Stephen Moore | Filosofa's Word

Good morning, friends, and welcome to the rabbit hole … er … Filosofa’s Word. Perhaps I should rename this blog “The Rabbit Hole”, what do you think? Anyway, what better way to partly relieve the angst than just a few snarky snippets?

Outrageous!

It seems that politicians no longer care what they say, to whom or about whom they say it. Do they really think that it’s impressive or funny when they thoughtlessly denigrate others? And I’m not just talking about Trump, although he certainly is chief among them for horribly disgusting behaviour and language.A few weeks ago, I wrote about Stephen Moore, one of Trump’s picks for the Federal Reserve Board. What I did not know when I wrote that piece is some of Mr. Moore’s past misogynistic comments that have recently surfaced after an investigation by CNN. Here are just a few (the comments in blue are Filosofa’s own snark) …

When he found his wife had voted for a democrat in 2000, he said “Women are sooo malleable! No wonder there’s a gender gap.” (If we’re so ‘malleable’, jerkface, then how come you couldn’t convince her to vote your way? Maybe she actually … has a brain and knows how to use it???)
“How outrageous is this? This year they allowed a woman ref a men’s NCAA game. Liberals celebrate this breakthrough as a triumph for gender equity. The NCAA has been touting this as example of how progressive they are. I see it as an obscenity. Is there no area in life where men can take vacation from women?” (Oh yeah, Buster, you can go jump in that bloomin’ lake over there!)
“Here’s the rule change I propose: No more women refs, no women announcers, no women beer venders, no women anything.” (Fine by me … try making your own coffee, your own bed, or your own kids, A$$hole!)
“What are the implications of a society in which women earn more than men? We don’t really know, but it could be disruptive to family stability. If men aren’t the breadwinners, will women regard them as economically expendable?” (Your sort are certainly expendable, Bucko!)
“Well, we’ve probably gone too far in providing the safety net for the elderly. To a large extent, we’ve started a system in this country where we are taxing struggling middle-class families that are young to provide lavish government benefits for people over 65.” (Now wait just a minute here … did he say ‘lavish’? I can barely afford my insulin! And why tax the ‘struggling young middle-class? Why not try taxing that fat cat 1% rich bastards?)

As I noted in my other post about Mr. Moore, his wife finally and wisely divorced him, and then he failed to pay child support. What a guy, eh? And Trump wants him to sit on the Federal Reserve Board. Go figure. If the Senate confirms this one …

Steve King can relate?

Another Steve … you know what? Trump seems to attract people with that name and they are all jerks! Stephen Moore, Steve Mnuchin, Steven Miller …

Congressman Steve King … remember him? He’s been on my radar numerous times, but back in March 2017 he earned Filosofa’s Idiot of the Week award. Since then, he has been called on the carpet more than once for bigoted, hate-filled remarks made in public, and was removed from his committee assignments by members of the House. Well, somehow he’s gotten it into his head that it makes him rather like the biblical Jesus Christ …

“For all that I’ve been through and it seems even strange for me to say it but I’m at a certain peace. And it’s because of a lot of prayers for me. And when I had to step I have to step down to the floor of the House of Representatives and look up at those 400-and-some accusers — you know we just passed through Easter and Christ’s passion — and I have better insight into what He went through for us, partly because of that experience.”

Oh spare me. The interesting thing here is that even the unconscionable Mitch McConnell called Steve King out for his bigotry. One of the best comments on the Idiot of the Week post two years ago came from my good friend Emily ..

“When they send people to Congress, they aren’t sending their best. They’re idiots, and numb-nuts, and some, I assume, are good people…”

Why?

We, the United States, no longer have a representative on the United Nations’ committee on racism. Why? We did have a representative on the committee, Gay McDougall. But, she had at some point said things about Trump that he didn’t like, so when the State Department planned to re-nominate her, Trump nixed the idea. And did he replace her with someone else? No, he did not. Why? Because, as we have all heard, he has little or no respect for such international cooperatives, which is why he stupidly pulled us out of the Paris Accord, the Iran deal, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and is gradually pulling away from the United Nations. According to one official …

“… it cements the narrative that the Americans just don’t care about these kinds of things anymore.”

Surprise.

I’m certainly no fan of Kirstjen Nielsen, former Director of Homeland Security, but it appears she was at least trying to do one thing right, and that was assure election integrity, or at least an election free of Russian interference, next year. Ms. Nielsen had become increasingly concerned about Russia’s continued activity in the United States during and after the 2018 midterm elections — ranging from its search for new techniques to divide Americans using social media, to experiments by hackers, to rerouting internet traffic and infiltrating power grids.

Concerned, Ms. Nielsen was trying to arrange a meeting with administration cabinet officials to coordinate a strategy to protect next year’s elections, but she was warned off by White House Chief of Staff, Mick Mulvaney. Why? Because it might upset Donald Trump who does not wish to hear about the Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections since it calls into question whether he would have been able to win on his own.

A) He did not win, for Hillary Clinton had almost 3 million more votes than he, and B) No, he couldn’t win a contest for dogcatcher on his own.

And so, Ms. Nielsen eventually gave up. According to a document prepared by government intelligence agencies …

“Russia’s social media efforts will continue to focus on aggravating social and racial tensions, undermining trust in authorities and criticizing perceived anti-Russia politicians. Moscow may employ additional influence tool kits — such as spreading disinformation, conducting hack-and-leak operations or manipulating data — in a more targeted fashion to influence U.S. policy, actions and elections.”

Yet, we are to do nothing because it might make Little Donnie feel bad? Bull!

I could go on … and on … and on. In this era of Trump, the b.s. just keeps coming at warp speed. I’ve been knocked off my feet a few times in the past week or two, and I’m sure it’s going to get worse before it gets better. My means of surviving is to write about it and share it with you guys! Isn’t that kind of me? I believe it is only right to share everything!

Some days you have to ask yourself if somehow, in some way, you have slipped into a dystopian universe. Up is down, inside is outside, big is little, and wrong has suddenly become right. Point in case …

There are two vacancies on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and Trump has nominated a man named Stephen Moore to fill one of those vacancies. Now, before I get into Mr. Moore and his qualifications, or lack thereof, remember that the purpose of the Federal Reserve in a nutshell is to ensure a stable economy. *

Federal Reserve board members (there are seven, which includes the Chairman and Vice Chairman) serve a term of fourteen years, and are paid an annual salary of $179,700, with the two at the top receiving $199,700. It is a position of high trust, controlling such things as interest rates, banking regulations, managing inflation and more. Now on to Stephen Moore. First off, he is a great supporter of “supply-side” or “trickle down” economics. Sigh. HOW MANY TIMES do we have to prove that it does not work??? I made this point back in September 2017 with my post It Trickles Up … Not Down! In fact, Trump has proven it himself by giving huge tax cuts to the wealthy, stating that the money they saved in taxes would ‘trickle down’ to the consumer, to the working class. It didn’t. It never has. It never will. In a 2012 paper, Moore wrote …

“Cutting taxes can have a near immediate and permanent impact, which is why we have advised Oklahoma, Kansas and other states to cut their income tax rates if they want the most effective immediate and lasting boost to their states’ economies.”

But wait … there is more NOT to love about Stephen Moore.

For starters, just looking at his affiliations sends up red flags. He is a member of the Editorial Board of The Wall Street Journal, owned by none other than the owner of state television network Fox News, Rupert Murdoch. And Mr. Moore is the Chief Economist at the Heritage Foundation. For those who may not be aware, the Heritage Foundation is an American conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. and geared towards public policy. The foundation took a leading role in the conservative movement during the presidency of Ronald Reagan, whose policies were taken from Heritage’s policy study Mandate for Leadership. The foundation had a powerful say in the staffing of the Trump misfit administration, being largely responsible for the nominations of Scott Pruitt, Betsy DeVos, Mick Mulvaney, Rick Perry, and Jeff Sessions.

In 2011, Mr. Moore divorced his wife, Allison. In 2013, he was found in contempt of court for failing to pay more than $330,000 in spousal support, child support, attorney’s fees and a one-time fee to his ex-wife. Moore had failed to pay six consecutive months of child support — and only a small fraction of the nearly $19,000 a month he had agreed to pay his ex-wife in the divorce settlement. Moore failed to respond to repeated requests from the Virginia court to make payments and did not show up for a deposition in the case. The court ordered him to sell his home to raise money to pay the debt and forced him to set up an automatic bank transfer each month. Ever hear the term “deadbeat dad”? Moore is one.

Mr. Moore currently owes $75,000 in unpaid federal taxes, interest and penalties, according to court documents filed last year. A lien for $75,328.80 from the 2014 tax year was entered against Mr. Moore at the request of the federal government in January 2018. What he owes in back taxes for a single year is more than most of us make in a single year! And he is too sorry to pay the government, when we would be in jail if we fell behind by a tenth that much?

Now, here we have a man who cannot manage his own personal finances, and yet Trump would elevate him to one of the most important positions in the overall economic health of the nation??? You might think that Mr. Moore would hang his head in shame and walk away from the nomination, but think again.

Two days ago, he stated emphatically that he has no intention of stepping aside. “It’s full speed ahead.” And Trump & Co have no intention of withdrawing the nomination, according to Larry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, who said both he and Trump continue to support Mr. Moore for the Fed’s board of governors.

“I think he’ll make a great governor. We are standing fully behind his candidacy.”

Just as with Trump’s cabinet picks, this one is among the worst possible choices. We have people leading the Departments of Energy, Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) who are climate change deniers and have ties to the fossil fuel industry. We have a Secretary of Education who does not believe in public schools. Then there’s Wilbur Ross, Secretary of Commerce, who is the subject of a multi-million-dollar lawsuit claiming he stole from a former partner. And let us not forget Ben Carson, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), who claims that poverty is “a state of mind”. I could go on and on, but you get the picture. Sadly for our nation, Mr. Moore’s nomination, just like all those above, and like Brett Kavanaugh who now sits on the Supreme Court despite many disqualifications, will be confirmed by the republican-majority Senate. And We the People have no voice in this. Unless there are actually some republican senators who have a bit of decency left, a bit of honour and integrity, and the cojones to defy Trump, then this misfit, just like all those before him, will be confirmed.