November 19, 2021

The New England Patriots beat the Atlanta Falcons Thursday night by a score of 25-0. It was not quite as dramatic and artistic as the stirring comeback from a 28-3 deficit in Super Bowl LI, but it was still pretty good nonetheless. It was their fifth win in a row, putting them solidly in the playoff race. It was a Thursday night game on the road, which is always difficult, against a team that had four wins against five losses. It had been the first time Atlanta had been shutout at home in decades. The Patriots were trying to build back better this year after a disappointing 2020. Yet, when I read the papers the next morning, all I saw was articles about how much the Patriots have to work on. It may be true, but give me a break. For some, it’s never enough.

Which brings me to President Biden, the Democrats, Build Back Better, and inflation. The Patriots had deflategate when Tom Brady allegedly let the air out of some footballs. The Republicans have been trying to let the air out of Joe Biden’s agenda. The infrastructure bill passed. The economy is growing, unemployment is shrinking, people are getting vaccinated, wages are rising, and consumers have money in their pockets. It sounds pretty good, but, in the words of many, albeit not just Republicans, the Democrats and Coach Biden have some things they need to work on like inflation. As with the Patriots, the Democrats may be victims of their own successes. Recoveries bring demand, and demand brings rising prices. Reasonable or not, we expect more. Fortunately, the Super Bowl and the mid-term elections are a ways off. There is plenty of time to get things exactly right. In the meantime, give me a break.

November 17, 2021

Rick Steves is a prominent European travel writer. My wife and I enjoy his travelogues on PBS. The are quick, cute, and colorful. He explores the cultures, cuisine, and history of the places he visits. He spends time with the locals, and partakes in their traditions. In each place he visits, the locals have their own unique ways of celebrating their history and their lives. They seem to embrace their history, and not be tortured by it. The Germans continually celebrate Oktoberfest in the shadow of Hitler. The Italians celebrate Christmas without giving immediate thought to Mussolini, the corruption of the papacy, or the slave trading of the Romans. The French celebrate Bastille Day without being hobbled by the Reign of Terror. There are many examples of peoples making peace with their historic demons. They don’t ignore their history, but they are not incapacitated by it either. As people often say, two things can be true at the same time. A country can have a horrific past, and still be able to celebrate what is good. The amateur anthropologist in me says that most if not all societies and countries have something they are probably ashamed about.

The United States of America is no different. We have skeletons in our collective closet. I think it’s okay to, every once in a while, take them out, dust them off, analyze them, and then put them back. The true test of a society is how it handles the truth. We don’t have to cast blame, and make each other feel bad. After all, it’s no more our collective fault than all Russians are to blame for Stalin. We didn’t do it, but we do need to understand it. Two things can be true at the same time. We can strive to learn more about our history, warts and all, while we continue to celebrate everything that is good about us. “Keep on travelin’”.

November 15, 2021

There are a lot of crazy, right wing conspiracy theories going around. Many of them begin with the letter Q. I am not going to mention any of them except for the one I heard recently while I was drinking the blood of babies with my fellow pedophiles. Some of our economic problems are being caused by supply chain issues. If you rearrange just two of the letters in “chain,” you get “China.” This can’t be a coincidence. Many of our supply chain issues have originated in China where we also got the “China Virus” and “Kung Flu.” China is attacking us from all sides, and it’s all spelt out. This can’t be a coincidence.

Also, the state governor who is doing the best job in fighting the pandemic is Ron DeSantis. The Latin translation of “DeSantis” is “about Santa.” This can’t be a coincidence. Governor DeSantis is doing more than anyone else to make sure our children have a safe and enjoyable Christmas. There won’t be any coal in Florida’s stockings unless Joe Manchin gets involved. China is trying to be “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas,” and Ron DeSantis is trying to make Christmas great again. This can’t be a coincidence.

November 15, 2021

The January 6th Commission in the House of Representatives is devoid of any Republican representation except for the two Republican apostates, Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger. Minority leader Kevin McCarthy made sure of that. Maybe we should call these the McCarthy hearings. Joseph McCarthy, Republican Senator from Wisconsin, was bent on manufacturing the truth as he looked for Communists back in the fifties, which is the period that the MAGA red hats long to go back to. Kevin is bent on burying the truth as the commission looks for domestic terrorists and their enablers. Coincidentally, the victims, if I can use that word, in both instances have been Democrats. Creepy Joe was a conspiracy theorist of the first order, believing there were Communists lurking behind every light pole. Kreepy Kevin tells us not to believe our eyes when white supremacists and neo-Nazis waving Trump flags attack the Capitol. If they had been Communists, I am sure Kevin would have gone full McCarthy on them. Kevin is also like another McCarthy, puppet Charlie McCarthy. He takes his orders from his own Edgar Bergen, aka Donald Trump, who has his hand right up his…

November 13, 2021

Inflation is taking center stage as a political issue, pushing aside wokeness, Critical Race Theory, and COVID. Nothing focuses one’s attention more than price increases at the pump. The price of gas goes up, and pundits predict the end of life as we know it. This is not to trivialize the financial pain that consumers feel when trying to buy the essentials of life like food, clothing, housing, and energy. However, I think we all have to take a collective breath, deflate, and try to put things in perspective.

The long-term trend in inflation since WW II has is 3.6%. From 2000-2008, the rate was 2.9%. The anomaly has been the last 12 years when the rate of inflation has been an historically low 1.5% with a concurrent drop in long-term interest rates. We have been spoiled by or, at least, complacent about low inflation rates.The Great Recession put a huge hole in demand. This wasn’t going to last forever. The pandemic just delayed the inevitable.

The world has changed as we work through the worst pandemic since 1918, and it is not going back to normal. Supply chain issues exist all over the world. People are changing their buying habits. They are buying more goods than services, which need to be delivered. Workers are right-sizing themselves. Non-essential workers were essential after all, and want to be paid. They are quitting in droves for better paying jobs, which is putting more money in their pockets. Through forced savings and government largesse, consumers are flush with cash and pent up demand. It may take time, but it will work itself out. I don’t see 18% interest rates, or long gas lines as we did in1979 in our future. We may have some long faces at Christmas, but at least they will be vaccinated.

November 3, 2021

Glen Youngkin won the governor’s race in Virginia. Congratulations to Mr. Youngkin. We apparently will not need an investigation into vote rigging because he is a Republican. The number one issue for voters in Virginia was education, well ahead of the economy and COVID. The concerns with education focused on critical race theory, Toni Morrison’s “Beloved,” and mask wearing. Angry parents verbally attacked

members of school committees over these issues because that is what is wrong with American education.

The United States ranks 38th out of 71 countries in math and 24th in science. Among the 35 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the U.S. ranked 30th in math and 19th in science. I hate to think where we stand on history and civics. We are losing the critical worldwide race on education, and that is not a theory. We should be debating improvements to our educational infrastructure, teacher pay, teacher qualifications, educational standards, school safety, equal opportunity, school lunches, and even how we pay for education. We don’t have time to be arguing about fake, ginned up, so-called cultural issues. We need to teach real culture.

November 3, 2021

I recently got stuck behind a car that had a “Biden is not my President” sticker proudly stuck on its rear windshield. In another instance, I was at a table with a few others when a woman put her cell phone down on the table with a “Trump is my President” sticker clearly visible to all. People seem to be comfortable giving Joe Biden the finger. Now, we have an instance when a Southwest Airlines pilot was heard saying “Let’ s Go, Brandon” over the loud speaker system. That phrase, which should not be translated because it’s meaning is disgusting, has become a terribly derogatory phrase aimed at Joe Biden. It started with NASCAR, and has spread from there.

Really, people? Not only is this behavior crude and boorish, it is patently un-American. It is not on the same scale as attacking the Capitol and denying the results of the last election, but it is born of the same parents. It may not be aggressive, but it is certainly passive-aggressive, and it may give others the wrong idea about what is expected and acceptable. As much as some people like myself detested Donald Trump and hated every day he was in office, we were not saying he was not our President. We were saying that we were embarrassed that he was our President, and that we were fearful about what he might do to our democracy. We didn’t want to overturn his election. We wanted to overturn him.

I am sure someone will find examples that will correct my assertions. That’s fine. It still doesn’t make it right.

October 28, 2021

Even though I am pretty sure that I don’t know any billionaires, I am not in favor of a billionaire’s tax on unrealized capital gains. It seems very clumsy to me, and I am sure any enterprising tax attorney or accountant could figure out a way to get around it. They always do. I would not be concerned with Mitt Romney’s objection that it would distort economic activity. Tax policy always distorts economic activity. It’s not a matter of if; it’s just a matter of how, how much, and who benefits. This is just another example of a sloppy, political compromise similar to the Affordable Care Act. It’s not ideal, but it looks like it is all the Democrats could get in order to pay for trivial things like infrastructure, climate change, and healthcare. I am already on record for endorsing an asset-based tax on investment assets similar to the way we assess real estate taxes on property. This would have been in lieu of a capital gains tax, but that’s not going to happen. So, the best option would have been to roll back some of the individual and corporate tax cuts instituted during the last administration. This seems to be a simple and straightforward solution to me. No new laws. No new reporting requirements. No new work for tax accountants. Democrats couldn’t get it done so we will have billionaire’s tax. I now have lost all my enthusiasm for becoming a billionaire.

October 27, 2021

I know it is off brand, but I just completed my 365th consecutive New York Times crossword puzzle without a net. I’d like to thank all of the Latin teachers who made this possible.

October 25, 2021

To be fair and balanced, there are radicals in both political parties. These are politicians supported by their followers who believe in a certain vision of America, and are willing to fight to make their vision a reality. I think it is worth discussing what these radicals are all about.

On the progressive left, the radicals believe that the environment is worth fighting for through aggressive legislation designed to mitigate climate change. They believe, as does a majority of the country, that climate change is the existential crisis of our time. They want to offer billions of dollars in incentives to companies who comply with their demands, and want to assess harsh penalties against companies who fail to comply.

On the regressive right, radicals want to fight for safe and secure elections even though there is absolutely no evidence that they weren’t already safe and secure. They want to continue the fight to get the 2020 Presidential election overturned. They are willing to attack the Capitol and hunt down its inhabitants to get what they want. They want to gerrymander Democrats out of existence. They want to make it possible for Republicans to overturn future elections.

On the progressive left, radicals want to rollback recent tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations in order to pay for infrastructure, healthcare, education, and child care. In all four areas, the United States lags well behind most other industrialized countries. The radicals believe that being at least average in these categories is not a radical expectation.

Regressive radicals believe that we should take away a women’s right to choose. They are willing to do whatever it takes to make this a reality. They are willing to steal Supreme Court seats, and fill them with Justices opposed to Roe vs. Wade. They are willing to prevent young women who are raped and impregnated to have an abortion, and threaten to punish anyone who comes to their aid.

In a recent op-ed, E. J. Dionne wrote, “Theodore Roosevelt, a Republican, described resistance to reform as representing ‘not true conservatism, but an incitement to the wildest radicalism.’”