In an interview with Mediaite, Fox Business correspondent Charles Gasparino blamed some of the market jitters on an expectation of a huge blue wave that will sweep out Donald Trump and turn the U.S. Senate back over to Democratic control in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Gasparino departed from the usual kind of happy talk you’d expect to hear from a Fox guy. Instead, he painted a rather bleak view of the economy right now. “This is not a good time to be in stocks,” he told Mediaite. Unlike 2008, the cure for this crash is not clear. “We don’t know how much the coronavirus will affect the economy,” he said, which makes it harder to figure out than how to fix banks’ impaired balance sheets, as was done during the Great Recession.
“We are now, from an economic standpoint, going to hit a liquidity crisis that the Fed doesn’t really know how to deal with,” Gasparino continued. He meant that “individuals, small businesses, and — to a large extent — states and cities” will all be hit hard. He called it a crisis “the government, generally on a large scale, is not set up to help.” That’s what scares him and he thinks that’s what’s scaring the markets.
Gasparino made it pretty clear he doesn’t think Trump is doing a heckuva job during the pandemic. He thinks “first and foremost” Wall Street wants Trump “to act like an adult” and stop the name calling. “It’s stupid for him to say these childish things in such a serious time,” Gasparino added. But he also gave Trump props for acting “much more mature” at yesterday’s press conference.
Even so, it was still surprising to read about a Fox Business person say this:
“I don’t want to make it like this is the reason for the selloff, but underlying a lot of this is investors saying, “Okay, Trump is toast. As crazy as he is, he didn’t raise our taxes.”
They’re looking at a lot of state races. Maine, Iowa, Arizona. If those states and a couple of others flip, you’ve got Democrats controlling the House, the Senate, and maybe the presidency. And investors are thinking, “Welcome to a 35 percent corporate tax rate.”
I can’t say the guy’s name, but I spoke to a hedge fund guy yesterday. Household name. And he says that [sentiment is] out there. Some of this fear [driving down the market] is that the Democrats are now going to sweep. They’re going to keep the House, they’re going to take the Senate, and Trump’s going to lose.
Keep your fingers crossed!
Oh, and if Gasparino is right, it looks like Wall Street isn’t too concerned about what Ukraine company’s board Joe Biden’s son sat on.
(H/T reader Eric Jefferson)
(Gasparino image via screen grab
It’s not about whether Donald Trump is a good president or not, it is about inserting non-establishment individuals into our political system to fix it.
Our political system has slowly and systematically been diverted from what’s best for the US citizen to what’s best for the political establishment.
The last several presidents have a poor record, along with the established house and senate members, doing the people’s work. Both parties contributed to the exploitative persuasions of the establishment and are US citizens not Americans.
Bickering with each other that my party guy is better than your party guy plays into the hand of the establishment (on both sides of the political spectrum) that has brought us unfunded mandates, an I.O.U for Social Security, >$20 trillion in debt and, the worst of it all – incremental erosion of our constitutionally guaranteed rights as Americans of this Republic.
What party was in power when:
Federal debt spending increased – exponentially.
Social programs budgets were raided and never replenished.
Agencies created that work outside the law.
Expanding the power of the above agencies.
More expansion of the power of the agencies to spy on the constituency without probable cause or a warrant (to keep us safe?).
Laws changed to tax inheritance, unemployment, health coverage etc., etc., etc., etc.
Covert programs and operations hidden from the constituency that cost billions ($150 hammers? – I don’t believe it.)
We must decide – are Americans or just US citizens obediently playing party politics? The former is loyal to an ideal forged in our constitution the latter is what is on the cover of your passport.
Are we part of a kingdom that worships a crown or, are we individuals who pursue and preserve American freedoms?
I’ll take any candidate that is willing to go to battle with the establishment. I don’t care what their gender, color, religion, sexual identity/preference, who they root for, what media or Hollywood personality approves, how much they like/dislike foreign countries…
I’ll take any candidate that works within the guidelines of the US Constitution, the laws of this land and has the best interest of the constituency at heart.
…And, if they don’t – term limit them; vote them out and try again.
1. Gutting the Pandemic Preparedness team.
2. Refusing the WHO offer of testing kits.
3. Labelling the threat as a hoax at what will be the cost of thousands of American lives, many of whom could have been saved with sensible advice and precautions.
Trump will never allow himself to be humiliated by a colossal election loss, let alone a trial and subsequent prison. As soon as he fully comprehends that there is no way out, I’m seriously expecting him to make a run for it or, more probably, stick a gun in his mouth.
IF THE CHICAGO CUBS CAN WIN THE WORLD SERIES, ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!
It’s impossible to even consider the possibility that Trump cares about ordinary people: he couldn’t care less about anybody but himself. However, history has shown that giveaways have worked since ancient Roman times. In Italy, where it’s been a well-known vote-buying gambit since unification, we call it “voto di scambio”, meaning you vote for me and you get something for yourself (aka “tit for tat” or “quid pro quo” (e.g. a transaction not an extortion).
Regardless of what RW analysts may fear, it’s even more important than ever to keep working to replace the GOPers at all levels of government.