THE DON JONES INDEX…

 

GAINS POSTED in GREEN

LOSSES POSTED in RED

 

        4/10/17…  15,475.06

          4/3/17…  15,400.04

        6/27/13…  15,000.00

 

 

 (THE DOW JONES INDEX: 4/10/17… 20,656.10; 4/3/17… 20,663.22; 6/27/13… 15,000.00)

 

LESSON for APRIL 10, 2017 – IT’S ALL PERSONAL!

 

President Trump wasn’t the only Donald enjoying a banner (if not Bannon) week… Don Jones enjoyed his best Index ever.  Thanks to the Bureau of Labor Statistics confirming the continuing drop in unemployment, American producers exporting more and American consumers buying fewer imports and the strangely muted response of Russia, Iran and Syria to the bombing of the latter’s chemical weapons airfield, the DJI was up by a rollicking 75-plus, the greatest single week rise in its history.

Obamacare? ‘Fuhgeddabout it!’ crowed Team Trump and Team Ryan and rumors circulated on the alt-media that an upgrade was in the cards, despite vows by Tea Party/Freedom Caucus stalwarts. The Speaker and the President blamed each other and both blamed the three dozen extreme-right Republicans who clasped hands with Democrats and kept Obamacare going; the handful of corporations and foundations sometimes referred to as the Kochtopus (a tribute to its most visible donors and string-pullers, Charles and David Koch celebrated the survival of the legislation they had so bitterly loathed during its genesis and the now-seven years of its life.

Trump now seems to recognize the House Freedom Caucus's history as a rabble-rousing collection of leadership agitators,’ opined CNN, “and being a part of a group the White House thinks brought down its first major legislative effort could be a politically vulnerable position.

What caused this political temblor?  A sincere belief that, as was their postmortem plea, the Caucus could bully Trump and the moderates into plucking a few more chestnuts… pre-existing conditions, children on their parents’ policies and so on… from the Affordable Care Act?  The pressure from doctors, insurers and Big Pharma?

Or corruption?  Over on the left, the liberal Daily Kos reported that Koch Industries has received $1.4 million from the federal government under Obamacare’s Early Retiree Reinsurance Program and called it “a gratuitous handout to corporations”… just more evidence that “the details of power politics can be ugly”

The $5 billion reinsurance program gives subsidies to corporations who provide health insurance to their retirees who are not yet eligible for Medicare.

All of these perhaps played their part… but the real reason for the failure of Repeal and Place was personal.  Donald Trump had gotten under the skin of the Kochs and they were (and still are) going to make him pay and pay and pay – and if it means losing Congress to Nancy Pelosi in eighteen months, the White House to Elizabeth Warren (or Oprah) in 2020 and the chance to control the judiciary until 2075, so be it.  What will the President do?  Yank his plan to halve their taxes and admit another defeat?

The gloating Kochnews.com, accordingly, published an exposé which began…

Wichita, Kan. – “In a tweet Friday morning, Koch Industries, Inc. confirmed that Clinton is indeed receiving funds that link directly back to the CEO of the second largest privately held company in the U.S. – Charles Koch.

“To those who know me best, this doesn’t come as a surprise at all,” Clinton said.

“She recently flew to China – on Koch’s tab. Clinton explains why she accepts checks from one of the billionaire Koch Brothers.

“I’ve been solving problems to make things run smoothly across the country – and around the world – for years,” Clinton said. “I actually go to Koch’s headquarters in Wichita a lot. When I’m there, I eat in the café every day. I just love the stir fry.”

The story, of course, was an April Fools hoax.

“In seven years, we have never wavered in our commitment to a full repeal of this disastrous law," AFP president Tim Phillips told the website Politico.  "We want to make certain that lawmakers understand the policy consequences of voting for a law that keeps Obamacare intact. We have a history of following up and holding politicians accountable, but we will also be there to support and thank the champions who stand strong and keep their promise.”

James Davis, executive vice president of Freedom Partners, added: “We will stand with lawmakers who keep their promise and oppose this legislation — and work toward a solution that reduces costs and provides Americans with the relief they need and deserve.”

(Meaning… wheel em out onto the sidewalk and let ‘em die.)

The Koch groups (see below) promised to shower the Freedom Caucus with legal and semi-legal donations in 2018 and argued that the GOP's bills refundable tax credits to make health coverage more affordable are a new entitlement, that the legislation doesn't go far enough to repeal insurance mandates or the so-called "Cadillac tax" on high-end employer-sponsored health plans, and that it fails to repeal Medicaid expansion quickly enough.”

Late last week, Politico and the New York Times reported that the Freedom Caucus still hopes to support a substantially redrafted bill.  “My hope is the president will be inclined to allow the negotiations to go forward and we will be allowed to get a better bill than we did before,” said an anonymous Freedom Caucus member.

It’s all a shell game.  Donald Trump, Ryan, the Koch brothers and the Freedom Caucus… if they put their egos aside… could bury Obama in about the eight seconds it would take to call the roll of the latter group with these eight, simple words…

“The 2010 Affordable Care Act is hereby repealed.”

That’s it.  Let the Democrats worry about replacement… too many of them are old and poor and sick anyway, so the longer they bicker and strategize, the fewer they get.

All politics is personal.

 

And now… and at last… for your benefit: The Ultimate Kochtopus Map!  (What an addictive enterprise this has been!  Looks like something up on a basement wall in Mel Gibson’s “Conspiracy Theory”!)

 

N Karl Marx

N FRED KOCH Sr.

N Joseph Stalin

 

The Illuminati

N Adolf Hitler

 

 

      KGB/GRU

John Birch

 Society

KOCH/WINKLER

 

N Ernst Rohm

              N Hjalmar Schacht

             Pan European Union

        Vladimir Putin

DeMille Foundation             

National Right to Work

KOCH INDUSTRIES

    

FREEDOM SCHOOL

Austrian Economics     Mt. Pelerin Soc.

 

 

Milton Friedman     Bertram Seligman

 

REPUBLICANS

KOCH FOUNDATION

                      DEMOCRATS

 

N Ayn Rand

      N Friedrich von Hayek

  N Ludwig von Mises        O.S.S.

Mellon Bank

     N Thomas Mellon

N Theodore Roosevelt

N W. H. Taft

 

 N Woodrow Wilson

N Andrew Mellon (Sec. of Treas.)

N Warren Harding

N Calvin Coolidge 

N Herbert Hoover

Ambassadors

To England

 

  N Franklin Delano Roosevelt

 N Harry S. Truman

 N Joseph P.

LIBERTARIAN PARTY

 

 Kennedy

                                        C.I.A.

N Irving Kristol

   (Wall Street Journal)

 

N Barry

N Dwight D. Eisenhower

 Goldwater         Woody Johnson

  FRED JR.             BILL

N John F. Kennedy

        Caroline Kennedy  

 

                           N Lyndon Johnson

Ed Crane        Ed Clark

 

Murray Rothbard           Bill Casey

           N  CARTHAGE

N Lewis Powell

N Richard Nixon         New York

Jets                            George Soros

           

   Jimmy Carter

                                        CATO

Jude Wanniski

N Ronald Reagan

 

                                               

 

                 Bill Clinton

        Anthony Fisher        

                 Mercatus

Willie Horton

Manion Forum

Judicial Watch                Ed Meese

George Bush I

CHARLES      DAVID

Hillary Clinton        

Institute for Humane Studies                   

Sarah Mellon Scaife

Sarah Palin                      John McCain

                            Willard (Mitt) Romney

George Bush II

 


Jeb Bush

 

Donald Trump        

 American 

 New York

Dick Cheney                 Smithsonian                      

                                 Stephen Schwa

   Mike Pence             Chris Christie                   

 Ballet Theater           Barack Obama

 Public Library

 Institute          Wall Street

rtzman       

Blackstone

Solomon/Lehman Bros.

Rutgers Univ.

George Mason Univ.

 

 

FREEDOM and PROGRESS FUND

          DONOR’S TRUST

Eric O’Keefe

 

Floyd Brown

       Planned Parenthood

N Andrew Breitbart                                   

Breitbart News

THE CABINET 0

 

  Rex Tillerson1    J.  Sessions 2

 

  Ryan Zinke 3    Steve Mnuchin 4

Goldman/Sachs

Charles Schwab

SPEECH NOW

 


CITIZENS UNITED

Michelle Fields        Cory Lewandowski 

 Stephen Bannon      Paul Manafort

    Wilbur Ross 5   Scott Pruitt 6

  M. Pompeo 7    L. McMahon 8

               The Undertaker

        Chemicals   Weapons

 

Ed Gillespie   

  Manhattan Institute

                                

 

 

  

Stephen Miller

     Milo Yannopolis

AMWAY

Americans for Prosperity

N  Adolf Coors

OLIN CORPORATION

N Allen Bradley

Heritage Foundation

Richard DeVos Sr.

William

 Simon

MELLON/SCAIFE FOUND.

  WEYRICH FOUNDATION

DeVOS FOUNDATION

     COLLEAGUES

COORS FOUNDATION

OLIN FOUNDATION

BRADLEY FOUNDATION

    Richard Mellon Scaife

          Paul Weyrich

                 Dick DeVos Jr.

       

Joseph Coors

           

John M. Olin

 

Michael Joyce

       

           

Private Prisons/Mercs        Erik Prince

Betsy DeVos (Ed.)

9        SUBSIDIARIES

 

           TC4 TRUST

National Rifle Association

          Freedom Works          American

Legis. Exchange Council  

      Televangelists -- Billy Graham

     Blackwater               C.N.P.

 

   Public Notice (budget)

A.A.I./F.P. ($ laundering)

HIRELINGS

MADISON PROJECT

 

BRADLEY PRIZES

      Americans for Progress

 

 

            Dick Armey

       Jerry Falwell (Moral Majority)

       Ralph Reed (Christian Coalition)

 

S.G.L.F. (gerrymandering)

               S. P.N.

                  V.R.I.

(Rudy Giuliani, Howard Safir)

 

PET UNIVERSITIES                TAME

   Cornell             

   Princeton                  Dinesh D’Souza

   Harvard                          Alan Bloom

   Yale

 

INTELLECTUALS

 

   George Will

   Bill Kristol

Roger Ailes

              COLLEAGUES

                                                             CO-

CONSPIRATORS

  JOINT VENTURES with…

                                              LOCAL 

VENTURES

KOCHTOPUS MEDIA

Karl Rove

  N Assn. forAmer.  Innovation

      Freedom Partners

                                              FELLOW        TRAVELLERS

       POSSESSIONS

Am. Future Fund               Federalist

Am. For Job Security

Institute for Liberty              

Society

 

        Citizens for a Sound Economy 

U.S. Chamber of Commerce

 


Sheldon Adelson               Newt 

State Policy Network

64 Think Tanks

Gingrich

Art Pope

Rep. State Leadership

        Committees             N William F.

                         

 Buckley              Franklin Center

Citizens for the Environment

Civitas Action

Real Jobs N. Carolina

  The National

 

Rupert Murdoch

 Review           New York Post

                 Daily Caller

                

The Tea Party

Ted Cruz

 

The Freedom Caucus

 

 

 


Big Tobacco

 

                      Obamacare Fighters

             Defending the American Dream  

           Comm.. to Protect Patients’ Rights

            Competitive Enterprise Institute

     D.C.I. Group

 

 

     36 Enemies of Obamacare

 

 

 

 

 

Conservative Action Project

 

Governor Tommy Thompson

Ex-Sen. Scott Brown (Ma.)

Wisconsin Club for Growth

 

 


John Menard

Diane Hendricks

Sean Noble

 

True the Vote

 

Ohio Voter Integrity Project

North Carolina (Mark Meadows)

                                     FOX

 

Bill O’Reilly            Newt Gingrich

Sean Hannity         N Alan Colmes

Oliver North           Homer Simpson

 

 


The Weekly Standa

 

Michael Goldfarb

Washington Free Beacon

                               Foster Friess

                         Tucker Carlson

Kimberly Guilfoyle  (ex-G. Newsome

Megyn Kelly                 Cal. A.G.)

Megyn McCain

 

Assorted Angry Women

         Thirteen Million $  Settlements!

 

Premiere Networks

Rush Limbaugh

 

 

 

 

         

     

Saturday Night Live

 

                              

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A lot of this crap came from Jane Mayer’s “Dark Money”… highly recommended.  The rest from an earlier book about the Kochtopus, David Schulman’s “Sons of Wichita”, various books, articles and internet postings… everything from financial journals to old conspiracy rants.

 

Red lines indicate associations, usually with money involved.  Green lines indicate familial ties, or a creator/monster or mentor/mentee link.  Dotted blue lines indicate antagonism.

Cabinet Footnotes…

1 Secretary of State

2 Attorney General

3 Secretary of the Interior

4 Treasury Secretary

5 Secretary of Commerce

6 Director – Environmental Protection Agency

7 Director – Central Intelligence Agency

8 Director - Small Business Administration

9 Secretary of Education

As we mentioned, Don Jones enjoyed a record run of good luck as monthly statistics on wages, employment, trade and the apparently timid response of the Evil Empire on Syrian sarin sent his stock soaring, even as the Dow… thoroughly baffled by events… just rumbled along.

But… the government still runs out of money on the 28th.

 

 

 

THE DON JONES INDEX

CHART of CATEGORIES w/VALUE ADDED to EQUAL BASELINE of 15,000

(REFLECTING… approximately… DOW JONES INDEX of June 27, 2013)

See a further explanation of categories here

Simply recording gains or losses is deceptive, because some of the indices here represent GOOD things (like increases in income and life expectancy) while others represent BAD things (unemployment, terror).  So, increases in good things and decreases in bad things are considered GOOD (and are depicted in GREEN) – decrease in good things and increases in the bad are considered BAD (and are depicted in RED).

The sum of good things, less the sum of bad things, equals the week’s gain (or loss) to Don Jones.

 

ECONOMIC FACTORS (60%)

                                                                                                                                             

DON JONES’ PERSONAL ECONOMIC INDEX (45% of TOTAL INDEX POINTS)

 

 

 

INCOME

 

(24%)

BASE

6/27/13

             RECKONINGS

    LAST         CHANGE

 

NEXT

 

 DON

4/3/17

DON

4/10/17

      OUR SOURCE(S) and COMMENTS

Wages (hourly, per capita)    

9%

1350 points 

4/10/17

+0.18%

4/17/17

1,440.91

 

      1,443.65

 

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/wages   21.90

Median Income (yearly)

4%

600

4/10/17

+0.04%

4/17/17

640.93

641.16

http://www.usdebtclock.org/    30,173

Unempl. (BLS – in millions

4%

600

4/10/17

-4.44%

4/17/17

968.35

      1,011.39

http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000     4.5

   Official (DC - in millions)

2%

300

4/10/17

-0.08%

4/17/17

473.13

473.51

http://www.usdebtclock.org/      7.495

   Unofficl. (DC - in millions)

2%

300

4/10/17

-0.13%

4/17/17

455.38

455.97

http://www.usdebtclock.org/    14,621

Workforce Participation

     Number (in millions)

     Percentage (DC)

2%

300

4/10/17

 

+0.006%

+0.011%

4/17/17

286.86

286.88

Americans in/not in workforce (mil.) 

In: 152,624  Out 94,206 Total 246,830

http://www.usdebtclock.org/    61.83%

WP Percentage (ycharts)*

1%

150

3/13/17

+0.16%

4/17/17

150.24

150.24

http://ycharts.com/indicators/labor_force_participation_rate   63.00%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OUTGO 

(15%)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Inflation (aggregate)

7%

1050

4/3/17

-0.1%

April, 2017

993.86    

993.86    

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm   -0.1 nd

Inflation – Food

2%

300

4/3/17

+0.2%

April, 2017

282.91

282.91

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm   +0.2

               - Gasoline

2%

300

4/3/17

-3.0%

April, 2017

342.79

342.79

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm   -3.0

               - Medical Costs

2%

300

4/3/17

+0.2%

April, 2017

270.34

270.34

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm   +0.2

               -  Shelter

2%

300

4/3/17

+0.3%

April, 2017

290.57

290.57

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm   +0.3

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WEALTH

(6%)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dow Jones Index

2%

300

4/10/17

-+0.03%

4/17/17

364.42

364.29

Dow – 20.656.10

Homes – Sales

             -  Valuation

1%

1%

150

150

3/27/17     3/27/17    

Sales   -3.69%   Valu.   -0.22%

March, 2017

196.82         204.16

196.82         204.16

http://www.realtor.org/research-and-statistics

Sales (M):  5.48 Valuations (K):  228.4 nd

Debt (Personal)

2%

300

4/3/17

+0.06%

4/17/17

266.01

266.01

http://www.usdebtclock.org/    56,104

 

NATIONAL

 

(10%)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Revenues (in trillions – tr.)

2%

300

4/10/17

 +0.09%

4/17/17

381.93

382.27

http://www.usdebtclock.org/       3.351

Expenditures (in tr.)

2%

300

4/10/17

 +0.08%

4/17/17

266.66

266.46

http://www.usdebtclock.org/       3.943

U.S. National Debt (tr.)

3%

450

4/10/17

-+0.03%

4/17/17

370.20

370.11

http://www.usdebtclock.org/     19.863

Aggregate U.S. Debt (tr.)

3%

450

4/10/17

+0.09%

4/17/17

380.14

379.81

http://www.usdebtclock.org/     68,543

 

 

GLOBAL

(5%)

 

 

 

Foreign Debt (tr.)

2%

300

4/10/17

 -0.08%

4/17/17

323.91

324.18

http://www.usdebtclock.org/   5.915

Exports (in billions – bl.)

1%

150

4/10/17

+0.42%

4/17/17

153.89

154.53

http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/statistics/highlights/congressional.html   192.9

Imports (bl.)

1%

150

4/10/17

-1.78%

4/17/17

134.92

137.32

http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/statistics/highlights/congressional.html   236.4

Trade Deficit (bl.)

1%

150

4/10/17

-11.24%

4/17/17

103.31

114.92

http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/statistics/highlights/congressional.html     43.6

 

 

SOCIAL FACTORS (40%)

 

                        LIBERTY and SECURITY INDEX           (15%) 

 

     ACTS of MAN

    (9%)

 

 

 

 

 

World Peace

3%

450

4/10/17

 +1.0%

4/17/17

412.30

418.42

America punishes Syria, Iran and Russia and, so far, no retaliation.  Now, everybody is talking red lines but the only red lines that really matter are those that intersect on Assad’s forehead.  Trump, meanwhile, tries to broker peace between adviser Steve Bannon and son-in-law Jared Kushner.

 

Terrorism

2%

300

4/10/17

         +0.5%

4/17/17

236.67

235.49

ISIS, perhaps deluding itself into thinking it has a friend in the U.S., sets off bombs in Sweden (“What about Sweden?”) and Egypt.  Meanwhile, America’s media are all atwitter over this goofball in Wisconsin who’s promised that we won’t forget his face.

 

Private/Public Corruption 

2%

300

4/10/17

-0.3%

4/17/17

310.23

311.16

Susan Rice “unmasks” critics and replies “I leaked nothing to nobody”… is she a smoking gun or a scapegoat? (Or a smoking goat?)  Sex scandals afflict the Mayor of Seattle and sink the Governor of Alabama while porno connoisseurs line up to read the 130 page report of his affair.

 

Crime

 

1%

150

4/10/17

+0.2%

4/17/17

247.42

246.93

Crackhead arrested for starting a fire that caused Atlanta’s most heavily used freeway to collapse.  Who needs ISIS?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            ACTS of GOD             

    (6%)

      (with, in some cases, a little… or lots of… help from men, and a few women)

 

Environment/Weather

3%

450

4/10/17

+0.3%

4/17/17

386.66

387.82

After tornadoes and April blizzards, mother nature decides to give us a rest.

 

Natural/Unnatural Disasters

3%

450

4/10/17

-0.3%

4/17/17

392.50

393.68

Not much beyond a guy named From who complains that, due to sloth and partisanship, numerous Federal posts remain unfilled and under the care of deputies… Deputy Fife, Deputy Dawg…

 

 

 

                         LIFESTYLE and JUSTICE INDEX          (15%)

 

Science, Tech. & Education

4%

600

4/10/17

+0.2%

4/17/17

600.55

601.75

U.S. and Russian astronauts back to earth after 173 days of getting along in space.  Why not turn Syria over to them?  Google whistleblower Tristan Harris goes on 60 minutes and claims that social media are causing us to become addicted to smartphones. 

 

Equality (economic/social)

4%

600

4/10/17

+ 0.4%

4/17/17

728.85

731.77

Allstate sexism shows its employees are not in good hands.  Bill O’Reilly, meanwhile, settles lawsuits that allege his hands were everywhere they shouldn’t have been.  PC mafia takes on world crisis… Kendall Jenner’s Pepsi commercial.  Women soccer player get their raises (but still not as much as the men),

 

Health

4%

600

4/10/17

- 0.2%

4/17/17

560.47

561.59

More doctors agree – drinking wine helps the brain.  Not helpful… fancy salads.  Dead bat found in Walmart’s artisan mix and… worse!... live scorpions in Maryland spinach.  What would Popeye do?

 

Freedom and Justice                        

3%

450

3/13/17

+ 0.1%

4/17/17

498.73

499.23

Klutzy Devin Nunes finally realizes that he’s a fool and fades away, so President Trump orders Twitter to unmask all those who tweet discouraging tweets.  They refuse.

 

 

 

 

                       MISCELLANEOUS and TRANSIENT INDEX        (10%)

 

 

All miscellaneous incidents

 (transient and cultural)

10%

1000

4/10/17

  * 0.2%

4/17/17

1035.93

1038.00

 

Where to begin?  Optimists tout Mexican wall as a potential tourist attraction.  Donut and pancake eating contests end in death by choking, but Krispy Kreme buys Panera Bread… coming soon, garlic glazed!  Baseball season begins and Tim Tebow hits 2 homers in the minors.  Spaniard Sergio Garcia wins the green jacket at Masters (and authorities decline to ask to see his green card),  RIP to Don Rickles, 90.

 

 

The Don Jones Index for the week of April 10th through April 16th, 2017 was UP 75.02 points. 

The Don Jones Index is sponsored by the Coalition for a New Consensus: retired Congressman and Independent Presidential candidate Jack “Catfish” Parnell, Chairman; Brian Doohan, Administrator/Editor.  The CNC denies, emphatically, allegations that the organization, as well as any of its officers (including former Congressman Parnell, environmentalist/America-Firster Austin Tillerman and cosmetics CEO Rayna Finch) and references to Parnell’s works, “Entropy and Renaissance” and “The Coming Kill-Off” are fictitious or mere pawns in the web-serial “Black Helicopters” – and promise swift, effective legal action against parties promulgating this and/or other such slanders.

 

Comments, complaints, donations (especially SUPERPAC donations) always welcome at: feedme@generisis.com or: speak@donjonesindex.com.