Where's That Pay Raise?

       Well, the word is out. Last year's tax plan is working exactly as planned. Corporate taxes are down and CEO pay is way up and the common worker is seeing almost none of it because of those CEO pay increases and stock buybacks and all the other gimmicks provided for by the new tax law.
       If they want a pay increase they'll have to be able to switch to "higher-skilled jobs." And if they aren't trained to do that, then they'll have to stay where they are at the same old pay. There's been no talk about helping those folks by setting up training programs so I guess corporations are satisfied with keeping those employees exactly where they are at that same old pay.
       Don't misunderstand me, its not that CEOs are being forced to accept exponentially higher pay raises, its that they don't see any reason why they shouldn't accept them. After all, the alternative is giving all that money away to the employees. Well, its less expensive to just make out one check rather than hundreds of checks. Especially since the cost of paper is going up.
       How would it be if you were the CEO and you had to sit there and watch the board of directors struggle over whether to give that money to you or those grunts who work for you. Ha, that's a laugh. Of course you're gonna demand that huge pay increase and the paeans could hope to live long enough to enjoy they're retirement.
       And that's another point. Its been pointed out that much of the largess to the corporations goes into retirement accounts, IRAs etc. And that's true. In fact for lots of people they'll be better off financially, once they do retire. They'll be making more money than when they were working for a living. So I suppose the next thing will be to push the retirement age to 70 or 75.

Its Still Time.

       An old friend pointed out to me that this latest shooting in which a shotgun and handgun were used are among 22 school shootings this year alone. Its important to know that the Lt Governor of Texas, Dan Patrick, has explained that the shooting is a result of abortion. Or maybe its because of family breakup, devalued lives or violent video games. See, it's all about anything but guns.
       In an interview with George Stephanopoulos, LT. Gov. Patrick used these reasons to explain the shootings. Of course the shooter hasn't given a reason so I guess the Lt. Gov. has some unusual gifts. I wish he'd give me the right numbers to the big lottery this week. How did this guy get elected?
       Look. I don't advocate for eliminating all firearms. I own three myself and I enjoy shooting at the range on occasion. And I don't think we can ever eliminate all of these kinds of shootings. But I do think its time to start somewhere. And the most dangerous are the guns designed to kill many people as fast as humanly possible. And I can still assure you there are no semi or fully automatic knives.
       Maybe the problem isn't with guns at all. Maybe the problem is that our elected Congressmen and Senators don't have the guts to do anything but claim to pray for those lost to gun violence. Ya know what, Congressmen and Senators? Don't bother, your prayers are as phony as your speeches. So until you actually do something to slow the death count, you need to shut up. Because when you say you offer your prayers and don't do anything to help, you show that you don't care.
       Its a sad day when someone who is elected to serve the people of his state or district can stand up and claim that someone that has been shot dead by a gun was shot because of abortion or video games or, I suppose, a dozen other dreamed up reasons, but no, the person was shot dead because someone else pointed a gun and shot. That's the reason. A gun was used.

Why Not Now?

      Ya know, I think I have to agree with the NRA. People can kill with a knife, or even a car or truck. In fact, people can kill other people with a bow and arrow or a spear. All of those things are
capable of killing people. And I'm sure there are many other ways, like Russia's favorite, poison, to kill people.
       But the only weapon that kills by shooting, is a gun. And a gun is the favorite weapon, the weapon of choice, of people who want to kill other people. And if a person wants to kill a lot of people, as many as possible, then the weapon of choice is the assault rifle, with a large banana clip.
       That's not something that Liberals though up. Or Conservatives. Its just the way things are. Semi-automatic firearms, especially those that can easily be converted to fully automatic can kill more people. That doesn't mean that a killer can't use some other firearm. Some do. But the assault rifle is the gun a killer will choose given the chance. And there is no semi-automatic knife.
       So what could possibly be wrong with outlawing such firearms? Well there's always the loss of profits for the gun manufacturers. And there you have it. Its not an attack on the Second Amendment, its an assault on gun makers profits. So okay, now we're at the heart of the argument on gun laws. Which do we put first, gun makers profits or children's and even adult's lives? Of course its not just that simple. After all we have to consider the sports enthusiasts enjoyment of target shooting. We have to put that against everyone else's enjoyment of, well of breathing. The time has come. Don't you agree?

What Is Americanism?

        I have to say, if you're looking for a statesman who personifies Americanism you need to look at Senator John McCain. Another is Senator Susan Collins of Maine. These two, while members of a party, are never the less Americans first. That's the way they vote on issues most important to Americans. There would be others except most fear that if they voted in the best interests of the people of this country, they might be defeated for reelection.
       It really shouldn't matter whether you're a Democrat or Republican, if you're an American then you should vote for whoever you are convinced will help Americans. When you vote for yourself only, then you likely harm America.
       When our Congress votes to heap debt onto our children and grandchildren just so we can enjoy a few extras in our life, that's un-American. Just look at your children or grandchildren and ask yourself if its fair of you to do this to them.
       A president may have an agenda, even members of Congress have agendas. But should they vote for a bill because they belong to a party? Our two party system has become to strict in its opposition to each other and not strict enough in what's best for Americans. And by that I mean the vast majority of Americans not the richest. The richest can take care of themselves. Its the rest of us who, from time to time, need some sort of help.
       Our elected officials need to understand that and vote accordingly. And if they don't, even if they're members of your own party, vote them out. Vote them out because they're not voting for Americans, they're voting for special interests, which usually means the richest.

Kim vs Trump.

       Now why do you suppose that Kim of North Korea has suddenly decided to look for a peace deal? My cousin will tell you Kim is afraid of Trump. Well, we should all be afraid of Trump, but I don't think that's his plan at all. I think the North Korean plan is to give up all his nukes, except what he has hidden somewhere, ask for peace, and denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. Then since he enters into an "end of the war" deal demands the U.S. A. remove all its troops. After all, the two countries are finally at peace and no longer need a peace keeping contingent.
       He could then demand that all sanctions be removed from North Korea. That would free up the North's economy allowing it to flourish. In the meantime, and I don't usually follow conspiracy theories, he could be working on his hidden nukes. Ya see, Kim just isn't the type to give up on complete control of both Koreas.
       Now, in the meantime Trump would be on to other things, like his end zone dance.  And his continued screwing of our European allies so that China becomes the biggest cheese because they've sewed up African and So. American countries who have been the recipients of Chinese funds and loans and tied up contracts for all the raw materials they lack, and some just because we don't have.
       At that point China would be happy and would be back to protecting Kim no matter what he wanted to do, short of blowing up the whole world, which Kim would assure he would not do that. And also at that point the USA would be without a partner in Europe because of Trump's anti-partner actions. The USA, against China and Russia (who would never pass up an opportunity to put the screws to USA) would both back Kim in an attempt to take over the South. Of course, his army is much larger than the South. Can you see Kim's thinking?