Category: Politics and Government

The Economy Is Key for More Than Economics – Part I of II

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Let’s Do A Bit Of Economics 101

This Is A Two- Part Discussion

Even the basics of what constitutes a “good economy” gets a bit complex and takes more words than are suitable for a format like a blog. So today, Part I, laying out some groundwork and definable terms. Next week, some conclusions on where we might go from here.

Remember Carville’s Famous Phrase? It Is Still True

James Carville was the author of the famous phrase “It’s the economy, stupid” that led to Bill Clinton’s election to the presidency. The phrase is as powerful as ever.

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Ten Short Notes

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A Lot Is Going On. Let’s Keep Track, Even Of The Ones Easy To Miss

Minnesota Leads the Way – But Do Not Be Fooled

The people of Minneapolis and many others who came to support them have done it right; we should all be inspired. But understand this is far, far from over. The Administration took a bit of a bloody nose and is making noises about easing back a bit, but the evidence is pretty thin. There are still thousands of federal forces in Minneapolis (and in lots of other places). Some confrontational methods seem less used,

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Murder in Minneapolis

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Murder, And So Much More

We all would rather talk about anything other than what is going on in Minnesota and elsewhere, but we really do not have that option, do we? This cannot stand and only the citizenry – you and I – can stop it.

As Bad As It Could Be

Renee Nichole Good was shot 3 times and denied medical assistance as she died in the front seat of her car.

Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse at the local VA hospital was shot as many as 10 times. When medical personnel arrived,

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The Circus Continues

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Greenland – The Mind Boggles

Of all the things and places someone as distorted as Trump might fixate upon, he decides on Greenland. Really? Greenland? It gets weirder by the day.

A few days ago, Donald Trump announced that the United States (meaning him, Trump, since Congress has so far given away its power to approve tariffs) will impose a 10 percent tariff on goods imported from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Finland beginning February 1. That tariff will increase to 25 percent on June 1 and will remain in place, according to Trump,

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History Calls

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Will we Answer That Call?

Today’s Blog – A Change in Plans

The plan for today’s blog was to start a conversation on the economy, economics, and the interrelation with politics. That is always an important set of factors, and more so today than in many other times in our history.

But what surely looks like the murder of a woman by an ICE agent in Minneapolis and the shooting of two people by ICE in Portland demand our attention. Lots has been and will be written about all of this, but some things demand attention by us all,

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It’s a New Year. What Awaits Us?
     

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A Few items to Consider

What Kind of Year Is Upon Us?

Thanks to everyone for your patience on the day+ delay on this posting. Still working through a few technical issues but looks like we are pretty much back on line, so here we go.

Too soon to tell, of course. There continue, and in some cases increasing, worrisome things afoot, but also some promising indicators have begun showing up. We will not try to list all those possibilities, but let’s take a look at 10 events/indicators worth observing and we will see how things go from there.

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A Solution for the Renaming of Public Buildings

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Trump has irritated a lot of people by putting his name on buildings. Behold, a solution

A Sure Sign of Clinical Narcissism  

Trump’s desire to see his name everywhere is, as I understand it, a classic symptom of the most advanced form of narcissism. The man really does want to be a king.  Putting his name on the Institute for Peace was a bad joke, at best. Forcing it on the Kennedy Center was obscene.

Fortunately, lawsuits have been filed that may resolve such nonsense sooner rather than later. If not, assuming the election of 2028 goes correctly,

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Seems A Good Time To Reflect On Karma

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Some Things Seem to be Coming Due, or at Least to Turning Points

Big Brother Is Watching

U.S. Customs and Border Protection published a notice in the Federal Register of a proposed rule for foreign tourists from 42 countries, requiring them to provide their social media histories from the last five years to enter the United States. A Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman said the proposal is not final. 

Tourism to America is already crashing, as is student applications to study here. This will only increase, to our detriment. And it appears similar barriers are being put in front of international journalists who wish to report on and from the USA.

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December 2, 2025

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A Cold, Hard Month is Coming In Many Ways

In terms of the actual weather, it has been all over the scale of severity around the country. My neck of the woods has had a pretty mild, if brisk, winter approach, while much of the country has endured really cold, tough weather. But the weather provides a good metaphor for the “climate” we humans construct- lots of turbulence, many storms, some rays of hope. Let’s take a look at some of the current sightings on our “weather map.”

How Could the Shooting of Two National Guardsmen Be Made Worse?

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Up and Coming Leaders

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Trump’s Lame Duck Phase May Be Off To An Early Start. Who Is On The Rise?

Political Timing

A lot of people quite naturally are wondering who is most likely to be the Democratic candidate in 2028 and who will carry the Republican banner. The reality is that this sort of thing generally does not begin sorting itself out until the preceding midterms (2026 for this round) is complete.

But given all the turmoil and issues around Trump, positioning may start a bit early this time around. In fact, candidates for presidential nominations actually do,

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