Category: News and Politics
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The push for release of the president’s tax returns
New Jersey Congressman Bill Pascrell has taken a lead role in pushing Congress to legally obtain a copy of Trump’s tax returns as permitted under Internal Revenue Code section 6103(f). The initiative is likely to ultimately be successful since apparently a strong majority of Americans support the initiative and the Republicans blocking the disclosure are weakening in…
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The Attack on Truth
“Harvard’s motto is simple. It is just a single word: Veritas. Truth. We have seen disturbing signs that the Administration will suppress open thought and debate, silencing scientists and withdrawing their funding, attacking journalists and declaring them the “opposition party,” repeating falsehoods big and small. Truth. It is the guiding value of your alma mater;…
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Terrorist vs. muslim refugee
Republicans: The first photo is a real domestic terrorist. The second photo is a muslim refugee who desperately needs our assistance right now. The nation demands that you take off your political blindfold, use common sense, and learn to recognize the basic factual differences between the two. A logical person can easily apply analysis of…
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Why are these 23 Congressmen hiding Trump’s tax return?
Today’s news of the Republican campaign team’s many contacts with Russian government during the hacking of the presidential election combined with the news of a Russian spy ship spotted collecting intelligence off the coast of New Jersey today obviously raises many national security concerns. Congress promises to investigate. A simple starting point would be an…
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Republican attacks against labor unions
Yesterday Pennsylvania labor unions became the latest to suffer a legislative setback Labor unions are under attack. Newly elected Republican governments around the country went to work this past month to weaken the unions exactly as they announced in the campaign season. While labor unions normally support Democratic pro-labor platforms, this year many unions and their…
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My 2017-2018 economic and political forecast
“It’s still the economy, stupid” My fundamental forecasting premise is that the current federal administration’s fate and effectiveness in this divided country ultimately lies in the direction of the economy. Given the basic current macroeconomic factors: high stock market low interest rates high level of entitlements, and the low level of unemployment, I conclude that current…
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Pocahontas empowered
Senator Elizabeth Warren solidified her leadership position of the nation’s political opposition force this week. Even the president acknowledged that in one of his insult-hurling tweets “Pocahontas is now the face of your party”. Warren, like me, says that has voted Republican for most of her life before assuming positions of Democratic party leadership. Yet she…
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Update on 2017 tax reform
There is no easy button for tax reform. Republicans tax reform plans have changed since my last report on tax reform about six weeks ago. The Republican Senate agenda that was based on using the reconciliation process instead of needing 60 votes in the Senate, the republicans only need a simple majority of 51 votes for…
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Who do you trust?
“Who do you trust?” was a television series hosted by Johnny Carson that ran during the years around when I was born. It might be called a precursor to reality TV since it was filmed live and Carson was known for his ability to react to the unexpected. The words come to mind today as…
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The problem with change in government
The problem with change in government is that it presumes that the new guy can do better than the collective input from all prior human minds that combine years of public process by all widely varied viewpoints. It says “we are not happy with the result so let’s throw it out and start over”. It…