Debates

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

Trump

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

Wind and solar

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

Harris

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

Biden

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

Iran

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

Chicken

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