Testing

Several months ago Harvard came under attack for discrimination against Asia-Americans. These students were scoring so well on the entrance test that they were crowding out non-Asian-Americans. The solution was to include things like personality in the student evaluations. In the Mpls. paper today they released the test scores for k-12 students and the gap between the white and black students continued to be unacceptable. The state will now use a new method of testing which will include graduation rates and attendance. Its a way to communicate to the public that we are shifting to more measures and more well-rounded opportunities for out kids in the future.

LNG exports

Because of fracking the US is now a net exported of natural gas. This not only helps with the trade deficit but as natural gas replaces coal it helps to clean up the air. The US has come late to this market and now exports only 5% of the world's exports. The gas is first liquefied which takes up only 1/600th of the space. There are only two plants that can do this but by the end of 2019 the will be six plants and exports will increase from 40Bcf to 105Bcf (billion cubic feet). The value of these exports will increase from $5 billion to $12 billion and this is just the beginning. As the US builds more plants that can compress natural gas other countries are building plants that can receive compressed gas. Replacing coal with natural gas around the world will do more for climate change than all of the recommendations found in the Paris Agreement. Unlike the Agreement where changes were demanded by governments this movement of natural gas will be accelerated because it is cost effective. Market forces will move more quickly and efficiently than government regulations.

The Press

Recent surveys show that only 7% of news people identify themselves as republican while 28% say democrat. On cable news Fox leans right and CNN and MSNBC lean left. Major papers like the NY Times and Washington Post are left and the Wall Street Journal in right. Since places like google have no news gatherers but rely on stories in other media it is not surprising that most of their news is left of center. What is surprising is that people are surprised at this. News in general has leaned left since the start of the last century when news people felt it was their job not only to reign in big government but also big business and the people who run corporations and how corporations behave. Jake Tapper on CNN said recently that this is the golden age of journalism and I agree. The job of the press is to be critical of everything that government does and they have certainly been doing this with Trump. Prior to Trump the press was somewhat lackadaisical toward their coverage of government but Trump has awakened them and they are once again acting as watch dogs. More than half of the press people are able to offer objective views of the news but it is those who are biased that distort the overall job the press does.

McCain

As I see the well deserved accolades being showered on John McCain, I am reminded of how many of these same people felt when he ran against Obama. Here are few choice views. Yesterday, civil rights leader John Lewis, a Democratic congressman from Georgia, became the latest advocate to excite the racial debate, condemning Sen. John McCain for "sowing the seeds of hatred and division" and accusing the Republican nominee of potentially inciting violence. But farther to the left — and among some of McCain's conservative enemies as well — harsher attacks are circulating. Critics have accused McCain of war crimes for bombing targets in Hanoi in the 1960s.  This is the McCain whose campaign and career has been riddled with lobbyists and special interests. It is a McCain who has sided with religious and political extremists who believe Islam is evil and gays are immoral. It is a McCain who wants to appoint extreme conservatives to the Supreme Court and see abortion banned. It never ceases to amaze me just how easily politics can twist and turn.

NAFTA

When Ross Perot ran for president in 1992 he said that NAFTA would create a giant sucking sound of jobs moving to Mexico and it appears that he was on target. During the more than two decades under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA, entered into by the United States, Canada, and Mexico), Mexico’s light vehicle production more than tripled—from 1.1 million units in 1994 to nearly 3.5 million units in 2016. Moreover, Mexico’s light vehicle exports increased from 579,000 to 2.8 million units during the same period. These are cars that would have been made in the US and hurt the middle income people in manufacturing jobs. During this same period NAFTA's implementation has coincided with a 30% drop in manufacturing employment, from 17.7 million jobs at the end of 1993 to 12.3 million at the end of 2016.  Profits for US auto makers have increased do to lower cost production of cars in Mexico. While the average manufacturing wage in the United States is nearly $21 per hour, the average manufacturing wage in Mexico is just over $2 per hour, an historic low. This does not include the cost higher benefits paid in the USA, things like health care and pensions.

Elon Musk

Some in the business world are drawing parallels between Elon Musk and Donald Trump. Musk is a self made billionaire who is the CEO of several companies including Tesla Motors. His unorthodox ways have attracted a fan base that believes in his new way of doing things. He constantly pushes the envelop and brings excitement to his projects. He communicates regularly with his twitter friends. More than 400,000 people have put down $2,500 to get a car that has not yet been produced. He has an overpowering personality and is loved by many and considered a reckless gambler by many. Some analyst are pushing his stock and others are warning to stay away. Some liken Tesla to Amazon, a company that went years without showing a profit and today is close to Apple in value.

Super delegates

We often see examples of how the honest facts can lead to a dishonest conclusion. The Democratic National Committee this past week changed the rules to eliminate the super delegates. These were 712 party insiders who got to vote in the presidential nomination process. With 2,382 votes needed to secure the nomination this was a significant number. This week the committee got rid of the super delegates but said this group had never determined the outcome of a election which was factually correct. However when Bernie Sanders was in the running in the summer before the election the news people on a regular basis reported that even if Sanders won the remaining states he could not overcome the lead provided by the super delegates. Most people feel that these reports had a dampening effect on potential Sanders supporters.

Capital vs Labor

It is time for a grass roots movement and a march on Washington. The gap between rich and poor is too much and some action must be taken. Our motto will be based on Obama's pledge to Joe the plumber when he said he was going to spread the wealth around. We can start with Jeff Bezos who is worth $150 billion and that will give each of the 150 million families a thousand bucks. Next we work our way through Bill Gates and Warren Buffett and on down the line to the other 585 billionaires and that should bring us up to about ten grand each. Next we start on the millionaires and bring our total up to 20 grand. Continue this process until we get down to $50,000 in assets and then leave the rest alone. This figure is arrived at by using mathematical calculations including differential equations and just happens to be where my net worth resides since I don't own a home and drive a 12 year old Chevy. Our theme song will be, "Money Can't Buy Me Love" by the Beatles. We will have guest speakers like Bernie Sanders and Ocasio Cortez to fire up the crowd. We will carry signs saying spread the wealth. It is time for the little people to get their fair share. We are the ones who do all the work. We get paid for our labor but those rich fat cats get paid on their capital. Maybe if we get their capital they might have to go to work. Down with the CEO's, sport figures, movie stars and hedge funds. Go,go,go!

2008 election

In the summer months leading up to the 2008 presidential election Obama led in the polls by 2 to 4 points and on September 3rd his lead was 6%. On August 29th McCain choose Sarah Palin as his running mate and by September 8th McCain had moved ahead by 4 points, a swing of ten points in less than a week and the all important momentum had shifted. On September 15th Lehman Brothers Bank failed and the polls began to rapidly change and by September 22nd, Obama was ahead by 2 points and never relinquished the lead. The Fed could have rescued Lehman by lending it the money needed to replace the fleeing short-term lenders, There are conspiracy theorist who say that Lehman was allowed to fail to affect the election. They contend that even if the Fed wanted to take action they could have waited another month to avoid any interference in the election.

Shot clock

The Hilary loss has been analyzed from many different angles and one that is not often seen is the run out the shot clock strategy. Back in the 50's there was no shot clock in basketball and sometimes teams with a lead would stop shooting and just pass the ball around to run out the time. Hilary had the best ground game and the most money and polls showed a big lead so she chose to run out the clock. Trump was in the news everyday mostly for controversial remarks. Trump was more available to the press and constantly made gaffs which showed he was not a politician. While the experts were constantly predicting the final demise of Trump many voters saw his free wheeling, unabashed style as refreshing and his rallies where he turned the teleprompter off and spoke extemporaneously brought large crowds to their feet.

Remove Trump

At one time Ted Cruz was a viable candidate for president but he lost favor when he said that if the republicans capture the senate they would repeal and replace Obamacare. At that time the senate had 44 republicans and 60 are needed to stop the filibuster and 67 are needed to override the presidential veto. There was no way the republicans would increase from 44 to 67 and Cruz knew that. He was just trying to fire up the base. Now democrats are doing the same thing. They claim if they take the house they can impeach the president and that part is true. It takes only a simple majority in congress to offer articles of impeachment but it takes 67 senators to remove the president. The democrats currently hold 48 seats and in this years election 23 democratic seats, two independents and 8 republican seats are open. Once again this is used to hype up the base but such talk is also more likely to cause republicans to vote. The real goal as it was in the case of Clinton is to embarrasses the president not to remove him.

Change

There is an old adage that says if you keep doing what you've always done, you'll keep getting what you always got. Blue collar workers, the so called Reagan Democrats, voted for Trump because they wanted something different. For years different presidential candidates promised something different but it didn't materialize and in desperation these people decided to give Trump a chance. While the press concentrates on the various foibles of Trumps personality these people are looking at the economy and things are slowly improving. US. workers saw their annual wages and benefits rise in the second quarter at the fastest pace in nearly a decade, a sign that the low unemployment rate is forcing employers to raise pay to attract and keep workers. This same phenomenon is happening in other countries from Australia to England where the working folks are moving the politics to the right in the hopes of seeing the kind of economic growth going on in the US.

South Africa

When England colonized Zimbabwe white farmers took over the land and improved production to where the country had enough to start exporting food to the rest of Africa. After they received independence the white farmers were replaced with black farmers and production declined. The new president said in a speech that things were going well but his government appealed to exiled white farmers to return. In his speech after being sworn in as Zimbabwe’s new president on November 24, Emmerson Mnangagwa, stressed the role of the country’s land reform farmers in boosting the country’s economic recovery. They have excelled recently. November 2017 The Zimbabwean Government's message to exiled farmers is clear. Come home. It is offering land leases to commercial farmers in an effort to re-start the nation's agricultural industry. February 2018 Now South Africa is facing a similar situation. They want to transfer farms from whites to blacks. Looking at land ownership, this is understandable. More than 80% of agricultural land was owned by white commercial farmers, yet the white population made up about 13% of the country. They need to learn from the mistakes made in Zimbabwe and find a way to make this transfer without destroying the industry

Immigrants

Illegal aliens or undocumented immigrants are not eligible for most safety net federal government programs but if a child is born in the US the child is a citizen and does qualify. Because of this many parents and various relatives of these child have access to benefits. This includes food stamps and medicaid. Illegal children who are not citizens do receive school meals, women' s infants and children's benefits and emergency medicaid. State and local governments bear most of the cost since illegals have a right to public education. In Minnesota this is about $15,000 per year per child. Throughout the country there are an estimated 4 million illegals going to school so the cost is about $60 billion per year. There are a total of 56 million K-12 students. Some of this cost is offset by illegals paying $12 billion per year into social security for benefits they will not receive. Many of these people use false numbers and these go into a file called earnings suspense file but there is no follow up. Illegals that file taxes use an ITIN which is a special card just for that purpose but the number is nine digits and looks like a social security number and many use this number to get jobs. All ITIN numbers start with 9 so this would be a clue if the employer was interested in such things.

Censorship

There is big concern in the news about censorship in the social media but this is not new, only a new censor. For years people got their news from newspapers and newspapers got their news from the wire service. Each day far more news came over the wires than the newspaper had room to print so they had people who would select what would be printed. In other words a small group of individuals in each community would determine what the rest of the community would see. While censorship by government is illegal this does not apply to private media. Some papers were conservative and some were liberal and they censored accordingly. The public knew which papers were which and so had a pretty good idea of what was happening. Today we have so many more news outlets that it requires some effort to find out which lean one way or the other. One thing different today is the increase in the number of stories that are completely fabricated and the astute reader can use common sense to weed out most of these. It requires effort but it is better to have access to all the news and then select what the reader wants instead of having some local editor selecting.

Anti-Trump book

Bill Oreilly former Fox News star has sold 7 million books. He would advertise his books on his show and with four million viewers, sales came easy. This practice caught on and other Fox stars began writing books and soon it spread to other stations and today it is common place to see people on CNN and MSNBC following the trend. An easy way to make a lot of money today is to write an anti-Trump book and cable news will have you on daily to talk about your book. Fire and Fury an anti-Trump book by Michael Wolff sold 1.7 million copies until much of it was discovered to be in the writers imagination and then it lost favor. The book need not be factual since the stations would be so eager to talk about it they would leave the fact checking for later. To write the book all that is needed is to watch news each day and repeat it in book form.

Race problems

One of the reasons why racial problems persist is that the subject is difficult to talk about without hunting one group or another. In the schools the disrespectful students are disproportionately black but teachers feel a certain pressure not to point this out. This behavior is excused as being caused by the system not understanding the cultural difference between whites and non-whites. A good example of how this can get a person in trouble happened this week in Chicago when the mayor suggested that some of the violence in his city was caused by not having fathers in the home. This is called blaming the victims and he is feeling the backlash. A number of black writers have gone into this morass and have been ostracized by those they thought they were helping. Thomas Sowell and Juan Williams are two that I have read. Sowell is a conservative and Williams a liberal so this subject can cross political lines. When a child doesn't learn respect for authority in the home it causes him (yes it is mostly him) to get into one difficult situation after another. In some cases he doesn't even know his behavior is disrespectful.

Obama years

President Obama was the darling of the national press but his strength was only for himself as the party suffered serious setbacks during his eight years. His personal accomplishments represented by health care reform, climate change regulations and bank reforms are now being dismantled by Trump but the loses the democrats incurred across the country remain. When Obama took office, there were 60 Democratic senators; now there are 46. The number of House seats held by Democrats has shrunk from 257 to 188. There are now nine fewer Democratic governors than in 2009. Democrats currently hold fewer elected offices nationwide than at any time since the 1920s. Obama also left a party with aging leadership and many younger democrats are unhappy as seen in the backlash against Pelosi. As Obama left the White House he left behind Harry Reid age 77, Nancy Pelosi age 78, Joe Biden age 75 and new comer Barry Sanders age 76. One potential candidate for president in 2020 is Senator Warren who is a youngster at 69. The press still treats Obama as a kind of hero but they would be hard pressed to justify their opinion based on his record but will fall back on his likeability.

Repeal and impeach

The news keeps saying that if the democrats take over the house they will repeal the tax cuts and impeach Trump. To repeal the tax cuts takes a simple majority vote in the house but they must overcome the filibuster in the senate which means 60 votes. Then they would have to over ride the presidential veto which requires a two-thirds vote in both the house and the senate. To impeach requires only a majority vote in the house but that is just starting the process. The next step is for the senate to hold a trial and to convict which requires a two-thirds vote in the senate. Neither of these are likely to happen but they make interesting news stories.

Walmart

Walmart my favorite store is once more helping out low income people. In 2013 the law changed and social security checks had to be direct deposit and Walmart offered free checking. Many elderly people could not afford the fees that banks charge for checking. Now Walmart offers a credit card that pays 3% cash back on all in store purchases and the card allows for cash withdrawals with no charge. I rarely carry any cash and on those occasions that I need some this is a good service.

transistor

One of the results of the US free market economy that is seldom mentioned is innovation. The United States has won 60% of the Nobel prizes in chemistry, physics, medicine and economics and many other winners were doing their work in US universities. The finest research facilities are in the US and much of the cost is provided by private companies looking for new ways to make money. I was a freshman at the University of Illinois in 1955 and one of my professors, a man by the name of John Bardeen working with grant money provided by AT@T developed the transistor. That ranks right up there with fire and the wheel. It is hard to count the number of industries and the number of jobs this one item has produced. President Obama once said that no one becomes rich in America on their own because they make use of public services but people like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs only come along once in a generation and other people have use of all the same public facilities.

Political speak

Yesterday Governor Cuomo went off script and made a booboo. He said America was never great. He must return the to tried and true ways that seasoned politicians use. He must first poll test his ideas and change his thinking accordingly. Then have focus groups to determine the best words to use in expressing these ideas and next have a professional writer put them in speech form and then read the speech off the teleprompter. This is the way most people see their politicians act and the reason that most people don't pay much attention to what they hear. Our elected official use coach speak. The coach has an after game speech for winning and one for losing and they spout them off. One example: Elect me and I will provide the following benefits for you and I will pay them by cutting the fat out of government. Do the words, waste and fraud sound familiar?

Ellison

When it comes to hate crimes involving religion the Jews have led the list for so many years that it no longer makes news and is of little concern to most people. Throughout history antisemitism has been and is, alive and well. Former MN congressman Kieth Ellison is running for Attorney General and is accused of making anti Jewish remarks and befriending people like Louis Farrakhan and joining the Muslim Brotherhood and Nation of Islam. In spite of this past he is considered the front runner for the job. There is a lot of information about Ellison and his alleged antisemitism and this is one quote. Rep. Keith Ellison, the Deputy Chair of the DNC, has extensive ties to Farrakhan, a man who praised Adolf Hitler, and The Washington Post recently determined that Ellison lied about his ongoing relationship with him.

Tale of two people

A tale of two people. Jim is a high school teacher with 20 years under his belt. Over the years he has received modest pay raises and has doubled his starting salary of $30,000. Jim has watched his pension go up and his mortgage go down. He goes to work in pleasant surroundings and he is protected with a good health insurance plan, disability insurance, sick days, holidays and summer vacation. He likes his work and feels he is making a solid contribution to the growth of his students. Jim will retire at age 62 with $7,000 per year more net income than when he was working. Jim had a rough time in the early years when his salary wasn't that great and he had two babies to care for but over the years things got better and better. Jim votes democratic and is OK with part of his union dues going to democratic candidates. Bob worked at Bethlehem Steel making $25 per hour with benefits but they closed down because foreign companies were dumping steel in the US. Dumping means that in countries like China the government subsidizes the steel industry which allows the industry to sell product below cost. They do this until the competition is bankrupt then they can raise the price. The past 20 years Bob has been working at low paying jobs trying to hold his family together. Every four years some candidate for president tells Bob that things will change after the election but nothing ever happens. Bob standard of living has been going down since he left the steel plant even though he and his wife are both working full time. His jobs do not have the benefits he had in the steel mill and it looks like he will have a tough time at retirement. Bob usually votes democratic but he his fed up with the false promises and will vote republican hoping for some miracle.

Retirement years

There is a business principal called Parkinson's Law and it states that a worker will expand the job to fill in the time. When people are given more to do they get it done and when given less to do it still takes the full shift. When it comes to retirement the same principal applies. The person now has an extra 50 hours per week which includes work and travel time to work. Most will fill in that time using Parkinson's law. Often times a retired person will say that they are busier now than when they were working but when asked what they are doing with the extra hours they find it difficult to say. Young people are normally concerned mostly about what they can do for themselves but as they age they realize that life is more rewarding when they discover the happiness they receive from helping others. This is a gradual change that starts often times with a spouse and then later children. At retirement there is a tendency to fall back on what can I do for myself. Studies show that those most satisfied with their retirement years are those who find ways to share their talents, knowledge and experience in helping others. A person who retires in their early 60's has 20 or 30 good years left and must find challenging ways to spend those years.

Fair share

Having the top 10% pay a wealth tax was a little too much for some so what about the top one percent paying a wealth tax. The top one percent in the USA are worth $40 trillion dollars and ten percent of that would be enough to do the things that some liberals want to do, things like free health care and free college tuition. Eighty two percent of the wealth generated last year went to the richest 1% of the global population, Billionaire wealth has risen by an annual average of 13% since 2010 Since their wealth increased by 13% taking away 10% would still leave them with a three percent raise. Since these one percenters now own more than the lower 90% is that asking too much. Maybe the wealth tax could be progressive so that the super super rich like Bezos, Gates and Buffett could pay more than 10%. Is America ready to start taxing wealth or as some would say confiscating. Think about it and it starts to sound good.

Socialism

In 2011 Democratic presidential contender Bernie Sanders described Socialist-ruled Venezuela as a more suitable exemplar of the American dream than the United States. Sanders declared: “These days, the American dream is more apt to be realized in South America, in places such as Ecuador, Venezuela and Argentina, where incomes are actually more equal today than they are in the land of Horatio Alger.” Now in 2018 we have some Bernie protegees calling for more government programs in health care and education and they will appeal to the same people in the same way. It always sounds good but in practice it falls short. In this modern tech world there are ways to solve many problems with innovation in place of government intervention. Today CVS and Walgreens are using tele-medicine to replace doctor visits resulting in quicker and cheaper service. New computers that can store and transfer records more efficiently and using physician assistants are more examples.

Wealthy

The new darling of the liberals, Ocasio-Cortez is proposing health care for all and free college tuition. When asked how she would pay for this she gave an answer that people ridiculed but no one could refute. She said when it comes to spending for wars the government just does it whether they can pay for it or not. The programs she is proposing will cost $4.2 trillion dollars per year and I have a suggestion for her on how to pay for it. The total wealth of the United States is $94 trillion and 77% or $72 trillion is owned by the top 10% of the people. She could propose a 5.4% wealth tax on these rich and that would pay for her programs. Wealth tax is currently charged in France, Spain ,Norway and Portugal. It’s an additional tax for people whose combined assets are worth more than a certain value.  Wealth tax is imposed on the wealth possessed by individuals in a country. The tax is on a person's net worth which is assets minus liabilities. These assets include, but are not limited to, cash, bank deposits, shares, fixed assets, personal cars, assessed value of real property, pension plans, money funds, owner occupied housing, and trusts. An ad valorem tax on real estate and an intangible tax on financial assets are both examples of a wealth tax.

Toronto

Two stories out of Toronto caught my attention. A young women who was traumatized by her father in a sexual way got hooked on drugs and found herself in a women's shelter. She was placed with another women who was in the midst of a sex change but her male parts were still in tact. This so upset the young lady that she called the local government to get some help in getting another location but she made the mistake of using the wrong pronoun. But when Hanna called the Human Rights Legal Support Centre, they said that she was the one engaged in discrimination for describing her new roommate as a 'man' The second story is about the shooting that killed two and wounded 13. The city has decided to follow the Chicago lead and ban guns in the city. Good luck

Chicago

There was a black minister from Chicago on TV and he was asked what is going on. He said the solution to the problem is to put more resources into the black neighborhoods. He said the government has turned its back on the people in need and this has been going on for years. I grew up in Illinois and it is well known that Cook County is solid democrat and has been for 60 years and to make matters worse the blacks in Chicago vote 90% democratic. These voters must feel that as bad as things are they would be worse under republicans. Or maybe they just believe the promises of candidates for office and then they get fooled.

Space Force

With the benefit of hindsight many experts feel that Reagan's SDI (space defense initiative) was a determining factor in ending the cold war. Gorbachev knew that he could not compete with the US and SDI could make his nuclear force ineffective. Now the next step is having a nuclear force stationed permanently in orbit and thus Trump's Space Force. Once again experts predict that this will be the future and the US needs to lead the way and by doing so may deter other countries from entering this new field. Just as today the US protects much of the world with its strong military, in the future this protection may come from space. While ICBM's launched from North Dakota may concern potential enemies, the idea of these weapons floating in the skies directly overhead is a greater deterrent. This program could be developed within the Air Force but just as Kennedy knew a special force (NASA) was needed to get to the moon, Trump feels a special force is needed to complete this project in a timely manner. As always one technological advantage will be replaced by some new technology so this is an ongoing never ending process.

Midterms

As the midterm elections draw closer it appears that the two major issues will be immigration and the economy. Immigration is where a democratic victory might help solve the problem. With a democratic house they will accept Trumps offer of amnesty for dreamers and their parents for $25 billion for the wall. They want this deal now but cannot afford to give the republicans credit for immigration reform and have Trump get his wall but with control of the house shifting to the dems, they will get credit for the reform. When Bill Clinton gave into republican demands for welfare reform it helped him to win a second term. Also if the dems win control of the house they will not want to bog down everything with impeachment proceedings. In addition there is a good chance at passing an infrastructure bill something that both sides want and this way they can share credit. In politics who gets credit is all important. Remember party trumps country.

Star Wars

To quote Bob Dylan, times are a changin. When Reagan came out with Star Wars he was soundly criticized as being a dunce. Years later when anti-missile missiles are in demand by countries around the world, Trump announces Space Force and not a peep about the absurdity of such a ridiculous idea. It is not smart to doubt what science and engineering can do when given the time and the money.

Energy

The development of solar and wind is in the news almost daily but it is a slow boat to China when it comes to fighting CO2 emissions. In 2017 solar and wind accounted for 3% of the energy produced around the globe. Here are the stats: Oil 37% Natural gas 29% Coal 14% Nuclear 9% Hydro 3% Biomass 5% Solar/wind 3% The best and fastest way to make real headway is to continue to replace coal with natural gas at power plants. The next step is go to natural gas for transportation but politics is in the way.

Bad laws

An old adage says the best way to get rid of a bad law is to enforce but when Trump did that with the law separating illegal children from illegal parents he got into trouble and had to back away. The law still has not been changed and catch and release is now back in practice. Trump is about to do the same thing on another law regarding legal immigrants. Section 212(a)(4) of the Immigration and Nationality Act as amended says, "Any alien who, in the opinion of the consular officer at the time of application for a visa, or in the opinion of the Attorney general at the time of application for admission or adjustment of status, is likely at any time to become a public charge is inadmissible." The Trump administration wants to enforce this law which says that if you are an immigrant you must show a visible means of supporting your self or your application will be declined. Once again people will probably see this as a hurtful action instead of demanding that the law be changed. Some feel that actions like this make a mockery of the law while others feel that it is better just to ignore the law.

Medicine

It is frequently reported that the United States with less than 5% of the worlds population uses 18% of the worlds energy supply. What is not reported is that the US produces 25% of the worlds GDP and a small part of that is used to export enough food to feed 150 million people. The people of the US pay on average 3 times the price for pharmaceuticals that other countries pay and since most are developed in the US the rest of the world gets a price break especially the third world countries. Life expectancy in countries that receive medical aid increases accordingly as does overall health especially children. The US did receive credit for fighting AIDS in Africa but most of the time not much is said about how the world benefits from the US medicines.

Right to work

There are currently 27 states that have right to work laws. This means that private companies that have unions cannot require that their employees pay union dues. This severely limits the power of unions because it reduces their income. Missouri yesterday bucked the trend of the past 50 years and blocked a vote to limit unions right to collect dues. While I have always been opposed to public unions, I feel private unions are good for the country. Union companies provide higher wages and better benefits but the downside is various complicate work rules. Two income union families earn $400 per week more than similar non-union families.

Clinton

After the last election Mrs. Clinton expressed her concern about the electoral process and this can be best illustrated by looking at the California vote. Clinton won the election by 2.8 million votes and she won California by 3.4 million votes. California like 47 other states is a winner take all so she could have won by one vote and still got all of the electoral votes. She questioned the validity of the electoral college when she had over 3 million votes that didn't count in this one state. If all the states were looked at in the same way the votes would likely even out.

German coal

Germany's Angela Merkel became the women concerned about climate change because of her interest in wind and solar power, but Germany still gets 40% of it's energy from coal and 62% of that comes from brown coal which is the dirtiest and least efficient type of coal. The US could be providing Germany with natural gas but instead Germany is starting up new brown coal mines. Germany enjoys a reputation as a pioneer of clean energy. Its leader Angela Merkel was even dubbed the "climate chancellor" when she decided to ditch nuclear power in 2011. But the reality is much dirtier.Centuries-old villages across the country are being bulldozed to make way to mine brown coal — one of the filthiest and cheapest fossil fuels. As the world's biggest brown coal miner, Germany is at risk of missing its 2020 carbon emissions targets. Meanwhile the US continues to lower its CO2 by changing coal power plants over to natural gas while moving toward clean coal for the plants that remain.

Murders

Over this past weekend 43 people where shot and 10 killed in Chicago. I scanned the various news outlets and found one mention on the BBC site. This is akin to black on black genocide yet it is not deemed news worthy. While the murder rate in the US has been going down over the past 30 years reaching the lowest point since 1966, the rate of blacks killing blacks is increasing. Even though blacks represent 13% of the population they account for over 50% of homicides and almost all are blacks killing blacks. Last year there were 987 fatal shootings by police and 223 were blacks and most of these received considerable news coverage but the 7,000 blacks killed by other blacks received very little coverage.

Common sense

Sometimes frustrated politicians refer to people as low information voters. This is a euphemism used to describe people whom these pols feel should not vote. While many people may not keep up with the issues like politicians they still offer their vote based on their life experiences and their God given common sense and when compared to the way some politicians behave this may not be all bad. In the early days of our country only white males who owned property could vote and this represented 6% of the population. It is when power is concentrated that power corrupts. There are people who spend a life time studying complex issues and they still cannot agree on some basis principals. Experts considered themselves a more reliable source than the average voter who just follows his inner compass. These are people who often times confuse formal education with intelligence. Joel Osteen is a TV preacher who has a weekly audience of 20 million and about 40,000 attend his Sunday services. He didn't graduate from college and never attended Divinity School but he has common sense and knows how to help people understand the bible.

Rationing health care

When Obamacare was being developed Senator Max Baucus stated that there was no rationing in the plan. Contrary to that there is always rationing in health care no matter what the plan. Suppose you are sick with cancer and there is a drug that will slow the growth but cost $50,000. They estimate this will add five years to your life. Should insurance cover that. How about $500,000? What about $5 million? The point is that there is always a cost/benefit to deal with so if you believe that then you believe in rationing. The idea of a single payer plan meaning government insurance is OK but everyone should understand that there will be a panel of experts who will decide what will be covered. You will not be able to go to another insurance company as there will be only one. Now wealthy people will be able to get care outside of the plan by self insuring. Bill Gates doesn't need health insurance and he can spend billions for one more year of life but most people will be stuck with the plan benefits. For example most plans recommend age 70 as the cut off for heart transplants. Now for younger people that seems reasonable but for someone 71 it seems heartless, excuse the pun.

Spitzer

The Mueller investigation has caused the name of Elliot Spitzer to surface. He was the former Governor of New York who was convicted of using state money to pay for prostitutes. He resigned and later became a co-host on a CNN talk show. He then ran for NY state comptroller and lost. He then got job on the board of directors for an investment firm. The case interested me because the lady who supplied him with prostitutes spent four months in jail. Spitzer never spent a day in jail.

Trump policies

Most people agree that Trump is not like other presidents and that is likely because he is not a politician but a new way has come up that shows how he is different. Most politicians in Trumps position would sit back and ride the economy to re-election but not Trump. He decides to take on the old problem of unfair trade. This is contrary to what most conservatives would prefer and under normal circumstances liberals would like except Trump solicits different responses. Unions realize that unfair trade along with trade agreements like NAFTA hurt their members and normally would see Trumps moves as a positive but once again not Trump. He said he would not touch social security or Medicare and doesn't put fear of deficits ahead of his agenda as witnessed by his willingness to spend lavishly to prop up the military. In these areas he seems like a liberal but his tax and regulation reform makes him a conservative. He offered a path to citizenship for all the dreamers and their parents in exchange for $25 billion to build the wall. He is pragmatic and this irritates both sides and so we hear, why can't he be like other presidents. The career politicians are frustrated as best represented by the never Trump republicans. For many people it is far easier to criticize Trump's personality than it is to criticize his policies and thus the term Trump derangement syndrome. Using this term reflects negatively on those who voted against Trump and that doesn't help.

Iranian oil

During the oil embargo in the early 70's drivers were upset when they had to wait in long lines to fill up the tank. People are the same world wide in this regard. In Iran the government has for many years used profits from the sale of oil to subsides the cost of gasoline to their people. Prices of 15 cents per gallon were common. Iran contrary to what people think must import most of its gasoline because they don't have the refining capacity. Since gasoline was so cheap for so many years people used their cars without regards to the cost and now since Trump has placed restrictions on gasoline imports to Iran the people are getting upset. This may lead to changes in government policy in Iran.

Risk corridor

There is some misinformation about the slow demise of Obamacare and it is time for a review. Insurance companies were reluctant to get on board because the plan included coverage for per-existing conditions. This is an anathema to the concept of insurance. This allows people to buy health insurance after they are sick. To allay their concerns the "risk corridor" was introduced. This would cover losses by insurance companies during the first three years of the plan. They could now have access to 30 million new potential customers without worrying about losses. This all came crashing down when Senator Rubio quietly add to the 2015 omnibus bill a clause which removed the risk corridor and that was the beginning of the end of Obamacare. The changes made during the Trump years have accelerated the death of the already mortally wounded program. Original Medicaid allowed for pre-existing conditions and now that will be in jeopardy.

Divorce

The divorce rate in the US started rising in 1970 and peaked in 1980 and has be on the decline since but the data is not the whole picture. Over the past 40 years the number of non-married people living together has increased and when they break up that is not counted in the divorce stats. 41% of marriages end in divorce but that does not include break up of those just living together and experts feel that would raise the rate to half. Cohabitation has increased by nearly 900 percent over the last 50 years. More and more, couples are testing the waters before diving into marriage. Census data from 2012 shows that 7.8 million couples are living together without walking down the aisle, compared to 2.9 million in 1996.Mar 20, 2014 Cohabiting couples had a separation rate five times that of married couples and a reconciliation rate that was one-third that of married couples.