December 9, 2016

Despite all the hand-wringing and long faces, the depression, the Monday morning quarterbacking, the thoughts of moving to Canada, and the endless Tweets, it’s a great time to be a Democrat. Why? Democrats voted on the right side of most of the major issues. By right, I mean the side of the issue that most Americans favor. We voted for reducing carbon emissions and stemming climate change; planned parenthood and a woman’s right to choose; increasing the minimum wage and equal pay for equal work; voting rights; gun control and safety; universal healthcare; and reasonable immigration reform. With the president-elect’s cabinet nominees, none of this is going to happen. Compassionate Conservatism is being replaced by Dispassionate Opportunism. So why the joy!

Just as it happened with the Bush W administration, the wealthiest Americans will be getting HUGE tax cuts. Personal, estate, and corporate taxes will be cut. The nominee for Secretary of the Treasury says that there will be offsetting reductions in deductible expenses like the mortgage interest deduction, but who is kidding whom. The tax deductions will go through immediately, and the offsets will be debated to death. Who can forget trickle-down economics and the Laffer Curve? And, I can’t remember. Do deficits matter or don’t they? Not to worry. I’m getting a tax cut.

So, as a Democrat, I can have my cake and eat it to. My conscious is clear, and I get to play more golf, just not on a Trump golf course.

December 5, 2017

Keep Tweeting, Mr. President. Otherwise, how would we know what you are really thinking? Many of your supporters say everything would be okay if you would just stop Tweeting. What they are really saying is that they really do not want to know what is going on in your head. I call that willful blindness. You don’t do news conferences. We get an occasional, rambling rant on your way to Marine Two, which is whisking you off to Mar-a-Lago. We get a steady stream of lies from your spokespeople. We now have psychiatrists who are trying to diagnose your mental state. To the psychiatrists, I say don’t bother. The Tweets speak volumes, and they don’t need any analysis. As someone once said, they are what they are. We know exactly who you are. There are no gray areas. There is no room for nuance. You are what you eat, and you are what you Tweet.

The latest Tweet about Michael Flynn subjects you even more to an obstruction of justice charge. I take you at your word. Keep Tweeting, Mr. President. There is no need to catalogue all of your previous Tweets for evidence of racism, sexism, and a lot of other ism’s. They are well-documented. We probably know your mind better than any other previous president, and, for that, we are grateful.

December 20, 2017

According to Wikipedia, the rope-a-dope is a boxing fighting style commonly associated with Muhammad Ali in his 1974 Rumble in the Jungle match against George Foreman.

In many competitive situations, rope-a-dope is used to describe strategies in which one contender lets his opponent fatigue himself by drawing non-injuring offensive actions. This then gives the contender an advantage towards the end of the competition or before, as the opponent becomes tired, allowing the contender to execute devastating offensive maneuvers and thereby winning.

Now that 2017 is coming to an end, and the regressive tax package has been signed into law, it is time for the Democratic Party to stop playing rope-a-dope, and go on the offensive. The Republicans went for the knock out shot in the first round with repeal and replace, but they were thwarted. The Dems parried The Wall, and illegal immigration reform. They took a pretty good body blow with the recent tax package, but, the package and its massive deficit will make it impossible for the Republicans to respond with anything else in 2018. They are spent. Paul Ryan wants to throw in the towel, and go home in 2019. They have no agenda going forward. There is no money left for important infrastructure projects or anything else. Cutting entitlements in the face of a potential Democratic landslide will be politically impossible.

The president is bleeding from the Russian investigation. The special prosecutor, Robert Mueller, may have to stop the fight, but Democrats should not count on that. They need to start throwing punches. Unfortunately, the Democrats do not know whether to throw left jabs or left hooks. They need to take a page from Muhammad Ali, and “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.” They need to take their shots. The Republican Party will fall like a ton of bricks.

March 14, 2017

When I had the opportunity to manage a branch office for a major, wirehouse brokerage firm, we were able to offer our employees a very generous package of benefits. It included healthcare, 401(k) plans, flexible spending accounts, stock purchase plans, and more. I would joke that people needed second jobs to afford to take advantage of all of the options available. Unfortunately, it was not a joke because many of the lower paid employees “chose” not to avail themselves of many of these benefits because they could not afford the out-of-pocket expense e.g. making a contribution to a 401(k) plan.

Now comes along TrumpCare. The conservative argument is that consumers should have a choice as to whether they have healthcare or not. Their focus is on availability and free-market incentives. It’s a philosophical argument, but not a particularly practical one. Based on my experience and the CBO’s estimate, 24 million people will exercise their individual freedom, and “choose” not to have medical insurance. Eventually, 56 million will make the same “choice.” I argue that this is not free choice at all, but an economic necessity. While the wealthiest amongst us will be enjoying generous tax breaks to better afford gym memberships, spa treatments, and organic food, the needy just got needier. Their only choice will be to once again show up without health insurance to local emergency rooms of hospitals. Ultimately, they will suffer significantly shorter life spans. This is what we are choosing for them.

January 11, 2018

Because of his rambling rhetoric, it is often difficult to understand what the President of the United States is actually saying. His history of lying has taken on epic proportions, but how do you tell when he is lying? The joke is you know he is lying when his lips are moving, but that is too simplistic and smarmy. Here are some tips to deciphering Trump-speak.

When he says “everyone agrees” or “everyone knows,”which he says often to make his point, what he is actually referring to is what is being talked about on Fox & Friends. The reality is everyone does not agree or know. The aim is to sow doubt, and to have reasonable people start asking themselves maybe everyone does know and nobody told me.

When he says “believe me” or “trust me,” run for the hills. I could recite a crude joke about what it means when someone says to you “trust me” three times, but I won’t. Fill in your own punchline. If any salesman ever said “believe me”or “trust me” to you in an everyday transaction, you would walk away. Believe me. We expect more from people we deal with. Why don’t we expect as much from the president? Caveat emptor.

When he says “I’ll see what happens,” or “I will be making an important announcement next week,” what he is actually saying is that I really have no idea what I am going to do, or I have no intention of dealing with this issue either next week or ever. There have been several examples of this, the latest being his made for TV “Fake News” Awards. As I write, it has been rescheduled for next week. We’ll see what happens. His most egregious example was his upcoming announcement about the evidence he had about being wiretapped in Trump Tower by President Obama. I am still waiting.

These are what I call “tells.” What the “tell” tells you is that he is lying.

August 31, 2017

It is not enough to sit back and complain about what is going on in Washington. It’s way too easy, but not productive. The discussion must move on to what the message of the Democratic Party should be. The message of the party has to move on from identity politics, and the Balkanization of the electorate. It needs to be a positive message. My suggestion is that the party become the “Let’s Get to Work” party. If you are looking for a chance at a good job, and not a handout, we want you. If you want to maintain your health in order to work, we want you. If you want to be better trained and educated in order to work, we want you. If you want to work no matter your gender identity, we want you. If you want to work in a clean and safe environment, we want you. If you want equal pay for equal work, we want you. If you want job-creating investments, we want you. If you want to come to this country to work, we want you. “Let’s Get to Work.”

May 2, 2018

On my drive back from Florida, I binged on several current news podcasts. Needless to say, I think I am up-to-date. It is a long drive. In the spirit of full disclosure, some people might consider these news outlets “fake” news. Of all the things I heard, many of which were extremely disturbing, the most disappointing story referred to a survey of Trump supporters, the majority of whom believe Stormy Daniels over Donald Trump, but do not care. If that was all there was, I probably would not care either. I am not sure I cared about Monica Lewinski or Marilyn Monroe. What I do care about, though, is that these same supporters, including members of Congress, may not care if presented with clear evidence of obstruction and collusion.

This is a Nixon story, not a Clinton story. Watergate was about a break-in into Democratic headquarters, and the ensuing cover-up. Russia is about a break-in into Democratic headquarter e-mail servers, and the subsequent cover-up. The evidence is clear, and getting clearer every day. The only question will be will Trump supporters accept the fact-based conclusions, or dismiss it all as “fake”news.

I binge watched the Watergate hearings back in the day. See a theme here? What impressed me the most about those hearings was the civility, professionalism, and bipartisan cooperation between members of Congress. Sam Ervin (D) of North Carolina and Howard Baker (R) of Tennessee were giants of the Senate. They were focused on finding the truth. They put country before party There was no grandstanding. There were no one-sided, clearly biased committee reports. At the end of the day, people cared, and Nixon resigned.

December 23, 2016

As a trained business person, I am fascinated by President-elect Trump’s negotiating tactics via Twitter. In the spirit of full disclosure, I do not tweet. His style is to make his adversaries nervous by his own unpredictability. He has already bragged that he didn’t mean many of the things he said on the campaign trail. I assume this is part of the art of the deal. I have not read the book. He has gone after Carrier, Lockheed, Boeing, China, the Palestinians, the Chinese, and the Russians. This has been somewhat amusing to watch until yesterday when he started tweeting about restarting a nuclear arms race. His public comments about nuclear proliferation, and the use of nuclear weapons are well-documented.

His negotiating style may have been effective when he was going up against contractors, developers, suppliers, government officials, banks, and others. It was typically a negotiation between unequals, and not equals. He who has the gold makes the rules, as it were. Deploying simplistic negotiating tactics against foreign powers, however, is a completely different ball game. Contractors, suppliers, and bankers can always walk away from the negotiating table as could Mr. Trump. If there was a misunderstanding, the only thing that got hurt was the deal. However, what happens if a foreign government misreads Trump? What if they call his bluff? Will they up the ante? Will Trump back down or double down? Will he inadvertently get himself into a face-losing situation.

Words do matter. Experience and expertise do matter. Sophistication and nuance matter. I for one do not want to get into a nuclear confrontation because Mr. Trump thinks he is negotiating with the local union.

July 6, 2018

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit the JFK Library for the first time. For me, it was not as much a history lesson as it was a trip down memory lane. Things were different then. People were a lot thinner for one. Maybe it was the cigarettes. In going through the various parts of the museum, I was struck by how far we have descended in presidential politics and civil discourse.

Kennedy did not inherit a bed of roses from Dwight Eisenhower and previous administrations. There were problems in Laos, Vietnam Nam, Cuba, and Berlin. The Cold War was at its height. The struggle for civil rights was a tinder box. Russia was beating us in space. Kennedy, however, did not criticize his predecessors, and decry the abysmal state of affairs the country was in. There was no American carnage. He took responsibility. These were his challenges to address. There was no scapegoating.

Kennedy did not mock the media. He did not threaten reporters with physical harm, and claims of fake news. He met them face-to-face, and answered their questions. His press conferences were legendary. He gave thoughtful answers to difficult questions. He disarmed the media not with threats, but with intelligence and good humor.

Culture and it’s celebration was a hallmark of the Kennedy years. The Kennedy’s used cultural events as an arm of its diplomacy. White House events celebrated diversity and creativity. They gave the president of Mexico Pablo Casals, and not a wall.

Science was preeminent. It was a national goal. It was supported, appreciated, and respected. It was not a punchline. It was not denied. The Kennedy years were about conquering frontiers. We looked outward, not inward. We explored space. We did not create a space force.

Kennedy looked Nikita Kruschev in the eye, and did not blink. He was strong in the face of a potential nuclear war. He treated the USSR as the enemy that they were and are.

He delivered a message of hope and possibilities for all Americans. It was a message of inclusion. It was a message of civic involvement. In the words of Lloyd Bentsen, Mr. President, “You’re no Jack Kennedy.”

October 30, 2018

You have to feel sorry for real Republicans. They were the ones that you could actually have a reasonable discussion with. As it turns out, there are far fewer of them than we would like to believe. Former Republican Congressional Representative and talk show host, Joe Scarborough of MSNBC (I know what you are thinking,) bemoaned the loss of his party in a Washington Post (I know what you are thinking) article reprinted in this newspaper. Conservative pundit George Will is asking his fellow GOP’ers to vote against the party. Former Republican campaign manager Steve Schmitt abandoned the party. “Fake news” outlets are littered with former Republican operatives and self-styled “Conservative Independents.” As Donald Trump would say, “Everyone is leaving.”

Republicans used to believe that Russia was the evil empire. Republicans used to believe in free trade. Republicans used to believe in balanced budgets. Republicans used to believe in the FBI and the CIA. Republicans used to believe in science. Republicans used to believe in the environment. Republicans used to believe in immigration. Republicans used to believe that the job of the US military was to protect us from foreign adversaries. Republicans used to believe in keeping the federal government out of your bedroom. Real Republicans used to believe in a free press. Real Republicans used to believe in freedom of religion. Real Republicans used to believe in the truth. Actually, real Republicans believe in all of these things. It is just hard to find any.