Some Republican Math


Watching the Republican debate, and what Paul Krugman calls their "Time Loop" approach to everything being about taxes and many of their personal pronouncements to be to fight "wealth redistribution", you can't help but remember when Bill Clinton raised taxes just a little bit on high incomes and....we had the best economy in the last half-century. And the stock market went up 300%, so let the saying go forth "A tea party Republican is someone who thinks with his taxes go down by 2% and his stock portfolio goes down by more than 35% he came out ahead." 

Our reference point is the stock market under a Bill Clinton presidency vs that of George W. Bush.

Sloppy Paper Work

Yesterday in LA the ultimate argument for paper organization was made. It seems when you buy a winning lottery ticket in CA you have 180 days to claim your prize, unlike in CT where you have a year. Well, last August some guy or gal bought a ticket, never turned it in, and it expired at 5:00pm yesterday. We would have thought the store owner would have used his security camera to track the winner, as gets a cut as well. Oh, the amount the winner lost through sloppy paper work? 63 million. Ouch.

Repeating Prejudice


Any religious or ethnic group who has suffered prejudice in earlier times, and practices that same bigotry in present times, at the very least explains and possibly justifies what was done to them in past times.

To be or not to be


I think one definition of important people in our lives, personal and public, is that they give us lessons on how to live. Keep in mind these lessons can be what "to be" and....every bit as important what "not to be".

A Lesson for Jews

Yesterday, January 27 was Holocaust remembrance day, noted in ceremonies  worldwide, as it is now and should always be. To make the words "never again" that much more resonant, we must stay vigilant against prejudice to Jews and..by Jews; there's no other way.

60 Minutes, Be Brave!

I was very disappointed in the 60 minutes presentation of their segment on the health wagons last night. What these people do is obviously wonderful work but the've gotten uncharacteristically timid. By their own estimate  at least 40% of the governors in our country have denied these people potential life saving preemptive healthcare, so it would seem three questions to each of these unfortunate folks would be in order. Do you vote? Did you vote for the governor who denied you medical care? Finally, would you do it again? What I've always respected most about 60 Minutes is that they've been brave, please don't stop now.

Tough to argue with


Glenn Beck speaking for Ted Cruz says Donald Trump is dangerous. Donald Trump and Sarah Palin are calling Cruz two-faced.  Those folks are tough to argue with.

Love vs. Hate


"I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear."

- Martin Luther King Jr 1967

Donald Trump vs. Bill Clinton

When Bill Clinton was president, America was his shareholders and their portfolios (the stock market and their 401Ks) were up over 200%. We bet that Donald Trump's shareholders wish they did half as well.

Putting Up His Mitts


When Donald Trump said that America kills journalists just like the Russians do, Mitt Romney tweeted: "important distinction; thug Putin kills journalist and opponents; our presidents kill terrorists an enemy combatants". Way to go Mitt, it is amazing how rational some people get when they get out of combative politics!! 

Yellen is Yellin'


Yesterday Janet Yellen and the rest of the federal reserve agreed on a .25% increase in interest rates, the first in over a decade. This had been anticipated, and shows the economy is definitely recovering, and the stock market reacted really positively. This is called the good news, and only nine people don't know this. Well 13 if you count the many predate candidates.

Unplanned Parenthood

Maybe the way to judge the political logic of certain positions is to look at the opposite. For instance, the opposite to Planned Parenthood would be UnPlanned Parenthood, which is better known as the state of Texas based on their leading the country in repeat teen pregnancies.

Marco (Bi-Polo) Rubio

After deciding Obamacare was not right for Americans who need healthcare, he enrolled his own family in it.

Cruzing

The two most common comments going around (political insiders and outsiders alike) concerning Ted Cruz are as follows: first, a former former college roommate said he would just as soon take someone out of the phone book as opposed to having Cruz as the next president. Then, when a political associate who worked with him was asked why just about everyone he's worked with in Washington seems to dislike Ted Cruz instantly: he said it saves time.

What Bothers You?


To those who are bothered by prejudice of any sort, the most disquieting/frightening thing about Donald Trump is not just his universal condemnation and plan to put a ban on Muslim immigrants regardless of their situation. No, it's that the major political party that controls the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, does not disapprove. Rather it endorses it to the degree that he is clearly FIRST in the current Republican polls. Says more about them than about him.