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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Broken_Clock who wrote (1096679)	10/31/2018 7:31:13 PM
From: Heywood40	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1576663

If only someone would come up with a way to make electricity out of sunshine...

To: Broken_Clock who wrote (1096679)	10/31/2018 8:35:57 PM
From: J_F_Shepard	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1576663

Is sunlight more expensive in Hawaii????

To: Broken_Clock who wrote (1096679)	11/1/2018 8:54:08 AM
From: sylvester80	1 Recommendation Recommended By Celtictrader Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1576663

OOPS! Federal debt sales under Trump surpassing record set after financial crisis By BLOOMBERG OCT 31, 2018 \| 10:15 AM latimes.com President Trump’s debt sales will surpass levels last seen when the U.S. was digging out of its worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. The difference is, this time the economy is booming. A ballooning budget shortfall — fueled by tax cuts, spending hikes and an aging population — is driving the U.S. Treasury to raise its long-term debt issuance at its quarterly refunding auctions to $83 billion from $78 billion three months earlier, the department said Wednesday. The debt issuance at this quarterly refunding beats the previous record of $81 billion set by former Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner in 2009 when the U.S. was recovering from the Great Recession. This time borrowing is surging as the economy hums along at a 3.5% annual growth rate and unemployment is near a half-century low. The Treasury release may draw more attention to rising federal deficits less than a week before midterm elections that will determine whether Republicans maintain control of Congress. Trump frequently criticized his Democratic predecessor for running up the budget deficit, and in 2012 recommended banning lawmakers from reelection if Congress couldn’t balance the budget. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office forecasts the budget gap will reach $973 billion in fiscal 2019 and exceed $1 trillion the next year. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. predicts the deficit will reach $1 trillion and $1.125 trillion, respectively. The need for the Treasury to raise auction sizes for a fourth straight quarter is also partially driven by the Federal Reserve’s decision not to replace some of its Treasury holdings when they mature as it winds down crisis-era stimulus measures. That waning support for U.S. government debt from the Fed, combined with Trump’s deficit-spending policies, are weighing on the debt load that he inherited from President Obama. In Trump’s first full fiscal year, the U.S. budget deficit grew to $779 billion, the highest level since 2012, despite having an economy which Trump budget director Mick Mulvaney last week called a “Goldilocks moment” of low unemployment and contained price growth. The Treasury Department has also highlighted the need to sell more debt as the Fed allows its $4.2-trillion balance sheet to slowly shrink. While some analysts are raising concerns over demand for Treasuries as more debt is issued, Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin has dismissed worries. “The market has handled the supply very well,” Mnuchin said earlier this month, adding that demand for U.S. government bonds remains strong. The yield on the benchmark 10-year note climbed as much as 4 basis points to 3.16% Wednesday.

To: Broken_Clock who wrote (1096679)	11/1/2018 8:55:46 AM
From: sylvester80	1 Recommendation Recommended By Celtictrader Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1576663

OOPS! Rising national debt to affect voters' midterm election decisions, poll says A wide majority of voters say the nation's rising debt will factor into their decision during next week's midterm elections, according to a new survey.The poll by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation finds that about three-quarters of voters rank the national debt as "important" in determining which candidate to support.The deficit ballooned by 17 percent last fiscal year to $779 billion, driven by the sweeping Republican tax cuts and more government spending, particularly on defense. The deficit is forecast to hit $1 trillion in fiscal year 2019. Ylan Mui \| @ylanmui Published 5:00 AM ET Tue, 30 Oct 2018 Updated 9:40 AM ET Tue, 30 Oct 2018CNBC.com cnbc.com Nick Oxford \| Reuters Voter going to a polling place in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. A wide majority of voters say the nation's rising debt will factor into their decision during next week's midterm elections, according to a survey released Tuesday. The poll by the nonpartisan Peter G. Peterson Foundation found that about three-quarters of voters rank the national debt as "important" in determining which candidate to support. The number held steady across political lines — Republican, Democrat and independent. The survey also found that voters were more likely to back a candidate who is willing to work across party lines to reduce the debt. "This election season, voters are looking for leaders who will restore fiscal order and secure our future," said Michael A. Peterson, the foundation's chief executive. The poll was conducted during the past week and surveyed 1,000 registered voters. The margin of error is 3.1 percentage points. The think tank has long called on Washington to rein in federal spending. But its findings were mirrored in other national surveys this month. The Pew Research Center found that growing deficits are one of the few issues that a majority of both Republicans and Democrats regard as a major national problem. More than half of voters in a Morning Consult/Politico survey ranked reducing the federal deficit as a "top priority." The deficit ballooned by 17 percent last fiscal year to $779 billion, driven by the sweeping Republican tax cuts and more government spending, particularly on defense. The deficit is forecast to hit $1 trillion in fiscal year 2019. But with the 2020 presidential election looming, both parties appear more eager to talk about costly new proposals than about budget cuts. The Penn Wharton Budget Model estimates a plan from Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., to give working families a tax credit worth up to $6,000 would cost $3 trillion over a decade. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, another possible Democratic presidential contender, announced a similar idea to provide $1,000 savings account for every child. President Donald Trump has floated another 10 percent tax cut for middle-income households. The administration has not released details of the proposal or an estimated price tag. The cut would come on top of a bill passed by the House that would make permanent the current cuts to individual tax rates. That is expected to cost $627 billion, according to government estimates. "Lawmakers have made irresponsible fiscal choices that have grown the national debt to dangerous levels, putting critical federal programs and future generations at risk," Peterson said.

To: Broken_Clock who wrote (1096679)	11/1/2018 8:58:25 AM
From: sylvester80	1 Recommendation Recommended By Celtictrader Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1576663

OOPS! LOSER Netanyahu's candidate stunned in Jerusalem mayoral election By Oren Liebermann, CNN Updated 9:53 AM ET, Wed October 31, 2018 cnn.com Ze'ev Elkin was endorsed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but finished in third place. Jerusalem (CNN)In a surprise upset, the candidate for Jerusalem mayor endorsed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to make the second round of the tightly contested race. Ze'ev Elkin, who serves as the Minister of Jerusalem Affairs in the government, only garnered 20% of the vote, putting him in third place. Elkin also had the backing of current Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, who is transitioning to national politics after leading the city for a decade. The two leading candidates will head to a runoff election in two weeks, since neither candidate secured the required 40% of the vote to win outright. With approximately 98% of votes counted, Moshe Lion finished in the lead with 33% of the vote, while Ofer Berkovitch finished second with 29%, according to data from the Ministry of the Interior. Conceding defeat, Elkin posted on social media: "In politics, you have to know not only how to win, but also how to lose. I congratulate Ofer Berkovitch and Moshe Lion who made the second round, and I will work with whoever wins the election." Lion ran for mayor in 2013, losing to Barkat. This time, Lion had the backing of the ultra-Orthodox parties in the city, an influential force in a city which is more than a third ultra-Orthodox. Berkovitch, who has served on Jerusalem's City Council, was something of an upstart candidate, positioning himself as a secular leader against the influence of the ultra-Orthodox. "We are the biggest movement in the city, and with the most dedicated volunteers in the city, and with the citizens of Jerusalem, Jerusalem will also win in the second round," Berkovitch posted on social media after results began coming in. Setback for Netanyahu? On paper, Elkin's loss appears a setback for Netanyahu. Billboards of the two men were on display throughout Jerusalem in the weeks before the election, but Elkin still fell short. Even so, Netanyahu continues to enjoy a strong lead in national opinion polls, which suggest his right-wing Likud party could increase its substantial advantage in Israel's parliament at the next general election. With these local elections out of the way, many in Israel expect Netanyahu to call national elections soon, and seek to drive home his popularity among Israelis. In northern Israel, one of the country's biggest cities will have a female mayor for the first time, as Einat Kalisch Rotem handily defeated the incumbent, who had served as mayor of the city of Haifa for the last 15 years. The working class city of Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel. The victory makes Kalisch Rotem the first female leader of one of Israel's three major cities -- Jerusalem, Haifa, and Tel Aviv. Kalisch Rotem garnered 56% of the vote to Yoni Yahav's 38%, according to election results from the Ministry of the Interior. In Jerusalem's city council elections, Ramadan Dabash had been vying to become the first Palestinian representative in the city, but his party fell short of the required votes to secure a seat on city council. In Tel Aviv, incumbent mayor Ron Huldai won his fifth term, defeating his deputy mayor, who had been trying to unseat him.