By Andy Brack, editor and publisher The messages from a four-week tour across 10 states are loud and clear: The country is more divided than ever in modern history and the main issue in the midterm elections boils down to Donald Trump, which seems to be just the way he wants it.
By Kyra Morris, contributing editor | What is going on in the markets?
* The third quarter of 2018 ended as the best quarter on the S&P 500 since 2013 – around a 7.2 percent increase.
* From Sept. 30 through Oct. 26, the S&P lost around 8.6 percent, the worst beginning of a quarter since 2008.
Is this the October effect, or is there something substantial going on? What are the realities?
It’s difficult to come up with convincing fundamental explanations for this poor performance. As expected, the Feds did increase interest rates at the end of September. Investors can also purchase U.S. Treasuries yielding 3 percent.
y Andy Brack, editor and publisher | South Carolina legislators should start thinking about voting like people now think about online transactions.
Consider how you bought stuff 20 years ago: You got in your car, went to a store, bought it, lugged it home and stored it away until you used it. It took a long time and there were a lot of steps to make a successful purchase. Then came the Internet.
Commentary by Andy Brack, editor and publisher, Phoenix, Ariz. | An old joke around here is that if there’s ever a 30-foot border wall built to thwart illegal immigrants, it won’t be long before a lot of companies start building 32-foot ladders.
While the national furor over immigration reached a fever after candidate Donald Trump launched xenophobic campaign rhetoric to build a wall, immigration politics is old hat in Arizona, cropping up year after year as a political hot button.
Commentary by Andy Brack, editor and publisher | With statewide elections a month away, let’s think seriously about leadership.
What kind of leaders do we want in the Palmetto State? Do we want leaders who will continue to do what they’ve been doing for years? If so, how’s that working out? South Carolina continues to be at the wrong end of too many lists.
By Dr. Robert A. Saul, special to Charleston Currents | “Love thy neighbor.”
This quote from Matthew 22:39 is explicit in its instruction. After the primary commandment to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind,” the second commandment states “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”
Commentary by Andy Brack, editor and publisher | After more than 850 weekly columns totaling more than 600,000 words over 17 years, I’m like the Farmers Insurance guy – I’ve seen a thing or two.
And I’ve learned a thing or two about how politics, policy and governance works – and doesn’t – in the Palmetto State. Now with elections around the corner, maybe it’s time to share some of the bigger lessons.
Commentary by Andy Brack, editor and publisher | This is the time of the political season that an odd dance begins.
Politicians want to present a compelling image so you’ll cast a vote for them. But they often don’t want to give away too much of what they really think in case it gets them in trouble. So they may hedge, waffle or give so much bureaucratic mumbo-jumbo that the questioner falls asleep.
By Andy Brack | If it were not for the dedicated men and women who keep the state ticking in good times and bad, imagine what life would be like. Instead of having a team of people who make our lives easier, we’d all have to be more self-sufficient. We’d have to take care of the educating, protecting, building and all sorts of other stuff every single day.
Commentary by Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Americans – liberal, conservative and in-between — need to be reminded of what it means to be American. For role models, they don’t need to look to just about anyone in Washington or state capitals like Columbia.
All that seems to be coming from Washington is nonsense that spans from a presidential administration in constant crisis mode to a Congress that ping-pongs from outrage to shock to digging in their heels about things petty and consequential. And then there are the tell-all books and anonymous opinion columns that shine spotlights on all of the dysfunction.
We Can Do Better, South Carolina! (2019) by editor and publisher Andy Brack offers incisive commentaries on the American South, politics, the common good and interesting South Carolina leaders. Available exclusively for Kindle for $7.99. A paperback version will be ready soon. Learn more.
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