Postpone

In Trump's NY City trial much was made of the 34 felonies. A felony is a serious criminal offense that typically results in a prison sentence of more than one year. Would this mean 34 years in prison. If he tried a lighter term the people would say that no one is above the law and Trump was given preferential treatment. Trump was supposed to face sentencing next week but the judge postponed the date until after the election. Keeping in mind that the judicial system is not supposed to influenced by politics look at two different interpretations as to why the postponement. The first says that the judge did not want to interfere in the election. (politics). The second was the judge who was seen by many, as biased against Trump, came to understand that sending Trump to jail might just send Trump to the White House. In the past year every time the government ruled against Trump his poll numbers went up. We cannot read the judge's mind but it was probably one of these two or maybe both.

Work

The labor force participation rate is the percentage of a country's working-age population that is employed or actively looking for work. It is the best way to compare jobs year to year. The rate has still not gone back to pre covid times. In 2020 the rate was 63.3% and today it stands at 62.7 The reasons for this are complicated. According to Common Sense Institute, about 7 million men of prime working age are not currently in the workforce in the United States. This is due to a 4.4 percentage point drop in the labor force participation rate (LFPR) for prime-age men over the past 50 years. The current LFPR for prime-age men is 89.7%.  In recent years it has become easier to qualify for social security disability. For example in 1970 1% of the population were on SS disability and in 2022 it was 2.7%. As the population ages many people stay home to take care of ailing parents. As more women entered the work force in recent years they became eligible for benefits. You must pay SS in five of the last ten years to qualify. In spite of this there are several million able bodied men of working age who are not working and there seems to be no reason they are not working. For those who are interested in past years here is a site. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CIVPART The reason for the low values before 1975 is the number of women in the work force

War

As globalization comes to an end there is a danger that certain countries will suffer food shortages. These are countries like China that rely heavily on food imports. It will be especially critical to poor African countries many that are already in trouble. Aggravating the situation is the war in Ukraine. This has slowed the exports of agricultural products and important fertilizers like potash, phosphate and nitrogen. The sooner this war ends the quicker these important products can be back on the market. If changes are not made then it will not only be the Ukrainians who are dying but many others in Africa who will not have enough food to survive. North America is self sufficient in food and energy with little need for imports so there will be no direct harm to people in the US

SS

The amount of social security you receive is based on your earnings that are indexed and that figure is call the average indexed monthly earnings (AIME). For example if your earnings in 1995 were $23,901, the average for that year, you would multiply that by the index factor for that year which was 2.5822 and do that for each year you worked. Then add up all the index adjusted values for each year you worked for the 40 years between ages 22 and 62, then subject the lowest five years and divide the result by 35 and that will the benefit you receive full retirement age. Trump has proposed not taxing social security benefits but that needs to be tweaked. Social security benefits are already designed to help low income earners. It can easily be used to narrow the wealth gap. First off all benefits would be tax free but would be reduced by other income. For example if any person has $100,000 of income including social security their benefit should be reduced by ten percent for each additional $10,000 of income so when their total income is $200,000 their SS benefit is zero. Another big way to close the income gap is to reduce the cost of SS for incomes below $100,000 which is currently set at 6.2% of pay. If that were reduced o 4.2% it would mean a $1,000 raise for anyone earning $50,000 per year. In order to make sure their retirement benefit is not reduced the index factors would be adjusted accordingly. Thus people earning less that $100,000 would pay in less but still receive the full benefit.

Trump

If Trump gets a second term he will secure the border by ending catch and release, building a wall, re institute remain in Mexico and force Mexico to close their border with Guatemala. encourage local DA's to use cash bail and put repeat offenders in jail continue import taxes on Chinese goods renew the Trump tax cuts of 2017 lower the corporate tax rate from 21 to 15% for goods made in the USA end taxes on TIP's and social security expand fossil fuel production to the max negotiate and end to the war by offering Russia the Donbas and not allowing Ukraine into NATO back Israel with all available materials continue expanding LNG export facilities end subsidies on wind and solar forcing them to compete with imports deport illegal migrants starting with those with criminal records promote compromise on abortion with 15 weeks and exceptions for rape, incest and life of mother demand that other countries share the cost of the UN and NATO promote charter schools reinstate sanctions on Iran use all means to increase electricity including nuclear He will oppose mandate on the purchase of electric cars men in women's sports drag queens in schools gender surgery on children tearing down statures of confederate leaders renaming buildings and street named after former slave holders reparations national healthcare national abortion ban government buy backs on guns using they or them in lieu of he, his and she, hers putting illegals in hotels and leaving vets on the street

Waste

Part of the Trump tax cut back in 2017 was reducing the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% and was in effect January 1, 2018. This resulted in an increase in government revenue from $3.3 trillion in 2017 to $4.9 trillion in 2022. Trump is now proposing to reduce the corporate rate to 15%. In the past when corporations increased profits, they often used the money to increase dividends or buy back stock when increasing production would have been of more benefit to the entire country. This time it may be different because another part of Trumps economic plan. The tax reduction only applies to companies that manufacture goods inside the United States. This is designed to increase American jobs and productivity and if successful could help control inflation. Another part of his plan is to increase production of fossil fuels while decreasing the regulations and this will in turn lead to lower cost for transportation which will lower the cost of all goods. Transportation cost amount to 9 to 14% of the cost of finished goods. This will be combined with increasing import taxes. This is part of the make America great idea. All of this flies in the face of the old idea that presidential candidates can lay out plans but not the specifics of how they will carry out these plans. All of this will reinforce the move away from globalization and a move toward reshoring.

Tax

Part of the Trump tax cut back in 2017 was reducing the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% and was in effect January 1, 2018. This resulted in an increase in government revenue from $3.3 trillion in 2017 to $4.9 trillion in 2022. Trump is now proposing to reduce the corporate rate to 15%. In the past when corporations increased profits, they often used the money to increase dividends or buy back stock when increasing production would have been of more benefit to the entire country. This time it may be different because another part of Trumps economic plan. The tax reduction only applies to companies that manufacture goods inside the United States. This is designed to increase American jobs and productivity and if successful could help control inflation. Another part of his plan is to increase production of fossil fuels while decreasing the regulations and this will in turn lead to lower cost for transportation which will lower the cost of all goods. Transportation cost amount to 9 to 14% of the cost of finished goods. This will be combined with increasing import taxes. This is part of the make America great idea. All of this flies in the face of the old idea that presidential candidates can lay out plans but not the specifics of how they will carry out these plans. All of this will reinforce the move away from globalization and a move toward reshoring.