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October 2020

US Business Activity Soars to 20-Month High in October: IHS Markit By Tom Ozimek

https://www.theepochtimes.com/us-business-activity-soars-to-20-month-high-in-october-ihs-markit_3550124.html

U.S. business activity rose to a 20-month high in October, although the rate of new business growth and new orders eased slightly, in part driven by political uncertainty ahead of the Nov. 3 presidential election and concerns about the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus outbreak.

Data firm IHS Markit said on Friday its flash U.S. Composite PMI Output Index (pdf), which tracks the manufacturing and services sectors, rose to a reading of 55.5 this month—the highest reading since February 2019. A reading above 50 indicates growth in private sector output.

The survey’s flash services sector PMI rose to 56 this month, also a 20-month high, an encouraging sign as services account for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity. Manufacturing held steady in October, with the survey’s flash manufacturing PMI ticking up slightly to 53.3 from 53.2 in September.

“The U.S. economy looks to have started the fourth quarter on a strong footing, with business activity growing at a rate not seen since early 2019,” said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit, in a statement. “The service sector led the expansion as increasing numbers of companies adapted to life with COVID19, while manufacturing continued to report solid growth amid rising demand from households and businesses.”

Some manufacturers and service industry companies said the CCP virus crisis had an adverse impact on demand, the report indicated. Other companies said some clients were waiting to place new orders until after Election Day. The survey’s flash composite new orders index dipped to 54.3 this month from a reading of 54.8 in September, although it remained in expansion territory.

Biden Lies Again and Again By Kyle Smith

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/biden-lies-again-and-again/?utm_source=recirc-desktop&utm_medium=homepage&utm_campaign=river&utm_content=featured-content-trending&utm_term=second

Joe Biden is a career liar and he lied some more in the debate, for instance when he dismissed the now well-supported New York Post story about Hunter Biden’s business dealing as “a Russian plant.” There is zero evidence for this. He offered this line:

There are 50 former national intelligence folks who said what he’s accusing me of is a Russian plant. Five former heads of the CIA — both parties — say what he’s saying is a bunch of garbage. Nobody believes it except him and his good friend Rudy Giuliani.

There were some headlines from Biden-friendly media to this effect, but this is a gross mischaracterization of the letter from ex-CIA chief John Brennan et al, which merely asserted that the Hunter Biden story sounded like a Russian disinformation op, not that there was any evidence for this. The relevant portion reads:

We want to emphasize that we do not know if the emails, provided to the New York Post by President Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, are genuine or not and that we do not have evidence of Russian involvement” [But] there are a number of factors that make us suspicious of Russian involvement.

Trump Won the Debate—But Won Bigly the Post-Debate By Victor Davis Hanson

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/trump-won-the-debate-but-won-bigly-the-post-debate/?utm_source=

There was a low bar for Joe Biden in the first debate, given his cognitive challenges. Because he exceeded that pessimism, he won momentum. 

In opposite fashion, there was similarly an expectation that a disruptive Donald Trump would turn off the audience by the sort of interruptions and bullying that characterized the first debate.

He did not do that. He instead let a cocky Biden sound off, and thus more or less tie himself into knots on a host of topics, but most critically on gas and oil. So likewise Trump will gain momentum by exceeding those prognoses. 

But far more importantly, the back-and-forth repartee will not matter other than Trump went toe to toe, but in a tough, dignified manner and beat Biden on points. Biden did not go blank — although he seemed to come close, often especially in the last 20 minutes. Had the debate gone another 30 minutes, his occasional lapses could have become chronic.

What instead counts most are the days after.  The debate take-aways, the news clips, the post facto fact checks, and the soundbites to be used in ads over the next ten days all favor Trump. In this regard, Biden did poorly and will suffer continual bleeding in the swing states. 

We will know that because by the weekend Biden will be out of his basement and trying to reboot his campaign and actually be forced to campaign. 

So we are going to hear over the next week that Biden simply denied the factual evidence of the Hunter Biden laptop computer, the emails, the cell phones, and the testimonies from some of the relevant players as a concocted smear, a Russian disinformation attack. That denial is clearly a lie. It is absolutely unsupportable. And Biden will have to drop that false claim.  

A Big Night — and a Better Day After — for Trump If the president can stick to this script in a disciplined way, that’s going to be a big problem for the former vice president. By Andrew C. McCarthy *****

https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/10/a-big-night-and-a-better-day-after-for-trump/

P resident Trump would be in much better shape right now if he’d campaigned and debated like the guy who showed up at last night’s debate. To use a boxing analogy, I think he won the match on points, but the margin gets better for him in the post-mortem. Former vice president Biden said some truly indefensible things. Starting this morning and continuing for the next ten days, Republicans will be whistling through the groove-yard of forgotten favorite video clips . . . or, better, GOP favorites that Biden would like to forget.

In fact, the president wasted no time: He had a killer montage up on Twitter before midnight.

Worst for Biden are the energy issues.

First, there is the true thing Biden said that his camp is now desperately trying to walk back or restate: He wants to get rid of fossil fuels, in particular oil. “I would transition from the oil industry, yes,” he said. To put an exclamation point on it, he agreed with Trump that this “is a big statement.” Shortly after the debate, just how big this statement was began to sink in, so Biden went into damage control mode. He insisted he had just been talking about “getting rid of subsidies for fossil fuels.” But that was not true. As the several Biden and Kamala Harris statements in Trump’s tweet demonstrate, the Democratic ticket made their jihad against fossil fuels clear and unqualified, time and again.

Second, and relatedly, there is the false thing that Biden said: He claimed he had never indicated he would ban fracking. To the contrary, he has said he’d get rid of fracking several times; and Kamala Harris — before she started insisting, with a straight face, that Biden had been “very clear” that he would not ban fracking — was herself emphatic in proclaiming the dogmatic Democratic Party position: “There’s no question, I’m in favor of banning fracking.”

If you check out that brief clip of Senator Harris that I just linked, notice — it’s impossible not to notice — the cheering crowd at the gleefully progressive CNN town hall. It will zero you in on the problem Biden-Harris faces: To get to the general election, they had to win the nomination of a party whose verve and lots of whose money is on the far left.

Trump Secures Third Historic Middle East Peace Deal, This Time With Sudan By Jordan Davidson

Sudan will be removed from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list and will begin a partnership with the United States and Israel, President Donald Trump announced on Friday.

“HUGE win today for the United States and for peace in the world. Sudan has agreed to a peace and normalization agreement with Israel! With the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, that’s THREE Arab countries to have done so in only a matter of weeks. More will follow!” he tweeted.

The agreement comes just weeks after Trump secured two other historic peace deals in the Middle East through the signing of The Abraham Accords with Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, which established full diplomatic relations of the countries with Israel. These deals facilitated by the Trump Administration are meant to bring “stability, security, and prosperity” in the region.

“This move will improve regional security and unlock new opportunities for the people of Sudan, Israel, the Middle East, and Africa,” the joint statement released by the White House said.

Trump granted Sudan’s removal from the terrorism list after the nation paid “$335 million to compensate American victims of past terror attacks and their families.” Removal from the list now allows the country to access “international loans and aid.”

3 Ways Donald Trump’s Debate Performance Will Affect the Race Christopher Bedford

https://thefederalist.com/2020/10/23/3-ways-donald-trumps-debate-performance-wil

It might seem obvious, but in all the racket that follows a debate, the most important focus is how it affects the race, if at all.

It was a solid debate, despite more questions geared toward former Vice President Joe Biden and against President Donald Trump, and with moderator Kristen Welker interrupting the president 24 times to Biden’s two, by Fox’s count. On the most important count, however, Trump won the debate hands down. Here’s three reasons why.

Pennsylvania

As Welker attempted to move from energy to the next topic in the last half hour of the debate, Trump asked a pointed question:

Trump: “Would he close down the oil industry? Would you close down the oil industry?”

Biden: “I would transition from the oil industry, yes.”

Trump: “Oh, that’s a big statement.”

Biden: “That is a big statement, because I would stop–”

Welker: “Why would you do that?”

Are We Worthy of America? Jim O’Neill

https://canadafreepress.com/article/are-we-worthy-of-america

Trump…will be unleashing hell on these people.  Anyone who has seen him operate knows.   This is his time.   This is how the beginning of the end of the swamp, or should I say the sewer, begins.   This is the kind of chaos these smartest people in the world, ever, haven’t seen before.   Algorithms will not help them.   Censorship will not help them.  It will be a rushing mighty wind, coming to destroy all those who didn’t understand that their corruption could be turned on them.—David Prentice “This Is How the Left’s Power Structure Collapses”

The truth is, Donald Trump was born for this moment. He’s getting help from High Places his opponents don’t want to acknowledge. —Richard Jack Rail “Born for this moment”
If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31)

America’s destiny, indeed the world’s destiny, hinges on how We the People act in the coming days, weeks, months, and years.  Now is the time to stand stalwart and committed against the rising tide of violence, corruption, and lies.  To stand firmly for freedom and decency, truth and righteousness.  To defend the Charters of Freedom.  To stand up for America as its founders envisioned it. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,—That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government….—The Declaration of Independence 

The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme law of the United States. Empowered with the sovereign authority of the people by the framers and the consent of the legislatures of the states, it is the source of all government powers, and also provides important limitations on the government that protect the fundamental rights of United States citizens. [emphasis added] —The Constitution

A serious debate that leaves Biden with lingering bruises Will allegations of Biden family corruption ever be properly scrutinized? Charles Lipson

https://spectator.us/serious-debate-leaves-biden-with-lingering-bruises/?utm_source=Spectator+USA+Email+Signup&utm_campaign=e1493a8295-

Thursday night’s debate was far calmer and more substantive than the street brawl that preceded it. If we score it like a boxing match, it was pretty close. But that’s the wrong way to look at it. It matters, obviously, that neither candidate won a decisive victory and that Trump needed one more because he’s trailing, according to polls. But the debate helped Trump in another way. Biden said things he will regret. Time and again, he made false or misleading claims and politically-questionable promises. Three stand out:
Fracking and energy,
Predators and crime, and
Family corruption.
Biden also claimed, flatly, that no one ever lost their health insurance under ObamaCare. Oops. That won’t withstand scrutiny and weakens Biden on his best issue: healthcare.
 
Fracking and the Future of American Energy

Biden and Trump differ sharply on America’s energy future, and those differences came through in the debate. Biden made aggressive statements supporting alternative energy, pledging to gradually phase out the entire oil and gas industry and add thousands of new, high-paying jobs as he did so. There are really two issues here. One is whether voters have a clear sense of what Biden will do and how much it will cost. The other is how these promises will play in states that rely on energy production (such as Texas, Pennsylvania, and Ohio) or on energy-intensive industries (Michigan). How Pennsylvania voters, in particular, see Biden’s energy policies is crucial because, if Trump loses the state, he’ll have a very hard time winning reelection. That’s why Trump was so quick to jump on Biden’s “green energy” promises during the debate. He think Biden hurt himself in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Crime, Racism, and “Predators”

Why Donald Trump Should Be Reelected

https://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/editorial/why-donald-trump-should-be-reelected/2020/10/21/

On the face of it, the choice on November 3 is straightforward. A president is running for reelection who brings with him a record of some remarkable achievements over the past four years, both domestically and internationally. Running against him is an opponent who seems locked in the past, with a failed leftist agenda, but with an overarching message that he will restore dignity to the presidency.

Few will deny that Donald Trump has a controversial personality (although Biden is hardly a saint himself), but look at what he has accomplished and the promise that four more years of a Trump administration holds.

The very fact that Trump is not headed for reelection by acclimation is a function of something very profound that has gripped America. There is a leftist movement afoot – with the help of a complicit, likeminded media – to advance a more socialist America that would provide for its people rather than help people provide for themselves.

That the mainstream media last week largely sat on – and sometimes tried to actively squelch – the explosive story of e-mails indicating that Joe Biden used his position as vice president to advance his son’s business interests in Ukraine suggests what’s at stake.

In any event, it’s remarkable that despite an implacably hostile mainstream media and a Democratic party that conducted a four-year, total war to delegitimize him and remove him from office, Donald Trump – warts and all – has produced for America.

Take the economy. Early on, President Trump lowered taxes and repealed regulations that were stifling business. We soon had a booming economy that was breaking records. Economic growth was exploding. Jobs were being created by the hundreds of thousands. Unemployment was at historic lows.
Even manufacturing jobs returned to this country – jobs that Obama derisively said Trump could only bring back with a magic wand

We also achieved energy independence – an amazing accomplishment that the mainstream media has largely ignored. Trump also took us out of trade treaties that had enabled other nations to feast on our prosperity.

The economy was flourishing – but then came the coronavirus lockdowns. We all know the result. But if Trump knew what it took to bring prosperity back to this country in the first place, why would we cut him loose when we need a recovery to bring us back at least to where we were? Don’t we need more of what he prescribed?

Debate Recap: Trump Was in Command While Biden Told a Bunch of Whoppers By Tyler O’Neil

https://pjmedia.com/election/tyler-o-neil/2020/10/23/debate-recap-trump-was-in-command-while-biden-told-a-bunch-of-whoppers-n1079330

“…..

Trump cleaned Biden’s clock on a few issues, while Biden more frequently hoisted himself on his own petard. The president did a good job of standing back and letting Biden dig himself into a hole. When Trump called him out on previous statements Biden had made, the Democrat merely claimed he never made those statements.

1. Hunter Biden

Trump put the Democrat on the defensive even before the debate began by bringing Tony Bobulinski to the debate as his guest. Bobulinski is the CEO of Sinohawk Holdings, a company he founded with CEFC China Energy and the Biden family. He came forward on Thursday to corroborate the damning emails discovered on Hunter Biden’s laptop.

Among other things, Bobulinski claimed that Joe Biden was personally involved in the nefarious business deals Hunter Biden and James Biden (the then-vice president’s brother) undertook in foreign countries like Ukraine and China.

“What he said was damning. Regardless of me, I think you have to clean it up and explain it to the American people,” Trump told Biden.

The Democrat responded by claiming, “I have not taken a single penny from any country whatsoever, ever.” He also attacked Trump over a bank account that paid the Chinese government nearly $200,000 in taxes between 2013 and 2015, before Trump was president.

This was a non-sequitur because Hunter Biden (and allegedly Joe Biden himself) raked in cash from China while his father was vice president and the Obama point person on China and without experience in the industries involved. As for Trump, a Trump Organization lawyer said the company paid taxes to China after opening an office in the country to “explore the potential for hotel deals in Asia.” Not only was Trump a private citizen at the time, but he has experience in real estate.

Yet Biden proceeded to make an utterly outrageous lie.

“My son has not made money in terms of this thing you’re talking about, China,” Biden insisted. He claimed that “the guy who got in trouble in Ukraine” was President Trump, whom Biden accused of “trying to bribe” the Ukrainian government to dig up dirt on Biden.

Biden’s claim that his son has not made money in China is utterly, disgustingly false. In fact, there’s an entire movie about it!

The new documentary RIDING THE DRAGON: The Bidens’ Chinese Secrets exposes Hunter Biden’s nefarious deals with the Chinese Communist Party government and with state-run companies with ties to the Communist Party. In 2013 alone, China finalized a $1 billion business deal with Hunter Biden’s new company, Bohai Harvest.

2. Coronavirus

When it came to the coronavirus pandemic, Joe Biden denied flip-flopping on Trump’s January ban on travel from China.

“He said — this is a terrible thing — ‘You are a xenophobe.’ I think he called me a racist, even, and because I was closing [travel with] China. Now he says I should have closed it earlier,” Trump said.

“I didn’t say either of those things,” the Democrat responded.

Yet Biden did oppose the ban in January. He said that the pandemic “is no time for Donald Trump’s record of hysteria and xenophobia, hysterical xenophobia, to uh, and fearmongering.” In April, however, Biden’s campaign acknowledged that banning travel from China was a smart decision: “Science supported this ban, therefore he did too.” Biden did a clean one-eighty.

In one of the most egregious moments, Biden attempted to blame Trump for every single death from COVID-19. He mentioned that more than 200,000 Americans have died from the coronavirus, and declared, “Anyone who’s responsible for that many deaths should not remain as president of the United States of America.”