Here We Go...

Our new president has been in office for 120 or so days, so maybe it’s time to take a look at the nation and see what’s happened on Joe Biden’s watch. 

Let's look first at the job situation and the statistics for April. According to the Department of Labor, there were 8.1 million job openings which, by the way, is an all-time record. The companion statistic relates to the number of jobs filled, and was a paltry 266,000, far short of the one million expected by the “experts.” 

I actually expected something like this simply because I have never seen so many small and mid-sized businesses with “Help Wanted” signs taped to their windows and doors. I’ve noticed this here in Florida and we saw the same thing on a recent trip to rural Georgia. Stores, restaurants, bars, contractors, gas stations, supply companies...the signs are everywhere. 

Business owners and managers all attribute the labor shortage to the extraordinary unemployment benefits now being paid to those who are out of work. As one owner told me, “People who make less than 40 or 50 grand would be fools to take a job. They get as much or more with unemployment, and get to stay home.” Thanks to President Biden, those benefits will continue into September, despite a booming economy. Interestingly, the Secretary of Commerce said, “The reason people aren’t getting back to work is fear.” She apparently presumes that Americans are afraid to return to the workplace because of COVID, even though anyone can now get vaccinated easily. 

And then there’s the rest of the economy. If you lived through the Carter years, you’ll remember inflation and how thrilled you were to get a 16% mortgage. Well, today the Consumer Price Index popped up at an equivalent annual rate of about 7%. And the Dow? It  dropped over 1,000 points in two days. If you live in the southeast, you might have noticed the long lines at gas stations because of the hacking of the Colonial Pipeline by a group of Russian criminals. They are indeed criminals but our smart spooks know they’re also supported by the GRU, Russian military intelligence. The President, of course, is taking a hands-off approach since he really doesn’t care much for pipelines. 

Under President Trump we achieved American energy independence, but during this pipeline crisis, we’ve had to buy gasoline from Canada. Guess who the Canadians buy much of their oil from? You got it...Russia. Gas prices today are at the highest level since 2014. 

Almost 50 years ago, when I was in graduate school I took a few courses in macroeconomics and microeconomics and learned all kinds of wonderful things about supply, demand, inflation, and other boring stuff. But based on the little I still remember, I expect inflation to continue and stick around for a while. 

The problem is, when the government gives lots of money to people and then tells them not to work, we end up with a bunch of folks who produce nothing but have real purchasing power. And then, when that same government hammers those who actually produce goods and services by subjecting them to higher taxes, you get even far fewer goods. The result? Lots of money chasing fewer goods, so prices rise and we get inflation.

Interest rates anticipate all this and will likely last for quite some time. The value of assets will drop. Major tax increases will probably, but not surprisingly, lead to less tax revenue. And while all this is going on, the Fed will continue increasing the money supply and buying bonds. Combine all of this with the administration’s wild spending and destructive energy decisions, and the long-term effects can be disastrous. 

Keep your eye on interest rates and the price of gold, then watch out for the crash of the dollar. We just might see a return to the ugly economy of 1979. Fortunately, I'm pretty poor and have nothing to invest, so I really don’t have to worry too much about all this. 

Of course, all of this ignores the chaos on our southern border as well as the administration’s weak foreign policy and the apparent abandonment of our only real ally in the Middle East, Israel. This week Hamas launched over 1,000 rockets from Gaza into Israel. And who supplied them with these weapons? Iran, the same terrorist nation to whom we gave a billion or more in cash thanks to the firm of Obama, Biden, and Kerry.

Iran is testing President Biden in Israel and doing the same with its Revolutionary Guard gunboats. This week 12 Iranian gunboats swarmed 6 U.S. ships and a submarine in the Strait of Hormuz. Our response? Warning shots. So long as we respond in weakness, they will act with increasing aggression.

None of this even considers our two greatest enemies whom Joe Biden considers mere competitors: Russia and Communist China, who by the way are both supplying weapons to Iran. 

How did the old curse go? May you live in interesting times.

Surprising Stories

Most news stories today are hardly news. By this I mean that they really don't surprise, but instead only confirm what one already knows or suspects to be true. For example, let me share a few of this morning's news stories. Here are the headlines...

Security draft would force agencies to share cyber-threat information. If you've ever worked for or with the federal government, the fact that US intelligence agencies haven't been sharing such information with likely targets 11 years after the 911 attack won't surprise you. Government entities -- Congress included -- tend to be reactive, unwilling to anticipate problems. Rather than take what might be the politically unsafe path, they prefer instead to wait until they are forced to act in the midst of a full-blown crisis. This executive order from the White House will, of course, fall far short of what's needed.

Gun industry going gangbusters. Again, no surprise here. Whenever he lets his guard down, the president clearly shows he is no friend of the Second Amendment. Many Americans, concerned about possible restrictions should the president win a second term, have been visiting their local gun shops to buy handguns, shotguns, rifles and ammunition. Those of you who prefer not to own a gun, can always buy stock in the industry. The stocks of many gun manufacturers have more than doubled in value over the past four years. 

Gun Sales Booming under Obama

Unemployment drops in seven swing states. Oooh...surprise, surprise. The administration's Bureau of Labor Statistics, three weeks before the election, has suddenly presented us with the lowest unemployment rate -- 7.8% -- since the president was elected. Not addressed was the fact that the vast majority of all these "new" jobs were part-time jobs held by people still looking for full-time work. 

TSA workers at Newark face firing or suspension. This is one of those stories that generates a yawn tempered by some mild surprise. The surprise is that TSA finally got around to firing anyone. At this one airport (Newark) TSA fired 25 of its employees and suspended 19 others. That's a rather large number, don't you think? They were fired because of "improper screening of checked luggage." Let me translate this little snippet of bureaucratic speak: they were stealing items from passengers' luggage. No surprise there.

Swapping real freedom for perceived safety

Occasionally, however, I come across news items that really do surprise. How about this one:

Hunting buddies hug

Justice Kagan says Scalia is game hunting partner. In a recent interview Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, one of the most liberal members of the court, stated she was taught how to hunt birds by none other than Justice Antonin Scalia, one of the court's most conservative members. The two now plan a hunting trip to Wyoming in search of larger game. Justice Kagan said she hopes to bag an antelope. This is not a story I ever expected to read.

Vocations Boom. This is another headline one doesn't see too often these days. But it's true, and it relates to an order of Cistercian nuns near Madison, Wisconsin, the only community of Cistercian nuns in the English-speaking world. Over the past ten years this community of cloistered contemplatives has doubled in size to 20 women and they expect this growth to continue. They are building a new monastery designed to house 35 nuns. This story shouldn't have surprised me since the "boom" in religious vocations is occurring only in those orders in close communion with the Church and its magisterium. The photo below is an artist's rendering of the proposed monastery, a design based on traditional Cistercian architecture. To help defray the costs, click here.

Pope believes Christianity will rekindle in Europe. Again, this headline surprised me, although it shouldn't  have. On many occasions, and in several of his books, Pope Benedict XVI has addressed the sad state of Christianity in once-Christian Europe. And my own experience, including five trips to Europe during the past 12 years, has left me less than optimistic regarding a rekindling of Christian faith among Europeans. But Pope Benedict understands, far better than most, that ideologies always leave a void. They never fulfill. They never satisfy the deepest longing of the human heart, the desire for God. In his words, “The Gospel…is true and can therefore never wear out. In each period of history it reveals new dimensions…as it responds to the needs of the heart and mind of human beings, who can walk in this truth and so discover themselves...It is for this reason, therefore, that I am convinced there will also be a new springtime for Christianity.” We can only hope and pray he is correct. Read more here.

Joe Biden on Ash Wednesday

Bishop to Biden: No Communion in Colorado Springs Diocese. Another surprise: a bishop who teaches what the Church teaches and acts on it. Bishop Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs has instructed Vice President Biden (a Catholic) not to present himself for Holy Communion in the Diocese of Colorado Springs when he campaigns in Colorado. As the bishop stated: "There must be no confusion in these matters...Any Catholic politicians who advocate for abortion, for illicit stem cell research or for any form of euthanasia ipso facto place themselves outside full communion with the Church and so jeopardize their salvation. Any Catholics who vote for candidates who stand for abortion, illicit stem cell research or euthanasia suffer the same fateful consequences. It is for this reason that these Catholics, whether candidates for office or those who would vote for them, may not receive Holy Communion until they have recanted their positions and been reconciled with God and the Church in the Sacrament of Penance." Read more here.

Catholic Colleges Outnumbered by Other Christian Colleges Suing HHS. This headline took me by surprise, because I truly expected more Catholic colleges to follow the University of Notre Dame's lead and join in the lawsuits challenging the HHS mandate. (See my post, Who's Suing the Obama Administration?) This hasn't happened. Instead a growing number of Protestant colleges have come aboard, to the extent that these non-Catholic Christian schools now outnumber the Catholic schools involved in the lawsuits -- a bittersweet turn of events. It's good because it destroys the administration's claim that this is strictly a Catholic issue derived from the Church's so-called anti-women teachings on contraception. And not so good because it makes one wonder why so many Catholic colleges in the country have chosen to ignore this serious threat to religious freedom. Read more here.

Peace...

Random Thoughts

Israelis and Palestinians. Isn't it interesting that all those smart people at the UN, and now all those equally smart people in the Obama administration, seem to want Israel to get rid of those Jewish settlements in the West Bank in preparation for a future Palestinian state? Apparently they want to ensure that any new Palestinian state will be Jew-free. After all, we couldn't possibly allow any Jews to live among those Muslim Arabs. Having Jewish neighbors would just be too much for the Arabs to handle. And yet, there's no mention of the fact that many, many Muslim Arabs live in Israel. They vote in Israel. They have representatives in the Knesset. And they enjoy a much higher standard of living than those who live in Gaza. I don't hear the Israeli government calling for an Arab- or Muslim-free Israel.

Hmmm. An interesting double standard, don't you think? Gee, do you think that there might be a touch of anti-Semitism behind it?

Of course, there can never be a Palestinian state until the Palestinians publicly accept Israel's right to exist. So far they haven't. Their only declared goal is to toss Israel into the sea. How can anyone expect the Israelis to negotiate seriously with a people whose only goal is the destruction of Israel?

Unemployment Soars. When the new administration proposed its "recovery plan" and new spending legislation it released a graph (below) showing what unemployment would be like with and without the plan. The dark blue line is the administration's predicted unemployment with the recovery plan, the light blue line shows predicted unemployment without the plan. The red data points, however, show the reality. Source: click here.

Looks like a trend to me. Any bets on what the June figures will be? Makes you think it might have been better had the government done nothing and just given the economy the room it needed to find its own way to recovery. Active, intrusive government action in the economy is always taken with the best of intentions and always leads to unintended consequences that end up damaging people's lives.

Clueless: Next Supreme Court Justice. Apparently Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama's choice to be our next Supreme Court Justice, will be just one more pro-abortion voice on the court. This assumption is based on her reply to a questions asked by pro-life Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC).

When the Senator asked Sotomayor if the unborn child had any rights, she gave a most surprising response: She said she had never thought about it. Isn't that remarkable? She's been a judge for almost two decades and she's never thought about the core principle involved in the most contentious moral, political and legal issue facing this nation. The only conclusions one can draw from her response is that she (1) lied to provide political cover during the upcoming conformation hearings; or (2) is completely clueless, an intellectual and judicial lightweight of the first order. Certainly any pro-life judge, indeed any pro-life human being, would have thought much about the rights of the unborn child.

...not that her opinions or her intellect will make much difference. She and her future colleagues on the Supreme Court will not be the ones who stop abortion. That will come only when the American people decide in their hearts that no more unborn babies will die. When that happens, the plague of abortion will end.

Read more here.

Book Recommendation. As I prepare to teach a parish course on Church History, I've done a lot of extra reading on the subject. Among the more interesting new books is one written by Father Walter Brandmuller, the Vatican's chief historian and president of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences. The book -- Light and Shadows, Church History amid Faith, Fact and Legend -- was published just this year by Ignatius Press. It's a wonderful read and casts much needed light on many of those shadowy events and issues that have led so many people to misinterpret the history of the Church.


God's peace.