The case for gold gets stronger in a world of global fiscal misbehavior led by the United States under Trump

 “If every country is looking equally irresponsible, then the chances of [a US budget crisis] happening are slim, certainly on a sustainable basis. But when all the countries are experiencing high debt ratios and high deficits, then it′s less likely because in effect there is nowhere to run, with the possible exception of physical assets like gold.” ...

“It would take another country, another region like the euro area supplanting the U.S. with regard to fiscal responsibility. That’s tough to see happening,” he added.

More.

J. D. Vance gets his sorry ass back in the US Senate after missing critical confirmation votes on Monday and Tuesday which confirmed at least one horrible Biden nomination to a lifetime judicial position

 

 If all Republicans had shown up and Sen. John Fetterman’s (D-Pa.) absence held, the GOP would have defeated the nomination [of Embry Kidd] temporarily.

If all senators had shown up, including Fetterman, it would likely have forced a tiebreaking vote by Vice President Harris.

Adding to the drama, Harris left Washington for Hawaii on Tuesday, depriving Democrats of a potential ability to break a 50-50 tie.

Despite the math, GOP members were incensed at the no-shows, which stretched into Tuesday as Vance did not show up for the morning vote.

Other senators, including Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), tagged along with Trump to the SpaceX Starship launch in Brownsville, Texas, further exacerbating the situation as Schumer prepared to hold another long night of nomination votes on Tuesday. ...

Vance, who missed all of Monday night’s votes in addition to the first one on Tuesday, received the lion’s share of criticism.

The outgoing Ohio senator initially defended his decision, saying that he was meeting with Trump as part of interviews for potential candidates to become FBI director and for other slots.

“I tend to think it’s more important to get an FBI director who will dismantle the deep state than it is for Republicans to lose a vote 49-46 rather than 49-45,” he added.

However, he backtracked and deleted his post on X. He also showed up for the pair of Senate votes during Tuesday’s afternoon session.

Full story here. 

Showing up is the easiest, most important thing senators can do, and they were too busy.

It's unforgivable.

 

All this realignment of the country to the GOP talk has been BS: Trump has now won only by a plurality, and the GOP House majority could well end up at a mere 220-215

 It was no Red Wave, and that fool Trump just had to poach from what little he got.

 

Steel for the GOP in CA-45 was ahead days ago, then went 50-50 with the Democrat, and is now behind

 

Duarte for the GOP was ahead by over 1-point hours ago in CA-13, but not anymore

 

Trump is officially below 50% at Real Clear Politics

 

Harris/Walz 48.3% (226) Trump/Vance 49.9% (312)

Ted Cruz predicted it would happen in August

 

Republicans float a quiet conspiracy theory that Biden won't be on the ballot

“So here’s the scenario that I think is perhaps the most likely and most dangerous,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said on his podcast last month. “In August of 2024, the Democrat kingmakers jettison Joe Biden and parachute in Michelle Obama.”

“I view this as a very serious danger,” he said.

 

 

 

So Republican Senators J. D. Vance and Marco Rubio were too busy yesterday to show up and vote against a soft-on-sex-crime Biden nominee to the 11th Circuit

 Roll call vote here.

For a man who promotes himself as a Christian, SECDEF nominee Pete Hegseth sure has A LOT of VERY RECENT sooty baggage involving consensual sexual encounters dotting his timeline

Trump defense secretary pick Pete Hegseth denies sexual assault allegation, acknowledges payment to accuser

“In 2023, Hegseth paid the complainant as part of a civil confidential settlement agreement and maintains his innocence,” Timothy Parlatore, Hegseth’s attorney, said in a statement.

He also denied that the encounter between Hegseth and an unnamed woman, which she alleges happened in 2017, was sexual assault. ...

Parlatore denied the allegation, saying, “This is a situation where a consensual encounter occurred and, unfortunately, the woman had to come up with a lie to explain why the woman had not come back to her husband’s room that night.”

 

His Wikipedia entry indicates he cheated on his second! wife sometime in 2016 with Fox executive producer Jennifer Rauchet who had his baby in August 2017. By October 2017 he's cheating on her! with a married woman! also supposedly conservative! referenced in the confidential settlement by CNBC:

Hegseth and his first wife, Meredith Schwarz, divorced in 2009.

He married his second wife, Samantha Deering, in 2010; they have three children.

In August 2017, while still married to Deering, Hegseth had a daughter with Fox executive producer Jennifer Rauchet, with whom he was having an extramarital relationship.^[25] He and Deering divorced in August 2017.

Hegseth and Rauchet, who has three young children from her first marriage, married in August 2019.^[69]

Hegseth lives in Tennessee. He is a member of Pilgrim Hill Reformed Fellowship,^[70] a church in the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches.^[71][72]

In October 2017, a 30-year-old conservative group staffer accused Hegseth of sexually assaulting her in a hotel room after he spoke at a California Federation of Republican Women event in Monterey, California.^[73] She went to an emergency room the next day for a rape kit test.^[74] Hegseth described the allegations as a "he-said, she-said" dispute about a consensual encounter.^[75] No charges were filed in the case.^[73] Hegseth paid the accuser as part of a non-disclosure agreement in 2020.^[76]

 

WaPo defends rule of law in Pennsylvania, says Democrat defiance of judicial election rulings is corrosive to democracy

 ... elected Democratic officials in Philadelphia and three other counties — Bucks, Centre and Montgomery — voted this week to defy these and other court decisions at the request of lawyers for Democratic Sen. Bob Casey ...

Mr. Casey has almost certainly lost this race. The Associated Press called it for Mr. McCormick on Nov. 7. Mr. Casey’s deficit still appears insurmountable. The three-term incumbent sees it differently and has every right to plead his case in court. State law also entitles Mr. Casey to a statewide recount because Mr. McCormick’s margin of victory is smaller than half a percentage point, though not by much. A recount is unlikely to change the outcome.

More.

 

This is pretty fabulous: Democrat Senator John Fetterman tells Nancy Pelosi it's long past time to get lost

 

Make America Healthy Again lol

 

Senator John Barrasso: Trump's new energy secretary fracking pioneer Chris Wright will make America an all-of-the-above energy country that puts American families first

 

 Republican Sen. John Barrasso, who is expected to become chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said Trump promised bold choices for his Cabinet, and Wright's nomination delivers.

"He's s an energy innovator who laid the foundation for America's fracking boom. After four years of America last energy policy, our country is desperate for a secretary (of energy) who understands how important American energy is to our economy and our national security,″ Barrasso said of Wright, adding: "Wright will help ensure America remains committed to an all-of-the-above energy policy that puts American families first."

More.

AK-1 has been called for Nick Begich giving the GOP 220-213 in the US House with CA-13 and CA-45 still uncalled

 

And last but not least, the newly re-elected Republican governor of Vermont, Phil Scott, is far more popular there than either Harris or Trump in 2024

 Scott's approval rating in Vermont in 2021 made him the most popular governor in the entire country. He describes himself as fiscally conservative and socially liberal.

 

Continuing this morning's northern theme, the newly re-elected governor of Montana, Greg Gianforte, is also more popular than Donald Trump in 2024

Well, you would be too in Montana if you slugged a reporter from The Grauniad, but I digress.

 

Speaking of North Dakota, in 2016 Tulsi Gabbard used to hang around with Occupy Wall Street and Bernie Sanders types there lol

Your new Director of National Intelligence, ladies and gentlemen, whom Bernie assured us in 2019 was no Russian asset.

Donald Trump was just a working class stiff flipping hamburgers a few weeks ago, so Tulsi hanging with the left eight years ago is no big deal, right?

 

Not only was John Thune more popular in North Dakota than Donald Trump in 2016, newly elected governor Kelly Armstrong is more popular than Trump in 2024

But, yeah, ridiculous once upon a time NeverTrump gasbags like Charlie Kirk think they are going to remove John Thune.

Donald Trump once laughably thought the same thing about Kelly Armstrong.

 

Extremely amusing: Famously defeated NeverTrump Senator Kelly Ayotte from 2016 is the new Republican governor of New Hampshire, getting more votes than both Harris and Trump

 Ayotte 435,990

Harris 418,351

Trump 395,397

And politics is nothing if it's not irrational:

 

At this hour there are just three US House races which remain uncalled, with the current election at 219 GOP v 213 Democrat

 GOP control of the US House at 218 would be secure, if it weren't for Trump poaching from this field to populate his government.

Not. Very. Bright.

It also tells you that the poached aren't very bright either: Stefanik, Waltz, Gaetz, and Rubio from the US Senate also.

Special elections are required for the House district vacancies. The governor of Florida can appoint Rubio's replacement, but that is only temporary.

Democrats said electing Trump would be a return to chaos.

They were correct about that.