Posted on by Californiacontrarian

Secret Admirers?

Are there Californians that are secretly admiring  Donald Trump but did not vote for him? “Impossible,” say all of the liberals here in California. “President Trump and California will never mix. It’s akin to oil and water. More Californians now admiring Trump is an oxymoron.  Converts to the Trump Train . . . Nonsense”!

Even though this may be an anathema for liberals, let’s look at this logically. Since Donald Trump has been elected the stock market has taken off. From his election till mid June 2017 the DJIA had risen more than 16%, the S&P 500 more than 13%, and the Nasdaq more than 18%, and these gains have not regressed since then. Does any rational person believe that these significant gains and the Trump presidency are merely a coincidence?

Wilbur Ross, Commerce Secretary, said the following on CNBC in June: “We’re lowering taxes, we’re cutting regulations, we’re stimulating the workforce, helping to develop the workforce of the future, unleashing our energy resources and redoing our trade agreements. That’s the whole package that President Trump was elected on, and it’s the whole package that’s driven the stock market to $4 trillion of gains since the election.”

So how does this have anything to do with California?

Let’s first take a look at  Calpers (California Public Employees’ Retirement System). I  believe that it is in fact very reasonable to assume that what is good for Calpers is good for Californians as eventually it is the taxpayers of this state that will ultimately be responsible for the continued underfunding of this pension system. This year Calpers has earned 11.2%, largely because of stocks, but despite this it is still underfunded as it now has only 68% of the assets that it needs to pay for future benefits. Marcie Frost, Calpers Chief Executive has warned that Calpers is vulnerable to a downturn in the stock market, and no doubt she and Calpers are rooting for the Trump bull-market to continue. How many of the 1.8 million Calpers state workers and retirees are rooting for a continued bull market and vis-a-ve are now admiring what Donald Trump is doing?

In the same vein, The California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS) is the largest teacher’s retirement fund in the U.S. It has reported a 13.4% gain this year in its markedly underfunded retirement system. Raise your hand if you think that the almost one million California teachers and retired teachers are secretly rooting for and now admiring our President.

If you add these “secret” almost 3 million Trump admirers to the almost 4.5 million Californians who voted for Mr. Trump, you can optimistically almost start to see a start of a ground swell!

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