I'm ready to be up close to Donald Trump. I am at The Nugget casino and hotel in Sparks, which is part of the greater Reno area watching the debate on TV and getting in place for the noon Town Hall Trump will be holding here in the hotel ballroom tomorrow at noon.
The hotel room is splendid, and rate is $39 for the night, including the "resort fee" which I think is a device for adding to the room rate while avoiding the room tax. In any case, the place is cheap, especially for me since I have no interest in gambling.
I have one big take-away: the Republican candidates apparently think everything about America is a mess, except maybe our armed forces. They take no joy--no notice even--about the strong rebound in the economy since Obama took office, nor in the much improved employment numbers, nor in America being energy independent, nor in gasoline being about $2:20 a gallon, nor in the dollar doing so well internationally that the currency is the strongest it has been against other currencies, and that compared with other countries hurt by the credit/banking crisis America came out the best. Oh, and there is no inflation. And the stock market is up 250% since Obama took office.
Not a word about any of that, not even in a throwaway subordinate clause. ("Sure unemployment is down and corporate earnings are up and the stock market has recovered along with house values, but what is important is that low gasoline prices at the pump have put a strain on retail gasoline retailers, an important segment of the economy."). I put the quotation in parentheses because no one said it or anything like it.
The Republican candidates criticize American government as dysfunctional, but they take credit for making it so, And several members on the stage (Rand Paul and Ted Cruz) jockied to condemn strongest the Boehner budget deal which keeps the government open.
They hate the media. I have to agree that a question to Jeb Bush--I mean Jeb!--on fantasy football seemed a perfect example of trivializing the situation.
The hotel room is splendid, and rate is $39 for the night, including the "resort fee" which I think is a device for adding to the room rate while avoiding the room tax. In any case, the place is cheap, especially for me since I have no interest in gambling.
I have one big take-away: the Republican candidates apparently think everything about America is a mess, except maybe our armed forces. They take no joy--no notice even--about the strong rebound in the economy since Obama took office, nor in the much improved employment numbers, nor in America being energy independent, nor in gasoline being about $2:20 a gallon, nor in the dollar doing so well internationally that the currency is the strongest it has been against other currencies, and that compared with other countries hurt by the credit/banking crisis America came out the best. Oh, and there is no inflation. And the stock market is up 250% since Obama took office.
Not a word about any of that, not even in a throwaway subordinate clause. ("Sure unemployment is down and corporate earnings are up and the stock market has recovered along with house values, but what is important is that low gasoline prices at the pump have put a strain on retail gasoline retailers, an important segment of the economy."). I put the quotation in parentheses because no one said it or anything like it.
The Republican candidates criticize American government as dysfunctional, but they take credit for making it so, And several members on the stage (Rand Paul and Ted Cruz) jockied to condemn strongest the Boehner budget deal which keeps the government open.
They hate the media. I have to agree that a question to Jeb Bush--I mean Jeb!--on fantasy football seemed a perfect example of trivializing the situation.
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