Hi Gaylord!

The China articles were posted basically in an attempt to show how important infrastructure is. China has invested intensively in public infrastructure not only at home but in Africa and elsewhere. Transportation has increased dramatically. Infrastructure is a top priority. They understand that a modern economy runs on reliable roads and rails, electricity, and telecommunications.

Trump promised $1.5 trillion in infrastructure spending. Congress so far has allocated $21 billion. He’s 1 percent of the way there. Perhaps Trump should have given a little less to that top 1% and used some of that windfall on infrastructure.

I respect your opinion on the racist issue, Gaylord. I just think we may have two different definitions of the term.

The intent of the articles I post were meant to be informative. I try to bring to light the issues of the day. Articles that one might not read in their local newspapers, tabloids, or news networks. I believe its very important to read and determine how these issues effect our lives on a daily basis.

Hopefully, some of these articles are of interest to some.

I'm an articles addict.

Trump Tweets. I post articles

By the way, I have limited my postings of articles considerably.

Joe, do you think it is right to protest at Kavanhs proceedin. Just seems childish to me. Just ask him some questions!

Gaylord!

Kavanaugh is the swing vote on the Supreme Court.

Kavanaugh is extremely conservative.

After being omitted from the first two lists, Kavanaugh mysteriously appeared on the third list of Supreme Court candidates only after Trump's legal problems arose after Cohen's revelations and the Mueller's probe.

Kavanaugh was hand picked by Trump mainly because he has written that he doesn’t think sitting presidents should be indicted – or even investigated – for any crime while in office.

Hmmmmm!

Kavanaugh is threatening Roe vs Wade (most likely to overturn the decision).

Kavanaugh could kill the Affordable Care Act.

Kavanaugh has been a strong and consistent voice for the wealthy and the powerful.

Kavanaugh has ruled against civil rights, workers’ rights, consumer rights, and women’s rights.

Kavanaugh's record does not warrant trust when it comes to efforts to undermine the Affordable Care Act, privatize Medicare, and decimate Medicaid.

Kavanaugh's decisions could affect Americans for generations.

Gaylord! There is a lot to protest. Important issues. Considering what is at stake, I can't agree that the protests are childish. Protests have been very effective lately ie. March For Our Live, Gun Violence, Me Too, Women's March, Taking the Knee, etc

Joe, they aren't even asking questions.

Donald Trump's policies make him the worst racist ever.

-

6.3%: African-American Unemployment Rate Second-Lowest Ever

By Susan Jones | September 7, 2018 | 8:43 AM EDT

(CNSNews.com) - The midterm election is about "safety and jobs," President Trump told a campaign rally in Montana Thursday night. He said the economy is "booming like never before," and on Friday, the unemployment report brought the president more good news: the unemployment rate for African Americans, 6.3 percent, is the second lowest on record (it was 5.9 percent in May); and job-growth remains strong.

For Hispanics, the unemployment rate increased two-tenths of a point from last month's record low of 4.5 percent. And the overall unemployment rate remained at a low 3.9 percent.

The number of jobs added -- 201,000 -- exceeded analysts' expectations. (After revisions, job gains have averaged 185,000 for each of the last three months.)

After three straight record-setting months, the number of employed Americans dropped by 423,000 in August, to 155,542,000 from last month's all-time high of 155,965,000. This number has set 11 records since Donald Trump took office.

In August, the nation’s civilian noninstitutionalized population, consisting of all people age 16 or older who were not in the military or an institution, reached 258,066,000. Of those, 161,776,000 participated in the labor force by either holding a job or actively seeking one.

The 161,776,000 who participated in the labor force equaled 62.7 percent of the 258,066,000 civilian noninstitutionalized population, slightly below last month's 62.9 percent participation rate.

The participation rate remains stubbornly low as a growing number of people leave the labor force, led by baby-boom retirees.

BLS noted that the percentage of Americans not in the labor force -- meaning they neither have a job nor are looking for one -- increased to a record 96,290,000 in August.

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (3.5 percent), adult women (3.6 percent), teenagers (12.8 percent), Whites (3.4 percent), and Asians (3.0 percent) showed little or no change in August.

And there's positive news on wage growth: In August, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 10 cents to $27.16. Over the year, average hourly earnings have increased by 77 cents, or 2.9 percent.

https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/su ... ent-august

Trump’s Tight Labor Market Wins U.S. Construction Workers Higher Wages

6 Sep 2018

American construction workers are seeing their wages rise in the blue collar industry as President Trump’s “Buy American, Hire American” tightened labor market forces business to find and employ disenfranchised U.S. workers, rather than importing foreign workers.

A recent report by the Miami Herald chronicled the rise in wages and business having to adapt to an economy with a tight labor market as immigration enforcement has been increased and unemployment has hit record lows.

As admitted in the Miami Herald by industry insiders, the tight labor market has secured jobs for Americans willing to do the blue collar work and won them higher wages in the process.

With 243,000 open jobs construction jobs nationwide, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics — and more than 500 listed by local ABC members — South Florida has become a worker’s market, said Peggy Marker, president of Fort Lauderdale-based Marker Construction, “the employees are in a position where they are interviewing us as much as we are interviewing them.”

As a result, 95 percent of those who come to ABC looking to learn a trade are matched with a job — experienced or not. “The reason it’s not 100 percent is that not everybody that walks through the door is serious,” Dyga said. “That’s how acute the shortage is.” [Emphasis added]

…

“The primary things that people see during a labor shortage is rising wages and the need for people to train more folks,” said Wade Helms, president of Edd Helms Group, which performs HVAC — heating, ventilation and air conditioning — and electrical work. “The projects get built, they just take longer.” [Emphasis added]

Trump’s tightened labor market has shifted the burden of the economy away from American workers — who are forced to compete for U.S. jobs in many states against cheaper, illegal aliens — and towards business that now must look for and employ Americans they would have previously passed on to hire foreign workers instead.

Through tariffs, Trump has secured higher wages for workers in counties like Peoria County, Illinois, which has led the nation in wage hikes thanks to a manufacturing boom, the result of protective tariffs to keep steel and aluminum jobs in the U.S.

A recent analysis by Breitbart News also reviewed the wage and job opportunity benefits of workplace immigration enforcement by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.

In the most famous case, 600 jobs were secured for black Americans and wages were increased in February when ICE raided the Cloverhill Bakery in northwest Chicago, Illinois. Black Americans’ wages rose 25 cents thanks to enforcement.

Most recently, the tight labor market helped reintegrate retirees back into the workforce. Breitbart News has also reported extensively on how the tight labor market in Trump’s “hire American” economy has brought new job opportunities for Americans with disabilities and helped lower the demographic group’s unemployment rate.

There has also been history-making wage growth for American workers in the construction industry, the garment industry, for workers employed at small businesses, black Americans, and restaurant workers.

The tight labor market has also secured higher wages for overtime workers and high-paying, coveted white-collar jobs for American teenagers. Most recently, Breitbart News reported that the construction industry has had to recruit women to take jobs at higher wages rather than hiring illegal aliens. A Chick-Fil-A in California has even raised wages to $18 an hour to retain workers.

https://www.breitbart.com/big-governmen ... her-wages/

August job numbers are out, so expect liberal media to find something to bitch about next couple days. Cause we as a country are still WINNING

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/07/us-nonf ... -2018.html

Economy adds more jobs than expected in August, and wage growth hits post-recession high

Nonfarm payrolls grew by 201,000 in August. Economists surveyed by Reuters expected a 191,000 increase.
Average hourly earnings jumped by 2.9 percent, above the 2.7 percent increase expected.
The unemployment rate held near a generational low of 3.9 percent.

Jeff Cox | CNBCcom

Published 1 Hour Ago Updated 49 Mins Ago CNBC.com

Long-awaited wage growth posted its biggest increase of the economic recovery in August while payroll gains beat expectations and the unemployment rate held near a generational low of 3.9 percent, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report Friday.

Average hourly earnings rose 2.9 percent for the month on an annualized basis, while nonfarm payrolls grew by 201,000. Economists surveyed by Reuters had been expecting earnings to rise 2.7 percent, payrolls to increase by 191,000 and the jobless level to decline one-tenth of a point to 3.8 percent.

The wage growth was the highest since April 2009.

"If we continue to see wage growth move higher, it puts the Fed in play for a fourth rate hike, absent tariff concerns," said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial. "I don't think this is going to be the beginning of a downturn in the market, but the fact is there had been other reports leading up to this suggesting wages had been moving higher. Today's print is indicative of a tight labor market."

Yields jumped after the numbers were released and stock futures fell on expectations the data justified more rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.

The news wasn't all good on the employment front. Counts for the two previous months were lowered by 50,000 — from 248,000 to 208,000 in June and from 157,000 to 147,000 in July. In the big picture, though, the August number was in line with the average monthly gains of 196,000 over the past 12 months.

In addition, there was a surge in those counted as not in the labor force. The number rose by 692,000 to 96.3 million.

A broader measure of unemployment that takes into account discouraged workers and those at jobs part time for economic reasons edged lower, from 7.5 percent to 7.4 percent.



The biggest contributor to job gains was professional and business services, which added 53,000. Heath care grew by 33,000, wholesale trade rose by 22,000, and transportation and warehousing contributed 20,000 to the total.

There also were 6,000 new mining jobs in a profession that has added 104,000 positions since October 2016, primarily in support activities.

Construction also grew by 23,000, though manufacturing lost 3,000 positions.
Fed eyeing wages

Average hourly earnings increased 10 cents for the month to $27.16. The metric is closely watched as an inflation gauge at a time when the Federal Reserve has been raising interest rates in part to guard against runaway cost pressures. Market participants widely expect the Fed to hike its benchmark rate another quarter point in September and likely add one more increase in December.

Friday's wage report likely will only encourage the central bank in its quest to normalize policy after years of accommodation during and after the financial crisis.

There were other pockets of weakness, though, in the report.

The labor force participation rate and employment-to-population rate both declined 0.2 percentage points, to 62.7 percent and 60.3 percent respectively.

According to the household survey, the ranks of the employed slumped by 423,000 to 155.5 million. At the same time, the rolls of those at work part time for economic reasons, or the underemployed, fell by 188,000 to 4.4 million. That number has declined by 830,000 over the past year.

The big moves, though, could have been caused by seasonal distortions that are common in August.

Joe, do you think the DNC treated Bernie fairly? The FBI investigated Hillary fairly when compared to the Mueller probe on Trump? I have seen a couple liberals say Hillary was treated with kid gloves.

Gaylord!

No!

Gaylord!

If you are asking about Uranium One, that theory has been completely debunked. Nothing there.

If you are asking about the email leaks from her private server, that one will never go away. There was nothing there concerning political bias. The leaks cost Hillary the election. Tough penalty to pay. Tough to say that one was handled with kid gloves.

No comparisons between the Hillary investigations and the Trump investigations if you've been following either closely enough.

Massive boom hopes to corral Pacific Ocean’s plastic trash

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Engineers set to sea Saturday to deploy a trash collection device to corral plastic litter floating between California and Hawaii in an attempt to clean up the world’s largest garbage patch in the heart of the Pacific Ocean.

The 2,000-foot (600-meter) long floating boom was being towed from San Francisco to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch — an island of trash twice the size of Texas.

The system was created by The Ocean Cleanup, an organization founded by Boyan Slat, a 24-year-old innovator from the Netherlands who first became passionate about cleaning the oceans when he went scuba diving at age 16 in the Mediterranean Sea and saw more plastic bags than fish.

“The plastic is really persistent and it doesn’t go away by itself and the time to act is now,” Slat said, adding that researchers with his organization found plastic going back to the 1960s and 1970s bobbing in the patch.

The buoyant, U-shaped barrier made of plastic and with a tapered 10-foot (3-meter) deep screen, is intended to act like a coastline, trapping some of the 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic that scientists estimate are swirling in that gyre but allowing marine life to safely swim beneath it.

Fitted with solar power lights, cameras, sensors and satellite antennas, the cleanup system will communicate its position at all times, allowing a support vessel to fish out the collected plastic every few months and transport it to dry land where it will be recycled, said Slat.

Shipping containers filled with the fishing nets, plastic bottles, laundry baskets and other plastic refuse scooped up by the system being deployed Saturday are expected to be back on land within a year, he said.

Slat said he and his team will pay close attention to whether the system works efficiently and withstands harsh ocean conditions, including huge waves. He said he’s most looking forward to a ship loaded with plastic coming back to port.

“We still have to prove the technology... which will then allow us to scale up a fleet of systems,” he said.

The Ocean Cleanup, which has raised $35 million in donations to fund the project, including from Salesforce.com chief executive Marc Benioff and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, will deploy 60 free-floating barriers in the Pacific Ocean by 2020.

“One of our goals is to remove 50 percent of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in five years,” Slat said.

The free-floating barriers are made to withstand harsh weather conditions and constant wear and tear. They will stay in the water for two decades and in that time collect 90 percent of the trash in the patch, he added.

George Leonard, chief scientist of the Ocean Conservancy, a nonprofit environmental advocacy group, said he’s skeptical Slat can achieve that goal because even if plastic trash can be taken out of the ocean, a lot more is pouring in each year.

“We at the Ocean Conservancy are highly skeptical but we hope it works,” he said. “The ocean needs all the help it can get.”

Leonard said 9 million tons (8 million metric tons) of plastic waste enter the ocean annually and that a solution must include a multi-pronged approach, including stopping plastic from reaching the ocean and more education so people reduce consumption of single use plastic containers and bottles.

“If you don’t stop plastics from flowing into the ocean, it will be a Sisyphean task,” Leonard said, citing the Greek myth of a task never completed. He added that on September 15 about 1 million volunteers around the world will collect trash from beaches and waterways as part of the Ocean Conservancy’s annual International Coastal Cleanup. Volunteers last year collected about 10,000 tons of plastics worldwide over two hours, he said.

Leonard also raised concerns that marine and wildlife could be entangled by the net that will hang below the surface. He said he hopes Slat’s group is transparent with its data and shares information with the public about what happens with the first deployment.

“He has set a very large and lofty goal and we certainly hope it works but we really are not going to know until it is deployed,” Leonard said. “We have to wait and see.”

The system will act as a “big boat that stands still in the water” and will have a screen and not a net so that there is nothing for marine life to get entangled with. As an extra precautionary measure, a boat carrying experienced marine biologists will be deployed to make sure the device is not harming wildlife, Slat said.

“I’m the first to acknowledge this has never done before and that it is important to collect plastic on land and close the taps on plastic entering into the ocean, but I also think humanity can do more than one thing at a time to tackle this problem,” Slat said.

https://www.apnews.com/47a3d74f8a3f4a6e ... stic-trash

<

Gaylord,

Did you watch Obama's speech from the U of I in its entirety? Did you fall asleep watching it? Any thoughts?

Do you have any opinions on how Trump is berating Sessions, the DOJ, the FBI?

Gaylord

Joe, they aren't even asking questions.

Do you really think they would be permitted to do so? This wasn't a town hall meeting.

Joe, wasn't the point of the hearings to question Kavanagh?

And when did the FBI question Hillary ? From what I understood , Trey Gowdy said they shut down the investigation before they questioned anyone.

I didn't watch Obama.

Gaylord

Joe, wasn't the point of the hearings to question Kavanagh?

Yes! But the protesters were not included.

And when did the FBI question Hillary ? From what I understood , Trey Gowdy said they shut down the investigation before they questioned anyone.

On July 10, 2015 -- The FBI opened a criminal investigation, code-named "Midyear Exam," into Hillary Clinton's handling of classified information while secretary of state. On July 2, 2016 -- Hillary Clinton was interviewed by FBI for three-and-a-half hours.

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Reveals Stunning Records Showing the Trump Admn. Shifted Money from FEMA to ICE Ahead of Hurricane Season

The document shows that $10 million was taken from the department dedicated to responding to natural disasters.

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow reported Tuesday night that President Donald Trump's administration took nearly $10 million funds from FEMA's budget and transferred to ICE ahead of the hurricane season this summer, according to documents provided by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR).

The news, breaking just as Hurricane Florence threatens to wreak havoc on the East Coast, is stunning given the extreme devastation brought by last year's hurricane season. A recent report found that Hurricane Maria in 2017 killed nearly 3,000 people in Puerto Rico after a federal response that faced heavy criticism.

Earlier in the day, Trump called the response in Puerto Rico an "unsung success" of his administration.

According to Maddow, the Department of Homeland Security, which contains both ICE and FEMA, confirmed the validity of the documents, though it said the funds taken from FEMA did not come from disaster relief budgets. However, Merkley disputed this claim, citing lines in the documents that appear to directly cite emergency response funds.

https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-polit ... fted-money

<
1. REALLY?

Trump: Puerto Rico Hurricane Response an ‘Unsung Success’

President Donald Trump told reporters Tuesday afternoon that his administration’s response to two hurricanes that devastated Puerto Rico last year was an “unsung success.” “Puerto Rico was incredibly successful,” the president said during an Oval Office meeting with FEMA Director Brock Long about Hurricane Florence, which is expected to make landfall in the coming days. “I think probably the hardest one we had by far was Puerto Rico because of the island nature, and I actually think it was one of the best jobs that’s ever been done with respect to what this is all about.” The president continued, saying that Puerto Rico’s power grid was in “very bad shape” and that the U.S. territory was in “bankruptcy” before Hurricanes Maria and Irma hit last year. “I think that Puerto Rico was an incredible, unsung success,” he said.

His comments fly in the face of FEMA’s own admission that the agency could have “better anticipated” the storms. A recent report commissioned by the government of Puerto Rico estimated that Hurricane Maria led to the deaths of 2,975 people, which would make it the second-deadliest hurricane in U.S. history. In addition, a recent letter from Long to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) indicated that FEMA only gave 75 people funeral assistance, approving aid for just three percent of the 2,431 requests the agency received. Last year, Trump called the situation in Puerto Rico not a “real catastrophe like [Hurricane] Katrina.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-us- ... ng-success

<
3. STILL A PROBLEM

Texas Tent Camp Housing Migrant Children Will Triple in Size

The Department of Health and Human Services announced Tuesday that they will be tripling the size of a tent camp meant for migrant children to hold “as many as 3,800” beds, The Washington Post reports. The Tornillo-Guadalupe Land Port of Entry in El Paso, Texas currently has 1,200 beds, and was established in June as a temporary shelter during the Trump administration's “zero tolerance” family separation policy that separated about 2,500 children from their parents. HHS say the expansion is necessary due to the increased number of minors the U.S. has taken in after the policy was reversed in July. Administration officials and border agents told the newspaper that the number of families attempting to cross the southern border has increased in recent weeks. Spokesman for HHS’s Administration for Children and Families Kenneth Wolfe told the Post that the “zero tolerance” policy was “not driving this need” since it was removed earlier in the summer. Wolfe also said that the agency currently has 12,800 minors under its care—the “highest number ever.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/texas-ten ... le-in-size

<
McConnell screws Dems ahead of election with October session

The majority leader wants to deprive Democrats up for reelection the chance to campaign.

By BURGESS EVERETT 09/11/2018 05:56 PM EDT

Traditionally, the Senate hits the road in October of an election year. But the Senate is throwing tradition out the window this year.

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is planning to keep the chamber in session for a significant portion of October if not four entire weeks, costing Democrats key campaign trail days and allowing the Senate to continue its work into the fall, according to five Republican officials. The Kentucky Republican wants to keep cranking through as many lifetime judicial nominations and executive nominations as he can with his majority in the balance and the GOP still with the unilateral ability to confirm President Donald Trump’s picks.

Moreover, the Senate GOP has only two members who are considered vulnerable in the election: Ted Cruz of Texas and Dean Heller of Nevada. Democrats, meanwhile, are defending 10 seats total in states that Trump won in 2016, with at least four considered extremely competitive.

The House is expected to head home for the rest of the election season after passing a spending bill later this month. But with the Senate’s unique role confirming the president’s nominees and little political downside to staying in session, McConnell plans to forge ahead into October after slashing the August recess down to little more than two weeks.

“I plan to be here, yeah. Why wouldn’t we be?” said Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.). “You see anything that’s traditional these days? … they don’t need more than a couple of weeks to campaign.”

The proposed work schedule also could give the GOP leverage over Senate Democrats and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer; if they are eager enough to return to the campaign trail, they may strike a deal with the GOP leader to swiftly confirm some nominees. But McConnell has to worry about attendance among his own ranks after a poor showing in August.

Still, another month in session will allow the GOP leader to continue reshaping the courts in a conservative image: The Senate GOP has already confirmed 26 circuit court nominees and 41 district court nominees to lifetime appointments, plus Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, in about 20 months time.

Another 27 district court judges and one circuit court judge is ready for the floor. And in the next two weeks, the Senate Judiciary Committee is on track to have three more circuit court judge nominees, 17 district court picks and Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh ready for the floor. Several more have been nominated by the president.

“We’re going to clear the deck of all the circuit judges,” McConnell told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt last week. “If we can hold onto the Senate for two more years, we’re going to transform the federal judiciary with young men and women who believe in the fundamental notion that the job of a judge is to interpret the law as it’s written.”

It’s by far the most confirmations on the powerful circuit courts in modern history. And a reminder of the stakes of the upcoming election: If Democrats can pull off an upset win and take back the Senate, they can move to slow Trump’s nominations and set the table for the next president from their party, just as McConnell did to President Barack Obama in 2015 and 2016.

McConnell compared the Senate races to a “knife fight in an alley” during an appearance in Kentucky on Tuesday. Republicans are favored to keep the Senate, but if Democrats run the table in conservative states like Texas, Tennessee and Arizona and protect their incumbents they could take back the chamber.

“All of them too close to call,” McConnell said Tuesday. “I hope when the smoke clears we will still have a majority in the Senate.”

The Senate is scheduled to be in for four weeks in October, though some senators and staffers had hoped that would be eliminated before the election, as it was in 2016 and 2014 when the majority parties were defending many incumbents.

Whether the chamber will actually stay in that long might depend on attendance: With just 51 GOP senators, Republicans can’t risk many absences on tough judge votes. Some in the GOP who had called for no August recess missed votes, like Cruz. The Texas senator has missed 13 votes since July, the most he’s missed since his presidential run in 2016, according to GovTrack.

Democrats also could cut a deal with Republicans to confirm some less controversial executive branch nominees and judges and win a longer fall break, allowing their incumbents more time on the campaign trail. But when Democrats agreed to a confirmation deal of eight district court judges in August to gain back a few days of recess, liberals like Demand Justice executive director Brian Fallon called the move “pathetic.”

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/ ... 018-815705

<