Bloomberg and the DNC

There have been a number of reasons given why Hilary Clinton lost the 2016 election and one of those has to do with the way the Democratic National Committee seemed to discriminate against Bernie Sanders. This caused a number of Sanders supporters to stay home and some say a few even voted for Trump. The same thing appears to be happening again. The DNC which is controlled by the establishment is once again concerned about Sanders. They do not think he represents the party and they are not happy with Biden or Warren so they find themselves in a quandary. They seem to be looking for another candidate and today they changed the procedure to allow Bloomberg to get on the stage in the next debate. They removed the requirement that candidates must have a minimum number of donors. If this is indeed what is going on behind the scenes, then the DNC is willing to accept a billionaire as their standard bearer.

Gasoline usage

Every weekend in the United States, fifty-four million Americans mow their lawns, which uses eight-hundred million gallons of gas per year. The average car uses 500 gallons per year so this is the equivalent of 1.6 million cars. In addition 235 trillion gallons of water are used each year to keep the grass growing. Next through in all the fertilizers and herbicides. Other motorized amusements require a fairly staggering 2.2 billion gallons of gasoline, with jet skis and pleasure boats combined accounting for 1.4 billion gallons; ATVs 594 million gallons; snowmobiles 188.5 million gallons; and dirt bikes 87 million gallons. This is the same as 4.4 million cars.

Candidates today

As the democratic candidates zero in on Iowa, one thing is on their minds and that is defeating Trump. This is great for their campaign because it units them and allows them to avoid talking about the issues. They feel that Trump is wrong on most things and that they will be the ones to correct his errors and get the country back on track or back to the way things were before Trump, the way things would be today if Hilary had been elected. While establishment figures long for the good old days before Trump many voters like the direction Trump is taking the country, especially low and middle income people. Not only do these potential voters like the new economy, they have doubts about the promises offered by some of the candidates, things like government healthcare, free college and paying off college debt. The old battle plan of using diversity politics has lost some of its glamour. Name calling like racist, misogynist, homophobic and xenophobic no longer have the same power. They must keep the emphasis on Trump's style and personal proclivities to gain traction. Issues must take a back seat.

Carter Page FISA

The desire to get Trump was so strong that people in the Justice Department skirted the law. The chief FISA court judge explained. "The FBI's handling of the Carter Page applications, as portrayed in the OIG report, was antithetical to the heightened duty" required of investigators, Collyer wrote. The FISA court is a secret court that relies on receiving accurate information from the FBI. Since only one side is presented the standard for accuracy must be the highest. Over the entire 33 year period, the FISA court granted 33,942 warrants, with only 12 denials. They got permission to listen in on the private conversations of Carter Page which then led to listening in on all of the Trump associates. Page was accused of being a Russian spy when in fact he was working for the CIA. The communication between the FBI and the CIA was called into question after 9-11 but there still seems to be some problems.

Virginia

While the country in general is experiencing economic growth the area around Washington DC is leading the way. This is due to the number of people who earn their living based on the federal government and this group is led by lobbyist and lawyers. The bigger the government the more they earn and this is where the bulk of the Virginia population lives. In recent elections democrats have taken control of the state and have approved some anti-gun laws that have gun owners running scared. Virginia has now introduced legislation that would transfer the states electoral votes to the winner of the popular vote thus negating the electoral college.

Innocent or guilty

The case of Coffin v. United States (1895) established the presumption of innocence of persons accused of crimes and this is commonly referred to as innocent until proven guilty. Many have used this to challenge those locked up awaiting trial. Some sanctuary cities are now using this to defy federal authorities access to people held in local jails. The mayor of New York recently announced that he would not turn over suspects to ICE because they have not been proven guilty of a crime. If that is the way the courts rule then anyone arrested would be free to go home until such time as they were found guilty at their trial. This is similar to what has been happening to those who illegally cross the border. They are arrested and then allowed to go free and expected to show up at some later court date. Many say that if it is good enough for illegals it should be good enough for citizens.

Infrastructure

The new tariffs put on by Trump are bringing in about $70 billion per year and this could be used as seed money for new infrastructure programs but there is a pitfall. Recall President Obama's shovel ready program that never started. The main reason is that he expected the government to handle the work and that approach is too cumbersome. Trump would depend more an private contractors and use matching state funds plus the EPA would streamline the regulations to simplify the process.

Dem plan

The democratic strategy is becoming clear. With the economy doing so well the drastic changes proposed by Warren and Sanders will not sell so they are stuck with Biden. Pelosi held up the impeachment proceeding to give Biden an open field in Iowa and New Hampshire and once he does well in those two states and then wins big in South Carolina he will be tough to catch. If he doesn't win nomination outright this will almost insure a brokered convention where the establishment democrats can use the super delegates as plan B.

LNG

In the first half of 2019 US exports of liquefied natural gas increased by 37% because of two new liquefaction plants designed for export that came on line. There are now four liquefaction plants operating in the United States that are set up for export but there are plans to increase this to 30 export terminals over the next ten years. As the exports rise natural gas will begin to replace coal and the reduction in CO2 in the US because of this change will happen in countries around the world. While many are aware of the improvement in air quality from changing from coal to natural gas many are unaware of the savings in water usage. If all coal-fired power plants are converted to natural gas, the annual water savings will reach 12,250 billion gallons – that’s 260% of current annual U.S. industrial water use.

Trump and Russia

On Morning Joe, Joe asked the question, show me one time where Trump has talked tough to Putin and there are none that I could find. However Trump has followed the Teddy Roosevelt plan of speak softly and carry a big stick. The sanctions put on Russia by Trump are tough. Here is quote from NPR: "When you actually look at the substance of what this administration has done, not the rhetoric but the substance, this administration has been much tougher on Russia than any in the post-Cold War era," said Daniel Vajdich, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. The administration has also imposed sanctions on dozens of Russian oligarchs and government officials. Trump has forced other members of NATO to contribute more money to the cause. Trump has encourage fracking which keeps the price of oil down and that represents Russia major source of income. Trump has increased natural gas exports which keep the Russians from increasing their price and this is their second biggest source of income. In addition Trump has increased defense spending which forces Russia to spend on defense "There's a real disconnect between the president's words and the underlying policy," said Richard Fontaine, president of the Center for a New American Security.

Pot and vaping

The percentage of people smoking cigarettes has been on the decline over my lifetime. Much of this is credited to the information programs explaining the dangers of smoking. Today only 15% are smokers. This is considered one of the most successful public health programs and the country is responding by legalizing pot. Cigarette companies are now lining up to begin mass production of marijuana cigarettes. There are over 400 chemicals in marijuana Add to that vaping and there seems to be a growing new public heath threat but it does not appear to concern many people.

Innercity jobs

Robert L. Johnson, first Black billionaire and founder of Black Entertainment Television, said today that he believes there are business solutions to social problems. This is another way of saying that earning your own way is better than relying on the government to take care of you. Johnson said he started with a $500,000 loan from a friend and built a $4 billion dollar business. He praised the recently developed, New Deal for Black America, as a way to get start up funds for new intercity businesses. The majority of both parties approved this legislation and so far it is working as planned.

Talcum powder

Recent news indicated that talcum powder causes cancer but after further research it was deemed safe. This is mindful of what happened in the 60's. For years the only artificial sweetener was saccharin but it had a bitter aftertaste. To combat that calcium cyclamate was used in conjunction with saccharin and tended to offset the unfavorable aftertaste. I managed a plant in Omaha where we produced cyclamate and when the FDA fed large amounts to rats and the rats got cancer it was banned. Fortunately about that time aspertame came along but not until our products had suffered market share. Later cyclamate was found not to be harmful. Turns out they fed rats the amount that a 150 pound person would use in 800 cups of coffee per day. The harm done by studies like this is difficult to measure but my guess is that sales of talcum powder suffered.

Sam Walton

Sam Walton was born in 1918 on a farm in a small town in Oklahoma. The family couldn't make enough money so they moved to Missouri and his dad worked for Metropolitan Insurance company. Sam was ambitious and showed leadership qualities at an early age becoming the youngest Eagle Scout in the States history. Sam worked many jobs growing up during the depression and helped the family with expenses. He went to the University of Missouri as an ROTC cadet and earned a degree in economics. He was involved in many campus activities and became president of the Bural Bible class. After school he worked at JC Penny until 1942 when he went into the military and left there after the war as a Captain. He saved money in the military and used that to purchase a Ben Franklin store. He increased the business from $80,000 to $225,000 in three years and the land owner jacked up the rent so he was forced out. The next store he bought he secured a 99 lease to avoid being force out. In time he had several small stores which he sold and opened his first Walmart store in 1962 and the rest is history.

Wallace

In the late 1890's farmers were suffering from low prices and southern black farmers formed the Colored Farmers National Alliance. They were blocked out of the white farmers group because of their race. In time their membership grew to 1.2 million and they became a formidable force. Black republicans and white populist combined forming the fusion group and was able to elect a majority in North Carolina. It was not long, however, before black-white cooperation ended, as Democrats united in successful white supremacy campaigns to oust the Fusionists and discontinue "Negro rule." Nearly 100 years later not much had changed in the south. I was living in Alabama in 1970 when George Wallace was challenged in the gubernatorial primary by two other Democrats. One was a wealthy businessman from Dothan and the other was a black dentist from Huntsville. Early polls showed the businessman leading Wallace and to counteract this Wallace put out a racial appeal for help claiming that a black man might become the next governor. That is all it took and the people came out of the hills and pushed Wallace to victory. I remember seeing signs all around saying that a nigger is going to be the next governor if you don't vote.

Competition

Many people believe that competition brings out the best in human nature. Many love watching and participating in sporting events where you learn about winning and losing. Everyone wants the game to be fair and thus we have rules. Capitalism is an economic system based on competition and to keep things fair the government is needed to enforce the rules by exposing and punishing corruption. There are others who do not like competition because it creates winners and losers and prefer rules that concentrate on equality of outcomes. This would be a system where the government both makes the rules and enforces the rules. This has been tried many times throughout history and begins with good intentions and ends with one small group having the power over the rest. In the Soviet Union the power was in the hands of the minority who were members of the communist party. The same is true in China today as well as Cuba and Venezuela. The party members receive benefits not awarded to the masses. In China today there are 1,400 million people and 90 million are members of the party and receive special treatment from the government.

Reagan and Iran

In 1988 Iran began mining the Straits of Hormuz and Reagan responded by sinking their ships. Leading up to this there had been a lot of tit for tat between the US and Iran and when Reagan reacted the world experts all predicted war. In retrospect Iran realized that Reagan would react even more harshly if they continued to escalate and so they went quiet and stayed that way for many years. President Reagan said today. ''We aim to deter Iranian aggression, not provoke it. The question now is will Iran react or believing that Trump may be another Reagan, once again go quiet.

Iranian general

The news about the killing of the Iranian general has produced the expected result. The pro-Trumpers say they don't have all the facts but is was a good thing. The anti-Trumpers say they don't have all the facts but it was a bad thing. Can people be comfortable listening to either of these groups. They both say don't confuse me with the facts as I have made up my mind. These groups blurted out these opinions within a few hours of the event.

Free market economies

The year 2019 started out with 600 million people living in poverty, the lowest number ever recorded. This trend is expected to continue with 50 million leaving the poverty roles every year. The main reason for this decline is the institution of the free market economy throughout the world especially in Asia. This is best illustrated with China which introduced the free market economy in 1980. This growth has led to a substantial increase in real living standards and a marked decline in poverty. Between 1981 and 2008, the proportion of China's population living on less than $1.25/day is estimated to have fallen from 85% to 13.1%, meaning that roughly 600 million people were taken out of poverty. Meanwhile countries like North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela which have chosen government controlled economies have lagged behind.