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

To: Sdgla who wrote (1164844)	9/17/2019 5:47:37 PM
From: FJB	1 Recommendation Recommended By locogringo Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1580593

YOU CAN GIVE AMERICA/TRUMP WHAT WE WANT, OR CONTINUE TO CIRCLE THE TOILET... reuters.com China's slowdown deepens; industrial output growth falls to 17-1/2 YEAR LOW Kevin Yao BEIJING (Reuters) - The slowdown in China’s economy deepened in August, with growth in industrial production at its weakest 17-1/2 years amid spreading pain from a trade war with the United States and softening domestic demand. Retail sales and investment gauges worsened too, data released on Monday showed, reinforcing views that China is likely to cut some key interest rates this week for the first time in over three years to prevent a sharper slump in activity. Despite a slew of growth-boosting measures since last year, the world’s second-largest economy has yet to stabilize, and analysts say Beijing needs to roll out more stimulus to ward off a sharper slowdown. Industrial output growth unexpectedly weakened to 4.4% in August from the same period a year earlier, the slowest pace since February 2002 and receding from 4.8% in July. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a pick-up to 5.2%. In particular, the value of delivered industrial exports fell 4.3% on-year, the first monthly decline since at least two years, Reuters records showed, reflecting the toll that the escalating Sino-U.S. trade war is taking on Chinese manufacturers. The protracted trade war escalated dramatically last month, with President Donald Trump announcing new tariffs on Chinese goods from Sept. 1, and China letting its yuan currency sharply weaken days later. After Beijing hit back with retaliatory tariffs, Trump said existing levies would also be raised in coming months, in October and December. While the two sides are set to resume face-to-face negotiations in early October, most analysts do not expect a durable trade deal, or even a significant de-escalation, any time soon. Premier Li Keqiang said in an interview published ahead of the data on Monday that it was “very difficult” for the economy to grow at 6% or more and that it faced “downward pressure”. Traders expect a cut in the central bank’s medium-term loan facility rate (MLF) as early as Tuesday, which would open the way for a reduction in the new loan prime benchmark rate (LPR) later in the week. Several analysts said in recent weeks that China’s economic growth was already testing the lower end of Beijing’s full-year target of around 6-6.5%, which is likely to spur more policy easing. Second-quarter growth cooled to 6.2%, the weakest in nearly 30 years. “The key downside risk is the authorities not stepping up policy support sufficiently,” said Louis Kuijs, Head of Asia Economics at Oxford Economics. Room for stimulus is believed to be limited by worries about rising debt risks, with policy easing by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) expected to be more restrained than the U.S. Federal Reserve or European Central Bank. Ting Lu, Chief China Economist at Nomura wrote in a note after the data release that a cut in the MLF rate by around 10 basis points on Tuesday had become more likely. OTHER DATA ALSO MISSES EXPECTATIONS Nomura’s Lu expected September’s industrial output to be further hampered by an anti-pollution campaign ahead of and during a key anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China on Oct. 1. The gloomy August activity data added to signs of broad-based economic weakness, following soft trade and credit reports last week. Retail sales missed expectations, with growth easing to 7.5%, from 7.6% in July. Analysts had forecast a slight rebound to 7.9%. Auto sales have slumped all year, prompting the statistics bureau to recently start reporting a new reading on consumption. Stripping out vehicles, retail sales rose 9.3% on-year. Fixed-asset investment also disappointed. It rose 5.5% for the first eight months of the year from the same period in 2018, down from Jan-July’s 5.7%. Analysts had expected 5.6%. Industrial investment appeared to be the main drag as investment growth in the mining and the manufacturing sectors eased off in the first eight months. But infrastructure investment - a key driver of growth - picked up to 4.2% in the first eight months this year, from 3.8% in January-July period. The real estate sector also held up in August to remain one of the few bright spots, with property investment growing at its fastest pace in four months as sales accelerated to the highest in over a year. Analysts have been puzzled by slow construction growth earlier in the year, with some citing deteriorating local government finances. China’s state planner last month announced it will ease capital requirements for infrastructure projects in the second half this year. Data out last week showed producer prices falling at their fastest pace in three years. A worker welds a bicycle steel rim at a factory manufacturing sports equipment in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China September 2, 2019. Picture taken September 2, 2019. China Daily via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. CHINA OUT. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY That followed a factory survey that showed activity shrank for the fourth straight month as the trade war wore on. Earlier this month, the PBOC cut the amount of cash banks are required to hold in reserve for the seventh time since early last year in order to increase funds available for lending. “The PBOC’s RRR cuts alone are insufficient to secure growth above 6.0% this year,” said analysts at ANZ. “In order to guide financing costs lower, the People’s Bank of China will need to cut the open market operation (OMO) rate or medium term lending facility (MLF) rate in the fourth quarter, in our view.”

To: Sdgla who wrote (1164844)	9/17/2019 6:34:36 PM
From: sylvester80	Respond to of 1580593

MADAME PRESIDENT HERE SHE COMES: Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren separate themselves from the 2020 Democratic pack in new NBC/WSJ poll PUBLISHED 2 HOURS AGO cnbc.com - In a new NBC/WSJ poll, Joe Biden draws 31% compared to 25% for Elizabeth Warren. At 14%, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders trails Warren by a double-digit margin while 15 other candidates receive support of 7% or less. - Biden builds his edge on dominance among three chunks of Democratic primary voters. He commands 49% among African-Americans, 46% among senior citizens, and 42% among moderate and conservative Democrats. - But after months of steady progress, Warren boasts formidable strengths of her own. She leads Biden by roughly two-to-one among liberals and Democrats under 35.

To: Sdgla who wrote (1164844)	9/17/2019 6:39:44 PM
From: sylvester80	1 Recommendation Recommended By rdkflorida2 Respond to of 1580593

WINNING: Elizabeth Warren just won an endorsement that’s making Bernie Sanders’s world really mad The Working Families Party backed Sanders in 2016. This time around, it’s supporting Warren. By Emily Stewart Sep 16, 2019, 2:40pm EDT vox.com Elizabeth Warren just landed a big endorsement that went to Bernie Sanders in 2016. Preston Ehrler/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images A progressive political group that backed Bernie Sanders in 2016 is backing Elizabeth Warren this time around. On Monday, the Working Families Party, a grassroots political group, announced that it would back Warren in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. After a three-month decision process, Warren got 60 percent of WFP’s vote and Sanders garnered 35 percent. Half of those votes are determined by WFP leaders and the other half by its members. This is a big deal for Warren: WFP has local branches and works closely with unions, activists, and organizations across the country. It has real connections and resources that will be valuable to the Massachusetts Democrat’s campaign. Somewhat understandably, then, the endorsement has not been well met by Sanders’s supporters, who view it as a betrayal of his past work with the party. In 2016, Sanders sent an email to his New York supporters urging them to vote for Hillary Clinton on the Working Families Party line on their ballots. In the same email, he described WFP as “the closest thing there is to a political party that believes in my vision of democratic socialism.” WFP appears to have anticipated the potential blowback. In a press release announcing the decision, WFP national director Maurice Mitchell emphasized that people are “lucky to have two strong progressive candidates leading in the race.” Mitchell continued, “Senator Warren and Senator Sanders have both shaped the ideological terrain on which this campaign is being waged. They have proven an effective team on debate stages and in the polls, and we hope that partnership continues. We’re proud to call both of them allies in the fight for a more just America.” Nelini Stamp, director of strategy and partnerships at WFP, told me the decision process “wasn’t easy” for the party’s members, but many of them are really excited about Warren. “She’s got a record on housing, fighting the big banks, creating the CFPB, having accountability, having people actually attack her for her leadership in that, and I think that means something to people,” she said. “We care about getting in early and organizing for what our members and institutions decided as a whole … and they decided to endorse Elizabeth Warren.” Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir in a statement to Vox also tried to turn down the temperature around the endorsement. “The Bernie Sanders campaign is built from the support of millions of working people across the country, with our leading donors being Walmart workers, teachers, and nurses,” he said. “We look forward to working with the Working Families Party and other allies to defeat Donald Trump. Together, we’ll build a movement across the country to transform our economy to finally work for the working class of this country.” Warren thanked the party for its endorsement on Twitter. She also tweeted a video of herself quietly celebrating on a train. Elizabeth Warren ?@ewarren What cheering in the Quiet Car looks like. Thanks @WorkingFamilies! 34.2K 9:52 AM - Sep 16, 2019 Twitter Ads info and privacy 4,519 people are talking about this The Bernie backlashSanders supporters and some vocal figures on the left have, unsurprisingly, been less than pleased with WFP’s endorsement. Bhaskar Sunkara, founder of socialist magazine Jacobin, in a tweet said the move was “baffling.” He added, “Bernie is the national manifestation of WFP’s politics. The fact that WFP doesn’t recognize that reflects how much it has strayed.” Bhaskar Sunkara ?@sunraysunray The @WorkingFamilies has changed New York politics fundamentally and for the better but their decision to endorse Warren is baffling. Bernie is the national manifestation of the WFP’s politics. The fact that the WFP doesn’t recognize that reflects how much it has strayed. 1,016 8:42 AM - Sep 16, 2019 Twitter Ads info and privacy 202 people are talking about this Others echoed similar sentiments. Micah Uetricht ?@micahuetricht The Working Families Party’s endorsement of Elizabeth Warren is a real shame. 2,935 8:30 AM - Sep 16, 2019 Twitter Ads info and privacy 448 people are talking about this Eoin Higgins ?@EoinHiggins_ WFP solely exists to promote the Democratic Party no matter what. They were never going to endorse Sanders. No point getting upset over it. 243 8:34 AM - Sep 16, 2019 Twitter Ads info and privacy 42 people are talking about this gabrielwinant@gabrielwinant Just another episode in the generations-long drift of labor parties away from the working class! 189 8:24 AM - Sep 16, 2019 Twitter Ads info and privacy 29 people are talking about this This isn’t first time WFP has ignited some anger with its endorsements — and misfired in the eyes of some progressives. Its state party voted to endorse New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo over Fordham law professor and progressive firebrand Zephyr Teachout in 2014. And in 2018, WFP backed incumbent Joe Crowley over Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in their primary. Stamp brushed aside criticism from those pointing that out. “There is something wrong when people are comparing Joe Crowley to Elizabeth Warren,” she said. Beyond Warren and Sanders, the other candidates under consideration for endorsement were Julián Castro, Cory Booker, and Bill de Blasio. WFP dropped Kamala Harris from the mix in August after her campaign said she would skip a Q&A session. WFP employs a ranked-choice voting system for endorsements, meaning people rank their preferences from first to last. Vote share is divided 50-50 between WFP’s national committee and WFP members and grassroots supporters. The party doesn’t release separate tallies, meaning we don’t know if there’s a big schism between WFP’s leaders’ preference and its membership base. There have been calls for WFP to publicize how the vote shook out, but they’re saying no. “People are going to be angry that the candidate they wanted to see get the nod didn’t. We understand why people are angry,” Stamp said. The 2020 race is starting to heat up, and it showsIn an interview with the New York Times, Mitchell emphasized that making an endorsement decision right now isn’t just about Warren, Sanders, or whatever candidate the group is going to back — it’s also about organizing against the current frontrunner, Joe Biden. He’s encouraging other progressive groups to get off the sidelines, pick a candidate, and start pushing back against the former vice president as well. “If our focus is on victory, we can’t be delusional about it,” he told the Times. “You don’t defeat the moderate wing of Democrats through thought pieces or pithy tweets, you defeat their politics through organizing.” As the Times notes, coveted endorsements from unions such as the American Federation of Teachers and the Service Employees Union haven’t yet come through. Sanders did pick up an endorsement from the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America. Earlier this year, Democratic Socialists of America endorsed Sanders. As with this scenario, the move was not without controversy: Some of DSA’s members had asked the group’s leadership to withhold its endorsement over the Vermont senator’s stance on reparations. (The independent Vermont senator has declined to back reparations for the descendants of the enslaved in the United States, arguing that broader anti-poverty programs will help address inequality and that it’s not clear what the term “reparations” means.) DSA’s members had already voted 76 percent to 24 percent to endorse Sanders, and the organization’s leaders went ahead. Thus far in the 2020 primary, Warren and Sanders, who are longtime allies, have avoided confrontation with one another. They have remained focused on their more moderate opponent, Biden, and have worked in tandem to push forward a progressive message on the campaign trail. But as the calendar accelerates and primary season approaches, the stakes are beginning to feel higher. Controversies like this one are going to become the norm, rather than an aberration.