Althouse: At the Monday Night Café...

February 10, 2025

At the Monday Night Café...

... you can talk all night.

47 comments:

Heartless Aztec said...: Saw the first butterfly of Spring today. The big yellow and black bumble bees are prowling the Camelias and roses. Yellow oak pollen on my windshield in the morning. Surf temps have warmed to almost 70° and it's back to jackets, shorts and flip flops.; 2/10/25, 6:15 PM
Jaq said...: A couple of weeks ago, there were large flocks of blackbirds, here in Florida, they are gone, now that you mention it about signs of spring.

We used to joke, when I lived there, that the first sign of spring in Buffalo was that you hadn't seen a set of jumper cables in two weeks.; 2/10/25, 6:24 PM
Jaq said...: Trump has been talking to Putin. He has been hinting that he is working on a deal. Not sure it is going that well, but we will see.; 2/10/25, 6:27 PM
Leland said...: 2” of rain expected tomorrow. Ugh.; 2/10/25, 6:28 PM
MadisonMan said...: Only took 24 hours to dry clothes on the line outside. They smell great.; 2/10/25, 6:36 PM
Gospace said...: The dollar was essentially flat from 1799 to 1913. A little inflation here, a little deflation there, but essentially flat. In fact, in 1913, 80¢ could buy what a 1799 dollar could. Then, inflation started to go up- every year. Up a little, but never again down. What happened? The Federal Reserve was founded and put in charge of our money supply. 114 years of stable currency- then- The Federal Reserve Banking System. Who owns the Fed? Well, no one- according to the federal reserve itself on it's website. AI overview says this- The Federal Reserve is not owned by anyone, but rather is an independent entity within the government. The Federal Reserve Banks are owned by member banks, which are national and state banks.

As of today- it takes $25.66 to have the purchasing power of $1 from 1799 to 1913. So 114 years of stable currency, then 112 years of bankers controlling the currency, and we have to discontinue the penny as more trouble then it's worth.

Inflation is good for banks and their balance sheets- bad for everyone else. Someone commented the other day 0% inflation is dangerous. No one can prove that, because it isn't. What can be proved, and shown as of today with the penny going away, any amount of inflation is dangerous. But- but... There is no but. The nickel candy bar of my youth is now $2 at most places.

The justifications I see for a target of 2% is that it reduces unemployment rates. History shows it doesn't do that. From a 2012 study: As the 100th anniversary of the 1913 Federal Reserve Act approaches, we assess whether the nation’s experiment with the Federal Reserve has been a success or a failure. Drawing on a wide range of recent empirical research, we find the following: (1) The Fed’s full history (1914 to present) has been characterized by more rather than fewer symptoms of monetary and macroeconomic instability than the decades leading to the Fed’s establishment. (2) While the Fed’s performance has undoubtedly improved since World War II, even its postwar performance has not clearly surpassed that of its undoubtedly flawed predecessor, the National Banking system, before World War I. (3) Some proposed alternative arrangements might plausibly do better than the Fed as presently constituted. We conclude that the need for a systematic exploration of alternatives to the established monetary system is as pressing today as it was a century ago.

A link where you can see the inflation rate for any particular year. https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1799?endYear=1866&amount=1; 2/10/25, 6:36 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: “Our democracy” is code for ”this thing of ours”; 2/10/25, 7:02 PM
Iman said...: Talk all night
Ooh za za
Ooh you can talk all night

African jungle
Capitol Drive
The only real challenge
Is staying alive

Talk all night
Ooh za za
Ooh you can talk all night

It's an agreeable place
It's neat and sedate
Why even the lefties
Will stop tempting fate

h/t Boomtown Rats; 2/10/25, 7:10 PM
Eva Marie said...: Video worth watching (via CTH)
“Two researchers, Sasha Latypova and Debbie Lerman, appear with Mr. Oliver to discuss the “COVID DOSSIER.” An extensive research document that outlines how the origin of the COVID-19 response originated from within the military and intelligence community and not, NOT, from public health officials.”
https://youtu.be/999QK1NTE_E?si=uihjdkZfQDkdPlfL; 2/10/25, 8:50 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: “No judge should be allowed…“ - POTUS

I hope Trump is not saying what I think he said.; 2/10/25, 8:52 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: So two black quarterbacks faced each other in the Super Bowl and the black quarterback won and nobody is hardly mentioned it. Is that because we’re living in Trump time?; 2/10/25, 8:59 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Biden was prosecuting his political rival on thinner charges than Arianna Grande muscle mass but, investigating fraud and corruption in government is a threat to democracy. Go figure.; 2/10/25, 9:04 PM
Wa St Blogger said...: Saw and interesting X post:

This country has what can only be described as *bullshit fatigue*

If you have something to say, be honest. Take a position. Argue it logically.

Whining and finger wagging was rejected at the ballot box.

So what say you our resident trolls? Will it be more finger wagging and whining or are you ready to discuss the pros ad cons of policies and not the politics of personal destruction?

Or, as I suspect for some of you, there is no revenue being paid for engaging in logical argument.; 2/10/25, 9:29 PM
William said...: The Syrian civil war caused over six hundred thousand deaths and two million refugees. Gaza is small potatoes next to Syria......If the world can find room for two million Syrian refugees, what's the problem with a lesser number of Gazan refugees.....There's both a blessing and a curse for those involved in the Israel/Palestinian conflict. The world pays exaggerated attention to victims on both sides of the conflict. People else where does anonymously. I understand that Palestinian Christians have been forced out of lands under Hamas/PLO/A Fatawhatever control. I have never once read anything anywhere denouncing their plight.; 2/10/25, 9:34 PM
Big Mike said...: You other folks might be looking at signs of spring, but here in the Shenandoah Valley we're expecting snow to start tomorrow around noon and continue until about sundown Wednesday.; 2/10/25, 9:42 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Dinesh D'Souza © :
It isn't government "waste."
It's corruption.
The Democrats aren't "incompetent."
They're thieves.
They aren't stealing "government money."
It's your money.

One in a blue moon Dinesh says something.; 2/10/25, 9:44 PM
Peachy said...: Eva Marie - wow.; 2/10/25, 9:45 PM
Iman said...: It will be a long time before we live through such a despicable, destructive exhibition by cult like practitioners of progressive ideology. Anyway, that’s my prayer.

These people went out of their way to do as much damage to the USA as they could. And it’s looking like we don’t even know the half of it.; 2/10/25, 9:49 PM
Peachy said...: The Democrat party is an evil religious cult.; 2/10/25, 10:03 PM
n.n said...: All's fair in lust and abortion.; 2/10/25, 10:29 PM
effinayright said...: Lem Vibe Bandit said...
So two black quarterbacks faced each other in the Super Bowl and the black quarterback won and nobody is hardly mentioned it. Is that because we’re living in Trump time?

**********''

Oh, get fucked with a rusty spoon.

Mahomes is HALF black, married to a VERY white woman.
Like his mom. Like Barack.

So we're not living in Trump time---we're living in a time where stupid race-baiting like yours is completely ...stupid.; 2/10/25, 11:46 PM
DINKY DAU 45 said...: SO WHAT scotus GAVE HIM THE GREEN LIGHT "OFFIICAL BUSINESS FU all.. Its how autocracy flourishes..Federal Judge John J. McConnell Jr. ruled Monday that the Trump administration is defying his Jan. 29 order to release billions in federal grants, marking the first explicit judicial declaration of the White House disobeying a court order. Some legal scholars are raising the alarm that a constitutional crisis could be brewing.
The dispute centers on a White House memo that froze federal funds until they aligned with Trump’s priorities. The Justice Department argues that the administration’s actions are lawful because the money still being blocked was allocated for clean energy projects and transportation infrastructure under Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which was stopped under a different executive order signed on Trump’s first day in office. This, they say, is separate from the memo freezing federal funds across the board.
McConnell ordered the government to “immediately restore frozen funding.” But the judge’s statement came a day after Vice President JD Vance posted that judges shouldn't control executive power, as the White House faces a series of blocked court cases – including ending birthright citizenship, restricting access to Treasury Department systems, and nearly 40 other lawsuits against the 53 executive orders he has signed so far.
If the White House does not back down or chooses to ignore the court’s orders, it could call into question whether the judicial branch has the power to constrain the executive, undermining the founding principle of checks and balances, and putting the country on the course toward a constitutional crisis.
bullcrap this is just a start ... sometimes you do get what you deserve.mis westerner farmers now whining because the freeze cutting out their $$$ hey grin and bear it you aint seen nothing yet; 2/10/25, 11:50 PM
Jon Ericson said...: Somewhat Annoyed Man; 2/11/25, 12:07 AM
robertkennedy said...: The blog post "At the Monday Night Café" on Althouse is a lively and engaging space where readers can discuss a wide range of topics. From political commentary to personal anecdotes, the comments section is filled with diverse opinions and lively debates. It's a place where you can talk all night and share your thoughts on various subjects
first time reckless driving virginia; 2/11/25, 12:52 AM
wendybar said...: Eric Daugherty
@EricLDaugh
·
Follow
BREAKING: Congressman Kweisi Mfume demands a "street fight" over President Donald Trump implementing his agenda
https://twitter.com/i/status/1889072189694976314

Susan Baumann
@SusanBaumann
·
Follow
Replying to @EricLDaugh
This peaceful transition of power is just so admirable, don't you think? Nothing but unity and kumbaya out of the DNC elect. Really makes me want to buy the world a coke.
5:50 PM · Feb 10, 2025; 2/11/25, 2:10 AM
Big Mike said...: BTW, could someone explain why the US Agency for International Development giving money to domestic causes?; 2/11/25, 2:49 AM
gadfly said...: Bobby: Nobody has any rights in Virginia now that Trump and Elmo have decided to fire anyone living in the DC suburbs caught standing in their way of profiteering on any and all Americans. So the ad you sneaked into Althouse is in poor taste since Coup Two began on Jan 20.; 2/11/25, 3:36 AM
gadfly said...: Trump appointee, Judge Carl Nichols from the DC District Court, issued a lawsuit that two unions filed to enjoin the USAID shutdown.

When the Court asked the government at the TRO hearing what harm would befall the administration if it could not immediately place on leave the more than 2000 employees in question, it had no response— beyond asserting without any record support that USAID writ large was possibly engaging in “corruption and fraud.”

Trump’s administration had a chance to substantiate Elon Musk's wild claims of fraud and abuse at USAID, but Carl Nichols was unimpressed.

Not to be overcome by a mere court ruling, Musk closed the USAID office building in DC and removed the USAID sign.; 2/11/25, 3:41 AM
Howard said...: If the federal government is Moby Dick, who is Ahab?

Did anyone else see the Trump EO signing and press conference yesterday? Full pardon for Rod Blagoiavich, steel and aluminum tariffs and a new hostage release deadline. I find the reality of what he says and does is much more interesting than the hysterical response to this massive disruption of government.; 2/11/25, 4:28 AM
Danno said...: Gadfly said ..."Musk closed the USAID office building in DC and removed the USAID sign."

Get over it. We don't want to hear your hissyfits posing as comments.; 2/11/25, 4:30 AM
Howard said...: Remember kids, if Trump is successful establishing and confirming the full measure of Executive plenary power, will you be happy when a Democrat president takes the reigns? This gamble can only work if JD Vance can carry on after 2028, otherwise the pendulum will swing back with a vengeance.; 2/11/25, 4:36 AM
wendybar said...: Howard. Read the room. It swung back because of the 3rd term of Obamas fundamental transformation with his pals in the Deep State. Your side is going nuts and the world is laughing at them, whilst they follow along to make their own countries great again.; 2/11/25, 4:53 AM
john mosby said...: Lem: "One in a blue moon Dinesh says something."

Yes, getting the full weight of the DOJ dumped on you tends to make you think before you speak, ever afterward.

JSM; 2/11/25, 4:55 AM
john mosby said...: Eva Marie: "COVID DOSSIER"

Hope Bondi is bringing it to a FISA court right now!

JSM; 2/11/25, 5:00 AM
Jaq said...: It figures that gadfly would respond to an AI spam post as if it were a person. That's just about the level of discernment we have come to expect.; 2/11/25, 5:10 AM
Lucien said...: Prediction: DOGE will find thousands of people fraudulently obtaining Social Security benefits and purge them from the rolls; but there will be at least one error and , Democrats will pounce, shrieking “see, they really are stealing grandma’s benefits to give tax cuts to billionaires “.; 2/11/25, 5:19 AM
Jaq said...: "will you be happy when a Democrat president takes the reigns? "

If Trump successfully brings things like USAID under democratic control, that is agencies like this are made to be responsible to an identifiable elected official who can be called to testify before Congress, has to be confirmed by the Senate, and responds to subpoenas by Congress instead of simply ignoring such requests, the way the political operative Samantha Power did, it will be a win.

Democrats have been installing operatives in the civil service for a long time, it's the "long march through the institutions," and it would be better if, for example our foreign policy were not run by a secret cabal of neoconservatives and neoliberals who think that the only way America can be safe is if every great country in the world has been slighted, the way Cromwell slighted the castles of all of the great families in England. "Let's fight them over there so that we don't have to fight them here" sounds logical, but "let's corner them over there and push them to the wall because we have been told that their missiles won't work"? Well, those kinds of policies should not be beyond democratic control, and they have been for decades now. It's been endless war no matter who is in power, except for Trump. Even Jimmy Carter created the Taliban.

Oh yeah, and if the Democratic Party were less of a top down cult and actually had meaningful primaries, the idea of them being in power would be a lot less scary.; 2/11/25, 5:19 AM
Enigma said...: @Howard: This gamble can only work if JD Vance can carry on after 2028, otherwise the pendulum will swing back with a vengeance.

You mean we'd go back to Biden family graft and his blanket pardons of January 19, 2025? When the Democrats are rotten to core and have been rotten to the core since 2011 (the Deep State went into overdrive after the Dems lost Congress to the Republicans), this would be no loss.

If the USA continues down the Democrat's corrupt and incoherent path (i.e., Trans bullying of women = good; female support laws written by Democrats like Title IX = bad; Second hand tobacco smoke laws by Democrats = good; Second hand MJ smoke = ignored; Prosecuting Republican anti-abortion and political protesters = good; Prosecuting Democrats for anything at all = bad) it will collapse very soon.

The big bad bully and wildly corrupt USSR of Ronald Reagan in 1984 was gone in less than 10 years.; 2/11/25, 5:23 AM
Leland said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/11/25, 5:35 AM
Leland said...: Nobody has rights because some people lost their job?

Gadfly’s position now is that Biden took away the Pipeline XL workers rights. Ok then.; 2/11/25, 5:37 AM
Leland said...: "will you be happy when a Democrat president takes the reigns? "

No, but that’s because we just watched Biden do everything Trump is doing, plus Biden prosecuted his political enemies, and gave his entire family a pardon. We told you that you wouldn’t be happy when Trump got back in office, and now you are not. You are only in week 4. We did 4 years. Buckle up, buttercup.; 2/11/25, 5:47 AM
BUMBLE BEE said...: Remember when Barry said "I have a phone and a pen?" Good Times.; 2/11/25, 5:53 AM
BUMBLE BEE said...: Barry USAID who's yer Daddy G?; 2/11/25, 5:55 AM
Breezy said...: The Budget must return to regular order asap.; 2/11/25, 5:57 AM
Jaq said...: Sanctions are basically tariffs imposed by others. For instance we have sanctioned Russia, withdrawn Western companies like Apple, McDonalds, etc, withheld from their market Western made goods like automobiles, etc. Russia's most recent economic growth figures show a booming economy at 4.5% GDP growth. A lot of this growth is from the fact that Russian capital is locked in Russia, and so no longer gets drained to the West, and that Western companies simply abandoned the market to domestic producers there. It doesn't hurt that when Western companies repudiated their contracts and left Russia, that Putin abrogated their patents, which will be a problem for some Russian companies in the future if they want to grow internationally, but the point is that sanctions are a kind of tough love, and sure they raise prices, but they grow the economy. It's very likely that Trump's tariffs will work the same way. The people who don't like tariffs are globalists who are always searching for cheap labor. They don't mind that much if prices rise, but what they hate are when wages rise.; 2/11/25, 6:00 AM
Clyde said...: "reigns" - what a monarch does
"reins" - used to control a horse
"rains" - water falling from the sky
"Rains" - shocked, shocked to find gambling in the casino; 2/11/25, 6:05 AM
boatbuilder said...: Gospace--Have you read "The Bitcoin Standard" by Saifodeem Ammous? Although you can take or leave his argument/proposal that Bitcoin could replace gold as the standard of value backing currency, his basic point is that monetary stability is vital to society; one of his principal arguments is that the stability of money has a moral component. I am oversimplifying, but his point is that when the long-term stability of money is established, members of a community have a greater incentive to "invest" in that community and its continuance (i. e., follow the "rules"); when the value of money is fleeting, the opposite occurs. Among his many historical examples is the Roman Empire, which (he argues) thrived when the aureus was pure gold, and collapsed as the governing authorities succumbed to the inevitable temptation to inflate and manipulate the value of "money."
A fascinating book--Whether you accept his theses or not, his concise explanation of what "money" is is instructive and thought-provoking.; 2/11/25, 7:25 AM