CLIMATE CHANGE—A POSITION:
Yes, humans inhabiting the earth and polluting are fouling the planet. Yes, greenhouse gases build up and create a warming effect. But NO…the science is not “SETTLED.” Being trained as a scientist, I know you can prove (or disprove) anything if you can make the assumptions you need to do so. Climate on earth is altered by sunspots, long-term cycles of warming and cooling, volcanic eruption, human pollution, the impact of animals (cattle are a bigger source of greenhouse gas—methane—than CO from humans). The principal motive of the “settled science” Climate Change alarmists is influence and wealth redistribution, and not actually improving the climate.
MORE TO THE STORY OF RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES
Example: Electric cars are clean in that they do not emit exhaust gases—BUT—where does the energy to charge them come from? You got it. From electric power plants fueled by mostly fossil fuels—coal and natural gas. Nuclear plants are environmentally friendly unless they leak radioactive material. Wind power is a minor factor, unsightly and inefficient, requiring storage devices (huge batteries?) because wind blows erratically. Solar is economically useful in a few places—like the Western deserts—not where few many people live to use the power. The losses from delivering power long distances are huge. Every event is not, and CANNOT BE attributed to “Climate Change.” Some can, and rightfully so. Melting at the Poles MAY BE caused by humans—or NOT. (Want to spend $5B wisely? Harden the US Power Grid against sunspots and attacks by EMP devices.)
Charlatans like Al Gore gain fame and fortune running about like “Chicken Little” screaming “the sky is falling.” Nearly everything in his prior “Inconvenient Truth” propaganda movies has now been proven WRONG. Meanwhile he burned more energy flying around in private jets than he saved. BUT…HE MADE A FORTUNE and is the darling of the liberal left environmental movement. Does anything about that seem WRONG to you?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP STRUCK A BIG BLOW AGAINST THE OBAMA SOCIALIST AGENDA—USA IS OUT OF THE PARIS AGREEMENT—GOOD FOR HIM
This agreement was never really about climate change. It was about wealth redistribution. Take from wealthy countries—especially the USA--and give to all the dysfunctional and needy countries—and who mostly "don’t give a damn" about the climate. They just want the money. Hooray for Trump. Ironically, it was openly stated that the Paris accords were not really climate improvement accords. They were wealth distribution accords, encouraged by the Europeans who are caught in these deals and want to drag the US in to fund them. Undoing Obama 2017’s legacy of blaming and penalizing Americans is now falling apart—just like Obamacare. Good for Trump.
TRUMP TOLD IT LIKE IT WAS TO NATO—ALBEIT A BIT MORE HARSHLY THAN HE MIGHT HAVE
Some thought he should have been more diplomatic. (That is kind of like trying to be diplomatic with a mugger while he is mugging you.) The other NATO members have never paid their agreed upon share to fund NATO (and that includes the wealthy ones, like Germany). Why should they, if no one calls them out on it. Now President Trump has put them on notice. Pay your share—because we are tired of paying everybody’s share. This kind of behavior was encouraged by Obama because he thought he could “buy their favor.” All Obama did was become a laughing stock and hurt all Americans. Good for Trump. (While we are at it, we should drastically cut funding to the UN—Useless Nations—is now controlled by US opponents.)
THE CBO (CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE) IS A DISASTER—CAUSING UNTOLD HARM
Why should Congress believe their own forecasters? Their record is dismal. The CBO overestimated growth in the economy for every year of the Obama Debacle—by a lot. Now the CBO estimates are being used against the GOP replacements for Obamacare. The CBO needs an audit by a group of independent, non-givermental experts to understand what they are doing wrong. Clearly they are wrong more than right—and yet Congress and the medial rely on these flawed projections. TIME TO STOP RELYING ON CBO MISTAKES.
If you want to see a progression of errors, simply look at the CBO estimates for Obamacare Coverage by year, in millions of enrollees. Check out how the CBO forecast for 2017 made four years prior (in 2013) was for 26 million enrollees. Then like the typical CBO “Failed Forecasters” they are, the forecast was adjusted downward until closing at 10 million now that has finally arrived. Down from 26 million to 10 million. That is a whopping 61.5% error. Why on earth would Congress tolerate this. When the media trend is to make big news of little things, how come nobody is making big news of this big fiasco?
GOOD RIDDANCE TO KATHY GRIFFIN—MORE TO FOLLOW?
Talk about a gross, tasteless person. Really. Good message—that she was fired quickly.
GREAT COLUMN—WORTH READING IT ALL—NO MATTER HOW NEGATIVE THE DEMOCRATS AND MEDIA ARE—FACTS DON’T LIE!
Can Trump Make America Grow Again? The Signs Are Hopeful
More people are working, and the jobs are better. Now for the hard work of health and tax reform. By Andy Puzder
[EMPHASIS ADDED IS MINE] May 24, 2017 6:33 p.m. ET
There is a gem buried under all the allegations against President Trump : The economy is markedly improving and more people are working. As Speaker Paul Ryan recently noted, Republicans “pledged that we would repeal regulations to create jobs and get the economy moving again.” Through executive orders, regulatory rollbacks and strategic use of the Congressional Review Act, the president and Congress are delivering.
The end of President Obama’s regulatory onslaught could begin the recovery Americans have heard so much about. The business community is increasingly optimistic. Every businessperson I speak with mentions the energizing effect of being able to focus on growth rather than overcoming the latest government roadblock.
In April the Index of Small Business Optimism, produced by the National Federation of Independent Businesses, posted its sixth straight month of historically positive feelings, “a hot streak not seen since 1983” during the Reagan Administration. That’s backed up by the IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index, which “gauges how confident consumers, workers and investors are in the pace and direction of the U.S. economy.” An index above 50 indicates optimism. For May, it came in at 51.3. That’s 2.1 points above the index’s 16-year average of 49.2.
It’s still early, but the economy is showing signs of real growth, too. In April the unemployment rate hit a 10-year low, while existing home sales surged to a 10-year high and U.S. industrial production registered its largest gain in three years.
Last Thursday the Labor Department announced that the number of people claiming unemployment insurance benefits dropped to its lowest level since November 1988. Even more impressive, the moving four-week average for this metric dropped to 1.95 million, its lowest level since January 1973, when it was 1.92 million. That’s even more impressive than it sounds, since there are 72 million more people in the labor force today.
The unemployment rate can fall for many reasons that hardly indicate economic health. People can drop out of the labor force or accept part-time jobs because they cannot find full-time work. The good news is that the unemployment rate is declining for the right reasons: More people are finding jobs, and more people are finding full-time jobs—both at an accelerated pace.
From February through April, the first three full months of Mr. Trump’s presidency, the number of Americans employed increased by 628,000 and the number unemployed decreased by 472,000. By comparison, for the same three-month period in 2016, the number of Americans employed decreased by 15,000 while the number unemployed increased by 65,000. It isn’t merely that more people are working now because the population has grown. A higher percentage of Americans are working. At 60.2%, the proportion of Americans over 16 working in April was at its highest since February 2009, Mr. Obama’s first full month in office. Significantly, Americans in their prime working years are benefiting. At 78.6% in April, the percentage of those 25 to 54 employed hit its highest level since September 2008.
The jobs are better, too. After three full months of the Trump administration, 956,000 more people are working full time and 321,000 fewer are working part time. For the comparable three months in 2016, 49,000 more Americans were working full time and 101,000 fewer were working part time.
With more people working at better jobs, family income increased. According to the independent research firm Sentier, median household income was $59,361 in April, a 15-year high and up 2.2% from $58,060 in January. The latter figure was up 1.7% from $57,090 in June 2009, when the recession ended. In other words, median family income increased more in the first three months of the Trump presidency than during the 7½ years of the Obama recovery.
It will take more than a quarter to produce the robust recovery Americans have expected since the recession ended nearly eight years ago. We need to see sustained annual economic growth in the promised 3% range before declaring victory. To reach that goal, Republicans need to pass tax and health-insurance reform, with or without Democratic support in the Senate (the nuclear option should be on the table). But the economic momentum is already there and hard to deny.
The progressive left is concerned. Should Mr. Trump and Republicans succeed in getting the nation back on the path of economic growth and prosperity, something Mr. Obama was woefully unable to do, it will be decades before the left can again obfuscate economic reality. They will have a much harder time convincing Americans to subject themselves to the stagnation that big government produces. Perhaps this explains the left’s unrelenting and near-hysterical focus on any issue other than the economy.
The task is to build on President Trump’s momentum. If Republicans can unite and advance his economic agenda, the only question in 2018 will be whether the American people can once again see through the fog of media hysteria as they did in 2016.
Mr. Puzder is a former CEO of CKE Restaurants.
Appeared in the May 25, 2017, print edition.
YES, TRUMP FACES MONTHS OF BEING INVESTIGATED AND BASHED IN THE MEDIA—BUT MEANWHILE HE’S DOING WHAT HE PROMISED EVERYWHERE HE CAN
Donald Trump made a lot of outrageous statements and promises while campaigning. Some are coming back to haunt him (impeding his executive action to limit refugee immigrants from certain companies.) Many of them were equally likely to be negotiating setups, so he could walk back to more reasonable positions. However, many of them were honest statements about what he wanted to do—AND HE IS DOING THEM wherever and however he can. He is learning his way around DC and will be (or is) changing out some of his key staffer and confidants very soon. He needs to get his appointees in the hundreds of spots still open and flush out the Obama Saboteurs who do untold harm. I’m hoping he will step up the pace on that now that the European trip is behind him. Meanwhile, the measure of a man is if he will “Walk the Talk,” and when he can’t explain why (not make excuses—explain the facts).
SUPREME COURT RULINGS ARE YET TO COME…WATCH WHAT HAPPENS THERE
Trump executive orders on immigrants coming in should be supported by SCOTUS… Hopefully the first of many such rulings stopping biased, activist judges from holding Trump’s actions hostage. Trump needs to get his judicial appointments all filled too. The GOP better pull together and support Trump, start getting things done or the GOP majorities will be short lived. Contact YOUR CONGRESSMAN & SENATORS, and tell them what you expect.
ECONOMY IMPROVING, BUT NOW THERE IS A SHORTAGE OF WORKERS! (OR AT LEAST OF PEOPLE WILLING & ABLE TO HOLD JOBS)
Employers say biggest problem is finding willing, qualified workers who can pass drug tests and will show up and want to work. The American work ethic was wounded by Obama’s Nanny State—pay staying home, or demonstrating, or using some kind of scam to be “disabled.” Sad commentary on American society.
IF ONY TRUMP COULD REIN IN HIS REACTIONARY TWEETING.. HE SIMPLY DOESN’T REALIZE (OR CARE?) HOW MUCH HARM IT DOES TO HIS LARGER AGENDA
So much potential, so little judgement. I keep hoping he’ll get better about it…but nothing has helped thus far—even the influence of Ivanka.
ENOUGH FOR NOW...
I could go on, but wanted to get this one out to you all. Time for President Trump to take his new, scripted routine on the road….not his ranting entertainer routine…his Presidential well scripted one. Then start doing the job, raise issues (Taxes, Health care, Budgets, Immigration, Infrastructure, Jobs and Economic Growth, under sound, strong foreign policies. These are the topics that matter—and can distract the media from the ones they prefer, that are ideological “red herrings” and “witch hunts."
Best, JOHN
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