Widget Image
Follow PPD Social Media
follow
1,000 Followers
follow
0 Followers
follow
People's Pundit Locals Community
Friday, February 21, 2025
SECTIONS
logo
mobile-logo
HomeStandard Blog Whole Post (Page 589)
Opinion

UnitedHealth-Group-HQ

UnitedHealth Group Inc. headquarters based in Minnetonka, Minnesota. (Photo: Associated/PressAP)

Last week’s column on my lung surgery struck a nerve. Many of you wished me well. Others said I deserve to die.

“He likes free markets?” sneered one Internet commenter. “In a truly free market, society wouldn’t subsidize the cost of his smoking. In a truly free market, he’d be dead.”

No, I wouldn’t be dead. In a real free market, I would pay for my own care and that care would be cheaper and better because that’s what market competition does.

Also, I’ve never smoked cigarettes. Some people who don’t smoke get lung cancer, too.

The angriest comments were in The Washington Post: “Stossel should ask for his money back and the doctors should put cancer back into his lungs. That’s what happens in a consumer-driven market, right?”

People can get very unhinged when libertarians argue that markets work better.

“HOW would that work? WHO would pay the nurses and the staff that keep a hospital running?”?

Who do they think pays now? Government and insurance companies paying doesn’t make care “free.” Government has no money of its own; it takes it from us. Such third-party payments just hide the cost.

“Is John Stossel’s life worth more than the guy who collects my trash? … (T)urn health care over to his jackboot crew, only the rich will live to old age.”
But it’s the shopping around — including shopping by the rich — that fuels the innovation and discounting that extends (SET ITAL) everyone’s (END ITAL) lives, not just the rich. Charity will help the very poor.

“Let’s see him negotiate the price of chemo vs. surgery when he’s in the ambulance on way to hospital. … Medical care is not amenable to usual market forces.”

But it is. Patients wouldn’t need to negotiate from the ambulance because such decisions would have already been made for them by thousands of previous patients, especially the 2 percent who pay the closest attention. Word would get around that hospital X is a rip-off but hospital Y gives better treatment for less. Doctors would advertise prices. Rating agencies would evaluate them for quality. Everyone will know more.

A hospital worker complained about this “customer mentality. A hospital is NOT a restaurant. It is not Burger King. You don’t get to have it your way.”

Why not? Must we just passively take what we’re handed when it comes to medicine, even though we’d never accept that with hamburgers?

Medical patients tolerate indifferent service the way people tolerate waiting at the post office. The Postal Service, we were told, can’t possibly make a profit, get it there overnight, etc. Then came UPS and FedEx. Competition showed what is possible.

“Stossel may think he’s getting ‘excellent medical care’,” writes Cato Institute health care analyst Michael Cannon.

“But he doesn’t know it, and neither do his doctors, because there is no market system to show how much better it could be. … In a market system, competition would push providers to strive to keep patients from falling through these cracks. … In our system, there is no such pressure on providers … because the real customer is government. As a result, few patients know how unsafe American medicine is.”

Cannon warns, “Without that information, patients — even when they are smart, skeptical and wealthy like Stossel — are constantly consenting to inferior care.”

A few extra-savvy consumers might be aware that my hospital got a “B” rating on The Leapfrog Group’s Hospital Safety Score, and, says Cannon, it rates NewYork-Presbyterian “below average” in nine categories, including collapsed lungs and surgical site infections. “Did Stossel know about these safety measures before he chose NewYork-Presbyterian?”

No, I didn’t.

I am grateful for my hospital’s lifesaving technology and the skills of some of my caregivers. But it would be better if hospitals were as efficient as FedEx and most of what’s offered by the private sector.

My local supermarket is open 24/7. They rarely make me wait, prices are low, there’s plenty of choice, and they rarely poison me.
That’s what competition brings — if people pay with their own money.

[mybooktable book=”no-cant-government-fails-individuals-succeed” display=”summary” buybutton_shadowbox=”true”]

I am grateful the hospital has lifesaving

Policy

http://www.peoplespunditdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Obama-Biden-Kerry-Keystone

President Barack Obama talks with Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry in the hallway outside the Oval Office prior to entering the Roosevelt Room to announce the administration’s rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline, Nov. 6, 2015. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

What do left-wing firebrand Congressman Alan Grayson, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, Obama’s top trade negotiator Michael Froman, liberal financier Donald Sussman, and big-money Democratic donor Tom Steyer all have in common?

The answer is that they all engage in tax avoidance and tax planning by utilizing tax havens. Like many other Democrats (and Democrat donors), they understand it would be very foolish to deliberately pay more tax than is required.

Yet they all want the rest of us to pay higher taxes!

And now we can add Secretary of State John Kerry to our list of tax haven hypocrites.

Here’s some of what we know from, the Daily Caller‘s exposé.

Secretary of State John Kerry and his wife Teresa Heinz have invested millions of U.S. dollars through family trusts in at least 11 offshore tax havens, according to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s Investigative Group. …Two other trusts appear to have been set up by the Heinz family since Kerry was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2013 to succeed Hillary Clinton as secretary of state. …that doesn’t sit well with some who would normally be supportive of Kerry. “Well I say it doesn’t look good by any means,” said Susan Harley, deputy director of Congress Watch, a progressive lobby organization founded by Ralph Nader.

Actually, since the only “tax havens” listed are the Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey, and the British Virgin Islands, it appears that the story should have stated 11 trust investments in tax havens, not trust investments in 11 tax havens.

But I’m nitpicking. As you can see, the Kerry family makes wide use of structures in these low-tax jurisdictions.

Utilizing Cayman-based structures is a sensible choice for the Kerry family, by the way.

Just like it is perfectly appropriate for people to use Panama-organized structureswhen engaging in international business and investment.

The only reason this is even a story because John Kerry is a left-wing hypocrite who wants everyone else to pay high taxes, but he conveniently arranges his affairs so his family’s money is protected.

Heck, he even moored his yacht in Rhode Island to dodge several hundred thousand dollars of tax that otherwise would have been owed to the state of Massachusetts.

Once again, this was a perfectly reasonable choice. But it’s a bit galling that a wealthy statist like Kerry takes these steps while simultaneously supporting ever-higher tax burdens on those of us who weren’t born with silver spoons in our mouths.

And since we’re on the topic of leftist hypocrites and tax havens, it turns out that the crank who pushed for big government and high taxes when he was Greece’s Finance Minister also seems to like the “offshore” world for his own money.

Here are some blurbs from a story in the U.K.-based Times.

He describes himself as a Marxist libertarian but a lifestyle of glamorous photo-shoots, evenings in chic bars and weekends in luxurious island villas may have convinced the man who brought Greece to the verge of bankruptcy to become a highly-paid capitalist. Yanis Varoufakis, Greece’s former finance minister, is allegedly charging almost £40,000 for speeches he is invited to make worldwide, seeking payment via an HSBC bank account in Oman, according to reports.

Just like with Kerry, there’s nothing wrong or illegal in Varoufakis’ actions. Giving speeches for money and keeping money in another jurisdiction are perfectly legitimate behaviors.

Heck, given the Greek government’s rampant corruption and wasteful habits, I think it’s defensible for people to go one step farther and evade as well as avoid.

But not for Varoufakis. When an advocate of class warfare decides he doesn’t want to live under the rules he would like to impose on the rest of us, he’s simply being a hypocrite and is undeserving of any sympathy.

Not to mention that anyone who think that you can be a Marxist and a libertarianat the same time obviously is a blithering nincompoop.

Let’s shift to another issue for our final glaring example of left-wing hypocrisy.Writing for USA Today, Professor Glenn Reynolds of the University of Tennessee is irked by statists with very big carbon footprints who attend ritzy conferences to concoct plans to impose hardship on the rest of us.

…opulent conferences seem to be our political class’s response to pretty much everything, but they do ring hollow when the topic is what sort of sacrifices should be imposed on the rest of us. …Perhaps people aren’t inclined to treat climate change as a crisis because, despite all the talk, the political class itself isn’t acting as if it’s a crisis. Shouldn’t “shared sacrifice” start at the top?

Glenn has a few modest ideas to resolve this problem of inequity.

First, no more jetting around. Congress should provide that no federal money — either at agencies or at institutions receiving federal funds — should pay for travel to attend conferences or meetings. …Second, to set an example, no air conditioning in federal offices. Sure, it’s uncomfortable without it, but we won World War II with mostly un-air conditioned offices, so we can manage without A/C today. …Third, no more fundraising jaunts on Air Force One. Typically, presidents schedule a fundraiser, then find an elementary school or something to tour in the same town to make the trip “official business.” Congress should provide that no fundraising appearances can be made on any presidential trip charged to the taxpayers. …Fourth, no more UN conferences except online.

Those are all good ideas, but we also need some rules to help other hypocrites (like Leonardo DiCaprio and Prince Charles) practice what they preach.

P.S. In addition to being hypocrites, many leftists also have bad judgement about tyrannical regimes. I wrote last year about Paul Samuelson’s misguided endorsement of the Soviet economic system just as it was about to collapse.

Well, another well-know left-wing economist actually wrote an article to praise the “Korean Miracle.” But Joan Robinson was writing about North Korea rather than South Korea!

It’s true that she didn’t have this evidence available when she was gushing about the Pyongyang being a “city without slums,” but it’s still remarkable that she went out of her way to praise a totalitarian dictatorship.

[mybooktable book=”global-tax-revolution-the-rise-of-tax-competition-and-the-battle-to-defend-it” display=”summary” buybutton_shadowbox=”true”]

What do liberals in the business and

Elections

Crystal Palace v Arsenal - Premier League

LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 16: Alexis Sanchez of Arsenal is closed down by Yohan Cabaye of Crystal Palace during the Barclays Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Arsenal at Selhurst Park on August 16, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Hillary Clinton has won the Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Connecticut Democratic primaries, while Bernie Sanders won Rhode Island. While the former secretary of state had a big night, she is on track to underperform the projections by the PPD Election Projection Model.

There were 384 delegates up for grabs in Tuesday’s contests, while Republicans had 118 up for grabs (not counting 54 unbound delegates in Pennsylvania). Mrs. Clinton had accumulated 82% of the total 2,382 delegates needed to clinch the nomination prior to Tuesday’s contests.

The Clinton campaign was hoping to end the night with at least 90% of the delegates needed, but it is less likely that she will get there. That said, it is still possible with votes still out in Connecticut, where she is leading slightly in voter-rich New Haven County and Hartford County.

Sen. Sanders, who won in the rural districts and counties in Maryland, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, vowed Tuesday night to keep fighting, casting himself as the candidate best-positioned to take on Trump or any Republican rival.

“This campaign is doing as well as it is with the extraordinary energy and enthusiasm we are generating across the country,” Sanders told a crowd in West Virginia, which votes May 10.

Hillary Clinton has won the Pennsylvania, Delaware,

World

Russian-President-Vladimir-Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures during the annual end of year news conference in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Dec. 17, 2015. President Vladimir Putin said Thursday Russia is ready to improve ties with the United States and work with whomever is elected its next president. (Photo: AP/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Russia is chomping at the bit to make hard foreign currency selling as many weapon systems as possible to Iran, now that tens of billions of U.S. dollars have been freed up by the Iranian nuclear deal. Sales of the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system, code named SA-10 Grumble by NATO, are in full swing. Iran paraded the sophisticated weapon recently during an official holiday parade in Tehran. Now it seems Russia is looking for other ways to earn money selling weapons technology to the Islamic Republic.

The Russian state news agency TASS reported Tuesday, “Russia may supply additional types of armaments not subject to existing bans to Iran, the chief of the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, Alexander Fomin, said Tuesday. “We have contracts with Iran, other contracts are also possible, but the talk is only about the permitted objects of supply, which are not on the UN’s ban list,” Fomin said when asked whether the delivery of other weapons besides S-300 missile systems was discussed. The service chief said that the permitted armaments include small arms and other products, including non-lethal, radiolocation and electronic warfare systems etc.”

Although these new systems are non-lethal, they would make the Iranian military more capable in any possible future conflict with the West and Israel over Iranian nuclear weapons development. Iran is also looking at licensing technology for the Russian T-90 tank for production in Iran. The sale of Russian fighter jets has also been explored although the Obama administration says it will block fighter jet transactions in the United Nations Security Council. I’m not sure that will stop the Kremlin from selling whatever it wants to the Mullahs. Moscow needs the money.

( H/T Threat Assessment via The Washington Times)

[mybooktable book=”currency” display=”summary” buybutton_shadowbox=”true”]

Russia is gearing up to sell Iran

Elections

Donald Trump Carries All Five States by Large Majorities

New York businessman and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Warwick, Rhode Island April 25, 2016. (Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder)

New York businessman and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Warwick, Rhode Island April 25, 2016. (Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder)

Donald Trump has won the Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Maryland, Rhode Island and Delaware Republican primaries and is on track to win majorities in all five.

Pre-election day polling conducted by Gravis Marketing and PPP (D) found the frontrunner with double-digit leads in all five states, with Mr. Trump near or above 50% in each. With nearly all of the precincts reporting, Donald Trump has won every single county that voted on Tuesday. At the same time, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz continued to worsen among key demographics such as Catholics and women, hauling in just one delegate on the night.

Sen. Cruz lost “very” conservative voters to the New York businessman, a bloc that has been one of the bright spots for his campaign.

As was the case in the prior contests, Pennsylvania Republican primary voters were broadly supportive of Mr. Trump’s main issues. More than 6 in 10 supported electing someone from “outside the political establishment” and banning non-U.S. Muslims from entering the country (7 in 10). Fewer voters, though still more than 4 in 10, also support deporting undocumented immigrants.

While the PPD Election Projection Model pegged Mr. Trump’s delegate haul tonight at around 80, he appears to be headed for a 100 (even more) delegate haul. In The Keystone State, he is leading Ohio Gov. John Kasich in every single county and congressional district. The final results are noteworthy because, as we’ve repeated explained, the Pennsylvania contest is a loophole primary.

“While the wins aren’t too much of a surprise, the size of the wins coupled with it being a clean sweep were,” said Richard Baris, PPD’s senior political analyst and director of the election projection model. “Gov. John Kasich got trounced even in counties his campaign was certain he would win. For Sen. Cruz, Pennsylvania was a complete disaster.”

The Keystone State awards only 17 of its total 71 available delegates to the winner of the statewide vote, with the remaining delegates directly elected on a ballot. At last count, there are 55 delegates running who are committed to voting for the candidate who emerges the winner of their congressional district majority, while another 39 say they are committed to Mr. Trump.

Though 33 say they are committed to Sen. Cruz, 28 are uncommitted and only 1 supports Gov. Kasich, a big win would add pressure on the delegates in Cleveland, making Steel Town a potential ace up The Donald’s sleeve.

“The system is a crooked system but the best way to beat the system is to have nights like this,” Mr. Trump said. “This one may be the biggest one of them all.”

“Cruz and Kasich should get out of the race and we should unify the Republican Party,” he said in response to a reporter’s question about whether he thought he was the presumptive frontrunner. “Now, I’m not saying everyone because some have gone over the edge, but we are going to unify and beat Hillary. It’s not even going to be close.”

In Connecticut, 16 out of the 28 total delegates are definitely heading for Mr. Trump’s column, based on the current real vote tally and exit poll margins. In Delaware, the frontrunner won another 16 delegates. That brings his total preliminary delegate count to 921 to 559 for Sen. Cruz, who was shut out among delegates bound by votes.

VIEW REPUBLICAN DELEGATE COUNT

The Trump campaign said they will now begin to pivot once again to the general election, focusing more on policy and his likely Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. He will give a foreign policy speech in Washington, D.C., which is scheduled for Wednesday. It was moved to the Mayflower Hotel “due to the overwhelming interest,” Mr. Trump’s campaign announced on Tuesday.

The campaign the speech will also focus on global trade and economic and national security policies. Mr. Trump is now scheduled to travel to Indiana to campaign later in the day Wednesday. If he wins in The Hoosier State, where polls give him an edge, it will be more than difficult for his rivals to continue to make the case against his candidacy. Sen. Cruz, specifically promised victory and Gov. Kasich has only enjoyed one; in his home state where he failed to even win a majority of voters.

Donald Trump won the Pennsylvania, Connecticut and

Polls

EXIT POLLS UPDATED BY THE MINUTE

Trump-Cruz-Kasich-file

Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and John Kasich campaign in Pennsylvania. (Photos: Getty Images)

While the Northeastern region in the U.S. is naturally favorable to Donald Trump, early exit polls show key demographics are beginning to warm up to him as the party’s nominee. Republicans vote in five primaries today on Tuesday April 26: Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.

Heading into the contests, polling showed Mr. Trump near or above 50% in each of the five states. At the same time, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who appears to be headed for a thrashing, continues to worsen among Catholic Republican primary voters among others.

Nomination & Convention

Preliminary exit polls in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Connecticut show a divide on the question of who should be the nominee and when. Donald Trump’s supporters almost unanimously say the candidate with the most votes should receive the nomination, even if he lacks a majority of delegates. However, those who back Ted Cruz and or John Kasich, by contrast, nearly 6 in 10 say the delegates–not the vote totals–should call the tune.

Worth noting, Mr. Trump leads in the delegate count, which probably factored into the responses, but overall two-thirds say Mr. Trump should get the nod if he goes into Cleveland ahead.

#NeverTrump Weakening

The preliminary exit polls, as is the case with previous contests, Mr. Trump has stronger and more dedicated supporters than his rivals. As PPD has repeated over-and-over, candidates need to give a reason to vote for them, not just to vote against someone. More than 8 in 10 say their vote was “mainly for your candidate” rather than against his opponents. On the other hand, Sen. Cruz and Gov. Kasich supporters say the same by a far less margin–three-quarters and nearly two-thirds, respectively.

Roughly a quarter of Sen. Cruz’s voters and third of Kasich’s are motivated not for their guy but “against his opponents.”

Most importantly for the frontrunner, the #NeverTrump movement is continuing to lose steam. While the region is more favorable, it follows a new survey showing him at his highest level of support nationwide to date. Nearly six in 10 in these preliminary exit polls said they would definitely vote for Mr. Trump if he was the nominee in November, higher than any other measurement.

Still, a quarter say not. Roughly 4 in 10 Sen. Cruz supporters and more than 6 in 10 among Gov. Kasich voters say no, but Mr. Trump’s “definitely support” numbers more than twice as high as the number who rule him out, while Gov. Kasich is slightly in the positive direction. Sen. Cruz is in negative territory.

For the first time this entire election season, more Republican primary voters in Pennsylvania say Cruz ran the most unfair campaign. In prior states, despite whether he won or lost, Mr. Trump was seen as running a more unfair campaign. Only four in 10 voters in The Keystone State said the primary campaign energized the party, while nearly 6 in 10 say it has only divided it.

That compares to the Democratic race, where 7 in 10 say their race has energized the party. That’s noteworthy considering Republicans have out-voted Democrats nationwide. Even among Mr. Trump’s own supporters, just more than half say the campaign has energized the party, but that drops precipitously among Sen. Cruz and Gov. Kasich voters.

Late- & Early Deciders Early

Mr. Trump has done particularly well in contests where the number of voters who decided early on a candidate was relatively high. Nearly 6 in 10 Republican primary voters across all the state primaries say they decided on their candidate more than a month ago, which will break the record of 55% in New York last week. That is much more than the average in all the primaries to date, but Mr. Trump and Gov. Kasich are essentially splitting those late-breaking voters.

All-in-all, if those numbers hold it will be a very good night for New York businessman Donald Trump.

Demographics

On average, roughly 4 in 10 Republican primary voters evangelicals in Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Maryland, far lower than the 60% average in previous contests. Evangelicals are the smallest number at 2 in 10 in Connecticut, putting The Nutmeg State on pace to grab the record low this primary season.

They are still a larger share than they’ve been in prior election cycles, but lower than the average, which is also true in Pennsylvania and Maryland. Mr. Trump and Sen. Cruz have essentially split evangelical voters about evenly in previous contests, while Sen. Cruz has been far weaker among non-evangelicals.

Wall Street, Economy & Trade

A larger-than-usual percentage of GOP primary voters now say Wall Street does more to hurt than help the U.S. economy than help it –nearly half in Pennsylvania, 4 in 10 in Connecticut and a third in Maryland. Mr. Trump has driven that conversation and thus, has dominated among anti-trade voters .

In Pennsylvania, excitement for a Trump presidency is far higher among supporters (six in 10) than it is among Cruz’s and Kasich’s. Issues are ramping up voter excitement and the frontrunner won the debate on trade and immigration.

As was the case in the prior contests, Pennsylvania Republican primary voters are broadly supportive of Mr. Trump’s main issues. More than 6 in 10 supported electing someone from “outside the political establishment” and banning non-U.S. Muslims from entering the country (7 in 10). Fewer voters, though still more than 4 in 10, also support deporting undocumented immigrants.

Support for an outsider is higher than the average across primaries this year to date, while support for his two key policies near the average.

Republican primary voters expressed serious economic concerns and it is working to Mr. Trump’s advantage. In Pennsylvania, nearly 6 in 10 are “very worried” about the direction of the economy and, by a 10-point margin, more say international trade takes away U.S. jobs than say it creates them. Worried and anti-trade voters have been strong groups for Mr. Trump in previous contests.

Values vs. Tell It Like It Is

About 3 in 10 voters in the three largest states voting today say they’re primarily looking for someone who “shares my values,” less prevalent than in previous states, and he attribute on which Trump has done very poorly to date. What’s chiefly boosted him are those looking for a candidate who “tells it like it is” or “can bring needed change” – adding well over half of Republican voters in today’s preliminary exit poll results.

While the Northeast is naturally favorable to

Economy

Consumer-Confidence-Index-Reuters

Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index. (Photo: Reuters)

The Conference Board reported Tuesday its gauge of consumer confidence fell more than expected in April to 94.2 from a downwardly revised 96.1 in March. Economists polled by Reuters had expected the closely-watched gauge to decline slightly to 96.

“Consumer confidence continued on its sideways path, posting a slight decline in April, following a modest gain in March,” said Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board. “Consumers’ assessment of current conditions improved, suggesting no slowing in economic growth. However, their expectations regarding the short-term have moderated, suggesting they do not foresee any pickup in momentum.”

The monthly Consumer Confidence Survey is conducted for The Conference Board by Nielsen and the cutoff date for the preliminary results was April 14.

Consumers’ appraisal of current conditions improved somehwat in April, even though the percentage saying business conditions are “good” fell from 24.9% to 23.2%. However, those saying business conditions are “bad” also fell, down from 19.2% to 18.1%. Consumers’ appraisal of the labor market were mixed, as well. The percentage claiming jobs are “plentiful” fell from 25.4% to 24.1%, while those claiming jobs are “hard to get” also fell from 25.2% to 22.7%.

Consumers were less optimistic about the short-term outlook in April than last month. The percentage of consumers expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months decreased from 14.7 percent to 13.4 percent, while those expecting business conditions to worsen rose to 11.0% from 9.5%.

Consumers’ outlook for the labor market was also less favorable. Those anticipating more jobs in the months ahead decreased slightly from 13.0% to 12.2%, while those anticipating fewer jobs edged up from 16.3% to 17.2%. The proportion of consumers expecting their incomes to increase declined from 16.9% to 15.9%; however, the proportion expecting a reduction in income also declined, from 12.3% to 11.2%.

The Conference Board reported Tuesday its gauge

Economy

durable-goods-reuters

American workers at a manufacturing plant for long-lasting durable goods. (PHOTO: REUTERS)

The Commerce Department reported Tuesday durable goods orders rose by 0.8% in March from the prior month, coming in lower than the estimate for a rise of 1.8%. Excluding the transportation component and orders decreased 0.2%. The estimate was for that part to increase by 0.5%.

The Commerce Department reported Tuesday durable goods

Economy

Home-Prices-Home-Sales-Reuters

Home sales and home prices data and reports. (Photo: REUTERS)

Home prices in 20 major U.S. metro areas rose 0.2% in February from the month prior on a non-seasonally-adjusted basis, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index. The expectation was for an increase of 0.1%. From the same period a year prior, prices saw a 5.4% increase, slightly below expectations for a 5.5% rise.

“Home prices continue to rise twice as fast as inflation, but the pace is easing off in the most recent numbers,” David M. Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said in a statement. “The year-over-year figures for the 10-city and 20-city composites both slowed, and 13 of the 20 cities saw slower year-over-year numbers compared to last month.”

The S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index, which measures all nine U.S. census divisions, was up 5.3 percent year-over-year in February.

“The visible supply of homes on the market is low at 4.8 months in the last report. Homeowners looking to sell their house and trade up to a larger house or a more desirable location are concerned with finding that new house,” he said.

Home prices in 20 major U.S. metro

Opinion

Donald-Trump-Hillary-Clinton-Getty

Donald Trump visits Turnberry Golf Club, after its $10 Million refurbishment, June 8, 2015, in Turnberry, Scotland. | Hillary Clinton speaks at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials’ (NALEO) 32nd Annual Conference at the in Las Vegas, June 18, 2015. (PHOTO: GETTY)

Both parties sort voters by color and gender. Though there’s nothing new about promoting solidarity on the basis of genetics, it can get old really fast.

One sees some utility in this brand of politicking, especially for Democrats. The party of Donald Trump has done its darnedest to offend the growing Latino electorate. But Republicans will get smart about this and reverse course.

Even Trump? Especially Trump. As Trump continues his pivot to normality, his campaign will take a long shower and start making nice to women and Latinos — some of whom have shown interest in him, if only he’d stop attacking them.

Memory is short, and Trump’s skill at self-mockery could ease the transition. With his support of programs that help the working class, Trump could pick off chunks of the Democratic coalition.

Note that the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce invited Trump to join a candidates forum in Washington (which he did not attend). While in no way an endorsement, this is not how one treats the devil.

Democratic strategists expect America’s rapidly growing Latino and Asian populations to guarantee their electoral success. But history shows demographic firewalls crumbling as descendants of recent immigrants become culturally indistinguishable from the older European stock.

Meanwhile, the seeming obsession with minorities and women sends a “don’t bother” sign to the white working class. Hostility toward dark people doesn’t adequately explain why so many struggling whites have decamped for the Republican side.

Consider how a white working guy might respond to a headline like this one: “White Man or Black Woman? Senate Race Tears at Maryland Democrats.”

The subject is the Democratic Senate primary race pitting Rep. Donna Edwards against Rep. Chris Van Hollen. The “conflict”: Edwards, a black single mother, may be an attractive candidate, but Van Hollen has a long record as an effective progressive in Washington. There is no reason for liberals to abandon him unless they think race and gender are reason enough.

EMILY’s List apparently thinks so. Dedicated to promoting female candidates who support abortion rights, EMILY’s List has put its resources behind Edwards. Many contributors who’ve worked with Van Hollen are fuming, as well they might.

There’s no item on the liberal women’s agenda that Van Hollen has not championed, and, you know, there are other issues. There was a time when female candidates were a rarity, but that time has passed — and so has any rationale, frankly, for EMILY’s List.

Move on to the U.S. Supreme Court. President Obama has nominated Merrick Garland to fill the seat held by the late Antonin Scalia. According to a Washington Post analysis, “some top Democrats” are complaining that Obama threw away a “golden opportunity” by opting for “a mild-mannered white man.”

“If he had picked an African American, a Latino or even an Asian candidate — and especially a woman,” the unnamed Democrats (allegedly) told the writer, “he could have helped energize the coalition that got him reelected in 2012 and arguably pushed his nominee onto the court.”

Set aside the reality that Republican leaders in the Senate have vowed to stop any Obama nominee. Ponder how such messages rile not only white men but also nonwhite men and women who regard themselves as intellectual equals (or superiors) to the sitting members and not tokens.

Trump’s magic formula has been to crush a political correctness that habitually puts white men in the stocks while breaking with the Republican Party on positions that hurt the working class. A toned-down Trump would move from a tropical storm to a Category 3 hurricane threat for Democrats. And identity politics would not be their friend.

Both parties sort voters by color and

People's Pundit Daily
You have %%pigeonMeterAvailable%% free %%pigeonCopyPage%% remaining this month. Get unlimited access and support reader-funded, independent data journalism.

Start a 14-day free trial now. Pay later!

Start Trial

Subscribe