Debates

Presidential debates help voters understand the positions of the candidates. Some suggest three debates and the debates should be before the people vote. Early voting in PA starts September 25 so the three debates could be Aug 15, Sept 1 and Sept 15. VP debates could be sandwiched in between these dates.

Trump

As the election grows ever near it is time for some serious introspection on just what will happen if Trump is reelected. The speculation in the press is that Trump will end democracy and put his detractors in prison. With Trump we have an advantage not seen in my life time. We have a man who was president and the best way to predict what he will do is to evaluate what he did in his previous term as president. The last time he was well on his way to being reelected when Covid hit and ended his chances. So let's take a close look on what he did during his first term. Inflation was under 2%. The border was secure. He placed severe sanctions on Iran. He placed import taxes on China. The country was energy independent. He put in the Trump tax cuts. He was pro Israel by moving the embassy to Jerusalem. He started the Abraham Accords. He did not agree with the election results but he left office peacefully. He didn't try to jail his opposition. So what can we expect in his next term. There will be an all out push to maximize fossil fuel production. He will secure the border using the same procedures he used before. He will renew the Trump tax cuts. He will bring back the sanctions on Iran. He will add more import taxes on Chinese goods. He will reduce regulations to encourage bringing jobs back home. He will negotiate a peace agreement in Ukraine. He will back Israel and expeditiously send what ever supplies they need. The best way to judge Trump is the same way to judge anyone. Look at what they do not what they say. In Trumps case it means look at what he did, past tense.

Wind and solar

It is more than a little disconcerting that some politicians and bureaucrats seem uninformed about the Green New Deal. They appear to be in the dark about the environmental hazards inherent in the mining, processing and disposal of the materials needed for wind, solar and EV's. They fail to understand the technical problems associated with using batteries for airplanes and heavy equipment. This was brought into the public eye when Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm suggested that military tanks could run on batteries. They seem unaware that both wind and solar are intermittent power sources that need backup and that they need many miles of transmission towers to bring the power from the source to the use point. In the last 20 years the world has invested $175 billion dollars in wind and solar and the amount of energy produced from fossil fuels has decreased from 85% to 81%. The problem is the overall energy requirements are rising faster than the production of new energy.

Harris

As VP Harris prepares for the upcoming campaign she will rely heavily on the press to pave the way for her. Her past record is one controversial statement after another and the press will be careful to avoid many of her words. This is not knew. Many people were surprised at the Biden debate performance but not those who watched Fox News or those many who listened to conservative talk radio. Biden's slow but inexorable mental slippage was evident to those who paid attention. The rehabbing of the VP will be more complicated. She is opposed to fracking and offshore drilling. She wants to eliminate private health insurance. She wants to abolish ICE. She wants national health insurance. She was responsible for the border. She wants abortion anytime for any reason. She wants a path to citizenship for migrants. She wants gender surgery on children. She wants to confiscate rifles. She is for reparations to Blacks. She is all in on EV's including buses. She is for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). She is for critical race theory (CRT) in the classroom. She is for the schools keeping secrets from parents. She is for canceling student debt. She is for free college tuition. The press has already begun remaking her position on many issues and this will continue when ever some unpopular opinion comes up. The press will say they want to concentrate on the future and that the past is the past.

Biden

When Biden was elected he indicated to aides that he would be a transitional president who would pass the torch to a new generation but those with power rarely give it up voluntarily. As time passed he became committed to a second term saying he had to save democracy. As his poll numbers fell the pressure begin to build for him to follow in the steps of LBJ and not run but he stubbornly refused. When his approvals dropped into the 30's the power brokers sounded the alarm bells and when polls showed that the majority of democrats wanted Joe to quit the second term looked untenable but Joe did not want to give up the throne. Then when the down ballots candidates were jeopardized and the money dried up the big guns like Pelosi, Schumer and Obama came to call and Joe could see the writing on the wall and dropped out. Then the press came to the rescue saying it was rare that someone would willingly give up power but Joe did so because he put country ahead of himself. He was greeted as a genuine hero in the likes of Washington. Some people now realize that if Joe had refused to debate Trump saying he would not be on the same stage with a liar who would put Blacks in chains the whole story might have ended differently and Joe would still be the nominee.

Iran

Iran started its peaceful nuclear program in 1950. Experts immediately questioned why they would spend money on nuclear instead of building refineries to produce gasoline and jet fuel using their enormous oil deposits. As time passed Iran repeatedly used the threat of building a bomb to get concessions in trade areas. President Trump did not fear the threat and put severe sanctions on Iran. President Trump ended U.S. participation in the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran in May 2018, and promised to snap back U.S. nuclear sanctions, which were suspended in January 2016. Between 2018 and 2021, the Trump administration imposed more than 1,500 sanctions on Iran or on foreign companies or individuals who did business with Iran. They targeted big institutions, such as the supreme leader’s office, the Revolutionary Guards and the Central Bank, as well as individuals. Among those sanctions were government and judicial officials, members of the military and proxy militias, scientists and manufacturers of military equipment, banks and businesses, foundations, and shipping and trading companies. The sanctions were a key component of Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign after he withdrew the United States from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Sanctions were associated with one or more of five issues: On Fedruary18, 2021 Biden rescinded all of Trumps sanctions on Iran. This allowed Iran to earn billions from oil sales plus billions more in a prisoner swap. Iran supports Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis and all three are now attacking Israel.

Chicken

The game of chicken continues while the world stands by and watches. The U.S. and Germany have announced together that the U.S. military will deploy more — and more advanced — long-range missiles in Germany in 2026 Russian leader threatens to relaunch production of intermediate-range nuclear weapons if the United States deploys missiles to Germany. Is it time for some leader to suggest a peace treaty or will everyone continue down this path.

Made in USA

Long before Trump entered politics he was complaining about the way China manipulated its currency but no one paid any attention. The People's Bank of China manages the money supply and in 2005 the yuan was set at 8.2 per US dollar but by 2015 it had declined to 6.2. This meant that China's exports to the USA became cheaper. A $1,000 item in 2005 cost 8,200 yuan but by 2015 that same item only cost 6,200 yuan. This meant lower profits for Chinese companies but the government subsidized them to cover the loss. The result was that US companies could not compete and lost business and many went out of business. This, added to the fact that Chinese labor was cheaper because of low wages, lack of safety rules, no environmental regs and in some cases slave labor put US companies in a non competitive situation. This resulted in the lose of 5 million manufacturing jobs in the US plus many more in Europe. Big companies profited from low labor cost and college educated Americans did not notice these changes but maintained they were champions of the middle class while promoting policies that hurt the middle income workers. Trump saw this and began to make changes starting with placing import taxes on Chinese goods and this helped people to understand how globalization had hurt American workers. Now the push is on to bring home these lost jobs (reshoring). The times when so many products were marked made in China and people would complain that nothing was made in America are changing. It will mean higher prices for American consumers but it will also mean higher wages which will result in inflation while the changes are made but in time the American worker will once again have a job that pays a living wage.

Last supper

In 2015 the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo published a picture of Muhammad and this resulted in a terrorist attack on the magazine which killed 12 people. In 1987 American artist Anders Serrano published a picture of Jesus in a bottle containing the artist's urine called the Piss Christ. No violence. The Olympics published a pic showing what appears to be the Last Supper but instead of apostles there are different people showing diversity. There will likely be no violence.

Court

President Biden is concerned about the Supreme Court and is suggesting some changes. He proposes term limits but the constitution says Justices serve lifetime appointments. This means a change in the constitution is needed and that requires two/thirds vote in both houses which is highly unlikely. VP Harris has suggested in the past, that the number of Justices be increased and congress can do that with a simple majority. This opens the door to all sorts of politics. Every time a president doesn't like the court he can ask congress to add more members. This would weaken the court to the point where it would just be another arm of the legislative branch.

Stocks

In the past 25 years the NASDAQ, a stock composite of mostly tech stocks, has gone from 2,000 to 19,000 an increase of 11.3% per year. While this is a very good performance the stock market over the past 50 years has averaged 11.4% The average yearly return of the S&P 500 is 11.47% over the last 50 years, as of the end of May 2024 On another subject it was reported today that the smoke from the California fires could have an adverse effect on people's brains. This concern comes at a time when more and more people are smoking pot as it becomes legal across the country.

NIMBY

During and after WW 2 many plant managers, who were mostly chemical engineers, decided to bury toxic waste in various locations across the country. These materials were mostly placed in steel drums which in time rusted and leaked. These engineers knew this would happen but it would take years so they closed their eyes to the situation. In 1977 the most famous of these sites called Love Canal was discovered and after that a Super Fund was set up to clean up the mess. As of today 1,344 sites were uncovered and 457 have been cleaned up at a cost of billions. The country learned an important lesson from all this and took steps to move all such activities over seas, mostly to China and Africa. Under Biden's Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) billions are sent to companies to promote wind, solar and EV's. The money is sent overseas to places like China for manufacture and the finished product returned to the US for installation. Looking more closely at two areas, solar panels from China and cobalt from Africa. The mining, processing and disposal of the material needed to make solar panels is poisoning the ground water in China and in Africa boys as young as six work in the cobalt mines. As if to add insult to injury the aged out parts are then sent back to Africa to be buried, setting up their own Love Canals. Meanwhile the solar companies here take the profits and use part as campaign contributions to promote further government investments and subsidies. The fears associated with climate change are used to keep this process going even though many engineers know full well that wind and solar will not replace fossil fuels but they want to keep the good times going. The only hope is on the horizon as more scientist are speaking up about the ultimate answer to climate change which is nuclear. The answer is not in spoiling the environment in other countries but for now is all about NIMBY.

Harris

Kamala Harris finds herself in the uncomfortable position of being on the awkward side of most issues. She opposes fracking by which 95% of oil and gas is extracted. She opposes off shore drilling which is increasing as the need for oil grows. She supports the Green New Deal which after five years has not passed congress. She heads an administration that is producing record amounts of oil and gas the same administration that says the climate change is the most serious problem facing the country. At a time when inflation is a key issue she wants free college tuition and cancellation of student debt. She wants no cash bail and social justice while many inner city neighborhoods suffer from crime. She seems ambivalent on the border and on Gaza. She champions DEI programs which are fast losing public support. She is for gender surgery on minors and favors schools keeping information from parents. She supports the war in Ukraine which has been losing support since it started. She is even in trouble with her position on abortion as only 12% favor late term abortions. The press is aware of these situations and will begin the process of changing how the public views her positions. This has already started by claiming she was not responsible for the border. These changes will be necessary not because the press wants Harris but because they don't want Trump. The press has taken a full on advocacy position instead of just reporting.

Border

As the border situation has deteriorated over the past four years the news has focused on the negative effects in the United States but there is another side to the story and that is the problems in Mexico. Mexico is slowly becoming a narco-state. (A situation where a country's leadership is involved in drug trafficking and production, and top-down policies are implemented to support these activities. According to the Washington Post the cartels made $500 billion in 2023. That represents one third of the Mexican GDP.

Trump

Donald Trump has been in politics for ten years now and everyone knows who he is and where he stands on the issues. There are three main reasons to vote for Trump. First off he is one of the few politicians who understands that wind and solar will not replace fossil fuels which means if you want a carbon free environment the only option is nuclear power. Second he will negotiate a peaceful settlement to the war in Ukraine. Third he will accelerate the end of globalization by providing incentives for reshoring like reduced regulations and import taxes. Who are the losers under the Trump plan. Wind and solar and fossil fuels all go out of business and the defense industry suffers a set back. Major corporations will no longer have access to cheap foreign labor and their profits will suffer. Who are the winners. The nuclear power industry. The middle income high school grads who will be offered good paying mostly union jobs as the industrial base grows. Low skill workers who will grow along with the industrial economy. The people of Ukraine. Trump will be gone in four years but these changes will leave a long term benefit to society.

Migrants

Illegal migrants crossing the border has been an issue since Biden took office but the problem got a lot more attention when in 2022 Texas began busing migrants to cities in the north. Texas has bused 120,000 migrants to several cities and this has put a strain on their facilities. During the Trump years 50,000 migrants entered the country each month and that increase to 160,000 per month during the first 42 months of Biden's term. Biden claimed he had no control and pushed congress to enact a law that would limit the migrants to 2,500 per day (75,000 per month). Biden said that Trump blocked this law. In May of this year Biden used a Presidential Proclamation and IFR (interim final rule) to reduce border crossings to 83,000 in June. This reduced number is expected to continue. During the Covid years millions of migrants were allowed to enter the country without being vaxed while many Americans like nurses, teachers and military people lost their jobs for refusing to be vaxed. Even the number one tennis player Novak Djokovic was not allowed into the country because he was not vaxed even though he had Covid. This kind of confusion causes people to over react and polls show that 51% favor mass deportations. As usual it is more difficult to clean up a mess than it is to create one.

Biden

President Biden has some notable successes. The infrastructure bill is something presidents have tried to pass and it happened under Biden's leadership. The Chips Act will further push the America First agenda by promoting reshoring. The Inflation Reduction Act although inaccurately named will spark additional economic activity. On the down side he failed to secure the border and ushered in the wars in Ukraine and Palestine. His spending on Covid relief opened the door for inflation which had been dormant for 30 years. Soft on crime policies made neighborhoods unsafe. Like most presidents he had his highs and lows.

Hate

There is much in the news about the divisions within the country and often times the news goes to extremes by talking about hate. Hate should be for ideas and policies not people. You can hate injustice, poverty and sickness but not the people who are the cause and effect. Once when I was working a customer called and complained about the shipment he received. He was so upset I got on the plane in Atlanta and flew to Pittsburgh to see first hand what he was talking about. When I got there and inspected the shipment he pointed out the various things that were wrong and as he talked he got angrier and angrier and finally he said I must be an idiot. When we got into the office I told him how important it was that he point out the problems with our product and our service but that he had crossed the line when he insulted me. I recall he looked stunned and was quiet for about 20 seconds and then he apologized. In churches they say to hate the sin and not the sinner. It is acceptable to be critical of people's ideas and behavior but hate should not be part of the equation. Learn to disagree in a civilized manner.

Biden

At the start of this year the democratic party led by President Biden planned to win reelection and then sometime after two years Biden would resign for health reasons and Harris would take over and be able to finish off his term and then be eligible for two full four year terms. This would give the team an opportunity to balance the court since Thomas and Alito are 75 and 73 respectively. This plan ran into trouble as polls showed that Trump was going to beat Biden. Biden said many times that he was the only one who could beat Trump and that he was in it to win it. When the polls turned against him and it started to effect the down ballot candidates the people in close races began to bolt. This was followed by the big donors balking and then the power elite started leaking damaging stories. Biden changed his mind and decided to drop out and turn things over to Harris but interestingly enough he did not resign and let her be president. Harris will now have a honeymoon for the next month and then the serious campaign will start after Labor Day. Each candidate claims he/she has the best record to run on and the public will decide which is the way it is supposed to work. Regardless of which person wins the country will continue along like it has for the past 250 years.

Trump policies

What policies will Trump promote if he is reelected. Secure the border Maximize oil and natural gas production Promote law and order Stop subsidies on wind, solar and EV's Negotiate and end to the war in Ukraine Abortions up to 15 weeks Replace sanctions on Iran Continue import taxes on Chinese goods Full support of Israel Reignite the Abraham Accords Demand that other countries rely less on US for their defense Demand that other countries pay their share of the UN, NATO and WHO. Renew the Trump tax cuts Promote MAGA by reshoring Oppose men in women's sports. No gender surgery on minors Oppose schools not informing parents Charter schools

Abortion

The abortion issue is important to many voters and the subject is best approached using facts. First off the extreme positions are used to cloud the issue. Those who want abortion at any time for any reason and those who want all abortions stopped must come to understand that their positions are unattainable. When deciding on a compromise position where things currently stand must be considered. Today 63% of all abortions use medication and 93% of all abortions happen before the 13th week. A good compromise position might be abortions only in the first 13 weeks and only for rape, incest and the life of the mother after that. Since 85% of abortions are because of the mothers emotional or financial situation they can be asked to decide before the 13th week rather than use the claw like instrument that is needed to rip out the fetus in pieces for second and third trimesters. This is far from perfect but it is doable. As far as each state determining its rules, that is up for discussion but currently the courts have ruled that is the law. Former President Clinton said abortions should be safe, legal and rare and that is what has been happening. Abortions peaked in 1981 at the rate of 29.3 per 1,000 women between ages 15 and 44. By 2019 that number had declined to 11.4 per 1,000. In recent years there has been a slight uptick in abortions because of telehealth where abortion pills can be prescribed and sent through the mail. In time more and more abortions will be private and the issue will fade from public scrutiny.

Thorium

Thorium molten salt reactors are different from the standard uranium nuclear power plant. First off thorium is not a fissile material and cannot either start or sustain a reaction and therefor does not need enrichment. The thorium is fed into a molten salt mixture. This is mostly table salt heated to 1,300 degrees F. As the thorium is entered nothing happens until a small amount of uranium 233 is introduced at which time the nuclear reaction is activated and will continue as long as additional thorium is added. If the thorium feed is stopped then the reaction stops. The thorium is like a tank full of gasoline that just sits there until a lit match is added and the match in this case is U 233. If too much thorium is added the reaction heats up and the atoms spread apart and the reaction stops until the temperature is lowered. Thorium produces 1,000 times less waste and the bad waste which is only a small amount stays around for 500 years instead of 10,000 years as is the case with uranium. The reason for this is that uranium comes out of the ground in two types. The first called 238 is 99.3% and the other called 235 is only .7%. It is the 235 that is needed and it must be enriched (concentrated) to 4% and this is time consuming and costly. The problem is that the remaining 238 is bombarded by neutrons and changes into dangerous materials that must be stored for many years before disposal. Thorium reactors are small and can be produced on an assembly line bases and shipped on a semi truck to the use point. These units are 100 MW as compared to a typical uranium power plant with is 1,000 MW. If the location needs more power they just add additional units. These units are placed close to the use point and eliminates most of the power lines (grid) needed to transport power. This also removes the power lost during transport. The Twin Cities could be powered by one 1,000 MW plant at some distance from the city or 10 small reactors could be placed strategically around the city. Units could be shipped to desert areas to desalt sea water for agriculture since the unit needs no water to operate. It also runs at normal pressure and needs no protective dome. Instillation is fast and cheap. Thorium is three times more abundant than uranium and thus cleaner and less costly to mine and it does not have to be enriched.  

Harris

Based on what is known now what can the country expect from a Harris administration. First off there will be continued interest in replacing fossil fuels with wind and solar. There will be a push for electric vehicles including buses. Illegal migrant crossings will continue. Continued funding of the Ukraine War. Continuation of the forgiving of student loans. Continued tightening of regulations on the oil and gas business. Continue the process of maximizing oil and gas production. Continue the waiver of sanctions on Iran. Continued support of Obamacare. Continue to pay the bulk of the cost for the UN, NATO and WHO. Continue emphasis on DEI and opposition to charter schools. Push for men in women's sports, schools keeping information from parents and gender surgery on minors. A strong reliance on government including ways to redistribute wealth through taxes and regulations. Continue with America First policy by reshoring industry and union jobs.

Change

There have been significant protests in Bangladesh over a law reserving a significant portion of government jobs for supporters of the 1971 independence revolution and their descendants. The job quota has been suspended, but protests continue. This is somewhat like quotas and reparations here in the US There are protest in Europe regarding immigration and that is also like the US In most cases people are willing to accept change unless it comes too fast.

SMR

China has started commercial operations at a new generation nuclear reactor that is the first of its kind in the world Xinhua news agency also said the 200 megawatt (MW) high-temperature, gas-cooled reactor (HTGCR) plant Modular plants refer to those of less than 300MW that can be constructed off site. Proponents say they can operate in remote locations and power traditionally hard-to-abate heavy industry sectors

War

Russia needs a Tet offensive. The Viet Cong were bogged down and took a gamble to go on offense. They didn't succeed in their military objective but they did have profound effect on the US public. Support for LBJ's war policy began to erode quickly after the Tet. Before that 50% of the people believed the US was making progress but after that support dropped to 33%. A remarkable 49% expressed the opinion that the US should never had entered the war. VP Humphrey warned, "political opposition will steadily mount" because Americans stopped believing the press reports. The War which had its early beginnings in 1955, sending ground troops in 1965 and finally ending 20 years later in 1975. It took the lives of 58,000 American soldiers and cost billions of dollars, money that went to the military industrial complex. The Ukraine War was supported by 79% of the people at the start and today that has declined to 58%. Will it take ten years.

Biden

He was a long time senator, a vice president and president but he decided not to run for reelection. While he personally thought he could serve another term the polls showed he might lose. The country was deeply divided and his party thought he could not only lose the White House but would cause loses down ballot. When other congressmen saw their reelection chances being diminished the pressure built and this was followed by a drop in campaign donations and finally many elected officials publicly asking for him to drop out. His VP was closely aligned with his policies and that worried the insiders. His party saw the republican candidate as a threat to democracy and scrambled to devise a new winning strategy. This all happened in 1968 when LBJ dropped out. To quote Winston Churchill, "those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it".

Communism

At the end of WW 2 the city of Berlin was divided into four sections. The communist area was known as East Berlin. Between 1945 and 1961 three million East Berliners fled to US controlled West Berlin. The exodus was gaining strength and so the Berlin Wall was built. It was not designed to keep out enemies but to keep people from fleeing the country. That was the first signal to the world as to what communism was all about. The secret police known as the Stasi placed spies in every corner to prevent people from sneaking out of the country. People reported suspicious activity on their neighbors and border guards were closely watched. Many people were killed trying to cross and 300,000 were arrested and charged with planning to cross. As people lived in fear the economy began to suffer. Over the year many photos were released showing the suffering of the people including shots of empty super market shelves. People who lose their freedom lose their desire to grow and succeed and the country further deteriorated. The differences between East and West Berlin are stark. The central planning concept that communism was built on did not work and production efficiency was low and prices were high. Both East and West started with nothing as the war ended but after that the growth of the two sides changed dramatically. By 1972 the GDP per capital was $7,800 in the East and $13,000 in the West. By 1990 it was $9,700 vs $18,300. These were people with the same education, the same language and the same heritage but the economies were very different. It is a perfect situation to compare central planning with free markets. The same situation could be seen in North and South Korea. Despite all of the evidence there are still people who believe in communism as the best way to help the people. The only areas where communism is having any success is China and Vietnam and both of these countries only started to grow when they opened the door to the free market.

Jobs

The pro's and con's of globalization. First off globalization started after WW 2 when the US guaranteed the safety of shipping across the oceans and products could be easily traded between countries. In the US the west coast was dominated by Hollywood and later by Silicon Valley and the east coast was all about the big banks and Wall Street. This left the middle west where the industrial base was located. As countries like China were able to tap into the US market they used their low labor cost, their lack of safety regulations and lack of concern about the environment to set up shops to produce manufactured goods at low prices. The prices were so low that US companies began to move their facilities to China. During the cold war period the US lost millions of manufacturing jobs and China move 500 million people out of poverty meaning wages increased from $62 per year to $16,000. That is the pro's. The con's meant wages for working people in the US stagnated for 40 years plus workers moved from jobs with benefits to no benefits. While this was going on US businesses reaped huge profits from the low labor cost so the gap between the rich and the poor widened and is still widening today. In the past 60 years, America witnessed a massive transfer of wealth from the middle class to the wealthiest families. In 1963 the richest families had 36 times the wealth of the middle income families and today it is 72 times as much. Trump was one of the first politicians to recognize how working people were hurt by globalization and began the process to change by explaining how China was abusing its people by working under slave like conditions and manipulating their currency to close down US industries. He brought this inequity to the general public and started import taxes on Chinese goods. Biden as also seen the unfairness and has continued the taxes. The Covid interfered with the global supply chain and made US companies aware of the hazard and the cost of transportation increased to the point where US companies are now bringing jobs back home (reshoring). This will continue into the future and mean many good paying jobs for Americans most of which will not require a college degree.

Ground game

The Biden reelection strategy as laid out by the White House is similar to what they did in 2020. A White House spokes woman said today that they will rely on their ground game. She said that just this past week they knocked on 100,000 door including many new voters and that 70% were Biden supporters. This is the ballot harvesting approach that was very successful in the past. The only concern is that this time the republicans are also in the harvesting game. May the best ground game win.

Climate

Many people who are concerned about climate change recognize that the biggest obstacle in the way is the idea that wind and solar are the answers. These same people have long understood that the New Green Deal is a political message that deters the country from solving the problem. This is proven by the Biden administrations contradictory approach to the problem. In January of 2023 President Biden said, "Global warming is the single most existential threat to humanity we have ever faced including nuclear weapons". Yet today Biden is fighting inflation by producing more oil and natural gas than at anytime in history. Many conclude from this that Biden's actions show that inflation is a bigger threat than climate change. If it weren't for the politics, people would understand that nuclear power would both reduce the cost of energy and solve the global warming problem. It is a matter of educating the public, which can start by pointing out that the mining, processing and disposal of the materials needed for the green deal will destroy the environment and then the public will be open to new solutions.

Nuclear power

In order to solve the problem of climate change the first step is recognizing that wind and solar cannot replace fossil fuels and this happened last night when Trump called the new green deal a scam. Once this is understood the next step is ask what can be done and the obvious answer is nuclear power. When Trump was in office the Energy Department approved a $1.35 billion dollars over ten years for the building of the first US small scale nuclear power project. This small beginning can be accelerated by moving some of the subsidies currently sent to wind, solar and EV's to companies who are working with small reactors.

Policy

As the move toward minimizing personal attacks becomes popular the election will center more around policy issues. This means things like economy, immigration, abortion, law and order, Israel, Ukraine, taxes, gun control, education, and terrorism Old policy difference are no longer in the forefront, things like social security and Medicare, deficit spending and even racism. This means certain things will be left out, things like the pop culture ideas of men in women sports, more than two sexes, gender changes on minors, drag queens in schools, schools withholding info from parents, and even some less controversial ideas like cancel culture, identity politics, virtue signaling, BLM, CRT, DEI and climate change are on the back burners since climate is off the table since both candidates are pushing fossil fuel production to the max. The serious issues will rise to the top and this will help the voters see the different approaches.

Justices

President Biden has asked congress to consider term limits on the Supreme Court Justices. According to the constitution all federal judges, including the Supreme Court serve for life. To change the constitution requires a two-thirds vote in both the house and senate.

War

As the Biden administration support for Ukraine continues its slow creep, following his pledge to stay as long as it takes, the end game is leading to US troops on the ground. This is a red line to many Americans and this poses a contradiction in the basic premise for supporting the war. The case was made that if Russia succeeds in Ukraine they will then proceed to rebuild the old Soviet Union. This is seen as, to use the word of the day, an existential threat to the West but this threat is not great enough to risk the life of one US soldier. There needs to be some clarification on just what is going on here. What we have now it billions of dollars going to the infamous military industrial complex and the status quo government is fine with that.

New party

The selection of JD Vance as Trump's VP confirms the belief that this is more than an election, it is a movement. Trump has changed the republican party in fundamental ways. The old concepts of reorganizing social security and Medicare are no longer part of the platform. Balancing the budget is no longer a top priority. Foreign wars are out. Big business is out. The party is now the party of the working people not the elites. Globalization is kaput and bringing jobs home is the new deal. Free trade is replaced with countries who do not tilt the playing field. The New Green Deal is replaced with energy independence. What remains of the old is lower taxes, strong national defense, secure borders and the second amendment.

Missiles

More escalation in Ukraine. NATO decided to redeploy US mid-range missiles to Germany. These were stopped at the end of the cold war. Russia broke this treaty and now the US can send intermediate-range missiles close to China which should limit China's global influence.

Documents

The Florida case against Trump for removing classified documents was dismissed today. This brings up questions about classified documents in general. These documents can be reviewed by government officials but they must remain in a secured area. Back in the Clinton Administration Sandy Berger pleaded guilty to removing classified documents from the SKIFF(sensitive compartmented information facility). The sitting president can remove classified documents because the president has the power to de classify documents. If any president decided to use classified information for personal gain he would just make a copy and return the originals to the archives. All presidents leave office with classified information in their memory and this information could be used for personal gain. The president is in a class by himself when it comes to handling these documents.

Delegate

While going through the channels today I came across the nominating process at the republican convention and was reminded of the old timers who recall the 1940 nomination of Wendell Willkie. It was carried live on national radio and the North Dakota delegate responded to the roll call by saying North Dakota casts its tree wotes for Vendell Villkie.

Unity

As both presidential candidate express their desire to see the campaign through the lens of their better angles the question arises, will they by sabotaged by the press. The people in the press survive on controversy and many will attempt to find some elected official who is willing to attack the person-hood of the opposing candidate. The reporter will then take this quote to other side and asked them to comment hoping to get a controversial reply to be used to take to the other side. This kind of scenario will be played out many times over the next few month in the hopes to heat up the rhetoric. Will this draw others into the fight.

Unity

In the aftermath of the attempted assassination both candidates have agreed to tone down the rhetoric and try to unite the country and that is welcome change. To many what this means is emphasis on policy not people. Polls show that the issues that interest voters are the economy, the border, abortion, law and order and Palestine. Biden represents the status quo and Trump means change. Both will continue to increase fossil fuel production. Both will continue the import tax on Chinese goods to promote bringing manufacturing jobs back home. Both are pro choice on abortion. Both are pro Israel. Both will have to accept higher inflation as the industrial base grows due to reshoring. The differences will center around the border, the green deal and Ukraine. There will be no end to the country if either is elected because the juggernaut called the US economy will over shadow any influence they may have and things will get better for all.

Check on power

The Justice Department reports to the Attorney General who reports directly to the president. The AG is appointed by the president and serves at the pleasure of the president. He can be fired by the president at any time for any reason. The FBI is a member of the US Intelligence Community and reports to both the Attorney General and the Director of the National Intelligence (DNI). The Director of the National Intelligence is a senior cabinet level official who reports directly to the president. According to the constitution one of the responsibilities of the congress is to act as a check on the power of the president. Recently the congress received a written copy of an interview of President Biden conducted by Special Councel Robert Hur. This means it is no longer covered by national security rules. Congress then asked for the tape of this conversation and the Justice Department refused. Congress has asked the courts to force the Justice Department to turn over the tapes but nothing has happened. If this is the end of the story it means that the president can act with impunity as no law is effective without enforcement. This appears to be a weakness in the constitution which was not anticipated by the founders. Recall when Eric Holder was the AG in the Obama administration and he refused to release information to the congress and that was the end of it. Holder said he was Obama's wing man. It seems that the recent ruling by the Supreme Court that supposedly gave too much power to the president was just an affirmation of what already existed.

Humphrey

There is a historical repeat with Biden/Harris and Johnson/Humphrey. Hubert Humphrey was Lyndon Johnson's vice president and was handed the torch when Johnson decided not to seek another term. Johnson dropped out because the Vietnam War was dividing the country. The problem was that Humphrey wanted to disconnect from the administration to avoid the controversy surrounding the war but he was too closely tied to the president. He had been VP for four years and could not unwind from the war. Harris has been VP for four years and is closely tied to Biden's agenda. While Biden is proud of his accomplishment, things like the Infrastructure Bill and the Inflation Reduction Act, the American people only see rising prices, unsafe neighborhoods and an open border. Polls show that the economy and the border are the big issues and she will have to defend both. Add to that, her strong support for the Green New Deal, will hurt her as the voters understand that the country needs fossil fuels and people don't want electric cars. She lacks administrative experience as she has never been a mayor or a governor nor a CEO in the private sector.

VEEP

There is a lot of talk about Trumps VP pick. Most commentators select a person and then examine their stats. My thinking is to set out criteria and find the person who best fits. First off the person must be capable of being president. Second they should have administrative experience say as governor or in the private sector. Third they should be in the age of the generation before Trump which means late forties or early fifties. Forth the person must understand that wind and solar cannot replace fossil fuels. Fifth they should have a moderate position on abortion. Sixth they should be pro American when it comes to reshoring and bring back good manufacturing jobs. Seventh be for a secure border. Eighth be for law and order and oppose no bail and not prosecuting repeat criminals. Ninth a person who is bullish on nuclear power. Tenth a person who is open to charter schools.

Trump

This will be the first presidential election in more than 100 years where both candidates have had experience serving as president. As the voters enter the privacy of the voting booth they will be thinking of the fear messages presented to them in the press. Trump will end democracy, be a dictator for life and seek revenge on his adversaries. As the emotions subside they will recall what transpired during the Trump years. They will see 1.4% inflation vs 3.2%. The will recall 2% home mortgages vs 7%. They will be aware of gas at $2.50 vs $3.50. They will shop for groceries that cost 20% more. They will remember 40,000 illegals crossing the border each month vs 200,000. They will recall that Trump continued the building of the border wall which was started by Bush and continued under Obama. They will see him deporting illegals as was done under Obama who was called deporter in chief. They will think about the 85,000 unaccompanied minors that the government has lost track of, the number of girls and women who are assaulted crossing Mexico, the almost 100,000 young people who die from drug OD's and the billions of dollars going to the drug cartels. They will compare neighborhoods being safe vs repeat criminals on the street because of no bail laws. They will be influenced by the chance of peace in the Middle East with the Abraham Accords vs war in Palestine. They will recall peace in Europe vs war in Ukraine. Even on the controversial abortion issue Trump has selected the compromise position of OK in the first 15 weeks and only for rape, incest and life of the mother for later. They know that Trump opposes men in women's sports and gender surgery on minors. Then they will remember that when Trump was in office before he didn't end democracy, he didn't become a dictator and he didn't put anyone in jail. When the emotions die down and the facts come to the surface they will pull the level for Trump. They may keep their choice to themselves but what really happened under the first Trump term will be more important than what might happen under the next Trump. What did happen will win out over what might happen.

Hitler

As more and more politicians speak of Trump as Hitler, or the end of democracy or president for life or a dictator the fears build higher. Sometimes people who are fearful will act in unexpected ways. In a worse case scenario some person who is on the edge might attempt to assassinate Trump. This is often brought up when people make dangerous accusation but no one has mentioned it about Trump.

Democracy

The Brookings Institute of which the NY Times referred to as “a pillar of Washington’s liberal establishment” and “the prestigious, left-leaning institution.” says that the Trump threat to democracy consist of waves of voter suppression laws across the United States put minorities and other vulnerable populations at further risk, and the online ecosystem, rife with misinformation and disinformation, continues to sow distrust among our citizenry and threaten many of our democratic institutions. These voter laws are written by states and not the federal government. Misinformation on social media is considered a threat to democracy by Brookings but many see it as threat to free speech. Another liberal think tank ,The Brennen Center for Justice, says that Trump's threat to democracy centers around his appointments to the Supreme Court. The Harvard Gazette says the big threat is jerrymandering and once again that is done by states.

Harris

If President Biden decides to drop out then he should do it before the convention which starts Aug 19. He should immediately move to have Harris become the nominee. This is the normal succession for democrats, think of Mondale, Humphrey, Gore and Biden. Harris has many detractors based on her personality but it is policy that conservatives are concerned about. She is all in on the New Green Deal and this means a lot of money going to companies to build solar panels and windmills. In the past this has been a pathway for money to return as campaign contributions. She has been a part of the Biden border policy, and social justice for criminals. She is like most democrats for government spending on wealth redistribution projects which can aggravate inflation. She wants to cancel student loans. She wants citizenship for illegals. She leans toward Palestine in the situation in Israel. She promotes abortion at any time for any reason. She is on the side of many unpopular cultural issues, men in women's sports, gender surgery on children, striving for equal results instead of equal opportunity, teaching CRT and opposing charter schools, having drag queens in elementary schools and hiring and promoting based on race (DEI). Because of her positions on issues she will have a tough time beating Trump.

NATO

In 2006 NATO countries agreed to contribute 2% of their GDP to fund NATO. In 2014 these same countries agreed to stop cutting their defense budgets so they could meet their NATO commitments. By 2018 only six countries were paying the 2%. When Russia invaded Ukraine this encouraged other countries to contribute more and by 2023 this was up to 11 countries. Today 23 of the 31 countries are paying 2%. Assistant Secretary of State John Kirby said recently that Biden is responsible for the increase. As Trump headed for the 2018 NATO summit The NATO report estimates that only five out of the 29 nations will meet the spending standards that were agreed upon at the 2014 NATO summit in Wales. In 2018 Trump was roundly criticized for berating NATO countries for being underfunded. Trump, who has threatened to reduce U.S. military support if allies do not increase spending, pushed for the 28 other NATO members to spend more money again on Tuesday. "NATO countries must pay MORE, the United States must pay LESS," The US pays 68% of the NATO budget.

PA

Pennsylvania is getting a lot of attention because it is considered one of the states up for grabs but there is another reason most are not aware of and this is the fact that you can vote 6 weeks early. This means that PA is prime territory for ballot harvesters.

Angie

My congresswoman Angie Craig came out against Biden. She is representative of the other congress people who have turned against Biden. Our district has a high percentage of independent voters and in 2020 Craig won her race by 2% and she is running against the same man this time. Craig is the first openly gay congress person elected in Minnesota. She married her wife in 2006 and they have adopted four boys. She recently proposed a national pension plan where the money would be collected and distributed by social security and paid for by withholding social security on all earned income. An idea worth looking into.

Ukriane

Since the start of the Ukraine War many have asked what is the goal and how do we achieve it. The first clue came when it was suggested that if Putin lost he would resort to nuclear weapons and if he won he would advance to other countries in Europe with the goal of reassembling the old Soviet Union. The second clue came when President Biden said we will stay as long as it takes and the third clue came today when Asst Secretary of Defense John Kirby gave a press conference. He listed off all of the money that Biden has sent to Ukraine and then said, if Putin thinks he can out last us he is mistaken. The conclusion from all of this is that the present plan is to keep the stalemate going, much like what happened in Afghanistan. The latest escalation occurred this week when Russia rockets hit a hospital in Kiev and Ukraine promised to retaliate.

China

President |Zi of China has discovered one of the secrets of the US economic success and that is spending on defense. China's economy has been expanded by building infrastructure and it resulted in an over supply of houses and apartments. Next Xi tried to build infrastructure around the world in a program called Belt and Road initiative but most of those projects were left unfinished. A few years ago Xi decided to start spending on defense and they are now up to $300 billion more than all of the Eastern Pacific countries combined.

Woke

The term Woke has become part of the current vernacular but many people question if it is a real thing and if so what does it mean. Wokeism says that men can play on women's teams. It says that children can have sex operations without parental knowledge. It says abortions are OK anytime for any reason. It says it's OK to tear down statues or rename buildings and streets if they disagree with values of those people. It's OK for teachers to withhold information from parents about the students. It's OK for equal results and push things like participation trophy's. It's OK for drag queens to dance in elementary schools. It's OK to cancel people with whom you disagree. It's OK to shut down speech that is deemed misinformation. It's OK to teach about the mistakes made by Americans without teaching the actions taken to correct those mistakes. It's OK to have only public schools and no charter schools. It's OK to vote without voter ID. There is nothing inherently wrong with having any or all of these beliefs but it becomes problematic when others are asked or forced to believe. If you disagree on the abortion issue then it is not helpful to say that you are right and the other person is wrong. It is best to listen carefully to the other side of the issue and if you still disagree then agree to disagree but do not insult or ridicule the other side. This holds true for any disagreement. It is civilized behavior to recognize that not everyone thinks like you do and if they don't it doesn't mean they don't like you. What is right and what is wrong changes overtime. Be willing to change when new information becomes available. If the doctor says you are pre-diabetic then it would be wise to watch your diet.

Likeability

Never under estimate the power of likability when it comes to the presidency. Obama was very likable and had on major success after 8 years in office. The downside did not seem to matter. Every president sees his party lose hundreds of positions — it's the price a party holding the White House pays — but no president has come close to Obama. During Obama's eight years in office, the Democrats have lost more House, Senate, state legislative and governors seats than under any other president. When Obama took office, there were 60 Democratic senators; now there are 46. The number of House seats held by Democrats has shrunk from 257 to 188.There are now nine fewer Democratic governors than in 2009. Democrats currently hold fewer elected offices nationwide than at any time since the 1920s. Personality beats policy.

VP's

In looking at the Trump possible VP choice each has their points. Senator JD Vance of Ohio is an Iraq War Vet who has a law degree from Yale. He co founded a Venture Capital firm and made several millions so he has some administrative experience. He was raised mostly by his grandparents and is only 40 years old. Doug Burgum second term governor of North Dakota and a self made millionaire so he has administrative experience in government and private industry. He is 67 and would be 71 if he wanted to replace Trump. North Dakota is solidly republican so he doesn't bring and important state like Vance from Ohio. Many young voters are looking for a generation change. Ron DeSantis is a second term governor from Florida who was a candidate for president so he has been vetted and has administrative experience. He is a veteran with a law degree from Harvard. He is 45 years old and would be a good contender to replace Trump in 2028. He is also Hispanic which helps.

Press

Over the past few years a few political pundits have expressed concern about the failure of the press to investigate government officials and in particular President Biden but all of that has abruptly changed. It was only last month on June 5 that the Wall Street Journal published an article based on interviews with 45 people including some democrats who sited examples they were familiar with where Biden exhibited signs of mental confusion. This article was roundly criticized by many in the press saying it was a hit job. As a result of the debate many of these people who were critical of the article are now saying that it had merit. The press corp and in particular the White House press corp let the people down. They could see the cognitive decline but they poo pooed it and let things slide. When the press fails to challenge the president the country is in danger of losing the first amendment. The backbone of any democracy is an independent, professional and responsible media. Their role is to inform, criticize and stimulate debate. For many members of the press the dislike toward Trump was so great that they were willing to sacrifice their professional integrity and look past Biden's difficulties. There are many examples of how the press was either misled or on purpose they misled. Here is one example. Two months ago Morning Joe said, “Start your tape right now because I’m about to tell you the truth,” Scarborough continued. “And f*** you if you can’t handle the truth. This version of Biden, intellectually, analytically, is the best Biden ever. Not a close second. And I’ve known him for years. … If it weren’t the truth, I wouldn’t say it.” Here is what Joe Scarborough said the day after the debate. Scarborogh himself hinted that it might be time for Democrats to tell Biden it was “over” after a disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump.

Remembrance

Today is the first anniversary of Eunice's passing. The last few years of her life she spent house bound in a wheel chair and the last year is when dementia set in. Looking back at that time is like a dream. I can best describe it by recalling the picture called foot prints in the sand where Jesus carried me. In retrospect I am thankful for that year because it allowed me to see my better side. It was God helping me to grow and develop into the person I was meant to be. Today I am more comfortable with who I am than I have been at any time in my life. The Lord does indeed move in mysterious ways. It was more than an opportunity to care for my wife it was an honor.

Change

The winds of change are blowing in the West. The countries in Europe are throwing out the liberals who have been in charge and in England they threw out the conservatives. While immigration is part of the problem in all countries, rising cost of food and energy and projected changes in pensions also have people upset. In general there is a throw the bums out policy sweeping the continent.

Election

The most logical approach to the dilemma facing the democrats is to use Biden to defeat Trump and then turn things over to Harris. To see this more clearly assume that the debate never happened. Biden was having cognitive difficulties but for the most part they were kept under wraps by the press. They could have stayed this course until the election and then sometime during the first two years of his second term he could have resigned for health reasons. They were well aware that Biden's condition would get worse over time and in his case get worse quickly. It would have been a race against time to get him past the election. Now that his condition has been exposed they are up against the clock and must scramble to resolve things. He cannot resign before the election for fear that Trump may win but polls show Trump pulling ahead so there must be an all out attack on Trump's threat to democracy. It is imperative that they get past this debate so they can once again focus on Trump. Right now the focus is on Biden and that is not good for the democrats. They are hoping that Trump will start making public statements but so far he has remained silent.

Jobs

One of the democratic strategies in the upcoming election is to claim that Trump will be a dictator and wants to be president for life. As it happens Trump was president before and was not able to keep his job as the voters tossed him out. During Trumps term he signed 220 executive orders and 71 were revoked by the courts. Trump promised to drain the swamp. During his time in office the federal work force grew from 1,879,000 to 1,944,000. Will he have better success this time. It is difficult to shrink the bureaucracy. They claim Trump is racist but during his term he had the lowest unemployment for Blacks, Hispanics and women in history. This is one of those rare instances where a presidential candidate can be evaluated on his record as president and not on what might happen. Trump has said he will deport illegal immigrants. Obama deported more than 2.5 million people through immigration orders, which doesn’t include the number of people who "self-deported" or were turned away and/or returned to their home country at the border by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). According to governmental data, the Obama administration has deported more people than any other president's administration in history. Since over 7 million illegals have entered during Biden's term there will be many more deportations. The labor participation rate represents how many are working based on the number available for work and pre pandemic the rate was 63.3% and today it is 62.7%. During the Covid shut down 23 million people were put out of work and since then all have returned plus 2 million more but this did not keep up with the population growth which is why the labor participation rated did not increase. New jobs created under Biden were 2 million or about 50,000 per month.

Climate

2023 marks another all-time high in global coal production, totalling 8 741 Mt. Steam coal and lignite account for about 87% of global coal production and their growth in production accounts for similar share of the global production increase. Lignite is the dirtiest type of coal with only 30% carbon content. Natural gas production held constant as the US made up for the loss of Russian gas In 2023, the world produced an estimated 101.8 million barrels per day (b/d) of petroleum and other liquids, which includes crude oil, lease condensate, natural gas liquids, biofuels, and other hydrocarbon liquids. This was an increase of 320,000 b/d from October 2023, due to growth in the United States and Brazil that outperformed expectations. The industrial growth of the West followed the path of wood to coal to oil to natural gas and nuclear. Most of Africa and Asia are still in the coal stage and many parts of Africa are still burning wood and dung. Industrial growth around the world is set to increase rapidly which means the push toward nuclear must be accelerated.

Harris

The inner circle of the Biden family is determined to put Trump in the White House. The best chance of beating Trump is for Biden to resign and allow Harris to assume the role of president. The gives her the money and the campaign organization. She has the name recognition and satisfies the party demand of anybody but Trump. This moves her to the head of the line without having to go through a primary and in hindsight many feel that this hurt Biden. Jill and Hunter stand in the way and they can push Joe right on through to the end, which at this time, they seem determined to do.

Election

The 2020 summer riots started by the George Floyd murder took place in 68 major cities and property damage was in the billions along with 19 who died. As the country approached the November election the press began reporting that if Trump lost there would be some kind of rebellion. The election was in early November and the press waited with baited breath but nothing happened. Then came December and still nothing. Finally January 6 arrived and a collective sign of relief swooned through the democratic elites. A large crowd gathered at the Capital and about 2,500 people entered the building at 2 PM swinging clubs, pipes and flags and attacked some of the police. One person was killed. It was an unarmed women protester who was shot by a police officer. Many police received various injuries none of which was life threatening. By 6 PM the riot was over and many were arrested but most just went home. Some of the offices were vandalized. This episode has been in the news on a regular basis and is a central part of this year's campaign. The democrats had hoped this would be a critical part of their campaign against Trump but time has past and other issues have taken center stage. The plan to make election about Trump has now changed to making the election about Biden.

Chevron

The recent Chevron Case by the Supreme Court has reduced the power of the bureaucracy. Congress passes laws and the bureaucrats determine how to carry out the laws. This gives the bureaucracy power to be strict or lax when it comes to interpretation. This is a setback for people who want more power to the federal government. For example the EPA could announce that all gasoline powered cars get 50 mpg and this would speed up the move to EV's but should this be under the purvey of a bureaucrat. Over the past 50 years both the congress and the executive branches have ceded power to the bureaucrats and this will move that ceded power to the courts.

Harris

What would a Kamala Harris administration look like. First off it would be full speed ahead on the New Green Deal which would put nuclear on the back burner. Subsidies for wind, solar and EV's. This would open the door for more migrants. Next it would be sanctuary cities and states across the county. A continuation of the support for Ukraine for as long as it takes. Cancellation of student debt. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in all areas of government and push for private companies to follow. Continued government assistance for sex change for children, enforcement of pronoun rules and cross gender men in women's sports. Cancellation of the Trump tax cuts. Reducing police power in favor of victims rights. Allowing no bail for repeat offenders. Reducing felonies to misdemeanors to promote equity in the justice system.

Cult

In recent years the word cult has been bandied about but it has taken on a new meaning. In today's world a cultist is a person who believes in low inflation, safe neighborhoods, secure borders, no wars, bringing home jobs (reshoring), jailing repeat criminals, low taxes, moving power from the bureaucrats to the people, teaching the 3 R's in schools not pronouns, free speech not censorship (misinformation), not tearing down statues and renaming buildings and no sex changes on minors.

Moore

What happens if Biden is convinced not to run and the democrats are unsure of Harris. The best approach is to have an open convention and allow for all comers. The best of the flock is a relative unknown Wes Moore the newly elected governor of Maryland. He is the first Black governor ever elected in Maryland and only the third Black governor in the US. He graduated from Johns Hopkins University and received a masters degree as a Rhodes Scholar. He is a Afghan veteran who became a New York investment banker. He has published five books and was CEO of the Robin Hood Foundation. He is 45 years old and has executive experience as a CEO and a governor. His father died from illness when he was three years old and his single mom raised him and his three sisters. He has seen life from both sides. He identifies as center left and is called a social moderate and a strong fiscal conservative. He is for increasing law enforcement and is tackling crime in Baltimore. He supports trade school education programs but opposes charter schools. He started a program that allowed high school grads to work one year in public service to earn money for college. He pushed for plans to cancel student debt up to $20,000. He supports the new green deal and a ban on the sale and possession of guns. The two big problems he will face are the lose of the Biden war chest and lack of name recognition. The party would have to be solidly behind him and if he won the nomination they would be.

Biden

Often times news is distorted not by direct reporting but by not reporting. David Ignatius, reporter for the Washington Post, was a frequent guest on Morning Joe until last September when he wrote a column suggesting that Biden not run for a second term. This was nine months before last week's debate. MSNBC did not like the column so they shut Ignatius down. This idea of taking away the voices of people with whom you disagree is becoming far to common. If you don't agree then present your side of the argument. Steve Rattner was a long time economist on Morning Joe until he came out against the war in Ukraine and he disappeared. It is this type of bias that caused people to lose faith in the media. Why couldn't the network just present their argument in favor of the war and let the viewers decide. Maybe they feel the viewer are not capable of coming to a sensible conclusion.

Media

Often times news is distorted not by direct reporting but by not reporting. David Ignatius, reporter for the Washington Post, was a frequent guest on Morning Joe until last September when he wrote a column suggesting that Biden not run for a second term. This was nine months before last week's debate. MSNBC did not like the column so they shut Ignatius down. This idea of taking away the voices of people with whom you disagree is becoming far to common. If you don't agree then present your side of the argument. Steve Rattner was a long time economist on Morning Joe until he came out against the war in Ukraine and he disappeared. It is this type of bias that caused people to lose faith in the media. Why couldn't the network just present their argument in favor of the war and let the viewers decide. Maybe they feel the viewer are not capable of coming to a sensible conclusion.

Moderates

There are still a few people around who are part of a disappearing political class and they are the moderates. They understand that the government only gets money from two sources, income tax and borrowing (printing). They believe that government responsibility falls into two main areas, national defense and general welfare. In Econ 101 this is referred to as guns and butter and guns take precedence. Welfare includes a livable wage, unemployment and workman's compensation and healthcare.. Moderates believe in a strong independent free press that looks over the shoulder of every bureaucrat and elected official not just for corruption but for any perception of corruption. Moderates believe that government should stay out of cultural issues like religion and sexual matters. Moderates believe in private unions but not public unions. Moderates believe that education should be about the 3 R's and teachers should be given the training, tools and salaries to carry out this program including school choice. Moderates believe in compromise and liberals and conservatives see this as wishy washy. This can be see in the abortion issue where moderates see abortions legal in the first trimester and other wise as Bill Clinton said safe, legal and rare. Moderates oppose globalization because they are pro working people with manufacturing jobs and unions that promote benefits and good wages. Because the political landscape has moved so far from center the moderates are making a comeback. Over the next ten years the industrial base of the country will double and economic growth will drown out the political extremist and moderates will be see as the people with common sense.

Voters

There is one group of voters who will vote for Trump and another equally large group who will vote against Trump. Then there is a small group who will look at policies and since the economy, border and crime are one side and abortion, Ukraine and cultural values on the other side the current program suggest Trump has the advantage. As always the dark horse remains the ballot harvesters.

Threat

In November of 2010 the ACLU challenged the Obama administration on the following The Obama administration today argued before a federal court that it should have unreviewable authority to kill Americans the executive branch has unilaterally determined to pose a threat. I put this is a email last week and over the past few days have been thinking more about it and I find it hard to believe. This makes the recent court decision on presidential immunity seem minor. This was so outlandish it went right past me the first time. Please take the time to reread the above italicized statement. This is particularly salient when you hear the number of liberals who say that Trump is a threat.

Press

Carl Bernstein, of Watergate fame, has been a consistent supporter on President Biden. He often appeared on CNN and MSNBC talking about Biden. He is an investigative reporter who looks for big stories but he failed to see the story surrounding Biden's cognitive decline or did he. After the debate debacle he said that he knew of 15 or 20 times in the past year and one half of cases where Biden seemed to have cognitive difficulties. As an investigator why did he not report on Biden's condition before last week. Many people have charged that the government hid Biden's condition and that is understandable but why did the press, the guardians of freedom, do the same. Has the press been corrupted and taken sides based on ideology. For many the answer is yes. Many in the press feel it is justified to be biased against Trump because he is a threat to democracy. They have decided that Trump is like Hitler and must be defeated using what ever means necessary. The voters cannot be trusted to pick the best candidate because for the most part they are low information people meaning they do not have the savvy that the press has to make a sensible decision. For some this type of thinking is a threat to democracy.

Bombs

Another step along the way This past Sunday, Ukrainian forces fired five U.S.-supplied ATACMS missiles — carrying U.S.-supplied cluster bombs — at the Crimean city of Sevastopol. The exact target is unclear. But as Russian air defenses shot them down, one of the missiles with its multiple cluster bomblets accidentally rained down upon Russian families enjoying a day at the beach, killing at least four people (including two children) and injuring more than 150. The Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) prohibits under any circumstances the use, development, production, acquisition, stockpiling and transfer of cluster munitions, as well as the assistance or encouragement of anyone to engage in prohibited activities. Putin has been accused of war crimes on a number of occasions. Has the West joined the war crimes game.

Law

The recent Supreme Court ruling regarding presidential immunity while in office begs the question, what about congress. Article 1, Section 6 of the US Constitution protects legislators from lawsuits stemming from their work in Congress and ensures s Article I, Section 6 of the U.S. Constitution protects legislators from lawsuits stemming from their work in Congress. Does this mean they are above the law. One of the concerns is that a person can be charged after leaving office and thus inhibits the activity while in office. One case that comes to mind involves President Obama. Justice Sotomayor made the outlandish suggestion that a president could order Seal Team 6 to kill someone and he would be immune from prosecution but the case involving Obama show this is not that outlandish. Obama ordered the killing of an American citizen without a trial. The Obama administration today argued before a federal court that it should have unreviewable authority to kill Americans the executive branch has unilaterally determined to pose a threat. Is this acting above the law.

Harris

The scrutiny concerning a Harris administration has intensified since the Biden debate performance. On some of the more important issues she has record. She will push the New Green Deal which includes more subsidies for wind, solar and EV's. She will continue her support of the war in Ukraine. She will continue the Biden border policies and opposes a wall. She will continue no cash bail and support for DA's who are hesitant to put felons in jail. She will not renew the Trump tax cuts. She will push to cancel student loan debt and wants free college tuition. She will back cultural issues like men in women's sports and gender change for minors. She will increase regulations on business and push for new taxes on business. She will champion diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) while emphasizing critical race theory, cancel culture and identity politics. She opposes fracking and the fossil fuel industry in general. She is pro choice and is for government paid abortions. She wants a path to citizenship for all illegal migrants. She wants universal health care and a $3,000 refundable tax refund to all families earning less than $50,000. This is only a partial list but it shows that she is part old time liberal and new time progressive. Her positions on issues will not be as important as her perceived ability to carry them out.

Biden

The poor debate performance by Biden has sparked new concerns about his not conducting interviews with the press. This is from April of this year from the NY Times. The Times in a statement called it "troubling" that Biden "has to actively and effectively avoided questions from independent journalists during his term". Others have suggested that this goes back to the 2020 campaign when Biden stayed out of sight using Covid as the reason. They also wonder why he refused the soft ball interview at the Super Bowl. Many say that in order to clear the air Biden should start doing interviews on a regular basis but there are some who feel this would do more harm than good. The debate was an eye opener and surprise to many who never watch Fox News. A number of these people believe that they have been misled concerning Biden's mental and physical fitness. Insiders now admit that not having a primary and keeping Biden under wraps has hurt his chances for reelection.

Defencd

On NPR today they interviewed a woman who talked about the maternity leave in Sweden. The parents receive 480 days paid leave. My first question was is the birth rate increasing but in fact it is decreasing. This was just one more of those comparisons that people often make between Europe and the US. What was not mentioned was that Sweden spends 1.3% of their GDP on defense while the US spends three times that much at 3.9%. This is typical of many European countries especially those in NATO who depend on the US to defend them against any invaders. The US has over 1,000 facilities overseas staffed by 170,000 people at a cost of $173 billion dollars per year. Is it time for these countries to start taking on more responsibility for their own defense. There are 31 countries in NATO and the US pays 22% of the budget.

Censor

The Supreme Court threw out the Social Media Censorship case. Censorship is something the government is not allowed to do but private parties can censor. The government did not go directly to Facebook and demand that certain items be censored but they went through Non Governmental Organizations (NGO's). Most NGO's are funded by government grants. This ruling will allow NGO's to attempt to influence social media. It is a back door way for the government to censor. NetChoice, a lobbying group representing and funded by nearly 40 major tech companies consider this decision a victory. Government agencies and government officials are forbidden from regulating or restricting speech or other expression based on its content or viewpoint.

Justice

The question keeps coming up as to whether the Justice Department is weaponize and the answer is an easy yes. The proof is in the Special Counsel case against Trump regarding presidential immunity. The primary concern of Jack Smith, the Special Counsel, is not getting conviction but getting one before the election.

Mika

On Morning Joe today Mika said that Trump has been a threat to democracy for ten years. She has forgotten how Trump called into her show three or four times a week during his 2016 campaign. It was programs like hers that brought Trump billions in free advertising. She relished his calls as the her ratings rose. Here is a December 2020 quote from Joe. Joe Scarborough Regrets Hosting Trump So Often ahead of 2016 Election: ‘I Wish It Hadn’t Happened’ Here is a report from 2016. It has been well established at this point that 2016 was a landmark year for cable news. That statement holds true for MSNBC, which had its most-watched year since the network launched in 1996. Mika's assessment of the debate is that Biden didn't do well but the worst part is that he was unable to challenge the lies told by Trump. While the election remains close the assumption is that if Biden had done well he would win easily in November.