The Political Page, T+231 -- September 8, 2017

Updates

September 9, 2017: I'm watching thousands of terrified Floridians who will probably lose everything trying to find shelter and Hurricane Irma hasn't already hit them yet, and then I think of the seventeen GOP senators that voted against helping Texas who are struggling to recover from Category 5 Hurricane Harvey. One wonders if these 17 will vote against helping Florida after this is all over? Trump gives $1 million of his own fortune to help Texas, and 17 GOP senators wouldn't even spend other people's money to help Texas. Pretty cold-hearted. Reptilian.
 

Original Post

 

Do you remember all those news articles in which Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan said the legislative calendar makes things difficult to get Trump's agenda approved? And how long it's been taking the US Senate to confirm Trump nominees?

Poppycock. Two days ago President Trump meets with the Dem leadership in his office -- Schumer and Pelosi -- to discuss a) aid for Hurricane Harvey victims; b) the debt limit; and, c) shutting the government down.

Two days later Congress, by a huge margin, gives Trump and the Democrats everything they wanted. Story here at Reuters. In the US House the vote is lopsided it looked like the Patriots - Kansas City Chiefs game. The US House passed the bill 316 - 90. And then yesterday the US Senate passed it and today president signed it.

The vote was so lopsided in the US Senate, the linked Reuters story didn't even bother to mention it. The vote was 80 - 17.  Seventeen GOP senators voted against the victims of Hurricane Harvey, including John McCain. One would think McCain, considering his own diagnosis, would have had a bit more compassion. Ted Cruz, bless his heart, went against his own principles and voted for money for his home state.

One begins to wonder what Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell have been doing for the past ten months.

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Investor Optimism

Gallup is reporting: US investor optimism rises again, hits 17-year high.

Not a one-year high; not a five-year high. Not even a decade-high. Seventeen years takes us back before the two lost decades of George II and King Hussein.

Gallup says:

A new surge of optimism among U.S. investors has pushed the Wells Fargo/Gallup Investor and Retirement Optimism Index to its highest level since September 2000. The index, after rising in every quarter since the start of 2016, leveled off in the second quarter at +124 before rising to its current +138 in the third quarter.

The Trump effect?