Get Mr. Fixit

A few days ago, mariner was reading a piece by Clare Malone who writes for fivethirtyeight.com. She was trying to describe the subtleties of this modern era of politics. She cited statistics that suggested US citizens have doubled in number when it comes to those who pay attention to politics on a daily basis; yet the number of citizens that actually participate physically in some manner, even if attending a school board meeting, remained at the same low level (about 12%). Claire also cited statistics that show the citizenry has very low levels of trust toward their government and is unhappy with the whole phenomenon. She alluded to the separation of politics and morality.

Mariner uses an allegory of a beloved automobile that was bought many, many years ago and has performed through wind and rain, hail, children and dogs, long trips, over stuffed during a number of house moves, two accidents, and still plods on. Today it looks rusty here and there; there are scratches and a dent or two; the driver’s window doesn’t open, the gearshift isn’t trustworthy and the steering wheel is way too loose – turns are a gamble. The vehicle still moves and provides transportation but it is clear the automobile is on borrowed time. It is time to restore it.

The government is like this automobile. As a democracy, it has survived civil war, several depressions and recessions, backroom politics and today it suffers mightily from the influence of money in all its forms – from job security for elected officials, to bribery, to pay to play financing, to dollar-controlled campaigning. The dollar has replaced morality not only in government but in business, classism and day-to-day life. In other words, morality has fallen by the wayside and the wellbeing of the state and its citizens is irrelevant. As Cuba Gooding said, “Show me the money!”

Fortunately, the US Constitution has established democracy as the repair garage. In fact, as social issues get tough – slavery, women’s suffrage, international wars and political diseases like Joe McCarthy and Donald Trump – it is the vote of the citizenry that fixes things.

Consider the following repairs:

Term limits for Congress and the Supreme Court

Elimination of the Electoral College

Independent assignment of districts based on the census

Restructure the Senate to represent the population

Federally controlled/funding of US elections including caps and contributions only from related jurisdictions

Use technology to allow voting at convenient places and times

Automatic registration at age 18

Create a national referendum that, among many issues, will let the citizenry decide policy on guns

Is the voter’s mechanic (candidate) willing to fix these parts?

UNNOTICED NEWS

֎ [Science Magazine] The United States is experiencing a public health epidemic of mass shootings and other forms of gun violence. A convenient response seems to be blaming mental illness; after all, “who in their right mind would do this?” This is utterly wrong. Mental illnesses, certainly severe mental illnesses, are not the major cause of mass shootings. It also is dangerously stigmatizing to people who suffer from these devastating disorders and can subject them to inappropriate restrictions.

According to the National Council for Behavioral Health, the best estimates are that individuals with mental illnesses are responsible for less than 4% of all violent crimes in the United States, and less than a third of people who commit mass shootings are diagnosably mentally ill. Moreover, a large majority of individuals with mental illnesses are not at high risk for committing violent acts. Continuing to blame mental illness distracts from finding the real causes of mass shootings and addressing them directly.

 ֎ [Politico] RUSSIA SANCTION VOTE UNDER SCRUTINY — Earlier this year as Majority Leader Mitch McConnell helped kill an effort to keep painful U.S. sanctions on a Russian aluminum giant, a business deal was brewing in his home state that needed those sanctions gone. A key businessman in Kentucky was courting a Russian investor — Rusal, the Russian aluminum producer — at the same time McConnell was blocking a Democratic-led attempt to maintain those sanctions, the Washington Post reports. Three months later, Rusal and the Kentucky company unveiled plans for a major new partnership.

֎ [USA Today] 300 MILES AWAY – Following wildfires there last month, rare lightning has also recently struck the Arctic. Thunderstorms require air that’s, like, warm. Yet multiple lightning strikes were detected “within 300 miles of the North Pole,” according to the National Weather Service. “This is one of the furthest north lightning strikes in Alaska forecaster memory,” the NWS said.

Ancient Mariner

 

 

The Democratic Hoard + 1

Mariner suspects many voters, like him, have no affinity toward any of the twenty-some democratic candidates. It is a montage for sure. Trevor Noah (Daily Show) presents a bust shot of all the candidates in a single rectangular frame; look closely and one sees a cartoon figure in the last bust shot at the bottom. Indeed. All of them are caricatures of something. In his heart, mariner sees no outstanding, Herculean, Donald-proof candidate. A new candidate is becoming noticed: Tom Steyer.

The good and bad thing about Tom Steyer is that he is worth 1.6 billion dollars. If nothing else, Donald’s bluff about his own wealth and business acumen may not be useful running against a candidate worth ten times as much. Another good thing is that Tom is not a career politician; he lacks the cartoonishness of the democratic hoard.

Interestingly, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) isn’t fond of him and wishes he wouldn’t run for President. If Tom Steyer wins, it can be said that he bought the Presidency; in the future any old billionaire can decide he wants to be president and outspend the opposition. In these times of big money elections, it is still the same but no one who typically runs for office is a billionaire. Billionaires would rather pull the strings behind the curtains – which is no better than one billionaire deciding to step out and run on their own. Truth is, the US is pretty much a plutocracy already.

But Tom puts the electorate on the horns of a dilemma: On the one hand, no one should be able to buy the Presidency – maybe a bunch of party people with a bunch of money – just not one person. On the other hand, Tom has a stellar record as a business man, a liberal philanthropist, an advocate of taking on climate change, and a stated policy that resets taxation and minimum wage. On paper, he is the perfect democratic candidate; not only that, he will intimidate Donald just by showing Donald his checkbook.

To increase a democratic voter’s agony, mariner provides a bit of bio:

Thomas Fahr “Tom” Steyer is an American hedge fund manager, politician, philanthropist, and environmentalist. Steyer is the founder and former Co-Senior Managing Partner of Farallon Capital Management, LLC and the co-founder of Beneficial State Bank.

Tom Steyer was born in 1957 in Manhattan. His mother, Marnie (née Fahr), was a teacher of remedial reading at the Brooklyn House of Detention, and his father, Roy Henry Steyer, was a partner in the New York law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell, and was a prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials. His father was Jewish, and his mother was Episcopalian.

Steyer attended the Buckley School and Phillips Exeter Academy. He graduated from Yale University summa cum laude in economics and political science, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He was captain of the Yale College soccer team. Steyer received his MBA from Stanford Business School, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar. He has served on the Stanford University Board of Trustees.

In August 2010, Steyer and his wife joined Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and 37 other American billionaires in pledging to give away at least half their fortunes to worthwhile causes. Business people “are pretty widely mistrusted and seen as overwhelmingly self-interested,” Steyer said. “The point is that business people are not just laboring for themselves. They have bigger responsibilities and belong to a wider community.”

In 2013, Steyer founded NextGen Climate (now NextGen America), an environmental advocacy nonprofit and political action committee. Steyer’s platform emphasizes fighting climate change and structural political reforms such as term limits for members of Congress and creating a national referendum process. Steyer has also been a prominent advocate of impeaching President Donald Trump.

Steyer has been the single biggest donor in disclosed political giving over the 2014-2018 election cycles, spending $245 million dollars over that time span, all to help Democrats. (Though it’s possible that other rich people spent more in undisclosed “dark money.”)

A near perfect remedy to Donald’s abusive shenanigans. But – should one person singlehandedly be able to dominate the airwaves, campaign machinery and beholding to no one – and be our President?

Oh, the agony. Mariner would vote for a dead goldfish over Donald but there are principles. Oh, the agony.

Ancient Mariner

 

REPRINT!!

Danger Ahead

If there is any strength the US has to stand up against a hostile world, it is the US Intelligence Service. Coupled with the best funded military in the world, other nations think twice about taking on the US mano-a-mano.

In this most serious sector of US policy, Donald is showing his disregard for US security in favor of money schemes and showing his incompetence as a Commander-in-Chief.

This is beyond political rhetoric, beyond the politics of ‘the base’, beyond the dysfunctional condition of Congress. Donald is, in a seriously inept way, playing with the security of the US – a monkey with keys to the vault. He has no regard for anything that does not add wealth to his pocket. Under his leadership, the subtleties of international relationships are irrelevant.

Unfortunately, there is no Congress to take him to task. The electorate must suffer through an ever increasing dismantle of the US image and its authority. The electorate must endure to the election. The nation is at risk in a way that has not existed since the Second World War.

Ignore the ‘base’; ignore the do-nothing-Congress; ignore the true conflict surrounding the loss of jobs under Reaganism – the security of the US is at stake.

Ancient Mariner

Guruvian Observations

Guru, the alter ego who views humanity and the universe from somewhere around Neptune, predicted during the first Obama administration a Donald-like bowling ball. Not that Guru is a genius – many predictions are whimsy – but Guru hit the bullseye on this one. The federal government had become irrelevant to citizen reality. The election process, indeed the daily ritual once elected, was tightly wrapped around raising money rather than pursuing the American dream. Ex-senator Al Franken confessed on a late night TV talk show that the first five hours of every day were spent calling donors and lobbyists to raise money not just for Al but for the Democratic Party. It was the same with the republicans.

Campaigning had become a traveling carnival complete with snake oil salesmen who did not base rhetoric on problem solving but rather reinforced the insecurities of the electorate should something actually change. Meanwhile, the electorate reality was indeed changing; the economy was slanted toward shareholders and investment, leaving actual labor investment in the dust. Ignoring the wellbeing of the electorate – especially their economic wellbeing – is a recipe for populism. Elected officials were about as useful as bowling pins.

Along came Donald. A bowling ball made to order. Pick any analogy: a bull in a china shop, a landslide blocking the highway, a spilled garbage can. As has been widely reported, three rustbelt states took advantage of the Electoral College to overthrow the popular vote in the 2016 election. Populism took charge via Donald.

What is good about populism is that it forces instability; it disrupts the status quo; it makes things uncomfortable for the irrelevant processes of a stagnant culture.

What is bad about populism is its mindless destruction; it throws out the good with the bad; it wounds the culture in a way that will take time to heal; it ignores opportunity in order to sustain disruption.

The days of the guillotine have passed. Fortunately, the United States is isolated between two oceans and inherited an immense wealth in a newly discovered continent. Otherwise, one wonders whether war, destruction and murder, as observed today in other parts of the world, would be the process for US populism.

Guru still is concerned whether the ship of state and the state of the electorate will be stable enough to receive a turbulent century of unknown disruption to society, economics, environment and day-to-day survival.

– – – –

TO BE NOTED:

Havin’ a heat wave ♪

[The Washington Post] In what has become a seemingly monthly entry, this past July was not only the hottest July but also the hottest month on Earth in recorded history. It was so hot that wildfires ravaged millions of acres of the Arctic and swaths of Europe set record highs, including 108.7 degrees in Paris. July 2019 “beat” July 2016 — a month further warmed by “an extremely strong El Niño” — by about 0.07 degrees, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.

Ancient Mariner

 

What’s a ‘Job’?

Everyone must know by now that the twenty-first century is a century of unbelievable change. Much more upheaval to society than had by taming horses, discovering electricity, inventing gunpowder, defining economic theories, the internal combustion engine, or plastic. War is changing from gunpowder-driven murder to electronic invasion. The weather is changing. The biosphere is in the midst of crumbling. Think of something; it will change – if it still exists by 2100.

Even jobs will change. In fact, the reader must imagine that they’ve never heard the word. Or that particular meaning of the word ‘work.’ Mariner has presented the statistics in earlier posts. Just a few examples that soon will disappear are truck drivers, motel employees, white collar employees, primary care physicians, many creative writers and musicians, many fiction authors. Of course, the list is endless. Truth be told, how the entire economy functions will change.

For the purpose of this post, the word ‘value’ will replace the word ‘job.’ A sample of how to use value was proffered by mariner years ago in a post that said a mother deserves recompense (cash will be gone, too) for raising children. One could ask, “What’s your primary value?” “Raising my children,” she would reply. This is not a new idea.

In 1935 President Roosevelt (AKA FDR) signed into law a bill creating the Works Progress Administration (WPA). It was during the depression and money just wasn’t to be had because the public, in general, wasn’t ‘working’.

“While FDR believed in the elementary principles of justice and fairness, he also expressed disdain for doling out welfare to otherwise able workers. So, in return for monetary aid, WPA workers built highways, schools, hospitals, airports and playgrounds. They restored theaters–such as the Dock Street Theater in Charleston, S.C.–and built the ski lodge at Oregon’s Mt. Hood. The WPA also put actors, writers and other creative arts professionals back to work by sponsoring federally funded plays, art projects, such as murals on public buildings, and literary publications. FDR safeguarded private enterprise from competition with WPA projects by including a provision in the act that placed wage and price controls on federally funded products or services.”[1]

A few things to place in mind: FDR taxed income above $25,000 ($460,000 today) at 100%; the Green New Deal legislation in the House today uses this WPA idea to create jobs that return manufacturing to the economy except it uses private companies to bid for contracts; FDR had no choice but to underwrite WWII in the depth of the depression (the war, however, launched the US into a new economy).

Returning to employment value, it may be that significantly more people will contribute to local projects, volunteer for special needs and create home services and homemade products that improve the value of community life or provide government services similar to the WPA. This interpretation of value for pay can only succeed if government provides a livable base of income for all citizens. True, many if not most individuals still will provide value through typical employment for pay. Even today with a growing number of elderly and retired individuals, and millennials already putting off normal life expectations, a significant percentage of citizens would have a more stable lifestyle if government paid a stipend today.

Two financial conditions must be in place to ease the move from ‘job’ to ‘value’: The tax code must be transformed and cash must be transformed.

TAXES. Everyone will agree that paying taxes is a silly, expensive game. And game is the right word because the complexity is nothing more than years and years of fixes by the wealthy, corporations, banks and lobbyists. Taxes should be nothing more than a statement sent to each individual. In other words, an individual’s taxes are paid through their place of employment – ‘paid’ not withheld. The stipend would not be taxable. In fact, employers would be taxed by size and number of employees as well as by profit.

CASH. Today cash already has started to fade. Increasing numbers of companies will not handle cash – especially retail stores. The next item that should be removed is credit cards. Banks relish being in the middle of a person’s assets, liquid or invested. Banks make huge profits for being nothing more than bookkeepers.

Politics certainly will interfere when the role of banks is challenged but modern technology is so fast and so intricately connected that big banks aren’t needed in the future. The reader may already have come across the term cryptocurrency. Unlike banks, cryptocurrency is one single database called a blockchain that keeps track of every individual’s financial activity. Once cryptocurrency is de rigueur, money will be no more than an electronic transaction called a bitcoin. Historically speaking, humans have progressed from paying bills with chickens and bags of flour to pieces of metal or shells to pieces of paper called money to not having to carry anything to perform financial transactions. Just ask Ethiopians – they’ve been doing it for many years.

The redefinition of job to value, the reinvention of taxes and the conversion to electronic money each will take decades if not generations to be accomplished. But, we have a whole century . . .

Ancient Mariner

[1] https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/fdr-creates-the-wpa

Danger Ahead

If there is any strength the US has to stand up against a hostile world, it is the US Intelligence Service. Coupled with the best funded military in the world, other nations think twice about taking on the US mano-a-mano.

In this most serious sector of US policy, Donald is showing his disregard for US security in favor of money schemes and showing his incompetence as a Commander-in-Chief.

This is beyond political rhetoric, beyond the politics of ‘the base’, beyond the dysfunctional condition of Congress. Donald is, in a seriously inept way, playing with the security of the US – a monkey with keys to the vault. He has no regard for anything that does not add wealth to his pocket. Under his leadership, the subtleties of international relationships are irrelevant.

Unfortunately, there is no Congress to take him to task. The electorate must suffer through an ever increasing dismantle of the US image and its authority. The electorate must endure to the election. The nation is at risk in a way that has not existed since the Second World War.

Ignore the ‘base’; ignore the do-nothing-Congress; ignore the true conflict surrounding the loss of jobs under Reaganism – the security of the US is at stake.

Ancient Mariner

 

Hmmm and Oh!

֎ [United Nations] Soon—or at least, soon in the context of human history—the number of people on Earth will stop growing. Based on the latest figures from the United Nations, demographers’ best guess for when this will happen is about 2100. By then, the global population is projected to have risen to just shy of 11 billion. Africa will be the most populous continent. Islam will be the most popular religion. And there are going to be a lot more old people.

Sounds like a relief valve for one of humanity’s issues. There are others, though: feeding 11 million people; a wholly different international economy; maybe another world war; the vagaries of living in a robot-managed world. The twenty-first century will be interesting to say the least. But first, recovering from Donald.

Kudos to ProPublica for uncovering the story about why Donald is buddy-buddy with Saudi Arabia despite the Saudi’s role in the humanitarian crisis in Yemen and the ritualistic murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Yes, it’s about money.

֎ [ProPublica] President Donald Trump’s inauguration chairman, Tom Barrack, lobbied the new administration to share nuclear power technology with Saudi Arabia while, at the same time, making plans to team up with the Saudis to buy a company that would benefit from the policy change. . . Barrack, a billionaire investor, went on to pursue a lucrative deal based on the Trump administration’s Middle East policy, a policy that he was helping to shape.

Saudi Arabia still needs to sign a treaty with the U.S. before it can build nuclear power plants using U.S. technology. But the administration has already given some nuclear companies permission to share sensitive information with the Saudis. Lawmakers are furious that they weren’t notified and that the administration forged ahead.

Readers may recall that Donald wants to sell fighter aircraft to Saudi Arabia despite the dissent of everyone in Congress, the State Department and the military. Donald and Barrack smell big money in Saudi Arabia. Again, there is no wall between Donald’s licentious desire to acquire wealth by any means and managing the wellbeing of the United States of America.[1]

Ancient Mariner

[1] For the article, see: https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-adviser-tom-barrack-saudi-nuclear-deal

Very Important Interviews

While seminal insights are available on television, they are relatively rare. However, within 24 hours two interviews of authors with intellectual insight, unspun perspective, factual interpretation and a superior understanding of recent American history were presented on television.

First, Cspan2 BookTV broadcast an interview with Tim Alberta, a seasoned, persistent correspondent for Politico, describes the Trump phenomenon with a comprehensive understanding of the federal government and the social times the nation is exploring; Alberta suggests Trump did not create his opportunity, he was inevitably drawn into it by a dissonant Congress.

Second, this past Sunday 60 Minutes on CBS broadcast a segment that interviewed Ray Dalio, a relatively unknown billionaire who has joined those billionaires who have committed half their net worth to social causes. He is the author of “Principles” published by Simon and Shuster, 2017. Dalio describes cogently the failure of the capitalist model that has been in place since the last century. He analyzes the political/economic reality with realism and humanism and, like Alberta, casts aspersions on the lack of relative importance by government.

Buy the books for a clear understanding of our times. Otherwise, the interviews can be found at the following links:

Tim Alberta, author of American Carnage, Harper Collins July 2019

https://www.c-span.org/video/?462768-1/american-carnage

Ray Dalio, author of Principles, Simon and Shuster, September 2017

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ray-dalio-explains-his-principles-60-minutes/

The reality and intelligence provided in these interviews will, if nothing else put TV news in the trashcan.

Ancient Mariner

More about Housing

[Citylab] In California, the debate between NIMBYs and YIMBYs—that’s Not In My Backyard and Yes In My Backyard, respectively—doesn’t usually involve actual backyards. It’s about housing: By one estimate, the state is short 3.5 million homes to accommodate current and projected demand. In cities like San Francisco, this gap has raised rents to some of the highest in the nation, fueling a homelessness problem that the United Nations recently labeled a human rights violation.

Mariner lives in a small town in the middle of corn fields. Even in his town house values are rising. Aside from stock market investment, houses are the most common investment for individuals. The day when housing was a practical necessity has become a day when the house is a safety net against old age and infirmity. This dilemma compounds itself as more and more profit in the US economy is banked by oligarchs while common salaries have languished for decades. It is difficult for the average individual to grow an estate value with the imbalance of investment vis-à-vis low salary. The only source for family security is the family home.

The unbalanced economy is not the only influence on the critical shortage of housing. As seniors live longer, the rollover of ownership to younger generations is delayed. The average lifespan of a citizen in 1900 was 47.3 years; the average in 2000 was 77.5; the average in 2018 was 78.7; in 2025 it will be 80. This increment suggests that for each calendar year more seniors will survive than the previous year! It is a popular point that there are more centenarians alive each year.

Demographic studies indicate that the US population is decreasing. Ironically, this does not help with housing because in a decade or two, the common age of the entire population will be close to retirement years – where house value is still the security blanket for post-retirement life.

Another issue is the lack of affordable housing for lower incomes. This is the most significant impact of the NIMBY attitude. Historically, less expensive neighborhoods could be found in the cities but gentrification has driven out low income individuals – and again NIMBY prevents a reintroduction of affordable housing. It should be noted that the common view of suburbia is not true any longer because the suburbs have absorbed citizens of every income level and every race as well.

Another factor is cost of living and upscale employment in places like tech centers and corporate home offices. Mariner noted in an earlier post that teachers in Silicon Valley could not afford to live near their schools. The impact is that the need for homes is uneven across the US as young people go where the jobs are.

The key requirement is for US federal and state governments to enact legislation that requires percentages of housing across income lines.

Housing is a growing problem today – not taking into account the issues of climate change. 2030 seems to be a target year for many issues not accounted for today in society, economics or government.

Before one votes, one must do homework so as not to waste one’s vote.

Ancient Mariner

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֎ ‘Our’ nation making decisions in ‘Our’ best interest

TOP SPENDING LOBBYISTS

  1. U.S. Chamber of Commerce: $12.5 million (versus $16.5 million in Q1 2019 and $15.2 million in Q2 2018)
  2. National Association of Realtors: $10.3 million (versus $11.5 million in Q1 2019 and $14.2 million in Q2 2018)
  3. Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America: $6.2 million (versus $9.9 million in Q1 2019 and $5.5 million in Q2 2018)
  4. Open Society Policy Center: $5.9 million (versus $2.6 million in Q1 2019 and $10.4 million in Q2 2018)
  5. U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform: $5.5 million (versus $5.6 million in Q1 2019 and $5.2 million in Q2 2018)
  6. American Hospital Association: $4.9 million (versus $5.3 million in Q1 2019 and 4.3 million in Q2 2018)
  7. American Medical Association: $4.8 million (versus $6.8 million in Q1 2019 and $4.3 million in Q2 2018)
  8. Facebook: $4.1 million (versus $3.4 million in Q1 2019 and $3.7 million in Q2 2018)
  9. Amazon: $4 million (versus $3.9 million in Q1 2019 and $3.5 million in Q2 2018)
  10. Boeing: $3.9 million (versus $3.3 million in Q1 2019 and $3.9 million in Q2 2018)
  11. NCTA — The Internet & Television Association: $3.4 million (versus $3.3 million in Q1 2019 and $3.3 million in Q2 2018)
  12. AT&T: $3.3 million (versus $2.6 million in Q1 2019 and $4.6 million in Q2 2018)
  13. Comcast: $3.2 million (versus $3.5 million in Q1 2019 and $3.5 million in Q2 2018)
  14. Lockheed Martin: $3.1 million (versus $3.8 million in Q1 2019 and $3.3 million in Q2 2018)
  15. Business Roundtable: $3.1 million (versus $3.6 million in Q1 2019 and $5.8 million in Q2 2018)
  16. Biotechnology Innovation Organization: $3 million (versus $3 million in Q1 2019 and $2.5 million in Q2 2018)
  17. National Association of Broadcasters: $3 million (versus $3.9 million in Q1 2019 and $3.6 million in Q2 2018)
  18. Google: $2.9 million (versus $3.4 million in Q1 2019 and $5.8 million in Q2 2018)
  19. Pfizer: $2.9 million (versus $4.2 million in Q1 2019 and $2 million in Q2 2018)
  20. American Bankers Association: $2.8 million (versus $2.2 million in Q1 2019 and $2.5 million in Q2 2018)

– – – –

Top 20 PAC CONTRIBUTORS TO CANDIDATES

PAC Name, Total Amount, Dem Pct, Repub Pct

American Assn for Justice $2,402,000 94% 5%

American Bankers Assn $2,786,080 23% 77%

American Crystal Sugar $2,470,000 54% 46%

AT&T Inc $3,116,700 40% 60%

Blue Cross/Blue Shield $2,394,300 41% 59%

Boeing Co $2,391,499 43% 57%

Credit Union National Assn $2,619,000 48% 52%

Deloitte LLP $2,380,000 44% 56%

Honeywell International $2,639,310 49% 50%

House Freedom Fund $2,733,340 0% 100%

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers $2,595,524 96% 4%

Lockheed Martin $2,504,500 40% 60%

National Air Traffic Controllers Assn $2,813,250 56% 44%

National Assn of Realtors $3,444,276 51% 48%

National Auto Dealers Assn $2,666,400 24% 76%

National Beer Wholesalers Assn $3,433,500 48% 52%

Northrop Grumman $2,849,740 43% 57%

Operating Engineers Union $2,726,909 80% 19%

Sheet Metal, Air, Rail & Transportation Union $2,797,450 88% 12%

United Parcel Service $2,441,597 33% 66%

 Does it occur to readers that the 1778 United States Constitutional Democracy doesn’t exist today? Citizens live in an uncontrolled, highly capitalistic plutocracy on the verge of collapse because 1% of the population holds as much wealth as the bottom 90%.

Donald is just a drill to prepare the nation for serious reform. It will take at least a generation to repair all the issues at hand today, let alone the new issues arriving shortly.

Sleep well, e pluribus Unum.

Ancient Mariner