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Economy

real-estate-broker

New homes sales data reported by the Commerce Department. (Photo: REUTERS)

The Commerce Department reported Tuesday new home sales in the U.S. rose 3.5% last month for single-family units to an annualized rate of 592,000. The report shows single-family home sales reached their highest level in 8 1/2 years, or since February 2008.

Wall Street was expecting 560,000 units and May’s sales pace was revised up to 572,000 units from the previously reported 551,000 units.

Sales were up 25.4 percent from a year ago. Last month’s increase left new home sales in the second quarter well above their average for the first three months of the year.

Regionally, new single-family homes sales in the U.S. increased 10.4% in the Midwest and 10.9 percent in the West, which has seen a sharp increase in home prices amid tight inventories. However, sales declined 5.6% in the Northeast and 0.3% in the populous South.

Last month, the inventory of new homes on the market gained by 1.2% to 244,000 units. At June’s sales pace it would take 4.9 months to clear the supply of houses on the market, down from 5.1 months in May.

The median price for a new home increased 6.1% from a year ago to $306,700.

The Commerce Department reported Tuesday new home

Opinion

Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, left, and Hillary Clinton, right, appear at an event together ahead of the Democratic National Convention.

Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, left, and Hillary Clinton, right, appear at an event together ahead of the Democratic National Convention.

Some Republicans are disillusioned with their party’s nominee, but imagine how rank-and-file Democrats must feel. Their presumptive nominee, Hillary Clinton, not only is exceedingly unappealing in her own right but also seeks to fulfill Barack Obama’s third term and must defend — even champion — his disastrous record.

Apart from Clinton’s own baggage — her corruption, her empty record, her enabling of her husband’s sexual exploits, her enormous unlikability — she has sidled up to Obama so much during his tenure that she is stuck with his record, whether she likes it or not.

As President Obama’s record reflects the worst presidential performance in modern memory — and probably longer — Clinton has her work cut out for her, but she will have a smorgasbord of excuses available.

Clinton must misrepresent Obama’s record by sanitizing the miserable conditions Americans are currently experiencing and arguing that any failures, all of which she will deny, were caused by Republican opposition and obstruction during his term or Republican disasters preceding his term.

Don’t laugh, but the meme that “it’s Bush’s fault” is still fresh on their lips. Every mainstream media report that grudgingly concedes the economy is struggling invariably cites the 2008 financial crisis Obama “inherited.” Not only is it ridiculous to scapegoat Republicans for a recession that began 8 1/2 years ago but also it is outrageous that Obama and his media enablers airbrush the Democrats’ principal culpability in engineering the policies that led to the financial crisis.

Clinton will also be running against a candidate whose negatives — before the Republican National Convention, at least — rival hers and who gives his critics ammunition on a daily basis.

But I suspect that as much material as the preceding strategies will provide, Clinton’s bread-and-butter theme will be that same old Democratic song: Republicans are evil, uncompassionate, racist, sexist, xenophobic, homophobic, extremist bigots who want to subjugate women and minorities and exploit the downtrodden.

Think about it. When is the last time you heard a Democrat talking about freedom and prosperity? Democrats long ago discontinued any pretense to such aspirations. Now they just openly reveal their resignation to economic malaise in perpetuity and the necessity of using government even more extensively to redistribute wealth to achieve “economic justice.”

To them, the economy is a zero-sum game and the “haves” have too much of that finite pie and must be forced to share their pieces with the “have-nots.” They view as fantasies the concepts of robust economic growth and “a rising tide lifts all boats.” And why not? The narrative that Republicans are greedy haters has secured 90 percent of the black vote for Democrats for ages, so why stop lying now?

Besides, being tied to Obama’s record, Clinton will have no optimistic economic arrows in her quiver. She would look absurd trying to tell Americans that they could expect prosperity in her third Obama term. But at least she can assure them that she wouldn’t let those dastardly Republicans have control over dishing out morsels of the ever-shrinking pie Obama’s Democrats have over-baked into oblivion.

Unfortunately for Clinton, the economy, including Obama’s egregious record on jobs, are only the beginning of her troubles. There are a host of other issues she’s going to have to explain away or distort. Consider this small sample:

–The $19 trillion national debt. Granted, it has been alluded to so many times that it is approaching cliche status, but it still scares people with any sense of reality.

–Obamacare. No matter how Obama spins it, it has been an unmitigated disaster, failing all expectations as to cost and accessibility, and is steadily getting worse.

–Foreign policy. Obama and Clinton have had no coherent foreign policy except to cozy up to our enemies and insult our allies. They’ve intentionally orchestrated the decline of America’s power and influence in the world.

–The polarized state of the American people, to which Obama has mightily contributed, especially on racial relations, which haven’t been this bad since the 1960s. The tension between blacks and cops is alarmingly bad and increasing.

–The destructive swath of the Islamic State group and other Islamists — abroad and at home — is proliferating, and Obama and his party have no answer, other than to encourage us to believe their alternate reality that they have this under control.

–Democrats continue to advocate an open-borders policy, which exacerbates every other problem we are facing.

Note that I didn’t list this administration’s assaults on the rule of law, traditional values, religious liberty, the Second Amendment, work and the conventional energy industries, among others, because Democrats have succeeded in conning many people into believing that they are on the right side of these issues.

Hillary Clinton can harp all she wants to about the Republicans’ “darkness,” but her evidence of our darkness is that we are pointing out the darkness of the Democrats’ policies and record. Pointing out darkness is not darkness. It is our patriotic duty to contrast that darkness with the luminous potential of a strong, prosperous and free America — an America that Democrats have forsaken.
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Some Republicans are disillusioned with their party's

Opinion

“Lizard-brain narcissism.” “Disgusts a significant number of people in his own party.” Says things “one might expect from a patient in a mental institution.” The subject is Donald J. Trump, and the speakers are all prominent conservative writers. (Jonah Goldberg, Jennifer Rubin, Stephen F. Hayes.)

Trump appalls them. They fear his election would both endanger the country and destroy the Republican Party as a home for principled conservatism. They desperately want Trump to lose, and the harder he falls the better their chances of restoring coherence to their party.

But for Trump to lose, Hillary Clinton must win. Disaffected conservatives must do more than not support Trump. They must lay off Clinton.

They don’t have to like her, and they don’t have to hold back forever — just until the election. In the meantime, though, they should stop demonizing her.

This is not mission impossible. No informed observer would see Clinton as anything other than a left-of-center moderate. And recall all the important Republicans lining up to praise Clinton when she was secretary of state. It all changed when she ran for president.

We get what they’re doing. Hammering at Clinton has become a way for otherwise thoughtful conservatives to ingratiate themselves with an angry Republican base little interested in their ideas. They have thus magnified her imperfections and banged the drums of fake scandals, including some dismissed by the Republicans’ own investigators. They have fed ancient conspiracy theories that were nonsense the first time around.

Now they must see to it that Trump is a no-term president. To help in that effort will require a change of habits.

Some horrified conservatives see an escape from their dilemma in the third-party candidacy of Gary Johnson. A former Republican governor of New Mexico, Johnson is now running as the Libertarian Party candidate. The admirable Johnson makes no secret of his contempt for Trump, and he’s called Clinton a “great public servant.”
But the next president is not going to be Johnson. It’s going to be Trump or Clinton. Denying Trump a vote is not so powerful as adding one for Clinton. In a close election, that could make a difference.

Timid conservatives could take a cue from Rubin, who, in her Right Turn blog for The Washington Post, directly supports Clinton. She has gone beyond that, offering Clinton some sound advice for attracting more Republican voters.

Rubin has certainly earned her bona fides as a stiletto-tongued voice for the conservative movement. (Anyone who doubts that should know how often she irritates the heck out of people like me.)

Among elected Republicans, Ohio Gov. John Kasich has stood tall in his refusal to wade in the Trumpian swamps. He famously boycotted the recent Republican convention held in his own state. And when the Trump forces tried to bite him, he mocked them back. Kasich is clearly positioning himself for a possible presidential run in 2020.

But — and I know this is nitpicky, given the level of his resistance — it would have been nice had his recent column in the New Hampshire Union Leader focused on the disastrous Trump rather than on what’s wrong with Hillary. True to his decent brand of politics, Kasich stuck to issues, but his focus was a clear evasion of what was really eating him.

Horrified conservatives can play it as they see fit. Their spoken support for Clinton might range from considerable to nonexistent. The least they can do is stop trashing her. Saying that Clinton is awful but Trump is more awful is nuance that won’t register with a lot of voters. As we keep hearing, this is a binary choice, and Clinton is the only sane option.

They fear his election would both endanger

Opinion

black-lives-matter-chants-pigs-in-a-blanket

Black Lives Matter activists tried to disrupt the Minnesota State Fair on Saturday and marched down the street, chanting “Pigs in a blanket, fry ’em like bacon” and shouting for the deaths of police officers.

Black votes matter. If Republicans could get 20 percent of black votes, the Democrats would be ruined. This is highly unlikely, given the approach used by Republicans. However, the point is that Democrats must not only continue to get nine-tenths of black votes, they also need to get a high turnout of black voters on election day.

People who expected the election of President Barack Obama to lead to racial healing and a post-racial society failed to take account of the political reality that racial healing and a post-racial society would, at a minimum, reduce black voter turnout.

Black votes matter to many politicians — more so than black lives. That is why such politicians must try to keep black voters fearful, angry and resentful. Racial harmony would be a political disaster for such politicians.

Racial polarization makes both the black population and the white population worse off, but it makes politicians who depend on black votes better off.

Hillary Clinton desperately needs black votes in this year’s close election. Promoting fear, anger and resentments among blacks — and, if possible, paranoia — serves her political interest. Barack Obama has mastered the art of keeping black voters aroused while keeping white voters soothed — thanks in part to the gullibility of much of the public, who mistake geniality and glib rhetoric for honesty and good will.

Obama has repeatedly put the weight and prestige of the presidency on the side of those who denounce the police before any facts are verified — and even after facts have come out, exposing the fraudulence of such claims as the claim that the “gentle giant” Michael Brown said, “Hands up, don’t shoot.”

When a career race hustler like Al Sharpton, with a history of hoaxes, is a regular visitor and advisor to the White House, that is a reality that whites and blacks alike ignore at their peril.

The fact that Sharpton owes millions of dollars in unpaid income taxes ought to be a devastating revelation of what lucrative careers there are in race hustling.

Nothing reveals the political cynicism of the Obama administration like their campaign to force schools to reduce the number of black male students who are disciplined for misconduct. Because black male students are cited for disruption and violence more often than other categories of students, that is automatically taken to mean that racial discrimination is the reason.

The most obvious alternative explanation is that black male students engage in more disruption and violence than Asian females or some other students. But that possibility is implicitly ruled out.

What makes this such a farce is that many, if not most, of the teachers and administrators in ghetto schools are black themselves, and have no reason to discriminate against black males. What makes it a disaster is that only a few thugs in a classroom are enough to deprive all the other students of a decent education — which, for many, is their only chance for decent lives as adults.

If black lives matter at all to the Obama administration, they obviously don’t matter as much as black votes that can be won by posing as defenders of blacks, even in situations where defenders of thugs are destroying black children’s futures.

Even the thugs themselves will be worse off in the long run, if somebody does not put a stop to behavior that can lead them to prison as adults.

Hillary Clinton plays the same political game of posing as a defender of blacks from enemies threatening them on all sides, as she tries to win an election that would amount to a third term of the Obama administration’s policies — most of which have left blacks worse off than before Obama took office.

The ancient phrase, “By their fruits ye shall know them” has been replaced by the current notion that by their rhetoric you should judge them — and vote for them.

One of the key questions this election year is whether black lives matter more than black votes that can be won by racial charades that undermine and endanger those lives. The answer to that question will affect all Americans, because racial turmoil is to no one’s interest, except some politicians and race hustlers.
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Thomas Sowell on Black Lives Matter: Black

Politics

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders was met with shouts of “No!” from the crowd of delegates after endorsing Hillary Clinton at the Democratic National Convention.

“By these measures, any objective observer will conclude that – based on her ideas and her leadership – Hillary Clinton must become the next president of the United States.” he said.

“We want Bernie” chants erupted after he gave Mrs. Clinton his endorsement.

Sanders offer a somewhat tepid praise for President Barack Obama, though he thanked First Lady Michelle Obama.

“We have come a long way in the last 7 1/2 years, and I thank President Obama and Vice President Biden for their leadership in pulling us out of that terrible recession,” he added. “Yes, we have made progress, but I think we can all agree that much, much more needs to be done.”

“I understand that many people here in this convention hall and around the country are disappointed about the final results of the nominating process. I think it’s fair to say that no one is more disappointed than I am,” he continued. “But to all of our supporters – here and around the country – I hope you take enormous pride in the historical accomplishments we have achieved. Together, my friends, we have begun a political revolution to transform America and that revolution – our revolution – continues.”

Sen. Sanders also tried to warn his supporters about the Supreme Court if they sit out the presidential election in November.

“If you think you can sit it out, take a moment to think about the Supreme Court justices that Donald Trump would nominate and what that would mean to civil liberties, equal rights and the future of our country,” he says.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for president, tweeted out his response. He said it was “sad to watch Bernie Sanders abandon his revolution.”

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders was met with

Elections

Bernie Sanders stands at the podium on stage during a walk through before the start of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 25, 2016.

Bernie Sanders stands at the podium on stage during a walk through before the start of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 25, 2016.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders sent a letter to his delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia not to boo or walk out in protest. During his speech, he said “I think it’s fair to say that no one is more disappointed than I am.”

Bernie Sanders stands at the podium on stage during a walk through before the start of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 25, 2016.

Bernie Sanders stands at the podium on stage during a walk through before the start of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 25, 2016.

The convention erupted in turmoil following the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks releasing nearly 20,000 emails demonstrating the DNC was actively working to coronate Hillary Clinton and burn Bernie.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders sent a letter

Politics

DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz gets booed at the delegate breakfast by her own state's party members. (Photo: AP)

DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz gets booed at the delegate breakfast by her own state’s party members. (Photo: AP)

In an effort to quell chaos on the floor of the Democratic National Convention, the DNC released a statement offering a “deep and sincere apology” to Sen. Bernie Sanders and his supporters.  The statement comes after a political firestorm erupted when the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks released nearly 20,000 hacked emails exposing the corrupt establishment in the Democratic Party.

The leaked emails, which come from the accounts of seven key figures in the DNC, show how the party including Debbie Wasserman Schultz worked for Hillary Clinton and actively against the Vermont senator during the 2016 Democratic nomination contest. The anger boiled over Monday as Wasserman Schultz was met by boos at her home state’s delegate breakfast.

Schultz has been ousted from her convention role and announced she will step down effective Friday as the chair of the Democratic National Committee. However, she was hired as the honorary chair of Mrs. Clinton’s 50-state campaign committee.

Later, Sen. Sanders was booed by his own supporters after he spoke supporting his Mrs. Clinton. At the breakfast, dozens of people sporting “Lock Her Up” shirts and pins in support of Sanders booed, yelled and waved signs as Wasserman Schultz attempted to speak to the Florida Delegation at Philadelphia’s Downtown Marriott hotel.

“Tim Canova!” some chanted, referring to the chairwoman’s congressional Democratic primary challenger in her Florida district.

Outside, a large anti-Hillary Clinton protest erupted and still continues, with a crowd of Sanders supporters chanting “Hell no DNC, we won’t vote for Hillary!”

Inside, delegate chants of “Lock her up” and “Hillary cheated” are getting louder and angrier.

In an effort to quell chaos at

Polls

Donald Trump speaks at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio at the Quicken Loans Arena.

Donald Trump speaks at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio at the Quicken Loans Arena.

Donald Trump has not only retaken the lead on the PPD average of polls conducted after the Republican National Convention, but also improved on key indicators. Post convention bounces are common–though not in the most recently released CNN Opinion Research Poll–but the significant improvement the Republican nominee has experienced on image and competence issues, are not.

Mr. Trump now leads in all but one of the 7 national polls taken since July 15 by a margin ranging from 1 to 5 points. Depending on the poll, the lead is fueled by an increased margin among independents and further consolidation of Republican voters.

Overall

In the CNN/ORC Poll, Mr. Trump increased his support among independents, with 43% of them saying the convention in Cleveland made them more likely to vote for him. Still, 41% were not persuaded. This particular poll was an outlier pre-convention in the sense that independents were split slightly in favor (34%) of Mrs. Clinton over (31%) Mr. Trump, with significant percentages supporting former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson (Libertarian: 22%) and Jill Stein (Green Party: 10%).

Now, Mr. Trump is trouncing his Democratic opponent, with 46% saying they’ll vote for him and only 28% backing Mrs. Clinton. Only 15% go for Gov. Johnson and 4% for Ms. Stein. Worth noting, the Morning Consult Poll, which more closely mirrors the aggregate data, explains “much of the shift can be attributed to a consolidation of the base among Republicans.”

Eighty-five (85%) percent of Republicans in their new poll said they would vote for Mr. Trump, compared with less than 8 in 10 (79%) before the convention.

Image

Mr. Trump’s overall favorability rating rose to 46% of registered voters who say they have a positive view, up from 39% who said so before the convention.

Despite the incessant mainstream media and official Democrat criticism, the message voters took away from the Republican National Convention was not divisive. The percentage of voters who now say Mr. Trump will unite the country rather than divide increased considerably to 42%, up from 34% before the convention.

A majority of voters also (52%) say the New York businessman–dubbed the “working class billionaire” who said in his speech “I am your voice”–is running for president for the good of the country, rather than personal gain. On the other hand, just 44% say the same about Mrs. Clinton. Prior to the convention, the aggregate polling, particularly in the battleground states, showed voters viewed him to be more honest and trustworthy than his opponent.

Now, in the CNN/ORC, he’s up 5 points on this measure from 38% to 43%; 7 points on “would be proud to have him as president” (from 32% to 39%); and, nearly half now say understands and is in touch with the problems ordinary Americans face in their daily lives, up 9 points from 37% pre-convention to 46%.

Competence

Mr. Trump is now viewed more fit for the office and opened up wide double-digit leads on the issues voters say are most important to their vote. In the CNN/ORC Poll he now holds double-digit leads over Clinton as more trusted on the economy and terrorism, while cutting into Mrs. Clinton’s advantage on ovreall foreign policy–the one top issue she led him on. Now, 50% say they trust her more on foreign crisis and policy, but it’s down 7 points from 57% who said so before the convention.

Impact on Clinton

For weeks, even months, both Democrats and Republicans have been harping on The Donald’s historically low favorability ratings. However, even before the convention, voters’ views on the two candidates–though still weak on both accounts–decidedly turned against Mrs. Clinton. Now, 68% now say the former secretary of state is not honest and trustworthy, marking the worst rating measured in CNN/ORC polling to date.

Her support among non-college, or working-class white voters, has fallen all the way to the low 20s (23%). There is slim to zero chance Mrs. Clinton will win in the fall if those numbers do not climb significantly higher.

Still, let me leave you with a comment from Larry Sabato at the Crystal Ball, the University of Virginia Center for Politics. Speaking before the convention, he said “mark down mid-August on your calendar. The convention/VP bumps will have faded and we’ll see the baseline for the fall.”

Amen, Larry! I’ve been saying top line numbers prior even to Labor Day have little historic and predictive value. However, there are always certain data sets I’m watching for that give me a better understanding of the fundamentals in an election season. Obviously, I think they are starting to become more clear.

Donald Trump has not only retaken the

Economy

Yahoo

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Monday morning announced plans to acquire the “operating business” for Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) for approximately $4.83 billion in cash. The deal aims to expand the company’s digital reach and does not include Yahoo’s share in the Chinese online retail giant Alibaba or Yahoo Japan–its “most valuable assets.”

“Yahoo is a company that has changed the world, and will continue to do so through this combination with Verizon and AOL,” Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo, said. The sale of our operating business, which effectively separates our Asian asset equity stakes, is an important step in our plan to unlock shareholder value for Yahoo. This transaction also sets up a great opportunity for Yahoo to build further distribution and accelerate our work in mobile, video, native advertising and social.”

Until the deal closes, Yahoo will continue to operate under independently of Verizon and is subject to customary closing conditions as well as approval by Yahoo’s shareholders and regulators. It is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017.

“Our mission at AOL is to build brands people love, and we will continue to invest in and grow them,” Tim Armstrong, CEO of AOL, said. “Yahoo has been a long-time investor in premium content and created some of the most beloved consumer brands in key categories like sports, news and finance.”

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) announced plans to acquire

World

Joachim Herrmann, left, is the top security official in Bavaria.

Joachim Herrmann, left, is the top security official in Bavaria.

Joachim Herrmann, Bavaria’s top security official, announced Monday the 27-year-old man who blew himself up in southern Germany, was a Syrian asylum seeker. However, the man failed to get asylum in Germany and, in a video before the attack, pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the head of the Islamic State (ISIS).

The 27-year-old set off explosives he was carrying in a backpack at a bar shortly after 10 p.m. Sunday near an open-air music festival, wounding 12 other people. He was first refused entry to the festival in Ansbach because he didn’t have a ticket.

An initial translation of the Arabic-language video found on the bomber’s phone revealed it was a “revenge” attack against Germany, according to Herrmann. He told reporters the video strongly suggested the bombing was a “terrorist attack.”

Twice government officials ordered the deportation of the man and, most recently, he was told on July 13 that he would be deported to Bulgaria. A spokesman for Germany’s interior ministry Tobias Plate told reporters the first deportation notice was issued on Dec. 22, 2014.

Joachim Herrmann, Bavaria's top security official, announced

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