No Offense To Dahlia Lithwick, But No One Needs Or Wants The Clintons Or Chuck Schumer To Lead Protests Against Trumpism

Dahlia Lithwick's OpEd in yesterday's NY Times Buck Up, Democrats, and Fight Like Republicans bemoans the absence of "top Democrats" in the earliest skirmishes with Trump and his illegitimate presidency. But maybe it isn't the worst thing in the world that the widely despised and completely compromised "top Democrats" are keeping a low profile. Let's face it, Chuck Schumer isn't exactly a figure grassroots Democrats are going to rally behind, especially not as he works with Trump to make things even worse for ordinary Americans. And few want to hear another peep out of the Clinton's and the rotten, corrupt machine that led to Trump's coup. The opposition from Trump so far has come from the grassroots.

"Though he lost the election by nearly three million votes and almost daily generates headlines about new scandals," she wrote, "the Democratic Party is doing little to stop him. If you’ve been asking yourself 'Where are the Democrats?' you’re not alone. Since the election, top Democrats have been almost absent on the national stage. Rather, they have been involved largely in internecine warfare about how much to work with Mr. Trump. The Hillary Clinton campaign, trying to encourage a peaceful transition, has gone almost completely dark, with her most notable appearances coming in selfies with strangers. Nobody deserves downtime more than Mrs. Clinton, but while she is decompressing, the country is moving toward its biggest electoral mistake in history."

Does she really think anyone is going to get behind the far-fetched, completely hopeless schemes being floated by well-meaning crackpots about how to stop Trump (and trigger a civil war)? Grow the fuck up. "Impassioned citizens," she whined, "have been pleading with electors to vote against Mr. Trump; law professors have argued that winner-take-all laws for electoral votes are unconstitutional; a small group, the Hamilton Electors, is attempting to free electors to vote their consciences; and a new theory has arisen that there is legal precedent for courts to give the election to Mrs. Clinton based on Russian interference. All of these efforts, along with the grass-roots protests, boycotts and petitions, have been happening without the Democratic Party. The most we’ve seen is a response to the C.I.A. revelations, but only with Republicans onboard to give Democrats bipartisan cover."

Hey Dahlia, darling-- you want to stop Trumpism? Stop with the damn bullshit about Hamilton electors and reach into your bank account and give 'til it hurts-- not to more damn Schumerites and Clintonites and unelectable DCCC garbage-- give to real progressive candidates running to take back the House in 2018. Not to candidates whop hire consultants to teach them the "right" things to say but to candidates who have the right thing to say in their hearts. That'll block Trumpism. I hate to say it to a smart woman like you, but none of that other bullshit will. It will just take everyone's focus off the ONLY political goal they should have in mind-- winning back the House in 2018. That's it. There is nothing else. Nothing. It will be another year before someone like Rachel Maddow figures that out chasing chimeras like the utter nonsense of a Foster Campbell "victory" in Louisiana is destructive, not even neutral.

You want to stop Trumpism? Make sure Doug Applegates replaces Darrell Issa in 2018. Make sure some careerist charter school EMILY's List vomit is smashed to bits on primary day so that Congress gets populated by real fighters who won't let Trump and his crap pass. Here, pay attention. This is Jimmy Gomez, the California Assemblyman who made Paid Family Leave affordable for people who need it most, who couldn't use it because well-meaning but out of touch upper middle class professionals don't understand the lives of real people:

It's not enough for Democrats to say that "now is the time to fight." That's an empty promise that epitomizes our political failures. What it's time for is a major overhaul of how Democrats think and plan. We must fundamentally ask ourselves "why have our approaches to electoral and legislative strategy failed, and what can we do to reverse that course?" We must invest in understanding how to win back voters who we've clearly lost. This does not mean investing in a fundraising agenda based on quid pro quo politics, but rather a messaging agenda. How do we figure out what voters want from their Government? Then, how do we make their agenda happen? You see, in Sacramento I've worked hard to understand the will of Californians. But it hasn't been enough to stop there. I've studied how to make sure the will of the people is not only heard, but effectively put into law. This in-depth dive into understanding the minutae of government has allowed me to write and pass an effective Paid Family Leave bill. It has allowed me to pass our country's strongest climate change legislation. In Congress we must do a similar project. We must craft progressive policies that speak to the heart of what it is that voters need. This approach will result in much better electoral outcomes in the age of Trump, rather than the approach of saying the all too cliche, "it's time to fight."

Tuesday, Newt Gingrich rallied right-wing assholes at the Heritage Foundation with visions of sugar plum faries setting alight the accomplishments started almost a century ago by progressives, particularly Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt. Gingrich called it "The Principles of Trumpism" and even the National Review interpreted it as "say whatever you can to win popularity, then use whatever power you have to do what you want." There is no reason to not believe Gingrich and the other Republicans that Trump will go along with the Republican desire "to break out of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt model" of government and work with Ryan to gut Social Security and Medicare.

And what is Lithwick suggesting? An army of Democratic lawyers waving papers in judges faces? "Clear pronouncements?" Give me a break. People have had enough of the garbage politicians who have captured the Democratic Party. They're the yin to Trump's yang and they all have to go to hell together. "As Monday’s Electoral College vote approaches," she concluded,"Democrats should be fighting tooth and nail." The leaders' shitty candidates-- foisted on the public-- lost. Pointless appeals to a ridiculous electoral college won't do anything but demoralize the Democratic base. Keep your eye on the ball-- 2018: the House of Representatives. This list will grow. Feed it and forget about the Clintons and Schumers already; they've done enough damage. Are these "the leaders" Lithwick expects to see leading the resistance against Trump?

Talking The 2016 Post-Election Blues

-by Bruce Mulkey

On a warm Texas morning on Wednesday, November 3, 1948, I remember my mom, Sue Mulkey, a life-long Democrat, gleefully asking our next-door neighbor, “Well, how do you like our new president?” Defying the predictions of almost every pundit and pollster, President Harry Truman, who had succeeded to the presidency when FDR died, had won a full term, defeating Republican challenger Thomas Dewey in what some considered one of the greatest political upsets in American history. It was especially astounding when you consider that two Democratic factions split from the party: Henry Wallace, former vice president under FDR, ran as the Progressive Party’s presidential candidate, and Strom Thurman, governor of South Carolina, headed the Dixiecrat ticket. Sixty-eight years later, an electoral shockwave that would dwarf Truman’s surprising victory was unfolding before my eyes.

As I watched the returns start to trickle in on election night with Shonnie and our friend Carolyn, I kept saying, “The votes in the Democratic strongholds obviously haven’t come in yet. It’s just a matter of time before Hillary takes the lead in Florida.” But she didn’t. Not in Florida, nor in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Michigan, or Wisconsin. Given the almost all the polls had consistently shown Clinton leading, it was difficult to believe what was happening.

Disconsolate, I went to bed around midnight after it was clear that Donald Trump was on his way to becoming our next president. I woke up around 3:00 a.m. and fumbled around with my Kindle to see if a miracle had taken place, if some of the battleground states had flipped to the Democratic column. They hadn’t.

Let me be clear. I voted for Bernie Sanders in the North Carolina primary when hope was still alive that he could capture the Democratic nomination for president. I supported Sanders because I believed (and still believe) that he understood the necessity of addressing issues such as income inequality, lack of a living wage for many, our two-tiered justice system, institutional racism, the militarization of our police departments, world-wide militarism (800 military bases in more than 70 countries and territories abroad), government surveillance of U.S. citizens, and climate change.

In contrast, it’s evident to me that, over the past several decades, the Democratic establishment has tilted considerably to the right, and their chosen candidate, Hillary Clinton, qualified as she might be, epitomized that position on the political spectrum. Nowhere near the Republicans’ shift to the far right, but to the right of center nonetheless. Furthermore, Clinton’s sense of entitlement (It’s my turn.), the Clinton dynasty (So, now Chelsea is being groomed to run for Congress.), the Clinton’s relentless pursuit of the almighty dollar (current net worth estimated at over $100 million), and the DNC’s manipulations before and during the Democratic primaries to deliver the nomination to Clinton all made it challenging for me to get behind the Democratic candidate.

Nonetheless, I refrained from criticizing Hillary during the general election campaign and voted for her during early voting in North Carolina, though to be honest, mine was more a vote against Trump than a vote for Clinton. But what the hell, I thought, let’s elect a woman. We’re way past due. In addition, of course, I voted for the down-ticket Democrats, including Roy Cooper, North Carolina’s Governor-elect, and our local candidates for the state house and senate, Buncombe County Commission, and Register of Deeds, all of whom won.

Since Trump was declared the winner, my world has seemed surreal. I keep waking in the morning and remembering the election (“Holy shit, we really elected Trump?”) much as, a few decades ago, I’d wake up after an evening of serious drinking: (“Damn, I didn’t really say that, did I?”) I remembered Sinclair Lewis’s book It Can’t Happen Here, a novel written during the Great Depression about the tenuousness of democracy and how fascism could rear its ugly head in America. I fell into a funk from which I still haven’t fully recovered.

I’m amazed at how many folks believe that President-elect Donald Trump is brimming with high self-esteem. He is not. What Donald Trump demonstrates is pseudo-self-esteem. He unconsciously hides his fears, insecurities, and self-doubt behind a façade of hyper-masculinity, aggressiveness, belligerence, and hostility. If one were to strip away his macho mask, you’d find a scared little boy, albeit in the body of a man, who is unable to hear any thoughts that run counter to his, who meets resistance by striking back, who judges others as unworthy or less than him in order to conceal his deep fear that he himself is unworthy, incompetent, or even unlovable. Anyone or any action that might reveal his vulnerability will be met with ridicule, contempt, or even violence.

Of course, at his core, Trump is neither the blustering demagogue nor the frightened child. He is human. He is one of us. And while it may be easy to castigate Trump for his extremes, we can nonetheless acknowledge his humanity, while standing with people of color, women, LGBT people, Muslims, immigrants, the disabled, and other minorities. Nonetheless, in the midst of all of this, I sometimes find myself wondering if it really matters who the president of the United States is. Yes, the president has the bully pulpit, and beginning in 2017 a bona fide bully will occupy that pulpit, but much of what goes on in this nation does so despite who the president is.

A 2014 Princeton study that reviewed more than twenty years of data (that includes measures of the key variables for 1,779 policy issues) indicates that political leaders of both major political parties listen to the economic elites, business interests, and people who can afford lobbyists (all entities that fund their re-election campaigns) rather than the citizens who elected them. According to the study:

The preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy.

We live in an oligarchy, a country run by the economic elite. No matter how popular a measure might be with the bottom ninety-percent of income earners in America, no matter which party holds the presidency or a majority in Congress, issues that are popular with the public-- such as federally-funded healthcare insurance for all Americans, regulating the prices of life-saving drugs, job creation, and effectively dealing with global warming, among others-- never see the light of day. Our government apparently doesn’t care what you think. Not unless you are willing to contribute excessive amounts of money to a politician’s campaign, an action that is tantamount to legalized bribery. In such a system, do you really think Congress, regardless of which political party holds a majority, will take action to deal with income inequality? To eliminate institutional racism? To provide our schools with the resources necessary to give our children a first-rate education? To support parents, especially during their children’s early years? To rein in military spending and our overseas misadventures? To effectively deal with climate change? The 2016 election has exposed the impotence of our two major political parties-- one which nominated a reality TV star, a man-child who would be king, the natural consequence of the Republicans’ decades-long practice of using bigotry and intolerance to court their adherents, and by doing so, exposed the dark underbelly of America-- the racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, and Islamophobia-- long denied. The other party refused to discern the mood of the electorate and nominated a candidate out of tune with the times primarily because she was next in line. The election also revealed the mainstream media, which covered Trump’s every move no matter how disgusting and wrote off Sanders early on as a kooky old socialist with wild hair, as a tentacle of the ruling elite that values stockholder profits over true journalism.

Perhaps this is the wake-up call many of us needed to awaken from our trance-like state, to disavow the bread and circuses, to abandon our quest for the next new shiny thing, to finally grasp that the ruling elite keeps us fighting among ourselves over table scraps while they make out like bandits. Perhaps it’s time to comprehend that no one on the white horse is coming to save us (no, not even Bernie), that we’re all in this together, that we must take responsibility for our lives and our communities, that it’s time for decisive action, to take to the streets in numbers that cannot be ignored, perhaps even to put our lives on the line... before it’s too late.

Bruce Mulkey is an essayist and author from Asheville, North Carolina. He is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post, The Good Men Project, and OpEd News. Learn more at his website.

Hey Republicans! It’s On You. Period. (Part 2)

-by Noah

On Wednesday morning, when I wrote my post entitled, If You Voted For The Orange Fascist, It’s On You. Period, I wrote that how eerily quiet New York City was that morning. New York is not alone in its reaction to the stunning and appalling victory of Herr Trumpf and what evil it could visit on America. As with all tragedies, people have now entered a period of working through their grieving into a mood of not resignation but resolve and meeting the challenges. If Trump holds to the type of politician indicated by his campaign rhetoric and promises, his administration is a clear a present danger to the great American experiment as outlined in our Constitution. He is appealing to the basest instincts of humanity. He and his most fervent followers are an assault on American values.

Not surprisingly, the damage to the fabric that makes America great is already showing itself. Even before, election day, the poor example of and for humanity that the Republican Party was offering our society was manifesting itself not just among the alleged adults in Trump crowds who gave nazi salutes and expressed racial and religious animus, but among our children in schoolyards across the country. Bullying is up, way up. The children of Trump supporters are singling out the children of immigrants, roughing them up, and yelling that they are about to be deported. This is juvenile KKK stuff. It would be all too easy to say that they are just kids and they don’t know any better but they are acting just like their supposedly adult parents.

This will not be good when schoolyards are as polarized as the voting electorate. Gang recruiting will go up in proportion to the hateful spew coming from our new, so-called leaders. The time for Trump and other Republican leaders to set an example and publicly and loudly say that such behavior is reprehensible has already passed. We are left with the damage and the knowledge that what we are starting to see is exactly what Republicans want. The leadership void has been exposed. They are already failing not just those who didn’t support them but those who did as well. If their kids come home from school bruised and battered, it will be due to the forces they voted to unleash.

Trump is the man at the top. The man at the top, whether it’s in a company, on a ship, on a football team, or, in this case, our country, sets the tone. Trump’s tone is the worst tone. It will make your head spin. He has the worst words. Believe me.

One of my neighbors here in NYC teaches elementary school children in a New York public school. On Wednesday and Thursday, the teachers at her school had to forgo the usual lessons in math and grammar and try to calm down their classes full of panic-filled students who, if not immigrants themselves, were old enough to know that their mothers, fathers, aunts and uncles were. The teachers rallied and gave basic lessons in the Constitution, civics, and protective structures created by the founding fathers. That’s all well and good. It’s hopeful; until you acknowledge that the President and both houses of Congress, not to mention the Supreme Court will soon all be in republican hands.

Even as I write this, the disgusting Newt Gingrich, a man who belongs in another time, is re-upping his recent call for a new House Un-American Activities committee in Congress.

It doesn’t get any more un-American than that. Some of us learned nothing from the 1950s when questions were asked about who one associated with or knew. People were blacklisted from jobs if there was even a hint of having associated with Russians. Now, we have a President-Elect who has. What irony? But, to republicans, Joe McCarthy, the man who stoked the fires of “a commie under every bed” paranoia and, in the end, proved to have not even a shred of decency, is an iconic role model. I can see people like Rep. Darrell Issa or Rep. Trey Gowdy asking people if they shop at stores owned by Muslims and making all sorts of insinuations. Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it. Again, this is down to leadership, or, lack there of.

What I described about a local school is not only happening in elementary schools across the country. A friend who teaches music at a university in Connecticut tells me that she came to work on Wednesday and faced crying, very nervous students; students who have come to this country to learn. They’re learning alright. They are learning that the American Dream is not what they thought it was when their parents saved and sent them to a good American college to get a leg up on a better life. LGBTQ, students, naturally have similar fears. Likewise, the college where my wife works has had to bring extra counselors to deal with the stress and fear that large numbers of their students are going through since election day. They have 20 year olds crying in fear in the library. This is all due to 21st Century Republicanism.

At Southern Illinois University, some white students celebrated the Trump election by putting on blackface and posing in front of a Confederate flag. This is just one of more and more instances of this evil being reported Republican students like this feel they have permission now. It’s akin to yelling fire in a crowded theater. There’s no telling who will get crushed in the stampede.

On several Texas college campuses, students are protesting what Trump and his party have encouraged with their fascist hate speech directed towards minority groups of all kinds. The most egregious example may be a flier circulated by a groups of open-carry Texans who call themselves “Texas State Vigilantes” on a Texas State campus. Their flier says-

Now that our man TRUMP is elected and Republicans own both the Senate and the House-- time to organize tar & feather VIGILANTE SQUADS and go arrest & torture those deviant University leaders spouting off all this Diversity Garbage.

That flyer could have been written by any one of the people we see regularly whining on FOX “News.” It defines Trumpism.

Given all of this, is it any wonder that masses of students in cities around the country are taking to the streets and protesting? And, it’s not just the would be victims of Republicanism, it is also their friends and fellow students who have nothing to personally fear except that they don’t want to live in the world that the Republican Party has in mind for them. They don’t want any part of a society that won’t let their gay friends get married. They don’t want to live in an America that promotes the horrific torture of Gay Conversion Therapy for their friends. They don’t want to live in a society where birth control is outlawed. They don’t want to live in a society where all abortion is forbidden. They don’t want to live in an America where autoworker jobs pay like sneaker factory jobs in Indonesia do.

What is our sniffing, snorting, Chinese tie wearing, conspiracy pushing psychopathic President-Elect offering in the way of leadership? He whines and says, in another of his endless examples of projection, that the protesters are being “unfair.” They are being unfair? If he can’t stand a little heat, he should get out now. He’s in over his comb-over. Just wait ‘til his egg-encrusted inauguration day parade.

Tuesday’s result was a surprise to even many high profile Republican Party and Republican media people, but, they supported him. In the end, 59,000,000 people, bamboozled by a jive-ass conman who has shown zero regard for the American Constitution voted against their own interests. Were they thinking that an orange haired Mr. Montgomery Burns would be in their corner? How much of what he promised them will he even attempt to delver. Already, he’s backing away from destroying Obamacare and taking insurance away from 20,000,000 Americans. Already, he’s changing his tune about the insane Republican wet dream of sending Hillary Clinton to prison. Afterall, he may have to pardon his wife for her little visa issue first. He may even have to look into pardoning himself after he spends the next couple of months going to court on the charges facing him. What were his supporters smoking? Just how much meth is out there anyway? Oh well, soon they won’t be able to afford it. They’ll be getting much more edgy then. Of all Americans, they will feel the most betrayed. Their heads will spin. Herr Trump offers the biggest, tallest betrayal. Believe me.

To Those Who Voted For The Orange Fascist: It's On You Now. Period

- by Noah



I'm pretty numb right now. I woke up this morning and I felt like I did when, as a boy, I woke up on the morning of November 23,1963: heartbreak, depression, and wondering what would become of all of us. I live in New York City and the streets are eerily quiet today. The constant cacophony of honking horns is silenced. No one is stopped at the light blasting their choice of music for all the world to hear. Normally, it’s only this quiet during a hellacious blizzard. I haven’t even heard a raised voice.

I worry about what the election of Donald J. Trump says both about and to all of us. Perhaps most of all, I worry about what this election of Trump says to our children. It tells school kids that they can get all the way to the top, not if they study but if they refine their bullying ability, as if bullying wasn’t already a problem in our schools. It tells our boys that assaulting our girls is not just ignored but may be even rewarded. I think of what a picture of an accomplished woman president placed, nicely framed, on the classroom wall would have said about our country and what it would say to our girls.

Don’t waste anytime mourning. Organize!
-Joe Hill

I do know that we need a patriotic resistance movement. I'd like to think that Trump is such a pathological liar that he was lying about everything, but, I know better. I don't see him changing. He is incredibly mentally ill and maladjusted. I do suspect that the most disappointed people in the next couple of years will be those who voted for him. The weight of buyer’s remorse will be immense. The rest of us will have expected the misery. We will all have to live in the consequences. The media has played a supportive role in the rise of Trump (and not just the $2 Billion in free airtime for his Castro/Hitler style ravings) in that his supporters have no idea that he is far more of a crook than they ever imagined HRC to be, and that he has repeatedly failed in his business ventures. They will now have a President-elect on trial for fraud and, possibly, if the case proceeds, rape of a minor. Impeaching him will be hard with a Repug Senate and House. His brand is already suffering. His Toronto hotel closed. The new one in Washington is about to go belly up, but, ironically, his inauguration will buy it time. The way Trump operates, I have little doubt that visiting dignitaries will be told to stay there, and, that somehow, we the taxpayers will pay for their stays. Now he can use his position to enrich himself and his family, which is, most likely, the reason he ran in the first place.

All I can say in Trump’s favor is that, yes, things like NAFTA and CAFTA and similar trade agreements do need to be renegotiated. I recall that the great Thom Hartmann said several years ago now that the party that gets behind that idea and incentivizes the return of industrial jobs to Americans will reap the political success. Unfortunately, there is no doubt that the republicans would give us a structure to go along with it that pays workers slave wages and enriches only the big boss man. I see the return of the company store and the company-owned home. We had a hint of that in what Mitten Romney said about the “wonderful” factories in China; the “wonderful factories in China where Ivanka’s line of shoes is made and where Trump’s line of ties is made.

Funny how the powers that be have removed all mention of Joe Hill from school textbooks. We’ll be needing another Joe Hill more than ever now.

Trump’s supporters called the flawed Hillary Clinton many things. One was "Oligarchist." So what did they do? They voted in an Oligarchist on massive steroids. Even Trump’s New York home is patterend after the Palace of Versailles, right down to the gold filigree chairs he sits in.

Trump’s campaign was a case of "The Cult Of Personality" ruling the day. Personally, I could never have thrown in my lot with the KKK and all of those other White Supremacy groups even if I thought Trump was sane and even if I agreed with him on economic issues. Character should matter, but, all too often, it doesn’t when we decide who goes to Washington. In fact, bad character is often the one true bipartisan thing in our nation’s capitol.



I'm left with two hopes. One is the aforementioned highly unlikely one about him lying so much that he turns out to be the opposite of what he presented to us all. The other is more long term: I see our country's political history as a series of pendulums. The country swings left. Then the country swings right. What happened in the 1920s and the FDR reaction of the 1930s is as good example as any of this. Soup kitchens begat the now endangered Social Security program. The more the pendulum swings one way, the more it often swings back the other way. Trump's followers saw things like gender equality and Obamacare as extreme left things. They even saw the corporatist-centrist President Obama himself as extreme left, and homophobia and race was something that they, unconsciously in some cases, consciously in others, hung their criticisms and nihilistic hatreds on. So, perhaps, in four, or eight years, or maybe twelve, the inevitable reaction will give us the Republican Party's worst nightmare, full blown Socialism, or, at least President Elizabeth Warren. My advice (unwanted) to the Republican Party is: Be careful what you wish for. [NOTE: Bruce has a part II, or an update, coming mañana.]

I've been listening to this song a lot in recent months. It's one of my absolute favorite songs of the last 35 years. It could not be more appropriate than it is today. Great artists give us timeless art.

Has It Sunk In Yet?

I'm not a betting man but had I bet, it would have been for Hillary-- and the odds being offered would have been terrible for the bettor-- and I was tempted to buy stocks when I saw them collapsing last night. That would have been a losing bet, too. Dow Futures were down 750 points at one point. But, today, they are trading in a normal range as the uncertainty of what a Trump presidency would bring set in. The Nikkei was off almost 6%. The dollar dropped over 2% against the Euro and the Mexican peso collapsed by over 10%. But by mid-morning the Dow had turned around and was actually UP 76 points (although health services stocks have continued to crash).

Before voting started, my financial advisor forwarded me something to read about markets and elections and how Wall Street contextualizes politics-- Everything Investors Need to Know-- and Should Ignore-- About the Upcoming Election. The bottom line, of course, is that "well-positioned, well-led companies will create investment value regardless of who sits in the White House." Hmmm... and what about the other 90% of public companies?

The Market Does NOT Perform Any Better When the “Pro-Business” Party Is in the White House.

A common belief holds that the stock market will fare better when a Republican is in the White House because the Grand Old Party tends to be more pro-business. The related expectation is that Democrats-- with their purported preference toward higher taxes and increased regulation-- hinder economic and market growth. The historical evidence doesn’t support either notion.

• The markets have done very well, and had bouts of difficulty, during the terms of presidents from both parties.

• In fact, if you look at the returns of the Dow Jones Industrial Average since its invention in 1897, it’s clear the stock market does not favor either party.

 • Investors who stay the course are likely to fare much better than those who invest only when one of the two major political parties controls the White House.

...Six Truths that Won’t Be Affected by the Election’s Outcome

1-Gridlock Doesn’t Mean Nothing Gets Done.

The volume of legislation that can get passed will be lessened if the occupant of the White House doesn’t have a majority in the House of Representatives and a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. Still, gridlock doesn’t mean inaction. Consider, as an example, the progress made on reducing the federal budget deficit during a period of notorious Washington gridlock.

2- Changes in Washington Don’t Typically Come All at Once But in Increments.

With few exceptions (like Obamacare or Dodd-Frank), the United States changes policy, not with one broad, sweeping effort, but rather with small steps. Consider the examples that have been debated for decades but seen few major changes: energy, transportation and immigration policy. We’ve made significant policy changes—for better or worse—in each of those areas, but we’ve done so with repeated small steps, rather than one great leap forward.

3- Campaign Rhetoric Doesn’t Always Influence What Happens During a President’s Tenure.

4- Consumers and Businesses Have a Far Greater Impact on the Economy than the Government.

The overwhelming majority of what happens in the U.S. economy depends on you, me, and the businesses we work for and patronize.

5- The State of the Economy Influences Who Is President, Not Vice Versa.

Decades of history prove that the state of the economy determines the president, not the other way around. In fact, the economy’s impact on elections can be stated in a fairly simple equation: Strong economy (declining employment and inflation) = A win for the incumbent party candidate.

6- The Stock Market Doesn’t Care If the Public Is Happy with Who’s President.

Finally, one lingering fear investors may have is that the markets could suffer if the public elects a president who is already very unpopular or who could become unpopular while in office. Here again, though, history suggests the market is resilient and indifferent to a president’s current approval rating.

Issues that Could Be Affected by the Election’s Outcome

Only a true cynic-- and a misinformed citizen-- would conclude it doesn’t matter whether a Republican or Democrat sits in the Oval Office. In fact, several major issues are likely to be affected by which party occupies the White House, though if Paul Ryan remains speaker (which seems likely at this point), we might reasonably expect more traditionally conservative viewpoints to remain influential.

2 Judicial Appointments

A Barack Obama-appointed replacement for the late Justice Antonin Scalia will face a stiff battle in the Republican-controlled Senate this year. If an appointment is delayed for the remainder of President Obama’s term, the next President will be able to appoint at least one justice to the court. Given that Justice Ginsburg is over 80 years old, and two more (Justices Breyer and Kennedy) will turn 80 over the next three years, there is the possibility that the next President could appoint several justices during his or her term, thereby shaping the court and its decisions for decades to come.

3 Regulatory Stance

The executive branch has considerable latitude to decide how existing laws will be enforced. Financial services, education, defense, healthcare, environmental protection and energy production are just a few of the areas that executive direction can influence in the absence of legislative action.

As the campaign proceeds, both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump may begin to reveal more of their views on regulatory issues, including some areas-- such as drug pricing-- where the president’s regulatory powers may fall short of his or her campaign rhetoric. (Hillary Clinton’s tweeted pledge to end drug price gouging offers one clear example.)

Conclusion:

It’s Probably Best Not to Let Your Reaction to Who Wins Shape Your Investment Decisions.

For U.S. citizens and observers in other countries, the U.S. election will, as always, give us sufficient reasons for both optimism and despair. But as investors, whether our preferred outcome materializes or not, we must keep our focus on where economic value is being created under the circumstances that actually occur, not on what would have happened had our choice been realized.

Most of Us Dislike the Other Party More than We Like Our Own

I’ll conclude therefore with a warning: over the past decade and a half, most of us who lean one way or the other have maintained the same skeptical but positive view of our own party, but our view of the other party has gone from mostly negative to quite bitter. That change means that many of us will be highly frustrated, even angry, at the results of the November election.

Stick with Your Plan Under Any Circumstances

On November 9, 2016, be prepared to slam a door or shout down the basement stairs if your candidate and party lose, but don’t abandon your well-thought-out investment plan. Patiently compare it to changed circumstance but don’t let electoral disappointment turn into financial disappointment as well.

This morning Scott Paul, President of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, was already looking for a bright side of the cloud. "We congratulate President-elect Donald Trump," he said, for a successful campaign, and for articulating a vision of a stronger economy with manufacturing at the center of a strategy to rebuild the middle class. Our nation has long been supported by our country’s makers and we look forward to working with the new administration and Members of Congress as we turn manufacturing and reasonable trade enforcement promises into reality. One of the most defining themes of this election was the economic pain felt by some voters, particularly those within the working middle-class. Communities across America felt left behind as manufacturing jobs disappeared and no single election cycle can erase that. As President-elect Trump prepares to take office, the question becomes how best to restore the American dream for our working people-- and that path, for many, lies in the heart of a resurgent manufacturing sector. President-elect Trump and Congress must come together on much needed investment that will put Americans to work building and repairing our nation’s crumbling infrastructure. Stronger trade enforcement to address China’s massive overcapacity and a crackdown on countries trying to circumvent U.S. trade laws can boost manufacturing jobs. Factory workers were more than a prop in this election. Now's the time to deliver for them."

Good attitude! Paddy Power had one too. Remember them> The U.K. betting house who paid out over a million dollars last month to Hillary betters because they were so sure the election was over and had gone her way? Well, today they announced they're paying out $4.5 million to Trump bettors-- "biggest political payout ever."

After Donald Trump was hit with scandal after scandal the bookie was confident of Hillary's chances - prompting the whopping payout. But Clinton's campaign took a late hit thanks to the reopened FBI investigation which resulted in a huge surge in bets for The Donald.

Féilim Mac An Iomaire, a spokesperson for Paddy Power, said “We’re in the business of making predictions and decided to put our neck on the line by paying out early on Hillary Clinton, but boy did we get it wrong. We’ve been well and truly thumped by Trump with his victory leaving us with the biggest political payout in the company’s history and some very, very expensive egg on our faces.”

Meanwhile, Paddy Power have started taking bets on a number of Trump specials following the Republican’s election such as 4/1 to be re-elected in 2020, 20/1 to build a Mexican border wall and 100/1 to turn the White House gold.

Donald Trump Specials

4/1         To be re-elected in 2020
10/1       To be successfully impeached
6/4         To appear in court during presidency
100/1     Turn the White House Gold
20/1       To build a Mexican Border wall (wall covering entirety of US-Mexican border)

First international visit:

Evs         Russia
2/1         Mexico
4/1         Israel
4/1         UK
5/1         Canada
10/1       Slovenia
20/1       Ireland
25/1       China
33/1       Venezuela
50/1       Cuba
66/1       North Korea