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You Don't Have To Buy Trump -- You Can Just Rent Him!

Frenetic crowds are storming the White House like a Black Friday mob at Walmart!

Only these are not shoppers scrambling for family needs — these are CEOs, lobbyists, and billionaires out to "get theirs" in the huge Trump-a-Thon sell-off of Presidential favors. Common folks need not apply, since MAGA, Inc. (Trump's political fundraising sack) charges a million bucks or more just to buy access to his golden throne.

Once there, everything is for sale. One cryptocurrency huckster, for example, delivered his million to get into a candlelight dinner at Mar-a-Lago, where he pitched a business deal to President Donald Trump himself. Then, for an extra $200,000, the crypto-guy was allowed to "sponsor" the annual Easter Egg Roll on the White House lawn. Yes — they've even financialized and corporatized an apolitical, publicly funded event for children!

Not only is Trump being bought by Big Money, but he's also available for short-term lease. For example, rich businesswoman Elizabeth Fago leased him in April for some heavy lifting on a household chore. Her son Paul had been found guilty last year of tax crimes and was headed to prison. But a million-dollar check to MAGA Inc. put her in direct touch with Mister Fix-It. Sure enough, once her check was cashed, the fortunate son was granted "a full and unconditional" presidential pardon — no jail time, no payment of restitution to his victims.

When The New York Times asked about such corrupt selling of official favors, MAGA Inc. declared that Trump treats every American the same. So, there you have Trump's million-dollar definition of "American." If you've got the million, you're in the club. If you don't, you're not.

Shouldn't The Democratic Party Actually Be The Party Of Democrats?

Will Rogers joked that when thousands of rural Oklahomans fled the 1930s Dust Bowl and migrated to California, "It raised the intellectual level of both states."

Following that line of thought, it occurred to me that America could benefit mightily if

the Democratic Party's overbearing corporate contingent were to migrate to its natural domain, the Republican Party. Seriously, as Robert Reich recently wrote, "Who in the world needs corporate Democrats?"

Thomas Jefferson warned of the democracy-crushing threat of America's emerging "moneyed corporations." And, sure enough, here they are today — literally owning the White House, Congress, Judiciary, most state governments ... and suppressing democracy itself.

They're entrenched not because they're championed by the Republican Party, but because the once-proud party of America's broad working class has also yoked itself to corporate money and embraced Republican policies of corporate supremacy. Where does that leave the great majority of working stiffs on election day? Staying home, feeling abandoned as both parties cater to the moneyed elite.

While many corporate Democrats insist they're "social progressives," it would be a profound public service for them to carry those social values directly into Republican primaries, softening that party's raw minginess a bit. At the same time, their departure would free the Democratic Party from being financially shackled to the corporate agenda, letting it return to its roots as the unequivocal champion of working-class, little-d democrats.

By clarifying the core policy differences of both parties, elections could matter to most people again, presenting honest choices between a democratic or a plutocratic future. Pie-in-the-sky? Maybe, or even probably. But baking a pie starts with turning on the heat.

Jim Hightower is an author, public speaker, radio commentator and former Texas Railroad Commissioner.

Reprinted with permission from Creators.

Shopping Doesn’t Have To Be A Drag

First there was “Black Friday.” Then there was “Cyber Monday.” The holiday shopping markers plod through the calendar like a procession of Groundhog Days. The big difference is that Punxsutawney Phil the groundhog sometimes offers surprise. Will he see his shadow this year or bite his handler?

The latest retailing news predictably relates the change in consumers’ shopping habits — the move from bricks-and-mortar stores to online merchants. The convenience of online buying and an aversion to crowds are the usual explanations, and they no doubt play a part.

But there’s another reason for the change in shopping habits. It’s the change in selling habits. The mall-ification of America has made shopping a bore.

From 1970 to 2009, retail space in America grew by 54 percent. Almost all that new square footage went into malls populated by chain stores featuring the same layout, the same signage, the same merchandise made in the same low-wage countries. Once inside a chain outlet, shoppers can’t easily tell whether they’re in Columbus, Ohio, or Birmingham, Alabama.

Of course, many of us still go to malls. It’s not always easy to find socks or running shoes elsewhere. However, one no longer has to patronize Circuit City for electronics, which is why Circuit City is gone.

This is not a bah-humbug to shopping. I love shopping. This is a bah-humbug to sameness.

And though the convenience of online shopping is undeniable, the inconveniences can be understated. Will you be home when the package arrives? If the item turns out to be defective, whom do you call? Even if the cyber-merchant offers a liberal return policy, it’s still a pain to rewrap and lug the box to the post office or parcel service.

The item in the delivered box may turn out to be quite inferior to the consumer fantasy represented in pixels. And though this may be nobody’s fault, the red seen on the screen is often very different from the red reality.

My closets and shelves contain some items with which I would never have left a physical store. These were borderline disappointments — products I didn’t entirely adore but that were not so off base that they merited the hassle of a return.

Conventional malls do try to impart the holiday cheer of our lost Main Streets, still portrayed in Christmas movies as American dreamscapes. But installing some lonely chairs and cafe tables, overhead twinkles and the occasional restaurant where a human actually serves you usually isn’t enough to get the magic going.

So commercial real estate developers are trying to “reimagine” the mall experience. As The Wall Street Journal reports, a developer in York, Pennsylvania, has taken down a mall’s roof and made a plaza. Another in Fort Worth, Texas, is leaving some old oak trees at the center of a project, linking the grove to a walking trail along the Trinity River. Yet another in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has taken down a mall building, built “streets” and incorporated a hotel and offices.

Many downtowns once given up for dead, meanwhile, are attracting small retailers selling more unusual and curated goods. And they’re hosting one of the most ancient and popular retailing phenomena ever — farmers markets.

As malls try to make themselves more resemble these downtowns, a common-sense question arises. Why don’t the stores just move back downtown? Well, those who frequent revived downtowns often complain that the chains already have.

But that’s what we call a high-class problem. Let the Banana Republic move next door to the quirky little shop selling hand-knit sweaters from Tibet. Together they’ll attract the shopping and reveling public — and better resist the online onslaught.

And they’ll make shopping fun again.

Follow Froma Harrop on Twitter @FromaHarrop. She can be reached at fharrop@gmail.com. To find out more about Froma Harrop and read features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Web page at www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2015 CREATORS.COM

Shoppers take part in Black Friday Shopping at a Target store in Chicago, Illinois, United States, November 27, 2015. REUTERS/Jim Young

Black Friday Crowds Thin After U.S. Stores Open On Thanksgiving

By Nathan Layne and Nandita Bose

PITTSBURGH/CHICAGO (Reuters) — Crowds were thin at U.S. stores and shopping malls in the early hours of Friday, initial spot checks showed, as shoppers responded to early Black Friday discounts with a mix of enthusiasm and caution.

Many shoppers headed out to stores on Thanksgiving evening, a month before Christmas, reflecting the new normal in U.S. holiday shopping, which was traditionally kicked off the next day, Black Friday.

In an effort to attract the most eager holiday shoppers and fend off competition from Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O), U.S. retailers have increasingly extended their holiday deals by opening stores on the evening of Thanksgiving.

“It’s still early, and from what we are seeing so far the crowds are good but not great,” Craig Johnson, president of Customer Growth Partners, said late on Thursday. The retail consultancy had 18 members studying customer traffic in different parts of the country.

Milagros Munez, 39, a law clerk, was shopping for toys at the Target store in New York’s Harlem neighborhood. “We actually came early this morning to miss the crowds. Now that some stores are open all night, I feel like more people go in the evening.”

The Macy’s Inc (M.N) store at Water Tower Place mall in Chicago saw thin crowds in the early hours of Friday after a fairly busy Thanksgiving evening, store associates said.

Nia Darrell, a 23-year-old student, was shopping for coats and handbags at the store with two friends.

“I shopped online yesterday and picked up most of what I wanted,” she said.” I’m out because Black Friday is more like a tradition but the discounts are similar even online this year.”

ONLINE SALES STRONG

Shoppers in the United States spent more than $1 billion online, 22-percent more than last year, between midnight and 5 pm ET on Thursday, according to the Adobe Digital Index, which tracked 100 million visits to 4,500 U.S. retail sites.

Many stores around the country were full on Thanksgiving evening. Local media reported brawling shoppers at a packed Kentucky mall on Thursday evening, forcing a police officer to intervene and break up the fight.

Early Black Friday discounts at stores and online included buy one get 50 percent off on the second “Star Wars” toys at Target Corp (TGT.N), $200 off quadcopter drones at Best Buy Co Inc (BBY.N), and a 50-inch Samsung smart TV for $499 at Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N).

As much as 20 percent of holiday shopping is expected to be done over the Thanksgiving weekend this year, analysts said. The four-day shopping burst will help set the tone for the rest of the season, signaling to retailers whether they need to drop prices or change promotions.

The shopping season spanning November and December is crucial for many retailers because the two months can account for anywhere from 20 to 40 percent of their annual sales.

Shoppers are expected to be cautious with their spending again this year. The National Retail Federation is expecting holiday sales to rise 3.7 percent, slower than last year’s 4.1 percent growth rate, due to stagnant wages and sluggish job growth.

At around 6 am on Friday, several hundred cars were in the parking lot wrapping the Ross Park mall in Pittsburgh. There was a good crowd walking the mall although it was not overly crowded.

Jorgette Clark, 27, said her budget would probably be lower this year because her husband works in the energy industry.

“I feel like we scaled back this year. Our husbands work in the oil fields… It’s probably a smaller Christmas this year.”

(Additional reporting by Kylie Gumpert in New York, Writing by Nandita Bose in Chicago; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

Photo: Women sit outside after shopping at Macy’s Herald Square store during the early opening of the Black Friday sales in Manhattan, Nov. 27, 2015. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

Is Black Friday Dying?

By Gregory Karp, Chicago Tribune (TNS)

Black Friday shopping this year will continue to have sizzle for the serious shopper, but the urgency to hit the stores early could be diminished because door-buster deals won’t happen only on Friday — and won’t necessarily involve doors, as more bargains are duplicated online.

That’s why experts say it might not be worth fighting store crowds this year, unless you’re the type who enjoys a little retail blood sport en route to scoring bargain TVs, video games and Star Wars toys.

“Black Friday is quickly losing its meaning on many fronts,” said Neil Stern, senior partner at Chicago-based retail consulting firm McMillanDoolittle. “Yes, there will be deals and door busters Friday morning, but they are really becoming an antiquated concept.”

For example, Black Friday has decidedly spilled backward into Thursday, with Thanksgiving store hours the norm among major retailers. Although for the first time in years, they aren’t pushing to go much earlier, with many sticking with openings around 6 p.m., presumably after many turkeys are already carved and consumed.

“A fairly decent number of retailers have pretty much thrown in the towel and are opening on Thursday,” Stern said.

If Black Friday is dying, that doesn’t mean holiday shopping is too.

An estimated 135.8 million people are expected to shop online and in stores over Thanksgiving weekend, which includes Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday — invented as a seasonal nod to smaller retailers — and Sunday. Yet more people may shop on Cyber Monday than any of the other days, according to a retail federation survey.

Holiday spending in general is expected to rise 3.7 percent this year, to $630.5 billion, or an average of about $805 per shopper, according to the National Retail Federation. That’s above the 10-year average of 2.5 percent.

Retailers, however, are posting mixed results leading into the holiday season.

Bellwethers like Nordstrom and Macy’s recently posted disappointing third-quarter profits, and their share prices hit multiyear lows as investors worried about sales over the crucial Black Friday period. But days later Wal-Mart, Target and discount retailer TJX (T.J.Maxx and Marshalls) posted strong sales numbers.

Whatever retail results turn out to be, Black Friday from a consumer standpoint might be different this year, with more shoppers skipping the long lines outside a retailer early Friday morning. Indeed, Black Friday doesn’t even represent the kickoff to Christmas shopping anymore.

“Thanksgiving weekend shopping has evolved tremendously over the past few years and can no longer be seen as the start of the holiday season, though there’s no question it’s still important to millions of holiday shoppers and retailers of all shapes and sizes,” said Matthew Shay, CEO of the National Retail Federation. “There is a real sea change happening in retail when it comes to the how, when, where and why of holiday shopping.”

Two primary factors diminish the importance of Black Friday: spreading out the bargains to other days and putting door-buster deals online.

“A large number of retailers are already doing pre-Black Friday sales, where they are effectively going on promotion now,” Stern said.

Some 60 percent of shoppers had started holiday shopping by Nov. 10, a retail federation survey showed.

Even some of the nation’s largest bricks-and-mortar retailers, Wal-Mart and Target, are offering the same deals online as in-store. “So, the need to wake up early, join the line and stampede, becomes less relevant,” Stern said.

Another factor is the realization that Black Friday prices don’t even represent the best of the year, deal watchers say.

And the frenzy, secrecy and gamesmanship of Black Friday ads — door-buster deals being “leaked” online, sometimes on purpose — seems to be a thing of the past, with more stores openly releasing ad circulars far ahead of when printed ones appear in newspapers. Wal-Mart, for example, released its circular on Nov. 12 through its mobile app. Target released its ad on its website a couple of days earlier.

Some of the largest retailers demonstrate the diminished importance of Black Friday.

—Wal-Mart. Open all day on Thanksgiving, this year Wal-Mart will begin Black Friday deals online at 2 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning, long before deals in its stores begin at 6 p.m. that day.

“For the first time ever, you’ll be able to get the vast majority of our Black Friday deals, available online and in stores,” said Steve Bratspies, Wal-Mart’s new chief merchandising officer. Specifically, 96 percent of deals will be available both places, he said.

Although, to promote simplicity, Wal-Mart is concentrating its deals this year around Black Friday instead of spreading out the deals across several events like it has in the recent past and as many other retailers are doing.

—Target. Target, also opening stores at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving, is taking the opposite tack, spreading deals over 10 days, Nov. 22 to Dec. 1. As it did last year for the first time, Target will have all its holiday deals both online and in-store.

Tina Tyler, Target’s chief stores officer, said those moves could diminish the importance of Black Friday itself, but from a business standpoint, that’s not the intent. “It’s about getting more trips with the guest,” she said. “It’s not about spreading the one trip out.”

Target is offering a goody for shopping specifically on Friday. Those who spend $75 or more on Black Friday online or in-store get a 20 percent one-use discount coupon for a future purchase — not just one item but the whole shopping trip — on any day between Dec. 4 and Dec. 13.

—Kmart. Its door-buster deals will start an hour later than many others, at 7 p.m. on Thanksgiving, and go until 2 p.m. the next day. It, too, is spreading out deals to days other than Black Friday. For example, its Shop Your Way club members have access to Kmart’s Black Friday door busters online on Nov. 21 and 22. And for the first three Wednesdays of December, it will host Black Wednesday sales online. That’s in addition to bringing back its famed Bluelight Special flash sales, which will endure beyond the holiday shopping season.

—Sears. Kmart sister company Sears also offered an early members-only sale, in-store 6-9 p.m. Sunday and online 3 p.m. Sunday until noon Monday. Then closer to Black Friday, it will have two rounds of door busters, from its opening at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving to 2 a.m., and then again starting at 5 a.m. on Black Friday.

—Best Buy. The chain bucked the trend and will open slightly earlier on Thanksgiving, at 5 p.m. for door busters, followed by a second round of door busters 8 a.m. Friday at most stores.

—Toys R Us. The retailer also opens at 5 p.m. Thursday. It planned early access to deals in-store and online for its loyalty members, starting Sunday. The “majority” of its deals will be online as well as in-store, beginning 10 p.m. Wednesday, it said. Sister store Babies R Us will be closed on Thanksgiving.

—Macy’s. Black Friday deals at most stores start at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving through 1 p.m. Friday, as well as all day Thursday at macys.com. Deals start up again Saturday 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

—Amazon. The online megaretailer started a week before Black Friday, with deals every five minutes and continuing for eight days, through Black Friday. It also has 10 “Deals of the Day” sales starting at midnight on Thanksgiving, and up to 10 more on Black Friday, it said.

This year, one major retailer decided to just abstain from Black Friday.

Outdoors outfitter REI made a splash about not only staying closed on Thanksgiving — as are Nordstrom, Costco, Sam’s Club, T.J.Maxx and Pier 1 Imports, among others — but also closing its 143 stores on Black Friday this year while paying its employees to “go outside.”

“We believe that being outside makes our lives better,” REI CEO Jerry Stritzke wrote in a note on the retailer’s website. “And Black Friday is the perfect time to remind ourselves of this essential truth.

“We’re a different kind of company — and while the rest of the world is fighting it out in the aisles, we’ll be spending our day a little differently. We’re choosing to opt outside…”

Of course, if you don’t like the outdoors and by Friday you’ve had your fill of turkey and relatives, perhaps recreational shopping and throwing a few elbows in the aisles might be just the diversion you’re looking for.

Photo: Powhusku via Wikimedia Commons

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Smart. Sharp. Funny. Fearless

You Don't Have To Buy Trump -- You Can Just Rent Him!

Shouldn't The Democratic Party Actually Be The Party Of Democrats?

Shopping Doesn’t Have To Be A Drag

Black Friday Crowds Thin After U.S. Stores Open On Thanksgiving

Is Black Friday Dying?

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