2018 Political Lessons

This past year has been an interesting one in the political realm.  On our local level, Kansas City finally passed approval for a new airport terminal.  This is a LONG overdue need.

The state of Missouri passed the Clean Missouri initiative.  This is a win for all citizens of the state.  It requires more records be made public, eliminates most lobbying gifts and requires a waiting period of 2 years after people leave the legislature before they can become lobbyists.  It also asks non-partisan experts to draw legislative district maps.  Good for Missouri citizens in attempting to clean up our political house.

On the national level, what can I say?  It started out as chaotic mess and ended up the same way.  I'm not sure that much meaningful legislation got passed.  There were constant scandals within the administration.  From the various Russian interference indictments (Flynn, Manafort, Cohen, Gates, etc) to a large number of scandals within the president's cabinet and white house staff (Pruitt, Zinke, Porter, Ross, Omarosa) to the grossly mismanaged child separation policy at the border it was just crazy chaos.  The result?  The Democrats taking back the house by their largest winning margin since Watergate.  

Another other lesson that I learned this year is that President Trump's twitter account is nothing but noise.  I dutifully tried to read and keep up with his comments in 2017.  I gave up this year.  There is very little meaningful knowledge to be gained.  Responsible leaders should not govern by social media and maybe the public is also agreeing with this sentiment.  Legislating and policy making is serious business and throwing up verbal vomit on twitter is meaningless.    

So, I'm hopeful that 2019 will bring progress and Congress will get more things done to help people.  More new faces (with more women being elected) is a great step forward.  We need work done on healthcare, infrastructure, and reducing the national debt and budget deficit.  The tax give aways to the rich resulting in massive stock buybacks have not helped us average citizens and now the stock market is hurting any retirement savings that people have invested.  Governing needs to get serious again.  Let's move the country forward.


  

Reading Resolutions

Listed below are the books that I read this year.  This year I was going to attempt the autobiography of former President Ulysses S. Grant but that one was simply more than I could take on.  It is still however on my list to read in the future.  If you are interested in U.S. presidential history, check out the blog of my sister. She is on a quest to read a book about each president.  She took on Grant and prevailed and gave a good summary of a biography by Ron Chernow. http://warpedpresidential.blogspot.com/

For Christmas I received a Kindle which I'm excited to use. It should make my reading easier when I'm away from home.  My patient daughter showed me how to use the Kindle to check out e-books from the library.  It is so easy.  If you haven't figured out how to download e-books or audio books I recommend it as a new years resolution!  

My favorites this year were actually 2 non-fiction books.  "Victoria the Queen" by Julia Baird was excellent and if you're a fan of the show on PBS it makes an excellent way to increase your historical knowledge.  "Calypso" by David Sedaris was also an enjoyable book.  His humorous essays are such a delight and always easy to read.


1.  The Crossing by Michael Connelly
2.  Fire and Fury by Michael Wolff
3.  Victoria the Queen by Julia Baird
4.  The Quantum Spy by David Ignatius
5.  Personal History by Katharine Graham
6.  Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank Gilbreth Jr.
7.  The Practice House by Laura McNeal
8.  Jerry Lee Lewis, His Own Story by Rick Bragg
9.  Every Note Played by Lisa Genova
10. Nothing is Forgotten by Peter Golden
11. The Girl Before by J.P. Delaney
12. Calypso by David Sedaris
13. The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay
14. The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn
15. The Elephant Keeper by Christopher Nicholson
16. The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian
17. The Fall of Lisa Bellow by Susan Perabo
18. The Outsiders by Stephen King
  
Several neighbors and I are attempting to get a book club going.  Hopefully we will have enough people to keep it up and it's been enjoyable being able to discuss a book with others.  If you are interested in a book club, talk to your local library.  They can probably help.  

As usual I will continue to advocate for everyone to read for both pleasure and to increase knowledge of current events.  Please be sure to consume well sourced, fact based news.  As for fiction, read what you enjoy!  

Numbers That Don't Add Up

As a bean-counter by day, I work with income statements and balance sheets.  My numbers must be correct and part of the process is checking for reasonableness.  As a country, we all need to be checking for reasonable numbers when we make our voting decisions.  I have included 2 charts below that are from the Facebook page of the economist Steve Rattner.  

Politicians are notorious for ignoring the hard fiscal decisions.  This irresponsibility was most recently manifested in the last tax bill passed by the current congress.  According to the Committee for Responsible Federal Budget Group blog post from July 18, 2018, "President Trump's first budget (for FY 2018) projected a $526 billion deficit in 2019 under its policies.  The FY 2019 Mid-Session Review released last Friday revises his current budget to $1,085 billion deficit in 2019.  That's an increase of roughly $560 billion, or more than double."  The blog post emphasizes that the increase is due to both the tax cuts and increased spending.

In order for everyone to understand how hard it is to balance the federal budget, here is a link to an online tool that allows you to adjust tax revenue and expenses for the federal government as you see fit and then view the results to the budget. This is provided by the non-partisan Committee for Responsible Federal Budget group.  They have a Facebook page if you are interested in further information. 

While political opinions vary widely on many issues, I would bet that most of us could agree that the government should be balancing the budget.  If we want improved infrastructure, better health care services, more resources for educating our children, more money for our military branches or trying to ensure the future viability of social security for our retirees then we all need to be discussing the realistic choices of how to make these things happen.  

After all, we as individuals have to live within our own budget constraints.  We are paying elected officials to represent our desires.  Make sure your choices for elected officials will stand up for the fiscal responsibilities that are facing us today.  

Space Force

This country desperately needs infrastructure improvements.  Bridges, roads, sewers in most areas need updating.  Many communities have evidence of decay.  Instead of more federal/state partnerships on these improvements, we're getting Space Force.

Most people agree that we need improvements to our health care system.  Medical bills and premiums are continuing to rise.  A healthy economy needs healthy workers.  But instead of trying to improve the situation, we're getting minimal coverage insurance plans and Space Force.

This country needs to figure out a way to solve the +20 TRILLION dollar deficit that is continuing to grow. This will be a massive burden to future generations if we do not get a plan in place to reduce this.  Instead, we're getting tax cuts that mainly benefit the wealthy and Space Force.

Sky rocketing higher education costs and student loans are crippling our nations college students.  A nation needs both non-college and college educated workers.  We cannot cripple one segment and expect the nation to lead in innovation.  Instead of helping students to finance higher education and become more productive workers, we're getting Space Force.

We desperately need some common sense gun safety regulations.  Mass shootings are out of control.  Our children are being murdered in their schools.  But instead of leading discussions on how to solve this problem, we're getting thoughts and prayers and rah-rah speeches about Space Force.

Everyone that I know agrees that our immigration system needs reform.  This country also needs a certain level of legal immigration to help the economy thrive and grow.  But all we're getting is chaos at the border and (you know what) Space Force.

The Veterans Administration by most accounts is in need of some overhauls.  Our veterans deserve the best care we can provide for their sacrifices.  Instead of any notable improvements, they're getting a military parade (costing millions) and Space Force.

After the last election, every American should be concerned that their vote is not going to be hijacked by a foreign adversary.  We need discussions on protecting election integrity.  But what we get is a presidential election commission that is disbanded.  But hey, Space Force!

So let's all get excited about what logo to choose for Space Force and while we're at it maybe we can all decide on the secret handshake and the decoder ring.    

  

The First Amendment

Fact:
The president of our country takes an oath to uphold the constitution.  The exact words are "..and to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the United States."  The first amendment to the constitution says "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." 

Fact:
The current president made the following comments recently at a speech to the VFW convention in Kansas City, MO.  "Don't believe the crap you see from these people, the fake news..What you're seeing and what you're reading is not what's happening."  He has called the media the "enemy of the people'. He has tweeted that "Our Country's biggest enemy is the Fake News so easily promulgated by fools!"  The list of attacks by the president against the media are long.  

Fact:
The White House banned a reporter from attending an open press event because the reporter earlier in the day asked "inappropriate" questions during a press conference with the United States president and the European Commission president.     

Fact:
In the last few months I have heard a number of people that say they no longer believe anything in the media.  They think the president is correct in tweeting out his message directly to the people.   

Fact:
The explosion of social media, hackers, trolls bots, foreign adversaries etc has exponentially increased the lies, misinformation, propaganda and actual fake news in the media world.  

Questions:
Is the president upholding the first amendment with the constant attacks on the media?  Is the president exploiting the explosion of actual fake news that is so prevalent on-line?  Is exploitation a presidential duty?  Does the president have the right to ban press members that ask questions he doesn't like?       

Conclusion:
Facts and truth exist and they matter.  The president of our country has a duty to support the freedom of the press.  The near daily attacks on the press is, in my mind, a failure to uphold the responsibilities of the office.

If Houses Could Talk...

Please bear with me for a little trip down memory lane today.

This is a picture of the house where I grew up.  I believe we moved to this house when I was 6th grade.  While I'm sure this house has many more stories than the ones I can recall, my memories have been gnawing at my brain these last couple of weeks after a recent post on social media about the house.  It was hit by a tornado in 2016 and has since been repaired for the current owners.  Through social media, my mother has arranged to stop and visit them later this summer.  I cannot wait to hear the tales from the house since it left our family.

The house is in rural western Kansas.  It sits about 1/4 mile off of a gravel road.  The house belonged to my family for approximately  12-13 years in the 70's and 80's.  We didn't build the house.  My parents found it about 10 miles away and had it moved to a foundation on a section (640 acres) of farmland that they purchased.  The house was big enough for 4 kids and required a complete gutting.  It had a big wrap-around porch which we loved.  Looking back, I don't know how my parents were brave enough to undertake the pre-HGTV version of a fixer upper.  However, my sisters and I thought the whole remodel was a great adventure!  Maybe this experience shaped our combined love for HGTV.  

My memories start before the house was moved.  We spent what seemed like forever (probably only a few weeks) getting the house ready to move.  My father always tried to make it seem like an adventure when he was using us as his construction cleanup crew.  Picnic lunches were a necessity and so the crew would get a little time off for playing.

The main part of the house was all that was moved.  There was a small utility room to one side and that was where our stairway to the basement was to be.  The utility room didn't survive the turn into the 1/4 mile long driveway during the move and was lost in the ditch.  No worries said dad, we could add a room on later.  

I'm not sure how long the initial renovation took but it seems like we spent every weekend out there for about a year.  When we moved in, the main floor was pretty much done so we had a kitchen, living/dining area, master bed and bath.  The second floor was the realm of my 2 younger sisters and I with 3 bedrooms and a bath.  Our floor was not anywhere near done.  We only had studs for walls which allowed us to talk late in the night till finally mom or dad would yell at us to go to sleep. 

Looking back now, I'm not sure why they didn't put in central air when gutting the walls.  Maybe it was a money saver but more likely it was my father's belief we were all tough enough that we didn't need A/C. By the end of the first summer however, with a new baby brother, there was a window unit installed in the master bedroom.  We girls would try to soak up cold air before bedtime.  My sisters spent a couple of summers sleeping on a mattress on the front porch (with the stink beetles-they weren't as prissy as I) and we had an attic fan to cool the upstairs.  Being the oldest, I scored the room on the south side so I usually had a decent breeze if the fan was running.  This south breeze had a downside as well.  When fertilizer was being spread over the south field it could be a little aromatic for a few days. 

The utility room that fell off meant that there was no covered entrance to the basement for the first year.  Mom had to hike the laundry outside, hoist open the lid-with-a-weighted-pulley contraption and prop it with a board in order to access the washer/dryer.  The basement windows didn't get set until later that first summer.  That allowed the cat to have free range and also the mice.  When one ran up the side of my bed, across me and down the other side, I slept with a light on the rest of the night.

My father utilized lots of friends for help with the remodel.  I believe that he paid the plumbing and maybe the electrical guys in beer (before the job was done) so that may have been why we had sump pump issues in the basement for years.  That could have also been the reason you would shock yourself if you touched the upright freezer door and a light switch next to it at the same time.  I figured that one out the hard way then proceeded to coax my sisters into being shocked.  Nice sister that I am.

The 70's were the heyday of wallpaper and we had plenty of it.  We each got to pick out our room colors and wallpaper.  Mom and dad proceeded to hang it and NOT get divorced.  My husband and I have tried to hang wallpaper--this will NEVER happen again in our marriage.  The wallpaper in my room ended up upside down and was only noticed after a friend of theirs was visiting.  I hadn't even noticed the upside down hearts/flowers.  We girls loved our crazy wallpapered rooms.  

The family/dining room was finally added so we no longer had to go outside to get to the basement for our weekly television fix of Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart, and Carol Burnett.  However, there was still no central air so it had a wood burning stove and another window unit A/C.     

Mom's kitchen was actually pretty ahead of the times.  She had open shelving for the uppers and painted cabinets. The chopping block that my father cut meat on in a grocery store when he was in high school completed the look.  As with most families, this room was the gathering spot.  It also had the landline telephone that we girls monopolized till my father added a separate line upstairs.  After that, we monopolized both phones. 

This crazy farm house was a great place to grow up.  One of my fondest memories is laying on the bed in my room upstairs in the summer with the warm (ok sometimes HOT) breeze (mostly WIND) blowing across me while I escaped into library books with a fresh packet of sunflower seeds.  There was the space to day dream. Unless you slept in too late and dad needed a clean up crew...  

Thanks for bearing with me on my trip down memory lane.

Children

When did children become bargaining chips?

This country is so broken that we have resorted to separating children from their illegal immigrant parents.  In such a modern developed country as ours, this is how we enforce immigration laws? 

We have refused to take common sense steps to ensure the safety of our children from gun violence while they are at their schools to learn.  Somehow we have conflated the issue of gun safety with gun ownership and our children have to pay the price.  Do we adults think that our petty arguments about gun ownership are more important than productive dialog about the safety of our children?

We are refusing to deal with the ballooning federal deficit to the coming detriment of our children.  Is the need for immediate tax giveaways more important that the secure financial future for our children and grandchildren?

We have refused to hold big pharma accountable for their part in creating the opioid drug crises that is robbing children of parents.  By allowing the drug lobby to become involved with the DEA efforts to prosecute drug companies are we essentially saying that their profits are more important than children's parents?

We are attempting to cripple the public school system by appointing a Secretary of Education that has no professional education credentials.  Her help seems to be allowing cronies to take over the collection of school loans from students.  Will concentrating on loan collection actually help our children become productive citizens?  Will ignoring public schools and only concentrating on "vouchers" for private schools help our children? 

We have spent countless hours on stupid arguments like what bathroom to use or whether someone is kneeling during the national anthem or what the craziest tweet of the day from the president means.  How is any of this helping our children?

WE ARE THE ADULTS.  Let's start acting like adults and discuss issues and solutions instead of partisan bickering at the expense our our children.  

Numbers are Not Opinions

Our economy impacts each and every one of us.  Below are economic charts that we citizens should keep an eye on.  Charts #1-8 are from  the twitter feed of the economist Steven Rattner.  Included are the dates and his comment regarding each chart.  Even if you ignore his comments, the data is informative.
  
Chart #9 is from the website of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.  I have included the link to the website.

The chart I found most compelling was Chart#6.  By 2021 (only 3 short years from now!) the interest on the federal debt will be higher than all of our spending on/for our children.  This is a disturbing thought for the future. 


Chart #1:  6/5/18 "Will 3% growth last?  Projections say no...and more economists are concerned about a 2020 recession"

Chart #2: 6/13/18 "Who's paying for those lumber tariffs Trump imposed?  We are.  Homebuilders anticipate over 9k in lost jobs and a price hike on homes over $6k."  

Chart #3: 6/4/18 "What Trump doesn't understand is that far more jobs are stake for the users of metal products than any saved for producers"

Chart #4: 6/4/18 "The Bush experience taught us that tariffs didn't save jobs in the steel industry"

Chart #5:  6/5/18 "Record job openings > Record job hiring = tight labor market with skills mismatch in the mix"

Chart #6:  6/8/18 "By 2021, the government will be spending more to finance its past than invest in our future"

Chart #7:  6/8/18 "Job gains from metal tariffs?  No.  Trade Partnership expects net losses of 400K"

Chart #8:  6/12/18 "The result of Trump tariffs on washing machines?  A wicked price hike for US consumers"

Chart #9: per the website Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. See the included link.

http://www.crfb.org/blogs/more-half-next-years-deficit-congresss-fault

Let's all keep watching the numbers.

Gates

Dear President Trump,

On the cusp of Memorial Day weekend I am making a request for myself and (I'm willing to bet) millions of other citizens.  We plan on spending our weekend remembering lost loved ones, spending time with family and friends and trying to relax from our everyday lives.  Could you please do us all a favor and take a vacation?  Normally it bothers me that you are profiting by staying at your properties but I'm willing to overlook that argument this weekend.  Your constant news churn has simply worn most of us out.  Take a vacation and do some golfing and please ignore twitter for a week.  The country will love you for it.

We have reeled from 'gate' to 'gate' these last 18 months.  We started with the my-phones-were-tapped-gate and subsequently have been through unmasking-gate, release-the-memo-gate, spy-gate and who can forget the never ending and all encompassing no-collusion (aka) witch-hunt-gate?  All of this gate swinging has simply exhausted everyone.  

Mr. President, if you're innocent and have done nothing wrong, why all the gates?  All of our intelligence agencies have stated that Russia interfered in our elections.  Let Mr. Mueller do his job.  Don't you want to ensure election integrity going forward?  Don't you want to make sure that you were not taken advantage of by someone on your election team?

Do us all a favor and take a vacation.  It would be great if you also took Rudy Giuliani and Michael Avenatti with you.  Everyone on both sides are sick to death of hearing from both of them as well.  Thanks for your help on this matter and enjoy your golf game.

Sincerely, 
Midwest Moderate      

Truth and Facts

My Senator from Missouri, Roy Blunt stated that he thinks people care more about jobs and the economy than they do about the lies that President Trump tells. Unbelievable.  If this attitude is correct, where is this country headed?

If truth and facts are no longer required from the President of this country, are they no longer matter from everyday citizens?  

Does it matter if you ask your doctor how many times he or she has performed a surgery that you need and they lie to you?  Does it matter that the truck driver moving a heavy load down a busy interstate lied about his or her heavy equipment work experience?  Does it matter than an engineer designing bridges that we all use, tell the truth about his or her skills to his employer?  Who wants to buy a house or a building constructed by someone who lies about their knowledge or ability?  Does it matter if the inspectors who are supposed to ensure the safety of our food and drug supplies tell the truth? Does it matter if judges in legal cases base ruling on truth?

Where does this end?  It's easy to say that lies about things like crowd sizes, or the number of illegal voters or payments to porn stars don't matter and that these are just the presidential equivalent of little white lies.  But are they?  If truth and facts no longer matter, where is this leading us? 

Will we know that our soldiers, our sons and daughters, who give their lives for this country are doing so based on the truth  and facts from the commander-in-chief?

Voting for politicians that lie to us is a recipe for disaster.    Truth and facts are essential to our very survival.  

  

Vote by Number

In my day job, I'm a number cruncher.  Here are some recent charts that I picked up off the twitter feed of the economist Steven Rattner.  I included his tweet comment with each chart he shared. 


(5/8/18):
"A future of debt...not brought on by financial crisis or recession, but by Trump policies."




(5/10/18):
"Evidence that the tax cut is working: Record buybacks."

(5/11/18):
"Wage growth continues to surprise to the downside-a disappointment give the sub-4% u rate."  Meaning the sub 4% unemployment rate.

(5/11/18)
"Higher gas prices on track to wipe out half of tax cut benefit; low income hit the hardest."

(5/16/18):
The next tweet was from Tyler Evilsizer that included the chart. Mr. Rattner had re-tweeted Mr. Evilsizer's tweet.  "Rattner's testimony at Ways & Means hearing -- most growth estimates for the tax bill are very similar to CBO (and far short of the .4% that supporters said would pay for the bill).

(5/17/18):
"Growth required to balance the budget/10y: 4.8%/yr on avg or 5.9% if tax cuts/spending was extended.  CBO is calling for 2% growth."

(5/18/18):
"Equities have added $22tln in value since '09 while workers' share of biz income is still stuck near record lows."

It might be wise for all of us to pay attention to the numbers when making our choices for elected officials this fall.

What If?

What if...


We each completely gave up any use of social media one day per week?

We each gave up television/movie streaming/video gaming and spent time reading for one day a week?

We each spent time outside with our loved ones every week?

We each spent time every week volunteering to help others less fortunate?

We each refused to complain about anything or anyone for one day each week?  

We each tried to surprise a friend or loved one with a small act of kindness every week?


What if the results were amazing?

The Roll of Boycotts

I subscribe to two daily newspapers.  The Kansas City Star which leans liberal and the Wall Street Journal which leans conservative.  Both papers together I feel gives me a fairly balanced view of the current events.  In addition, I also read some articles from other newspapers by using my local libraries data base services.  

In my post "The Never Ending Controversy" I tried to present a balanced discussion regarding guns and the improvements needed regarding safety. Since the Parkland, Fl shooting, I have read a number of articles discussing the fact that Laura Ingraham (conservative television host) was "unjustly" targeted for a boycott because of her comments about one of the Florida high school shooting victims. 

I am not going to re-hash the comments between the TV host and the victim.  Everyone will have their own opinion regarding what was said on Twitter between the parties.  Thank goodness we live in a free country where everyone can express their opinion.  What I'm taking exception to here is the argument being made that the television show host was somehow unfairly targeted for a boycott. 

In a capitalistic society such as ours, money talks.  We are all free to spend our dollars as we see fit.  I chose to deprive my children of cable television for 15 years because I didn't think it offered appropriate content for their young minds.  I choose to shop at certain stores sometimes as a way to support local merchants rather than ordering stuff on-line.  I sometimes make choices regarding charitable donations that align with things that I value. I make choices on political donations to parties with whose views I agree with.  I fail to see how these actions are any different than people choosing not to spend money with advertisers who sponsor a television show that they think doesn't align with their values.  How is this unfair?  

In my opinion, how I choose to spend my hard earned money is my business.  I don't think this is the same as a business or organization that holds themselves open to the public and then decides to discriminate based on whatever race or lifestyle they don't agree with.  I believe that if you're holding yourself open to the public, you must treat all customers equally.  However, you certainly have the right to spend your money as you see fit.  That distinction may not be agreeable to everyone but it's where I'm at. 

Money talks and companies will listen.


  

Character Counts

In my world, people's actions reflect their values.  That doesn't mean that people are infallible or undeserving of second chances or unworthy of forgiveness.  For me, it simply means that the overall way people conduct themselves day to day is a reflection of what they value.  Their behavior shows their true character.

I use this belief in my political choices as well.  For me, character has always been more important than if a candidate had a "R" or "D" behind their name on the ballot.  Whether this is common for other voters, I have no idea.  I just know that I try very hard to live my life by the golden rule and want to see this trait in the leaders of my community and my country as well.  This belief that a person's character matters is not something I'm willing to compromise on.  

There is a quote that I see attributed to Abraham Lincoln: "Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing."  The other quote I like but I am not sure who it's attributable to is: "Our character is defined by what we do when we think no one is looking."  

Good character and actions from our leaders not only serve as examples to citizens but they also matter in how the rest of the world views us and reacts to our leadership around the globe.  I want elected officials whose character mirrors my own values, who are serious, smart and know how to motivate people to get results.  When you're considering who to vote for this year in the primaries or in the congressional mid-term elections, I encourage you to consider the character of the candidate more than their political party.  Let's all demand better of our leaders.    

The Never Ending Controversy

Fair warning--this article is about gun ownership and safety.  If you have an extremist viewpoint, i.e. you believe that all gun owners are gun-crazed rednecks OR you believe that all people advocating for gun regulation are nut job liberals that want to take away your rights, then this is not the article for you. 

Here is the personal disclosure:  I am not particularly a gun enthusiast.  My spouse of almost 34 years however is a responsible gun owner.  He isn't a big hunter but does enjoy target shooting and owns 2 rifles (a .22 and a .30-30), a shotgun and hand gun.  All of these are safely tucked away in a locked gun cabinet. He was a member of the NRA when he was a teen but is not a member now.

Can we all agree that too many people are dying in our country in mass shootings?  Can we agree that we all want our children to be safe in their schools?  Can we agree that we do not want to take away rights from responsible gun owners?  Can we agree that extremist viewpoints in this, as in most controversies, are not productive to finding solutions?  

There are loads of statistics that show how much more prevalent gun violence is in this country as opposed to other countries where gun ownership is not as common or is highly regulated.  It is my understanding that the U.S. government cannot study gun violence because of a law, known as the Dickey Amendment, which passed in 1997 that removes all funding for any gun violence prevention studies.  Further, I believe that the ATF cannot track firearms that are used in a crime with an electronic searchable database.  The Tiahart Amendment (per Todd Tiahart of Kansas) prohibits the use of these databases for our law enforcement officers.  They are forced to use manual paper records. The fear was of creating a gun database.  How can we reduce gun violence if we can't study it?  How can we track criminals if we can't utilize modern search methods?  

When my now grown children were in school, reasonable attempts were made to keep the schools safe such as keeping doors locked and having all visitors check in with the office.  Those were the days before all of the school shootings we are experiencing now.  I personally do not want to see schools turned into "prison" like facilities with metal detectors and security at every door but our kids must be kept safe.  There are many valid concerns about arming teachers.  This doesn't seem like it would be a solution that many communities agree on.  And it doesn't seem like the "more guns=more safety" theory is working for us.  We must do a better job in our communities of keeping guns from those who shouldn't have them.  There is discussion about Red Flag laws that 5 states have currently enacted.  These laws create a due process to remove guns from people who are proven to be a danger to themselves or to others.  Would more of this type of legislation help prevent another school shooting?  Doing nothing is simply not an option.  We must protect our children.

It is my belief that having a gun enthusiast for a spouse gives me a fairly balanced perspective about gun owner rights.  This is a hobby he enjoys and as a responsible firearm owner he should not be penalized for crimes that others commit.  I am not a fan of assault type weapons.  Personally, I can see no use for them except in war.  While I know that these weapons pose no more risk than other guns in the hands of responsible owners, they are much more deadly in the hands of those who shouldn't have guns.  I'm not sure how to reconcile this.  The Supreme Court in the Heller case in 2008 upheld the right to own guns but it never said it was an absolute right.  Meaning regulation is still allowed.  We have a right to freedom of speech but we still cannot yell "Fire" in a crowded movie theater.  Common sense regulations help us all.  While I would prefer to ban all of these high capacity weapons, I certainly recognize that there may be other ways to keep achieve safety.  The right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness certainly hinges upon LIFE.          


The final point I would like to make is in regard to extremist views.  Social media and all of it's ills is fueling a war between differing views on the gun safety issue.  Pictures of billboards that have been spray painted with graffiti that say "The NRA is a terrorist organization" or "Kill the NRA" are fuel for sowing anger and discord among us.  Conspiracy videos saying that student victims from the Florida school shooting are paid agitators are sowing anger and discord.  Speeches saying "time is running out" or stories showing screaming and fighting protesters are sowing anger and discord.  Whenever any of us click on, share or comment on stories that do not promote reasonable fact-based discussions then we are guilty of sowing anger and discord as well.  Shame on all of us.

Surely the safety of our children demands that we be reasonable adults and find solutions to this epidemic.   

Is It Just Me?

Is is just me thinking that there is some weird logic going through politics these last few days? 

How can a President refuse to implement legislation passed by Congress?  The House voted 419-3 and the Senate voted 98-2 for  sanctions against Russia.  The last thing that I read indicated the White House was  saying the bill alone is enough of a "deterrent" and we don't need to implement actual sanctions now.  Why are not more people upset about this?  Can a President just ignore legislation passed by Congress?  Am I up to date on this situation?  

Why would releasing a memo crafted by a single Congressman, that contains classified information which the Department of Justice and the FBI think is dangerous to release, seem like a good idea?  Doesn't it seem like a bad precedent to set?  One party won't always control every branch of government.  Shouldn't we have respect for the recommendations of the DOJ and the FBI?  If there is a problem with the FBI, aren't there proper channels to follow to investigate problems?  

Regarding immigration, why is the term "chain migration" being used?  Shouldn't we want legal immigrants in our country that value intact families?  Am I missing something here?  Don't many politicians claim to support family values?  I feel like this terminology is meant as a scare tactic. 

I didn't watch the entire State of the Union address.  This is no change for me, I never watched the Obama SOTU speeches.  The bit that I did hear seemed to be a call for unity in the country.  That sounded good.  However, I'm having a hard time believing that message when the first tweet after the speech was the following:  "Heading to beautiful West Virginia to be with great members of the Republican Party.  Will be planning Infrastructure and discussing Immigration and DACA, not easy when we have no support from the Democrats.  NOT ONE DEM VOTED FOR OUR TAX CUT BILL!  Need more Republicans in '18!" This just doesn't seem like the effective way to sell the message of unity.

Heavy sigh..... 

Reading Resolutions

I'm taking a vacation from my political rants for the day.  You're welcome.  

After discussing what current books we are reading, my youngest daughter reminded me to sign up for our local library's winter reading challenge.  It entails reading 5 books between mid January and mid March.  Given the slow rate I was reading last year, I'm going to have to step up my game - a worthy endeavor.  Below is my list of books completed during 2017. 

My favorite fiction book last year was "The Light Between Oceans" by M.L. Steadman.  Fiction is my preferred type of book.  It's my escape from reality.  Sometimes I re-read books that are particular favorites.  This list includes "All Creatures Great and Small" which is always such a delight to re-visit even though I'm never sure if it falls into the fiction or non-fiction camp.  The other 3 non-fiction titles were "Dark Money", "Hillybilly Elegy" (both of which I have previously discussed in earlier posts) and "The Bookseller of Kabul".    

1.    Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
2.    Under the Harrow by Flynn Berry
3.    Hillybilly Elegy by J. D. Vance
4.    Dark Money by Jane Mayer
5.    The Family Plot by Cherie Priest
6.    All Over the Place by Geraldine DeRuiter
7.    Mississippi Blood by Greg Iles
8.    The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood
9.    The Whistler by John Grisham
10.  The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Steadman
11.  Two Good Dogs by Susan Wilson
12.  The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
13.  All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot
14.  The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
15.  The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad
16.  The Lying Game by Ruth Ware


I always keep a list of books that I want to read on my phone.  And yes, I'm nerdy enough to have my library card number memorized.  Most of my reading material comes from my local library.  All of that free knowledge and reading pleasure is just waiting to be consumed.  They offer so much more that just books now: audio books, e-books, data bases that include magazines and newspapers, speciality programs and services.  

Some of my favorite memories of childhood include hours spent in the library.  I was so fortunate to have parents that emphasized the pleasures of reading.  My father turned me on to Robert Ludlum novels and my mother and I usually discuss our latest books we are reading even today.  I tried to impart this to my children and am so looking forward to many happy hours reading to our new granddaughter.  

A good resolution for all of us would be to use our local library more and random sites on the internet less.

Happy Reading friends!

Excrement Thoughts

Dear President Trump,

I'm once again writing to thank you for the humor you have provided to our family this week.  The enjoyment you provided was not in your twitter feed (which is a fertile ground for laughs) but was from the "shithole" comment controversy.  

I of course have no way of verifying if you actually made the comment questioning why America has to take immigrants from "shithole" countries.  But given your past history with colorful comments, aka "grab-em-by-the-pussy-gate", I find it hard to believe that you did not utter this phrase.  

This adjective, while completely beneath the dignity of your office and certainly not representative of the opinions of the people that I know, does however show your lack of understanding about the value of shit.    

Mr. President, we here in the Midwest come from rural backgrounds of cattle, horses, pigs and other animals and we know a thing or two about shit.  We have scooped shit into piles and holes, plowed shit into fields, waded through shit to deal with animals needing care, and bathed animals that needed shit removed.  Many of our ancestors burned shit as fuel when building this country and at times, shit provides fertilizer for the food you find on your table.

So Mr. President, we laughed about your comment which just showed your ignorance about the hard working people that have built this country.  Apparently only reality TV stars have no idea about the shit that makes this country great.  Here in the flyover states those of us from shithole countries or descendents of immigrants from shithole countries know that shit is pretty freaking awesome! 

Thanks for the laugh and the reminder about the value of the hard dirty work that we everyday citizens do to help make yours and all of our  lives possible.  We will continue to do our jobs with dignity and wish you would do the same.

Sincerely,
Midwest Moderate