Whose in charge

Many government observers have suggested that the real power behind the scenes is the bureaucracy. There was some proof of this when the Attorney General asked for the Epstein files and was ignored. A similar thing happened when info on USAID was requested. The Inspector General said, we have long encountered delays or outright refusal by UN agencies, in providing requested investigative information to Office of Inspector General (OIG’s) Special Agents. An organization cannot run if the employees do not follow the line of command. As far as the Epstein files go there must be some very damaging information and the government does not want to reveal it. Supposedly there are videos of important people in compromising situations and therefor things will be held up for the old faithful excuse of national security. Congress by the constitution has oversight responsibility but when they ask for documents the bureaucrats refuse sighting national security.

Ukraine

The dispute between Trump and Zelensky is a good example of how difficult negotiations can be but great for the public to see. Trump wants to set up a plan to mine rare earths and then use the US workers as a safety net against a Putin invasion. The idea is that Putin would not want to risk killing any US workers. Zelensky wants Trump to say that if Russia invaded the US would side with Ukraine. This leaves the world in the same situation as before. They cannot let Putin win or he will take over Eastern Europe and they cannot let Putin lose because he will use nukes. Thus, the war will just continue on and on. Zelensky must now decide if he wants to fight on without US support or change his mind and start by bringing US workers into Ukraine. In either case the US will no longer be funding the war and Trump feels this is in the best interest of the American people. The question now is, will the Europeans continue the fight without US support. If so, it will be their Vietnam or Afghanistan. In the long run it means the destruction of Ukraine and a severely weakened Russia and a lot of money down the drain.

Rare earths

The discussion about rare earth elements in Ukraine suggest that there are known deposits. Rare earths are found in every country but not always in the concentration needed for a good return on investment. Normally rare earths are found in the left overs from mining other metals most commonly iron ore. The US will likely set up mining and processing plants near where the iron ore tailings are stored. This gives a head start since the raw ore is already broken down into smaller pieces.

Tax cuts

The Trump tax cuts of 2017 were the largest in history in dollar amounts. How they affected revenues can now be evaluated? They are up for renewal this year. 2015 $3.25 trillion 2016 $3.27 trillion 2017 $3.22 trillion 2018 $3.33 trillion 2019 $3.46 trillion 2020 $3.42 trillion 2021 $4.05 trillion 2022 $4.09 trillion 2023 $4.44 trillion 2024 $5.08 trillion 2025 $5.48 trillion est

Democrats

Every week, some democratic leader comes out saying that the party needs to change. They saw how Trump exploded the republican party and now they must do the same. The strategy of the democrats for the past ten years has been to attack Trump’s personality and character and it hasn’t worked. Calling him Hitler, a dictator and a threat to democracy is not working. The must start talking policy. What can they do to help the voters, especially the low- and middle-income workers? Here are some starting points. Raise the income tax rates on upper income earners. Tax capital gains at the ordinary income rates. Get rid of carried interest. Use that money to raise the child tax credit to $5,000. Help companies to train workers for the new AI industry jobs. Help these new workers to form unions. Move away from the New Green Deal and promote small nuclear reactors. Close the door on devisive cultural issues. Expand on Biden’s America First idea by promoting reshoring. It is time for a change in strategy.

Nobel Winners

Michael Moore has contributed to the migrant debate by pointing out that we may be deporting a future Nobel Prize winner. This could be but it could also be said for the 64 million abortions since 1973. There have been 312 winners since 1973 and 70% or 218 have been Americans. During this time 125 million Americans were born and the total population is 330 million. It can be calculated that among those aborted there would have been over 100 Nobel Prize winners. That many be a more accurate calculation than the winners among the deported

IRA

Words matter is an old adage and people in government understand this so often the names of different things are changed in the hopes of offering a better interpretation of the subject. One of the more recent examples is the Inflation Reduction Act passed in 2022. Upon examination of the Act, it was discovered that almost all of the $1.2 trillion dollars was designated for improving energy use to promote climate change. In retrospect this Act is seen by many as one or the reasons why inflation rose which means that the inflation reduction act became the inflation production act. In this example the name did not increase the understanding of the issue but rather obscured the meaning.

Midterms

At this point it appears that the big issue for the upcoming midterm elections will be the prices of consumer goods. These will be determined by two competing factors. On one side holding prices steady, will be lower energy and transportation cost. Added to that will be the increase in productivity from new factories using AI. On the other side will be the higher labor cost by using American workers instead of cheap foreign workers. This could also mean wage/price inflation. If prices are higher than wages, it will be an issue but there will be no solution to the problem, unless it would involve sending manufacturing back overseas and end up making the same mistake that was made in the 1980’s. It will be an issue without a plausible solution but in issue in any event. Other factors that could have an influence on voters’ decisions would be things like the Ukraine War and the border.

Chutzpah

There is an old Yiddish word Chutzpah, meaning audacity and a good example is the recently released book by CNN pundit Jake Tapper. The book in titled, “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Coverup and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again”. Tapper along with the rest of his coworkers led the way, when it comes to covering up Biden’s cognitive decline. His book points out how almost all of the press denied any problems with Biden’s mental condition and then they proceeded to cover up. There motivation was that Biden was the only one who could defeat Trump since he had done it before. It reinforces the idea that people did not vote for Biden rather they voted against Trump.

Russia

One of the more interesting parts of the Trump revolution that is not getting enough attention, is his proposal to cut defense spending. Putin recently said that Trump’s idea of both countries cutting defense by 50% is doable. They could then bring China into the group and all three countries could use that money to build goods instead of weapons. As the US begins its ten-year journey to double the industrial base, there is a need for skilled labor and the defense department is loaded with engineers and such. The country could be manufacturing appliances, electronics and other consumer items instead of bullets and bombs. There would be funds for additional social programs and a start on lowering the debt. Putin says he would welcome US capital to build up his industry. Russia has large amounts of undeveloped hydropower and lots of aluminum ore. They also have more rare earths than Ukraine. American engineers and American capital could revitalize Russia and the US could get badly needed materials from Russia. Putin suggested that the two countries share in the development and benefits from helping Russia, to move from a war industry to a consumer goods industry.

Job

In my early career, I worked for a large corporation and often times my boss was not at the same location, so I would get a call from him asking me to do something. In time I would call him back and say that the job was done, or if it wasn’t, what the holdup was and when it would be resolved. What I would never do is not call him back. Recently the federal government sent out emails inquiring as to what the employees were doing and many did not respond. In most cases if the boss asks you to do something and you refuse your job is in jeopardy. A company runs on the chain of command and cannot otherwise operate efficiently

GDP

Americans often hear about the national healthcare in Canada and wonder why the US doesn’t have that. One reason is that Canada spends 1.37% of their GDP on defense and the US spends 3.45%. This is like most of Europe where the US is their defense.

Rare earths

The US has large deposits of rare earths but people are not ready for the mining and processing these elements because of environmental concerns. In early 2024, American Rare Earths announce a rare earth deposit at Halleck Creek in Wyoming that could be the world’s richest. Thus, it was welcome news for the environmental groups when CNN reported today that Ukraine had agreed to a $500 billion share of their rare earths and other minerals in exchange for the aid the US had already provided. This will be a return on the billions that the US has sent to Ukraine in their war against Russia. This means that the mining and processing of these valuable elements will be done in Ukraine.

Ukraine cost

In trying to find out how much the Ukraine War has cost the US, I find a number of values. From the Washington Post on Feb 24, 2025 ….nearly $300 billion spent, more than 150,000 lives lost and over 10 million displace. From congressional records thru 2024. Congress appropriated $174 billion thru five supplemental appropriations. From the CATO Institute on APR 9, 2024. Should congress decide to pass additional funding the aid could top $240 billion. After checking many sites, I found that $175 billion was the most common number. From Europe from the Institute of World Economy on Dec 31, 2024 $132 billion European Commission Feb 24, 2025 $135 billion Global aid to Ukraine since 2022 has reached a staggering 400 billion euros committed as of December 2024, or about $430 billion, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. If you use the most common figures of $175 billion from the US and $135 billon from Europe the total is $310 billion.

3rd term

Trump occasionally talks about having a third term as president and he is immediately challenged by the press. If any two-term president could convince two-thirds of both the House and the Senate to approve and then get three-fourths of the state legislators to approve then just maybe he should get another term. In today’s environment to get even a simple majority is considered a big victory.

Budgets

In 1998 the states received $246 billion dollars from the tobacco settlement. This money was to be used for healthcare cost and to fund tobacco prevention programs. As it turned out many states used much of the money for other programs to help balance the budget and some states even traded the long-term payment plan for upfront money and in the process gave up the long-term periodic payments. In 2021 states received $21 billion in opioid payments and this money is also being misused to cover general budget items. This is coming after billions of covid relief money used for social programs is running out and will now be supplemented by opioid money. It is not just the federal budgeting program that has run amok but the states are following the same path.

Trump

The press is unable to keep up with Trump because they are used to presidents who tackle problems one by one. Trump is looking to change the world and that means pulling problems from various parts of the globe and working on them simultaneously. He wants to reduce imports especially from China, while solving the disputes in the middle east while ending the war in Ukraine. He makes an announcement and the press goes that way and then another announcement the press goes another way. He sets up negotiations about Ukraine in Riyadh and leaves out Zelenskyy. He tells Europe they must defend themselves. He talks about rebuilding both Ukraine and Gaza. He puts equivalent tariffs on all countries and then throws in making Canada a state and buying Greenland. The press just runs from one shining object to another never thinking of how all things fit together. Trump wants to reshape the world. He wants to bring a lasting peace to the Middle East using the Abraham Accords with Saudi Arabia forming a partnership with Israel, he wants to neutralize Iran, end the war in Ukraine, push Europe to standing up for themselves, bring jobs home hopefully before China collapses, reduce US deployments around the world, and bring Russia into an economic partnership with the West. While all of this is going on the press is fretting over DOGE which distracts them from the rest of the world. Trump will not bring down prices or lower inflation but he might well accomplish enough to blow through the next election. If successful he will set his sights on nuclear disarmament and nuclear power.

Social media

One of the many changes brought about by the expansion of social media, is that the masses are getting a good look at how the elites have been running things. In Trump’s first term he aggravated the legacy press by announcing his every thought on Twitter. This left them with little to do as far as getting viewers and the number of newspapers declined as clicks on TV declined. This term Trump is out everyday talking about what he is thinking and doing and the media has nothing to do except repeat what has already been spoken. Broadcast TV viewership has been on a steady decline for the past 20 years and Trump is accelerating this decline. There are nearly 6,000 newspapers that in the US and two shut down every week. Projections show that as of the end of last year the US has lost one-third of the newspapers it had 20 years ago. While the legacy press gave up on its responsibility to hold the government responsible, the new press has taken over and it has made it difficult for the government to hide.

Non elected

The fact that Elon Musk is a non-elected person is proximately in the news as if this is something out of the ordinary. There are 435 elected congressmen and 100 elected senator and the legislative branch has 31,000 employee who are not elected. The judicial branch has 9 judges and 30,000 employees none of whom are elected. The executive branch as two elected officials and 4 million unelected employees.

Iran

When talking about the situation in Gaza, the subject of Iran always comes up. Iran is vulnerable since Israel has knocked out their air defense, they have lost their helper Assad in Syria, Hezbollah is in disarray, Hamas is reeling and the Houthis are in civil war. This leaves open two courses of action. First the US can keep increasing the sanctions and if necessary, go to an oil embargo and hope the people of Iran will rise up and overthrow the government. Second, they can tell Israel that the US will keep China and Russia at bay and allow them to choose. They will not attempt to hold back Israel and will offer whatever military assistance they need. In the past year, Iran sent 500 various types of missiles into Israel and they have declared that Israel has no right to exist. The question is will Iran strike out against Israel as a last-ditch effort to save their country.

Congress

For the past 75 years, sometimes referred to as the post war period, the United States was the economic and military power of the free world, or the noncommunist world. With the fall of the Soviet Union in 1990 the US became the super power of the world. Just as the people in the US are demanding bureaucratic accountability, the US is pushing the world to accept more responsibility for their own wellbeing, including their own defenses. Too many countries have fallen under the spell of America and it is time for these countries to start taking care of themselves. The US will no longer be the guarantor of free trade, or the major contributor to the UN or NATO. The US is $36 trillion in debt and this must be addressed. One of the first steps is to stop paying the dues for the world, start bringing home US military forces and start being treated as a fair partner as in fair trade. Just as those committed to the status quo are complaining in the US, the globalists around the world are complaining about the US. The time of change is upon us and it will not come easily but the growing debt demands change. Can we count on congress to promote this change? Here is what happened when they tried 30 years ago. The Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Balanced Budget Act, also known as the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, was a law that established federal budget deficit limits and automatic cuts. Then what happened The Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act of 1985 was largely unsuccessful in reducing budget deficits, and was replaced by the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990. (BEA) The BEA was extended by the Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1993, and again by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. It expired in 2002, but the Democratic Majority adopted some of its principles, known as PAYGO, or Pay-As-You-Go, in their rules during the 110th Congress. What happened to PAYGO Under the S-PAYGO Act, new legislation must be paid for, on average, over 5- and 10-year periods. Yet under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2022 there is nowhere near $742 billion in non-exempt funding to sequester, meaning OMB would be unable to comply with the law. So much for PAYGO

DOGE

Most economist agree that the government cannot continue to deficit spend and so what must be done. The current system is not working since each year the debt grows higher. Many in congress object to Trump’s approach of allowing the executive branch to cut spending. They much prefer the old way of allowing congress to cut but history has shown that congress in unable to do that. In the past, when congress has made an effort to cut, those who are directly affected challenge any cuts and congress backs down so nothing is done. Aside from the waste, fraud and abuse what congressman is going to cut expenditures in his district. One solution has been suggested that Trump make the cuts and then refer them to congress for approval. Trump can do his part but congress will submit to the same old pressures and nothing will be done. Here is what happened when congress tried. The Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act of 1985, also known as the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act, was a law that aimed to reduce federal debt and deficits. The law established automatic spending cuts and deficit targets So what happened. Congress enacted a reworked version of the law in the 1987 Act. Gramm–Rudman failed, however, to prevent large budget deficits. The Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 supplanted the fixed deficit targets, which replaced sequestration with a PAYGO system, which was in effect until 2002. What happened to PAYGO. The policy was discarded during the Bush Administration in 2002, which led to an increase in the budget deficit due to unrestricted spending and tax cuts. Congress cannot control their own spending. They need spending to get reelected.

California

There are some things like hurricanes, tornados and earth quakes that cannot be controlled but other disasters are caused by bad policies. The recurring forest fires in California followed by mud slides can be minimized with proper government planning. California's forests haven't been adequately cleared due to a combination of factors including environmental concerns, bureaucratic barriers, and opposition from certain environmental groups who have historically resisted logging and controlled burns, leading to a buildup of undergrowth and dead trees which contribute to large, destructive wildfires when conditions are dry. The backstory: The intense flushing of water from the Delta to the Bay – rather than by pumping to Central Valley farms, storage facilities, and southern California communities – is driven by a 2019 legal document known as an “Incidental Take Permit.” California sends billions of gallons of water into the ocean each year, especially during heavy rainfall events. In 2023, nearly 95% of water that collected in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta flowed into the Pacific Ocean. The recent loss of 12,000 homes due to fires has caused the governor to request $40 billion dollars to help rebuild. California has wildfires every year, and the number of fires has been increasing. The fire season is getting longer and starting earlier, with some fires occurring year-round.

treaty

In January of this year England signed a 100-year treaty with Ukraine promising military aid and $3 billion pounds each year. England will receive mineral rights for things like rare earths and oil and gas. This was not in the news but when Trump suggested a deal for rare earths it was prominently in the news.

Fructose

When corn starch is boiled in water with a small amount of acid it converts to corn sugar which is glucose. The next step is to add an enzyme that converts the glucose into fructose. This is done because fructose is thirty times sweeter than glucose. This high fructose corn syrup is then shipped in liquid form and added to soft drinks and other products. Often times it is dried and used in many food products. The problem is the way the liver metabolizes fructose. Instead of making it available for readily usable energy like it does with glucose, it converts it primarily into fat, which is then stored in the body. High fructose corn sugar is used in almost all processed food products. Table sugar called sucrose also contains fructose but in smaller amounts. Table sugar is not healthy food and products containing sugar should be avoided. With desserts the consumer has some control but fructose is added to so many products that is severely limits the choices. The removal of fructose would cause the price of most food products to increase so the risk/reward case needs to be evaluated.

Congress oversight

Sometimes the government oversteps its power by over regulating but that does not mean there is no need for government. Back in the early days of the country the buyer and seller of a goods were on equal footing. If a horse was sold, both sides knew how to evaluate the value of the horse. As time past the producers of goods became experts while the buyers remained in the dark. The joke today is if you can’t read the ingredients on the label then don’t buy it. What this leads to is government controls in order to protect the consumer. The governments main responsibility is to protect the people from foreign enemies and to provide safe products for consumers. The FDA monitors the complex processes of drug production and food safety and this is necessary in today’s society. All bureaucracies must be monitored less they try to take too much control. Congress cannot just authorize money for an agency and not over see how they are spending the money. Congress has failed in their oversight responsibility as witnessed by the absurd spending revealed by the DOGE. The congress must walk the line between no oversight and too many regulations.

First Solar

Most people remember the fiasco called Solyndra, a solar panel company started in 2005 with $570 million dollars from the government and went bankrupt in 2011 and the money disappeared. Not having investigated and therefor not having learned a lesson the same thing happened in the $1 trillion dollar Inflation Reduction Act where billions was handed over to First Solar. Since then, First Solar’s stock price has doubled and its profits have soared thanks to new federal subsidies that could be worth as much as $10 billion over a decade. Executives, officials and major investors in First Solar, the largest domestic maker of solar panels, donated at least $2 million to Democrats in 2020, including $1.5 million to Biden’s successful bid for the White House. After he won, the company spent $2.8 million more lobbying his administration and Congress. Now the picture has changed. First solar is facing the same problem that Solyndra faced. They cannot compete with low-cost panels from China. Their stock has dropped from $250 to $150 in the past five months. First Solar has also faced a securities fraud lawsuit, which the company settled for $350 million.

Hegseth

Pete Hegseth was the most strongly opposed cabinet appointee because the senators knew that Hegseth was going to make drastic changes and the bureaucracy is fearful of such changes. The rule of “There shall be a Secretary of Defense, who shall be appointed from civilian life by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate: PROVIDED, That a person who has within ten years been on active duty as a commissioned officer in a Regular component of the armed services shall not be eligible for appointment as Secretary of Defense.” Has not been followed in the past two secretaries, General Mattis and Lloyd Austin but Hegseth will bring this back. In addition Hegseth will enforce Article 88 of the Military Uniform of Justices which says: Any commissioned officer who uses contemptuous words against the President, the Vice President, Congress, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of a military department, the Secretary of Homeland Security, or the Governor or legislature of any State, Commonwealth, or possession in which he is on duty or present shall be punished as a court-martial may direct. Retirees from the National Guard and Reserve components do not have their first amendment rights taken from them while military retirees who served on active duty do and live under the threat of court martial for violating Article 88 of the UCMJ Finally, Hegseth will end the practice of retired generals going to work for defense contractors as a conflict of interest. In the past these retirees have used their influence to solicit business from the Pentagon.

War

On CNN this AM, a retired Admiral, suggested that there is an upside to the Ukraine War by pointing out that most of the money the US sent in the form of military equipment was in fact, profits to US defense contractors. This explained in one short sentence what Eisenhower described as the military industrial complex. This Admiral is so enthralled with this kind of thinking he doesn’t realize that the average person does not see this as a good reason for war.

Policies

There were many writers and politicians on the republican side who left the party and went into obscurity. Just like Reagen destroyed the old time Rockefeller country club republicans, Trump as set aside modern conservative pundits like George Will and Bill Crystal and politicians like Romney and Pence. Trump is as close a third-party candidate as our two-party system will allow. Both sides of the establishment are in a dither and can respond only by denigrating Trump. The democratic party, which finds itself lost in the wilderness, continues to harangue against Trump instead of presenting policies that would appeal to the voters. It is not enough to be just against, you must also be for. Some like Dean Phillips and John Fetterman are making news by approaching Trump with questions rather than complaints. They ask what is it about Trump policies that seems to appeal to so many. How can we improve on them and still present the old-time liberal view point? We can embrace bringing jobs home, cutting the fat out of government, lowering taxes for working people and relegating cultural differences to the back burner. We can promote secure borders while pushing for a path to citizenship for migrants who are not felons. We can propose plans for a peaceful settlement to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. The upcoming mid terms will be about prices and inflation but it takes more than just complaining, it requires solutions. Best to start thinking about those now.

Education

0ne of the biggest problems facing the country today is the gap in test scores. There are questions involving the legitimacy of the department of education. For many the K 12 education system is the modern-day equivalent of slavery. Black students are too far behind in learning, the have the highest drop out rate, the highest suspension rate and this drags them down for the rest of their lives. They all too often they end up in prison, they get the lower paying jobs, they have the highest single mom rates and lower life expectancies. Over the past 20 years the department has come up with No Child Left Behind in 2001, Common Core in 2010 and Every Student Succeeds in 2015 and none of these have helped. Ask any teacher what they think of these plans. The Department of Education was founded in 1980 and it has not helped. Maybe it is time for a change.

Used blades

Waste material from nuclear power plants is generally stored on site but if they were all gathered together, they would fit on a football field (1.3 acres) and be stacked 30 feet high. This is waste accumulated over 60 years. Used windmill blades present a more complicated problem. One site in Texas is 30 acres piled ten feet high, and 78% of used blades are sent to landfills. This is waste from 25 years. There are three other major storage sites in Wyoming, Iowa and South Dakota. In addition, used blades are sent to landfills in Africa and Europe.

Debt

I have heard the cry of wolf concerning the national debt for most of my life. I was not overly concerned since the debt remained at 50% of GDP for most of the years since WW 2. However, when Obama took office, it rose above 50% and has continued rising to this day. By the end of Obama’s term, it stood at 98%. During the Trump years the debt went from $20.2 trillion to $29.6 trillion and during the Biden term it increased to $36.1 trillion which is 122% of GDP. Experts say that the two ways to reduce the debt is by raising taxes or cutting spending but this has not worked in the past because when revenues increase the extra money is not applied to the debt but is used for new programs designed to buy votes. Cutting spending is not easy as everyone is now witnessing so what is the long-term answer. The US can lower the debt if the increase in growth (GDP) and interest rates are in balance. The growth will come with reshoring but at the start interest rates will be too high. In time if growth is sustained the interest rates will fall and the debt to GDP ratio will decline. This balance will not be achieved during the Trump years but by the next administration.

Ukraine

This is something I wrote a few weeks back As the world stands by and witnesses the destruction of Ukraine along with far too many lives it is time to once again outline the reason for the war. The West does not want Putin to win because he will take over all of Europe and the West doesn’t want Putin to lose because he will start a nuclear war. The only option the West can see is to continue the war indefinitely. How did reasonably intelligent people get themselves in this predicament. How are so many people still willing to sit back and go along with this. The only answer is a peaceful negotiated settlement. Recently there has been little in the news regarding the possibility of Russia using nukes. It could be that people have come to understand the futility of their original position on the war and are now striving for an all-out victory for Ukraine. If Putin once again raises the drum beat of nukes will people revert back to the situation at the start of the war.

Muckrakers

As a play on words of Pete Seegers song, where have all the flowers gone, the question today is where have all the Muckrakers gone. For the youngsters out there the term Muckraker refers to investigative journalist who exposed corruption in business and government As the massive misspending is being exposed by DOGE an enterprising reporter could follow up on anyone of the unusual spending projects and earn a Pulitzer. They could find out who sponsored the project and who got the money. These expenditures are so nonsensical that there must be some kind of mismanagement going on. They don’t pass the smell test.

Europe

Ann Applebaum, a long-time expert in European policy and no friend of Trump, was asked what she got from JD Vance’s speech in Munich and she was spot on. Her interpretation was that Europe can no longed depend on the US for protection and must set about defending themselves. This combined with fair tariffs is Trump’s policy toward Europe. In addition, NATO can no longer expect the US to pay most of the cost and provide most of the troops. The US can no longer be depended upon to act at the policeman of the world.

Press

On TV this AM, a discussion covered the liberal slant of the press and the question arose as to how this came about. One explanation starts with the founding fathers who suggested that the press act as a “watchdog” to keep the government accountable by informing the public about its actions. This was and still is the main purpose of the press but it has been expanded. In 1893 The Chicago Evening Post writer, Peter Dunne introduced the world to a fictitious character name Mr. Dooley who famously said, the job of the newspaper is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable, and this opened the door for the press to move beyond the government to private companies and individuals. Since that time the press has moved slowly to include non-government entities and this led to libel law to protect individuals. Most of the time the press is interested in large companies who act outside the law and the people welcome this. During the 20th century big corporations were aligned with the republican party and thus the press championed the workers by going after corporations. This started with legitimate complaints but in time became political and remains so to this day. The recent election has challenged this idea and many working people have now aligned themselves with the republican party. The press has not yet changed their perspective but that may come in time.

Trump

The poet Robert Browning said, “Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for. Trumps dreams for the future are many and some think impossible. He would like, To secure the border, set a path to citizenship for migrants, end the Ukraine War, have the oil rich Arabs join with Israel to rebuild Palestine, equal tariffs leading to no tariffs, use nuclear power to end climate change, lower taxes, smaller government including defense, reduce US military abroad, end the role of US being the policeman of the world, transparency in government and bring back the jobs that were lost because of globalization. Those who profit from war and globalization and secret government agencies will fight against these changes. The winner will be chosen by the voters.

Social seurity

It has been suggested, that instead of eliminating the tax on social security benefits, that the $25,000 exclusion which was established in 1984, be indexed to $75,000 based on the cost of living. This would mean that all most all those receiving SS would not be taxed but the upper income people would still pay tax on 85% of their SS benefit.

Inflation

The downside to Trump’s economic policies will be inflation. His policy is in five parts, lower taxes, maximum energy creation, fair tariffs, reshoring and reduce regulations. As the new industrial base doubles and is built using the latest technology including AI, the productivity will match the increase in wages but wages will lag behind early on and thus inflation. The only early way to reduce prices is lower cost energy but that will not match inflation in the early years and prices will rise. During the upcoming mid term elections expect inflation to be an issue.

Germany

If you import a $50,000 Mercedes Benz from Germany the import tax is 2.5% or $1,250. If you export a $50,000 Cadillac to Germany you pay a 10% import tax along with a 19% value added tax for a total of $14,500. This type of imbalance has been going on in many countries for many years and is one of reasons why the US has a trillion-dollar trade deficit. Germany has the 40th largest army in the world and spend 1.5% of its GDP on defense. The US has the largest army and spends 3.4% of GDP on defense. Germany like most European countries has depended on the US for protection since the end of WW 2. There are 30 countries in NATO and the US pays 20% of the budget. Germany has had a trade surplus with the US for forty years capping at $150 billion last year. As President Biden used to say, cmon man!

Revolution

The world is in the midst of a drastic change, some might call a nonviolent revolution and many are upset and afraid. The old ways of globalization are passing and a new wave of America First is redefining not only the US but other countries as well, in particular, those in Europe. The US has run a trade deficit every year since 1975 and last year it was one trillion dollars. This has been a bonanza for US trade partners but in many cases was the result of unfair trade practices. During these years the US paid for the defense of European countries along with paying the bulk of international groups like the UN, WTO and WHO. All the while various organizations financed by the US were spending money on programs that the people were not aware of and if they knew would not approve of. Waste and abuse have infiltrated many government agencies because congress did not provide oversight. Corruption seeped in and now the day of reckoning has arrived. Those who have been benefiting from this mismanagement are crying foul but the people are waking up to a new way of doing business. Unfair tariffs will become fair tariffs, and Europe will have to build up their own defenses and world organizations will have to get equal funding from all countries.

Deportation

Trump fired 20 immigration judges and Matthew Briggs the president of the union said Trump wants to remove illegals but needs judges to process them. He said there are 3.5 million pending cases but he did not mention the 1.4 million who have been adjudicated and deemed not eligible for asylum but remain in the country. The question is why haven’t they been deported. This 1.4 million represents only one half the number that Obama deported. This could indicate that Trump’s long-term plan is to find a path to citizenship for many of these people. Right now, his priority is to deport the criminals and find the missing children. The decision on the others is pending.

Trump

One of the most misunderstood things about Trump is that he is not a republican or democrat in the modern-day way of thinking. He is a pragmatist who has certain beliefs that he tries to follow. That is why he can take questions from any group and can change plans without fear of being ridiculed. His most fundamental principle is belief that America is the greatest country ever and his policies are directed toward making America even greater. He will evaluate social programs which will upset democrats and the defense spending which will upset the republicans. He is in the middle on abortion which upsets both sides. He wants to end the Ukraine War which will upset those who profit from war. He will secure the border which will upset both sides since one side is looking for voters and the other side looking for cheap labor. He wants free trade and will use tariffs to force other countries into fair trade. This upsets big business since but helps the working people. He is using RFK to go after Big Pharma and Big Food to make America healthy again. He is promoting nuclear power which will upset the greenies and big oil. He demands the Europe accept more responsibility for their national defense which upset them. He will no longer pay for the bulk of global organizations like the UN, WHO and WTO and this upsets the Davos crowd. The transition away from globalization may be the most profound change of the 21st Century.

Globalist

Politics has been so divisive that Americans think that the battle is between right and left but that is not the case. The battle is much bigger and is between the old ways of doing things as represented by globalization and the new way of reducing the influence of the globalist. There are many political leaders who have a vested interest in the past where world organizations influenced US policy but that is where the new battle lines are drawn. The US is no longer willing to be the policeman for the world. The US will no longer offer monetary support to global organizations and no longer protect the free trade lines of the oceans. Countries will be forced to be more responsible for their safety a economic growth. The change can be best illustrated by comparing the speech that Obama gave when he went to Europe and the words of JD Vance spoken this week in Munich. Here is Obama in Europe in 2009. We must be honest. In recent years we’ve allowed our Alliance to drift. Instead of celebrating your dynamic union and seeking to partner with you to meet common challenges there have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive and derisive. Vance said that European democratic institutions and rights to freedom of speech were being undermined by cancelling elections and challenging free speech using words like misinformation and disinformation. He said the enemy within is more dangerous that the enemy from Russia or China. Obama received a Nobel Peace Prize for his speech but Vance will be criticized. The world is not yet ready to leave the old ways.

FDR

What Trump is doing with the tech billionaires is similar to what FDR did at the start of WW 2. He gathered together the titans of industry and told them he would dispense with regulations so they could maximize the war effort and this released the greatest war production machine in the history of the world. FDR hated Henry Ford because of his antisemitic position but he needed Ford’s help and in a few short years the Ford Plant at Willow Run saw one new B 24 come off the assembly line every hour. FDR set up the War Production Board and picked industry leaders who worked for a dollar a year to build the war machine. FDR called the CEO of GM William Knutsen who quickly resigned his six-figure salary and along with 300 other executives went to work for the Defense Department and became dollar a year man. Musk is the modern-day equivalent of GM Chairman Knutsen.

SMR's

There are currently more than 20 different companies developing small modular reactors (SMR’s) in the US and many more around the world. These companies are privately financed and do not need government subsidies. What they do need from the government is a review of the regulations surrounding nuclear power. Over the past 60 years the antinuke groups like Green Peace have joined forces with the fossil fuel industry along with the wind and solar groups to throttle nuclear development through over regulation. The Trump administration has taken a pro nuclear stance and is expected to review these regulations and bring them up to date in particular the safety requirement. The new technology in SMR’s provides for what is called walk away safety. This means that if the power is lost the process shuts down without any human intervention. The new processes not only reduce the waste products but use up stored waste. The two big objections to nuclear, safety and waste, have been overcome and the time is now right to solve the problem of climate change using SMR’s.

SS tax

There is currently a bill before congress to remove taxes from social security benefits. This will be of great benefit to wealthy people but not much help to low- and middle-income groups. A better approach would be to index the $25,000- and $32,000-dollar deductions to inflation. This tax started in 1984 and if properly indexed this would raise the deductions to $75,000 and $95,000 respectively. This means that only wealthy people would be taxed and this could help narrow the wealth gap. A typical couple who both worked and had $50,000 from SS and another $70,000 in income would pay no tax on SS.

NYC migrants

The case against Mayor Adams of NYC is a case study in how politics works. He was sailing along until he complained that President Biden was not doing enough to stop the inflow of illegal migrants into the city. This resulted in a federal court charging him with crimes of accepting money from Turkey which he used to help finance his reelection. The incoming Trump Justice Department then dropped the charges against Adams. This allowed him to continue his objections to protecting migrants by changing the cities sanctuary status. This was stopped by the city council who wanted to continue to fund and protect migrants. Once he was pardoned, he renewed his campaign to remove migrants and several attorneys resigned in protest. The city has spent $3 billion and expected to spend $5 billion in 2025 taking care of migrants many of whom are living in expensive New York hotels. The money includes $3 billion from the state. New York State is currently $180 billion in debt up from $64 billion at the end of 2023. The Comptroller estimates that 77% of asylum seekers are sheltered in hotels with the city leasing 15,750 rooms at a cost of $332 per day per person. This is total cost which included $165 for hotels. In April 2024, the Coalition for the Homeless estimated that more than 350,000 people were experiencing homelessness in New York City. As this information becomes public many people are starting to demand that something be done about the migrants. Those wanting to maintain sanctuary city status may be altruistic in their desire to help migrants or as some suspect part of the money is not going to help migrants.

Globalization

During the 50 years of globalization many white-collar workers watched in silence as factory jobs went overseas. The same can be said of government employees on the federal, state and local level. What these people experienced was lower cost for consumer goods like electronics and appliances. They kept their salaries and benefits. Each year they watched their mortgage go down and their pension go up. Times were good. The American dream was alive. The factory workers lost their high paying wages and all their benefits as factories closed and the rust belt formed across Middle America. All that is changing now as factory jobs are coming back home but the white-collar groups still seek special privilege. Factory workers tied to the assembly line can’t work from home but many government employees feel that it is their right. There will always be people who do more than their share regardless of where their work location is but many will become less productive. The rules are quite simple. If the boss says you come in to the office to work than you either do that or look elsewhere.

Demographics

There are a number of countries where the demographics are leading to slow economic growth. Typically, the people under 20 are still under the care of their parents, the people 20 to 45 are working and raising families, the people 45 to 65 are the investors and those over 65 are retired. The 20 to 45 group represents not only the producers but also the consumers and since the US is a consumption driven economy, this is where the growth comes from. The 45 to 65 are those whose kids are grown and the house is paid down and they are preparing for retirement by investing and they provide the capital to join with the labor of the 20 to 45 group to keep things moving. The over 65 group has removed their capital from the investors and put theirs into bonds, real estate and cash. The US is not yet suffering from demographics and will not if the migrants are given work permits leading to green cards leading to citizenship. The ICE people should focus on deporting all convicted criminals, finding the 300,000 missing children and getting the rest set up for citizenship. As the baby boomers die off the demographics will improve and with reshoring there will be good paying jobs for high school grads who will team up with AI to operate factories. This will lead to increased productivity which leads to better pay which with proper planning can exceed inflation. This is similar to what happened during the 1950’s and early 60’s.

Jobs

One of the fears concerning AI is the loss of jobs but when introduced properly it can not only create jobs but add value to each job by increasing productivity. Here is a quote from JD Vance at the AI meeting in Paris. We will always center AI workers in our policy. We refuse to view AI as a purely disruptive technology that will inevitably automate away labor force. We believe and will fight for policies and ensure that AI policies will make our workers more productive and we expect that they will reap the rewards with higher wages, better benefits and safer and more prosperous communities. In the past automation was allowed to move into manufacturing in a hap hazard manner and this often led to job loss. This time it will be more closely watched and be aligned with workers to make both more successful.

Germany

Europe of today is on a downward path to self-destruction. It all started in the 1980’s when Green Peace decided to end nuclear power and started the process which shut down all 23 nuclear power plants. Germany went all in on wind and solar but without realizing that they didn’t have much wind or sunshine. They followed this up with shutting down 15 coal plants with plans to shut down all by 2030. The big plan to replace nuclear with wind and solar fizzled out and was replaced instead with coal and Germany has lignite which is the dirtiest coal. Then the Ukraine War started and Germany shut down their access to Russian natural gas and had to start importing gas from the US and Qutar. The price of electricity in Germany is 46 cents per kwhr vs 17 cents in the US. The price of natural gas is four times higher than in the US. The result is that major industries like auto and chemical are reducing production and sometimes shutting down plants or relocating to other countries like the US. During Merkel’s term, the border was opened to 1.2 million immigrants which put a strain on social programs while at the same time the birth rate dropped and now, they face the problem of too many elderly and not enough young workers. The result is that Germany is entering its third straight year of recession. The most important thing that can turn things around is to end the war and bring back Russian natural gas. This same course of action was followed by the US but on a smaller scale. The US has now realized that wind and solar cannot replace fossil fuels and nuclear power is the way to deal with climate change.

HP

HP sells 850 million cartridges per year and the average prints 240 sheet. These sales bring in $1.7 billion dollars per year. When a new cartridge is installed, the instructions are to run a test sheet to align the paper and this results in using up 3.5 million cartridges and giving HP an additional $70 million in profit. I have used an HP printer for 20 years and have never run the test sheet. Maybe

Stats

During the campaign, the government often suggested that the economy was better than the people thought and the reason was the government did not explain things in a way that people could properly understand. In other words, it was the messaging not the policy. They were satisfied with this explanation and failed to look elsewhere. Since the election government statistics have come under scrutiny and some flaws have been uncovered in the way stats are reported. Unemployment is one case. The figure reported in November 2024 was 4.2%. Employed included homeless who occasionally worked. The biggest group were people who worked part time because they could not find full time work and this included people who earned less than $25,000 per year. If all of these had been included the unemployment rate would be 24%. These are reasons why the governments way of calculating unemployment needs to be refined to give a more accurate picture. The same is true with wages. Weekly earnings track full time and excludes part time. The average was $61,900 but if you track everyone the average is $52,300 which is 16% less. They count the part time worker in one stat but not in the other. This tends to give misleading results.

Waste

The current disagreement between the democrats and Musk is a tale of two cities. The democrats are correct in their legal interpretation of what Musk is doing but they are losing the battle of public opinion. When people see waste and fraud, they don’t care about the legal approach to correct things, they just see waste. The normal way to deal with waste is to go through congress where they will set up a committee to study the issue and a year later it will be lost in the bureaucracy and in time forgotten. That is why every president for 50 years has promised to get rid of the fat but none have succeeded. The only reason this time has a chance is Trump is using someone outside of government. The same thing would be necessary in private business. They would hire an outside consultant to come in and evaluate. This outsider would identify problem areas but it would be up to the company to follow up with the recommended changes.

Trucks

There is a lot of speculation regarding tariffs. One way to understand the effect is to look to the past. Lynden Johnson put a 25% tariff on all pickup trucks. What has been the effect? 60% of all Toyota pickups are made in the USA. This allows them to escape the tariff. Sales of pickups in the US reached 3 million and only 7,000 were imported. It appears that tariffs among other factors had an effect on imports.

Coal2

One of the ways the US is helping reduce carbon emissions is by exporting natural gas. The US is currently building new export facilities in five locations around the Gulf. Biden stopped construction on these projects saying he was concerned about climate change but Trump has started them up again. The US currently operates 7 export facilities and this will increase to 12. Natural gas exports have doubled since 2000 and will continue to rise as these new facilities come on board. In most places natural gas new plants prefer natural gas over coal but the only long-term solution

Gaza

Trump’s proposed settlement in Gaza has met with opposition groups who maintain that the Palestinians should be allowed to remain in Gaza. This war-torn area where most structures are destroyed and many that are still standing are unsafe. There is no food, water, medicine or the infrastructure to house the people. They will need outside help but no plans have been presented. For two years an estimated 12 million people in Sudan have been suffering with little to no relief. Here is a quote from the UN. “Children and women are continually abused, and the elderly and sick lack medical assistance,” he continued. “This is the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.” A look at history reveals the possible future for Gaza. When Israel was founded in 1948 the Arabs immediately invaded and were defeated. The same thing happened in the 1956 war, the 1967 war, the 1973 war, the 1982 Lebanon war, the Intifada 1987 to 1990, the second Intifada 2000-2005, the terror bombings in Israel resulting in the building of the wall around Israel followed up with sending rockets into Israel. This brief history says that it is only a matter of time until the net uprising happens and this is the proposed solution to the current situation. What are the specifics about Trump’s plan? Temporarily, two or three years, move the people to other Arab countries. Trump will negotiate with these countries like Saudi Arabia to accept the refugees. Using the foundation of the Abraham Accords the Arab Suni countries can be united to finance the rebuilding of Gaza. Israeli construction companies will rebuild using labor from Gaza. The Gazan people will return to a country that gives them a chance at a future not a future war. For those who don’t agree what is their plan.

Audio

What goes around comes around. I recently discovered audio books on Youtube. In talking around, I found out that many people knew this and many others listen on their phones. Next came my surprise when I learned about Podcast. Many people listen to various audio broadcast concerning a vast array of subjects and they have their favorites. It suddenly dawned on me that I was doing this long before most of these people were born. When I was young, we called it radio and now its back but in a different format.

Waters

I watched with great interest my heroine Maxine Waters challenged the gate keeper at the Department of Education. She’s 86 years old and still going strong. We old folks have to stick together.

Government

The situation that has developed with USAID is a textbook example of what happens all too often with government agencies. The congress or the president creates these groups and then fails to police their activities and the natural result of any group is to grow and expand. As a part of the budget process these agencies should undergo periodic audits to control the excesses now being exposed in USAID. This is how the bureaucracy got to the point where the EPA can save nature at the expense of people, how the FDA floods the market with drugs as the revolving door with Big Pharma swings open, how generals get jobs in the defense industry and on and on. Even the CIA got its comeuppance with the Church Committee in 1975 and is long overdo for another investigation. Even the FBI has lost its way as witnessed by the Russian collusion story. The whole of government needs a house cleaning.

Trade

Looking at the globalization that the US promoted from 1946 to the fall of the Soviet Union in 1990, two major changes occurred. First the manufacturing jobs for millions of working people were out sourced to foreign countries mainly China and second these same workers were rewarded with cheap consumer products like electronics. It this swap the workers were shorted. A worker in the steel industry saw his wages cut in half as his benefits disappeared when the mills closed and in return he was rewarded with cheap TV’s and refrigerators. This process is now being reversed and the industrial jobs are coming back home in what is called reshoring. This will cause wages to rise and lead to inflation but the hope is that wage increases will stay ahead of the cost of living which was the case in the 1950’s, before the global world arrived. The idea of free and fair trade became free trade when China used government subsidies to lower the price of steel below production cost and flooded the world with cheap steel. This caused many steel companies to go out of business. The same thing happened in other industries such as textiles and appliances. The US is now demanding fair trade by adding tariffs to countries who have tariffs on US products. Case in point. For years Europe has charged 10% on US auto import while the US charged Europe only 2.5% on imports. This is now changed to 10% to be fair. This same process will apply to all countries who have unfair taxes on US imports.

Musk kids

Trump has come under fire for allowing Musk and his 6 young people to look for waste in the government. Some of the complaints center around the age of the investigators and this seems a little unfair. These people are ages 19 to 24. Keep in mind that Musk founded Zip2 at age 24 and sold it for $300 million. Zuckerberg founded Face Book at age 19. Jobs founded Apple at age 21 and Gates founded Microsoft at age 20. There may be legitimate reasons for complaining about Musk looking into government waste but the age of the investigators is not one of them.

Change

For too many democrats there is a knee jerk reaction to be opposed to anything that Trump suggest and it is getting them in trouble. Trump is on the 80 side of most 80/20 issues and this puts the dems on the 20 side. The one theme that is more powerful that make America great again is common sense. How can you be against common sense? They need to pick their battles to be more effective. When emotions rule it is difficult to analyze and decisions are made without fore thought. The defenders of the bureaucracy want to maintain the old ways of doing things but the citizens voted for change. Most of the democrats agree that the voters want change but not the kind of change that Trump proposes. They want to tinker around the edges, set up committees and propose long term improvements which in the end amount to very little change. The introduction to the outside influence of DOGE is throwing a monkey wrench into the gears of government and the dems don’t want that, because this is an unknown force which may actually result is significant change.

Voters

As Trump begins his battle to investigate the various parts of government in an attempt to get rid of waste, fraud and abuse the establishment is rebelling and his chances of making any lasting changes are slim to none. This is based on the 1984 election promise to get rid of the departments of Energy and Education. Reagan won 49 states with 525 electoral votes and a popular vote of 54,455,472 vs 37,577,352. His 525 electoral votes were the largest in history but he could not budge the status quo and the Energy and Education are still around contrary to what the people wanted.

Wars

As people look at the Ukraine War they should evaluate the situation in Afghanistan and Iraq our two most recent military adventures. The U.S. spent $2.3 trillion on the war in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2022. This cost does not include: Lifetime care for veterans and the death of American soldiers. Interest payments on borrowed money Deaths of private contractors Deaths of foreign workers for U.S. contracting firms The country remains under the control of the same groups that were there at the start but now they have billions of dollars of US military equipment. The Iraq War from 2003 to 2011 cost a total of $3 trillion dollars 1,127 adults were polled nationwide, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3%. Thirty percent of those polled said the invasion of Iraq was worth the American casualties and other costs, while 63% said the war was not worth it. In less that three years the US has spent $175 billion on Ukraine. Is the country headed for another ten or twenty years of war? These trillions are used to build the munitions of war while domestic needs go unmet. When will the people who are always concerned about the poor and the homeless in America demand an end to these endless wars? Polls show that support for this war has dropped from 66% at the start to 48% today.

Schools

The German primary education system has a student teacher ratio of about 13 which is similar to the US but the US would have twice as many staff employees. The cost per student in Germany is $10,000 as compared to the $17,000 in the US. The difference is in the non-teaching staff. America's K-12 public education system has experienced tremendous historical growth in employment, according to the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics. Between fiscal year (FY) 1950 and FY 2009, the number of K-12 public school students in the United States increased by 96 percent, while the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) school employees grew 386 percent. Public schools grew staffing at a rate four times faster than the increase in students over that time period. Of those personnel, teachers' numbers increased 252 percent, while administrators and other non-teaching staff experienced growth of 702 percent, more than seven times the increase in students. In 2000 US and German students age 15 were performing at the same level but by 2012 German 15-year olds were out scoring US students by more than a year’s worth of learning scoring significantly higher in reading, math and science. US primary schools have a large number of non-teaching staff due to a combination of factors including the growing need for specialized support for students with special needs, increased focus on student wellbeing and safety, complex administrative requirements, and the expansion of services like food services and healthcare within the school environment, leading to a need for additional staff to manage these areas beyond classroom instruction. One notable difference is that Extracurricular activities, such as sports and clubs, are not organized by the school but instead by parents and community groups. Schools do not compete against one another in sports.

Equity

With the Super Bowl on the horizon the subject of racism has reared its ugly head. The complaint is that while 54% of the players are Black only nine of the 32 head coaches are Black. This is the concept of equity at play but if it were carried through it would mean that 80% of the Black players would have to be replaced with White, Hispanic, Asian or other players. Going further 70% of NBA players are Black and 99% of pro golfers are White. Equity demands a lot of changes.

Unity

Just as the three parts of government offer checks and balances so is it the case with two strong political parties checking the power of one another. Right now, the democratic party is in a weakened position and must regain their footing for the benefit of the country. They find themselves on the unpopular side of too many issues and seem unwilling to reconsider their positions. Here are some no’s. No men in women’s sports, locker rooms or bathrooms. No drag queens in elementary schools. No gender surgery on minors. Here are some yeses. Secure borders. Deporting criminal migrants. Safe neighborhoods. Bringing jobs home. Cash bail on felons. Waste and fraud out of government. Some ways that both parties can agree Close the education gap. Close the income/wealth gap. Secure the peace in Ukraine.

Japan

Japan is one of a number of countries facing a demographic problem. They have too many elderly and too few young people. It is the group between ages 18 and 50 that are the workers and consumers and Japan is short on both. In order to solve the problem Japan has made the decision to produce and sell products in the US and send the profits home to care for their retirees. In 2023 Japan built 3.7 million cars in the US. Japanese-brand automakers have been a leader in US manufacturing employment growth, with direct employment growing by more than 32% since 2012. In 2021, Japanese companies employed 533,100 people in the United States, which was the highest number ever recorded. This was an 84.2% increase from 2010. Other countries will be following this path since they want access to the big US market and this way, they can avoid tariffs. This is in addition to the reshoring of American jobs and all categories.

Homes

Institutional investors like big banks started buying single family homes to rent but they are now selling. The rise in property taxes and insurance have caused these investments to lose their shine. They expect the price of homes to drop and their selling will bring that about. It is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Many like Blackstone are selling at a loss and this is expected to continue. Even the most sophisticated investors can sometimes misjudge the market. This will be welcome news for young people who are trying to become first time home buyers

Fast train

The high-speed rail line between San Franscico and LA has come under scrutiny in recent weeks. The problem is the cost overrun and delay caused by “we got the cart before the horse”. “It got federal monies to start in a specific location and those dollars had to be spent under an unrealistic timeline,” he said. “The authority wanted to advance work to keep the federal dollars which was understandable, but in so doing, it got into construction before some of the pre-construction activities were done.” The voters approved $33 billion for the project in 2008 and to date $128 billion has been spent and the line has completed 120 miles of the expected 600-mile project. This same thing is happening across the country with electric cars. The government is demanding that people buy EV’s and the charging stations are not built and even if they were the grid could not handle the load. In both of these cases there was a serious problem of not planning ahead.

Gaza rebuild

Trump has once again awakened the world with his remarks on Gaza. His plan is to move the people out to Egypt, Jorden and other safe Arab countries while Gaza is cleaned up and made safe for redevelopment. Then getting the oil rich Arab countries to pay for the reconstruction which will be handled by Israeli construction companies and Palestinian labor. It will cost about $5 billion dollars to build a city of 500,000 people and since there are 2.5 million living there the total cost would be $25 billion. Nanhui New City is a planned city in Shanghai, China that was designed to house 800,000 people. Construction began in 2003 and is scheduled to be completed in 2020, with the German architecture company Gerkan, Marg and Partners leading the project. The project is estimated to have cost $4.5 billion. The city is aimed to house 450,000 to 800,000 residents while attracting 10 million annual tourists Since this was 2003 dollars the cost to rebuild Gaza today would be $75 billion. If the Arab countries increase oil production by one million barrels per day, they could pay for the project in 1,000 days. It would take that long for the rebuilding. Like so many of Trump’s ideas, this was met with exasperation and cries of disbelief and in time when the dust settles people will evaluate and see the logic. Many people for years have talked about the potential for tourism in Gaza. Palestinians are noted for being good small business people and would thrive given the opportunity.

USAID

The name Samantha Powers, is in the news because she was in charge of the USAID but many recall that she along with Hillary Clinton and Susan Rice who convinced President Obama to overthrow Qaddafi in Libya. Five years later Obama admitted that intervening in Libya was his worst mistake. The three women convinced him by saying the US made a mistake by not intervening in Rwanda and they could not let that happen again. Under the guise of humanitarian intervention, they planned Regime change. The Washington Post reports that a troika of female advisers–Hillary Clinton, Susan Rice, and Samantha Power–are, by and large, responsible for persuading President Obama– against the advice of Robert Gates and other members of the military establishment–that bombing Libya is a good idea. Power has condemned American foreign policy for failing to intervene sufficiently to avert genocidal wars, particularly in Bosnia and Rwanda. Bill Clinton has himself said that his biggest regret was not intervening in Rwanda to stop the carnage. The “responsibility to protect” was the name given to this doctrine of intervention. In retrospect, Obama’s intervention in Libya was an abject failure as it not only did not evolve into a democracy but became a failed state where both al-Qaida and ISIS were given a safe haven to grow and develop. “Rather than helping the United States combat terrorism, as Gadhafi did during his last decade in power, Libya [began to serve] as a safe haven for militias affiliated with both al-Qaida and the Islamic State of Iraq (ISIS). The Libya intervention has harmed other U.S. interests as well: undermining nuclear nonproliferation, chilling Russian cooperation at the U.N., and fueling Syria’s civil war.”

USAID

• As the investigation into USAID continues, many hard to explain programs are being exposed. Here is one. $6 million to fund tourism in Egypt. This brings up several questions. All money goes to a person. Who gets this money. Who authorized the spending. What connection did this person have with Egypt. What position does this person hold. Is there any reason why this person would object to an audit. This has been going on under the radar for many years and now USAID is objecting to being asked to show their books. This whole thing does not pass the smell test.

Education

According to available research, the test score gap in education, particularly the racial achievement gap between Black and White students, has been present for over two centuries, with significant data showing its existence since at least the early 1970s when consistent standardized testing began to be widely used; the "Coleman Report" in the 1960s highlighted this gap significantly, revealing a large disparity in achievement between Black and White students in the United States. In 1979 the Department of Education was formed in part to tackle the gap problem. It has not helped and perhaps it is time to try something new. Teacher unions have been around since 1857 and while it has made significant progress for teachers it has not helped lower gap. The poor performance of Black students has contributed to the high crime rates among Blacks. Over the years reasons for this gap have come forth but the gap remains.

Gaza Ukraine

Over the past year I felt that Trump had two plans for the current wars in Ukraine and Gaza. He would first back Israel all the way to destroying Hamas. Second, he would convince the oil rich Arab countries to provide the financing to rebuild Gaza using Israeli contractors and Palestinian workers. Yesterday he announced the plan with the additional idea of moving all Palestinians out of Gaza to local Arab countries while the rebuilding was going on and then allowing them to return. Families cannot go into Gaza now because there is no infrastructure. Without water the people would have to defecate in the streets and this would lead to breakouts of cholera and dysentery. Without electric power the people could not cook their food or keep warm. It would be inhumane to allow these people back into this war-torn area. In regards to Ukraine. He will bring about a peaceful end to the war by offering Putin the Russian speaking Donbas region along with Crimea in return for Russia pulling out and a guarantee that Ukraine will not be invited to join NATO. If Russia refused, he would send enough military equipment to defeat the Russian army. If Ukraine refused, he would cut off all US aid to Ukraine. The Europeans will finance the rebuilding using NATO contractors and Ukrainian workers. This will open the door for Russia to join the West in trade and commerce while allowing Russian natural gas for Europe which will revitalize the European economy which is currently in recession. Grain will once again flow to countries around the world,

USAID

The USAID budget for 2023 was $40 billion. This agency was founded in 1962. It was created by congress but there has been little oversight into how the money was spent and thus each year the allocation of funds was increased. Humanitarian and economic development assistance has long been an important component of U.S. global security strategy. Since 1962, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has managed more than $273 billion in such assistance. In fiscal year 2003, USAID estimates that it will obligate about $13 billion for assistance programs in almost 160 countries. The US with 4.2% of the world’s population provides 40% of the world’s humanitarian aid. The USAID budget increased from $13 billion in 2003 to $40 billion in 2023 and that represents a 5.7% annual increase but during these years the inflation rate increased only 2.5%. This would be expected in an agency that does not have appropriate over sight. It is estimated that there are 32,000 homeless veterans in the US. It cost $5 million dollars to build a 16-bed health facility to care for people with mental illness or addiction. It would require 2,000 such clinics to house the vets and this would cost $10 billion dollar to construct and $2 billion per year to operate. Under the concept of America First maybe this would be considered humanitarian aid.

Change

The liberals of old would say something to the effect of, I may disagree with what you say but I will defend your right to say it but the new liberals say I will defend your right to free speech but. And then they add the latest conceived threat often referred to as misinformation. If that is the new standard then the big question is who decides what is misinformation. Who checks the fact checkers. In matters of legality, we have the law. In matters of morality, we have community standards or religious books or the thoughts of philosophers. In matters of everyday words and activities we must rely on common sense. The old adage if it sounds to good to be true, it probably isn’t. In this new age of information individuals are going to be forced to become their own interpreters of truth. When new information is forthcoming people will learn to adjust their thinking accordingly. Those who develop their opinions on emotion will find it difficult to change when situations change. Change normally occurs over time. This happened during the Vietnam War. Most of the public were in favor of saving South Vietnam from the communist threat but as time past more and more began to see things differently and they changed. The same thing is happening today in regards to Ukraine. Sometimes things can change abruptly. If today the government decided to send US ground troops to Ukraine the antiwar sentiment would spike. They would forget all about the threat of Russia taking over Europe.

USAID

A new kid has appeared on the block and it is called United States Agency for International Development (USAID) or US aid for short. In 2023, Washington disbursed $72 billion in foreign aid across nearly 180 countries. With its 10,000 employee and 65 years of handing out benefits to people around the world, it is time for a serious review of what is happening within the organization. This is in line with the other worldwide programs like the UN and WHO where the US is footing the bulk of the cost. The US provides 40% of all the money the world spends on humanitarian aid thru the USAID program. Much of this money goes directly to other governments and last year that was $60 million. Based on other experiences in handing out money to foreign government there is the possibility of misuse. Non-Governmental Agencies (NGO’s) received $5.7 billion. These are groups like Catholic Charities and World Vision. Trump has asked for a pause in the USAID to investigate how this money is handled. This would be in line with the America First approach to government.

Drugs

The current push to bring business home as suggested in Trump’s mantra, Make America Great Again and Biden’s America First, should place special emphasis on drugs. China, India, and Mexico accounted for 57% of all pharmaceutical imports by weight in 2021. Over the past decade to 2021, pharmaceutical imports have nearly doubled (increased by 89%) and increased by a factor of six in the past twenty years. Jan 9, 2023 Pharmaceuticals require serious quality control and the US consumer has little to no idea on how and where these drugs are produced. In a relatively short period of time, we saw scares from imported deadly pet food, toys made with lead paint, milk laced with melamine, poisonous toothpaste, and tainted heparin (a blood product). Bringing drug production home to the US should be a top priority.

Buy American

One of the goals of the Trump administration is to bring manufacturing jobs back home. One way to do this is to lower taxes on companies who make and sell products in the US. Another is to put a tax on imported products. This will raise the price to the consumer on these products and thus make US products more competitive. Here is one example. In October 2024 United States' Refrigerators exports accounted up to $219M and imports accounted up to $1.14B, resulting in a negative trade balance of $921M Although not all materials are sourced from the U.S., Maytag still has some fridges designed, engineered, and assembled in Amana, Iowa Here is a comparison between a Maytag 22 cu ft stainless bottom freezer made in America costing $1,498 and an imported LG the same size in stainless for $1,298 or $200 cheaper than the US product. Now add a 25% tariff and the LG cost $1,622 which is $124 more expensive than the Maytag. This will encourage Americans to buy America. This promotes the Biden law. The goal of “Buy American” is to bolster domestic manufacturing and employment. “Buy America” is a provision of U.S. law that applies to only federal transportation funding.Feb 28, 2023 This is a bi partisan effort to promote Buy American

Nuclear power

Nuclear stocks like Constellation Energy and Oklo are on the rise as companies like Google, Amazon and Microsoft gear up nuclear power for their data centers. Much of the proposed $500 billion investment from Oracle, SoftBank and OpenAI will go to help companies building new data centers. These centers need large amounts of electric power and they need it 24/7 so wind and solar will not do the job. The grid cannot support this much power without risking black outs to local communities, so the only other available source is small nuclear units built on site. Most of the new AI construction will be in Texas because of lower taxes. Over the past year, the biggest story in the U.S. power sector has been the massive and looming increase in demand for electricity, most of it driven by data centers that companies like Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft are planning to build to serve their gigantic AI ambitions. While waiting for small nuclear plants to come on line, these data centers will rely on reopening coal plants. This will create more pressure on developing nuclear.

Pollution

While Americans demand clean air and water and safe working conditions, many of these same Americans demand cheap products imported from China. Even things like oil from countries around the world are dirty compared to what the US produces. One of the best ways to clean up the environment is for the US to export more goods including oil. In China: Air pollution is responsible for about 2 million deaths in China per year. Of those deaths, ambient air pollution alone caused more than 1 million deaths. China's water pollution is a serious issue that affects the health of millions of people. The pollution is caused by a combination of factors, including industrialization, urbanization, and inadequate infrastructure. In China, coal remains a significant source of energy, with around 56-60% of the country's primary energy consumption coming from coal, Institutionalized Oppression: Forced Labor Programs Targeting Uyghurs and Other Minorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China

Working people

Trump is using tariffs to allow American companies to be more competitive and bring back manufacturing to the US. Despite being a leading driver of employment growth for decades, manufacturing has shed employment over the past 40 years as the U.S. economy has shifted to service-providing industries. In June 1979, manufacturing employment reached an all-time peak of 19.6 million. In June 2019, employment was at 12.8 million, down 6.7 million or 35 perce¬nt from the all-time peak Industries most affected are textiles, furniture, appliances, consumer electronics and machine tools. While the elected officials were saying they were on the side of the working people and unions they encouraged the off shoring of jobs to the benefit of the large corporations and Wall Street bankers. The wealth gap widened as good paying union jobs went overseas. Tariffs will raise the price of imports and make products produced here in America more competitive and this will re industrialize made in America. Many of these imports come from countries where child labor laws are not enforced, where the environment is being destroyed and working conditions are not safe. The irony is that many of the same people who oppose tariffs also demand safe working conditions and clean air and water.

Only in America

Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, met with Trump yesterday. He is the typical only in America success. The son of Taiwanese American immigrants, he spent his childhood in Taiwan and Thailand before moving to the US where he was a student in Kentucky and Oregon. At the age of nine he was sent to live with his uncle in the US. He quickly learned to speak English and during his teen years he worked the night shift as a busboy and graduated with honors from high school. In 1984 he graduated from Oregon State University at the age of 20 with a BA in Electrical Engineering and later received a masters from Standford. In 1992 he met with two others at a Denny’s to found a new company to make microchips. They scraped together $600 to pay a lawyer to form their company. They secured some venture capital and they were on their way. In 1993 the three co-founders named their company Nvidia and they had no idea what to do. Huang later said it was much harder that he expected and knowing what they were in for he probably would not have gone ahead. After many things went wrong, they finally got going and Huang became CEO. In 1997 the company was down to having only enough money for one month’s payroll and they developed their company motto,” Our company is thirty days from going out of business”. However, Huang regards the "pain and suffering" of Nvidia's early years as essential to the company's success in later years, because it forced him to become a better leader. In the last two years the company stock has increased from $14 to $140. Huang is worth $100 billion dollars today.