New leadership is coming to the enfeebled State Department. Unfortunately, it is coming from the militaristic, Death by China school of diplomacy. Diplomacy requires work, to understand what we need, what they want and then to find a compromise that benefits everyone. Here are a few items that require attention regarding our trade relationship with China: China charges a 25% tariff on autos imported from the U.S. and the U.S. has a 2.5% tariff going the other way (China . . .
Commander of Fear
Fear of: Competition Russian Dictator Mockery Adulation Lost Others There is a pattern! The commander thinks that the rest of the world is kicking our trade butt with their cruel competition. How are they getting away with this perfidy: Hard work? Sacrifice? Survival instinct? The message that we are taking a beating and the “playing field needs to be leveled” is coming from fear stirred up by the commander telling us we are losers. What about the unconscionable shelling of . . .
Trade War Diary
According to the Commerce Secretarypaying $175 more for a car is “trivial”. Does having $700 million salted away help? At the whim of the “commander” and without a rational strategy , significant tariffs are planned for imported raw materials, steel and aluminum. For the rest of us these are new taxes. Normally buying cheaper is a good thing. But, in this case it is bad? The Chinese have dug themselves a hole with over capacity, producing half of the worlds . . .
Guns and The Money
Safety versus Gun Sales We are not winning The National Rifle Association was founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, motivated by the poor shooting skills demonstrated by the Union army during the Civil War. Since 1975 the organization has directly lobbied for favorable legislation by spending $millions donating to “A” rated candidates. Favorable to whom? Follow the money:Total revenue in 2016 was $436 million. In 2015 CEO Wayne Lapierre took home $5.1 million for a job well done selling . . .
GDP versus Well Being
How do we grade ourselves? GDP is the total value (monetary) of everything produced by all the people and companies in the country. What about quality of life? The commander likes to brag about his impact on GDP and predicts higher growth without any supporting facts or theory. His two dimensional thinking misses important contributions from innovation such as advances in preventive medicine, free access to knowledge through tools like Wikipedia, affordable healthcare and a protected environment and also masks . . .
The Petulant Vice Commander
Our Vice “commander” is on a mission of togetherness while attending the Olympics. Not Quite: “Together with Japan and our allies, let the world know this: We will continue to intensify our maximum pressure campaign until North Korea takes steps … we will not allow North Korean propaganda to hijack the message and imagery of the Olympic games” We know the vice “commander” won’t be meeting with Kim’s sister and definitely not alone, just in case she would succumb . . .
Medicaid and Opiods?
Is Medicaid worsening the Opiod Crisis? One argument being pushed by a Wisconsin Senator and the WSJ, is that Medicaid, an insurance program that provides low-cost health coverage to some low-income people, families and children, pregnant women, the elderly, and people with disabilities delivers the pills and therefore is at fault. Follow the Money: Opiods are a $13-billion-a-year industry for Big Pharma. In 1998 a video was sent to 15,000 primary care doctors by Purdue Pharma, the company that has . . .
One State?
Time For A One State Solution? Israel West Bank & Gaza Population 8.8 million 5 million Median Age 29.9 19 Birth Rate/1000 1.81 2.456 GDP Per Capita $44,019 $1,997 Life Expectancy 82.01 77.17 Literacy 97.8 95.3 Growth Rate 2 2.6 As demonstrated by the 1947 Partition of India, spawning Pakistan and Bangladesh in 1971 this approach can be fraught with internecine trouble with a nasty tendency to linger forever. I think it is time for a democratic solution to the . . .
Nuclear First Use?
2018 Nuclear Posture Review Moving Closer to Earthly Annihilation? The preliminary NPR document is available and the final version is scheduled to be released in February. The tone is obvious and in line with the iron triangle’s major ingestion of blood and treasure – follow the money! Now we want to expand the “first use” of nuclear attack and the trigger finger gets a little itchier. One idea is to develop less potent nuclear bombs that presumably could be used . . .