The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are:
Hard work,
Stick-to-itiveness, and
Common sense.
Thomas A. Edison
Tweet of the Day
When Trump bitches about foreign imports, he is just another condescending meddling progressive elitist. "Let the little people eat cake."— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) January 7, 2017
Whether anti-trade illiterates are on the left (Sanders) or right (Trump), they want to rig the economy against the untrustworthy consumer.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) January 7, 2017
The reason that foreigners export to us is they expect something commensurate in return; it's their gateway to American goods, investments.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) January 7, 2017
Trade pacts open markets to partner consumers. But the consumers vote with their wallets. We like good value even if the product isn't local— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) January 7, 2017
If Trump were smart, he would say, American businesses can compete without my meddling. I respect the choices made by lower-income consumers— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) January 7, 2017
Trump's job fetish rhetoric ignores that the government is the biggest obstacle to job growth: it raises the cost of labor, restricts hiring— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) January 7, 2017
What's Don Quixote Trump going after next? Robots in car plants taking assembly jobs? "I never did like R2D2. They don't pay taxes..."— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) January 7, 2017
What lower/middle-class Americans need to realize is when Trump is talking trade wars, their standard of living is being threatened.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) January 7, 2017
Lower/middle income people will see fewer goods & services, at higher prices. That doesn't mean their income will stretch to cover increases— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) January 7, 2017
But manipulated higher prices domestically aren't sustainable on the global market. Businesses must have access to global resources.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) January 7, 2017
Some Republican legislators are fretting over repealing ObamaCare. A lot of people are afraid the world will end without a safety net.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) January 7, 2017
Repeat after me: there is no "good part" to ObamaCare. It all sucks, period. Once gangrene has set in, you need to amputate the limb.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) January 7, 2017
Congress can use its interstate commerce authority as originally intended, to promote a free market, dissolve state barriers to trade.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) January 7, 2017
We can allow an expansion of cross-state pools, self-insurance mechanisms, fortify high risk pools, enable basic catastrophic coverage, etc— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) January 7, 2017
But asking how the healthcare market will survive w/o govt mandates & funding is like worrying how people will eat w/o govt supermarkets.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) January 7, 2017
Where do I vote? #ProcrastinationIn4words— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) January 8, 2017
The Inspector General reports nearly 8000 dead people reported wages (SS tax). Still think that government PII fraud controls are reliable?— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) January 8, 2017
I know how progressives think: 8000 dead people are paying social security taxes? Why aren't more paying their fair share?— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) January 8, 2017
It turns out that Benjamin Franklin was right when he talked about death and taxes. St. Peter won't let you through the Pearly Gates.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) January 8, 2017
Trump likes to say people who believe in free trade are stupid, foolish people. Like people talking about their manhood in a GOP debate.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) January 8, 2017
Isn't it time someone said Emperor Trump is wearing no clothes? This whole trade negotiation being a unilateral surrender is beyond stupid.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) January 8, 2017
When nations liberalize trade, they don't haggle goods like Trump haggles buying foreign-made TV's for his properties. They lower barriers.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) January 8, 2017
Trade deals don't guarantee sales of foreign goods; they simply let them compete more fairly without high taxes, product quotas, etc.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) January 8, 2017
So Trump's real beef in talking the Chinese trade deficit is that American consumers perceive value in imports for their limited budgets.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) January 8, 2017
An example of why Ben Sasse is one of my 2 favorite senators (Rand Paul):https://t.co/TYsGyuHxUp— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) January 8, 2017
The GOP must stop this inane soundbite, repeated by morons like Donald Trump, about repealing/replacing ObamaCare. Not the repealing part.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) January 8, 2017
If and when you talk about replacing the Statist bastard child ObamaCare, you concede the Statist notion that government "solves" healthcare— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) January 8, 2017
ObamaCare is all but insolvent--what's Donald "6 Bankruptcies" Trump going to do? File chapter 11? No more bailouts of government programs!— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) January 8, 2017
If and when the GOP reinvents government healthcare, it becomes responsible for the Ponzi scheme financing. If anything, catastrophic care— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) January 8, 2017
If you listen to Trump's batshit crazy spitballing he was willing to whore out the US military for 50% of Libyan oilhttps://t.co/sCTU0JGlAt— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) January 8, 2017
Trump talks "America First" and pays lip service to no nation building; he's like Obama who talks a good game but we're still in Afghanistan— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) January 8, 2017
If Trump were a non-interventionist, he would be talking about how Obama intervened in Libya w/o an act of war, w/o Congressional approval.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) January 8, 2017
Instead, Trump is blasting Obama for not winning an oil concession from the Libyan rebels (as if THEY owned the oil!) before intervening!— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) January 8, 2017
Trump and Foreign Policy
Friends and Family
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| One of my grandnephews |
I normally keep my family out of the blog. All but one of my nuclear family have blue eyes (the other sister has green), and three of my sisters (and 2 brothers) are blonde (including this little dude's grandmother and my niece), although two went darker blond. (My own hair is/was in the blur zone between dark blond and light brown; my third grade picture was unambiguously blond, but brownish by fourth grade (but it looked much lighter outside). I got into a hassle I think once for a government ID or at a doctor's office referring to my hair as blond and so I've since simply referred to (what's left) of my hair as light brown.
The little dude just had his hair cut; I told my niece I think he would make a great model; the camera loves him. I discovered one of my other nieces has a newborn son. Interesting pattern: M-F-M-F-M. (My folks stutter-stepped: M-F-M-F-F-M-F.)
Image of the Day
Why Sasse Is One of My Two Favorite Senators
This is an example of why Ben Sasse, in addition to Rand Paul, is one of my favorite Senators. Only a few pro-liberty legislators (including Massie and Amash) have the stones to stand up to the Trumps of the world.
Facebook Corner
(on a National Review thread Hanson on Immigration)
Wrong. First of all, people aren't illegal. What's UNCONSTITUTIONAL is your deciding who can work for me, visit or live with me. I don't care if they're from another state or country--it's none of your damn business. Your kingdom ends at your front door.
(National Review).
DEAD WRONG. Getting rid of the individual mandate is not a "cheap, easy" win. It was a key item in the Constitutional battle over ObamaCare. It's forcing them to buy a product they don't necessarily want or need. It was unprecedented, and it must be abolished now. I think it's an easier sell than other reforms; in fact, Obama originally opposed a mandate when he first ran for POTUS.
The issue of preexisting conditions can be handled by shoring up high risk pools administered independently by the states individually and/or regionally (for less-populated states).
The thing that National Review gets right in this clip is that we don't need the feds super-regulating/intervening on traditional state responsibilities, except for using interstate commerce authority to break down state barriers to healthcare providers and insurers
Political Cartoon
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| Courtesy of Robert Ariail via Townhall |
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Vocalists
Cher, "Heart of Stone"
