Return to Sanity Needed

22 Tuesday Jan 2019

Posted by in Gun Control, Politics

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The National Rifle Association is an international organization persuading people around the world to buy guns. In other countries they can con people into buying more guns by saying more guns the safer they are. Do the slogans they use in the other countries sound familiar? “Guns are our guarantee of freedom.” and “The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”

When I was a member about sixty years ago, the NRA taught me how to load, fire, and unload without shooting anyone. Then they rented an office and wore off-the-rack suits. Now they have a skyscraper and multi-thousand dollar suits.

What changed? Lots and lots of money provided mostly by entities other than American membership. The third of a billion dollars, which they got in 2016 and 2017, comes from others including the gun manufacturers. The purpose of their financial support is for the NRA to push the sale of guns around the world.

According to Bloomberg’s January 7 issue our laws for donations have been skirted. During 2017 we imported over 760,000 Taurus guns from Brazil. In lieu of direct donations they gave a NRA membership to each buyer. At $35 per membership, that’s over 25 million dollars in 2017. The American sales office for a Belgium manufacturer legally gave $200,000 in 2013, CEO Ugo Gussalli Beretta pledged a million in 2008. Glock’s VP Josh Dorsey gave over a million in 2017 alone.

Americans own over 390 million guns and the NRA is pushing us to buy more for safety. Oddly, the more guns we buy the more people are killed. The last full year’s numbers for 196 nations shows the number of deaths in the top six countries are: Brazil’s 43.2K, United States’ 37.2K, Mexico’s 15.4K, Columbia’s 13.3K, Venezuela’s 12.8K, and Guatemala’s 5.1K. Notice all six are rife with gangs, guns, and drugs. The three go together in high death rate countries.

The United Kingdom is a regulated low ownership, low murder rate nation. Australia tightened its regulations and lowered its deaths in a few years. States with the most regulated gun controls have fewer murders. European countries have fewer guns and fewer deaths than we do. The more lobbying in a nation’s political system will lead to more deregulation and guns.

Here the NRA has gotten millions to believe everyone should have many guns. Their lobbying efforts and their membership have scared many of our local, state, and federal lawmakers into doing what the manufacturers want. The NRA moves the goal posts deeper into anarchy every year. I remember went they pushed for gun safety devices only to turn against Smith and Wesson when they developed one.

A dream would be for sanity to return to Americans and for the NRA to return to their roots.

Responsibility or Party Ideology

19 Saturday Jan 2019

Posted by in Illinois Finances, Politics

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Another View
The January 16 episode of Chicago Tonight had a segment about Illinois Governor Richard Ogilvie. He was a one-term governor whose Republican administration was faced with many crisis level problems. The most critical was the lack of money in the bank. Government employees couldn’t get a check because the state was literally bankrupt. The state borrowed money to solve the immediate problems but a long term solution would require doing something that was and is an anathema to the Republican Party — an income tax. He went against his party’s philosophy to save the state and its people. Putting the state on a firm financial footing cost him the election. Later governors did what their party ideology demanded so they would have a shot at re-election.

We know many of the founding fathers were concerned what could happen with political parties from their experiences in and with the English parliament. The hope was the dissidence from trying to write the constitution would disappear in a few years. Not only did it not, it became stronger.

The financial difference today between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party seems to be the Democratic Party wants to help the common people and raise taxes. The Republicans want to help the rich and businesses with tax cuts.

Today we have a rapidly growing National debt that was well on its way to being eliminated until President George W. Bush (Dick Cheney) put through a massive tax cut which couldn’t be reversed by Obama because of the Great Recession. When the economy turned around, Obama had a Republican Congress. The debt continues to increase. Then President Donald Trump came along and cut taxes again. Now the debt meters are turning at an unreadable speed. With the rest of the world running up debt, too, our situation could become unmanageable. A tax increase is a necessity!

Illinois has a new Democratic Governor who has a philanthropic history of helping people with his vast wealth. The previous governor had great wealth but thought a state was like running a business. The state was not in good financial shape when he came in and he left it in a much worse shape because he didn’t want to renew the expired tax.

The question for Illinois is if Governor Pritzker can get the state’s financial condition on a sustainable path. During his first term, he must devote his administration’s effort to paying off the hundreds of millions in unpaid bills, reversing the growing pension debt, and spending some funds on critical infrastructure repairs. The latter must be really critical repairs with nothing going to political back scratching projects. Debt first, everything else second.

Pritzker must be like Ogilvie and solve Illinois’ financial problems first and not pass the problems on to the next governor.

The Symbolic Wall

14 Monday Jan 2019

Posted by in Immigration, Wall

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Statistics show we do not need a 1,900 mile wall on the southern border when only six suspected terrorists have been apprehended crossing that border. Seven times more crossed the northern border. Why not put a longer wall on the northern border if we are worried about terrorism?

If the administration is concerned about terrorism they should look at the conditions on both borders. The southern border is hot, dry and mostly unpopulated making it dangerous to cross. Many crossers die from thirst, snake bite and heat. The northern border is a drive down one street and turn into the United States or walking in one side of a church and out the other side, or crossing the St. Lawrence’s thousand island area on a motor boat or a canoe.

The terrorists we are concerned about aren’t from Central America. They are from the mid-east. Most of them are from commonwealth countries which means they can go from one commonwealth country to another. They fly to Canada and walk through a couple of back yards into the United States. Of course that would mean putting a wall between peoples who share the same color skin and similar language. The major difference is the people across the border find trash blowing around the countryside, roads, and cities adherent.

If we aren’t being attack by terrorists crossing the southern border why do we need a wall? President Trump’s supporters are scared our white ethnic society is being overwhelmed by brown people seeking a better life. Black skinned people are already here. The term minority used to mean black, brown, “yellow”, and “red”. Millions of white people don’t want to become a minority. The 2018 election shows the nation’s political elite are being subverted by non-white people and non-white women. The latter may be even scarier to some white men.

Most of us have accepted seeing people from Mexico and from countries south of Mexico. For years they have been doing jobs other people wouldn’t do. A few years ago the Alabama legislature passed a law where people hiring illegals would be arrested, fined and maybe jailed. After two years, the law was rescinded because the Alabama residents didn’t pick vegetables, wash dishes, do landscaping, and other hard work jobs.

Many if not most of the illegals wanting to do the jobs we won’t would work here for nine months, go back home, and then come back. If they can’t be sure of sneaking back in they bring their families. The long promised work visas are still a dream. Is Trump’s wall symbolic or racism?

Truth and Trust Matters

11 Friday Jan 2019

Posted by in Ethics, Politics

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Truth and trust matters when someone is asked for support in building a wall on our southern border. According to a non-partisan, independent group, President Trump has told over 7,000 lies since he took office. I don’t watch the ones he gives out on Twitter, but I bet I have seen him say about a thousand on the news. A few times he has told a different one on the same subject several days in a row. Without any trust how can I or any reasonable person support him?

His reason for shutting down the government is the flood of illegal immigrants crossing our southern border. He says it is worse than ever before but the Department of Homeland Security says crossings are the least in two years and the least in twenty years. He and his aides said 17,000 criminals were caught crossing the southern border. According to the Transportation Safety Administration of the 362,000 apprehended from all ports of entry (borders, airports, seaports, and coasts) only 6,259 had any criminal records. Almost all of those deported were re-crossers and those with traffic violations which TSA considers criminal. Less than 800 had a real criminal record for violence, sexual or domestic abuse, and firearms violations. Trump said 4,000 terrorists were caught crossing the southern border. The State Department says 6 at the southern border and 41 at the northern border.

The lack of trust isn’t only here but around the world. Our friends and foes don’t trust his word. A sad example is the European bookies bet on the number of lies he would tell in his television address. The line was 3.5 lies. When our NATO allies treat him as a joke according to some of the European news agencies, I can only infer their leaders do not trust him. We need that support for help and to deter our foes. Because of the lack of trust and conflicting statements, cabinet secretaries, generals, and others are firemen sent to quell nervousness and try to repair relationships. Unfortunately those the allies trusted have quit their jobs or been fired.

The trust of the President is critical to world peace and even its economy. The people and their leaders hear what a President says. The leaders may be consulted with calming words, the people aren’t. My mother said, “People who lie can’t be trusted” and my dad said, “A man’s word is his bond”. That is the characteristic we and the world wants to lead the United States and the free world.

It’s Another Year

06 Sunday Jan 2019

Posted by in Tolerance

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Happy New Year to all and may it be better than last year. Now it all starts over again. Today I got a letter from my CPA informing me of my appointment for her to do my taxes. It is mid-March again and I won’t have received all the reports.

Happy New Year to all the non-profits, foundations and charities. We write checks to the same organizations in the first few days of the year. The budget allows for a certain amount and all those charities who call or mail for the next fifty-one weeks are wasting time and money.

Happy New Year, I am hoping this year will see more weddings than funerals. At our age it is unlikely. Therefore, it is time to review our wills and death plans. Most people of our age paid more for their first three or four cars than what a standard funeral costs today. The motto of funeral directors must be “you CAN take it with you.”

Happy New Year and we should expect a call from our primary doctor for our yearly appointment. They have two man functions. One is to see if we can remember three words-I tell them to write them down so we don’t disagree-and to talk us into taking more drugs.

Happy New Year to all who got a raise including those getting Social Security. A raise means it is time to redo our budget.

Happy New Year and it’s the new season for all those series we have become addicted to seeing every week. The new season’s Doc Martin, 800 Words, Game of Thrones, and all the NCISs have started.

Happy New Year to all those who aren’t getting paid because of the shut down. I hope it will be a better year for all those people wanting food from federally funded food banks, the soy bean farmers looking for their subsidy payments because of China not buying agricultural products, and all of us wanting to visit National Parks.

Happy New Year. This is the traditional time for us to evaluate our lives and come up with new ways to make ourselves better people. Many of us will have losing weight at the top of their list of resolutions. Over 80% will forget that one by the middle of the month. As long as we are thinking about New Year’s resolutions, how about we make our first resolution to be kinder to all those people who disagree with us, no matter how misguided we may think they are.

President Isn’t a Dictator

05 Saturday Jan 2019

Posted by in Politics, Presidential Power

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I recently saw a great movie about Vice-President Cheney called “Vice.” News junkies will see little about his political life they don’t already know. It detailed how he rose from Rumsfeld’s intern to being the most powerful man in our government.

The critical scenes showed how he became George W. Bush’s Vice-President. His previous years in Washington D.C. taught him how to be the vicious, manipulative person who managed our government for six years. How he kept “Junior” from running the country and knowing what was being done in his name for six years. When Bush figured it out he benched Cheney and fired or by-passed others in Cheney’s Cabal.

Cheney’s ability to do what he wanted comes from a far right wing theory that says Article II of the Constitution gives the President almost total power to do as he wants. It is called the Unified Executive Authority. Where, when and who came up with this theory I don’t know but it made Cheney the most powerful person since FDR. Cheney and his cabal falsified evidence to create public opinion for war and found a government lawyer named Woo to come up with a legal opinion making it permissible to “interrogate” captives with torture.

Many of the cabal are back in power in the Trump administration. One is John Bolton, Trump’s security advisor, who has some influence on him. Former Chief of Staff Kelly said he should not be judged on what he did but what he stopped from happening. Others have quit because they couldn’t break the law.

The President just said he has the Executive Authority to build the wall without Congressional approval. Both of the Supreme Court Judges he nominated before believe in greater presidential power than has been used prior to Trump. If the Supreme Court was asked for a judgment on presidential power, at least two would vote for the expanded use.

The founding fathers wrote the Constitution limiting the power of the President. They were afraid a President could be a king and they just got rid of a king. Congress limited the army to a maximum of 5,000 so the state militias could maintain their independence. It is the reason why the President is a civilian. The President has often talked of “His Generals” being loyal to him. Active and retired generals should be loyal to the country not the President. When they quit he said, “They didn’t do anything for me.”

Go see the movie and imagine any President with Unified Executive Authority.

Bribery Laws Bad for Business

31 Monday Dec 2018

Posted by in Business, President Trump

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It’s very easy to connect these dots. Remember during the campaign Trump talked about how the Dodd-Frank Act was bad for business? One of the first things he got Congress to change and quietly signed was a bill eliminating fines for bribing officials of other countries. That was one dot.

The other dot was telling Putin he could have the top floor of the Trump-Moscow Hotel if Putin could push it through all the regulations and restrictions. Remember he dropped the project without saying why? Want to bet somebody said it would cost millions in fines or maybe put him in jail!

Now I wonder how he got the Scotland golf course through the environmental regulations. The local officials were against it along with hundreds of locals protesting the damage to the protected area. Suddenly the commission chair pushed it through and it was built. The BBC says it is losing money in spite of his two visits to advertise it. If he bribed any of the commissioners with free memberships, that would be actionable.

Don’t you wonder who got what to get Trump-Chicago, Trump-New York, and especially Trump-Washington D.C. opened?

Not Independent

31 Monday Dec 2018

Posted by in Energy, Oil Industry

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Tribune’s December 29th editorial on energy dependence was both factual and wrong. It left out critical information. Whoever wrote it should have consulted someone knowledgeable of the oil industry.

The first thing that caught my eye was the headline. We cannot be energy independent as long as we get oil from Canada, Mexico, and Venezuela. For some reason the people who know nothing seem to forget those countries sell us oil so we are far from being independent. The second is a picture of an oil well pumping unit and calling it oil rig. Rigs are towering structures that drill the hole. Units are put in place along with the piping, pump and rods after gas pressure reduces the free flow of oil.

The writer left out statistics of consumption, domestic production, and barrels we buy from different countries. Also the writer left out that oil shale fracking produces a spurt of oil which rapidly dies out. Often the well dries up before the financing is paid back. If the price of oil is high during the spurt, the well is profitable. If it is at today’s price it may not break even, drilling drops and therefore production when the price is low. We produce less and consume more.

I hope a more baked editorial will be forthcoming.

Respect the Office

19 Wednesday Dec 2018

Posted by in History, Politics, President Trump

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In the early 1960s, I watched a BBC News article showing Prime Minister Harold Macmillan addressing about forty people at some festival. They showed him no respect and I thought that could never happen here because American could always find enough things we like about a President. People still supported Nixon as he got on the helicopter for the last time. Those people who didn’t still appreciated many of “Tricky Dick’s” accomplishments.

I cannot remember, either through my readings or memory, a President who has been so disrespected as Donald Trump. The late night shows make a nightly comedy of the lies and ideas he has said that day. Their audiences roar with applause and cheers. The Democrats have pilloried him and now the Republicans, sensing weakness, have started to publicly turn against him. The Mueller investigation has exposed the corruption in the Trump administration, friends, family, business dealings, and in the President himself.

One independent organization tracks the number of lies, fabrications, and misrepresentations. They have listed almost 7,000 instances as of December 1. President Trump cannot resist being in front of cameras and telling a string of lies or putting out lies on social media.

Americans are supposed to separate the office of the President from the person in the Oval Office. How does one respect the office when the most incompetent, egotistical, narcissistic person imaginable is sitting behind the Resolute Desk? Most of the secretaries are just as unsuited for their positions.

A Prime Minister is out when the majority of the House of Commons loses confidence in their leader. I doubt Trump ever had it. How can we respect the office and not the man?