With a bitterly contested election all but over, 74-year-old President Donald looks for new digs as 78-year-old President-elect Joe Biden and his 69-year-old wife Jill start measuring the drapes. Biden defeated Trump Nov. 3 in what Trump calls the biggest election fraud in U.S. history, despite not presenting convincing evidence yet to any federal court. Trump’s 70-year-old Atty. Gen Bill Barr said Dec. 1 that he has not seen any compelling evidence that would change the outcome of the 2020 election. Trump can’t fathom the fact that he was winning the election Nov. 3 before the battleground states said they’d stop counting only to find out the next morning that Biden had taken the lead in all swing states. When substantial leads are established on the Election Night, it rarely happens that all the battleground states would suddenly reverse course, ending up in Biden’s camp.
Unable to prove fraud but knowing that it occurred, Trump’s beside himself, knowing that if things stay the same the Electoral College will certify Joe’s 306 to 235 Electoral vote victory Dec. 14. Trump told the press Nov 25 that he would leave the White House if the Electoral College certified Joe’s 306 to 235 victory. Republicans and Democrat in Congress, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), realize that the American people are hurting under the weight of the Covid-19 crisis, forcing more lockdowns around the country, causing the worst economic hardship since the Great Depression. Pelosi hoped that Republicans would go along with theMay 25, $3.4 trillion Heroes Act, something deemed a non-starter by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Now that the election’s over, both parties are back to work.
Pelosi didn’t want to give Trump a political victory before the election, doing everything possible to hurt Trump politically. If you can trust the vote, voters sided with Pelsoi and Schumer, handing Biden almost 7 million more popular votes that Trump, in the most highly attended vote in U.S. history. More that 154 million U.S. citizens voted Nov. 3, compared with 129 million in 2016, handing the election to Biden. Were it not for the universal mail-in ballots due to Covid-19, it’s entirely possible Trump would have won the election. But with so many mail-in ballots, it’s impossible to tell whether they’re validated ballots or fabricated to help Biden win. One thing’s for sure, no typical election turns around the way it did after Trump posted strong leads in all battleground state on Election Night. What happened to turn things around for Biden makes zero sense, even accounting for mail-in ballots.
Now that the election’s over, Pelosi and Schumer wants to play ball with Trump to get a compromise stimulus bill passed. Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell, 68, implored Congress to get some fiscal stimulus together or face a protracted recession that could end Wall Street’s post-election rally. Allianz SE’s, parent company to PIMCO, the nation’s largest bond trading company, 62-year-old chief economist Mohamed El-Erian echoed Powell’s thoughts, urging the White House and Congress to pass a new stimulus bill at the earliest possible time. “The U.S. is a good example because we have ability but what we’ve lost is willingness,” said El-Erian, hoping Congress and the White House gets on the same page. “After Jan. 20, we will find our will again. The problems is that will create a lot of damage in the interim,” urging lawmakers to compromise.
For the first time since before the election, Pelsoi and Schumer are singing a different tune on their $3.4 trillion Heroes Act, now willing to consider a White House-approved $908 billion extension to the March 25 $2.2 trillion CARES Act, handing out bailout out checks to most American taxpayers, including payroll protection and extended unemployment benefits. When the last of the benefits expired in September, struggling American workers and businesses begged for more stimulus. “There’s already and indication that the labor market may be going into reverse, which is problematic,” El-Erian said. “We are slowing, and we will slow more, to the extent that household economic insecurity goes up,” urging Trump, McConnell, Pelosi and Schumer to work out a deal. El-Erian doesn’t see Wall Street holding up much longer it the White House and Congress don’t act soon on stimulus.
When the Fed Chairman practically begs the White House and Congress to act quickly on stimulus, you know things are bad. “It would be very helpful and very important that there be additional fiscal support for the economy, really to get through the ringer,” Powell said. He sees the growing number of Covid-19 cases and shutdowns around the country to know the economy is in for some rough times. “I think we made a lot of progress faster that we expected and now we have a big spike in Covid cases and its may weigh on economic activity. People may pull back from activities there were being involved in or not engage in new activities,” Powell said, fearing the spending during the holiday season could grind to a halt. “It would be help if we could get that don, if you could get than done,” Powell told 57-year-old Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. Powell hopes he pushes things along.
