Republican party unifier: Donald Trump?

This is what other well known Republicans have said about Donald Trump.

The Nominees

Neither of these candidates are good for America. I see two Twilight Zone Devils.

In other words they appear reasonable until the until the last moment when they will do their nasty acts. Of course we won’t know that until it has happened.

Hillary Clinton is an insider who has too many donors that will have the final say on her actions as president. She is most likely to follow the philosophy of her husband (former President Bill Clinton). Recall that he signed the law revoking the Glass-Steagall act of 1933 that prohibited commercial banks from engaging in the investment business. He also signed into law NAFTA, a law proposed by Republicans and pushed by President George H.W. Bush that resulted in numerous companies relocating to Mexico.

Donald Trump has no experience in public office and does not appear to understand the workings of the federal government. He clearly does not understand the total significance of the Bill of Rights. “One of the things I’m going to do if I win… I’m going to open up our libel laws so when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money,” Trump said during a rally in Fort Worth, Texas. He has limited understanding of the relations the United States has with other countries and like most of us does not know a great deal about our military capabilities. He is a scholar of business.

Let’s start with Hillary Clinton.

There is no explanation to be found where she tells where she was and what she was doing when Benghazi, Libya was attacked.
The use of her private e-mail server does not appear to have compromised anything. However, her use of that device calls into question her judgement.
There is no theme to her campaign for president. Her entire theme seems to be she will continue the Obama administration and the banners saying “She’s with Us” and “Fighting for us.” The number one reason Hillary should be our next president according to her web site is “As a former secretary of state, U.S. senator, first lady, and a lifelong advocate for women and families, no one is more qualified to be president than Hillary.”

Let’s look at Donald Trump.

He has never held any elected office.
People might ask “How is Donald Trump able to file for bankruptcy so many times?” The answer is “He didn’t.” Trump himself has never filed for bankruptcy. His corporations have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy four times. This information from http://thelawdictionary.org/.
Is he a buffoon? A genius? An exploration of the man, his brand, and his chronic bluster at The Atlantic offers a perspective.
Foreign trade is a big part of the Trump campaign. Donald Trump’s trade war could kill millions of U.S. jobs contends Jim Tankersley in The Washington Post.

Go ahead and choose your devil. Just understand that in four years you will be ready for another unacceptable president. Ugh!!

Foolishly Passed Laws and the Unintended Consequences

A Tale of Two Nafta Towns

This is a story about NAFTA. The theory must have been that lower tariffs between Mexico, Canada, and the United States would benefit businesses in all three countries. Who would have thought that American companies would move to Mexico? But that is precisely what happened.

The latest that received attention from Donald Trump are Oreo Cookies and Carrier Air Conditioning. There have been many others that come to mind for me personally.

Bloomberg Businessweek reported on the case of A. O. Smith, an electric motor manufacturer in the small southern Kentucky town of Scottsville (population 4,226). The factory employed 1,100 people. Randall Williams and his wife Brenda each earned $16.10 per hour. The factory closed and moved to Acuña, Mexico. The workers in Mexico earn $1.75 per hour. The Williams have new jobs that pay minimum wage. She works in the high school cafeteria and he fills orders in a local farm store.

Brenda and Randall Williams plan to vote for Donald Trump in November.

A Tale of the Consequence of Minimum Wage Laws

Florida’s governor is fishing for California jobs now that the minimum wage will be $10.50 per hour in January 2017 and $15.00 per hour in 2022.

Laws are passed by government without adequate consideration of possible unintended consequences.

President Trump Good for California?

Oh, he’ll be great, just like his border wall

by Steve Lopez Contact Reporter and commentator for the Los Angeles Times

This is a really funny, witty column.

We have a very beautiful state here.

Absolutely beautiful.

And people are always saying to me, whether they live in California or they’re visiting from somewhere else in the country or the world, hey, this is fantastic. That’s what they say about California. They’ve never seen anything like it.

Did I mention that it’s huge?

This state is very huge, with lots of mountains, gorgeous mountains. We have the best mountains. And of course — I don’t need to tell you — we have the most wonderful beaches in the world.

I don’t care where you’ve been. The French Riviera. Hawaii. The Caribbean.

Our beaches are the best.

Believe me.

We have top-notch people here, too, with terrific ability, some of them. Very intelligent. They’re making rockets; that’s how smart they are.

And the women — many of the women — are beautiful, the most beautiful women in the world. Best of all, they don’t go around playing the woman card like somebody we know.

Now comes the big question, this being the middle of a presidential campaign:

What’s in store for our great state of California if Donald Trump is elected president of the United States?

I get asked this by readers, some of the best readers, and some of them are speed readers. Brilliant people. Some of them follow me on Twitter — I have great power on Twitter, by the way. I tweet, I get re-tweeted, and my enemies weep. Or call me an idiot, but that’s the way it goes.

California company, Twitter. Not Texas, home of lying Ted, who is hated by everybody.

Everybody hates him! That I can tell you, OK?

Anyhow, getting back to the readers, they want to know what a Trump presidency looks like for the country, but more specifically, they want to know what’s in it for California.

In some respects it’s hard to know, because Trump hasn’t spelled out many policy details, but look at the man’s record of success.

He is rich. Filthy rich.

I rest my case.

You think he got that way not knowing how to run things? His IQ is one of the highest, according to a Tweet he sent out.

The highest! I guarantee it.

So when Trump says he will eliminate the EPA — “What they do is a disgrace” — you have to trust that he has a plan to keep California’s water drinkable and our air somewhat breathable without regulatory oversight.

A vote for Trump is a vote for fresh air.

Some experts argue that his tax cut would blow a $10-trillion hole in the federal budget, and California — with its disintegrating bridges and cratered roads — would suffer a big hit.

But let me tell you something about these so-called experts.

They are low-energy people. They have a lower pulse than this guy Jeb Bush, and they know less than he does. They’re scavengers, really. Worse than the media people, some of whom have blood coming out of their eyes. That’s how horrible they are.

Some analysts will tell you that California, with its terrific amounts of international trade — we’ve got stupendous trade here in God’s country — could be bushwhacked under Trump’s policies. They say his proposed tariff on imported goods could actually cost jobs and lead to higher prices on Asian imports, amounting to a crippling tax on consumers.

Here’s what these haters don’t know, if I can use Trump’s own words:

“I just sold an apartment for $15 million to somebody from China. Am I supposed to dislike them?”

Trump loves China, you know? That’s my point. He loves China — it’s a beautiful thing to watch, people — at least as much as he loves the poorly educated.

And let’s not forget what he said about African Americans.

“I’ve always had a great relationship with the blacks.”

A state as diverse as California couldn’t go wrong under the leadership of an enlightened man like Trump, which is why true believers turned out in Costa Mesa on Thursday to cheer their guy.

Sure, there were some rabble-rousers there who don’t like what Trump has said about Latinos or Muslims or women, and police arrested 17 people who got a little out of hand.

But let’s look at the numbers, OK?

Eight thousand rabid supporters.

Seventeen party-poopers.

You don’t have to take my word for it, even though math is one of my strengths — everybody says this about me — but that’s a landslide victory for Donald J. Trump.

The supporters in Costa Mesa could be heard in Tijuana when they roared after Trump’s promises to torture terrorism suspects and make Mexico pay for a border wall, a beautiful wall, and believe me, this man can build tremendous walls.

You know what he’s going to do? I bet he’s going to build walls under the ground to block the tunnels.

That’s what this man is capable of, and as Trump stumps for California votes, I think you’re going to be seeing a lot more of what we saw in Costa Mesa.

These were high-energy supporters who would probably gladly help build the wall themselves. For pesos. Since Mexico’s paying for it.

And then what happens, once the great wall is built?

Deportations, that’s what. By the millions. With President Trump driving the bus himself if Pete Wilson is busy.

A few sniveling softies will argue that it’s inhumane and un-Christian to send dirt-poor families back to countries with even greater poverty and unimaginable levels of violence.

A few mushy-headed economists will argue that California’s huge agriculture industry, to name one of many, would be devastated, with ripple effects throughout the state’s economy.

But these naysayers don’t know what Donald Trump is capable of, and they don’t understand California’s resilience.

We have great resilience in this state. Everybody talks about it.

Costa Mesans can move to Palos Verdes to mow the lawns at Trump’s golf course — these are the greatest links in the world, by the way. Or they can move to Delano to pick lettuce or Oxnard to pluck mushrooms out of the manure.

They would do great in the manure. We have the best manure.

Donald Trump will be president, and we’ll have a sequel to “A Day Without a Mexican,” but this time it’ll be a documentary.

And California will be great again.

America First by Donald Trump

Donald Trump’s foreign policy speech was well written and well presented. However it lacked any detail. Lots of vague generalities was the order of the day. The New York Times commentators offered some interesting and worthwhile observations.

The only thing that can be understood is that, as president, Mr. Trump would put America first in all of his decisions. Which president and which candidate for president would to otherwise?

Mr. Trump is a master of generalities. Read the speech slowly and carefully and you will see glaring contradictions. Compare these two statements in his speech. “Our allies must contribute toward the financial, political and human costs of our tremendous security burden. But many of them are simply not doing so. They look at the United States as weak and forgiving and feel no obligation to honor their agreements with us.” “America is going to be a reliable friend and ally again.” So which is it?

Trump repeatedly said that the United States under his administration would be a “reliable” power. But he also said U.S. policy would have to be “unpredictable” to keep the world guessing, a formula rarely used in high-stakes diplomacy.

Being president of the United States carries a major responsibility. Do you really want a reality show star to lead this country?

Bernie Sanders: If you don’t like Israel don’t ask me for money!

Mr. Sanders:

You continually send me e-mails asking me to send you money so that you can be elected to be the President of the United States.

I am Jewish and I fear for the safety and future of Jews in the world, especially when Iran is launching missiles – dedicating to the eradication of the State of Israel.

I will not vote for you because I believe that you do not know the difference between good and evil. You have spokespeople, like Linda Sarsour, who decry the State of Israel and liken it to white supremacists and say that it is an apartheid state.

After the Germans, Arabs and Japanese conspired to conquer the world and wipe out every Jew in the world in World War 2, the world (at the U.N.) voted to divide Palestine into Arab-land and Jew-land (this was after Great Britain gave 80% of Palestine to Jordan in 1922).

Israel agreed to accept the “partition” plan and the Arabs refused, claiming that they wanted 100% of the land – that the Jews could live in the Mediterranean. After the war of 1948, the borders were fixed; except that the Arabs again refused to honor those borders or acknowledge that the Jews had any right to live anywhere.

In 1967, the Arabs launched another offensive against Israel. Israel won that war too. Israel ended up with more territory. They gave most of the “gains” back to Egypt in order to make peace with Egypt.

They offered to give the “West Bank” back to Jordan to make peace, but Jordan refused to take it – because Jordan hates the Palestinians (the Jordanians have kept the Palestinians in camps for the past 60 years – rather than accept them as Jordanian citizens).

Israel kept, accepted and made citizens of the Israeli Arabs. I’m sure that you know that 20% of Israelis are Arabs …. and 20% of Israeli medical students are Arabs. Did you know that the new assistant head of the Police is an Arab (named yesterday)?

Your outrageous lying statement that the Israelis overreacted in the Gaza conflict is immoral. No fighting army (against Hamas terrorists who use human shields and launch missiles from schools and mosques) has EVER acted with such restraint and morality as the Israeli’s.

Shame on you Bernie that you cannot tell good from bad; morality from evil. You are turning your back on the only democracy in the Middle East. You are turning your back on the country that is the nicest and best place for Palestinians to live (Syria, Lebanon and Jordan have them locked up in camps). You support those whose motto is “From the River to the Sea” (meaning that ALL of Israel should be Arab … and the Jews should live in the Sea). You just don’t understand the real world. You have bought into Arab propaganda and turned against the only Jewish country in the world.

written by Michael Waterman, teacher at Temple Beth Am in Los Angeles

Is the media finally ignoring Mr. Bluster?

Many of you older readers of this blog may remember Mr. Bluster. He was one of the Howdy Doody marionettes. Personally I dislike the show and considered it an insult to the intelligence of most children except perhaps the youngest.

Here is an example of the media managing the news. In an interview with the Washington Post published on Saturday, the billionaire businessman said a combination of high unemployment and an overvalued stock market had set the stage for another economic slump. He put real unemployment above 20 percent.

This prediction was ignored by both CNN and The Los Angeles Times. Not a word was written about this and little was spoken on CNN or ABC World News. The report was on a Reuters web site. Even the Washington Post, while posting their interview with Trump, seemed to downplay his comments about a possible recession.

The likely reason for limited reporting is that the new media does not want to frighten the public. However, Trump’s “tell it like it is” philosophy resulted in his prediction.

There is no indication that we are near or approaching a recession. The stock market has been flat or in decline most of this past twelve months. Perhaps Trump is a fan of Peter Schiff who has been predicting a major economic collapse in 2016. His advertisements are on many web sites. Schiff’s track record has been dismal as pointed out on CNBC. There are warnings on the internet about Schiff who predicted gold would rise to $5,000 an ounce last year.

Reports this past weekend indicated that car sales are at or near an all-time high. 215,000 new jobs were created in March. Unemployment even including those that have given up the search is about 10% according to the BLS. No one knows where Trump obtained his claim that real unemployment is above 20 percent.

Mr. Trump is known as a successful business man but he is not known as an economist.

It is gratifying to learn that everything Mr. Trump says is not repeated by the media.

When a Cartoon Character Thinks he is Real

The idea of Donald Trump as president of the United States is the same as imagining a cartoon character being depicted as the president. To the best of my knowledge no one has ever done that. Donald Trump is trying.

First consider that Mr. Trump has never held ANY elected office anywhere. He is obviously a smart man in many ways, having built a multibillion dollar business mostly through his own efforts.

In all of his negotiations and business dealings government actions or inactions have been of no consequence to him as long as they did not impact has intentions. As a consequence he was not an expert or perhaps even an interested party in law or international affairs.

Other than his earlier contention that Barack Obama was not a natural born citizen and thus not entitled to hold the presidency (the birther question) he did not appear to give any attention to any government policies.

I am going to build the biggest wall.
They are rapists and murderers.
We must stop all Muslims entering this country until we understand what the hell is going on.
NATO has no value anymore.
South Korea and Japan should have their own nuclear weapons.
Women who have abortions should pay a penalty.

You could not have made this up.

On the Friday night ABC national news there was a report of two men, with backpacks scale a 20 foot was on the border between Arizona and Mexico. It was accomplished in 12 seconds. For reason no one knows the men become concerned and returned to Mexico. The entire event was captured on a monitoring camera.

President Obama commented on Trump’s lack of international knowledge at a news conference on nuclear proliferation. CNN report: President Barack Obama said Donald Trump’s suggestion that Japan and South Korea should consider obtaining nuclear weapons demonstrates the Republican presidential front-runner’s lack of understanding about foreign policy and the world at large. He concluded, “We don’t want someone in the Oval Office who doesn’t recognize how important that is.”

Like Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, cartoons do not reflect the real world. The real world is not The Apprentice.

Americans Are Struggling with Behavior that Contradict with their Beliefs

Ted Cruz and Donald Trump understand Americans real beliefs and hatreds and are playing on those viewpoints.

Strictly religious Christians and Jews have very rigid laws about human behavior. They really do not want any behavior by anyone that conflict with their beliefs

Thus we see laws proposed (and some signed into law) in Arkansas, Georgia, and Indiana that would protect the rights of people who choose to discriminate. Specifically these laws give people the right to discriminate against homosexuals and gay marriage. Similarly many states have created laws that limit the right to an abortion.

All of these laws are a response to evangelical Christians, orthodox Catholics and Jews.

However, Muslim beliefs are not to be tolerated by those religious Christians and Jews.

It now appears that money may impact their willingness to tolerate those that are different. The Walt Disney Co. would stop film production in Georgia if they sign into law their right to discriminate law. It is estimated that $106 million is spent in Georgia by Disney. Other companies are contemplating similar action in the three states I have identified. So far, lawmakers in Georgia haven’t heeded those concerns. Legislators in Indiana and Arkansas passed similar bills last year.

What does this situation tell us about Americans? The answer is sadly obvious.

March 28, 2016

Good news! Under increasing pressure from major corporations that do business in Georgia, Gov. Nathan Deal announced Monday he will veto a bill that critics say would have curtailed the rights of Georgia’s LGBT community.