Peace

In normal times history moves at a slow pace but since the attack on Israel by Hamas on October 7, 2023 things have happened at warp speed. First off Israel retaliated by invading Gaza. Second, they used exploding cell phones to take out the leadership of Hezbollah, and third they destroyed the left-over military equipment that remained in Syria. This then allowed Israel to fly over Syria unopposed which allowed them to achieve air superiority over all four areas, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Iran. When Israel attacked Iran neither Russia or China came to their aide destroying the threat of the axis against the US which was supposed to be a joining of Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. In less than two years Israel has gone from a country surrounded by enemies where Israel was on the defense to a country that is now on the offence and in control of its former enemies. The news about Iran rebuilding their nuclear facilities is counter balanced by Israel’s ability to quickly destroy any perceived threat. This opens the door to the possibility of major changes in the Middle East. If Saudi Arabia joins the Abraham Accords it will allow the oil rich Arab countries to join with Egypt and Jorden in relations with Israel and the long awaited peace may arrive.

Racism

Racism is still around in America but in certain ways it is not discussed. One area is eugenics. This is tinkering with the human genome to produce only acceptable offspring avoiding those considered inferior. Eugenics was used in the early 20th century to limit the number of Blacks. While this practice never gained much traction, it was later introduced under a different name. In 1973, abortion was legalized in the US and this led to 63 million abortions. While Black women represent only 7% of the population, they had 40% of the abortions, which was in fact, the goal of eugenics. Another example is social security. A Black man starting social security at age 62 will collect on average 15 years, while a White female starting at age 62 will collect for 23 years.

Socialist

Two of the biggest problems in the US are the wealth and income gap and the education gap. The new controversial NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is tackling the wealth gap. Here are his policies and they represent a reasonable approach to closing the gap. It is basically a income redistribution plan or the pejorative tax and spend plan. Freezing rents and constructing new low-income housing Free public transportation Increase public safety by building mental health facilities City owned grocery stores Free childcare up to age 6 Equal distribution of funds to city schools Increase taxes on rich and raising the state corporate tax to 11% Resist and respond to Trump policies Minimum wage to $30

Iran enrichment

Here is a quote from google AI: There is no definitive consensus that Iran is currently building a nuclear bomb, but its nuclear program has significantly advanced and is a source of international concern. Here are some recent news reports. Iran possesses uranium enriched to 60%. This level of enrichment is a significant step towards weapons-grade uranium, which is typically enriched to 90% Uranium used for nuclear power plants is enriched from .7% to 3.5%. Under the terms of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), to which Iran is a party, Iran has the right to develop and use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes without discrimination. Iran has 3,000 centrifuges underground.

Criminals

It appears that sanctuary cities in the US are using tactics similar to what Hamas used in Gaza. Recall that Hamas fighters intermingled with the general population to make it difficult for Israel to kill them without killing innocent civilians. The mayors of sanctuary cities, instead of holding convicted migrant criminals in jail and turning them over to ICE, have chosen to release them into the general public, to make it difficult for ICE to arrest convicted criminals, without arresting migrants without criminal records. This thwarts the plan to go after convicted criminals first. It is a very effective strategy. Only five percent of the estimated 10 million illegals that came in under Biden are considered convicted criminals and it appears that five percent of those arrested are convicted criminals. This is what is expected in random arrest. According to Pew Research: U.S. adults who say some immigrants living in the country illegally should be deported have varying views of who should be removed. Nearly all (97%) support deporting those who have committed violent crimes. In FY23, ICE arrested 73,822 noncitizens with criminal histories, including charges and convictions for assaults, sex and sexual assaults, weapons offenses, homicides, and kidnapping offenses. More than 13,000 immigrants convicted of homicide are living outside of ICE detention in the U.S. A reasonable approach would be to deport criminal migrants, then simultaneously find the 300,000 missing migrant children while and setting up work permits for the non-criminal migrants.

Europe

In the news today the European Countries have agreed to increase their defense spending which means they will not have to rely on the US for their protection. In 2023 with a population similar to that of the US they spent $280 billion on defense while the US spent $750 billion. At this point it is only talk but if this comes to fruition it can mean substantial saving for the US.

Citizens

For several months the word oligarch was championed as representing the Trump administration but after the falling out with Musk the word fell out of usage. The idea was that republicans were using wealthy people to buy elections but the facts tell a different story. In the 2020 election the Democrats raised $2.9 billion while the Republicans took in $1.8 billion. Who did the oligarchs support? 83 billionaires gave to the Democrats and 52 backed Republicans. When the Court approved Citizens United by saying the money was speech, the Democrats said this would skew elections but the results favored the Dems.

NYC

The surprise victory by Democratic Socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani portends the distribution of wealth for the city. This will portray NYC as a smaller version of California. In California the rich people, mostly from Silicon Valley, represent .5% of the population and they pay 40% of the taxes. In NYC the new mayor will go after the rich on Wall Street to pay for increased social benefits for the not so rich. This transfer of wealth is an honorable goal but all too often results in money going in to unexpected areas. This is known as waste and fraud. One example surfaced during the last mayor when over one billion dollars were assigned to the mayor’s wife in a program called ThriveNYC and much of the money was left in limbo. ThriveNYC was accused of having an "opaque budget" and "elusive metrics" In March of 2019, after four years as mayor, nearly $850 million was unaccounted for Mamdani has said he will fund his promised services by raising an extra $10 billion in city revenue by raising taxes on corporations and the top 1% wealthiest New Yorkers. This is one way to close the wealth and income gap. Let’s see how it works.

The Constitution

The constitution is enforced by the separation of powers which offers checks and balances between the supreme court, the president and the congress. Recently this has come under question as a number of lower court judges have stopped the presidents’ executive actions. Yesterday the Supreme Court overruled a lower court decision to stop third country deportations. Before that the Court reversed the lower court on deportations to safe countries and earlier the Court ended temporary protection status and pausing humanitarian programs. Before that the Court stepped in on federal employee firings, teacher training grants and DOGE access to records. Some of these cases are regarding to temporary restraining orders and may require further rulings but they are road blocks to presidential power. There are more than 1,000 judges who could be issuing injunctions against the president and some scholars express concern that this kind of activity, if it continues, could tie up the president in the courts much like happened in Trumps first term. The country is already stymied by gridlock and this will pit the president against the federal courts. If the 2026 elections put the democrats back in control of the house, then the congress will be investigating the president on a continuous basis and the whole government will be brought to a standstill. For many who are anti government this will be acceptable.

Bomb

Natural uranium ore is only .7% U235 and this needs to be enriched to 90% to make a bomb. The enrichment process is not linear since it takes more time to enrich from .7% to 5% than it does to enrich from 5% to 90%. This is why Iran with 60% enriched Uranium is close to what is needed for a bomb.

Women

Over the past three hundred years the world has seen the industrial revolution, the communication revolution and now the information revolution but in the mean while the women’s revolution has been ongoing without much fanfare. The progress made by women during these years is nothing less than phenomenal and most of their gains have occurred in the past one hundred years beginning with the right to vote in 2020. Last year 54% of all PhD’s were granted to women. Fifty years ago, there were ten women in congress and today there are 150. While this trend continues in many areas, one of the most noticeable is the number of women in the health field. This is progress but much more is needed as the revolution

Iran

Across three decades and six presidential administrations, Democratic and Republican alike, one national security principle has never changed: The United States will not allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon. The use of military force to carry out this pledge has been pushed down the road until now. What lies ahead is unknown.

Propaganda

Propaganda is the dissemination of information, often biased or misleading, to promote a specific agenda or viewpoint. It aims to influence opinions, beliefs, or behaviors by appealing to emotions and potentially distorting facts. This is a good definition of what the news is today. In a typical broadcast the moderator interviews two opposing opinions which means hearing two sets of propaganda. This is much easier and cheaper than asking a reporter to go out and dig up the facts, then digest these facts and then presenting them. What the viewer is not aware of is that these experts offering their opinions have been influenced, either knowingly or unknowingly, by powerful self interest groups. These groups often spend lots of money to promote their interest. One obvious group are the lobbyist while others are corporate manipulators. Back in the 50’s there were reporters like Robert Novak or Rowland Evans who focused on digging out the story behind the story. Focus on Scoops and News: Novak, along with his writing partner Rowland Evans, made it their goal to include a piece of breaking news in every column, a practice uncommon among most contemporary op-ed writers. Shoe Leather" Reporting: He was known for his dedication to traditional investigative journalism, often relying on his own detailed research and reporting rather than just opinion or analysis. The key phrase here is, “Shoe Leather”. This requires a lot of work and dedication whereas just interviewing experts is the easy way out. The public is thus left with the choice of which expert to believe. All too often experts lack the common sense that most people acquire through the school of hard knocks. Book smart is deemed more important than street smart or people smart. The longer one lives the more it becomes clear that book smart is not enough.

Trump Iran

There are two cliches on a collision course but with the proper handling can be resolved. The first, says regarding regime change, if you break it, you own it. This is in reference to what happened in Afghanistan. The world demanded that since the US went in, they were obligated to fix things. The second is that those who fail to understand history will repeat past mistakes. The situation in Iran will be different because of Trump. If Trump choses to take out the nuclear program and the regime responds by attacking US facilities in the area or even using terrorism within the US, Trump will respond by using air strikes but he will not send in US troops. If the regime is overthrown and chaos breaks out in Iran, Trump will not send in US ground troops. If Iran turns into a civil war or if terror groups set up business in Iran, Trump will not send in US troops. That is the difference between Iran in 2025 and Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq. There will be no nation building. There will be no Americans on the ground trying to democratize the country. The US has learned from past wars that it is futile to try and rebuild by trying to make some other country into a new USA.

Courts

Under current law a single federal judge can stop the president. The Supreme Court is reviewing this. Federal Court System: The U.S. judicial system includes district courts (trial courts), where a single federal judge often hears cases. These judges have the power to: Issue injunctions (orders to stop an action), Declare actions unconstitutional, and Temporarily block executive orders or regulations while a case is being reviewed. There have been many recent examples of this and the Supreme Court stepped in to reverse the lower courts. Since 2007 the court has reversed decisions 71.3% of the time. Even though this seems inefficient the court will likely keep the system as it is.

Iran decision

Because Trump is president, the news is focusing on his decisions about Iran but both parties are concerned. While many Democrats quickly condemned conservative Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for launching Israel’s assault on Thursday night, many others hailed the decision as a necessary step to put a halt to Tehran’s nuclear expansion. The majority of both parties agree that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon and that there should be a diplomatic resolution to the problem. Neither of these positions requires any courage. Almost everyone agrees in any situation that a peaceful settlement is better than war. The latest push against war is that congress must decide. This means no decision will be made as 535 people with different opinions hash it out. This is the easy way out for Trump. He can let congress decide. Most will quietly wait for Trump to take action and then Monday morning quarterback the results. As Truman said, the buck stops here.

Iran

The situation in Iran is coming to a head. Ever since the country became a theocracy after the 1979 revolution, the drum beat from Iran has been to slay the great Satan, the USA and the lesser Satan Israel. They have publicly announced many times over the years that their goal is to destroy Israel and the US. As Israel winds down the war and Iran is defeated the big question is then what. If the nuclear threat is eliminated but the country’s ideology remains, it is just a matter of time before they start once again on their journey to, as they say, wipe Israel off the map. Some say this can be minimized by having complete and open inspections but in the past this sort of thing has been eroded by various political maneuvers. Others say to promote a regime change but this leaves the door open to the unknown. When the Shah was removed in 1979 the country became the theocracy it is today. A new government may be worse. Some fear, that if the government is removed, the resulting chaos will allow terror groups to develop within the country, much like happened in Afghanistan after the USSR left. The point is that regardless of what path is chosen there are risk. What should be considered first and foremost is the path that least involves the US. Right now, that looks like destroying the nuclear infrastructure and then eliminating the existing government and then closely monitoring the aftermath. The Shah’s government could have been successful if it were not for the corruption. The US knew of this corruption for years but took no action to intervene. It was easier to kick the can down the road until the people finally rose up and the Shah fled.

SALT

The argument going on in congress regarding the State and Local Tax Deduction (SALT) has a misleading past. Prior to 2018 the SALT was offset by the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). The Trump tax cuts of 2017 removed the AMT and placed a $10,000 limit on SALT. This allowed wealthy people to once again deduct their state and local tax but only up to $10,000. The house bill raised this to $40,000 with a phase out for people with incomes over $500,000. The senate version keeps the SALT limit at $10,000. The SALT benefits a small number of rich people since they pay the highest state income tax and 90% of tax payers use the standard deduction which means the SALT does not affect them.

Iran money

Obama released $100 billion in Iranian frozen assets and then sent $1.7 billion in cash. Biden unfroze $6 billion of Iranian funds. These were intended to get Iran to agree to a deal to stop its push for a nuclear bomb. No one knows what this money was used for but last week The UN-backed atomic watchdog passed a resolution on Thursday declaring that Iran is not complying with its obligations regarding nuclear non-proliferation. While there is no evidence that Iran used these funds to send weapons to Hezbollah some feel this was a strong possibility. It could be that these funds were not used but money is fungible.

SDI

As the world watches the anti-missiles knock down the missiles over the skies of Israel some recall how Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) was ridiculed and called Star Wars. The media: Various media outlets, including the New York Times, mocked SDI, with some labeling it as an expression of "anti-Communist paranoia" and a "convergence of political crisis and scientific hubris". Various media outlets, including the New York Times, mocked SDI, with some labeling it as an expression of "anti-Communist paranoia" and a "convergence of political crisis and scientific hubris".

US caretakers

As WW 2 came to a close, the US stepped up to rebuild Germany and Japan and today they are among the top economic powers in the world but the job did not end there. Up to and including today the US has been the protector of Europe and Japan with military bases around the world. The US disproportionally finances the defense of these countries along with the United Nations and NATO. It is the US pharmaceutical industry that provides the world with the latest medical miracles and US innovation leads to the technology of the future. In return these countries have put up trade barriers against US products. While the US is teeming with German and Japanese cars there are very few American cars in Europe or Japan. Both Japan and Germany are in decline because they have too many elderly and not enough working age people. The middle age group is not only the producers but the consumers and both countries need the US consumer to survive. Japan was the first to realize this and set an economy based on producing and selling products in the USA and using the profits to care for their older people. Europe will have to do the same and once again the US will be called upon to rescue the world. It will mean higher prices for the US consumer but they will, as always, stand up to the challenge.

ROE

Israel is fighting a war using the same limitations that the US used in recent wars. The US soldiers were to follow Rules of Engagement (ROE) which placed restrictions on their conduct. Israel is bombing nuclear and missile launching facilities while taking precaution to minimize civilian collateral damage. Iran is targeting civilians. For some this does not make sense, as they believe that if you are going to war, then go to win or don’t go. Veterans from Korea onward often talk about how they were limited by the ROE. In WW 2 the US deliberately bombed cities with the sole purpose of killing civilians. The idea was to win by demoralizing the people.

Platform

The democrats are losing the male vote especially the blue-collar workers. In an attempt to reverse the trend, the party has formed the Speaking with American Men (SAM) project. The $20 million dollar plan got rolling with a meeting at the Ritz-Carlson in wealthy Half Moon Bay. On the menu was short-rib tostones, mini lobster rolls, beef tenderloin and other expensive hors d’oeuvres. While this hardly relates to the working man the interesting thing discussed was how to be authentic. They were looking for a liberal leaning Joe Rogan. Developing authenticity starts with getting to know yourself better. Here's how you can do it: Spend time reflecting on your core values — the things that are most important to you in life. These might include qualities like honesty, creativity, or compassion. To do this the party will have to move away from dissing Trump and lay down a basic platform of ideas and how they will be implemented. They can then go on the offense promoting their plans to grow the economy.

Deportations

President Obama used an executive order to expand Expedited Removal and stopped illegal migrants at the border and turned them around. He also used this to deport illegal migrants in the country. In both cases this was done without the courts determining asylum status. The Trump administration continued the process but slowed the border crossings. Under President Biden border crossings rose to record levels and when Trump took over in his second term the crossings were brought down to almost zero. Shift from Judicial to Non-Judicial: The US deportation system has seen a shift over time, moving away from a predominantly judicial process (prior to 1996) to one with more non-judicial removals. U.S. immigration courts are facing a significant backlog, with TRAC reporting over 3.6 million open cases. This backlog leads to substantial delays in processing cases, with average wait times exceeding nearly 670 days. As of July 2024, there were 425,431 non-citizens with criminal convictions on ICE's "non-detained docket" - a database of people facing deportation proceedings but who are not held in ICE custody. Without using non-judicial methods these deportations will take many years.

Putin war

As the war in Ukraine drags on, Russia moves to a more powerful negotiating position. Right after the start of the war Putin was ready to accept a peace by guaranteeing that Ukraine would not be allowed to join NATO and keeping Crimea. As the war progressed Putin wanted the Donbas region along with the no NATO pledge. Today he wants both plus some say in how the new government will be organized. Meanwhile Ukraine is slowly being destroyed as their people flee the country while death and injury is inflicted on the soldiers.

Candidates

As democratic wannabe presidential candidates seek public attention, a common theme is evolving vary much in line with the Trump approach. Trump came on the scene as a political unknown and immediately set about getting his name in lights by making very politically incorrect statements. This kind of behavior lit up the clicks and places like Morning Joe would delight when Trump called. He was a laughing stock but in the end he got the last laugh. Recently Senator Chris Van Hollen went to El Salvador to interview a deported migrant. California Governor Gavin Newsom interviews conservatives on his pod cast then reverts back to the far-left defending protestors. Penn Senator Fetterman is pushing back on the left. Congresswoman Cortez is pushing the far-left ideas of Bernie Sanders. California Senator Alex Padilla interrupts a meeting by Christi Noem. It remains to be seen if they, like Trump, can hold on to their basic beliefs. Can they be pragmatic instead of ideological? Trump can be conservative on some issues and liberal on others and this is how most voters see the country.

GDP

When countries measure growth using GDP, they distort the lives of individuals. One easy way to raise GDP is to bring in immigrants. For example. In 2000 the GDP of Germany was $1.7 trillion but in 2024 it had risen to $5.7 trillion which signifies significant growth. However, when measuring GDP per capita a very different picture appears. The GDP per capita in 2000 was $59,000 and in 2024 it was $54,000. While the country grew at a solid rate, individual growth was stagnant. In the past 24 years Germany has brought in 23 million immigrants and the total population of the country is 80 million. Germany’s native population declined over these years while the immigrant population increased. The new immigrants did not have the skills to warrant higher wages and were far less productive than the native Germans. Just using GDP does not give an accurate picture of how the average person is living.

NATO

NATO was founded in 1949. NATO, or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, was formed to guarantee the freedom and security of its members through political and military means. Its primary purpose, especially during the Cold War, was to counter the perceived threat from the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact In 1991 both the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact collapsed and the need for NATO no longer existed. NATO has a budget of $4.7 billion and the US pays 16% even though there are 32 countries involved. In addition, the US supplies 38% of the troops. This is typical of government organizations. Once they are started it is difficult to stop them. Every time a budget item is cut, those who are affected scream the loudest and the squeaky wheel gets the oil. The same thing is happening as DOGE makes cuts in the US budget. Many people are unaware that Article 5 of the treaty obligates all NATO member to assist any member that is attacked. If Russia invaded Estonia the US would have to respond. Most Americans could not find Estonia on the map and yet the US may have to defend that country.

Motive

It is unwise to impugn motives based on what you think people mean. Terry Moran, a reporter for ABC, lost his job for saying that Steve Miller, a Trump advisor, was filled with hatred. It would have been more effective if the specifics that Moran objected to were revealed. While the specific actions or comments by Miller that Moran considered hateful are not detailed in the provided search results, the broader context of Moran's remarks suggests they relate to Miller's role as a key player in the Trump administration's immigration policies.

Deportations

On his first day in office President Biden, using executive order, dismantled the Trump immigration program. Later he attempted to codify the new rules using the US Citizenship Act but it failed to pass despite having control of both houses. During his four years in office his executive orders remained in effect and an estimated 10 million illegal migrants entered the country. Trump promised on the campaign trail this year to conduct a mass deportation of more than 13 million immigrants in the country illegally. Based on recent reports, Donald Trump's stated goal for deportations in his second administration is to deport all undocumented immigrants in the U.S. illegally, not just criminal migrants, according to Reuters. Once in office, Trump has targeted migrants with criminal records but since many sanctuary cities and states are releasing these accused criminals into the general public, many non-criminal migrants are being rounded up with the criminals.

Who goes to college

One of the outcomes of universities accepting students based on factors other than academic achievement, is the offering of remedial math classes where students learn algebra that was supposed to be taken in ninth grade. These learning deficiencies are not limited to math. College professors are reporting that their students are no longer capable of reading or writing the kinds of complex texts that used to be routine assignments. Although there are surely multiple reasons, it’s likely this has something to do with the way we’ve been trying to teach reading comprehension, beginning in elementary school. Harvard might be America’s most elite university — but now it’s offering remedial math classes. The school’s math department is providing a new scaled-back math class for freshmen who are apparently arriving on campus lacking “foundational skills” in high school math basics like geometry and algebra.

Deportations

The Trump administration is accused of deporting migrants before their asylum status has been adjudicated. They are deporting accused criminals without a hearing. The ACLU contends that all migrants are innocent until they have their day in court. ICE data from July 2024 showed 425,431 non-citizens with criminal convictions on its "non-detained docket," a database of those facing deportation proceedings but not in ICE custody. There are over one million migrants who have been adjudicated and found not eligible for asylum. Deportation Orders: An official familiar with internal government data stated in November 2023 that there were 1.3 million people with deportation orders, which includes individuals whose asylum claims have been denied. If these were ordered for deportation their supporters would claim they are people who have committed no crimes and merely what a chance for freedom. These things happened in the past without the mass protest of today. Expedited Removal: The Obama administration utilized expedited removal, a process that allows for rapid deportation without a hearing before an immigration judge. This gives the impression that this is not an immigration problem but rather a political problem. It appears that the standards change based on who is president.

Manufacturing jobs

In 1950 there were 13 million manufacturing jobs in the US and they peaked at 18.7 million in 1980. If this growth rate had continued there would have been 25 million today but that did not happen. Globalization caused these jobs to move oversea and today we have only 13 million or back to where the country was in 1950. This means a shortage of 12 million manufacturing jobs. Even worse is the fact that over these 45 years the country lost the skilled workers needed to maintain an industrial base.

Money

Senator Sanders and others keep saying that the rich have to pay their fair share but until recently what that means was not discussed. In December of last year Sanders said all income above one billion dollars should be taxed at 100%. This will bring in $260 billion per year assuming that the rich do not find ways to minimize their income above one billion. Currently the top one percent of earners pay 40% of all federal income tax. If all money over one billion is collect the top one percent would pay 50% of all income taxes. The bottom 50% pays 2%. His argument is that anyone should live comfortably on $999 million. Working people would look at this plan and say that one million is more appropriate because people should be able to live on $999,000 per year. Others say that before we start taking money from the billionaires, we should find out what they are doing with their riches. The answer is that they have the same four choices that everyone has. They can give it away, invest it, save it or spend it. It’s not likely that anyone would object to giving it away so that’s out. If they save or invest the money is used to provide loans to grow the economy so that’s not too bad. If they spend it that is where we get them. They don’t need four yachts or five homes or trips around the world twice per year. Perhaps it would be better to find ways to bring up the bottom instead of bringing down the top and there are many things that can accomplish that.

War

As the people read the reports concerning the Ukraine War, it is time to review the way the government reported on the Vietnam War. In 1971 the Pentagon Papers, a classified study of decision-making about Vietnam, were leaked and published. The explosive Papers showed that the US government had systematically lied about the reality that the US was losing the war. Even after this exposure, it still took four years to end the war. The power of the military industrial complex refused to end the gravy train of profits trading the lives of American soldiers to produce more weapons. Some suggest that the same groups are sacrificing the lives of Russian and Ukrainian soldiers. Just as happened in the Vietnam war, the American people are slowly tiring and in time will turn against the war. In the meantime, many more soldiers will die. It took 20 years to admit that Afghanistan was a mistake.

Delegation

Many people marvel at Trump’s unending energy and his ability to talk openly about a multitude of issues. The phase often heard is when does he sleep. Trump is a business man and operates as such. In a corporation the president sets the policy and all the vice-presidents carry out the policy. If they disagree with the policy, they may express their disagreements in private and if they cannot be resolved, they resign. Trump sees cabinet members as vice-presidents and demands they follow the policies that he lays out. Since he has trusted allies in the cabinet, he is comfortable in delegating responsibility to them on important issues. He then watches carefully and steps in when anyone deviates from his policy. As president he reports to the voters just as a company president reports to the stockholders. In Trump’s case he is not concerned with reelection so his main interest is leaving the country in better shape than he found it. How he does this should be challenged by the press.

Journalism

Jake Tapper, the author of the new best-selling book about President Bidens cognitive issues, was being interviewed on PBS and when asked what was the most important thing he learned from this experience, he responded by saying. I learned that you cannot trust what the people in power tell you. This is a man who has spent 30 years as a journalist and he is just finding out that people in power will lie to keep their power. The first day in journalism school all students are told that you cannot trust the government. The problem evolved overtime as the elite journalist started living together in Washington DC and they went to the same parties, their kids went to the same schools and in many cases, they intermarried politician to journalist. In order to maintain their status within the group they sacrificed their skepticism. In some weird and unexpected way, Trump may revitalize the journalism business by reawaking their responsibility to challenge the government at every junction. The past and recent history is replete with examples of government lies. One of the fundamental principals protecting the constitution is the free press. Over the years the press has slowly aligned itself with the democratic party and this is a threat to democracy. Hopefully recent events will remind them the both parties cannot be trusted.

Tax credits

One of the tax credits that would end under the new proposals is the $30,000 tax credit for installing solar panels in your home. This credit is nonrefundable meaning you must owe that much tax to deduct. Typically, you have to spend $60,000 to get the full credit. Most working people do not have the $60,000 and only a small percentage of tax payers owe enough tax to earn the credit. A married couple would have to earn $200,000 gross to owe $30,000 in tax and that eliminates 86% of taxpayers. Another advantage of installing solar panels is that the excess power produced is sold back to the power company which means the company must increase rates on the others to cover the cost. This benefit helps the rich at the expense of the poor. The $7,500 tax credit on EV’s is another benefit for the rich. The average EV cost $55,000 which means they are out of the budget for poor people. About 90% of the 300,000 EV’s purchased took the tax credit. Even if a lower income person purchased an EV they would probably not earn enough income to get the credit. Another part of the bill makes able bodied single people no longer eligible for Obamacare unless they work at least 20 hours per week. Estimates are that 5 million fall into this category. The bill cuts the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps by 30%. In 2024 the SNAP program cost the government $100 billion to provide and average cash benefit of $212 per month to 42 million participants. This will be reduced to $148 per month. Able bodies people are required to work 20 hours per week to qualify. The bill increases the child tax credit from $2,000 to $2,500. Removes taxes from TIPS and overtime. Adds $4,000 to the tax deduction for seniors making less than $75,000. Allows deduction of car loan interest but since most people owe very little tax this will help the rich much like the home interest deduction.

Status quo

When George Wallace ran for president in 1968, he famously said, there’s not a dimes worth of difference between the republicans and democrats. He was talking about the establishment which includes business, military and bureaucracy. He knew that these groups would continue to hold power regardless of which party is in the majority. When Trump decided to run in 2015, he was well aware of how the system worked and knew his only chance was to run against the status quo. He was tolerated at the start as a person who had no chance to win but when he started to gain momentum the insiders got alarmed and set out to destroy him. They have continued down that path ever since. Even during the Biden years, the attacks on Trump kept coming and now that he has the working people coming around, he represents and even bigger threat to the establishment, a group that included working people in name only. Trump faces a herculean task so he is attacking his enemy’s group by group. He first went after the press and next discombobulated the republicans and followed that up by getting the democrats to fight among themselves. His tariffs ignored the pleas of the business world, his disdain for the UN and NATO disrupted foreign policy and now he’s zeroing in on universities.

Unity

Starting in the 1950’s and growing in the 1960’s there was a push to unify the country. The civil rights bill accelerated the idea and the acceptance of mixed marriages increased from 4% in 1958 to 94% in 2021. There was a 25-year period where this unity continued to expand. Then things began to change in the late 1980’s starting with the idea of identity politics and the push for unity went out the window. Identity politics is a tendency for people of a particular group to form exclusive political alliances, moving away from traditional broad based party politics. Next streets and buildings were renamed and statues were torn down. This led to cries of defund the police. CRT came in the schools followed by DEI in businesses. People could change genders just by announcing. This led to transmen in women’s private places and gender surgery on children, sometimes without the parents’ knowledge. Teachers were keeping secrets from parents. He and she became they and them. These changes came too fast and around 2015 the people said they had had enough and now the pendulum is swinging back. The move is toward what is called, common sense.

Solar panels

The US installed 150 million solar panels but only 7 million were made in the US. The rest were imported, primarily from China. The EPA estimates that the US could have one million tons of solar panel waste by 2030 and 60 million tons by 2050. In contrast the US produced 2000 tons of nuclear waste in 2024. Most of the solar panel waste is burned or buried. Solar panel waste contains hazardous materials like lead, cadmium, silver, arsenic and selenium. The problem is even more severe with wind mills disposal but very little is in the news.

Generals

Is there room to cut the defense budget without risking our safety. The same thing that happened to administrators in schools has happened in the military. Today we have 1.2 million people in the military and we have 43 four-star generals and admirals. During WW 2 we had 12 million under arms and 7 four-star generals.

Ideas

Thomas Sowell, a well-known economist, says he started out as a Marxist and ended up a conservative. It follows the old adage that if you not a liberal when you are young, you have no heart and if you are not a conservative when you are old, you have no brain. Sowell enhances that concept by saying that the reason intellectuals are liberal is that they are all about ideas. It is when you go to put your ideas into practice, in the so-called real world, that you become a conservative. The liberals are the thinkers and the conservatives are the doers. This can be seen in ordinary people as well as new comers in the political arena. It is a lot easier to come up with a good idea than it is to implement the idea. A new idea may be judged on its merit at the start but it is soon engulfed in the viewpoints of many different people who all have different backgrounds and many have agendas. All intellectuals in today’s world recognize that the national debt is a problem but they cannot get together to solve the problem because of their competing interest. Even when most involved, agree upon a solution, they cannot implement it for fear that the other side might get the credit.

Child tax fraud

The new republican tax proposal makes changes to the child tax credit. This credit was established in 1997. In 2017(The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act) changes were made that required families to have social security numbers for their children and overnight millions of families were disqualified. Many were collecting for children they did not have. Loss of Eligibility: Some estimates suggest that the changes could affect eligibility for 4.5 million children The new tax bill will further reduce the number of families eligible for the child tax credit by requiring that both parents have social security numbers. The proposed tax and spending legislation — which proponents have dubbed the "one big, beautiful bill" — includes a requirement that both a tax filer and the person's spouse have Social Security numbers to claim the Child Tax Credit, or CTC, for their kids. That means children with mixed-status parents, such as one parent who is a U.S. citizen and the second who is not, would no longer qualify for the tax credit. Children who are born in the U.S., making them American citizens, but whose parents are undocumented would also be barred from the CTC. In some cases, one or both parents of a child who is authorized to be in the U.S. may lack a Social Security number. For example, parents who are in the U.S. on non-working visas, such as graduate students on education visas, would be prohibited from receiving the tax credit.

Midterms

Back before the 2018 midterms the country was expecting a red wave and when it did not develop the democrats assumed that Biden was OK. It showed that the public felt comfortable with the way things were going. Now as the 2026 midterms approach the democrats will win back the house and then, once again, assume this means voters are happy with their current strategy. Will they believe that the public is satisfied with the cultural issues pushed by the democrats and double down.

Future leaders

As the 2028 election looms on the horizon, the democrats are looking for a viable candidate. Since no one comes to mind perhaps outlining the characteristics and policies of the ideal candidate will bring forth some possible leaders. What kind of person would fill the bill? First on policy. Someone who favors bringing manufacturing jobs back home. Someone who pushes for fair trade. Someone who will deport criminal migrants. Someone who will promote citizenship for non-criminal migrants. Someone who wants a peaceful solution to Ukraine and Gaza. Someone who understands the wealth gap and the education gap. Someone who will explain how nuclear power is the answer to climate change, He must be able to not only present the issues but must have solid solutions. Second on personality. Looking for a white male under age 60 who is a family man. A man whose personal history is not tied to the recently popular cultural ideas. A man who is telegenic with charisma, articulate and authentic and will have the courage to stand up against the far left. It is not likely that someone will match all of these criteria but whoever comes close will be a strong candidate. The party leaders should add or remove from this list and lay out some criteria for the next leaders.

Medicaid

Changes to Medicaid are in the news. Recall that Obamacare allowed single adults to join Medicaid and there is no precondition clause so these people can wait until the get sick and then sign up and be covered the first day of the following month. The new bill allows these people to remain on Medicaid but all single people without disabilities are required to work 80 hours per month. Since there are help wanted signs at many businesses it will not be too difficult to find a job. The bill also requires states to offer frequent audits to root out waste. There is a significant amount of waste, fraud, and abuse within the Medicaid program. This includes instances where payments are made incorrectly, or services are provided that are not medically necessary. Estimates suggest billions of dollars are lost annually due to these issues

College education

Trump half heartedly suggested that the Harvard money would be better utilized by giving it to trade schools. The shortage of skilled tradesmen in the US is significant, with some sources estimating that over half a million new construction workers are needed annually The current shortage is only part of the problem. For every five trades people who retire only two are available for replacement. A staggering 2.1 million skilled trades jobs are projected to go unfilled by 2030. In the 1950’s the big push was for everyone to go to college. Data clearly showed that it was a good investment but today things have changed. Today a cost benefit analysis shows that college is only worth the expense for those majoring in certain disciplines. It would be wise for young people to investigate various career paths before automatically assuming that college is in their best interest. Questioning the value of a college education has come under scrutiny these past few years and is will continue to be investigated.

Oil production

Biden said: Oct 24, 2020 — "Climate change is the existential threat to humanity," the former vice president said. "Unchecked, it is going to actually bake this planet. “It’s the number one issue facing humanity. And it’s the number one issue for me,” At that time the price of gas was 2.17 per gallon and the US was producing 11.2 million barrels of oil per day. By 2022 gas rose to $3.95 and Biden increased oil production to 13 million gallons per day. Next, he took oil from the reserve to help bring down the price. Many concluded that while climate change was a problem it was not as big a problem as four-dollar gas.

Culture

Why some countries are poor and some are rich is determined by culture. Experts say that all cultures are equal but they offer no proof. They say that poverty is caused by colonialization or slavery and prosperity depends on redistribution or reparations. Behavior imposed from the outside has short term results but changes in behavior caused by changes in culture provide long term benefits. Culture is not just music and art it is the accumulated wisdom passed down including habits, institutions and priorities. It is how children are raised, how success is defined and how failure is handled. Human capital is more important than natural capital. It grows and develops in families where education is important and work ethic is praised. It teaches that long lasting power comes from within and is not bestowed from some outside source. It encourages personal action as opposed to waiting for some outside source to save the day.

TSMC

As China continues to disintegrate and Xi sees his control in jeopardy, the old trick of switching attention away from the problem by starting a war, becomes a possibility. This will force Europe and the US to accelerate the development of high-end chips. Fortunately, Taiwan chip maker TSMC is already building a $165 billion facility in Arizona with production of 4 nanometer chips already underway. This project was encouraged by a $6 billion subsidy from the Chips Act. The race is on for one nanometer chips and this will be part of the Arizona project and quantum computing is not far behind. While the US is moving production in many areas away from China, it would put the US in a bind if China fails too quickly. A peaceful coup of Xi would help.