HEADLINES
A series of Headlines signal dramatic managerial “sea changes” that give clues to future outcomes, and reasons.
- TikTok is shaping Gen Z’s Money Brain—Controlled by Chinese, filled with Communist/anti-American propaganda, aimed at American youth.
- Hacking Threat Grows as a Fear for Companies— 9 of 10 companies cite security risks rose: Cybersecurity, Regulatory, Digitization, Privacy.
- The Dow Is a Terrible Index. But it is telling us something important. A measure of formerly great companies, but is it a relic of a bygone era?
- Remote Work Is a Leadership Killer. Choosing employees who thrive in solitary settings can be detrimental to those who aspire to lead and manage.
- Don’t Waste Your “Power Hours” in Meetings. Want to be more productive? Figure out the best time to buckle down or space out. It isn’t enough to think about "what we need to do," we must also consider "when we should do it."
- Letting AI do The Work. AI may increase productivity, but it also creates workers who lack accountability for results & adds to lazy work habits.
- Faster, Stronger Charging: The Path to Electric Cars with Better Batteries. Innovation wins. Political “target” EV mandates lose favor & prove that clueless politicians are dangerous.
- Biden tries to buy young voters with yet another Student Loan forgiveness scheme, ruled out by Supreme Court before
- A Million Barrels of Fuel to Be Released, from the strategic reserves after superstorm Sandy. (Now—To lower gas prices for July 4 weekend.)
- China Edge In Minerals Widens. Key battery materials—Cobalt, Nickel, & Lithium are controlled by China, up from 55% in 2015 to 70%+ in 2024.
- Russia Influence Racket Redux. Expect the most polluted election ever as MSNBC redefines “Russia hoax;” caught red-handed again fabricating discrediting material (e.g., the Steele dossier) about Mr Trump.
- Biden’s Demoralizing Speech to Morehouse Grads.In his 2013 address, Obama stressed opportunity. In 2024, his successor emphasizes victimization.
- Biden to Graduates : America Hates You. The President’s tries to stir resentment among graduates, on a day to celebrate, as he faces slipping support.
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Excerpts from a teachable example for President Biden, from the world of entertainment.
"The George Costanza Presidency” ©WSJ, by Alysia Finley
In a classic “Seinfeld” episode, George Costanza bemoans that every decision he’s made has been wrong. His life, as a result, has turned out the opposite of what he intended.
Joe Biden might relate. His presidency probably hasn’t gone as he’d hoped either. Two wars, a border crisis and near-record inflation have erupted. … But like Costanza, Mr. Biden has only himself to blame. Both men created more trouble for themselves, as each poor decision leads to another…. As do the president’s ploys to win voters. Mr. Biden, like George, now risks getting dumped.
Consider the chain of … acts that led to the president’s threat last week to withhold weapons from Israel to appease his party’s leftists. Mr. Biden worries he’ll lose re-election if young progressives don’t turn out in November—or if they cast ballots for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. or Jill Stein. It isn’t an unreasonable concern.
Yet Mr. Biden’s bigger problem is that the pandemic handouts that Democrats hoped would win them votes have backfired. Excessive spending has fueled inflation and led to the highest interest rates in a generation. Young people have been especially harmed because those who don’t own homes now can’t afford them. ...Young voters aren’t fond of the former president…or his policies.
Mr. Biden has tried to boost his support with young people by canceling student debt. It hasn’t worked. His repeat rounds of debt forgiveness have ... infuriated Americans who didn’t go to college, grads who repaid their loans, and parents who made sacrifices to pay tuition.
Mr. Biden’s climate policies have proved similarly ineffective at energizing young voters, while alienating working-class Americans and fueling higher energy prices. The president in January surrendered to a small army of TikTokers calling for a halt to new liquefied-natural-gas export projects, without thinking how it would play with U.S. allies or workers whose jobs depend on the natural-gas industry, especially in Pennsylvania….
Then Mr. Biden charged forward with a de facto EV mandate that is deeply unpopular, especially in Michigan…. EVs require less labor but more capital to produce. U.S. automakers have laid off thousands of employees to finance the government-forced EV transition….
Mr. Biden has tried to compensate for these unforced errors with working-class voters by opposing Nippon Steel’s acquisition of Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel. ...The United Steelworkers union cheered, as the president’s intervention will discourage foreign investment that creates good-paying U.S. jobs and snubs to Japan, whose help the U.S. needs to contain a bellicose China.
Meantime, to counter higher energy prices caused partly by his anti-fossil-fuel policies, Mr. Biden has eased enforcement of oil sanctions on Iran and Russia, which has given America’s enemies more ammunition to attack Israel and Ukraine.
His flagging support among working-class voters,...has heightened the imperative to keep progressives under his collapsing tent. Hence, the embargo last week on U.S. weapons to Israel. This display of weakness will embolden America’s enemies and may result in more casualties.
Like George Costanza, Mr. Biden keeps digging his hole deeper the harder he works to get out of it. Perhaps he should take Jerry Seinfeld’s advice to George and do the opposite of what his instincts tell him.
Appeared in the May 13, 2024, print edition as 'The George Costanza Presidency'.
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2024: A Certain Fatalism Sets In (Headline only ©WSJ.com)
--Trump’s behaviors have been troubling (And probably will be again) but Trump’s time in office led to the best period for America in decades, economically, and in both foreign & domestic matters.
--Biden’s time in office has been a series of mistakes, bumbling and terrible outcomes in both foreign and domestic affairs—especially in a few big areas: 1) Law & order not enforced,
2) Border chaos & Immigration “invasions,” floods USA with criminal elements,
3) Spending cuts lead to decline in national defense readiness, & excessive, “Woke” spending wastes taxpayers money, and
4) Deterioration in America’s global stature and position: after disastrous exit from Afghanistan, President Biden allowed America to be drawn into three separate traps/wars, and two
a) Ukraine — support or not vs. Russia
b) Taiwan — support or not vs. China
c) Israel — support or not, vs. Hamas Iran and Hezbollah-Houthi proxies
All this amidst weak, confused policies and flip-flops, about the use of America’s military/defense capacity.
d) Abortion — after a Supreme Court decision in favor of states rights, permitting local choice, Biden & Democrats promote ignoring Court decisions.
e) Student loan forgiveness (to “buy votes”) again circumventing a Supreme Court decision that it was illegal.
Thus we face a choice again.
Two flawed presidents: Trump with personal issues—but excellent results for America & Americans; Biden with a bumbling/uncertain, and confusing period of cognitive impairment, embarrassment, poor leadership, and countless mistakes & reversals.
How to Decide? We can reflect on the contrasts, and choose what outcomes you want (to vote for:)
—Biden (age 81) Old, fragile, cognitively weak, reads from Teleprompters or note-cards, few ad-hoc press conferences. (Even NYTimes criticizes!)
+ Trump (age 77) Vigorous, active, energetically addressing small groups, or large rallies on all issues (while enduring multiple legal challenges in Dem venues.)
—Biden: Chaos in streets, encampments in cities and protests at universities, amidst flip-flopping of support for Hamas vs. Israel.
+ Trump: Relatively peaceful global affairs and economic prosperity.
—Biden: Huge consumer price inflation (highest of past 5 prez first terms) hurting almost all Americans despite a strong but uncertain economy.
+ Trump: Low inflation, prosperity and positive growth for all economic groups, especially minorities.
—Biden: Racial discrimination and chaos.
+ Trump: Racial progress in every category.
—Biden: Lawlessness and disorder, ill-advised catch & release, defunding police, allowing mob rule.
+ Trump: Law & order enforced, supporting police, stopping mob rule.
—Biden: Higher taxes (even on under $400k earners) and heavily increased regulation, adversely impacting growth and prosperity.
+ Trump: Lower taxes and less regulation, fueling growth and prosperity.
—Biden: Border & Immigration chaos, an invasion of illegals from worst, most troubled areas of the world, floods of criminal/troubled immigrants (not families and children—from all over, not just Latin America; from crime ridden places like Venezuela, the Middle-East, China, and Communist countries.
+ Trump:Increased border security and control, following laws, stop fake asylum claims, finish the Wall, enforce strong border/immigration policies.
—Biden: US fertility rate falls due to inflation/lowering household formation, illegal immigrants by millions, neither working nor law-abiding, nor assimilating legally creating a burden on America's working taxpayers.
+ Trump: America growing, replacing household formation, construction booming.
—Biden: Bans energy projects, mandates Green energy use (EVs, gas appliances, restrictions) goes from global energy leader and net exporter, to a government of regulated & rationed energy use.
+ Trump: America energy independent, net exporter, building abundance using proven technologies.
—Biden: Use “Lawfare” to interfere with elections, litigate in friendly court venues (NY, DC), to slow or silence opponents, no press conferences, staff “walks back misstatements. use censorship to control/manipulate information flow.
+ Trump: Frequent, open press encounters, free information flow & transparency (albeit controversial positions and statements.)
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IT’S NOT AN EASY DECISION TO CHOOSE WHICH ONE TO VOTE FOR, WHEN BOTH CANDIDATES HAVE FLAWS THAT ARE SO EVIDENT.
HOWEVER, WHEN THE OUTCOMES OF THEIR ACTIONS ARE SO DRAMATICALLY DIFFERENT—THAT DIFFERENCE PROVIDES A CLEAR REASON FOR VOTERS TO DECIDE TO REPLACE BIDEN.
BIDEN’S POLICIES AND SOLUTIONS SIMPLY DIDN’T, AND AREN’T WORKING. WHEREAS TRUMP’S WERE MAKING AMERICA STRONGER, AND AMERICANS MORE PROSPEROUS.
Biden’s policies have failed and he knows it. Instead of his promise to unite Americans, Joe Biden is doing the opposite (see George Costanza article above). Young and old Americans of all skin colors alike, recognize this, and those who understand the facts, and outcomes of Biden’s flaws and mistakes—and will vote accordingly.
Best, JOHN
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