Michael Snyder/Economic Collapse Blog ~ November 17, 2016
It would be a grave mistake to understate the amount of damage that has been done to the U.S. economy over the past eight years.

In this article, I am going to share some economic numbers with you that are extremely sobering. Anyone that takes a cold, hard, honest look at the numbers should be able to see that our economy is in terrible shape.

Unfortunately, the way that we see things is often clouded by our political views. Up until the e******n, Democrats were far more likely then Republicans to believe that the economy was improving, but now that is in the process of completely reversing.

According to Gallup, only 16 percent of Republicans believed that the economy was getting better before the e******n, but that number has suddenly jumped to 49 percent after Trump s e******n victory.

And the percentage of Democrats that believe that the economy is getting better fell from 61 percent to 46 percent after the e******n. Here are some additional details from Gallup:

After T***p w*n last week’s e******n, Republicans and Republican-leaning independents now have a much more optimistic view of the U.S. economy’s outlook than they did before the e******n.

Just 16% of Republicans said the economy was getting better in the week before the e******n, while 81% said it was getting worse. Since the e******n, 49% say it is getting better and 44% worse.

Conversely, Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents’ confidence in the economy plummeted after the e******n. Before the e******n, 61% of Democrats said the economy was getting better and 35% worse. Now, Democrats are evenly divided, with 46% saying it is getting better and 47% saying it is getting worse.

The t***h, of course, is that the result of the e******n did not somehow magically alter the outlook for the U.S. economy.

We still have a giant mess on our hands, and the following are 11 very depressing economic realities that Donald Trump will inherit from Barack Obama:

#1 Nearly 7 out of every 10 Americans have less than $1,000 in savings. That means that about two-thirds of the country is essentially living paycheck to paycheck at this moment.

#2 Reuters is reporting that U.S. mall investors are poised to lose billions of dollars as the retail apocalypse in this nation deepens.

#3 Credit card delinquencies have hit the highest level that we have seen since 2012.

#4 Approximately 35 percent of all Americans have a debt that is at least 180 days past due.

#5 The rate of homeownership has fallen for eight years in a row and is now hovering near a 50 year low.

#6 The total number of government employees now outnumbers the total number of manufacturing employees in this country by almost 10 million.

#7 The number of homeless people in New York City (where Donald Trump is from) has hit a brand new record high.

#8 About 20 percent of all young adults are currently living with their parents.

#9 Total household debt in the United States has now reached a grand total of 12.3 trillion dollars.

#10 The total amount of corporate debt in the U.S. has nearly doubled since the end of 2007.

#11 When Barack Obama entered the White House, the U.S. government was 10.6 trillion dollars in debt. Today, the U.S. national debt is currently sitting at a staggering total of $19,842,173,949,869.58.

Despite nearly doubling the national debt during his eight years in the White House, Barack Obama is going to be the only president in United States history to never have a single year when U.S. GDP grew by at least three percent.

So will Donald Trump waltz in and suddenly turn everything around?

Just like when George W. Bush was elected, there is a lot of optimism about the future right now among Republicans.

And in 2017, Republicans are going to have control of the Senate and the House in addition to being in control of the White House.

But does that mean that they will actually get anything done?

For a moment, let’s review what didn’t happen the last time the Republicans were in this position. The following is an extended excerpt from an article by author Devvy Kidd:

The Republicans had control of both houses of Congress part of the time during Bush, Jr’s two terms.

Did they lock down our borders? NO.

Did they pass legislation to stop ALL funding for i******s which would self-deport millions? NO.

Did they stop trillions in unconstitutional spending? NO.

Did they get rid of any of Clinton s unconstitutional Executive Orders? One or two but otherwise No

Did they get rid of one unconstitutional cabinet like HHS, Department of Education and EPA? NO.

Did they stop the unconstitutional foreign aid? NO.

Did they stop unconstitutional spending for Planned Parenthood? NO.

Did they stop unconstitutional spending for the gigantic h**x called g****l w*****g or c*****e c****e? NO.

Did Bush, Jr., get us out of all the destructive trade treaties k*****g American jobs? NO.

Did they crack down on visas bringing in tens of thousands of foreign workers when American workers who want to work are left in the unemployment line? NO.

Did they stop more and more federal regulations strangling America’s businesses? NO.

Did they impeach one single activist judge destroying our freedom and liberty? NO.

A Republican controlled Congress with a Republican in the White House and they did virtually NOTHING to restore America to a constitutional republic and constitutional spending.

So will things be any different under a Trump administration?

We shall see.

There will be tremendous pressure to maintain the status quo in many instances, because the process of fixing things would undoubtedly make conditions worse in the short-term.

A great example of this is the national debt. As I discussed yesterday, the only reason why we are able to enjoy such a massively inflated standard of living in this country is because we have been able to borrow trillions upon trillions of dollars from the rest of the world at ultra-low interest rates.

If the federal government started spending only the money that it brought in through taxes, our ridiculous debt-fueled standard of living would begin collapsing immediately.

We consume far more wealth than we produce, and the only way that we are able to do this is by borrowing insane amounts of money.

Either Donald Trump will continue to borrow money recklessly, or we will go into a major league economic downturn.

It really is that simple.

But when our politicians borrow money, they are literally destroying the future of this country. So the choice is pain in the short-term or greater pain in the long-term.

There is a way out, and that would involve shutting down the Federal Reserve and going to a completely debt-free form of money, but that is a topic for another article.

And unfortunately that is not something that is even on Donald Trump s radar at this point.

No matter who won the e******n, the next president was going to be faced with some very harsh economic realities.

There are many out there that have faith that Donald Trump can pull off an unprecedented economic miracle, but there are others that are deeply skeptical.

Let us hope for the best, but let us also keep preparing for the worst.

Why Hillary Lost the E******n

There have been many reasons (excuses?) advanced as to the cause of Hillary Clinton’s defeat at the polls.
Often this has taken the form of scapegoating, such as illiterate white v**ers (As opposed to the over-educated black v**ers?),
arrogance (As in the previous “reason”), talk radio, sexism, r****d primaries, economy, jobs, “Dogs don’t like it.”
and especially, FBI director Homey.

All reasons that are “Neat, plausible and WRONG!".

Everyone agrees that if Martha Stewart had done half of what Hillary did, Martha Stewart would have been swiftly indicted,
tried and sentenced to 20 years in jail.

The fact that Hillary was not subjected to the same legal standard is what ultimately did her in.
If she won, those at the top, government workers appointed or elected, would be above the law. Those below would suffer the legal penalties.

Americans, whether white, black, yellow or green, educated or otherwise understand that electing Hillary would have certified that America has a
two-tiered system of laws and justice. The Beltway Cabal would degenerate into the court of Louis XIV.

Many former non-v**ers registered and v**ed for the first time – Hillary’s crimes being the reason.

The pollsters for their part, failed to realize that the Democrats along with a shamefully compliant press, so vilified and trivialized Trump
that v**ers would not admit that he was their preferred candidate. So they simply lied.

Had the operatives of the Democratic Party listened to Trump their candidate would have won – it just couldn’t be her.
Trump said Hillary Clinton was a flawed candidate. He was right.

The e******n reflected the wisdom of the people.

The Framers original intent says otherwise. This is expressed in the DoI--"deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed". Federalism was the intent--States rights. It is, or was, our duty as citizens to influence the policies of our federal government through our state legislatures. However, with the ratification of the 17th amendment, that power was taken from us. Judging our president and his administration's policies with no recourse in influencing them is not how things were supposed to get done. If we were to repeal the 17th amendment and get the se******n of senators back into the hands of the state legislatures rather than in the hands of v**ers, we might get somewhere in holding our president's and the members of congress's feet to the fire. The basis of Trump's campaign was to --------------

.

T***sition turmoil is denied

Trump team offers assurances but little clarity on progress.

BY NOAH BIERMAN AND LISA MASCARO
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump and his top aides pushed back aggressively Wednesday at accounts of a rocky t***sition, with Trump attacking the New York Times and his staff making efforts to assure the public that accounts of internal turmoil had been greatly exaggerated.
Despite the focus on public relations, there was little indication the team had progressed toward assembling an administration, and questions remained unanswered about the level of influence that Trump’s family would exert in the new White House.
Rooms set aside for Trump staffers at the Pentagon , for example, remained vacant Wednesday, an indication that Trump’s team had yet to begin the complicated process of getting up to speed on the details of taking over the military and other sectors of government. The State Department had also heard nothing from Trump’s emissaries, even as Trump’s staff released an extensive roster of foreign leaders who had spoken with Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence.
Democrats, still absorbing last week’s e*******l rebuke, took further steps toward defining how they would operate as an opposition party, v****g in a leadership team in the Senate with a few new names, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, aimed at broadening their appeal to white working-class v**ers who defected from the party for Trump. But they were also still reeling from internal party divides; across the Capitol, House Democrats postponed their leadership e******ns until after Thanksgiving.
Visitors including New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft, Silicon Valley financier Peter Thiel, Trump’s relatives, former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and a few members of Congress streamed in and out of Trump Tower in New York, giving little indication of whether they were coming to give advice, apply for administration roles or simply offer congratulations.
Trump’s campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, whose role in the new administration remains undefined, was one of two top aides to speak with reporters in hopes of changing perceptions.
“You don’t form a federal government overnight, and these are very serious issues, very serious appointments, very serious considerations,” she said.
Conway said reports of firings and disorganization were false.
Yet she offered little clarity about who would be taking roles in the administration, including Trump’s son-in-law, 35-year-old real-estate investor Jared Kushner. She said she did not know whether Kushner would be getting security clearance to attend top-secret briefings, but left open the possibility when asked whether it would be appropriate.
“It’s appropriate for whoever’s going to get the p**********l daily briefing to have a security clearance,” she said. “It’s not just appropriate, [but] necessary.”
Kushner has drawn attention on many fronts, including multiple reports that he orchestrated the ouster of several t***sition figures with connections to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who as his state’s attorney general successfully prosecuted Kushner’s father on tax evasion and other charges more than a decade ago.
Kushner, who lacks government experience, could also face questions about conflicts of interest because Trump has said that his children will run his business empire while he serves in the White House.
Jason Miller, Trump’s campaign communications director, tried to answer another set of criticisms, promising that Pence, who abruptly took over the t***sition team leadership from Christie on Friday, had begun “making good on President-elect Trump’s promise that we’re not going to have any lobbyists involved with the t***sition efforts.”
“When we talk about draining the swamp, this is one of the first steps,” Miller said. The team did not name any lobbyists who had been dropped from the group.
Despite the lack of apparent progress, Trump received a v**e of confidence from an unlikely source: Vice President Joe Biden, who met with Pence at the U.S. Naval Observatory, the vice president’s official residence, where they dined with their wives.
“No administration is ready on Day One. We weren’t ready on Day One. I’ve never met one that’s ever been ready on Day One,” Biden said. “But I’m confident on Day One everything will be in good hands and they’ll be able to handle everything.”
Pence will huddle with House Republicans on Thursday and meet with Democratic leaders as well.
Trump took out his frustrations over media accounts on the New York Times, writing angrily on Twitter on Wednesday about the paper’s coverage of his t***sition.
“The failing @nytimes story is so totally wrong on t***sition,” he wrote in one of several tweets criticizing the paper this week. “It is going so smoothly. Also, I have spoken to many foreign leaders.”
The paper did not report that Trump had failed to speak with foreign leaders. Rather, it said that prominent allies were “scrambling to figure out how and when to contact Mr. Trump” and had been, at times, “patched through to him in his luxury office tower with little warning.”
Even some Republicans acknowledged that they had concerns about the t***sition. Texas Sen. John Cornyn, the second-ranking leader of the Senate, said he had received no direct information from the t***sition team about its work, even as the Senate will be in charge of confirming Trump’s Cabinet picks, according to the Texas Tribune.
“Obviously, this is my impression that the Trump team was not completely prepared for the t***sition,” he said. “And after the e******n, they’ve had to scramble quite a bit.”
Democrats, just as surprised by the e******n result, were doing their best to plot their own path. Sen. Charles E. Schumer of New York was elected minority leader, replacing retiring Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada. The move, along with the approval of Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois and Sen. Patty Murray of Washington in the spots behind him, was expected.
But Schumer broadened the Democratic leadership tent with the intent of improving the party’s standing with its progressive wing and its working-class base, two groups whose frustration with the party and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton contributed to Trump’s victory.
Joining the leadership team were Sanders, who challenged Clinton for the p**********l nomination, conservative Sen. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin. Populist Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts also kept a top spot in the group that will help steer the party.
“There’s a debate going on about whether we should be the party of the diverse Obama coalition” — referring to the minority v**ers, women and independents who helped put President Obama in office — “or the blue-collar American in the heartland,” Schumer said.
“We need to be the party that speaks to and works on behalf of all Americans and a bigger, bolder, sharper-edged economic message that talks about people in the middle class,” he added.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California will take over as ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, a key role as Trump moves to nominate a justice to fill the Supreme Court vacancy left by the February death of Antonin Scalia. noah.bierman
@ latimes.com   lisa.mascaro@latimes.com   Times staff writer W.J.
Hennigan contributed to this report.