Clinton] and it will be with Trump,” Buffett said. Suggestions by market pundits that stocks would plunge after a Trump victory were “silly,” he said. 

“Buffett backed Clinton’s presidential bid and, during the campaign, challenged Trump to release his tax returns. 

“Buffett, in the interview, repeated criticism of Trump’s business record, noting multiple bankruptcies. 

“I would say he understands business, but his record has been better at licensing than putting up his own capital,” Buffett said. 

However, regardless of Buffet's efforts to couch and qualify his utterances, his speculation on the market’s ongoing viability far outweigh his political proclivities.   

Readers, once again, demonstrated keen understanding of basic reality, such as jose esqy who wrote: “Trump spent half what Clinton did.  Maybe the govt will get more efficient when run like a business. 

lester helmut added: “It is already happening. Everybody is lining up to make a deal with trump ie. trudeau - canada;  mexican president; Ma of Alibaba Corp. 

“Many were against him but when he won they knew they had to come to the table. 

“Reality has set in. The election is over. Hillary lost.” 

Michael Dobing  agreed, opining: “It's a race to get to the table first.”  

And then, further indications of what to expect from Trump’s policy’s came from Fred Imbert @cnbc.com, who headed his column: “Dow posts best week since 2011 after Donald Trump election win” 

According to the text: “U.S. equities closed mostly higher on Friday, with the three major indexes posting their best weekly gains of the year on the back of a surprise Republican sweep. 

"I think you're seeing a transition from a government that had its thumb on growth to a free economy," said Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at Baird. "We're now looking at an economy that can reach its full potential." 

“The Dow Jones industrial average closed about 37 points higher, with Goldman Sachs contributing the most gains. For the week, the Dow rose around 5.4 percent, marking its best weekly performance since December 2011. 

"The Republican sweep across Washington should pave the way for tax reform at both the individual and corporate level. America's largest multinational companies will almost assuredly have the opportunity to repatriate some of its foreign cash holdings for a modest penalty," said Jeremy Klein, chief market strategist at FBN Securities. 

While investment experts projected significant economic growth due to policy change at the top, another boost resulted, whereas: “Energy stocks were pressured by falling oil prices, as U.S. crude fell 2.8 percent to settle at $43.41 per barrel after OPEC said October output reached another record, casting doubt on whether its plan to limit production is achievable or enough to ease persisting oversupply in the market.” 

Which means that, although the energy sector may require some readjustment, with anticipated supply support from increased domestic oil production, the overall economy will be helped to grow by long-needed consumer price reductions.    

At the same time, expected foreign policy changes have already begun to take on some shape.  

An article @yahoo.com/news relates that: “US president-elect Donald Trump pledged Friday to work for a "just, lasting peace" between Israel and the Palestinians, in his first public message on the issue since his upset victory. 

"I believe that my administration can play a significant role in helping the parties to achieve a just, lasting peace," Trump said in a message published by the Israel Hayom newspaper. 

“He also said that any peace deal "must be negotiated between the parties themselves, and not imposed on them by others". 

That presents a far different scenario than the current situation where: “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama have had frosty relations for much of the past eight years, but initial indications are that Trump's victory could see a warming of personal relations. 

“Netanyahu was among the first leaders Trump spoke to after his election victory, and the president-elect's message called Israel a "beacon of hope". 

"Israel and America share so many of the same values, such as freedom of speech, freedom of worship and the importance of creating opportunities for all citizens to pursue their dreams," Trump's Israel Hayom message said. 

"Israel is the one true democracy and defender of human rights in the Middle East and a beacon of hope to countless people." 

Simultaneously, things on the other side of the coin in the region will likely change as well, as reported @FoxNews.com, by Michael Rubin, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and a senior lecturer at the Naval Postgraduate School as follows: 

“President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the so-called Iran nuclear deal, “the worst deal ever negotiated” and a “disaster.” 

“He’s right. Far from creating the most robust monitoring regime, Secretary of State John Kerry’s deal set a new precedent for lax inspection standards. Not only did it fall short of the bar President Obama had established, it also fell short of past international precedent established with the dismantlement of South Africa’s and Libya’s nuclear program. Rather than ratify the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)’s Additional Protocol, Iranian negotiators promised only to abide by it. The last time that happened, the Iranian government walked away from its restrictions as soon as they had achieved what they wanted, and bragged about it. 

“Inspections remain spotty and the snapback sanctions mechanism practically non-existent. Nor does the agreement address the problem of off-shore nuclear work, for example, conducted by Iranian scientists in North Korea. Kerry allowed Iran to keep its underground nuclear facility, and more centrifuges than Pakistan used to create its nuclear arsenal. Should Trump serve a second term, the sunset clause to which Kerry acquiesced will put Iran on the verge of having its few remaining controls lifted by time Trump’s presidency ends. 

“So can Trump walk away from the deal? Legally, yes. President Obama passed the deal through convoluted legal maneuvering rather than by presenting it for ratification by the Senate. 

“But would it be wise to walk away from the deal? The answer to this is no. Kerry crafted the deal to give Iran its rewards upfront. A savvier diplomat might have insisted on calibrating sanctions relief and the return of frozen assets to Iran over the course of the deal’s duration, but Kerry was so desperate for a deal that he frontloaded Iran’s rewards. It was the diplomatic equivalent of giving a toddler dessert first and then demanding he eat his spinach. If Trump were to walk away from the deal, it wouldn’t hurt the Iranians one bit; they already received a reward equivalent perhaps to their entire investment in the nuclear program in the first place” 

And then, after opining that “Trump is right: The JCPOA is flawed and does little to restrain or prevent Iran’s military nuclear ambitions,” Mr. Rubin formulates a well-thought out strategical approach: “But that does not mean he should walk away. Rather, he can interpret the deal with such inflexibility as to force Iran to walk away. He can be ready with sanctions and, if necessary, other elements of coercion to punish Iran for its noncompliance. And, if he truly wishes to put America first, he will call out every European and Asian firm that seeks for its own short term gain to pump resources into Iran’s infrastructure of terrorism by doing business with Revolutionary Guards-affiliated companies. 

“At the same time, he can move to undercut Iran’s ability to conduct terrorism by seizing accounts, restricting dollar access by reversing Obama’s tendentious Treasury Department interpretations, and ordering the US Navy to hold its ground rather than “depressurize the Persian Gulf,” as former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel sought.” 

All of which illustrates clearly what happens when well-informed, highly intelligent strategists, such as Mr. Rubin, work to find practical, enforceable solutions to deal with immense international threats. Which is certainly a far cry from personally motivated, knee-jerk responses from intellectually limited, burned-out political hacks like Kerry.     

Bringing us to a final note demonstrating that some folks simply don’t take losing very well.

Yesterday, retiring senator Harry Reid imploded, as reported by FoxNews.com. 

“The pugilistic Senate Democratic leader who is retiring this term issued a 473-word statement Friday railing against Trump’s election, saying it has “emboldened the forces of hate and bigotry” as the country is overcome by “tears” and “fear.”   

Reid ranted: "White nationalists, Vladimir Putin and ISIS are celebrating Donald Trump's victory, while innocent, law-abiding Americans are wracked with fear - especially African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Muslim Americans, LGBT Americans and Asian Americans. Watching white nationalists celebrate while innocent Americans cry tears of fear does not feel like America.” 

While Trump certainly raised deep concerns over his calls to build a wall along the Southern border and step up deportations and suspend Muslim immigration, he’s since backed away from a rigid stance. As a result: “Even his biggest critics – namely President Obama and Hillary Clinton – have urged the country to respect the election results and come together.” 

“Clinton, in her concession speech, said: “We must accept this result, and then look to the future. ... Donald Trump is going to be our president. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead.” 

“House Democratic Leader Pelosi, D-Calif., spoke with Trump by phone and echoed Obama and Clinton, saying in a statement that the country needs to “come together.” 

 

“The peaceful transfer of power is the cornerstone of our democracy,” she said, even noting that Congress could work with Trump on an infrastructure bill. 

“I congratulate President-elect Trump and his family, and pray for his success,” she said. 

What’s most interesting about the issue is that readers apparently agree wholeheartedly with the calls for a period of reconciliation. The comments following the article were virtually all extremely negative to Reed, his politics, his attitude and his refusal to ever seek any kind of middle-ground with political rivals.   

Thus, once again Trump has proven to be capable of overcoming potential pitfalls, while another leading Democrat, Reed, has edged himself closer to political oblivion in his quickly approaching exit from the national spotlight. 

That's it for today folks. 

Adios