America, Built to Last
The View from the Middle
Let me give some badly needed factual counter evidence to the fatalistic, extremist stories that are being passed around on college campuses, the Democrat party and even the NFL these days. If you just listened to them, you would think that America is a horrible place to live that hasn’t made any progress since 1776 and needs fundamental change for us to survive. According to critics and Hillary Clinton, anyone who doesn’t agree with the Democrat Party’s agenda is a bunch of racist bigots who are deplorable and irredeemable. I take offense to those charges.
While we are not perfect, I believe that The United States of America is the greatest place in the world to live and we will only get better because of the foundation that our founding fathers put together for our country. I don’t think, for example, that the words “all men are created equal” were thoughtlessly plugged into our Declaration of Independence because they just sounded good. In 1776 those words were not true in America and I believe the founders knew it. It was their hope, however, that over time we could live up to that vision.
And we have made fantastic progress toward that end since then. We fought a civil war at least in part over the issue of equal rights for all and in 1863 Abraham Lincoln signed The Emancipation Proclamation to legally make that wish become a reality. But, with difficult issues like this, it takes time for legality to become reality.
In 1870 the first two Black Americans, Hiram Revels and Joseph Rainey, were elected to Congress. After some set backs and a complete dry period from 1901 to 1929, Black America truly began it’s journey. By 1965, a year after the Civil Rights Act was signed, there were six African Americans in Congress. Today there are 51, which is almost 10% of the 535 members of the House and Senate. We’ve come a long way, and I expect that we will continue to make progress in the future.
Under Jim Crow, Blacks saw little justice in America as they were regularly harassed, and over 4,000 were brutally lynched. Today, while our policemen and women are accused systemic racism, the actual facts tell a different story. In 2015, law enforcement made over 11 million arrests and only 965 of those arrests, .0086% or one in every 11,674, ended in a fatality. Only 90 of those deadly shootings were of unarmed people (one out of every 125,166) and 36 of those were black males. 36 of 90 is 40% of the total while black men represent only 13% of the male population in America, so there is a discrepancy. While prejudice is a factor in that discrepancy, it is not the only factor, so solutions need to address more that just racism in our law enforcement.
I will bet that these numbers shocked most people, in a positive way. With all the emotion over this issue most people would guess that there were 900 fatal unarmed shootings, not 90, and 360 Black males killed, not 36. And 2016 brought us even better news. In 2016 the number of unarmed black males killed by police was down to just 16. I don’t want to be insensitive by calling this “better news” and saying “just” 16 unarmed Black males were killed by police. Every life is precious. Each of these deaths is tragic, but this also represents progress, not an epidemic. BTW – most of all unarmed shooting victims were resisting arrest or fleeing police, which is another lesson.
Finally, the NFL needs some fact checkers on their staffs. They not only should check out the real figures as I have outlined them above, but they need to realize that 72% of Americans think that kneeling for the National Anthem is unpatriotic. These are the people who fill the stands each week or watch games on TV. It is a big industry, but no business can alienate its customer base with impunity and survive. Ratings are down and will continue to decline until the NFL figures out how to address the issue and celebrate the country at the same time.
Maybe the Cowboys are on to something. The team knelt BEFORE the anthem and then stood for it. They still got booed when they knelt, but got applauded when they stood. Bottom line, the NFL needs to become about football again and maybe the Cowboys can be America’s team again by leading the way through this issue.
I didn’t write this article because I think that America is perfect or that we have experienced total harmony of the races. I write this to bring some balance to this discussion. I believe that America today is the best place to live in this world and even at any time in its history. Because of our foundation, we have made great progress over the years and I have no doubt that we will make more in the future. I have great confidence in the vast majority of the American people who are united behind the concepts of equal rights, equal justice and equal opportunity for all people.
We all need to ignore the emotionally charged, vitriolic rhetoric of the extremists who are trying to tear this country apart for their own selfish purposes, and listen to the good hearts of the average American. We need to stop the finger pointing and focus on solutions, and for that just watch my video entitled – Race in America, Solutions. Here is a link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kVsN7TO-XU.
Wednesday, September 27, 2017
Thursday, September 7, 2017
DACA - What Does it Really Mean?
DACA – Don’t Ask Congress to do Anything
The View from the Middle
President Trump has just given our Congress an opportunity to begin to claw its way back to credibility. So far, this Republican Congress has delivered an epic failure in passing any meaningful legislation. Paul Ryan specifically misled President Trump when he suggested that he start his legislative agenda by repealing and replacing Obamacare. He led Trump to believe that this was a slam-dunk and yet he failed to get his initial proposal through the House and ended up barely passing a weak alternative, which Mitch McConnell pronounced DOA in the Senate.
Then Mitch McConnell botched his effort to pass anything on repeal and replace. This was a slap in the face to the President and to every person who voted for a Republican Senate based on Republican promises to fix our healthcare problem. Finally, John McCain made a mockery of his promises to his constituents and to the President with his grandstanding rejection of repeal of Obamacare in the Senate.
I’m not even going to get into the appropriateness of Obamacare. This is impotence, plain and simple, and is exactly what the American people are sick of. Now Trump has served up a soft ball for the Republicans in Congress. 86% of Democrats and even 69% of Republicans (about 80% overall) support this group defined as “dreamers”.
Who are these people anyway? They are young people who were brought into this country when they two, three, four years old and now are productive citizens. This is not MS-13. These are not rapists, murderers or thieves. They know no other country than the US! Even if we were able to round them up, where would we send them? Yes, we must secure the border as we come to grips this group, but there should be no doubt that these are the very people to whom we should show compassion.
This is the biggest favor that the President could have done for Congress. DACA is an unconstitutional executive order, which was about to be challenged, and I’m sure thrown out by our judicial branch. Even President Obama alluded to this before he signed this order when he said, “I’m President, not a king.” Even after he signed it he said that it was not a permanent solution. DACA was a short term measure meant to give these young people some piece of mind while Congress delivered the appropriate, constitutional, legislative answer which would deliver real security and peace of mind for this group. Of course, in classic “swamp” style, Congress has delivered nothing.
Now is your chance, Republicans. Trump has cleared the decks for you by compromising with Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi (not my favorite people) on the debt ceiling, government funding and Hurricane Harvey relief. There are two messages in this compromise. First, to the Republican Congress - get your s—t together. Here’s an issue with massive public support and you better deal with it now. You’ve got six months you slugs. Get off your dead butts and pass some meaningful legislation.
The second message is also clear. If the Republican majority doesn’t start supporting the Trump agenda, there are things Trump can accomplish with Democratic support. Remember, he was once a Democrat and even ran as President with some very moderate positions on healthcare and even immigration. Trump may turn to the Democrats, be successful and run for a second term…as a Democrat. Not since Teddy Roosevelt has anything like that happened. Now, that would be historic. Is that what this Congress wants to be remembered for?
The View from the Middle
President Trump has just given our Congress an opportunity to begin to claw its way back to credibility. So far, this Republican Congress has delivered an epic failure in passing any meaningful legislation. Paul Ryan specifically misled President Trump when he suggested that he start his legislative agenda by repealing and replacing Obamacare. He led Trump to believe that this was a slam-dunk and yet he failed to get his initial proposal through the House and ended up barely passing a weak alternative, which Mitch McConnell pronounced DOA in the Senate.
Then Mitch McConnell botched his effort to pass anything on repeal and replace. This was a slap in the face to the President and to every person who voted for a Republican Senate based on Republican promises to fix our healthcare problem. Finally, John McCain made a mockery of his promises to his constituents and to the President with his grandstanding rejection of repeal of Obamacare in the Senate.
I’m not even going to get into the appropriateness of Obamacare. This is impotence, plain and simple, and is exactly what the American people are sick of. Now Trump has served up a soft ball for the Republicans in Congress. 86% of Democrats and even 69% of Republicans (about 80% overall) support this group defined as “dreamers”.
Who are these people anyway? They are young people who were brought into this country when they two, three, four years old and now are productive citizens. This is not MS-13. These are not rapists, murderers or thieves. They know no other country than the US! Even if we were able to round them up, where would we send them? Yes, we must secure the border as we come to grips this group, but there should be no doubt that these are the very people to whom we should show compassion.
This is the biggest favor that the President could have done for Congress. DACA is an unconstitutional executive order, which was about to be challenged, and I’m sure thrown out by our judicial branch. Even President Obama alluded to this before he signed this order when he said, “I’m President, not a king.” Even after he signed it he said that it was not a permanent solution. DACA was a short term measure meant to give these young people some piece of mind while Congress delivered the appropriate, constitutional, legislative answer which would deliver real security and peace of mind for this group. Of course, in classic “swamp” style, Congress has delivered nothing.
Now is your chance, Republicans. Trump has cleared the decks for you by compromising with Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi (not my favorite people) on the debt ceiling, government funding and Hurricane Harvey relief. There are two messages in this compromise. First, to the Republican Congress - get your s—t together. Here’s an issue with massive public support and you better deal with it now. You’ve got six months you slugs. Get off your dead butts and pass some meaningful legislation.
The second message is also clear. If the Republican majority doesn’t start supporting the Trump agenda, there are things Trump can accomplish with Democratic support. Remember, he was once a Democrat and even ran as President with some very moderate positions on healthcare and even immigration. Trump may turn to the Democrats, be successful and run for a second term…as a Democrat. Not since Teddy Roosevelt has anything like that happened. Now, that would be historic. Is that what this Congress wants to be remembered for?
Thursday, August 31, 2017
All's Fair in Love & War & Politics - Not!
All’s Fair is Love and War and Politics, Right?
The View from the Middle
Last night I was sitting on my back porch discussing the issues of the day with two friends who are often opposed to my political positions. Yes, some of my best friends are liberal Democrats. During our discussion, the subject of the condemnation of Melania Trump’s shoes came up. In case you missed this ludicrous story, Melania was resoundingly denounced by the lame stream media for wearing high heel shoes as she boarded Air Force One for her trip to the Hurricane Harvey disaster area. I brought it up to demonstrate the new low to which the media has dipped in their desperate effort to criticize anything Trump.
Believe it or not, one of my friends argued that this was a legitimate story because, “All’s fair in love and war and politics” and if your goal is to destroy our sitting President then even this piece of trivia was worth highlighting. Like most people, he hadn’t heard “the rest of the story” as Paul Harvey would have said. Melania got off the Air Force One in a pair of tennis shoes. Most people will, in fact, miss the second half of this story because, as usual, the lie or distortion appears on the front page but the correction and or clarification appears on page 15 of section Z.
Two points became clear to me after I heard this “all’s fair” comment. First, while this cliché’ may be very clever, it is not true. People who want to rationalize their own lying, cheating and abusive behavior use it. I’m sure Hitler was a big fan of this saying as is ISIS as they burn people alive in cages. Even in war we have rules and you would think that love would deliver even purer motives. 1st Corinthians says, “Love is patient and kind. It does not boast and is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, is not easily angered and keeps no record of wrongs.” It also says that love does not delight in evil but rejoices in truth and it always protects, trusts, hopes and preserves. It says nothing about deception, demonization and ridicule.
People ask me why I defend Trump so much. After all, he’s not a politician (that’s actually a plus for me) and he often says things that make me cringe, and I will criticize him when he does. I defend him because he is under relentless attack from Democrats, the lame stream media and “the swamp” who wake up every morning with the goal to condemn whatever he does, no matter what! These are the kind of people who will resort to denouncing Melania’s shoes. These people will even figure out how to criticize her change into tennis shoes when she got to Corpus Christie.
Trump denounced the violence in Charlottesville, on both sides. How dare he?! Even if it was absolutely true, he should have only criticized the Neo-Nazis, KKK and white supremacists. Then when he actually does condemn all of those parties by name. “Sorry, it’s too late!!” his critics will chant. Antifa has been escalating their violence for eight months and we finally got Nancy Pelosi to condemn their violence. That was eight months after the start and three days after the most recent event in Berkley, but that’s not too late? And that’s just Pelosi. What about Schumer? Clinton? Obama?
It is obvious that the leaders of this “Trump can NEVER do anything right” campaign will do anything to distract, disrupt and hinder this President’s efforts. They would rather see him fail even if that would have devastating consequences for our country, than see him succeed and have the country prosper. Why? Just follow the money, and the power. The American people may suffer tremendously if we handicap our President to these unprecedented levels, but the leaders of the “Hate Trump” thug groups will do just fine.
My other friend, interestingly, suggested that there were selfish, evil, corrupt and narcissistic people on both sides of the political spectrum and that we should come together “in the middle” (his words, not mine) and work to actually find solutions to our problems. I must agree with that wisdom.
So, when you see the unhinged, unbalanced, hyperbolic reports on either side of the political argument, reject them!! Let me even appeal to Obama fans out there who complained that he had obstructionist elements in his path. Is what you condemned before now commendable because the shoe is on the other foot? Is it OK to lie, cheat, distort and demonize to further your side’s argument? If your answer is yes, then you can wrap yourself up in your “All’s fair” blanket, but recognize that we’ll never resolve any of our issues if we play with this divisive, selfish and even inaccurate philosophy.
The View from the Middle
Last night I was sitting on my back porch discussing the issues of the day with two friends who are often opposed to my political positions. Yes, some of my best friends are liberal Democrats. During our discussion, the subject of the condemnation of Melania Trump’s shoes came up. In case you missed this ludicrous story, Melania was resoundingly denounced by the lame stream media for wearing high heel shoes as she boarded Air Force One for her trip to the Hurricane Harvey disaster area. I brought it up to demonstrate the new low to which the media has dipped in their desperate effort to criticize anything Trump.
Believe it or not, one of my friends argued that this was a legitimate story because, “All’s fair in love and war and politics” and if your goal is to destroy our sitting President then even this piece of trivia was worth highlighting. Like most people, he hadn’t heard “the rest of the story” as Paul Harvey would have said. Melania got off the Air Force One in a pair of tennis shoes. Most people will, in fact, miss the second half of this story because, as usual, the lie or distortion appears on the front page but the correction and or clarification appears on page 15 of section Z.
Two points became clear to me after I heard this “all’s fair” comment. First, while this cliché’ may be very clever, it is not true. People who want to rationalize their own lying, cheating and abusive behavior use it. I’m sure Hitler was a big fan of this saying as is ISIS as they burn people alive in cages. Even in war we have rules and you would think that love would deliver even purer motives. 1st Corinthians says, “Love is patient and kind. It does not boast and is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, is not easily angered and keeps no record of wrongs.” It also says that love does not delight in evil but rejoices in truth and it always protects, trusts, hopes and preserves. It says nothing about deception, demonization and ridicule.
People ask me why I defend Trump so much. After all, he’s not a politician (that’s actually a plus for me) and he often says things that make me cringe, and I will criticize him when he does. I defend him because he is under relentless attack from Democrats, the lame stream media and “the swamp” who wake up every morning with the goal to condemn whatever he does, no matter what! These are the kind of people who will resort to denouncing Melania’s shoes. These people will even figure out how to criticize her change into tennis shoes when she got to Corpus Christie.
Trump denounced the violence in Charlottesville, on both sides. How dare he?! Even if it was absolutely true, he should have only criticized the Neo-Nazis, KKK and white supremacists. Then when he actually does condemn all of those parties by name. “Sorry, it’s too late!!” his critics will chant. Antifa has been escalating their violence for eight months and we finally got Nancy Pelosi to condemn their violence. That was eight months after the start and three days after the most recent event in Berkley, but that’s not too late? And that’s just Pelosi. What about Schumer? Clinton? Obama?
It is obvious that the leaders of this “Trump can NEVER do anything right” campaign will do anything to distract, disrupt and hinder this President’s efforts. They would rather see him fail even if that would have devastating consequences for our country, than see him succeed and have the country prosper. Why? Just follow the money, and the power. The American people may suffer tremendously if we handicap our President to these unprecedented levels, but the leaders of the “Hate Trump” thug groups will do just fine.
My other friend, interestingly, suggested that there were selfish, evil, corrupt and narcissistic people on both sides of the political spectrum and that we should come together “in the middle” (his words, not mine) and work to actually find solutions to our problems. I must agree with that wisdom.
So, when you see the unhinged, unbalanced, hyperbolic reports on either side of the political argument, reject them!! Let me even appeal to Obama fans out there who complained that he had obstructionist elements in his path. Is what you condemned before now commendable because the shoe is on the other foot? Is it OK to lie, cheat, distort and demonize to further your side’s argument? If your answer is yes, then you can wrap yourself up in your “All’s fair” blanket, but recognize that we’ll never resolve any of our issues if we play with this divisive, selfish and even inaccurate philosophy.
Wednesday, August 23, 2017
Lincoln - With Him or Against Him?
Abraham Lincoln – Are You With Him or Against Him?
The View from the Middle
Abraham Lincoln once pondered that only about 10% of our country held extreme political views. He suggested that 90% of Americans are ideological moderates who are fundamentally good and fair people who can disagree without resorting to hate and often compromise for the greater good. To be fair, he also implied that the radical 10% was evenly split between the fanatical right and the rabid left. I tend to agree with Mr. Lincoln, which always makes me feel safe.
In an effort to support the 16th President’s position, let me be so bold as to speak for the 90%, to which I think Lincoln not only alluded, but also identified with. I will unequivocally denounce the Ku Klux Klan, the Neo-Nazi’s and all white supremacists groups in this country and around the world. Any group that denies equal justice and opportunity for any other group not only violates the spirit of our country as expressed in The Declaration of Independence, but also the letter of out laws as laid out in our Constitution.
Call them what you will (bigots, racists, supremacist), I condemn them all. But while I castigate the extreme of what some might call the right side of the political spectrum, let me do the same for the other extremists. I denounce any group or individual who encourages the murder of our law enforcement officers. No collection of humans is perfect, but I believe the VAST majority of our police officers are just trying to keep us safe and deserve our respect. When I hear people chanting, “What do we want? Dead cops! When do we want it? Now!” I must condemn that strenuously. When I hear these chants, I wonder why our police officers would even do that job for the piddling amount of money we pay them, and how our lives with really be without them.
I will also admonish anyone who will deny others the right of free speech. The Supreme Court has defined free speech very broadly and would definitely agree with Patrick Henry (or Evelyn Beatrice Hall) who declared that while, “I disagree with what you say, I will defend to the death your right to say it.” This, fortunately, includes racists and Neo-Nazis. I say “fortunately” purposefully, because I believe that the best rebuke to bigots, or racists or Neo-Nazis is their own words. The 90% will never be convinced by the ugly, malicious, absurd lies of these monsters. In fact, they may even enlighten some of their own extreme followers as they spew their vitriol.
Of course, I also disavow any group or individual who hates white people just because of the color of their skin. While it has become fashionable to demonize Caucasians, especially older white males, I have found no race, gender, creed or age group that has a monopoly on nobility or evil. All people have the capacity for decency and wickedness and have proved that time and again over history. If we are honest with ourselves we will admit to that undeniable truth.
Now, as polar opposite as these groups are, what could they possibly have in common? Prejudice! When you peal back these ugly onions you find that they all need to get their following to hate some other group without real cause. They must convince the 90% to leave the truth and their senses behind and prejudge scores of people according to their preconceived, erroneous and often imaginary notions.
Don’t be persuaded by the malignant dribble spouted by these extreme groups. Denounce all of them. As Americans we want and need more dialogue, not less. We need more understanding, empathy and forgiveness, not less. And certainly we need more real compromise, and not the childish obstructionism we see in Washington. Get on the side of Abraham Lincoln who resolved one of our country’s greatest challenges by listening, even to his rivals, and looked for the good in people, expecting to find it. If we do the same, as with Abe, we will surely find it!
The View from the Middle
Abraham Lincoln once pondered that only about 10% of our country held extreme political views. He suggested that 90% of Americans are ideological moderates who are fundamentally good and fair people who can disagree without resorting to hate and often compromise for the greater good. To be fair, he also implied that the radical 10% was evenly split between the fanatical right and the rabid left. I tend to agree with Mr. Lincoln, which always makes me feel safe.
In an effort to support the 16th President’s position, let me be so bold as to speak for the 90%, to which I think Lincoln not only alluded, but also identified with. I will unequivocally denounce the Ku Klux Klan, the Neo-Nazi’s and all white supremacists groups in this country and around the world. Any group that denies equal justice and opportunity for any other group not only violates the spirit of our country as expressed in The Declaration of Independence, but also the letter of out laws as laid out in our Constitution.
Call them what you will (bigots, racists, supremacist), I condemn them all. But while I castigate the extreme of what some might call the right side of the political spectrum, let me do the same for the other extremists. I denounce any group or individual who encourages the murder of our law enforcement officers. No collection of humans is perfect, but I believe the VAST majority of our police officers are just trying to keep us safe and deserve our respect. When I hear people chanting, “What do we want? Dead cops! When do we want it? Now!” I must condemn that strenuously. When I hear these chants, I wonder why our police officers would even do that job for the piddling amount of money we pay them, and how our lives with really be without them.
I will also admonish anyone who will deny others the right of free speech. The Supreme Court has defined free speech very broadly and would definitely agree with Patrick Henry (or Evelyn Beatrice Hall) who declared that while, “I disagree with what you say, I will defend to the death your right to say it.” This, fortunately, includes racists and Neo-Nazis. I say “fortunately” purposefully, because I believe that the best rebuke to bigots, or racists or Neo-Nazis is their own words. The 90% will never be convinced by the ugly, malicious, absurd lies of these monsters. In fact, they may even enlighten some of their own extreme followers as they spew their vitriol.
Of course, I also disavow any group or individual who hates white people just because of the color of their skin. While it has become fashionable to demonize Caucasians, especially older white males, I have found no race, gender, creed or age group that has a monopoly on nobility or evil. All people have the capacity for decency and wickedness and have proved that time and again over history. If we are honest with ourselves we will admit to that undeniable truth.
Now, as polar opposite as these groups are, what could they possibly have in common? Prejudice! When you peal back these ugly onions you find that they all need to get their following to hate some other group without real cause. They must convince the 90% to leave the truth and their senses behind and prejudge scores of people according to their preconceived, erroneous and often imaginary notions.
Don’t be persuaded by the malignant dribble spouted by these extreme groups. Denounce all of them. As Americans we want and need more dialogue, not less. We need more understanding, empathy and forgiveness, not less. And certainly we need more real compromise, and not the childish obstructionism we see in Washington. Get on the side of Abraham Lincoln who resolved one of our country’s greatest challenges by listening, even to his rivals, and looked for the good in people, expecting to find it. If we do the same, as with Abe, we will surely find it!
Monday, August 14, 2017
Charlottesville, Arguing over the Unarguable
Charlottesville, Arguing Over the Unarguable
The View from the Middle
Abraham Lincoln once made a profound statement on the perspective and motives of people. He said, “If you look for the bad in people expecting to find it, you certainly will.” I’m certain that Honest Abe would find himself a frequent defender of Donald Trump against those groups who have already decided that they will oppose, resist and demonize everything that the President says or does.
Let’s take a look at what President Trump actually said about the dreadful violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, this last weekend that lead to the tragic death of Heather Heyer. He said, “(he) Condemns in the strongest possible terms “this” egregious display of bigotry and violence on many sides.” There is much to defend in this statement. I also condemn bigotry and violence no matter what its source.
But some people only heard the last three words and took that as some sort of endorsement of the white supremacist groups. Of course, I think that is ludicrous and I applaud Trump taking this opportunity to denounce ALL hate groups who deny equal opportunity and justice for anyone.
According to ABC News, there are over 900 hate groups in America today. They identified 130 different Ku Klux Klan groups (started by the democrats, by the way) and 100 white nationalist groups, but they also identified over 190 black separatist groups as well as anti-Muslim, anti-Zionist and even “general” hate groups (whatever they are). We should rebuke ALL of these hate groups at every opportunity, and Charlottesville is one of those opportunities.
I will come out right now and condemn all of these groups, including the white supremacist group whose name defines prejudice. I will also condemn The New Black Panther Party when it says that they want to, “kill white babies”. I denounce Louis Farrakhan when he spews anti-Jewish swill and any group that would like to deny freedom of religion to peace loving Muslims.
The President just now reinforced his message against bigotry, racism and violence and specifically condemned the Neo-Nazis, White Supremacists and the Ku Klux Klan. Do I think this will be good enough for the “never Trumpers” or the “I just hate Trump” people? I doubt it.
At this point, if you can’t accept Trump’s overall message of unity, love for each other and the denouncement of hatred, bigotry and racism with specific condemnation of the Charlottesville white supremacist groups, I must refer you to Honest Abe. Check your bias at the door. Pretend that Barack Obama said these exact same words, which is certainly NOT a stretch, and you just might have to agree with this position, as I do!!
The View from the Middle
Abraham Lincoln once made a profound statement on the perspective and motives of people. He said, “If you look for the bad in people expecting to find it, you certainly will.” I’m certain that Honest Abe would find himself a frequent defender of Donald Trump against those groups who have already decided that they will oppose, resist and demonize everything that the President says or does.
Let’s take a look at what President Trump actually said about the dreadful violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, this last weekend that lead to the tragic death of Heather Heyer. He said, “(he) Condemns in the strongest possible terms “this” egregious display of bigotry and violence on many sides.” There is much to defend in this statement. I also condemn bigotry and violence no matter what its source.
But some people only heard the last three words and took that as some sort of endorsement of the white supremacist groups. Of course, I think that is ludicrous and I applaud Trump taking this opportunity to denounce ALL hate groups who deny equal opportunity and justice for anyone.
According to ABC News, there are over 900 hate groups in America today. They identified 130 different Ku Klux Klan groups (started by the democrats, by the way) and 100 white nationalist groups, but they also identified over 190 black separatist groups as well as anti-Muslim, anti-Zionist and even “general” hate groups (whatever they are). We should rebuke ALL of these hate groups at every opportunity, and Charlottesville is one of those opportunities.
I will come out right now and condemn all of these groups, including the white supremacist group whose name defines prejudice. I will also condemn The New Black Panther Party when it says that they want to, “kill white babies”. I denounce Louis Farrakhan when he spews anti-Jewish swill and any group that would like to deny freedom of religion to peace loving Muslims.
The President just now reinforced his message against bigotry, racism and violence and specifically condemned the Neo-Nazis, White Supremacists and the Ku Klux Klan. Do I think this will be good enough for the “never Trumpers” or the “I just hate Trump” people? I doubt it.
At this point, if you can’t accept Trump’s overall message of unity, love for each other and the denouncement of hatred, bigotry and racism with specific condemnation of the Charlottesville white supremacist groups, I must refer you to Honest Abe. Check your bias at the door. Pretend that Barack Obama said these exact same words, which is certainly NOT a stretch, and you just might have to agree with this position, as I do!!
Monday, August 7, 2017
Privatization of SS - Part Two
Privatizing SS – The Rest of the Story
The View from the Middle
A couple of weeks ago I told you a story about Jane or John Doe who started working in 1970 at age 21 and retired in 2015 making the US median income for his or her entire life. The fact is that this person would earn $1874 per month is Social Security payments from our generous yet corrupt and inept government. So, if Jane or John would die one month later, they would have paid into Social Security for his or her entire life and had $1,874 to show for it.
This whopping $1,874 monthly payment is a product of Jane or John’s SS taxes paid, AND the matching taxes paid by Jane or John’s employer. Today, that total tax paid per year is 12.4% (6.2% contributed by the employee and 6.2% by the employer).
I then calculated what an investment in an S&P 500 index fund would have produced just for the 6.2% employee paid portion over those same years. That monthly investment would have produced a nest egg of $467,989 with a monthly potential income of $3,159. If Jane would die one day after retirement, she would have almost a half a million dollars to give to her heirs vs nothing from our government.
Today, you will hear “The rest of the story”, as Paul Harvey would have said!! If Jane and John were allowed to also invest the employee portion of their SS payments, the numbers double, as you might expect. Jane and John would retire with a nest egg of almost a MILLION DOLLARS ($935,978) and a monthly income of $6.318. Again, this compares to zero nest egg and a monthly income of $1,874 from our government.
The million-dollar nest egg is NOT a projection, but just a calculation of actual results of the S&P 500 from 1970 to 2015. The $6,318 monthly income simply assumes a similar return for that index fund in the future, which is 8.1%.
So here is the bottom line. If the government had just taken Jane’s contribution and her employer’s payment and invested it in a simple index fund, she would have had almost a MILLION DOLLARS and a monthly income of over $6,000. But our government has managed to reduce these results to ZERO lump sum and a paltry monthly income of $1,874. The government steals the rest from each and every one of us.
The reason I decided to release these numbers in two steps is because they are so wildly disparate that they are almost unbelievable if exposed in one. Can there be any more evidence of the inefficiency, incompetence and corruption of our federal government. When will we learn? We need to make our government smaller, not bigger, and give the money and liberty back to the people. Remember the words of Ronald Reagan who said, “The 10 most frightening words in the English language are - I’m from the government and I’m here to help you.”
The View from the Middle
A couple of weeks ago I told you a story about Jane or John Doe who started working in 1970 at age 21 and retired in 2015 making the US median income for his or her entire life. The fact is that this person would earn $1874 per month is Social Security payments from our generous yet corrupt and inept government. So, if Jane or John would die one month later, they would have paid into Social Security for his or her entire life and had $1,874 to show for it.
This whopping $1,874 monthly payment is a product of Jane or John’s SS taxes paid, AND the matching taxes paid by Jane or John’s employer. Today, that total tax paid per year is 12.4% (6.2% contributed by the employee and 6.2% by the employer).
I then calculated what an investment in an S&P 500 index fund would have produced just for the 6.2% employee paid portion over those same years. That monthly investment would have produced a nest egg of $467,989 with a monthly potential income of $3,159. If Jane would die one day after retirement, she would have almost a half a million dollars to give to her heirs vs nothing from our government.
Today, you will hear “The rest of the story”, as Paul Harvey would have said!! If Jane and John were allowed to also invest the employee portion of their SS payments, the numbers double, as you might expect. Jane and John would retire with a nest egg of almost a MILLION DOLLARS ($935,978) and a monthly income of $6.318. Again, this compares to zero nest egg and a monthly income of $1,874 from our government.
The million-dollar nest egg is NOT a projection, but just a calculation of actual results of the S&P 500 from 1970 to 2015. The $6,318 monthly income simply assumes a similar return for that index fund in the future, which is 8.1%.
So here is the bottom line. If the government had just taken Jane’s contribution and her employer’s payment and invested it in a simple index fund, she would have had almost a MILLION DOLLARS and a monthly income of over $6,000. But our government has managed to reduce these results to ZERO lump sum and a paltry monthly income of $1,874. The government steals the rest from each and every one of us.
The reason I decided to release these numbers in two steps is because they are so wildly disparate that they are almost unbelievable if exposed in one. Can there be any more evidence of the inefficiency, incompetence and corruption of our federal government. When will we learn? We need to make our government smaller, not bigger, and give the money and liberty back to the people. Remember the words of Ronald Reagan who said, “The 10 most frightening words in the English language are - I’m from the government and I’m here to help you.”
Monday, July 24, 2017
Privatization of Social Security - Insanity or Genius?
Privatizing Social Security - Insanity or Genius?
The View from the Middle
In case there is any confusion about how I feel about our federal government, let me make my position perfectly clear. I believe it is a “waste, fraud and abuse” machine. During her presidential campaign, Carly Fiorina suggested that our government is too big, too costly, too complicated, too corrupt and too inept and that it is crushing the dreams and aspirations of our people. I’m a Carly Fiorina fan.
In the governmental world of $100 hammers, shrimps on treadmills and bridges to nowhere, what makes you think that it would be any more effective at managing your retirement funds? Social Security may have begun with good intentions, but as with anything connected to big government it has been perverted and mismanaged through the years. In the beginning, for example, SS funds were to be put in a “lockbox” and to be protected from the greedy hands of politicians in Washington. But in true government fashion, these funds have been spent leaving nothing but US treasury IOU’s behind.
Today, our government is spending those funds faster than they are coming in and has to admit that the SS trust fund will be insolvent by 2035. At that point, I predict that our federal government will simply raise taxes to cover the difference, not because it is right, but simply because they can.
If we really want the concept of “Social Security” to be recognized, why don’t we take these funds out of the greedy, unscrupulous hands of our government officials and put them in the hands of financially astute managers who can invest that money for the participants? Let me help you with that decision by making a comparison that our government is counting on no one making.
Let’s look at a Jane or John Doe who began working in 1970 at the age of 21, and retired at 66 in 2015 making America's median income every year. The Social Security trust fund will guarantee (not really – remember that this fund will be insolvent in 2035) a monthly income of $1,874. This is certainly not enough to live on unless you plan to live in a tent and eat PB&J sandwiches for the rest of you life. It is intended, however to supplement any personal savings or retirement programs you may have or be eligible for.
There are a number of flaws in this system. First of all, if Jane or John dies a month after their 66th birthday, he or she will have contributed to the trust fund for 44 years and received a whopping $1,874 in return. That kind of sucks! Even if they lived to age 79 (current life expectancy in US) SS would deliver only $292,279 in their lifetime.
Now, if they had made the same payments/investments (personal plus matching employer contributions) into an S&P 500 index fund, Jane or John would have retired with $935,978 given the 8.1% average return of the S&P 500 over their working lives. The benefits to this approach are abundant.
First, if you died the next month, your beneficiaries would inherit almost a million dollars vs. a big goose egg from the current SS plan. Next, that money could generate a monthly income for you. Let’s say that your investments continue to produce the same 8.1% return that it did for Jane and John’s lifetime, this would produce a monthly income of $6,318 or more than three times your Social Security payment PLUS you still have your $935,978!!! These are not projections. This is reality, and given this reality, who would choose less than a third of the monthly income and no nest egg vs. the simple privatized plan described above.
Let’s be honest, the government has totally perverted the idea of Social Security. First, by spending your hard earned money to buy votes instead of putting into the “lockbox” they promised to get the SS bill passed. Then Washington dramatically underperformed the private market and in effect stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from every American that has retired under their plan. If Washington were a person, it would be in jail fighting with Bernie Madoff for the title of “scammer of the century”.
If politicians really cared about the American people they would develop a program that could deliver the results I described above. They could provide the disciplined investing by taking the money out of all our paychecks every month as they already do (this may be the only thing the government is good at). They could also offer a few investment plans (high, low and medium risk) that we the citizens could choose from. Believe me, the financial industry would fiercely compete for the opportunity to manage these funds. Even a tiny fee of .25% (that’s a quarter of 1%) would yield them billions in profits every year.
I’m with Carly. Why would we trust a government that has proven itself to be both corrupt and inept (a deadly combination) when we could invest in America and create a retirement income with real buying power? If we can’t even call Washington on this con, there may be no hope for us until they take all of our dollars and they give us back 30 cents worth of services in return while THEY live in mansions, feast on $300 burgers (yes they do exist) and guzzle $1,000 bottles of wine. Have you seen The Hunger Games?
The View from the Middle
In case there is any confusion about how I feel about our federal government, let me make my position perfectly clear. I believe it is a “waste, fraud and abuse” machine. During her presidential campaign, Carly Fiorina suggested that our government is too big, too costly, too complicated, too corrupt and too inept and that it is crushing the dreams and aspirations of our people. I’m a Carly Fiorina fan.
In the governmental world of $100 hammers, shrimps on treadmills and bridges to nowhere, what makes you think that it would be any more effective at managing your retirement funds? Social Security may have begun with good intentions, but as with anything connected to big government it has been perverted and mismanaged through the years. In the beginning, for example, SS funds were to be put in a “lockbox” and to be protected from the greedy hands of politicians in Washington. But in true government fashion, these funds have been spent leaving nothing but US treasury IOU’s behind.
Today, our government is spending those funds faster than they are coming in and has to admit that the SS trust fund will be insolvent by 2035. At that point, I predict that our federal government will simply raise taxes to cover the difference, not because it is right, but simply because they can.
If we really want the concept of “Social Security” to be recognized, why don’t we take these funds out of the greedy, unscrupulous hands of our government officials and put them in the hands of financially astute managers who can invest that money for the participants? Let me help you with that decision by making a comparison that our government is counting on no one making.
Let’s look at a Jane or John Doe who began working in 1970 at the age of 21, and retired at 66 in 2015 making America's median income every year. The Social Security trust fund will guarantee (not really – remember that this fund will be insolvent in 2035) a monthly income of $1,874. This is certainly not enough to live on unless you plan to live in a tent and eat PB&J sandwiches for the rest of you life. It is intended, however to supplement any personal savings or retirement programs you may have or be eligible for.
There are a number of flaws in this system. First of all, if Jane or John dies a month after their 66th birthday, he or she will have contributed to the trust fund for 44 years and received a whopping $1,874 in return. That kind of sucks! Even if they lived to age 79 (current life expectancy in US) SS would deliver only $292,279 in their lifetime.
Now, if they had made the same payments/investments (personal plus matching employer contributions) into an S&P 500 index fund, Jane or John would have retired with $935,978 given the 8.1% average return of the S&P 500 over their working lives. The benefits to this approach are abundant.
First, if you died the next month, your beneficiaries would inherit almost a million dollars vs. a big goose egg from the current SS plan. Next, that money could generate a monthly income for you. Let’s say that your investments continue to produce the same 8.1% return that it did for Jane and John’s lifetime, this would produce a monthly income of $6,318 or more than three times your Social Security payment PLUS you still have your $935,978!!! These are not projections. This is reality, and given this reality, who would choose less than a third of the monthly income and no nest egg vs. the simple privatized plan described above.
Let’s be honest, the government has totally perverted the idea of Social Security. First, by spending your hard earned money to buy votes instead of putting into the “lockbox” they promised to get the SS bill passed. Then Washington dramatically underperformed the private market and in effect stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from every American that has retired under their plan. If Washington were a person, it would be in jail fighting with Bernie Madoff for the title of “scammer of the century”.
If politicians really cared about the American people they would develop a program that could deliver the results I described above. They could provide the disciplined investing by taking the money out of all our paychecks every month as they already do (this may be the only thing the government is good at). They could also offer a few investment plans (high, low and medium risk) that we the citizens could choose from. Believe me, the financial industry would fiercely compete for the opportunity to manage these funds. Even a tiny fee of .25% (that’s a quarter of 1%) would yield them billions in profits every year.
I’m with Carly. Why would we trust a government that has proven itself to be both corrupt and inept (a deadly combination) when we could invest in America and create a retirement income with real buying power? If we can’t even call Washington on this con, there may be no hope for us until they take all of our dollars and they give us back 30 cents worth of services in return while THEY live in mansions, feast on $300 burgers (yes they do exist) and guzzle $1,000 bottles of wine. Have you seen The Hunger Games?
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