Is the U.S. in a Recession?

Depending on whom you ask whether the country is in a recession

or not you will be told either "Yes indeed," or "Not a chance!"

the latter answer will come from the president and his administration,

along with his party which currently has control of both chambers of

Congress. Just about everyone else is convinced (including your 

faithful Peasant) that we are certainly in a recession. We therefore 

have a difference in views and substance regarding the debate 

and the answer to the question at hand.

New York's new mayor, Eric Adams, when recently speaking to the 

non-profit group Project Hospitality, stated "We're in a financial crisis

like you can never imagine ... Wall Street is collapsing. We're in a 

recession." Now, the accepted definition among economists is and

has long been two consecutive quarters of decline in the 

Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Although Wall Street is going 

through a great deal of turbulence of late it is not, as Mayor Adams

claims, collapsing. Besides, Wall Street has seen and been through 

worse in its long history, including of course the Great Depression 

which gripped the U.S. in the 1930s. Perhaps Mayor Adams should

consult with his fellow Democrat, President Biden about the matter.

However, the debate has brought a new notoriety to the organization

which officially designates recessions: the National Bureau of 

Economic Research's Business Cycle Dating Committee. Their idea of 

a recession is "a significant decline in economic activity spread across 

the economy, lasting more than a few months", taking into account

GDP, real income, employment, industrial production and consumer

spending. This definition is practically as long as a Senate fillibuster,

making it not at all as simple as "two consecutive quarters of decline

in the GDP". It must be noted, though, that the NBER won't make its

official determination for a few more months. 

Also, whenever President Biden and his merry band tell us that "there

isn't a recession" and that our economy is quite strong, more and more

people, particularly those on Main Street, believe with certainty that  

we're absolutely in a recession. And with the way that Biden and his 

chums have a rather awkward relationship with the truth, to say the
least, it's no wonder.

I'll close with this: I've heard news of employers slowing or ceasing  

their rates of hiring in part due to the climbing inflation, the worst 

we've seen in over forty years. The supply chain situation for many 

companies isn't getting any better, and there are more than a few  

empty or near-empty product shelves in many stores. What has been 

so far an employees' job market will soon revert to being an employer's 

market with the jobs disappearing, and many firms will not be able to 

afford to hire as many workers as they previously had.   

And it's going to get ugly. Real ugly. 

MEM

Robert "Bud" McFarlane, R.I.P.

A national security advisor to President Ronald Reagan,

Naval Academy graduate and U.S. Marine officer who 

served in Vietnam, a man who led a patriotic life,

Robert "Bud" McFarlane recently passed away at 84.

McFarlane, while in the Reagan White House, got caught

up in the Iran-Contra affair. Just hours before testifying

before the Blue Ribbon Panel which President Reagan

to investigate the Iran-Contra Affair, McFarlane attempted 

suicide because he felt he was made a scapegoat and was

made to take most if not all of the blame, and that his actions

caused embarrassment for President Reagan. McFarlane was

rushed to the hospital just two hours before he was to testify.

He soon after left Washington and became co-founder and

CEO of McFarlane Associates Inc., an international 

consulting company, and had served on six corporate boards.

McFarlane was a both a patriotic and controversial figure

who served his country as best he could. May he rest in

peace, his earthly cares behind him.

MEM   

Boris Blows It

Boris Johnson, Leader of Britain's Conservative Party

and Prime Minister of Great Britain since 2019 when

he led the Tories to a resounding electoral victory which

gained them an historic 80-seat majority in Parliament,

recently --- and some say expectedly --- announced his 

resignation from the latter. Having been elected on

the promise to make good on Brexit, promptly 

getting the U.K. out of the European Union, and also

the promise to focus on economic matters, Johnson

campaigned from the right but governed to the left, which

made for confusion, disappointment, and anger from 

not only the people of Britain but from members of his 

own party. 

Prime Minister Johnson said that he would remain as 

PM until a Conservative successor is chosen. What 

brought down the one time high-flying political phenom,

who had been the Lord Mayor of London? Johnson's

government was weakened by a series of scandals,

the most notable being not one but several office parties

while his government imposed lockdowns on the British

people, scolding them into compliance. But the biggest,

and the ugliest, scandal centered on Tory Chief Deputy

Whip Chris Pincher, Boris Johnson's vote wrangler with

allegations of sexual harassment. Prime Minister Johnson

repeatedly claimed he hadn't been aware of them and kept

Pincher (ironic name!) on his team.  

However, the biggest torpedo which helped take Johnson 

down was the failure of his economic agenda. He actually

wanted to build a left-of-center conservatism (?!) with 

its primary focus not on the standard conservative points

of prosperity and making a business-friendly economy but

rather on income redistribution, climate change, and culture

war battling (!!). While Johnson campaigned as a conservative

but governed like a liberal, results were produced leaving

much to be desired by his fellow Tories in Parliament and 

by the British electorate. 

Johnson failed to capitalize on Brexit to turn Britain into an

economic powerhouse. Instead of cutting corporate taxes in

order to attract investment he toyed with the idea of raising 

the corporate tax rate from 19% to 26%. The agenda to invest 

in the economically depressed north of England never happened,

despite promises and assurances aplenty from 10 Downing Street.

To make matters worse, Johnson thought up income redistribution

programs which would not have done nearly as much to help

economically hurting Britons as job creation would have. 

Boris Johnson's painful experience serves as an example of what

is likely to happen when campaigns, then governs as Johnson did.

Moderate/liberal Republicans, are you paying attention? Are you

taking notes?

As if things in Britain weren't bad enough, the country became 

enveloped in an inflation crisis which caused oil and natural gas

prices to soar, along with electricity, causing hardship for people

trying to make their homes comfortable. Of course this is making

the prices of other goods and services go flying as well, especially

affecting the cost of transporting them to market. Rather like in the

U.S., eh wot old chap?

So where do Great Britain's Conservatives turn for effective leader-

ship? A good question. The Tories have to take stock of what they

have learned from this misadventure, and whom should they trust

to repair and strengthen the British economy, and quickly.  And 

believe me, quickly is the operative word here, for Britain hasn't 

got the luxury of time.

MEM

Mark Shields, R.I.P.

Mark Shields was a rarity; a life-long liberal Democrat

who was respected, admired, enjoyed, and just plain 

liked by conservative Republicans and other righties.

A longtime journalist, columnist, commentator, and 

campaign advisor to several Democrats who sought 

the presidency, Shields, who passed away on June 18

at 85, was a partisan but not a hard-bitten one, having 

many friends on the opposite side of the fence. 

A most unique and distinctive political voice, never 

again to be heard across the field of political activity.

Shields had a sense of humor that had a sting to it, though.

An example: When televangelist Jim Bakker, husband of

Tammy Faye Bakker, she of the mask of mascara and lots

of other makeup, was sentenced to prison, the judge gave the

corrupt preacher a choice: either 40 years, or 20 years with

conjugal visits. I laughed out loud at that one myself

when I came across the joke in one of the tributes to Shields

I read over the last few weeks. His own political ideology 

was not spared his sharp wit: Two liberals come across 

a man lying in a ditch, bloody and unable to get up

after being savagely beaten and left for dead. One liberal

turns to the other and says, "Quick, we have to find 

the people who did this. They need help!" 

Shields was also an old-time pro-life Democrat on the issue

of abortion. Partisan, yes. Rigedly so, hardly. People loved 

him, and he loved people. He also loved America. God rest

you, sir. You were a member of a noble but dying breed.

A charming Irish catholic, New Dealer, JFK and RFK 

aficionado, and someone who always played fair in a 

field of endeavor where not everyone does (especially those 

on Shields' side of the political divide), you were magnificent.

Requiescat in pace. 

MEM 

A Shooting Star Streaks and Crashes

Political boy wonder Madison Cawthorn, who won election

to the House of Representatives in a North Carolina congres-

sional district defeating a Trump-backed candidate in the

Republican primary and a Democrat opponent in the general 

election, had a meteoric rise and a swifter fall. After announcing

that he hoped his youth and empathy would bring a new 

perspective to the GOP, Cawthorn then enmeshed himself in 

the most controversial and ludicrous groups and causes.

The 26-year-old Cawthorn picked the most inflammatory

position in many a debate before Congress. He utilized his office

as an engine for self-promotion. He made wildly bizarre claims 

that many of his colleagues were taking part in drug-fueled 

orgies (!). Both Washington and his home district are aghast

his words and his behavior. Maybe he should form a club with

fellow GOP in-House wackadoo Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene

--- no, scratch that! I don't want to give those two any ideas!

As a result, Cawthorn's re-election chances are slim and none,

and your mindful Peasant learned that slim recently left town.

The only thing that this misguided young man should be running

for, if anything, is the border!

MEM 

Happy Independence Day!

Friends, your favorite Peasant wishes all of you a safe,

sound, and joyful Independence Day! Our wonderful

country will be celebrating its 246th birthday this 

time around. 

Please keep our beloved USA in your prayers, and let's 

count our blessings as Americans. We have so much to

celebrate in addition to our country's birthday! 

We'll get together again right after the big day!

God bless you, my wonderful readers, and 

God bless America!

MEM

Life Wins at the Supreme Court!

On Friday, June 24, a remarkable event occurred at the SCOTUS:

A majority of the Supreme Court justices ruled to strike down 

Roe vs. Wade! The landmark ruling in the 1973 case, which 

established abortion as a constitutionally protected right of a 

pregnant woman to choose to terminate her pregnancy, thereby

superseding the many state laws stating otherwise, was struck 

down by the Supremes when they stated in  Dobbs vs. Jackson 

Women's Health Organization that the U.S. Constitution makes

no reference to abortion. So the legal status of abortion is once

again what it was prior to Roe; it is up to the states to decide 

individually whether or not to allow legal abortion and if so to regulate 

it according to their own specifics. Although abortion has not been 

banned, as many pro-abortion activists and politicians claim, 

there shall be a resultant decrease in abortions in the United States.

Pro-lifers and other like-minded people are absolutely

overjoyed at seeing this 49-year-old travesty, this SCOTUS- 

mandated assault on the right to life, to be born, to exist within

the framework of life itself be tossed onto the dung heap of history

to rot alongside other gross injustices such as slavery. So the battle

now will be fought at the state level, fighting for the right to life 

for the unborn. 

As your faithful Peasant types this article, half of all of the 

states in the country, including my home state of Wisconsin,

has abortion curbs or bans in place ready to implement. Planned

Parenthood has prepared for these measures by closing their 

abortion clinics in these states while they frantically huddle 

with their allies in the state legislatures and in Congress to decide 

on what they should do next. Meantime there will be many less 

innocent unborn babies torn to pieces or chemically burned 

then removed from the wombs they had occupied while waiting

to be born. More dear little babies will see the light of day and 

draw a breath of air outside of their mothers' wombs. And they

shall grow up to live their lives and make for themselves 

wonderful life paths --- have families, fulfilling careers, 

many of the things which the rest of us have and many of 

whom take for granted. Furthermore, respect and reverence 

for life will be reflected more and more in our laws, especially

as more and more states adopt laws curbing abortions with 

exceptions for rape, incest, and threat to the life of the mother.

By the by, these instances are statistically rare; the Alan Guttmacher

Institute, which once was the research arm of Planned Parenthood

and now is an independent research organization which focuses on

abortion and abortion-related matters, has discovered this in their 

abortion research. 

Another falsehood from the pro-aborts is that the Justices in the

Dobbs majority lied about their judicial philosophies during

confirmation hearings. The biggest lie was that these Justices 

asserted that Roe vs. Wade was a precedent which could not be

overturned. These accusations are industrial-strength blarney 

for these two reasons: One, that in the first rule of judging you 

cannot pre-judge a case. Bad form, you see. Judges are limited 

under Article III of the Constitution to hearing cases, and that

means ruling on facts and law that are relevant to these cases. 

Judges have to be impartial, as they owe this to both the plaintiffs 

and defendants in the cases the judges adjudicate; if they cannot 

be impartial for whatever the reason, then they must recuse 

themselves. This is simple but unassailable ethics.

Justice Neil Gorsuch, who was one of the majority in Dobbs, 

said at his confirmation hearing "Roe vs. Wade, ... is a precedent

of the Supreme Court. It has been reaffirmed. ... So a good judge 

will consider it a precedent of the United States Supreme Court

worthy as treatment of precedent as any other." 

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, another member of the majority, said

the following at his hearing: "Roe vs. Wade is an important precedent

of the Supreme Court. It has been reaffirmed many times. It was 

reaffirmed in Planned Parenthood vs. Casey (which was also struck

down by the Court along with Roe in Dobbs) in 1992. ... So that 

precedent on precedent is quite important as you think about Stare 

Decisis (The decision stands) in this context."

The accusations of deceit are especially unfair and very tarnishing 

because they suggest that the Court is not at all different from the 

political branches of government, the legislature and the executive

branches. Would the Democrats and other lefties in general be happy 

with the Republicans and conservatives if the shoe were on the other 

foot? Your skeptical Peasant rather doubts it.

The Dems and the lefties are cheesed off not just over recent rulings 

by the Court but rather that they are not in control of a branch of 

government which they could utilize as a vehicle for achieving

political goals that they couldn't win through the legislature 

(Congress). The cultural successes they have enjoyed will now 

be able to come about only by the difficult and arduous work of 

persuading voters. With the anger the electorate presently feel 

toward Congress and President Biden all your bemused Peasant 

can say is good luck with that!

Getting back to the majority on the Court that voted to strike down 

the poorly reasoned and ill-gotten Roe vs. Wade ruling, they did not

break any promises to respect and affirm precedents, as they never

broke any such promises to begin with. These Justices saw the flaws

in Roe and Casey, and recognized the flaws in these rulings when 

examining the facts in Dobbs, so they saw that the both logical and fair

way to rule was in ruling the way in which they ruled. They stayed

faithfully within the boundaries set forth by Article III, and while also

recognizing and acknowledging the precedents, they never stated

whether they would uphold or strike them down.

Life for the unborn had its day in court, and had won a momentous 

victory. Although it was just one battle, it was a battle won which

will be instrumental in winning many more and at last the war itself.

The so-called "choice" side has lost the momentum; it now resides 

with the side of life.

MEM