Testing or not

The College Board considered adding a diversity score to the SAT test but stopped after public outcry. The idea was to give extra points for students of color who came from low income areas. It would be wise to get rid of such test. Some students spend hours practicing this test and many get private tutors to help them get better scores. A better use of resources would be to explain that college is not for everyone. For many going to work after high school is a better use of time and money. The University of Minnesota offers 150 majors many of which require advanced degrees to qualify for a job. If you major in psychology you most likely will have to get a PhD to go to work as a psychologist. If you graduate from high school and you can read something and then write down what you read you are ready for work. Now all you need is some ambition.

College cost

As the candidates propose free college tuition the problem of college cost bares looking into. Several recent studies have found evidence that other federal student aid programs drive of tuition increases Student loan debt rose from $480.1 billion (3.5% GDP) in Q1 2006 to $1,490.8 billion (7.6% GDP) in Q4 2017. The government took over the student loan program in 2010 and getting a loan is almost automatic. When private banks handled the loan there were restrictions based on the ability of the student to repay the loan. This was deemed unfair to low income families. Once tuition becomes free then colleges will raise the cost of other parts of education, things like dorms, food, books and fees.

Schools

I have worked the past 6 years in 12 different high schools in the Twin City suburbs and the schools look like the Taj Mahal. The buildings, the equipment and most important the teachers are all first class. Discipline problems are minimal and most students have the best sports equipment. The schools in the inner city are lacking in many areas and it shows up in enrollment. Minneapolis Public Schools is taking steps to address its declining enrollment numbers, especially among students of color. In a Tuesday presentation the school district laid out current enrollment trends. Among the findings was that around 1,500 enrolled students left for other districts since last year. Of those students, 80 percent were students of color, with 50 percent being African American. These are the better students who are leaving further exasperating the grade gap.

Win or lose election

The Trump administration is for free and fair trade, lower taxes, merit based legal immigration secure borders, bringing back manufacturing jobs, nuclear free North Korea and Iran, others pay more to NATO and the UN, strong military and police and American exceptionalism. The candidates are for replace fossil fuels with wind and solar, higher taxes, free college, pay off student debt, reparations to blacks, no penalty for illegal border crossings, $1,000 per month to each working person, tax on wealth and free health care for all including illegals If the election is based on policy, Trump will win. If based on personality Trump will lose.

Rich and poor

The income gap across the country is in the news because many candidates are offering ways to close the gap which means taking from the rich and giving to the poor which begs the question, what is the difference in the way these two groups live. Take the middle and low income group and divide them into two extremes. One group spends all of their income and borrows to spend even more. On the other end of the spectrum is the group that lives beneath its means. They save a little for an emergency fund, a little for a college fund and a little for retirement. Most fall in between these two bookends. On the rich end some inherited their money and some earned it by innovation. Sam Walton's three children own 50% of Walmart stock which means 1.5 billion shares. The dividend gives them $3 billion dollars per year. They live modestly and are well known for sharing their wealth. Other billionaires earn their money through innovation. Prominent members of this group are Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Jeff Bezos. Most in the group live ordinary lives in that they work at expanding or creating new business.

Compare taxes

When Trumps tax reforms were announced many wealthy people were upset with the $10,000 limit on state tax and property tax combined. Using Turbo tax I did a comparison between 2017 and 2018 using a married couple with $400,000 of income, $25,000 home mortgage interest, $5,000 in property tax and $20,000 state tax. The 2017 return paid $107,000 in federal income tax and the 2018 return paid $96,000. Once the people looked at their overall tax situation the complaints quieted down.

Is one million enough

When President Obama was running for office he told Joe the plumber that he would spread the wealth around. Note that he said wealth not income and this is the solution to the income disparities in California. The state has 2,153 people who have a combined wealth of $8.7 trillion. If they take 99% of their wealth it will still leave them with $400 million each. This will give each of the remaining Californians $200,000 each. Now it would not work that way as the state would keep the money and then redistribute as they felt was best. This would be money handed out in specific ways to get the most votes. It this happened understand that the rich have their money invested much of it in stocks so they would sell their stock to pay the state. This would have negative effects on the companies involved and may result in lower profits which could mean fewer jobs. The next year voters will agree to go after the rich for their remaining one percent. This is not likely to happen but going after 2% of wealth has already been proposed and most feel that in the following years that percentage will increase. It may not reach 99% but it could. Shouldn't one million dollars be enough for anyone?

California wage gap

It is sometimes suggested that the states be used for experimental purposes to determine the viability of new federal programs. This tends to uncover unintended consequences before the program goes nationwide. To find out what one party rule would be like just look at California. Democrats have a super majority in the state senate, (29 to 11) and a super majority in the house, (48 to 7), a democratic governor and no state wide republican office holders. Today California has the highest state income tax rate at 13.3%. This includes a one percent surtax on the wealthy. The top one percent earn 24% of the income and pay 48% of the state income taxes. California has the highest poverty rate in the country and the largest income gap between the rich and poor. The middle income group in California is disappearing and lately millionaires have been leaving. During the past 5 years 120,000 Californians have moved to lower tax states taking with them $4 billion dollars in income. Many cities are faced with a growing homeless problem with people living on the streets in unsanitary conditions and this is threatening the health of its citizens.

China trade imbalace

In 2018 the United States imported $540 billion in goods from China while sending only $120 billion to China. China uses much of the tax they place on these imports to purchase US bonds. As the US replaces China purchases with products from other countries including the US the trade imbalance will narrow. In addition if a US company wants to operate in China they must share half of all profits with China. No such agreements are required when Chinese companies operate in the US. Furthermore if a new product is developed here in the US it is copied in China and sold at a discount. The cost of research on new products is avoided by China since they do not honor US patents and just produce cheap knock offs and some not so cheap so they are hard to discern from the real product.

China exports

In 1978 China moved to a free market economy while keeping the government communist. In 2001 China was admitted to the World Trade Organization and they immediately began to disregard the rules to give themselves and advantage. Chinese people living in poverty dropped from 88 per cent in 1981 to 6 per cent in 2017. This had a profound effect on US industries. Take one example. China began producing steel at below cost by using cheap labor and government subsidies and then dumped steel on the world market which caused the US steel industry to fold. This went on across the board with many industries and the world stood by enjoying the low cost which was passed on to consumers while watching our manufacturing base disappear. It was so thorough and complete that President Obama famously said that jobs lost in the rust belt would not be coming back. As Trump increases import taxes on Chinese goods companies will look for other places and some will return their production to the US. They will have to pay higher cost including wages which means higher cost to consumers. If Americans are informed as to what is happening will they be willing to accept higher prices. Stay tuned.

Hate

On the Morning Joe show a group of people led by Joe and Mika express their loathing toward Trump. The hate seethes in their eyes and drips from their lips as they take turns bad mouthing Trump. To disagree with his policies is totally acceptable and should be encouraged but attacks on him personally are self destructive. Their demeanor is different since Trump. Is this harmful to their mental state. Does it effect the way they relate to family members and friends? Is it having a negative effect on how they see the world. Many belief that people get back what the send out.

Tax or not

As Trump talks about more tax cuts the differences between parties gets more clear. The candidates push ideas like guaranteed money each month, free college and forgiving college loans, reparations, free health care and many other areas where the government just gives benefits. All of these are based on taking money from some citizens to give to other citizens. With each benefit the government gets to be the middle man which means the government decides what is the best way to spend the money. Offering tax breaks takes away the middle man as each person will decide how they spend their money.

Sanders

I read with great interest Senator Sanders plan for the environment which he calls the Green New Deal. Recall that under socialism the people own the means of production but under communism the government owns the means of production. Sanders plan is to replace the oil, gas and coal industry with wind and solar and in the process to transfer ownership of the energy industry from private ownership to government ownership and this is by definition communism. Is the animus toward Trump so great that people will be willing to move toward communism with the idea that anything is better than Trump.

Payroll tax cut

Possible good news for low and middle income people. Trump is considering a cut in payroll tax. Employers and employees each pay in 7.65% in payroll tax and that brings in $1.2 trillion dollars. If the employer contribution remained and the employee contribution was eliminated it would mean a $600 billion dollar tax cut primarily going to the lowest income group. The problem with this approach is that the money goes directly to the people and not through the hands of the politicians. This means the people get to spend the money as they wish instead of bureaucrats in Washington offering handouts for votes. Trump may propose this but it is not likely to pass through the house.

antisemitism

Attacks against Jews have always been with us to the point where we are not surprised when they happen. After 9/11 attacks against Muslim were on the rise and they were in the news but they never came close to the number of attacks against Jews but that was not news. There have always been feelings of unease toward Jews but political correctness kept these in the closet but that is now changing. Coming out against Jews is becoming acceptable. The BDS (boycott, divest and sanctions) movement against Israel is the latest example. Anti-Semitic attacks worldwide rose 13 percent in 2018 from the previous year First they come for the Jew and next they come for you.

Parenting

As the problems facing inner cities fill the news the importance of fathers in the homes takes center stage. Statistics show that children raised by single moms tend to have a more difficult time in society. Their teen pregnancy rate is higher as is their school drop out rate. They end up in gangs and in trouble with the law more often but this stat is deceiving. It is not the family structure but the lack of proper parenting that leads to problems. Many single moms raise productive citizens and many children from two parent families get into trouble. Having proper parenting skills is the determining factor and these are usually acquired from the parents of the parents. It evolves from good parent modeling and many young people have no such models. Circumstances arise beyond the control of young parents that leave them as single moms or dads and if they come from homes with capable parents they will raise their children accordingly. Statistics don't always tell the whole story or worse yet they tell a misleading story.

Choice

On a talk show today the subject was school choice and it was mentioned that polls show that most people do not know what this means. School choice allows public education funds to follow students to the schools or services that best fit their needs—whether that’s to a public school, private school, charter school, home school or any other learning environment parents choose for their kids. There are currently 18 states that offer choice and 13 of those are red states (Republican). Many say the reason all states do not have choice is opposition from the teachers unions. In the Minneapolis area the student cost is about $15,000 per year per student. Private schools, homes school and most charter schools are not part of the teachers union. There are parents in North Minneapolis who would send their children to public and private schools in the suburbs if the state allowed choice. They would have to provide the transportation and parents are willing to car pool their children to the schools in the suburbs. The inner city schools are plagued with discipline problems that interfere with learning and serious students suffer while the teachers spend time trying to maintain order in the classroom.

Dependent

On public radio today there was a discussion about talk radio and how conservatives dominate. They did not attempt to explain this domination but talked mostly about how talk radio promotes conspiracies and is used by people who want confirmation of their beliefs. One explanation of why liberal talk shows fail to draw the large audience of conservative shows has to do with how liberals have viewed many people since the New Deal. When FDR introduced social security, it grew into the most successful and most expensive program ever. As the years past social security became more popular and when it was followed up with Johnson' s Great Society it sealed the concept of providing government benefits and the democrats held congress for 40 years. They felt they had found a winning formula. The idea slowly evolved that people needed help and could not make it on their own. While this may or may not be true it can never be revealed that government officials think that people cannot take care of themselves. Many liberals believe that but do not admit it. Under normal circumstances this little secret can be maintained but if you are on the radio for two or three hours it slips out. Once the listener feels that the host thinks they need someone to take care of them they lose interest. This has been a dilemma that liberals have had to deal with for many years

Dictators

Sometimes it appears that Iraq was better off with Saddam in charge but there is no way to be sure. Some think that Iran may fall prey to a civil war and maybe that would be a good thing. The Syrian Civil War started in 2011 and since that time 400,000 have died, 5.7 million have left the country and 6.3 million have been displaced. Once dictators get power there seems to be no way of getting rid of them without disastrous results. Venezuela is currently in the throws of dumping a dictator. One common thread for a successful ousting of dictators is to get the army to join the people as happened in Romania when the Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife were executed.

The EU

The European Union seems to be headed for a recession. With a population of 500 million and GDP of $18 trillion they are an integral part of the world economy. The United States economy is booming because of productivity as measured by GDP per person. For the EU that comes to $18 trillion divided by 500 million or $36,000. The US is $22 trillion divided by 320 million or $68,000. The average American produces almost twice what the average European Union person produces.

New immigrants

About one third of legal immigrants coming to the United States come from Asia, mostly India and China. Trump is pushing for a merit based system which means the numbers from Asia will dramatically increase as these are mostly well educated people in the fields of science and engineering. Some say that Trump wants to have a white America but Asians are brown.

Recession or rumor

There is a story told in economics class about a man who owned a dozen hot dog stands around the city and business was doing quite well. His son came home from college and told his dad that a recession was coming and so his dad started to cut back on inventory and advertising and his sales started to decrease and being worried about the coming bad times he closed some of his shops and this further hurt his bottom line and he retrenched even more and soon his business was in deep trouble. Recent reports of a coming recession may accomplish the same thing. The China trade war, the interest rate yield curve and the market drops for a few days and the rumors abound in the press about the coming bad times. This kind of news gets more readers than talking about low unemployment, high consumer confidence and rising wages. Bill Maher and NBC's Richard Engel are hoping for a recession. That is an example of the old bromide, cut off your hand to spite your face.

Meat and houses

Yesterday, I watched Bernie Sanders say that climate change is the biggest danger facing the country and this follows others who say that in ten or twelve years the damage will be irreversible. While many individuals profess concern about climate change they don't seem to want to change their life style to help fix the problem. They still want bigger houses and bigger cars. Even Al Gore has a 10,000 square foot house in Nashville and a 6,000 square foot ocean side California home. Low and middle income people are looking for ways to pay the light bill and pay for college while the rich are living in country homes miles from work. Most people are expecting someone else to take care of this problem while they are now being asked to have fewer children and quit eating meat. Until I see these experts talking about natural gas for transportation, I will continue to believe that climate change is more about politics than about the environment.

Bonds

Many bond yields around the world are in negative territory so money is streaming into the US bond market and it is driving US bond rates down to under 2%. Since bond rates are so low they are seen as good investments so money is leaving stocks and moving into bonds. While this is going on many people see the US economy as booming so they are bullish on stocks. The net result is a lot of volatility.

Mass shootings

As happens after every mass shooting guns are in the news. Guns and abortions are important to me but not at the top of my list as far as government responsibility. If someone shows me a new approach to guns that would have stopped these latest shootings, I would be interested. If someone shows me a way to encourage people to use options other than abortion, I would be interested. At this time it is a waste of time to say get rid of guns or get rid of abortions, so the experts should come up with new ways to minimize the damage but instead each side goes to their respective corners and waits for the bell to ring. While they wait, their fans all scream and point fingers at the other side and those on the sideline say here we go again. Just wait a couple of weeks and the whole problem will go away.

The Court

The Supreme Court is used a lot like polls in that people use both to back up their positions on issues. Some anti-gun advocates say the constitution does not give the ordinary citizen the right to own a gun but the court says: The Supreme Court held: (1) The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home. Anti-abortionist say the constitution does not give women the right to kill the unborn but the court says: Supreme Court decision. On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court issued a 7–2 decision in favor of Roe that held that women in the United States have a fundamental right to choose whether or not to have abortion

Oil and farms

Hugo Chevez was swept into office in 1998 on what was called the pink wave. This was in reference to his socialist or communist lite approach. Many well known liberals in the United States championed his cause of nationalizing the oil industry. His method of operation was to drive a wedge between the rich and the poor by promising to redistribute the wealth and he did so by taking land away from landowners. He then offered public assistance in the form of food, education and healthcare. Oil production dropped after the government took over the industry. In 2000 it was 3.5 million barrels per day and by 2019 it declined to under one million. Many foreign engineers left the country and the oil business suffered. Something similar happened to Zimbabwe, when Robert Mugabe took over and in 2000 transferred ownership of farms from landed white owners left over from the colonial days to inexperienced Blacks. Zimbabwe used to export farm products and now it imports.

Unfair trade

Trump was concerned about the unfair trade with China long before he decided to run for president andhe has continued to believe that since the election. How and why did these unfair deals come about. It started in earnest in the 80's as a way to counter the influence of the Soviets. The thinking was that China would offset the Soviet influence in the far east. This combined with US companies seeing a new market of over a billion people, made helping China a win win. As China grew, the friendly trade relationship was seen as an advantage both economically and politically, until the US finally realized they had helped to create a monster. It is now time to correct this trade imbalance by demanding equality in import taxes and protection of US intellectual property.

Michelle

As the 2020 election unfolds the democratic candidates are looking weak and the major goal of defeating Trump is slipping away. Many Hispanics are starting to see the value of Trumps economy and his stand on the border. Meanwhile the Black voters may just stay home. The anti Trump fever among democrats has now spread over onto Trump voters and this can back fire as the deplorables comment by Hilary showed. One answer to turn things around is a Michelle Obama candidacy. She represents the youth and diversity that democrats are looking for and she will rekindle the Black vote. The big question, will she be willing to set aside her family responsibilities with two daughters in college and run the gauntlet that is the nomination process.

College or not

Recent data shows that a person with a college degree earns over their life time $700,000 more than a person with just a high school diploma. Some candidates would like those with high school degrees to subsidize those with college degrees. Would it be unreasonable to propose the reverse. That would be asking the haves to pay for the have nots, the sort of an egalitarian approach that is very popular these days.

Business style

Some people, especially the anti-Trumpers, say you can't run the government like a business but just what does that mean. The style of a businessman is often determined by style of the business. For example, an executive with a large firm has to follow certain patterns of behavior. He may propose a new product. If it flops he will justify his decision by saying that marketing, sales and production departments all felt it would be a success. If he said there were some doubts by these various areas but he went with it based on his gut he would be in trouble. If you ask businessmen who have started their own companies how they make crucial decisions they will tell you they listen to their department heads but in the final analysis they go with their gut. Trump is type two. The idea of a business approach to government is foreign to most but a person like Trump who goes with his intuition is a complete mystery. To add to the mystery he is very open about his thought process in making decisions. He often goes back and forth while reaching a final plan. This is totally baffling to establishment bureaucrats.

Old timers

The old white guys followed closely by an old white gal are still leading in the polls. Hang in there as we old people are rootin for you. This way we will have a 70 plus year old on the democratic side facing 70 plus year old Trump. Those young whippersnappers are not yet ready to take over. Most are still wet behind the ears and have a lot to learn plus they have plenty of time. Smiles.

Climate

Hypocrisy is not limited to politicians. There's about 750,000 people living in Minneapolis/St Paul and around these cities are 189 municipalities where another 2 million live. Half of these people live 30 minutes or more from downtown. These are the suburbanites who have large houses on large lots. They have more than an acre of grass with underground sprinklers. They spread poison to kill grubs so the moles can't spoil the lawn. The spray week killers and fertilizers that ends up in the ground water. They use riding mowers, edgers, tree trimmers and leaf blowers to keep things looking like a picture book yard. American lawns are now the single largest crop. Lawns suck up gas and pollute the air. Add to that the fun vehicles like speed boats and snowmobiles and throw in the myriad of household chemicals and these homeowners become major polluters. These are often times the people who express concern about climate change.

Murders and guns

Everyone is concerned about the mass shootings that have been on the rise in recent years. The discussion often centers around the availability of guns and how this may effect these shootings. That is difficult to assess but there are facts about guns and shootings that should be considered when passing new laws. The number of hand guns produced each year increased from one million in 1980 to 5 million this year. The number of all types of guns increased from 3 million per year to 11 million and today there are about 400 million guns in the United States. During these years the population increased by 100 million but the homicide rate declined from 20,000 per year to 15,000 per year.

Votes for sale

This quote is attributed to Alexis de Tocqueville and seems appropriate for today's world. A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the majority discovers it can vote itself largess out of the public treasury. After that, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits with the result the democracy collapses because of the loose fiscal policy ensuing, always to be followed by a dictatorship, then a monarchy.

Central bank

The central banks of five countries now have negative interest rates. This counter intuitive concept is used when central banks want banks to invest. Normally a bank will hold excess reserves in the central bank and collect interest but in these five countries banks have to pay central banks to hold their money. This is to encourage them to make loans with the money and hopefully stimulate the economy. In the US the Fed rate is 2.25% and the inflation rate is under 2%. If the inflation rate falls into negative territory then people hold off spending feeling that prices will fall and this can lead to a recession. Thus the Fed sets 2% as its target for inflation.

Clips

Here is a quote from CNN: There is no indication that the shooting in Dayton, Ohio, would have been prevented by proposed universal background checks or legislation to bolster the federal background check system. The alleged El Paso, Texas, shooter purchased his firearm legally and there is no evidence that he had a criminal history that a background check would've caught. If new laws are proposed it would make sense that they should have prevented the above two shootings. If everyone agreed that all guns should be confiscated and everyone turned in their guns would that have prevented these two shootings. Would criminals abide by these new rules. An illegal gun can be purchased on the street in Mpls for half the price of a new gun. Most of the guns used to kill people in Chicago are illegal but can be purchased on the street. If there were no guns in the country would some people use explosive like the Oklahoma City bomber did. All he needed was some fertilizer and diesel fuel and a little know how easily found on the Internet. One thing that can help is to get rid of these high capacity clips.

Reparations

Many Blacks feel as though they are treated as second class citizens and many say it all started with slavery and continues today. Their income is less, their unemployment is higher, their rate of children out of wed lock is three times higher, their school dropout rate is higher, their test scores are lower, the number in prison is higher, the number in college is lower, their wages are lower, their home ownership is lower, their crime rate is higher and on and on. Now candidate Williamson has proposed that each Black American be given $10,000 in reparations for slavery. How will this money affect the real or perceived mistreatment.

China imports

You cannot always believe the experts. The US has been increasing the tariffs on goods from China and this was supposed to raise prices on these good since the companies would just pass on the tax to the customer. The news was filled with stories of doom and gloom. In reality only 20% of consumer goods are imported and only 17% of those come from China so overall this effects on 3.4% of consumer goods. Then China used currency manipulation to weaken the Juan and the price of many of these goods actually became cheaper. Will this be reported with the same enthusiasm? The US can purchase from many other countries and should do so until such time as China quits stealing intellectual property and adjusts their tariffs equal to ours.

Inflation

Inflation has been low for so many years that most people under 50 don't know what it is. The most common type of inflation during the post war years was wage/price inflation. The prices would rise and wages would follow. The solution to that was increased productivity and that has happened primarily because of technology. Between 1980 and today productivity increased 70% but wages only increased 12%. Over these 39 years wages increased only .3% per year. This has finally turned around with over 3% increases over the past two years. If wages keep increasing at this rate then wage/price inflation will return.

Inner cities

Recently the conditions in Baltimore have been in the news and the question of what happened to the money the Feds sent to the city. There is a much broader question. According to the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, since the Johnson Administration, almost $15 trillion has been spent on welfare, with poverty rates being about the same as during the Johnson Administration. During these past 50 plus years the inner cities have suffered the most. Blacks commit more than half of all murders and 90% of these are blacks killing blacks. The rate of single moms has increased from 25% to over 70%. Test scores between blacks and whites have remained unacceptable and the same is true for graduation rates between races. Crime in the inner cities is out of control and aggravated primarily by drugs. To many people just listing these statistics is considered racist. It is blaming the victims for the problems.

Baltimore today

The situation in Baltimore has produced an interesting idea on why things are as bad as they are. Some say that the money going to the inner cities has been diverted and not used for its intended purpose. This they say is why after 40 years the inner cities have not improved as much as was expected. If this is true, it explains the reason why anyone who ever complained about problems in the inner cities was immediately called a racist and this shut them up. Again if this is true, the money was misdirected into the hands of certain individuals who have avoided discovery over the years by using the claim of racism to discourage any investigation. Perhaps some outside independent group should be charged with looking into the situation in Baltimore and find out it this is just some theory or if there is graft as proposed. If illegalities are discovered in Baltimore then other cities should be investigated. Baltimore radio station WBFF says Cummings district received $9 billion last year and $6 billion the year before. That's $25,000 for each of Baltimore's 600,000 citizens. For a family of four that is a cool 100 grand.

Econ

Much of the turmoil in politics today has it roots in Econ 101 and it comes in two parts. First is the old adage of guns vs butter where liberals have always preferred to spend money on social programs and conservatives are more interested in a strong national defense. This part is aggravated by the fact that many people see the world of economics as being static. They believe that when you spend money on defense you have less to spend on social programs but in fact with a good economic plan the pie gets larger and you can spend more on both. The basic secret is to have a growing economy. Which candidates are offering proposals that will grow the economy which means more jobs and higher wages.

Fair tariffs

Trump has added to the list of items from China that will incur new tariffs. The strategy is to convince China to agree to a fair import tax between the two countries. For many years China has had high import taxes on goods the US sends to them while the US has low import taxes on goods coming in from China. Experts say that China is the long term threat and they have a goal to overtake the US. They are building their defenses and may someday present a military threat to the US and the world. Having an economic war with China today may prevent a military war in the future. The government should continue to raise the import taxes on China until they agree to level playing field. While import taxes raise prices because companies pass on the tax in the form of higher prices they same occurs when corporate income taxes are increased. Recall the old saying that companies don't pay tax they just pass it on to the customer. The government could use the money from the import taxes to begin an infrastructure program. They could tell the states to submit projects that are ready to go. This means no delay waiting around for environmental studies as happened to Obama with his shovel ready projects. Recall that very little was done.