Musings Before I Disappear to Ski Out West

No one wins a trade war.  Comparative Advantage is a basic truth of economics.  There is much about economics that is not predictable, because variables change.  But there are tenants that run true regardless of the variables.  Comparative Advantage is one of those.

Comparative advantage says if every country produces what it does so at a lower cost than other countries, then all countries will benefit from a higher standard of living.  And the market is what determines the clearing price, the profit that can be gained from the clearing price by each potential producer who has their own cost profile, and the result is a global production pattern that maximizes profit and consumption.

If you disrupt that process with tariffs, you will lower consumption by increasing profits in your own country and if everyone responds with various tariffs, every country will have higher inflation and a lower standard of living.

It is hard to believe our President studied economics, since he believes economics is a zero sum game.

Meanwhile, this is just one element of the chaos in public policy and we can only hope that 2018 elections bring us to a better place in 12 months.

This Blog will Be Becoming Inactive After this one

Most of my reader hits are from Italy and I don't believe that many Italians love my writing even though I love Italian food, wine and visiting Italy.  Instead, I think those hits from Italy are Russian botts trying to accomplish heaven knows what.

But for those of you who are not Russian botts, I leave you with this thought.

I recently saw a historical review of Birth of a Nation.  This film made about 100 years ago revealed how widespread racism was in America.  Even President Wilson, who I always thought of as a liberal leader, believed in racist separation and Jim Crow laws.  I think he thought of Separate but Equal as being a good state of affairs even if there was no equality in such a state.

But reviewing the controversy surrounding the movie, the widespread support and viewership of the movie in the countryside, there can be no doubt that racism was widespread in white America.  The KKK had even been put to rest prior to the movie and the movie revived the KKK and made it more popular than ever for the next 30 to 40 years.

And I believe Donald Trump knows about his history because his campaign playbook is right out of it.  He panders to racists in the same manner the movie did.  And just as the movie revived the KKK, so shall Donald Trump's words revive racist action.  Donald Trump can protest that he is not a racist, but if you pander to racists, you are guilty of pandering to racists which will get you accused of being a racist.  I happen to think Donald Trump is an economic racist.  If you are not rich, you are not worthy.  If you are not working to support him personally, you are not worthy.  He can only care about those who care about and pander to him.  That is narcism and that is what Trump is.

So racism is alive and well in the U.S.  And it must be fought so it has no political standing.  Not every Trump supporter is a racist, but if they don't disown Trump's racist actions, like him they will be subject to accusation of being a racist.  I know the GOP wants to free people who they believe the welfare system is holding back by creating a culture of dependency.

But I ask you, how are so many Medicaid people who don't work able-bodied and not looking for work.  I have never met such a person, although I do not doubt that a small number might fit this profile, it is a large country.  But a small number should not determine how we fund a necessary support scheme for public health care.

And, as my final parting, I repeat what I have written before.  Fear drives much use of guns.  And the widespread availability of guns makes the police legitimately afraid, but there can still be no forgiveness for a police officer who lets fear generate the killing of an innocent human being.  That is why I do not understand why police across this nation are not speaking out for sensible gun control.

How Low Can We Go

We are pretty low right now and seemingly heading lower.  I know we are better than this, but the President sets the tone, words matter as any child is taught and knows, and this is where we are.

this guy says it better than me

Democrat's Need to Ignore the Hillary Blasts

Democrats need to look forward.  They need an economic message that rewards work, encourages work, and offers hope that the world will be a better place.  That is what motivates voters to go to the polls and vote for a person.  Let King Donald waste his time and energy on the past, but Democrats should not get drawn into his trap.  People want a positive campaign.

What did or did not happen in 2015 - 2016 is done and past unless laws were broken and that is for the Justice system to figure out.  Candidates and people already elected need to focus on making government work for the people and come with policies that will help that message and reality.

!@#$%^&*()

WE CANNOT RID OURSELVES OF THIS !@#$%^&*() ADMINISTRATION SOON ENOUGH.  I HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH DAMAGE THEY WILL DO TO THE GLOBAL ECONOMY.

FREE TRADE DOES NOT CAUSE INFERITILITY.  FREE TRADE DOES NOT CAUSE SPOUSAL ABUSE.  FREE TRADE DOES NOT CAUSE ABORTIONS.  IN FACT, ABORTIONS ARE LOWER TODAY THAN THEY HAVE BEEN FOR YEARS AND THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH FREE TRADE.  IT HAS TO DO WITH ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY AND EDUCATION.

Real news reveals the idiots in the White House

Trump Overload and The Rule of Law

There really is no link between the two, they are just the two topics I feel compelled to write about today.

I saw a short article somewhere this morning about how Trump so dominates the news cycle that one can not escape paying some attention to it and that is both exhausting and frustrating to those who think he is dangerous.  I am trying to pay less attention, but since I am a news junkie, I can only take that so far.

Then there is David Leonhardt's column this morning.  He highlights 5 ways in which King Donald is  trying to downgrade the Rule of Law which is what Monarch's do.  It is a worthwhile read and would be very scary if it were not for the Judicial system which is doing its job.  What is noteworthy is that most of the GOP is tolerating it and many are embracing it in state houses across RedState America. That is very sad and a call to protest in every way possible.

Link to column

Trump Blames Obama, What is Trump Hiding?

Donald Trump thinks he can go back to the well and pull up another falsehood that will somehow save him.  After all, he made his political mark by accusing President Obama of being born in Kenya, not a citizen and being a Muslim.  Trump has barely admitted that all of that was wrong.  Now, in some desperate move, he accuses Retired President Obama of directing that Trump Tower be wiretapped.

It is a base fact that for that to happen would require a Judge to authorize such thing based upon some evidence that illegal actions were taking place in such a location.  In other words, either King Donald is making something up out of thin air to distract from something he is trying to hide, or there were illegal actions taking place somewhere in the Trump Tower.

Neither is pretty condition for the President of the United States to be in.

When will the GOP Congress have enough of this?  I for one am ready for President Mike Pence so we can do back to arguing over policies, not crap like this.

Meanwhile, Trump wants Congress to investigate this falsehood.  While they are at it, why don't they investigate President Obama's birth certificate?  Why don't they investigate Donald Trump's tax returns?  Why don't they pass some laws?  This Congress cannot chew gum and walk at the same time.

Here is What Will Get Donald Trump Impeached

For my readers in other countries, which is most of you, you must remember that to be impeached it takes a majority of the House of Representatives to indict the President and 2/3's of the Senate must vote to impeach.  So there will have to be substantial Republican support to impeach Donald Trump.

Violations of the Emoluments Clause will not be enough to get the GOP legislators to vote for this.  Too many of their voters and campaign contributions don't see this clause as applying to a business relationship, unless there is a smoking gun relationship to a direct policy action.  Which there may be some day, but I doubt it.  And if Trump were a Democrat with liberal leanings for the Supreme Court you can be the GOP would be already filing for impeachment on this basis.  But the GOP cannot let hypocrisy get in their way of ramming their vision for America down our throats.

What I believe Trump could do and the GOP will not stand for is use t"he IRS, the FBI, and Regulatory Agencies for personal advantage and abusing power against his perceived enemies"*.  If he does that, then we will see calls for impeachment rise in a bipartisan way.

The only drawback to that as a Democrat, is Mike Pence is also a Conservative ideologue and the GOP will still control the Congress so policies will not improve upon impeachment.  The only saving grace is a man of no morals will no longer be in the White House.

Of course, Machiavellian men do not see abuse of power as a flaw, but rather as the way of the world. So perhaps the GOP would not support an impeachment under these circumstances.


*Peter Wehner NYT column

Why Trump is Far More Unethical and Dangerous Than Hillary

Who knows what is in the pervert Hot Dog's emails?  And if he wasn't married to Hillary's aide, Huma, it wouldn't affect her.  In fact, since the FBI doesn't know what is in those emails, I don't know how they know it might involve Hillary.  But they got their subpoena and now they can figure it out.

I suspect it will be nothing.  But that has not stopped some people (I cannot imagine who they are or on what basis they decide who they will vote for), from saying to pollsters that they are changing their vote from Hillary to Trump.  I guess they have forgotten all the unstable things he has done.

Michael Gerson looks at the issue from more objective eyes than I have, but reached the same conclusion.  As a nation we would have to be absolutely crazy to elect Donald Trump our President.

Link to Gerson column

and Jennifer Rubin piles on with Trump's Russia smoke.  He had a server connected to a Russian bank for private communication.

Both of Gerson and Rubin are GOP pundits.

Link to Rubin column

Both Political Parties Need to Create Hope

Reading way too much about the state of the election campaign I uncovered a glimmer of truth.  Many Trump supporters want change in Washington D.C.  And even though Trump is campaigning on more trickle down economic and tax cuts for the rich, they believe that an outsider is needed to bring about change in policy that is not working for them.   They don't connect the dots between globalization and automation that have lead to their economic stagnation and that trickle down economics will not have any effect on those trends.  What Trump does not connect on is breaking  trade agreements and disrupting manufacturing doesn't undo the effects of automation or supply chains and he will not be able to help these people with his policies.

I have long written that I don't have a solution, but I know there are think tanks out there with people who understand how policies effect people and there must be some good ideas there.

I can see RedStateVt fuming that I am advocating more income redistribution, but that is not the case.  The dependency economy is one of the things that people are angry about, even those who benefit from it and rely upon it.  People want to work.  Many of the most angry, however, don't want to move to find work.

So there must be something done about job creation and wage stagnation and the distribution of employment around the country.  That would involve state policies perhaps more so than federal policies.  But something must be done to create hope, because when you don't have hope, you allow a tyrant to stoke fear and gather votes.

Two columns this morning provide insights around this.

David Leonhardt on how stagnation creates anger

David Brooks on the damaged psychological make up of Trump



And just when I thought I could get on with my day, I read the following on how unfit the current GOP is to lead any part of the government.

No Profiles of courage in the GOP

Finally, someone agrees with me. GOP must renounce talk radio

Donald Trump is the result of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Fox News, Glenn Beck, Laura Ingraham and any number of other burn the bridges down and never ever discuss compromise with the Democrats.  They have promulgated lie after lie after lie and they provided the license for ordinary people to believe Donald Trump's behavior was tolerable because these radio show hosts are hero's to these people and they support Donald Trump.

Link below.


Thank You Michael Gerson

The NYT explains why this time is different and GOP office holders are abandoning Trump

Link to article

We will see if the voters agree in sufficient numbers to end this nightmare of a candidacy.

Of course, we will still be dealing with the likes of Ted Cruz and the Freedom caucus so I will not expect a return to the rational politics of compromise.

The far bigger question is how this party that claims to represent family values ever nominated this unfit boorish individual.

There are so many reasons to vote against Donald Trump that it really makes me wonder if Democrats remain believers in the rights of individuals (AS THEY SHOULD AND MUST) that they can ever get the 30% to 35% of the electorate that supports Trump to vote for them.  I think that segment of society is so caught up in their circularity of argument that they are permanently lost and dangerous to society.

On the other hand, as a book reviewer writes into today's NYT review of books about African American GOP members, the GOP was the preferred party of African American's as it was Southern Democrats who opposed the Civil Rights Bills and Northern Republican's who supported it.  But Johnson got the Civil Rights bill passed, Nixon & Reagan pursued their southern strategy of converting those southern Democrat's to Republican and moderate GOP people lost elections to either more conservative GOP people in primaries or Democrat's in general

But the real reason I am writing about this is the following truism that is written in the review.

"and they agreed that black Americans would do best when both parties were competing for their votes"

That truth is critical for all voters and politicians to remember.  It is hard when the country is so partisan, the primaries more important to many than the general election because of gerrymandering, and the issues (guns, abortion, immigration, trade, Global Warming, Supreme Court) so black and white in different directions; that for politicians to appeal to the other side or voters who believe in the other side voting to make their voice heard and represented by those politicians difficult to imagine.

That is not a situation that I think will be overcome easily without ending gerrymandering and increasing the importance of general elections over primaries.

Debate #1 Comments

I wish Hillary had laid out a snappy one liner to describe her vision for America.  I know the problems are complicated and she described a number of areas she will focus on to deal with that complexity.  But when 25% of voters still are not sure President Obama was born in the U.S., you need a pithy statement that people can identify with.  I don't have one to suggest, but with all her high priced talent on her staff you would think someone could come up with something.

As for Donald Trump, his microphone was working fine.  I heard every word he said clearly, although  on more than one occasion I was unable to understand the thoughts that he was trying to convey.  Instead, I was saying, " What is his policy?"

I did hear Donald Trump admit that he doesn't pay any taxes and that to do so would be stupid.  I have a friend in the real estate business who told me this might be the case because he would own buildings that throw off a lot of depreciation.  Of course, that is why Trump wants to be President.  If there are estate taxes, those buildings will have to be sold to pay the taxes on his estate and his heirs will have less wealth.  If he is President, he has pledged to eliminate estate taxes.

So his run for President is all about his personal wealth, because his economic policies tearing up trade agreements would endanger every one else's wealth.

We manufacture just as much as we did 30 years ago.  It is just done with less people (more automation) and in different industries that are located in different parts of the country.  Those industries are part of the global economy and compete well within it.

You can't go back in time, and if you want to, well you know who else wants to:  ISIS and Vladimer Putin.

Sunday Quick Takes 9/25/16

I have discussed how I don't understand how accurate polls can be taken.  Yet, somehow polls repeatedly show Trump's voter support within the margin of error with Clinton barely leading.  All the while Trump continues to lie.  The New York Times came up with 31 substantial lies he made in statements within the last week.  They ignored items where he merely stretched the truth beyond a measure of reality.  In other words, they cut him some slack and only tallied the most egregious lies.

Trump is a habitual lier and that puts in the same league as Putin and Assad, both of whom use lies to systemically provide cover to their egregious acts of using military force to achieve their authoritarian political aims.  And Russian leadership is rooting for a Trump victory because they know he will not push them on cleaning up their rotten democratic processes.  And Assad is probably rooting for a Trump victory because Trump has promised to carpet bomb ISIS and Al Nusra.  While that will undoubtedly result in civilian deaths, it will leave Assad in power and that is all he cares about.  Like Putin, he doesn't give a rat's ass about his civilian population.

Which leaves me wondering how the GOP voters can support a lying Putin Assad sympathizer?  You can only imagine how the GOP media machine would be ripping a Democrat if they put forth similar beliefs.  Apparently stuffing the Supreme Court so that it allows voter discrimination and actively protects business from regulation is more important than anything else that is normally a requirement to be President.

Meanwhile, two more policeman (one a female, one an African American) kill unarmed African American males because their fear that they might have a weapon overcame their rationality and they fired their weapons.  I understand the police have a difficult job and that their lives are in danger every minute of every day.  But Black Lives Matter too and you would think police and their supporters would want sufficient controls on weapons so that police are not in fear all the time.

The 2nd Amendment preserves the right to weapons that were technologically modern in 1786, not what we have today.

This country is definitely going in the wrong direction and my belief in that has everything to do with the GOP, not the Democrats.  And I don't see any way the next election will improve things.

More on Why You Cannot Reason With Trump Supporters

Before I get to the last article in The New Republic, one only has to read Jennifer Rubin's column of yesterday to realize how far from traditional GOP policies Donald Trump is campaigning.  As I learned studying Economics and more so in business school, the strength of capitalism as the best allocator of labor and capital to the point of greatest return is creative destruction.  That is why my economic beliefs will sometimes agree with traditional GOP ideas and sometimes with traditional Democratic ideas.  Nothing the government does should get in the way of that creative destruction.   Yet, it is precisely on that point that Donald Trump is campaigning.  He wants to inhibit creative destruction by killing trade treaties and supporting people who do not want to move or learn new things.

Link to Jennifer Rubin's column

Again I don't have access to The New Republic website to put links into this column so I urge you to buy the October 2016 issue on a newsstand.

The last article examines the writing of two people who have studied the Tea Party/Trumpists.  They are mad about a lot of things and the result is the perversity that they will support someone who voices that anger even though the substance of his policies will not undo the environmental damage they are angry about, will not bring back jobs that were destroyed by advances in technology, and require that people they perceive as getting favorable treatment from the government be discriminated against in some form by policies they want.  They remember verbal slights and do not forgive them and they do not trust the government even when they benefit from rules and actions of the government.  They perceive a loss of honor and dignity in their life and want to restore it. Because they blame the establishment of both political parties, they will vote for Trump no matter the illogic of what he is saying nor his unfitness to hold the office of President.

It is both a depressing article and a scary one.  We can only hope that significant voters for Hillary are going unrepresented in polls because such people don't answer robo calls.  I don't want intolerance, narcissism, ignorance and illogic to become a winning campaign strategy and I certainly don't want a Putin admirer to be our President.

I am also hoping that the New York Attorney General indicts Trump for illegal dealings with his charity, but I suspect some underling will be the signer of the documents and therefore the one who takes the fall for that.  I suspect Trump limits all his instructions to underlings in verbal form.

Oh Vey!!!

Trump Supporters are on Venus, Every One Else is on Mars

It has become apparent to me that true  of Donald Trump and everyone else are speaking two different languages:  Different concerns, different priorities, different ways of seeing the world and there can be no convincing of the other side in the virtue of what you believe.

What is truly amazing since Donald Trump wants to roll back the global economy through which many have prospered (and he will not roll back technology which is what has cost many of his economic believers their life style) and yet the establishment GOP will vote for Dangerous Donald because he will nominate politically correct GOP Supreme Court Justices.  That is more important to the GOP than anything else:

This election should be about serious issues:  tax reform, Social Security/Medicare funding, Security in a world where guns and bomb making materials abound, rising sea levels, 11 mm undocumented members of the economy who are critical to our level of GDP, and war refugees & the decline in movement toward democracy in any number of countries including Russia, China, the Middle East.

Instead it is about trivia.  Now some of this trivia is important to the everyone else crowd, but it does not matter to the Trumpists.  So Dangerous Donald will not conform in those areas.   But what Dangerous Donald does understand is the Trumpists are tired of political correctness and will support anything he does to end political correctness.  It is a circular loop that cannot be broken just like there can be no compromise with the GOP because the Tea Party/Freedom Caucus made compromise a four letter word unless they get exactly what they want, which is what the Democrats cannot and will not allow if they have any political power to deploy.  All these people view politics as a zero sum game.  You win, I lose, I win, you lose.

Of course the entire theory of modern political economy (including trickle down economics) is that everyone benefits from a bigger pie, even if those benefits are uneven, and people should be satisfied with their improved situation.  That is why income inequality is the root cause of much of this anger, but when technology and globalization are the root causes of this inequality, how is shrinking the pie, which is what Dangerous Donald wants to do, going to help anyone?

The New Republic, has an excellent examination of the people advising Dangerous Donald.  It is really terrifying to think these people could be advising a President.  They believe in false conspiracies, they believe in using lies to manipulate public opinion, they believe in power politics and that what is good for the rich is the best thing, and they believe authoritarian government benefiting cronies (i.e. Putin's Russia) is a good thing to emulate.

I don't have an on-line account at The New Republic, so you will have to get one or buy the magazine to see how terrifying a Donald Trump presidency would be.  In my 45 years of voting, I have never been so afraid of the other candidate winning and I am stunned that the GOP establishment believes the Supreme Court's philosophy is more important than international relations (the U.S. could become a pariah state under Donald Trump) and global peace and prosperity (I really believe Donald Trump could destroy the global framework on which our personal savings are valued).

Yet I know that I could not convince a Trump supporter to change their mind because I am on Mars and they are on Venus.

I usually feel better after writing this blog,  I do not feel better.  I am truly afraid for our nation and the world.

The GOP Abandon's Character as a Qualification

Long time readers know I long ago identified Donald Trump as being unfit for President because of his leading the birther movement.  This movement did nothing but falsely declare President Obama to be an illegitimate President whose actions could be ignored by said believers.

This is why I want to see Donald Trump's tax returns.  Like all corporations, as he himself has stated, he pays the least in taxes that he can get away with.  That is why his tax returns are being audited.  His accountants probably push the edge of the envelope as far as they can on items of judgement and allow the auditors some gimmes and get away with some other stuff that is the staff of litigation.  I do not believe Donald Trump pays more than 10% to 15% of his income in taxes and he may well pay even less.

Those readers with a good memory will remember the impeachment proceedings agains Bill Clinton revolved around his character.  The GOP tried to convince Americans that character was a criteria by which Presidents should be judged.  I certainly believe that character is a consideration but so is policy.  And what the GOP is now saying is vote for a thoroughly dishonorable human being because he will appoint GOP thinking people to the Supreme Court and complete the politicalization of the Supreme Court.  Which has probably always had one foot in politics and one foot in the law.

But one thing is clear.  In supporting Donald Trump GOP voters are abandoning good character as a criteria and endorsing an individual who will lie to achieve his ends and whose only motivation is enriching himself.

Anyone who thinks he will bring jobs back to their community with a reduction in taxes for the wealthy and there heirs and a reduction in regulation should remember that those jobs started to disappear when George Bush was President and those same policies were in place.  Globalization and technology are unrelenting capitalist forces that march onward and you either are successful competing with that or you lose.  And Donald Trump will not change any of that.

Sunday Musings 9/11/16 Civility in Language

I am struck by how anger can overwhelm common sense in this political campaign.  The Cable TV culture which Donald Trump has used to feed his need for narcissistic approval while camouflaging what he really believes has gotten under Hillary's skin to the point when she is in front of her true believers she has lost control of her common sense button.

Now I do not believe that common sense thrives in the Cable TV culture.  Doing the outlandish is what draws people into watching it, improving ratings and advertising rates and increasing the pay of the reality TV starts.  This is clearly the playbook of Donald Trump but I wish Hillary would simply put a lid on her language and remember that every voter is deserving of respect, even if you don't like what they are saying.

Now I will admit that getting throngs of people saying "Lock them Up" and referring to me would make me angry, but we expect more from our candidates for President.  We expect them to be calm and rational.  Hillary was calm when she disparaged 50% of Trump's supporters, but that was an irrational statement made in the thrall of being the center of attention within a group of people who think similarly.  Not unlike why Donald Trump gets the audience chanting "Lock her Up".

But I believe most voters know people who are supporting or will vote for the candidate of the other party.  They understand that a lack of civility in language and process has made Congress dysfunctional.  And if the President does not lead us in civility, then there is no hope for ending the dysfunctionalty.

While I have written blog postings in anger, because I am always hoping that what I write will convince RedStateVT to support one of my positions, I try to keep my language civil and respectful of what the other side is saying.  That is why I am disappointed in Hillary's language the other day and incredibly impressed by President Obama's ability to be civil in the face of incredible incivility towards him by many in the GOP.

As for Donald Trump, I have written many words about his lack of morality in how he has pursued increasing his personal wealth.  It is this lack of morality combined with his uncivil language that make the potential for him to win this election completely foreign to my way of thinking.  I am incredibly stressed out by this potential.  I don't understand how any person who cares about civility could vote for him, but I know that this will happen.

Sunday Musings 5/15/16

Three topics today:  The Kardashian Culture, Transgender People, and Cancer.

(i)  Reading about Dangerous Donald's life time of crude sexist behavior and his manipulation of power to get people to admire him and enrich his life in some manner, I was reminded that is what the Kardashian's are all about.

I know that RedStateVT dislikes the Kardashian culture.  So do I.  Yet, a Donald Trump victory and presence in the White House for 4 years would place the Kardashian culture as an every day existence in each of our lives.

So, Democrat's, let us not focus on the racist positions that Dangerous Donald projects as core positions of his.  You need to focus on the issues that underlie those racist positions.  The issues have validity even if the answers Trump presents do not.  Public Safety, respect of individuality, and fairness in economic opportunity are valid issues.

(ii)  My own thoughts on sexuality and gender identification have been evolving for over 40 years, slowly.  These are not things that can evolve quickly.  So I am left with the feeling once again of questioning why the Obama Administration is pushing an issue that is really not much of an issue in practicality for most people, and trying to protect, a few people with a national policy as opposed to simply letting people on the local scene work things out.

I am referring of course to the bathroom availability for transgender people.  My son, in his class of 88, had two transgender people.  His was a private school where people had to pay tuition so these young people came from family's of means.  This brought home to me that transgender people are just people.  They are not weirdo's, they are not predestined to be prostitutes, cross dressers, pill poppers and night lift hangers on.  They just want be themselves, as they believe they should be, and carry on their lives with dignity and respect.  But these people are not numerous, incidents of discrimination are scattered through out the nation, and I am left wondering why the Administration had to issue a policy.  Somewhere in this administration, and I do believe it is somewhere below the President, there exists a strata of power that is determined to root out discrimination everywhere and that cannot be done from a centralized place.  It can only happen on a local level.  Even when laws are passed, they require enforcement and that can be important.  But guidelines and executive decisions just rile up the opposition who want local customs to left alone.  That may result in discrimination against some people, but a national directive is not going to change that.

(iii) Cancer is complicated and the Human Genome Project has given cancer research great insights into how complicated a disease it really is.  And an extensive article in the NYT Magazine prompted a thought.  Cancer is expensive to treat.  A lot of high priced medical talent is focused on giving care to people with cancer.  The Drugs take a lot of people who need to be paid good wages to develop and test.  And the cost of all that has to end up in society either through higher health insurance premiums or higher taxes.  Someone has to pay for all this; there is no free lunch, someone always has to pay for it.

So I was left to ponder the economic role of cancer in society.  It is not a productive use of resources in every instance.  It is easy to see the productive use in a young person who hopefully will recover and have a productive economic life in our society.  There is also value in keeping parents alive who will offer guidance and love with a rich family life for children and grandchildren.  But at some point, the expense and the pain of treatments becomes futile.  That is where palliative care is so important.

From there I started to ponder just how much wealth is enough.  I know many GOP supporters don't think there is such a thing as enough wealth, and they want lower taxes so they can have more wealth.  But once you have given your kids a debt free education, and maybe set aside some money for your grandchildren's education, how much do you need to pass on.  What about each individuals need to contribute to society through church, charity, and being part of the insurance pools?  That has benefit to everyone by lowering the cost of insurance and spreading the enormous costs over a larger pool.

I like Hillary's idea of opening up Medicare to people over 50 or 55.  I would be there in a nano second.

Michael Gerson on the Dangerous Donald

This column is dense, but illustrates how unfit for the Presidency, the race baiting Donald Trump is and just how dangerous he is to the moral fabric of the U.S.A.

"If political leadership can increase dehumanization — as the evidence seems to indicate — Trump is guilty of it. He has falsely asserted that “thousands and thousands” of Muslims cheered after the World Trade Center came down and that Syrian refugees are entering the United States with “cellphones with ISIS flags on them.” He has called for a ban on Muslim immigration and the establishment of a database to track Muslims in the United States. “I want surveillance of these people,” Trump has said. And: “We’re going to have to do things that we never did before.” 

"Trump has turned legitimate concerns about terrorism into the indictment of a religion. In his rhetoric, the distinction between “these people” and the American “we” is clear enough. But there is a problem, other than the obvious ethical one. Bruneau and Kteily also surveyed Muslim Americans. And the more they feel dehumanized, the less likely they are to report activities that might be related to radicalization."

"This is a vicious and dangerous cycle: dehumanizing rhetoric, leading to distrust of government and law enforcement, contributing to tragedies that feed dehumanizing rhetoric. Both our ideals and our safety are compromised when politicians provide permission for bigotry."

Link to Gerson column