Uranium One

Ever since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1992, the US has tried to develop a reasonable relationship with Russia. The nuclear arms reductions and the co-operation in space are two major moves. In 1992 Bush 1 negotiated a deal to remove the enriched uranium from Russia disassemble missiles. In 2008 Bush 2 proposed an agreement which was quickly squashed when Russian invaded Georgia. The Russian company who agreed to handle this deal was Tenex USA a subsidiary of Rosatom and the Russian official involved was Vadim Mikerin. When Obama came along he tried with the now famous Hilary reset. Getting along with Russia was deemed a positive. Obama allowed Mikerin to continue his work and this led to bribes to American companies putting them at risk of blackmail. For Mikerin to continue his work he needed a lobbyist and the man he found was a well-known Washington insider, a former federal prosecutor and counsel to the Senate Intelligence Committee. When this man found out what the Russians wanted him to do he was concerned about the legalities so he contacted the FBI and they agreed to use him as an informant called CS-1. At this time the FBI was headed by Robert Meuller who is now the Independent Prosecutor in charge of the Trump-Russian investigation. By May of 2010 the FBI had proof of three schemes of extortion payments. The secret lobbyist is now being allowed to testify and this information will be published in the coming weeks. In 2005, former President Clinton helped his Canadian billionaire friend and benefactor, Frank Giustra, obtain coveted uranium-mining rights from Kazakhstan’s dictator and his company Uranium One stood to profit handsomely. Putin wanted this ore so he leaned on the Kazakhstan leader and the person who made the deal was arrested and the whole deal was in jeopardy and stock in Uranium One plummeted. Then Secretary of State Clinton came to the rescue and brokered a deal with Putin to buy 17% of Uranium One stock and the crisis was averted and Giustra and his friends were saved from a large loss. In thanks for Clinton’s work her husband was paid $500,000 for a speech in Moscow and $145 million dollars Newsweek reports was donated to the Clinton Foundation by sources linked to the Uranium One deal.

Health care problems

In January of 2016 the Republicans in both the house and senate approved a bill to dismantle Obamacare and sent it to President Obama who vetoed the plan. “We have now shown that there is a clear path to repealing Obamacare," House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), said in a statement. “So, next year, if we’re sending this bill to a Republican president, it will get signed into law." One year later the Republicans could not agree on a plan. The fact that they did it the year before indicates that many were not satisfied with the plan but voted for it knowing full well that Obama would veto it. This was done just to try and make the President look like he was an obstructionist. This is it the kind of stuff that goes on all too often in Washington. Just one more reason why people want to throw the bums out.

Sub contractors

Back in my work days I had a client whose job it was to get grants for the government research center at UND. He did not need any equipment or employees just the expertise to fill out the proper forms in the proper way. I was reminded of him this week when the news reported that a small two man company in Montana called Whitefish secured a $300 million dollar project to repair the infra-structure in Puerto Rico. These two gentlemen would sit in their office and hire sub-contractures to do all the work and bill the government. How would they make money doing this? They would simply overcharge the government. The cost of labor has emerged as a key question after NPR and other outlets reported that worker wages can go as high as $336 an hour for general foremen and $319 an hour for linemen. Subcontractors are a major share of Whitefish’s labor force, as CNBC reported. Here’s how NPR reported other costs: Like the old song says,” nice work if you can get and you can get it if you try.”

Work force

Obamacare promised to insure 31 million new people and the cost would go down $2,500 per family. For 2017 11 million people have signed up and 80% of those are getting free or subsidized coverage. People making more than $50,000 are paying the cost of health insurance for those making less than $50,000. This kind of income redistribution will work because there are large numbers of people in each group. Many of the people enrolled in Obamacare are adults without children, a group previously not covered by Medicaid. One of the mysteries facing our economy is the fact that 10 million males between the ages of 25 and 54 are not in the work force. If these men were working they would add a full percent to the GDP. They represent a major portion of those receiving free insurance under Obamacare. Is there a connection here? Does having free health care added to other government benefits allow some to stay out of the work force?

China

Economist Jim O’Neill on public radio suggested that countries around the world will follow China’s economic policies rather than those of the United States. He bases this on China’s phenomenal GDP growth which has been 10% for many years. Does he mean that countries would sacrifice the ability to elect their own leaders, to do without a free press, and be afraid to speak out against the government to increase GDP? I think he is forgetting about the down side to China and just looking at growth. China is a communist country that is ruled by the 7% of the population who belong to the party. 93% have no say in government policy.

Tax changes

Under current tax law a family of four earning $100,000 per year pays $9,800 in federal income tax and the same family earning $200,000 pays $34,000. Under the Trump plan a family of four earning $100,000 pays $9,100 and those earning $200,000 pay $24,000. If they compromise and leave the top rate at 39.6% then there will be no reduction in taxes on the rich except for small business owners whose top rate will drop from 39.6% to 28%. The corporate tax rate will decrease from 35% to 20% and there will be a one-time tax holiday on corporate funds held outside the country at 10%. It is estimated the companies are holding 2 trillion dollars overseas and they would bring that home. The President should use his negotiating skills to convince companies to use the money they get from the tax holiday to grow the economy. This means not just buying back company stock but investing in new businesses.

Health care profits

For those who may have forgotten, the big health insurers were strong backers for Obamacare. In case you wonder why here is some data. Since March 2010, when the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, the managed care companies within the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index — UnitedHealth, Aetna, Anthem, Cigna, Humana and Centene — have risen far more than the overall stock index. This is no small matter: The stock market soared during that period. The numbers are astonishing. The Standard & Poor’s stock index returned 135.6 percent in those seven years through Thursday, a performance that we may not see again in our lifetimes. But the managed care stocks, as a whole, have gained nearly 300 percent including dividends, according to calculations by Bespoke Investment Group.