Heroes and Villains of the Shutdown

Moon over Jupiter Inlet
Jupiter, FL
November 5, 2025

 I was thinking, while flying home the other day, about some of the heroes I had met during the past week who are affected by the government shutdown. And then my mind turned to the villains. The villains, sadly, are not necessary to this story, but they serve to highlight the actions of the heroes.

And so, my heroes:

Federal employees who continue to be vilified by the villains, specifically and especially:

TSA agents and staff, they were professional and cordial in all of my interactions with them. I tried to thank each one personally for being on duty

Air traffic controllers, I could not, obviously, thank them in person, but my flights flew without incident

Other Federal employees who remain on duty without pay. Without them chaos would ensue 

Military men and women standing on guard for our country 

And the villains:

Executive Branch leadership who continue to be unwilling to negotiate an end to the government shutdown while flying around the world ISO a Nobel Peace Prize. 

Speaker of the House who may be the most disingenuous of all time by keeping the republicans home so as not to be able to negotiate an end to the shutdown. He keeps telling the great lie that the democrats created the shutdown, but the truth is that a take it or leave it position is not a negotiation. 

Representatives in Congress who continue to hurt Americans by denying access to affordable medical care 

Obviously, this is not an exhaustive list.

Oh yes, and speaking of denying medical care, I just learned that tele-visits are a victim. 

Because Congress did not extend authorization for some of those expanded telehealth flexibilities beyond September 30, 2025, a number of payment/coverage conditions reverted (or are in flux) as of October 1, 2025:

• The “home” as an originating site for many non-behavioral/mental health telehealth visits under Medicare will no longer be allowed (in traditional Medicare) unless covered by a separate exception.  (Chat GPT)

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

Voters Speak--America Wins

 

I am thoroughly excited at the off-year election results from last night. The intelligence and determination of the voters was confirmed by the huge turn-out. 

In NYC, the turnout was the greatest for any election since 1969. (NYC Mayoral Election Sees Largest Turnout Since 1969)

I am excited not only about the results, but that in an off-year election, which are generally seen as yawners, Americans got out to vote and register their opinions about where the country is headed. 

But the results were vital as, especially in Virginia, the winds of change are evident with the election of a democratic governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general. 

As I look at the results from the limited number of elections across the country, it seems to be a clean sweep against the current administration. Apparently the people who voted for change in 2024 do not like the change they received.

My hope is that current members of Congress take note of what their constituents desire and start listening to them and not fear the dollars of Trump. Our country may be being held hostage by oligarchs, but "We the People" still have the power of the ballot!

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

I Don't Know Where to Begin

 Yesterday was a tumultuous day for our Republic. 

I listened to the Secretary of Defense call himself the Secretary of War and then give a very disturbing speech to about 800 of our nations finest commanders and senior enlisted advisors. That was followed by an embarrassing ramble by the President. 

At the end of the day, the unwillingness of the Republican-controlled Senate to compromise on the terms of the continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government for the good of the American people demonstrated contempt for "We the People." The effects of the Big Ugly Bill are beginning to be felt and that was an opportunity to correct some of the problems.  

Let me begin with Hegseth. 

During his speech me made the following statement:

We just have to be honest. We have to say with our mouths what we see with our eyes, to just tell it like it is in plain English, to point out the obvious things right in front of us. That’s what leaders must do. We cannot go another day without directly addressing the plank in our own eye, without addressing the problems in our own commands and in our own formations.  (Hegseth speech)

But he doesn't even believe what he said. He does not tolerate those who tell it like it is when disagreeing with his short-sighted policies.

Mr. Hegseth has already fired more than a dozen military leaders, many of them people of color and women. He fired the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., who is Black; the first woman to command the Navy, Adm. Lisa Franchetti; and the U.S. military’s representative to the NATO military committee, Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield. He also pushed out Gen. David W. Allvin, the Air Force chief of staff, and Lt. Gen. Jeffrey A. Kruse, the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency.  (NYTimes)

And then there was the President as the follow-on act of the two-ring circus.

Nearly every "fact" presented by the President was wrong. I fact checked the speech at CNN. There are just some things he brings up continuously which are just plain wrong--but no one can correct him. I was even beginning to believe that 25 million immigrants illegally entered the U.S., during Biden's term. The real number much less, but unknown. I leave it to you, my readers, to click on the CNN link and discover for yourself the fictitious reality in which our President lives. Remember, he has his finger on the nuclear trigger! 

What really caused me a huge moment of pause was the President's discussion of his signature. Wow, really? The following statement came at the end of a meaningless discussion about paper and gold ink used to sign the commissions of Generals.

And I sign it -- actually, I love my signature, I really do. Everyone loves my signature. (Roll Call)

Who says that? 

And at the beginning of his presentation he showed his true colors about disagreement when he spoke:

 

And if you don't like what I'm saying, you can leave the room. Of course, there goes your rank, there goes your future, but you just feel nice and loose, OK, because we're all on the same team.  (Roll Call). [Highlighting mine]

The day ended with a partial government shutdown. Instead of the president negotiating to keep the government open, the Republicans got exactly what they wanted from the beginning--a shutdown. Why do I maintain it was what they wanted? Well, unless the Senate passed the CR exactly as the House sent it to them, there was no way to ratify the bill because the Speaker of the House sent his caucus home. Most were not even in Washington. That is governing in abstentia. 

The President and the congressional leaders should have been working to keep America running, but instead they presented a flawed proposal and said take-it-or-leave-it!

Thankfully, they left it. It is now up to "We the People" to inform them of the error of their ways!

And this was not even the topic I was going to write about today. I did a lot of research yesterday about how the military has been used to engineer change through social engineering--which is what I saw Secretary Hegseth implementing (in a very negative way) yesterday.

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

September's End

Reunited: Chris and Finn
Tequesta, FL
September 29, 2025

 Well, apparently, tomorrow when we wake, we will have an even less efficient government than we have had since January as a partial government shutdown ensues. 

Happy Fiscal New Year--the wheels are actually falling off. 

I am glad that I am not traveling until later during October. 

Finnegan was extremely happy, perhaps overjoyed, to see Chris and me. He stayed very close all day as he relaxed and reacquainted himself with our house and routine. He definitely took his place in bed last night and seemed fully reintegrated into the operation of the family. We really appreciate the care that our friends gave him in our absence. 

From the 15th Deck of Celebrity Reflection
Basseterre, St Kitts
September 23, 2025

I am reviewing images from our cruise and will select one over the next few days to highlight some of the things that I missed in my daily blogs.

Today is Basseterre, St Kitts, as seen from the running track on the 15th Deck of Celebrity Reflection. Chris and I attempted to do a daily walk, that lasted for about three days, but it was a good idea. We had ported in Basseterre, St Kitts, on Day 4 of the cruise. Days 2 and 3 were Sea Days devoted to travel. The sun was hot, when not behind clouds. We disembarked and spent some time walking around the port area doing some shopping and enjoying an adult beverage. The image shows the helicopter landing pad on Celebrity Reflections. During our last port call in Dominican Republic, we enjoyed a short arrival party on that very helicopter landing pad!

I think we would like to return to St Kitts at some point in the future to spend time exploring the island. 

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

STOP! Political Violence is Unacceptable

Charlie Kirk (1993-2025)

 I mourn Charlie Kirk. I pray for his family. 

I am angered at the senseless violence and also at the response of people, including the President, who are skewing facts and ignoring that political violence has occurred against democrats and republicans. I wish some of those spewing their virulent words would have felt as strongly about political violence when the Democratic leader and her husband were murdered in Minnesota during June. Or when the Democratic governor of Pennsylvania's house was subjected to an arson attack while he and his family slept inside. 

I am angered not because I agreed with Charlie Kirk's political views, but because politically motivated violence is fundamentally wrong.

I disagreed with Charlie on nearly every issue, but I respected his right to hold his views. 

If we lose the right to have meaningful discourse and to disagree we will have lost America. 

I served in the Air Force for 21 years and then as a Federal Civilian for another 24 years to protect every American's right to disagree--or to agree, peacefully and without fear of retribution. 

Guns are not the way for civilized people to solve political disputes. 

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

Wednesday Wandering

 The "Hands Off" protests this past weekend struck a chord in me. I was encouraged to see such widespread concern about the direction that our country is headed. The Supreme Court decisions of yesterday continue to concern me as the justices seem more concerned with procedure than addressing fundamental constitutional questions.

Liberty is hanging in the balance. 

I was reminded of something Thomas Jefferson wrote:

“The tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”― Thomas Jefferson

I never thought that refreshing the tree of Liberty would be required in my lifetime. It is frightening. The path we are on is sooooooo wrong!

I am NOT advocating insurrection, but rather that we must make a stand for the Constitution, freedom and liberty. There may be a cost involved! Working through the legal avenues is a start as is protesting and showing the depth of concern that people have across our country.

Some random thoughts: 

A nation should not do harm to its friends. 

A nation devoted to a constitution should not allow its leaders to depart from the principles espoused within.

We are a nation of immigrants--who is to say who is better or more deserving? 

One person should not have the power to upset the economies of the entire world. The situation was likened to a Roman emperor who with the flick of his finger could cause markets to rise and fall. 

One my my presidential heroes defined America as follows:

“[I]n my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, windswept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here.” 

He continued later:

“For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a by-word through the world.”

Ronald Reagan

The eyes of the world are upon us!

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

Bait and Switch

Hands-off Day Protest Sign
April 5, 2025

American voters been duped by a classic Bait & Switch.

The chaos and confusion we are experiencing and which has now expanded to include nearly the entire world was born out of the election lies told by Trump. 

That may be harsh, but I clearly remember his promise that on day 1 he would lower prices and reduce inflation for working families. That is far from what is actually happening. 

Trump claims a mandate from the voters--but he misunderstands the mandate he had which was to reduce living expenses for working families. He did not have a mandate to destroy the economic system of the entire world while pushing the limits of democracy in America. Yes, he said he was in love with tariffs, but targeted tariffs which have been used by nearly every president are very different from what we are experiencing now. 

I fear that destroying the strongest economic system in the world is designed to allow the uber-rich to swoop in and buy companies when the stock is down and thereby further pad their fortunes. This is, of course, at the expense of those of us who have worked and saved for years and invested our retirement accounts as the government advised through 401Ks and the TSP. 

We have been duped!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Programming Note: Because tomorrow is a travel day, Monday Musings will not be published. Hopefully there will be an update from the highway.

Chaos, Confusion, Disaster

 There is so much happening in the U.S. right now that it is almost impossible to remember events are underway around the world. 

I maintain that a myopic, inwardly focused view is unhealthy as it provides fertile ground for strategic surprise. We are so busy dealing with the day-to-day crises that we don't have time to consider the effect of our actions on the other countries and for that matter, to consider how what is happening in places like Turkey potentially affect our country. 

And then there is Signal-gate. How many supposedly brilliant people does it take to realize that admitting to a problem and fixing it is smarter than doubling down. And that begs the question--how many other Signal-chats are there out there which present a clear and present danger to the United States? 

Did I mention that the stock market, which holds not only my retirement savings but many other people's, is falling like a rock due to the insane application of tariffs and the lack of strategic fiscal vision in the White House?

Why do we need a trade war with the world? That is going to help us, how? 

I wonder which billionaire owns stock in bicycle companies since cars are going to be priced out of existence. 

Why are the things Trump was elected to do being left undone?

I'm really looking forward to not paying federal income tax on my Social Security benefits--no wait, am I actually going to continue receiving benefits? But Musk said I would get more! And lower food prices--where are they?

What about Musk?

My thought is he has too much money and no political smarts.

This morning [yesterday], Wisconsin Democrats issued a press release noting that Musk had “committed a blatant felony,” directly violating the Wisconsin law that prohibits offering anyone anything worth more than $1 to get them to “vote or refrain from voting.” Wisconsin Democratic Party chair Ben Wikler said that if Schimel “does not immediately call on Musk to end this criminal activity, we can only assume he is complicit.” (Letters from an American)

And then consider the Presidential Oath of Office. I reread it this morning and I have questions as to whether the oath has been and is being violated. And I don't even mean the part about supporting the Constitution. It is the faithfully part, because it sure seems to me that everything being done right now will improve the financial bottom line of the president while harming the citizens. To me, that does not seem to be faithfully executing the Office of the President. 

How is sending people being evicted for the country to a prison in a country not their own without due process and no prospects for redress a deportation? Doesn't deporting a person mean sending them back to their country of citizenship? And furthermore, if there is no due process who is making the decision to deport? That people, is unconstitutional. Everyone setting foot on American soil has rights despite what certain people would have us believe. The Constitution and our laws do not differentiate between citizens and non-citizens. We are on a very slippery slope.

Finally, I am tired of hearing how much money DOGE is supposedly saving the country, because too much of it is at the expense of the citizens. If they save $1 trillion, but we are left with no healthcare, no research, a broken education system, and a defense industry in tatters I am not sure that is better. And if DOGE is saving so much money, why do we have a looming debt ceiling crisis?

Some much to ponder and so little time. 

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

Neophytes in Government

 I was appalled when I read that senior government officials planned the March 15th Houthi attack using a tool called Signal and invited a reporter from The Atlantic to be part of the process. 

The story in the New York Times starts as follows:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth disclosed war plans in an encrypted group chat that included a journalist two hours before U.S. troops launched attacks against the Houthi militia in Yemen, the White House said on Monday, confirming an account in the magazine The Atlantic.

The editor in chief of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, wrote in an article published on Monday that he was mistakenly added to the text chat on the commercial messaging app Signal by Michael Waltz, the national security adviser.

It was an extraordinary breach of American national security intelligence. Not only was the journalist inadvertently included in the group, but the conversation also took place outside the secure government channels that would normally be used for classified and highly sensitive war planning. (New York Times)

I remember when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was accused of possessing sensitive material on an unsecured phone. Trump wanted her jailed. Why is it that he is so quick to move against others, but never take responsibility for himself or his people? I wonder what the results of this incident will be? 

And accidentally including a reporter? Nothing is an accident. The whole incident smells of neophytes who do not begin to grasp the importance of operations security and the proper use of secured communications. Additionally, it seems obvious that they believe that rules are made for others and not themselves. 

The Washington Post version of the story additionally has the following:

Senior Trump administration officials have warned in recent days that they will investigate unauthorized leaks to journalists, citing reporting in a number of publications. Several of them also for years criticized the handling of classified information by Democrats in other cases. (The Washington Post)

I'm waiting for the spin doctors to move in on this one. I am sure they will blame the entire incident on Biden. 

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

Saturday--is the week really over?

 It was a bit of a rollercoaster ride this week.

It is clear to me that neither the president nor vice-president understand the Constitution and the role of the judiciary. When the Vice President makes the statement that: “judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power,”  (NY Times) It is clear that he does not understand that it is the judiciary which gets to decide what are legitimate powers!

Talk about either trying to confuse the issue or being ignorant of the Constitution.

And then the president called for impeaching a federal judge because a ruling didn't go his way. I loved Justice Roberts' response: “For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,” he said in a statement. “The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.” (The New Republic)

I am greatly concerned about the deportation of Venezuelans without due process. And the president and vice president think this is OK. The 4th Amendment to the Constitution is pretty clear--this can't be done. And the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 probably does not apply in this case and even if it does, there are other requirements. One discussion, from the Brennan Center for Justice is as follows:

The president may invoke the Alien Enemies Act in times of “declared war” or when a foreign government threatens or undertakes an “invasion” or “predatory incursion” against U.S. territory. The Constitution gives Congress, not the president, the power to declare war, so the president must wait for democratic debate and a congressional vote to invoke the Alien Enemies Act based on a declared war. But the president need not wait for Congress to invoke the law based on a threatened or ongoing invasion or predatory incursion. The president has inherent authority to repel these kinds of sudden attacks — an authority that necessarily implies the discretion to decide when an invasion or predatory incursion is underway.

As the Supreme Court and past presidents have acknowledged, the Alien Enemies Act is a wartime authority enacted and implemented under the war power. When the Fifth Congress passed the law and the Wilson administration defended it in court during World War I, they did so on the understanding that noncitizens with connections to a foreign belligerent could be “treated as prisoners of war” under the “rules of war under the law of nations.” In the Constitution and other late-1700s statutes, the term invasion is used literally, typically to refer to large-scale attacks. The term predatory incursion is also used literally in writings of that period to refer to slightly smaller attacks like the 1781 Raid on Richmond led by American defector Benedict Arnold.

I think, and this is my opinion, that given the sense from Town Halls around the country that the electorate believes that Trump was elected to do something different than what he is doing and that the "mandate" he believes he has was far more limited that he understands. I believe that those who voted for him wanted him to lower prices and inflation and not start a global trade war, or withdraw support our allies around the world, or even cozy up to Putin. And as for reducing the Federal Government--I don't think mass firings instigated by a non-elected and not confirmed by the Senate billionaire were in the mandate. 

And don't get me started on where our support for medical research is headed and the fact that there won't be a likely viable flu vaccine next year. 

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

As Nero Played

 Something about yesterday's stock market downturn and the fable about Nero playing the fiddle while Rome burned hit me when I read: 

“We’re seeing a strong divergence between animal spirits of the stock market and what we’re actually seeing unfold from businesses and business leaders,” said the official, who was granted anonymity, according to CNBC. “The latter is obviously more meaningful than the former on what’s in store for the economy in the medium to long term.”  (The Daily Beast)

It has become clear that The White House does not want to be confused with the facts. Just wait until the March employment and inflation numbers come out in April--I'm not sure how that is going to be blamed on Biden. 

I have written my Congressman about the impact of federal firings on veterans, maybe he will finally stop towing the party line. 

We can only watch from the sidelines.

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL 

And it Rambled

 I felt that it was my civic duty to listen to the President's address to the joint session of Congress last night. 

All of it, to the end. 

It was long--far too long. And rambling.

I was appalled to see a member of the Congress removed for doing the same thing that Marjorie Taylor Green did to President Biden during his last address. Where is evenness? 

I was saddened to see that the small-minded man with the frail ego who was speaking could not get over blaming everything on the last president, but took credit for some things the last president accomplished. 

And as for the economy--his blatant lies that he was handed a sack of feces are just not true, but it plays well to the bandwagon followers. 

It is politics after all. 

But my stomach turned when it was revealed that American citizenship could be bought! Really? People die to get here to become Americans the old-fashioned way--but rich people can just buy their way in? That is wrong!

And the confirmation that Musk is, in fact, in charge of DOGE was interesting considering the recent court case where the DOJ assured the court that he was not in charge. It is all very confusing and it is clear that no one can keep the story straight. 

But at least the news can keep the story straight. I usrge a reading of the Fact Check of last night's address. 

I am worried that someone so out of touch with truth and reality is trying to run the country. 

It all reminded me of an old joke: "How can you tell a politician is lying? Their lips are moving."

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, MD

Allies don't do that to Allies

 I have been reading to and listening to the president-elect's desires to invade the Panama Canal and Greenland, and annex Canada. 

Are we crazy?

Do we not remember that the U.S. is the cornerstone of NATO and that Article 5 stipulates that an attack on one is an attack on all? That article had been employed only once in history--after 9-11 when our good friends and NATO allies supported the U.S.

What is our president-elect thinking? If he takes Greenland by force, as he has suggested, he would make the U.S. one of the worldwide oppressors and the NATO allies would have to defend Denmark employing Article 5. 

Even a tariff war could be considered an attack--an economic attack. 

And then . . . 

Annexing Canada? Really? We invaded Canada once (War of 1812) and lost. We have no business annexing Canada.

And then there is the Panama Canal. Treaties were written and signed. It is estimated that the U.S. has broken more than 370 Treaties over time. It might be construed that our word is not our bond.

Allies don't do this kind of stuff to allies. 

Invading Greenland would make us the same as Russia in Ukraine and China in the South China Sea. 

I don't think this is the mandate that Trump was given. How is he planning to lower gas and grocery prices? I'm not hearing much about those campaign promises from the guy who said he would keep every promise. 

-- Bob Doan, Odenton, MD

Worrisome Choices

 One of the biggest concerns that I had about the president-elect was who would he surround himself with as advisors and cabinet leaders. 

I think the answer is coming in fairly clearly: patsies. 

He is not willing to find experts or even people with experience to run important departments such as defense, justice, and the interior. He is selecting, in at least two cases, people with no experience but who will do his bidding. 

Is anyone else concerned about this? 

On top of unqualified appointees, Trump may be planning to subvert the advice and consent of the Senate by trying for recess appointments--there is something just wrong about that, and also skipping security vetting from the FBI. 

About the announcement for DNI, Director of National Intelligence:

As former Illinois representative Joe Walsh wrote: “Donald Trump just picked someone to oversee our intelligence who, herself, couldn’t pass a security clearance check. She couldn’t get security clearance. She couldn’t get a job in our intelligence community. Because she’s too compromised by Russia. Yet Trump picked her to run the whole thing.” (Letters from an American)

What is happening? Trump seems to be knee-capping Defense, Justice, and the Intelligence Community. 

I saw this coming.

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

Information Warfare

 It seemingly has become a way of life in America. False news and disinformation are everywhere. The recent election demonstrated the effectiveness of the false news agencies in convincing Americans that we, as a country and a society, are bottom barrel and trash. 

If a majority believe it, it must be true--right? Not so. It remains not true, but the following information does demonstrate how disinformation affected the election outcome.

There is data from a Reuters/Ipsos poll in October that shows just how damaging the information gap is. People who are in possession of truthful, accurate information voted overwhelmingly for Harris. In other words, if you believed violent crime in major American cities was at an all-time high—which is not true—you were far more likely to vote Republican. Voters who knew that inflation had declined over the last year and was close to historic averages were +53 Democratic votes. Perhaps most disturbingly, people who did not have truthful information about undocumented people crossing the southern border were more likely to vote Republican.

(Civil Discourse)

If Americans were making decisions based upon disinformation then who won the election? Well, that does not change, but America will change. 

I am a bit frightened because our president-elect has stated that he will fulfill every promise he made. 

We can't afford them. And I thought Republicans were the party of fiscal responsibility?

Figure 1 summarizes Trump’s campaign promises and their corresponding revenue estimates (collected by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget).

(Forbes)

And so it begins. The sad thing is that the people who elected him will be the ones who may suffer most. BTW, I heard him say something like that in a campaign speech.

Almost every economic policy Trump proposes would, at best, do little for the middle and working classes and, at worst, outright harm them. To take one example, among the random suggestions Trump has made is to make car insurance interest tax deductible. But that would only benefit you if you already itemize your deductions, and only 10% of taxpayers itemize, most of whom are wealthier. The rest of us take the standard deduction, which was significantly increased in that 2017 tax cut Trump wants to extend.  (MSNBC)

Well, the ride into misty future has already begun.

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

Why Vandals?

Chris and I celebrated an Election Day Happy Hour at our favorite watering hole surrounded by many Trump supporters last evening. We seemed to be a small group of blue amidst many people, and their dog, decked-out in red. 

Well, red carried the night. I do not fully comprehend the concept of Making America Great Again--since, we continue to be the most powerful country on Earth in terms of military capacity and economics. But, I guess we will see the what is in store beginning in late-January. 

During my visit to the restroom, I was appalled to see the damage vandals had caused to a wall decoration. 

Why? I asked myself. Why do people feel the need to destroy things that are not theirs? The painting had been in the restroom since we have been visiting Tiki52 and I do not understand how anyone would feel it proper to destroy another's property. 

We saw similar activities associated with lawn signs during the thankfully now concluded campaign. Understand, people buy lawn signs to display them, yet some in our society believe they are empowered to steal the signs or to damage them.

If this is an example of making America great again, I'm not sure that is what I am looking for. Thuggishness and vandalism have no place in society. 

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

The Economics of Tariffs

They say the election is about the economy.  

If it is then looking forward, rather than backward, Americans should be concerned about the impact of tariffs on the economy. One specific area of concern relates to Tech products. 

The CTA predicts [PDF] that the increased cost of importation, and retaliatory tariffs from other countries, would raise the cost of a laptop by 46 percent, a gaming console by 40 percent, and smartphone prices would be 26 percent more expensive. As a result, the association expects demand to fall 54, 57, and 44 percent, respectively.

"At their core, these proposals are tools for the US government to grab as much tax revenue as possible from the American people," said CTA CEO Gary Shapiro. "The proposed tariffs will not create more employment or manufacturing in the US. In fact, the opposite may happen where our productivity decreases and jobs may be lost over time when workers and businesses have less affordable access to technology."

The report points out that, for example, in the case of smartphones, there is virtually no manufacturing capability in the US, beyond a few refurbishing companies. (The Register)

Tariffs broadly applied will likely cause a major disaster in the economy. 

And here is a fun fact: 3 of the last 4 presidents faced economies on the brink of recession when they took office. Which president did not? Trump. 

Obama handed Trump a thriving economy for which Trump takes all of the credit. Important note, the inflation rate for Trump's term was 1.9%, but under Obama it was only 1.4%. The inflation rate during Biden's term, so far, has been 5.2%.  (Investopedia)

Trump, it must be remembered, handed Biden an economy on the brink of disaster AND a pandemic which saw, it is estimated, over 600,000 Americans die needlessly due to Trump's negligence.The Biden team pulled off a never before seen soft landing for the economy which was able to lower inflation from a high of 9.1% to just above 2% without spawning a recession. 

How do tariffs raise inflation: 

"The prices of all domestic goods will rise because they won't have foreign competition, at least some service prices will rise too," she said. "So you have the secondary price effect on domestic prices, which we've seen before with the open aluminum tariffs, with tariffs on washing machines, with tariffs on some of the things that were coming from China." (The Register)

Tariff Realities: Trump claims that foreign countries like China pay for the tariffs, and therefore they're subsidizing us. Well, that's wrong. And no, foreign countries are not going to pay for Social Security, childcare, or anything else. In the first round of the Trump tariffs, a lot of the effects were born by the intermediaries--wholesalers, retailers, distributors, et cetera. These intermediaries absorbed some of the cost of tariffs through lower profit markups. They also avoided the tariffs by shifting their sourcing to countries without tariffs. So, the United States didn't really see a big increase in consumer prices. But new tariffs, especially if they're large and they're applied to all imports like Trump suggests, so that firms couldn't escape them, would be much more likely to push up prices for consumers.  (American University)

If Trump gets elected, buy your tech items before he is sworn in, else wait 4 years. Oh yea, and get ready for the recession that Biden's team avoided.

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL