Texas Factory Activity Increased for Second Month in a Row

The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas released its Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey for the month of April 2016 and reports Texas factory activity increased for a second month in a row, according to business executives responding to the survey.

The US Department of Commerce Advance Report on Durable Goods Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders for March 2016:

  • New orders for manufactured durable goods in March increased 0.8 percent. This increase, up two of the last three months, followed a 3.1 percent February increase.
  • Shipments of manufactured durable goods in March, down three of the last four months, decreased 0.5 percent.
  • Inventories of manufactured durable goods in March, up following two consecutive monthly decreases were virtually unchanged. (at least inventories increased)

Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond Fifth District Survey of Manufacturing Activity

The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond released its Fifth District Survey of Manufacturing Activity and reports activity continued to expand in April. Shipments and the volume of new orders remained solid.

US Raw Steel Production Dropped Last Week

US raw steel production dropped 0.5 percent last week as mills operated at an ACUR of 72 percent. In the corresponding week last year mills operated at an ACUR of 69.8 percent. On the year, mills have produced approx. 28,000,000 tons at an ACUR of 70.6 percent compared to the approx. 28,800,000 pounds produced in the like period last year at an ACUR of 71.5 percent.

The Midwest Economy Index (MEI) Indicates Economic Growth

The Midwest Economy Index (MEI) was released Friday and reports that March’s value for the MEI, after rising from February’s reading, indicates that Midwest economic growth was moderately higher that what would typically be suggested by the growth rate of the national economy.

April Chicago Business Barometer Dropped

Also on Friday the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) released the April Chicago Business Barometer which dropped 3.2 points to 50.4 in April from 53.6 in March, led by a fall in New Orders and a sharp drop in Order Backlogs

The Bureau of Economic Analysis “Advance” Estimate of First Quarter GDP:

Real gross domestic product-the value of goods and services produced by the nation’s economy less the value of the goods and services used up in production, adjusted for price changes-increased at an annual rate of 0.5 percent in the first quarter of 2016. The “second” estimate for the first quarter will be released on May 27, 2016, based on more complete data.

So, a whopping 0.5 percent growth in the first quarter 2016 yet the Democrats keep blowing their collective horns about how Obama saved the economy, how he has created so many jobs, how people are doing better.

Obama’s policies are the corner post of Hillary’s campaign; she promotes the Obama agenda and wants to continue those policies. It is beginning to seem likely our economy could very well fall into recession by election time handing the next administration a domestic economy in dire straits, a world economy teetering on, if not in, recession, a world on fire with terrorism and secular wars and other regional conflict, social unrest at home… ad infinitum.

Four more years of this type of leadership (?) will destroy the United States of America, the one you and I grew up in, the one we wanted to give to our children and grandchildren. We MUST “make America great again!”

American Troops Deployed

Obama decides to send 250 additional American military men and women to Syria to work with local forces fighting Islamic state. The new deployment comes despite Mr. Obama’s longstanding reservations about sending Americans into harm’s way in the face of the growing pressure to do more to counter Islamic state.

In my view, none of this would be necessary if he had not removed our troops from Iraq. That removal was the fertilizer needed for these rats to proliferate, then doing nothing about them because they are “the jv team.” They could all be burning in hell right now if we had a leader in the White House.

Prison Sentences Commuted

In another political move, the president has decided to commute the prison sentences of many convicted felon drug dealers, calling them “non-violent” criminals and further (the political punch), granting them the privilege to vote, what a fucking joke! There is nothing ANY these politicians will not do in order to retain their power. In the meantime, we have an epidemic of both adults and children becoming addicted to hard drugs, dying from hard drugs. Where do they get these drugs from? The dealers, that’s who and now that the great leftist has given them the right to vote, who do you think they will vote for?

What Happened?

I gotta tell you, I am horrified at what has happened to my country. When I was a boy growing up in the 50’s and 60’s, it was an amazing time in the United States…and yet it seems it was also the beginning of America’s overall decline, which seems to be at its zenith today in 2016.

Those who became the adults of the 50’s and 60’s lived through the Great Depression and World War II. They were patriotic, self-driven and proud to be American citizens, they were taught and learned American history, they were taught respect for others, and they were taught that through THEIR own efforts, they could accomplish anything in this country.

As a society, we strove for academic excellence, we did not wish to “dumb” the system, to make education “fair.” Not everyone has the same abilities and it is wrong to try to make everyone be the same. That is communism. You want that? Go to Russia.

There was no desecration of the American flag when I was a boy, it was not considered until the rage caused by Viet Nam. There was none of the rampant political correctness that pollutes our society today.

Our parents knew difficulty and hardship…and overcame them. They knew abundance…and passed it on to their children with the promise and hope that THEIR children and THEIR grandchildren would have a better standard of living than they had…and it worked…for decades.

Now our children pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to achieve a higher education and yet there are no jobs for them when they graduate, only excessive debt. Our public school systems for the poor are terrible. And suburban schools don’t seem to be doing such a great job either. How do they expect children to learn?

Shrinking Middle Class

What’s left of the middle class has lost more than $5,000 in annual income over the past 8 years. The good middle class jobs are mostly gone, handed to our world competitors by the legislators who work for us… but THEY continue to get wealthier while the middle class gets poorer and poorer. That’s just wrong.

As a young man or woman in the 50’s and 60’s, working in a fast food restaurant, like McDonalds or Big Boy, was a stepping stone while you were in school, or you were retired looking for part-time work. Today, it has become a career, with workers now demanding $15.00 per hour to flip burgers. Are you kidding me? This is what we have to offer our youth for their future?

No wonder our youth and the poor want an entitlement state. You don’t have to do anything, just stay home and collect your check, because that is what’s “fair.” Where is it written that life has to be fair? It is not fair folks, take a look around.

What is clear from our past is that living in this country, where through your own efforts, you could pursue the career of your choice, create the lifestyle you wished for and be able to achieve it, is fast disappearing, and that is unfair to our children and grandchildren and those that follow.

Disability, welfare, aid to dependent children, food stamps, Obama phones, extended unemployment, Obamacare… the list of entitlements is endless. All aimed to gain votes, NOT to help people overcome difficulty.

People desecrating our flag? It was UNHEARD of when I was a boy. We started each school day reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, the US flag was in each classroom, respected, a symbol of pride, she was not scorned. Today, no flags, no Pledge of Allegiance, these morons burn our flag, they step on it.

We have removed Christmas from our schools so as not to offend anyone. What the hell are we doing?

My father and uncles and millions of men and women like them, have fought wars for us, for our freedom, for this country, for what that freedom means, what it costs and what it stands for. I don’t think they even teach American history in our schools anymore.

You watch some of these idiots on television being asked a question on American history and they chuckle, immune to their own stupidity. Their answers are an embarrassment. I don’t know where or how this ends but it does not look good…unless we the people take the steps to “make America great again!”

Islamophobia?

Islamist militants beheaded a Canadian citizen, held hostage since September in the Phillippines…has the world not had enough of this yet? Why does everyone stand by and continue to allow this radicalism to fester and grow? You mean to tell me that the majority of the world powers who are against this still refuse to put forth the force necessary to crush and eradicate these maniacs?

It sadly appears to be true and the virus continues to spread throughout Europe, Africa, hell, they are everywhere on the planet now. The radical Muslim problem will continue to get worse. Now they are migrating all over the globe, they breed like rabbits and want all those who are not Muslim to be slain, that is a basic tenet of Islam and it cannot end well.

In 20 years the world will be full of fighting age radicals, children of today’s migrants, and we will not be able to stop them, there will be too many in too many places. Am I an Islamophobe? You bet, I think it is all a plan which will not end well for the free people of the world. I certainly pray I am wrong.

Presidential Front Runners Continue to Win Primaries

Trump handily won the 5 state primaries Tuesday, adding to his delegate count and bringing him ever closer to the magical 1237 delegates needed to secure the nomination. In the meantime, in a far off galaxy …

It was laughable listening to Hillary’s victory speech after yesterday’s primaries. She had the audacity to highlight Trump’s private jet use though she herself has not driven a car in 10 years and spent more time in the air (doing nothing but collect money for her foundation) than any previous Secretary of State, she taunted him for his extravagant home, his golf courses etc. yet she lives in Chappaqua, New York, the higher end of the scale.

I have no idea what other properties the Clintons own but I would be willing to bet they own more. She feigns to portray herself as being “just like you” yet is so far from a typical American citizen. $250,000 per speech because “it’s what the market will bear.” Shame, shame, shame, shame

Wednesday afternoon Ted Cruz announced that Carly Fiorina will be his Vice Presidential running mate. Isn’t that putting the cart before the horse? A little presumptuous perhaps? These people are amazing in their quest for power, without shame. Charlatans and snake oil salesmen…

“MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN”

Have a great weekend…. God bless America!

Buy American made products whenever you can, it’s good for you, good for your friends and neighbors and good for our country.

If you are hiring…try to hire a veteran…. they are loyal, disciplined, hardworking…and they deserve our support.

Remember these tidbits as the election cycle grinds on:

  • Fast & Furious-Americans killed by guns supplied to the drug cartels…by the Department of
  • Justice-Eric Holder presiding. The president was clueless. No one held accountable
  • Benghazi: Four Americans killed in an assault described as the result of a viral video. This was proved to be a false narrative. This was in fact, a planned act of terror. The president was clueless.
  • No one even knows where he was as this went down. No one held accountable
  • “At this point, what difference does it make?” Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State
  • The IRS targeting of conservative groups and individuals. No one held accountable, Lois Lerner is on paid vacation and has refused to testify. The president was clueless. No one held accountable
  • Hillary using a private server for correspondence during her term as Secretary of State against the orders of the president. She thought “it would be more convenient…” Though the records were due when she left office, they were not submitted, subpoenas were issued, which she ignored for two years. Finally, she released 30,000 of some 60,000 alleged emails then she deleted the rest of the emails and will NOT turn over the server for investigation.