NY voting

For most of my life voting meant going to the polls with proof of who you are and filing out a paper ballot where you voted one candidate for each position. This system was deemed racist mostly because it was said that Blacks have a difficult time in providing proper identification. In the last 20 years many changes have been made in election procedures to eliminate any racism. NY City had a mayoral election on June 22 and expect to have the results sometime in July. Why the delay? NY City uses what is called rank choice voting. What is this? You vote for 5 candidates for mayor number one being your first choice and number two your second choice and so on. If one candidate receives 50% of the vote that candidate is the winner. If no candidate receives 50% then the lowest is eliminated and that persons votes are reallocated to which ever candidate ranked second. And this process continues until one candidate is left. It's a little complicated but it seems that the losers are electing the winner.

Equity

Capitalism creates competition and that leads to winners and losers. Many oppose this and use the concept of fairness to show why striving for equal results is more compassionate. This is called equity. The main area that they want equity is income. Others look to school sports where they don't want to keep score and give every participant a trophy. Production line workers should earn the same pay regardless of their work ethic. This basic principal of unions was temporarily disbanded during WW2 where the concept of piece work was introduced. Working in many war plants people were paid based on how many widgets they produced and production increased dramatically. Striving to be your best will necessarily lead to some kind of differences. This is why the NBA is 75% Black.

Want or not want

What do the people want and not want. The answer can be controversial but some issues are more clear than others. People want secure borders, police protection, lower taxes, strong military, safe roads and bridges, limiting power of social media giants and tough on China, Iran and Russia. What they don't want is higher taxes, changing the names of schools and tearing down statues, cancel culture, critical race theory taught in schools and some foreign entity taxing US companies.

Remain in Mexico

The Trump remain in Mexico program is still being enforced. This is from the LA Times on May 6, 2021. Like thousands of others who have been subjected to the “Remain in Mexico” policy, Ochoa has stayed with her 16-year-old son just south of the border, eventually hoping that incoming President Biden would reverse course and give them a chance to enter the U.S. legally, instead of crossing the Rio Grande with a smuggler. But so far, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency is still expelling most migrants under a Trump policy indefinitely closing the border during the pandemic to “nonessential” travel, though the Biden administration in February announced it would exempt unaccompanied children. NY Times on June 24,2021. Mexico is struggling to deal with a new wave of migrants expelled from the U.S. while even more come north hoping to cross. Shelters that were empty four months ago are now having to turn many away.

Income

Socialism comes to some countries often times through revolution but that is not the case for America. Over the past century socialism has slowly crept into the economy generally in attempts to help the less fortunate. The first big push was FDR's new deal. He wanted a second bill of rights. He wanted guaranteed good paying jobs, affordable housing, affordable medical care, affordable education and secure retirement. These are things that the majority of citizens want. He was able to get the last with social security. Next came the Great Society which provided free medical care for low income groups and Medicare for seniors. Today the big push is for affordable education and some propose guaranteed monthly income or guaranteed jobs. That leaves housing. In is easy to see a future where everyone has a government paid job, living in a government paid house and going to college for free with universal health care. The vast majority of the public would go for this. One way to see the long term results of this is to compare the US with the European Union. The GDP of the EU is $15 trillion and the population is 445 million or $34,000 per person. The US has a GDP of $22 trillion and the population is 330 million or $67,000 per person. The US produces 28% of the worlds GDP and has 4% of the worlds population. The US could provide all of the above benefits to its citizens but the cost would be $33,000 per person or about $11 trillion per year. The total income in the US is $20 trillion per year and the top 20% earned $10 trillion. This would almost be enough to provide the benefits listed above.

UFO

As the news of UFO's is released by the government many wonder about the possibility of aliens. Scientist on earth are limited by their own knowledge and their belief in the laws of physics. This leads to the conclusion that there is no explanation for how visitors from other galaxies could reach earth. Just as the number of other galaxies and planets suggest that we are not alone, the same math tells us that some of these aliens may have achieved intelligent life millions of years ago and their knowledge may be so advanced that earth physicist are unable to comprehend. Science fiction writers have long proposed things like anti gravity and teleportation to offer the means for inter galactic space travel. These writers talk of things that travel faster than light and if that is possible then the vast distances of space would no longer be a barrier. Just looking at the experiences here on earth and how new advances explained mysteries of the past it can be assumed that there are mysteries left to be uncovered.

Jobs

In our society people are considered adults based on age which is 18 for most things and 21 for the rest but age does not necessarily represent maturity. A person is grown up when they start paying their own light bill. It is a great feeling having your first real job where you can afford your own place and pay your own bills. You are on your own and get to determine how and where you spend your time. Work not only provides financial independence but builds self respect. 15% of the work force work for government including 5% in the military. 85% of people work in the private sector. A properly run government should promote jobs, preferably private sector jobs, in order to build up the economy. The best public assistance program is a good job.

Free market

As the discussion about socialism vs capitalism get news coverage please be reminded of the old days of the cold war. Recall those pictures behind the Berlin wall showing food stores in the USSR. The shelves were empty and then look at the super markets in the US and items were piled high from floor to ceiling. Recall the wall that was used to keep people in while the US had walls to keep people out. It does not take an expert in economies to see the stark differences that your eyes and a little common sense reveal. Look at pictures today from Cuba and North Korea. China is growing only because they have adopted the free market. Venezuelan moved away from free markets to socialism and in less than 10 years fell apart. Just block out the politics of today and open your eyes to what is going on and you will be thankful for capitalism. Refine the system to minimize the income gap but don't discard the whole works.

VPHarris

VP Harris went to Central America to find the root causes to the border problem and was told that her administration is the problem. Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei, who is set to host Harris on Monday here during her first international trip as vice president, also says that the change of administrations in Washington was exploited by human traffickers, known as "coyotes," who ferried thousands of children to the U.S.-Mexico border within days of President Biden formally rescinding the Trump-era family separation policy. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador asserted that the Biden administration’s immigration policies have contributed to a surge of migrants that has overwhelmed facilities at the southern border in recent weeks.

Qualified immunity

One of the sticking points in the quest to reform the police is called qualified immunity. This means that an officer can be sued for his actions. Thus officers will have to buy insurance to protect themselves. If this remains a sticking point the officers can buy the insurance and the city can reimburse them the cost. This will be another boon for the lawyers. If this happens many serious or not so serious actions by police will then result in a court case with the alleged purp suing the officer. It will add one more burden to the already overcrowded courts.

Gangs

In 2020 police killed 457 Whites, 241 Blacks, 169 Hispanic, 3 others and 126 unknown. In 2019 there were 13,927 murder victims. 5,787 White, 7,484 Black, 2,193 Hispanic and 1,808 unknown. This past year 8,600 Blacks were murdered and 90 percent were killed by other Blacks mostly in gang related activities. The full data on 2020 is not yet available. USA Today reported that 13 unarmed Blacks were killed by police in 2019. The weapons of choice for gangs today are 9MM semiautomatic handguns, followed by .40 caliber and .45 caliber semiautomatics. These guns hold 6 to 18 bullets and gang members don't need any more. These gangs currently act outside the law and passing more laws will not have much effect. While the politicians placate their constituents will new laws restricting gun sales and magazine sizes these laws will have very little effect on gang shootings. This is especially evident in the push to limit the sale of rifles. The Mayor of Chicago is asking for federal help and this may be one way to slow down the gangs. The RICO Act of 1970 was used to slow organized crime and may help with gangs.

Credit card money

Find a credit card that offers 5% cash back on purchases. Buy $1,000 gift card for one dollar at the store using the credit card and use the $50 to buy a $1,000 money order at a cost of $5. Put the money in your bank account and use that to pay the credit card bill. You just made $44 and it is tax free. Sound crazy. US physicist Konstantin Anikeev, did just this and made $300,000 last year. This could become a full time job. Use a dozen cards and make a dozen transactions every day. I find this interesting because most of the complicated investment products were developed by physicist working for the big investment companies.

Socialism

Equality is the defining goal of socialism. Socialist favor a more equal distribution of wealth and income within the society. It is promoted by promising equality. It takes root when the people feel they are being oppressed by oppressors and usually this comes down to income disparities. The Russian revolution came about because the Tsar was living in a castle while the peasants were starving. Castro took over in Cuba by nationalizing all business with the promise to share the wealth. Hugo Chavez promised the people he would take the oil money from the oil companies and share it with the people. Income disparities in the US are large and getting larger setting the US up for a smooth operator to come in and take over with promised of redistribution and this is best seen in the increasing use of the word equity. Equity means equal results but usually is limited to income. Most Americans don't like equity in other areas. Ideas like everyone gets a trophy are not popular. Free marketers prefer equal opportunity not equal results. It is hoped that the income gap can be narrowed without resorting to socialism. A good start is to improve the education system and follow that up with a check on corruption.

Murders

Most articles on murder rates try to play down gang killings because it reflects poorly on minorities. The data shows that only 13% of these killings were gang related yet 8,600 Blacks were killed by almost all Black assailants. If they are not killing each other because of gang wars why are they killing each other. No one is particularly interested in finding out because is politically unpopular to even use the phrase Black on Black crime. The increase in murders disproportionately effect minorities. From 2019 to 2020, homicides in nine U.S. cities rose by 722, according to police data. More than 85% of the increase took place in predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhoods, where homicide rates were already higher than White and Asian neighborhoods.

Guns

The country is about to go through another gun control conversation and to better understand just assume there was a ban on all guns and the government collected guns from the citizens. We are now faced with a situation similar to banned drugs like heroin, cocaine and fentanyl. These drugs are all illegal and banned but they are easy to get. The result of banning guns would be the same and that is only police and criminals would have guns. Any citizen whose home or business was invaded by a criminal would have no recourse except to call the police and by the time they arrive the criminals would be gone. There would soon be a market for guns coming from other countries just like fentanyl currently coming through Mexico from China. Criminals would all be aware that citizens are unarmed and this would embolden them. Almost all of the guns used by gangs are not purchased legally. These gangs have all sorts of illegal drugs and would also have access to illegal guns. The gun problem has become politicized and thus is at an impasse. Americans favor stricter gun laws but will that just make it more difficult to get guns legally and have little to no effect on guns acquired illegally. Adding more laws makes everyone feel like they are doing something but is that true. It will not likely have any effect on gangs.

Scientists

Can you trust scientists. In Feb of 2020 27 prominent health car scientists signed a letter sent to Lancet Medical Journal. We are public health scientists who have closely followed the emergence of 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and are deeply concerned about its impact on global health and wellbeing. We have watched as the scientists, public health professionals, and medical professionals of China, in particular, have worked diligently and effectively to rapidly identify the pathogen behind this outbreak, put in place significant measures to reduce its impact, and share their results transparently with the global health community. This effort has been remarkable. We sign this statement in solidarity with all scientists and health professionals in China who continue to save lives and protect global health during the challenge of the COVID-19 outbreak. We are all in this together, with our Chinese counterparts in the forefront, against this new viral threat. The rapid, open, and transparent sharing of data on this outbreak is now being threatened by rumours and misinformation around its origins. We stand together to strongly condemn conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin.

Transgender

Olympic athlete Chelsea Wolfe who is a transgender woman wants to win so she can burn the American flag on the podium. She says she is pro American but not pro fascist. So the question arises what is fascism. Fascism includes extreme militaristic nationalism. The US has had the biggest and strongest and most modern military since WW2. Fascism has contempt for electoral democracy. The US has had this for over 200 years even though the election results are often challenged. Fascism believes in natural social hierarchy and the rule of the elites. The elites in the US rise and fall and are changed regularly based on elections and economics. Fascism believes in a people's community where individual interests would be subordinated to the good of the nation. The constitution promotes and protects individual rights. Some of the more famous fascist leaders in recent history were Mussolini from Italy, Hitler from Germany, Stalin in Russia and Mao in China. One of the strengths of being American is free speech where different opinions and ideas are promoted. Transgender women in sports is one those issues that is currently being debated.

Covid history

The past 18 months have shown the ups and downs of the Covid virus. Information was misleading and sometime wrong. It turns out that there was a conflict of interest with many of the experts investigation the virus. There is pressure to find out what really happened but that will not be possible because China will not cooperate. This should not prevent congress from looking into the issue and coming up with the most likely scenario. Dr Fauci said that science is open to new ideas but on April 17, 2020 Fauci downplayed the possibility of a lab leak, saying the virus’ “mutations” are “totally consistent with a jump of a species from an animal to a human.” May 4, 2020In his strongest statement yet against the theories of a genetically engineered virus, Fauci tells National Geographic in an interview he’s “very, very strongly leaning toward this could not have been artificially or deliberately manipulated” and adds all signs indicate the virus “evolved in nature and then jumped species.” When Hydroxychloroquine was suggested Fauci said there were no clinical trials that showed it to be effective but he didn't add that it should be investigated.

Sarbanes/Oxley

In the 1990's large companies were using accounting tricks and some like Enron got caught and went broke. In response the government passed Sarbanes/Oxley which placed new controls over how corporations behaved. The 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act aims at publicly held corporations, their internal financial controls, and their financial reporting audit procedures as performed by external auditing firms. This resulted in a lot of new investment going to private equity markets. Private equity is an alternative form of private financing, away from public markets, in which funds and investors directly invest in companies or engage in buyouts of such companies. They are not controlled or answer to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Increasing demand from investors for private equity has been significant, with the industry growing more than 500% since 2000, valued at over $3trn in 2019 and expected to grow to $5.8 trillion by 2025. This is an example of unintended consequences.

Votes

Every year, the Social Security Administration collects billions of dollars in taxes that it doesn’t know who paid. Whenever employers send in W-2 forms with Social Security numbers that don’t match anyone on record, the agency routes the paperwork to what’s called the Earnings Suspense File, where it sits until people can prove the wages were theirs, allowing them to one day collect retirement benefits. IRS estimates that about 6 million unauthorized immigrants file individual income tax returns each year. Once they have a social number they can get jobs, open bank accounts, sign rent agreements and so on. This also allows them to show enough ID to vote and thus illegals are now voting. Many states have motor voter rules where people can register to vote when they get their drivers license. It is estimate that upwards of 20 million illegals are living in the country and most of them were counted during the last census which means more representatives in those areas. It also means more federal government aid to those states. Finally and most concerning it means non-citizens are voting. In the last election Biden received 7 million votes more than Trump but no one knows how many of those votes were cast by illegals.

Wokeness

On Morning Joe today they played the 8 minute talk from Bill Maher wherein he scolds the woke people saying they are dividing the country while claiming they are trying to unite. Then they proceeded to agree with Mayer even getting Al Sharpton to go along. He called them latte liberals saying they live in a world of their own and do not understand the Black communities. They all concluded that this woke stuff is hurting the democrats and thus their dismissal of the whole concept. If this trend continues with more moderate liberals it may be the beginning of the end to things like white supremacy and critical race theory. It is another example of give a man enough rope and he will hand himself. The far left extremist overplayed their hand and are now receiving blow back.

Party first

As Biden prepares to meet Putin the republicans say this is just giving Putin a chance to be on the big stage with the American President and they complain to high heaven. When Trump met with Kim Jong Un the democrats screamed bloody murder saying it was giving prestige to Un. Once again the country takes a back seat to the party. Many of these politicians including those in leadership positions only worry about maintaining their power and many Americans have lost faith in their government because of this selfish attitude. Not to worry though as 90% will be re-elected.

Inflation

The big questions of late have centered around inflation and while some have indicated no concern the Fed has changed policies to counter inflation. While they left the bench mark rate at near zero they announced the future rate increases may come as early as 2023 instead of 2024. They also said there will be two increases. It also raised its projected inflation rate one percent higher to 3.4%. This comes at a time when consumer prices rose the fastest in 13 years. The Fed target is inflation at 2%.

Elections

If the 2022 elections were held today the democrats would lose the house. The big issues are not climate change and systemic racism but border security and police protection. As the threat of the Covid virus fades into the background the threat posed at the border deems large. As crime continues to increase across the country the importance of police protection looms large. As time passes those who are influenced by their distaste for Trump will regain their objectivity and see the country is moving in the wrong direction. Their eyes will open to rising utility cost along with gasoline and the long predicted nemesis of inflation. People will get upset with the emphasis on race as the cause of ills and look for change.

Fed buyback

The housing market is red hot as low rates, shifting work conditions and a years supply of pent up saving have caused demand to exceed supply. Adding to the problem the Fed is buying back $40 billion dollars of mortgage backed securities every month. US homes hit an all time high value of $330,000. VA and first time home buyer loans are available with no money down and others may qualify based on circumstances. These Fed purchases keep rates low and maintains a steady flow of credit. This seems counter productive to some economist.

Disinformation

In early 2020 former CDC head Dr. Redfield suggested that the Covid virus may have come from a lab in Wuhan. Trump then agreed with him and immediately Facebook banned any such talk. Science is supposed to be open to any and all ideas. Facebook overcame first amendment rights by declaring that the idea was disinformation saying it was a conspiracy theory with no basis in fact. A respected scientist said it was worth looking into and Dr. Redfield was threatened by other scientist. Now, 15 months later, committees are looking into the claim and Facebook has unblocked discussion about the lab claim. As more information is uncovered the idea of the virus coming from the lab is gaining in credibility. It is now common to block information if it is deemed disinformation or hate speech and the blockers determine what should be blocked.

Dictators

Watching Biden deal with Putin is mindful of how naive US presidents are when it comes to foreign relations. In the US, presidents must contend with the congress and the courts and are only elected for four years but in China, Russia, Iran and North Korea the leaders are dictators and in power for life. US presidents think they can negotiate and these foreign leaders up front but history shows us the dictators have no reason to be truthful. They will say whatever is necessary at the table but their word has no meaning. Just looking at Putin the past few years. He set up land grabs Ukraine and Georgia, pushed a military invasion in Syria, hacked computers around the world including the US election and poisoned political enemies. He is rewarded with a sit down with the US president and given the gas line to Europe. In the past year the price of oil has gone up $20 per barrel and oil represents 40% of Russia's economy. Russia produces 10 million barrels a day and this mean an extra $200 million dollars per day. Putin is one of the richest people in the world with a worth estimated at $200 billion and he has assets around the globe that the US could freeze. Doing this is something Putin understands and would get his attention. Each new president believes that he can deal with these dictators but they have failed. As one commentator put it Putin is playing chess and the rest of the world is playing checkers.

Prosecutors

New York Attorney General Letitia James ran for office saying she would go after Trump for tax and bank fraud. She was elected and has now proceeded to fulfill her campaign promise. She decided that Trump had committed crimes and is now going about the business of finding evidence. Prosecutors are absolutely immune from liability, which means that they cannot be sued for their decisions as prosecutors, no matter how outrageous their conduct. When this lady takes her case into court will the judge suggest that she recuse herself since she has said publicly that Trump has committed these crimes. This is similar to what happened in the last impeachment where the house impeached and the senate held a trial and then they started the investigation.

CRT

The teaching of critical race theory (CRT) is meant to point out the past discrimination against Blacks and how that is a part of all aspects of society. A good example is the use of red lining when determining who qualifies for a mortgage. There are many other examples but one of the unintended consequences of this approach is that it leads to one group of oppressors and another group of oppressed. This was the foundation of Marxism where the few rich became the oppressors of the many poor. Since you cannot legislate morality the fall back position is to legislate income redistribution. The message to Black students is that you are behind because of circumstances beyond your control and so we must offer you special treatment so that you can catch up. This was the purpose of affirmative action and is the idea behind reparations. The downside is that it confirms Bush's words, the soft bigotry of low expectations. The two main purposes of government is first to protect the country from foreign enemies and second to promote policies that encourage the growth of good paying jobs in the private sector. Following this second point will go a long way to solve the race problem.

Taxes

On Morning Joe today the discussion was about the lack of fairness in who pays taxes. He pointed out the some rich people pay very little tax and companies like Amazon pay no tax. He was blaming these people and Amazon for their failure to pay tax. What he didn't mention is that the people were following the laws that congress laid out. Congress was likely influenced by lobbyist when they wrote the laws. With Amazon he failed to mention that they have never paid dividends to their investors and they reinvest most of their profits back into expanding the company. He also failed to mention that the lower one half of wage earners pay zero income tax. It is acceptable to have a progressive income tax but don't blame others for the laws that congress have passed. Joe is probably paying only the tax required by law and that is just what others are doing.

Vaccinations

This is from a June 9, 2021 article. The observational study, published by medRxiv, found that antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine, along with zinc, could increase the coronavirus survival rate by as much as nearly 200% if distributed at higher doses to ventilated patients with a severe version of the illness. The COVID-19 vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech appears to put young men at elevated risk of developing a heart muscle inflammation called myocarditis, researchers in Israel say. Colleges in the US are demanding that students be vaccinated. Should further studies be done before the vaccine becomes mandatory. The number of Americans under age 22 who have died from Covid was one tenth of one percent as of June 9 this year. Many of these young people have had the virus and are immune so there is no need for the vaccine.

School sports

At school last week, I visited with the lady who coaches the track and field and asked her about males becoming females and competing with her athletes and she was very emotional and explained how this hurts female sports. Then she got my full attention when she said she should not be saying these things. When I got into the schools one of the first things I noticed is how careful teachers must watch what they say. They spend a lot of time walking on egg shells and that is not a healthy environment for education. Speaking of sports instead of having a starting five all players should rotate as starters and everyone should get equal playing time. This is called equity or equal results. When they start this perhaps parents will get more interested in what is going on in schools, as it is common for parents to know a lot about sport teams.

Illegals

The problems along the southern border have been there for many years but recently things have changed. It used to be that illegals from Mexico were the refugees but that expanded to the northern triangle countries of Central America and now includes Venezuela which means South America is now sending refugees. In addition people from 50 different countries have crossed.

Cost

The national chain Chipotle has announced that they will raise prices 4% to compensate for the higher wages they must pay their employees to get people to work there. The question is will customers be willing to pay a little more if they know that the extra will go toward employee salaries. Something purchased for $5 will cost $5.20. The downside is that large chains may be able to get away with this but what happens to small local business. Products of all types made in America cost more but in general are of higher quality. Most consumers do not have a lot of disposable income so they look to price rather than quality. The shift to buy American will depend on the difference in cost. Twenty cents more at Chipotle will probably not cause a shift in buying habits. In more expensive items like appliances the difference might be several hundred dollars and that will affect buyers.

Flags

On Morning Joe today a New York Times reported said she went to Long Island to visit a friend and said she was disturbed by the number of America flags she saw. “I was on Long Island this weekend and visiting a really dear friend and I was really disturbed. I saw you know, dozens and dozens of pick-up trucks with expletives against Joe Biden on the back of them, Trump flags, and in some cases just dozens of American flags which, you know, is also just disturbing because essentially the message was clear. It was: ‘This is my country, this is not your country, I own this.” It appears that she is disturbed by people who have opinions different from hers. Is that reflected in how she sees the news. It is possible that some democrats have flags in their yards.

Coyotes

Vice President Harris is going to Guatemala as she feels the root causes of the problems at the US southern border are the lack of economic opportunity in Central American countries. For many others including the President of Guatemala the problem was exacerbated by Biden. Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei said the Biden administration's "confusing" messaging on migration allowed cartels to ramp up their human smuggling operations. Coyotes said ‘We’ll take the children, the children can go in, and once they’re there, the children can call their parents.’" Harris said in the 2017, say it loud, say it clear, everyone is welcome here and today she tells the refugees not to come. It appears that the changes by the Biden administration were designed to cancel the Trump policies without a clear plan to replace them.

Cultural changes

The country is undergoing a cultural upheaval based on the concept of systemic racism. The changes demanded have shifted from equal opportunity to equal results and the new term to describe this is equity. While it involves several aspects of the culture, the main emphasis is on race or more specifically systemic racism. The foundation is built on white guilt and victimization and it is blamed on white supremacy and it is reinforced by teaching critical race theory in schools and breeding dependency on government. The other problems like Black on Black crime, the breakup of the Black family, school drop out rate, school discipline problems, drugs, high unemployment and unfair drug laws take a back seat to these new problems. The final blow is the failure of big city governments to keep citizens safe.

Obamacare

In 2010 just before Obamacare became law there were 44 million uninsured and today that figure is 30 million. About half of those 14 million went into Medicaid. This happened because Medicaid was changed to take in adults without children. The other half remain in Obamacare and they receive free or subsidized coverage. The original cost estimate for Obamacare was $940 billion for the first ten years and it was to insure 30 million people. This would be $3,100 per year per person. After year one the estimated cost was raised to $1.8 trillion and the actural cost for the first ten years was $2.5 trillion. Health care cost did not rise as much as expected because people did not use services like expected. People concentrated on the monthly cost of Obamacare but overlooked the annual deductible. The result is that many people did not use medical services as expected because of the high deductible and they paid for most expenses out of pocket. The original cost estimates of $3,100 per year per person should have been an early warning about deductibles but no one paid any attention and thus sticker shock when they had to use their insurance.

Prosecutors

Recent complaints about police have brought up the subject of prosecutors. It is supposed to be the job of the district attorney (prosecutor) to search out the truth but in modern times this has changed to getting a conviction. Prosecutors are rewarded based on convictions and this often leads to higher office. When prosecutors used shady or illegal means it is difficult to confront them. If a committee wants to investigate a prosecutor they must get permission from the prosecutors office. If there is wrong doing it will be difficult to get permission.

Work or not

If you work at Walmart for $15 per hour or $600 per week your unemployment from the state is $300 per week with an additional $300 per week from the feds and no payroll tax is withheld so you get the full $600 per week. If you are married with two children you will get $4,900 per year from earned income credits and $4,000 per year for child tax credit. Your annual income while not working is $38,900 per year net.

China virus

In 2018 China removed restrictions on term limits and China's leader Xí Jìnpíng can remain in office for life. His goal is to become the worlds leader by proving that communism is better than capitalism even though his private sector has only prospered since the introduction of free markets. Under Trump the US economy boomed and the virus stopped it in its tracks. Since the virus came from China some feel the virus escaped accidentally but was then used by China to its advantage. It is suspicious because China lied about the virus and then covered up the lies. They stopped travel within China but allowed people from Wuhan province to travel around the world spreading the virus. The US participated in the experiments and Trump called it the China virus so there was pressure to believe China. The WHO backed up China and the US press joined with them. Since the virus China has taken a very aggressive foreign policy course. In the past few months it clashed with India, escalated problems with Vietnam and Malaysia, pressured Taiwan and threatened Australia. Hong Kong which was a bastion of capitalism is under attack even though China promised in 1997 not to change that small island for 50 years. As Trump recedes into the back ground perhaps the desire to protect China's part in the virus will fade. The release of the Fauci emails will hasten this change.

China virus

Covid is a case study in how politics interferes with science. Early on the democrats asked what shall we do and Trump asked whom should be blame. In August 2020 Trump said China could have stopped it, but they allowed it to come out. What should be done was answered by Biden using the Trump vaccine to vaccinate everyone. Whom to blame is yet to be answered. Trump hoped from the start that China would be blamed to exonerate him from claims of mishandling. Democrats wanted to blame Trump so they were reluctant to look into the cause. Now with many more facts available China is becoming more and more the blame. They first withheld information and later gave false information by saying the virus will not spread human to human. Even though the lab at Wuhan looked liked the best source China said it was from an animal. When workers in the lab came down with unexplained flu like symptoms it was covered up and then scientist were told to keep quiet and some were arrested and some just disappeared. Later China got the WHO to agree with their ideas about where the virus started. If it was the lab the US would be implicated since the US was funding the lab. In order to deflect responsibility the US government went all out to say it was from an animal and they also went all out to say anyone who says it came from the lab is just offering conspiracy theories. Starting early on and continuing through the summer months the press joined forces with the government scientists and the WHO to denounce the idea of an escaped lab virus and pushed hard on the idea that it came from an animal. When scientist came out and said the obvious place was the lab the government responded by asking where is the proof. Of course the proof that it came from an animal was what China and the WTO said. This is an ongoing investigation but China will not help.

Israel Iran

Over 70 years a dozen US administration have tried to broker a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians without success. Trump chose to approach other Arab countries to reach agreements with Israel and came up with the Abraham accords with Israel working with four Arab countries and Saudi Arabia on the cusp. The strategy joined the Suni Arab states with Israel against the Shia state of Iran. Trump canceled the nuke agreement with Iran and increased the sanctions against Iran and this led to the hope for an agreement. Trump solidified US-Israeli relations by moving the embassy to Jerusalem. Trumps relationship with Netanyahu was strengthened. Biden comes to power and begins to unravel what Trump had accomplished. He rejoins the nuke agreement and rescinded the sanctions. Biden will send $235 million to the Palestinians. Within a few months after Biden took office Hamas began launching rockets into Israel. Now the Abraham accords are in jeopardy. Unlike Barack Obama and Donald Trump, Biden hasn’t named a special envoy to focus on the Israeli-Palestinian portfolio. Unlike Bill Clinton, Biden has no plans for any sort of peace conference, or even a peace process, anytime soon. Biden’s closest antecedent may be George W. Bush, who initially resisted engaging with the issue — but eventually he found he couldn't ignore it. To many Biden's actions seem not to find a solution but just to undo what Trump had done.

Hydrogen

A two step solution to climate change. First change all power plants over to thorium. Second make hydrogen by electrolysis of water and use that for transportation. Thorium plants produce far less harmful by products and can use up existing stores of nuclear waste. The only bi-product from burning hydrogen is water. The two groups opposed to this are the oil and gas industry on one side and the Greenies on the other side. As long as they keep the political divide alive and well no one from either side will consider anything but what they want leaving very few who will go for thorium. The Greens never talk about the ground contamination from mining and disposing of rare earths and the fossil boys never talk about CO2. Both of these problems are eliminated using thorium/hydrogen.

Hydrogen

A friend sent me an article from the Grand Forks newspaper showing how North Dakota may become the center for hydrogen production. They will produce hydrogen and CO2 and then bury the CO2 underground. The more efficient way is to use electric power generated by thorium nuke plants to make hydrogen by electrolysis of water as this produces no CO2. Hydrogen is the only carbon free solution to air travel. In planes the weight to power ratio is important and here is where hydrogen shines. When it comes to energy per unit of weight hydrogen is the champ. Battery power gives one MJ/kg, jet fuel gives 43 KJ/kg and hydrogen 130 KJ/kg. In addition the density of liquid hydrogen is one forth that of jet fuel so you can get by with less fuel that has more bang for the buck.

Cancel culture

The standard operating procedure for cancel culture is to go back into someone's past and dig up dirt and then spread it across social media. Pro baseball needs to be canceled because before 1948 no Blacks were allowed to play and before Hank Greenberg no Jews were allowed. How about the democratic party that went to war to keep slavery legal that many years later promoted the Jim Crow laws. Should that party be canceled? Find out how many important people belong to country clubs that in the past did not allow Jews or Blacks. In the early years of the last century Jewish doctors were not allowed to practice in hospital. The list goes on and on. It makes no sense to punish someone today for some event that happened in the past that they had nothing to do with.

Student loans

According to the valuation analysts at Kelley Blue Book the estimated average transaction price for a light vehicle in the United States was $37,876 in 2020. The average student debt in the United States is $32,731 Average interest rates on federal student loans (which most borrowers have) range from 2.75% to 5.30%. The national average for US auto loan interest rates is 5.27% on 60 month loans. It appears that buying a new car is more of a financial burden that having a student loan. These students should just buy old clunkers like most of us did.

White supremacist

The NY Times published an article that was picked by news agencies across the country stating that white supremacist are the main causes of terrorist attacks in the US List of white supremacist attacks in the past ten years January 6, 2021 Washington DC 4 killed August 3, 2019 El Paso, TX 23 killed April 27, 2019 Poway synagogue shooting 1 killed October 27, 2018 Pittsburg synagogue 11 killed January 1, 2018 Murder of Blaze 1 killed August 12, 2017 Charlottesville 1 killed May 26, 2017 Portland Train 2 killed March 20, 2017 Timothy Caughmen 1 killed June 17, 2015 Charleston church 9 killed June 8, 2014 Las Vegas shootings 5 killed August 5, 2012 Wisconsin temple 9 killed This past summer 7,750 demonstration occurred throughout the country and 5% or 385 turned violent and 25 people died along with one billion dollars in property damage, 200 cities instituted curfews and many businesses closed.

Biden's plan

One of Reagan's famous quotes is "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, I'm from the government and I'm here to help". This can be seen in how white liberals have tried to help Blacks. Since Lyndon Johnson declared “war on poverty” in 1965, government efforts to fight poverty have cost more than $23 trillion. The results are Black single moms have gone from 25% to 75%, the education gap continues, crime in the inner cities is up, drop out rates are up, the unemployment gap hasn't narrowed and the economic disparities continue. President Biden recognizes these problems has suggested that we spend money to solve them. All of these programs were justified believing that they could somehow make up for past inequities. Why would he want to continue policies that have failed. The answer is that Blacks vote 95% for democrats and they do so because the government is sending them public assistance. In addition democrats say the right things and Black people seem unaware of the results of these policies. President Clinton had the right idea when he said welfare should be a helping hand not a way of life but it was only words.