Right after Trump's 'election' I said that his election would be the best thing to happen to this country. Painful, but necessary.
He would expose all of America's warts. He would demonstrate the glaring failures of the Republican Party and its agenda.
He would hand Congress back to the Democratic Party.
He would demonstrate how America has never been the country it pretends to be.
But even I never imagined that we would accomplish all that in less than 8 months.
Trump is a godsend to the Democratic Party
excerpts -
"Trump has also shown no interest in building up the Republican Party; indeed, he acts as if its interests are entirely separate from his (and we know he always puts his own interests first). He has shown an eagerness to pick fights with his party as a way of boosting himself, which could wind up depressing Republican turnout in the 2018 midterm elections. Meanwhile, having Trump as a foil has created an enormous wave of organizing on the left, as unprecedented numbers of liberals decide to protest, register voters, and even run for office. That means that the Democratic Party will be significantly stronger at the end of Trump's term than it was at the beginning.'
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"I don't want to underplay the terrible things the Trump administration has already done, because there are quite a few. That's especially true in the regulatory area where they're winding back protections for the environment and workers, undermining the Affordable Care Act, and doing colorful things like promoting more fraud in higher education (not too surprising from the head of Trump University, who had to pay $25 million to the victims of his scam). Republicans could still succeed in cutting taxes for the wealthy, repealing the Dodd-Frank financial reform so Wall Street can do whatever it wants (since that worked out so well last time), and who knows what else. There are plenty of awful initiatives on their way; to take just one example, Trump is reportedly considering revoking the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), leaving 800,000 "DREAMers" vulnerable to deportation, an unconscionably cruel act from a man whose capacity for cruelty is nowhere near exhausted.
But as despicable as that would be, it might well have happened under many Republicans presidents — after all, it was Barack Obama's program, and there is nothing that unifies the GOP like hatred of Obama and everything he did. But on the whole, Trump's presidency looks to be a whole lot of craziness, ugliness, and outright stupidity layered on top of the standard slate of Republican policies — which are being pursued with an uncommon degree of incompetence. Given the circumstances, there's not much more Democrats could hope for."
http://theweek.com/articles/722097/trump-godsend-democratic-party
... And yes, Trump did this with his bluster and bumbling ignorance ..
Markets are getting clobbered, Dow drops 230 points
U.S. equities fell on Tuesday, the first trading day of the week, as tension between North Korea and the West sent jitters down Wall Street.
"Clearly, the geopolitical tensions with North Korea are the most important issue for the market in today's session," said Rui De Figueiredo, CIO and co-head of the Solutions/Multi-Asset Group at Morgan Stanley Investment Management. "When you have events like the one in North Korea, they bring about the opportunity for volatility to come back and for the market to pull back."
North Korea successfully tested a hydrogen bomb that can be mounted onto an intercontinental ballistic missile. This was North Korea's sixth nuclear test since 2006 and its most powerful to date.
"North Korea's successful hydrogen bomb explosion over the weekend" is "adding to the uncertainty," said Jeff Saut, chief investment strategist at Raymond James. "Our sense is that if there is going to be a downside feint it should begin this week."
South Korean stocks also fell, with the iShares MSCI South Korea Capped exchange-traded fund (EWY) sliding 2.9 percent. The ETF was also on track for its worst session since Aug. 10.
Investors around the world also increased their exposure to traditional safe-haven assets like gold and the Japanese yen. Gold futures for December delivery rose 1.1 percent to settle at $1,344.50 per ounce, around a one-year high. The yen gained 0.8 percent against the dollar to 108.82.
Tension between the U.S. and North Korea has been escalating recently. Last month, Trump said threats out of North Korea "will be met with fire and fury." Last week, North Korea launched a missile that flew over Japan before falling into the sea. That said, stocks posted solid gains last week.
"It wasn't an 'all's well that ends well' or an 'all clear signal' that empowered stocks last week as much as a sense that even as some things and situations have worsened others have actually improved," said John Stoltzfus, chief investment strategist at Oppenheimer Asset Management, in a note, pointing to strong unemployment data released last week.
Wall Street also looked ahead to debt ceiling and budget negotiations this month. If a deal is not reached, it could lead to a government shutdown, which would be catastrophic, Standard & Poor's said last week.
If the U.S. fails to raise its borrowing limit, it risks defaulting on its debt. House Speaker Paul Ryan told CNBC on Aug. 24 that the U.S. will raise the debt ceiling before it's too late.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/mark...-points/ar-AArkOLY?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartanntp
