Kevin Duffy on the 2026 midterm election "blue tsunami"

It's pretty clear that the midterm election blue tsunami was all about affordability: a rebuke of Trump's tariffs and the Iran War. While I doubt the big government Dems will completely diagnose the problem (much less fix it), at least they got the obvious right. 

I suspect yesterday's stock market rally was a head fake (especially hyperscalers up), but some of the moves - energy down, gold up, AI suppliers down, China up - will stick.

~ Kevin Duffy, X post, November 5, 2026

 

Connor O'Keeffe on the Trump election victory

Trump’s win represents another major and well-deserved repudiation of the Washington establishment. In 2016, Republican voters decisively rejected Jeb Bush—the establishment’s chosen GOP candidate—and sent Donald Trump to the White House on a refreshingly anti-establishment platform. 

While he largely governed like an establishment Republican in his first term, his occasionally anti-establishment rhetoric was enough to prompt a full-court press from the political class to first force him out of office and later to disqualify him from ever holding power again. In the realm of public opinion, the establishment’s chosen tactic was to label Trump a racist, misogynist, wanna-be fascist whose supporters back him simply because they hate everyone who isn’t straight, white, and male.

~ Connor O'Keeffe, "Why Trump's Victory Matters, and Why It Doesn't," Mises Wire, November 8, 2024

William Anderson on the Trump and Harris economic proposals

In summing up the Trump and Harris proposals, we point out again that neither candidate knows how to deal with stagflation.  Instead, they call for more government intervention - Trump for tariffs and Harris for more individual and business taxes and for energy policies that will rapidly make life much more difficult for most Americans.

The stagflation of the 1970s was ended by Jimmy Carter's deregulation initiatives, Paul Volcker's end to inflation, and Ronald Reagan's income tax rate cuts.  The economy rebounded nicely and grew to astounding levels.  Unfortunately, the lessons of the early 1980s have been lost, and all of us will pay a price.

~ William L. Anderson, "The Great Retreat: How Trump and Harris Are Looking Backward," The Misesian, September-October 2024

Lew Rockwell on the economics of Donald Trump and Kamala Harris

Trump is unsound on some economic issues, most notably tariffs and deficit spending, but he is no communist.  Harris is.  Her father is a leading Marxist theoretician, and she gives every indication that she follows in his footsteps.

~ Lew Rockwell, "'Lone Nuts' and Political Reality," LewRockwell.com, September 23, 2024

Ron Paul on Hamas and blowback (2009)

[Paul’s 2009 comments came as he rose in opposition to House Resolution 34, “Recognizing Israel’s right to defend itself against attacks from Gaza, reaffirming the United States’ strong support for Israel, and supporting the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.”]

I rise in opposition to this resolution, not because I am taking sides and picking who the bad guys are and who the good guys are, but I'm looking at this more from the angle of being a United States citizen, an American.  And I think resolutions like this really do us great harm.

In many ways, what’s happening in the Middle East, in particular with Gaza right now, we have some moral responsibility for both sides in a way because we provide help and funding for both Arab nations and Israel.  We have a moral responsibility, especially now today the weapons being used to kill so many Palestinians are American weapons and American funds are being used for this.

But there’s a political liability, which I think is something we fail to look at because too often there’s so much blowback from our intervention in areas that we shouldn’t be involved in.

You know Hamas, if you look at the history, you’ll find out that Hamas was encouraged and really started by Israel because they wanted Hamas to counteract Yasser Arafat.

You say, "Well, yeah, it was better then and served its purpose, but we didn’t want Hamas to do this." So then we, as Americans, say, "Well, we have such a good system; we’re going to impose this on the world.  We’re going to invade Iraq and teach people how to be democrats.  We want free elections."  So we encouraged the Palestinians to have a free election. They do, and they elect Hamas.

So we first, indirectly and directly through Israel, helped establish Hamas.  Then we have an election where Hamas becomes dominant, then we have to kill them.  It just doesn’t make sense.  During the 80s, we were allied with Osama bin Laden and we were contending with the Soviets.  It was at that time our CIA thought it was good if we radicalize the Muslim world.  So we finance the Madrassas school to radicalize the Muslims in order to compete with the Soviets.  There is too much blowback.

There are a lot of reasons why we should oppose this resolution.  It’s not in the interest of the United States, it is not in the interest of Israel either.

~ Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), speech on House floor, 2009

Lawrence Reed on how FDR campaigned against the big spending policies of Hoover in 1932

Did Hoover really subscribe to a "hands-off-the-economy" free-market philosophy?  His opponent in the 1932 election, Franklin Roosevelt, didn't think so.  During the campaign, Roosevelt blasted Hoover for spending and taxing too much, boosting the national debt, choking off trade, and putting millions on the dole.  He accused the president of "reckless and extravagant" spending, of thinking "that we ought to center control of everything in Washington as rapidly as possible," and of presiding over "the greatest spending administration in peacetime in all of history."  Roosevelt's running mate, John Nance Garner, charged that Hoover was "leading the country down the path of socialism."  Contrary to the conventional view about Hoover, Roosevelt and Garner were absolutely right.

~ Lawrence W. Reed, "Great Myths of the Great Depression," Mackinac Center for Public Policy, 1981

Thomas Sowell on voting

If you are not informed, then the most patriotic thing you can do on election day is stay home.

~ Thomas Sowell

Kevin Duffy on the unofficial choice of Biden as president and Trump's appeal

The problem is the political swamp and we just put a 47 year veteran of the swamp in charge.  I was critical of Trump, especially on economic policy (grading him a D), but his appeal was that he was not a career politician.  His other appeal was that all the right people hated him: Hollywood, academia, and especially the mainstream media.

~ Kevin Duffy, Facebook post, November 8, 2020

Napoleon on voting

I care not who casts the votes of a nation, provided I can count them.

~ Napoleon, New York Times editorial, May 26, 1880

Barron's: Moody's expects higher economic growth under Biden than Trump

An analysis by Moody’s Analytics finds that if Biden wins and Democrats win a majority in both the Senate and the House and enact his plans, average annual economic growth would be 2.9% and average annual wage growth would be 0.9% through 2030. 

[...]

In contrast, if President Donald Trump wins the election and Republicans win the majority in both houses of Congress, the economic picture dims: 10-year economic growth would average 2.4%, wages would grow by 0.7% over a decade, 11.2 million jobs would be created over four years, and full employment would be reached in 2024.

~ Barron's, "Which Party Would Be Better for the Economy? Here’s How Biden and Trump’s Plans Stack Up.," by Karen Hube, October 24, 2020

Ray Dalio on the 2020 election

If I was to take both parties we’ll have large deficits and monetization.  Both parties will have an aggressive China policy, I think.  But one party will be more capitalist and let’s say favor asset holders. One will be more left and favor redistribution.  

[Capitalists] understand productivity and so on, but they don’t know how to divide the pie that well.  And socialists or those that are more of the left have a problem producing as much the increase in productivity. 

~ Ray Dalio, "Why billionaire investor Ray Dalio hates cash and bonds, and says the election won’t change his view on the economy," MarketWatch.com, by Steve Goldstein, October 28, 2020

Paul Craig Roberts on the 2020 presidential election

The November presidential election is not about a choice between a Republican and a Democrat, Trump or Biden/Kamala. It is about a choice between Trump and the Establishment. 

[...]

Approximately half of the American population are too indoctrinated and brainwashed to understand what is at stake. These Americans see a vote against Trump as a vote against racism, misogyny, Covid, wealth, and orange hair. The mindlessness of these Americans, should their votes prevail, would complete the transformation of American democracy into rule by unaccountable elites.

~ Paul Craig Roberts, "November's Choice: Trump or the Establishment," LewRockwell.com, October 28, 2020

P.J. O'Rourke on why a Biden presidency would be bad, but a Trump second term would be even worse

Biden's campaign platform is 564 pages long. It promises everything to everybody. It's full of unicorns and flying ponies and candy-flavored rainbows and pixie dust. And when those flying ponies glide with the marzipan rainbows and pixie dust starts to gum up the works of society … we're going to be in for a mess … But on the other hand, I think we're done with this experiment of having the inmates run the asylum.

There's wrong and there's damn wrong.

~ P.J. O'Rourke, A Cry From the Far Middle: Dispatches From a Divided Land

(Book passage was quoted by Reason.com in "P.J. O'Rourke: 'This Is the End of the World for Classical Liberalism'," October 22, 2020

Tom DiLorenzo on the 2020 election

Trump will win, then cheating on steroids will occur with "ballot harvesting" by the Bolsheviks. All they have to do is get one Democrat governor to refuse to validate the electoral votes in his state. If they reach inauguration day after hundreds of lawsuits are filed, then the election goes to the House of Representatives and Nancy Pelosi picks the president.

~ Tom DiLorenzo, October 17, 2020

Peter Schiff on the Trump-Biden debate

When both candidates agree that government should spend more, borrow more, and print more, and neither understands the nature of the structural problems that will precipitate the coming crisis, there's nothing of substance to debate. The result is the spectacle we just witnessed.

~ Peter Schiff, tweet, September 29, 2020

Kevin Duffy on the first Trump-Biden debate

Trump had the civil society vote in his pocket thanks to 4 months of "mostly peaceful" BLM protests. He lost that in 90 minutes of not being able to shut his mouth. 

Biden was cognitively on the ropes many times, but Trump saved him by interrupting.

~ Kevin Duffy, tweet, September 29, 2020

Kevin Duffy on the presidential debate

I am not a fan of Biden, but Trump was a complete disaster. He came across as a bully who refuses to play by the rules. 

No civility, no discussion of ideas, no substance. Kind of reminds me of my interactions with friends on Facebook. Politics is a reflection of the people. This presidential election is a complete embarrassment. Are these the two best candidates we can come up with? 

The only winner was Chris Wallace. He deserves a purple heart.

~ Kevin Duffy, Facebook post, September 29, 2020

Tom DiLorenzo on the Democratic Party strategy to win the 2020 presidential election

I wrote last March that the order had apparently come down from the Democrat National Committee that if you wanted a future in Democrat politics Mr. Mayor, Mrs. Governor, and Miss City Councilwoman, then you will destroy your local economy as much as possible for as long as possible with lockdowns in order to harm Trump’s chances in November.  Nothing else matters – not the millions of lost jobs, the destroyed businesses, the home foreclosures, the depression and suicide that would inevitably result – nothing.  Keep the public terrified, depressed, and miserable, and we will win in November has been their strategy.

~ Tom DiLorenzo, "The Political Business Cycle in Reverse," LewRockwell.com, September 19, 2020

Michael Bloomberg endorses the Biden-Harris 2020 presidential ticket

The country needs stable, mature, responsible leadership to pull us out of this ongoing disaster - and Senator Harris will help Joe Biden deliver it...  Joe's decades in the Senate proved to be a major asset for President Obama, especially his successful work with legislators to pass the Affordable Care Act... 

Biden's selection bodes well for the kind of president he would be: someone who prioritizes competence, listens to and respects different viewpoints, embraces diversity, and builds teams with strong leaders.  We need those values back in the White House more urgently than ever.

~ Michael Bloomberg, "Biden's Smart VP Pick Tells Us a Lot," Bloomberg Businesweek, August 17, 2020

Phil Duffy on the 2020 and 2024 elections

Trump's best chance is to keep everything together with baling wire and paper clips until November 3, which is 86 days away.  He should win and if there is a reaction to the street violence, he could win big, but again, as a member of the Silent Generation, I can't relate to most of what Millenials believe.  To me they appear to be both economically and politically clueless.  As my generation wanes, theirs waxes.

We need to start preparing for Election 2024 now.  The only thing a Trump re-election will do is to keep the crazy progressive socialists out of the presidency.  Economic reality will come crashing in on the United States during his second administration.  Trump is clueless about macroeconomics in spite of (or perhaps, because of) a Wharton School education.  He believes the government can counterfeit its way out of the financial mess our politicians have created.  He also believes that trade wars are the answer.  Hawley and Smoot must be smiling in their graves.

~ Phil Duffy, August 7, 2020