Classroom

This AM I watched Marc Morial, the head of the Urban league talk about the problems of inner city schools and he mentioned three areas of concern. He wanted higher standards, parental involvement and more financial help. He was strongly opposed to vouchers. This is pretty much what the liberal governments in the big cities have used in the past and most everyone is dissatisfied with the results. It is easier to get higher standards and more money than it is to get parental involvement and that is also what has happened in the past. Once again politics is covering up what is the most important problem and that is parental involvement. To compensate for this teachers have been asked to become parents and the 3 R’s have suffered. When students do not learn respect for authority in the home they cause disturbances in the classroom. When teachers call for help they often wait for ten minutes for someone to respond and then they are given the impression that they cannot control their classroom. When help does arrive the student is taken out of the room for a few minutes and then returned with no apparent change in behavior. The person who took them out of the room leaves quickly and does not come back to follow up. Sometimes instead of sending a disciplinarian like the assistant principal then send in a social worker who tries to reason with the person and this turns into further confrontations. As most teachers can tell you it only takes one student to disrupt the classroom.

Repeal

Most experts are concluding that Obamacare will collapse under its own weight unless something is done to shore it up. This happened because Senator Rubio slipped a provision into a giant spending bill that removed subsidies to insurance companies who lost money on Obamacare. It was called the risk corridor provision and offered government aid to companies who suffered insurance losses because of accepting too many people with pre-existing conditions. No one understands how this got by the Obama people but it did and it was the beginning of the end to Obamacare. If Trump wanted to repair the plan he could start with reinstating this provision but he has chosen instead to repeal and replace. There is a way he could do this and still repeal and that would be to put all of the people who are now receiving free or subsidized insurance into one group and set up heath savings accounts for the rest. This would give everyone insurance and reduce administrative cost since most claims would be handled between the insured and the provider without the intermediary of insurance companies. It would also mean the loss of millions of jobs in the insurance industry. If a person has major medical plan through their company and it has a $10,000 annual deductible over 90% of all claims will be handled individually and the company can set up health savings accounts which provide for most or all of the deductible. People will shop for their health care and use the plan only when necessary since the left over money will go toward their retirement.

Tesla motors

Knowledgeable people in the industry have concluded that corn ethanol is not an efficient way to reduce CO2 emissions. The same thing is true of electric cars but that has yet to be pointed out. When using fossil fuels at the power plant to produce electricity the amount of CO2 produced varies with the type of fuel. Coal produces 2.1 pounds of CO2 per KWH, oil produces 1.7 pounds of CO2 per KWH and natural gas produces 1.2 pounds of CO2 per KWH. The Tesla Model 3 electric car uses 77 KWH to charge the batteries and will go 250 miles per charge. Using coal this will produce 162 pounds of CO2, using oil 131 pounds and using natural gas 92 pounds. The normal car getting 30 mpg and going 250 miles will use 8.3 gallons of gas and gas produces 20 pounds of CO2 per gallon of gasoline to this comes to 166 pounds of CO2 or very similar to burning coal. Electricity produced by source. • Coal = 33% • Natural gas = 33% • Nuclear = 20% • Hydropower = 6% • Other renewables = 7% • Biomass = 1.6% • Geothermal = 0.4% • Solar = 0.6% • Wind = 4.7% • Petroleum = 1% • Other gases = <1% In addition using electricity to charge a battery and then to run a motor causes a 10% loss in efficiency. 2/3rds of our power plants still used fossil fuels. Tesla Motors is the darling of the electric car industry and they are not doing well. Liberal entrepreneur Elon Musk’s business ventures have benefited from nearly $5 billion in government subsidies in the past few years, but apparently that’s not enough taxpayer support to stop his electric car business from losing $4,000 on every vehicle it sells. Update on Tesla. Interestingly enough, Tesla’s losses may be much higher than the company reports. Reuters notes that using “generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, used by GM or Ford, Tesla’s operating losses per vehicle have steadily widened to $14,758 from $3,794 in the second quarter of 2014.”

War

Trump has appointed General McMaster as his national security advisor and this may indicate a change of course from the past 70 years. WW 2 was the last war the US fought with the all-out goal of winning. Since that time all wars have been run by politicians in Washington. This has resulted in putting restraints on how the military can do their job. Korea, Viet Nam and today in Afghanistan and Syria the military is not all in. The old rule of if you are going to go to war then go to win is replaced with trying to get by with minimal losses and collateral damage always keeping one eye on public opinion polls. Most military people say that this in the long run produces more pain. McMaster is seen as a new way for a number of reasons, one of the most important, is his book about Viet Nam. In it he lays out the fallacy of not going for the jugular. Trump has said he will give his cabinet people full rein to do their job and if that is the case with McMaster, look for a different approach to dealing with military situation.

Trust in media

As I watch the battle between Trump and the press I am reminded of Obama’s first annual press club meeting in 2009 when he said, “Most of you covered me; all of you voted for me”. This was followed by loud applause and cheering from the 2,500 news people in attendance. This is what I meant, when I in an earlier note, said that Trump has awakened the press to do their job of challenging the President at every turn. This is little something that they forgot about over the past 8 years. It might be too late for them to recover.

New rights

As President Obama was leaving office his determination to reduce gun ownership got the best of him and he passed an executive order denying guns to people declared by social security to have a mental illness. This involved some 75,000 people many of whom were suffering from things like eating disorders and others who were having difficulty taking care of their personal finances. Democrats in congress praised this order saying that mentally ill people should not have the right to own a gun. The ACLU stepped in and said this was just one more way to stigmatize mental patients and should be rescinded. These people have a right to guns unless the government evaluates them on an individual basis where they have the option to defend their position before they are automatically banned. Four Democratic senators and an independent who are up for re-election in 2018 sided with their Republican colleagues on Wednesday by voting to revoke a two-month-old Obama administration gun regulation that prevents certain individuals with mental health conditions from buying firearms. The measure now moves to President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign it into law. This was the same argument used by the ACLU when government tried to ban guns to people on the no-fly list saying it should be done case by case and not a blanket order. These two situations represent the old discussion between individual rights and group rights. Over the years individual rights have been overtaken by group rights and many are concerned about this trend.

tweets

Climate change, Mr. Obama often says, is the greatest long-term threat facing the world, as well as a danger already manifesting itself as droughts, storms, heat waves and flooding. More than health care, more than righting a sinking economic ship, more than the historic first of an African-American president, he believes that his efforts to slow the warming of the planet will be the most consequential legacy of his presidency. Did this all go away or did the congress just forget about it or was their interest only centered around possible campaign contributions from government money given to solar panel companies. Increasing amounts of CO2 are adding to the climate change but Trumps tweets are now more important. Come on people!

The new way

Trump is the outsider who ran against the establishment but just what is this group. The Establishment generally denotes a dominant group or elite that holds power or authority in a nation or organization. These are the professional politicians who have served many terms and have ensconced themselves in the congress and have become the in crowd. The Establishment also includes the career civil servants who work in the various government agencies and of course the national press people who have controlled the news that reaches the people. With the onset of Trump and social media this has all changed and quickly, so quick in fact that these formally in control people are having a tough time adjusting. This may have started with Trump but these establishment types better get used to it because this is the future. Are they upset? You bet! They are fighting for their careers. Some were upset when President Obama continued to campaign long after the election and now it appears the Trump will do the same. This is just one more way to go directly to the people. Have a rally.

More jobs

Many people across the land are concerned about the results of the last election and the direction the country is headed. The new way the government is operating is different and thus scary. Change is not easy and makes people uncomfortable. If Trump is able to bring back manufacturing jobs then the turmoil of change will be forgotten. If the boarder is secured and illegals are given a path to citizenship then all will be forgiven. If the inner cities have decent job opportunities and government checks are replaced with paychecks then safer neighborhoods will thrive. With lower corporate tax rates companies will bring back the two trillion dollars from overseas and that combined with a new infrastructure programs will grow the economy. These new revenues will keep social security and Medicare strong while slowing the growth of the national debt. The great economic engine will once again bring back growth in the middle income groups and they are legions. The millions who have given up looking for work will once again start contributing as many in the underground economy will begin adding to the tax base.

Made in America

I have done some research on home appliances and to my surprise there are many made in American by American companies and even more surprising they are competitive in both prince and quality. Names like GE, Whirlpool, Maytag and Amana are well known quality products. One thing to note is that the premium lines are made in American and the low price products are outsourced so if you want to buy American you will have to buy the top of the line. Another example is grills where most are made in China but high quality grills like Weber and Vermont Castings are made in America. Other products like AC units and furnaces are made in the US and there are many American companies that make high quality furniture at competitive prices. Most of these companies have plants both here and abroad and most agree that they prefer their operations in the states. There are cultural difference that cause uncertainty and misunderstanding that these companies would rather not have to worry about. There is a good possibility that if tax rates are reduced these companies will ramp up production within the country. Many are anxious to build new facilities using automation to increase efficiency and these plants still require workers with skills to operate automatic machines. Companies will train employees and wages will be appropriate for skilled people. All the parts for these new products, the distribution centers, the sales and marketing and customer outlets will be part of the job growth.

Disagreements

In President Obama’s 2010 State of the Union speech he called out the Supreme Court for its ruling on Citizens United. This allowed campaign contributions to presidential elections to be expanded and particularly those called Super Pac’s. The concern was that the person with the most money would win the election. Recall the old adage that money is the mother’s milk of politics. During this past campaign Clinton spent 1.4 billion and Trump spent 957 million but more important Clinton got 204 million from Super Pac’s and Trump got 79 million. One of Clinton’s campaign promises was to challenge Citizens United but after these results one wonders how severe the challenge would have been. Other differences between a Clinton and Trump administrations would be: Clinton proposed elimination tuition cost at state universities for people with income below $125,000. Clinton would keep Obamacare and correct some of its flaws. Clinton would not raise taxes on middle income America. Clinton would fight for equal pay for women Clinton would raise the minimum wage. Clinton would oppose PPT. Clinton would expand background checks on gun sales. Clinton would spend 100 billion per year on infrastructure Clinton would pass comprehensive immigration reform. Clinton would raise taxes on the wealthy. Trump will try to keep some parts of Obamacare, will not raise taxes on the middle income people, will oppose PPT, will spend 100 billion per year on infrastructure, will build a wall and plan for citizenship for those living here. So that leads us to fighting over equal pay for women, minimum wage increase, background checks on guns, tuition cost and taxes on the wealthy. Of these the only one of real consequences is taxes on the wealthy. Are we having these monstrous disagreements over this one item?

Voodoo

Sometimes common sense doesn’t jive with government. Here is a report from the CBO that provides an answer to how we increase GDP. It is simple and easy to understand. Dollar for dollar, tax cuts are not the best way to created jobs. The Bush tax cuts created 4.6 jobs for every $1 million in cuts, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Unemployment benefits created 19 jobs for the same $1 million spent. In addition to creating jobs, every dollar spent on unemployment benefits stimulates $1.73 in economic demand, according to an Economy.com study. That's because the unemployed spend every dollar they receive on basic essentials, such as food, clothing and housing. Estimates say that every month benefits are extended costs taxpayers $10 billion. But it also generates $17.3 billion in economic growth every month. This tells me that 120 billion per year spent on unemployment provides 207 billion in additional increase spending. The GDP for 2015 was 18 trillion. If we want a five percent growth we need an additional 900 billion. According to the above if we increase unemployment benefits from 10 billion per month to 45 billion we will achieve the goal of 5% GDP. I remember when Reagan was accused of voo-doo economics and this looks kind of voo-dooish to me

Court

The ruling by the ninth district court against Trump is all in the news and will likely be appealed. It is big news for a day or two and then just fades away. The court overturned the Obama administration 96 times during his 8 years in office. Very few people remember any of those cases.

Bomb

Naturally occurring uranium ore contains about 1000 parts per million of uranium. This must be concentrated to 4% or 40,000 ppm to be used in a power plant. That takes it 70% of the way to make a bomb which is 90% uranium. This process is not linear and going from 4% to 90% is faster and easier than going from ore to 4%. If you are making fuel for a power plant you need about 20,000 centrifuges but to make a bomb you need only 5,000 centrifuges. Iran had about 20,000 so the assumption was that they put a preference on power plant over bomb. Iran has one nuclear power plant built for them by the Russians. I have maintained that Iran never wanted to build a bomb and used that threat to get other things and with the nuclear deal they achieved their objective, the release of 150 billion that was held in escrow since 1979 including 400 million in cash. Cash money can be used to purchase all sorts of illegal weapons. “If Iran lined up all their centrifuges and ran it long enough, after a year or so, they can enrich it to a point where it is weapons grade,” Kristensen told LiveScience. Why was this information not well known but the people were allowed to believe that Iran was on a course to produce a bomb. (CNSNews.com) – Secretary of State John Kerry said in a television interview screened Sunday that when President Obama came into office he was “dealt … a hand” of “19,000 [Iranian] centrifuges already spinning.” Iran has been working for more than 20 years on this. The US using 1940’s technology built a bomb in three years. North Korea developed a bomb in three years.

Reset

Early in Obama’s first term he cancelled the plan to install missals in Poland and the Czech Republic. Russia vigorously opposed these weapons and were pleased when Obama reversed the Bush plan. Later he sent Secretary Clinton to Russia with the now famous reset. Many analysts feel that this was an attempt by Obama to get Russia to join with the US against Iran. While Obama didn’t talk nice about Russia he acted nice. Trump on the other hand is talking nice but putting sanctions on Russia. In either case they both were trying to develop a working relationship. Obama was criticized by the right and Trump is criticized by the left. Can either one of these groups be trusted to make decisions based on what is best for the country verses what is best for the party?

US history

Trumps remarks concerning past American behavior when asked about Putin’s activities has awakened the cause of moral equivalency. He is accused of comparing the US with Russia. This was not brought up when Obama compared the Turkish genocide of Armenians with the US treatment of Native Americans. Obama compared the treatment of women in some Muslim countries with the way some males in America treat women. When Obama compared the killing of infidels by ISIS to the Christian Crusades was this moral equivalency? The United States has a dark side as witnessed by the treatment of Japanese citizens during WW 2, the whole history of slavery, the CIA covertly overthrowing governments during the cold war, the firebombing of German and Japanese cities with the stated purpose of killing civilians and other lesser offenses. The United States is also the country that freed millions from the tyranny of dictators, the country that by way of the industrial revolution and the modern day technical revolution has provide lively hoods to millions, the country that through the free market has pulled hundreds of millions in Asia out of poverty, the country that through medical miracles had freed hundreds of million from diseases like polio and AIDS and finally the country that takes in more immigrants that any other country. The United States is not perfect but it is going away the greatest country in the history of civilization. The citizens of the United States can freely admit that serious mistakes were made but the good that was done far overshadows the mistakes.

France

Unknown to the public barely two years ago, never elected, no longer a member of a political party and defining himself as “neither left nor right”, he is now – according to polls – the favourite to become France’s next president This is Emmanuel Macron a 39 year old millionaire and former banker who is running against the establishment while gathering large crowds at his rallies and promising to help the forgotten people. Macron presents himself as the energetic outsider, determined to break what he calls the “complacency and vacuity” of the French political system. At the head of a youthful movement, En Marche! (Let’s Go!), he wants to “re-forge France’s politics, culture and ideology” Sounds familiar!

Civil servants

With some exceptions Republicans tend to stress smaller government and Democrats look to expand government and thus it would not be surprising if civil servants would lean toward the Democrats. Those who work in the State Department would know that there might be staff reductions and would likely not approve. The question is would they go so far as to work against a President who would want to eliminate their jobs. According to POLITICO, employees of agencies that seem on the chopping block of the new administration are setting up new email addresses and turning to encrypted messaging apps to hold group conversations with other anti-Trump staffers, and to communicate with the press. Now this could be because they object to the way Trump operates, but!

Dodd/Frank

With Dodd/Frank back in the news I was reminded of when it was passed, the two sponsors decided to retire instead of running for reelection even though they were shoo-ins. I decided to see what they were doing and I find out that Frank is now a member of the board of directors of Signature Bank. His salary is not published but the average board member earns a $60,000 salary plus $60,000 in stock plus $1,000 per meeting of which there are usually 12 per year. In other words the average bank board member earns $132,000 for 12 days work. Former Senator Dodd is a lobbyist for the motion picture industry and he earns 2.4 million per year.

Misspeak

In my ongoing journey to understand Trump I have noticed a style evolving. When I say style I don’t mean something that is consciously developed but just a natural way of doing things. With Obama it was similar to a sales approach where the salesman offers three options, at three different prices and the customer feels comfortable accepting the middle option. Obama would explain things in the extremes and then suggest the middle of the road. For example, he would say that Republicans favor no government and Democrats want all government but I feel the proper place is somewhere in between. Trump uses the good cop, bad cop approach. He will state a strong position and then allow his underlings to redefine things in a more middle of the road position. An example would be his favorable view of Russia followed up by the new Secretary of State Tillerson and new Ambassador Haley hard hitting Russia. Why would he choose to be the bad cop? It shows strength. Many in the press long for the days when a politician would use focus groups to select the proper words and the put those into talking points and just keep repeating that. I have long since stopped watching shows that present both sides of an issue by having a senator from each party put forth their views. I stopped because I know what they will say before they say it in most cases I know the exact wording they will use. Reporters keep doing these interviews in the hopes that someone will make a mistake or misspeak. The saying in Washington is once in a while a politician will make a mistake and tell the truth.

Corn

Studies now indicate that man’s usage of carbon based fuels is increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and this is contributing to climate change. Studies also indicate that corn based ethanol is not helping the environment. OK, can we please stop pretending biofuel made from corn is helping the planet and the environment? The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released two of its Working Group reports at the end of last month (WGI and WGIII), and their short discussion of biofuels has ignited a fierce debate as to whether they’re of any environmental benefit at all. Over the years liberal leaning people have pushed for the increased use of corn ethanol as a fuel additive and currently 40% of the annual corn crop is used for this purpose. Since ethanol is soluble in water it must be distilled and this requires large amounts of energy. This negative was supposed to have been overcome by the environmental benefits but that did not work out so is it time to change course. Getting rid of a subsidy is a difficult process and not likely to happen so billions of dollars that could be put to better use will be tied up in corn ethanol production. Like most government handouts the ethanol industry has their share of lobbyist who will keep the faucet open. This like most will benefit one group at the expense of another group and that seems to be the modus operandi. Since Trump is in favor of continuing the subsidies the liberals may come out against it.

Section 8

I was always told that the power in the constitution that gives congress the right to enact various welfare type programs comes from Article one section eight where the phrase, “provide for the common welfare” is written. With all the new government programs recently proposed, I decided to look further into this and much to my surprise I came face to face with the semi colon. This rather innocuous punctuation mark is at the center of the debate over this constitutional clause. Recall that the founding fathers were well educated and considered grammarians and spent days arguing over little things like punctuation marks. They knew that marks like the semi colon could change the meanings of words. It is in the opening sentence of section eight where the phrase, “provide for the general welfare” occurs and this sentence ends in a semi colon. The plot thickens. The use of the semi colon is used in this case to make a general statement followed by a more detailed understanding of the issue. With a new appointee to the court on the arisen this illustrates how two words, (general welfare) can be expanded. Those two words are mentioned in the opening paragraph but not after that. Since they did not elaborate the courts have been able to add any type of general welfare they deemed necessary and there are many. Here is the text. Section 8 - The Text The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; (here is the famous semi-colon) To borrow Money on the credit of the United States; To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian Tribes; To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States; To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures; To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States; To establish Post Offices and post Roads; To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries; To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court; To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations; To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years; To provide and maintain a Navy; To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces; To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions; To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress; To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings; —And To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

Loyal opposition

The phrase, loyal opposition, comes from the British Parliament and represents the out parties view while maintaining the laws. In the United States it means standing up to the party in control by those not, in control but always following the constitution. This is the way things worked until recently when parties began to oppose not just on principal but just for the sake of opposing. The Republicans opposed Obama on almost every issue, big or small and now the Democrats are opposing Trump in the same way. It is used as a way to fire up the base. Right now it is a forgone conclusion that Supreme Court nominee Gorsuch will be approved but the base demands a fight to the finish and the senate democrats are ready to oblige. They watched how the Republicans gained power by being obstructionist and they want to go down the same path. The irony is that the general public objects to this kind of activity while not seeming to understand how it has affected their vote. To illustrate how times have changed, Scalia the man for whom Gorsuch is the replacement was approved 98 to 0.

Corruption

Free market capitalism has done more to bring people out of poverty than any form of government but it has an enemy called corruption and this was demonstrated in the recent events surrounded the Clinton Foundation. While most charitable organizations average 25% for expenses the Clinton group uses 75% for expenses. These costs include salaries, travel and other business expenses. The Clintons left office in 2000 saying they were broke and by 2016 they were worth 100 million dollars. Email hackers revealed enough information to warrant an investigation but in spite of that the Republican controlled house and senate did not look into the matter. It is speculated by certain government watchdog groups that congress failed to investigate because they feared it would lead to other similar schemes. Washington is rife with influence peddling and the fallout could involve many other groups including Republicans. Right now the FBI is investigating the Clinton Foundation and both parties are worried. This tells me that this probe will not lead anywhere.