SSN

I spent ten years working at the local senior center helping people file income tax and it was there that I encountered Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITIN’s). These were primarily used to collect the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). This is a significant benefit providing up to $8,000 tax free to a person with three children. To get an ITIN you must file Form W-7 and you will need a passport or both a birth certificate and driver’s license. An ITIN allows foreign nationals and others ineligible for a Social Security Number (SSN) to file income tax and this leads to some confusion. You cannot work as an employee without a SSN but with an ITIN you can work as an independent contractor or as a self employed person but you will not receive a W-2. If you receive a W-2 it will have a SSN on it so here is the tricky part. You file using your ITIN and put in the SSN listed on the W-2 even though you do not have a SSN. Filing electronically like this will pass muster. The big question is where did your employer get the SSN. Did you make it up or did they and in either case does it matter.

Migrant workers

Chicago is facing a $1.2 billion dollar deficit and the city is proposing tax increases to pay for the debt. Citizens are complaining because over the past five years the city has spent $800 million on migrants mostly for housing and healthcare. While arrivals surged starting in late 2022, the Illinois Policy Institute reported that over 238,000 international migrants came to the Chicago area between 2020 and early 2025 In addition, schools are facing an influx of students who cannot speak English. It is unlawful for an illegal migrant to work in the US so many are working off the books and often at low wages without benefits. These workers are often taken advantage of. If the migrants who are convicted criminals could be deported, it would open the door to offer those whose only crime is crossing the border, to be set up for work permits leading to green cards and then citizenship. As the economy goes through the process of reindustrialization these people will be needed to fill jobs.

Gold

Since 1950, the average value in home prices has increased 5% per year but in the decade of the 1970’s the prices increased by ten percent per year. Many people made money selling real estate during the 70’s and they were all on late night TV selling books on how to make a killing in the real estate business. Then during the 80’s housing only rose 5% per year. This followed with a four percent rise in the 90’s. Something similar happened in gold. Since 1950 gold has risen 7% per year but the last ten years gold has risen 15% so there are many experts on TV telling people to buy gold. Meanwhile the stock market has risen 10% per year over the past 100 years. Usually by the time experts are bragging about their profits, the boom is over and most people come in as johnny come lately’s.

Sharia law

Europe is reversing the trend of allowing immigrants primarily because Muslims have a difficult time of assimilating. Problems arise because of language and religion. Muslims gather in certain areas and crime; drugs and gangs are disruptive. Here is a sampling of why problems may develop. These are religious differences that spill over into culture. Countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, and Sudan (formerly) use Sharia as the basis for their entire legal system, including criminal law Countries like Egypt, Pakistan, UAE, and Qatar have legal systems that blend Sharia with civil or customary laws. Sharia law allows Muslim men to have up to four wives simultaneously A husband can initiate divorce by pronouncing it verbally or in writing A wife seeks divorce, often by returning her dowry, requiring mediation and a religious court's approval. The mother must typically remain unmarried (to a stranger) to retain custody Mothers get custody of boys until age 7 and girls to age 13 then the father The mother must typically remain unmarried (to a stranger) to retain custody Christian churches not allowed in Saudi Arabia Pakistan: Faces severe discrimination and blasphemy laws that target Christians. Some countries, like Afghanistan, Brunei, Oman, and Yemen, restrict Bible distribution and public worship by converts. All same-sex activity is legal in Cyprus, Northern Cyprus, Israel, Lebanon, and Turkey. Male same-sex activity is illegal and punishable by imprisonment in Iraq, Kuwait, Egypt, Oman and Syria. It is also punishable by death in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

Intel

Intel, the world’s top chip maker for many years was outflanked by new technology and was sinking fast but three years ago with new strategies laid out a comeback. Adding to this was $7.8 billion in direct funding from the Biden Chips and Science Act and the company was on its way. From Google AI: Intel’s comeback strategy, heavily driven by leadership changes in 2025 and supported by U.S. government backing, centers on transforming from a lagging chipmaker into a premier, US-based foundry manufacturer while pivoting toward AI-centric, energy-efficient processors In evaluating each operation for efficiency, it was noted that California had environmental rules and energy cost that other states did not have, so a decision was made to move to Arizona. This meant the loss of 2,000 high paying jobs in Santa Clara and Folsom. Intel’s new plans are helped by the Trump administration buying $9.8 billion in Intel stock. Intel is expanding its footprint in Arizona investing $32 billion in two leading edge chip factories. When the company becomes profitable the stock will be sold to refund the government.

Assimilation

The glory days of Islam were the 500 years between 800 and 1300 AD. They were theocracies and did not want foreigners, particularly of other religions. Even today, no Christian churches are allowed in Saudi Arabia and Muslim countries are ruled by Shia Law, which places moral restrictions on economic activity vs the west where individualistic free market capitalism reigns. The result was that the industrial revolution by passed the Muslim countries and today most struggle to maintain a decent standard of living. The oil rich countries in the Middle East, were just tribes of desert nomads until western engineers developed the oil fields. The largest Muslim country in the world is Indonesia with a population of 285 million and GDP per capita of $5,000. The migration to the United States as been almost exclusively Christian and that has aided in assimilation. In the past ten years many Muslims have emigrated to Europe and they have found it difficult to assimilate. The result is that Europe today is deporting many of its recent migrants, mostly from Muslim countries. Shia law is not compatible with modern juris prudence. The biggest impediment to assimilation in the United States is language not religion. It is not religion but Islam that creates the problem. The world Muslim population is 1.5 billion and they have won 3 noble prizes while the Jews with a population of 15 million have won 165. The Jews embraced modern science and technology while the Muslims shied away and it has cost them economically.

High prices

Trump made a mistake when he said he would lower prices and then compounded that mistake by assuming people were aware of what happened to the economy during the Biden years. Inflation averaged 5.5% during the Biden administration but ended the last year at 3%. Trump took over and by expanding energy production kept the inflation rate below three percent. He then turned his attention to Palestine and Ukraine and that was another mistake. The democrats, using the word affordability, turned the tables on Trump when he wasn’t looking. The country now assumes that the high prices are caused by Trump when in fact he has stabilized prices. This doesn’t matter as people only see high prices, even though they voted for Trump because they didn’t like the high prices that happened during Biden’s term. He is not as politically savvy as some think.