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Jack is a graduate of Rutgers University where he majored in history. His career in the life and health insurance industry involved medical risk selection and brokerage management. Retired in Florida for over two decades after many years in NJ and NY, he occasionally writes, paints, plays poker, participates in play readings and is catching up on Shakespeare, Melville and Joyce, etc.

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

The First Debate, Trump's Love for "OPM," 38 Billion for Military Aid to Israel, Hair and a Reading Assignment

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Right Now, Up Front, Here's a Reading Assignment

Image result for reading newspapers clip art

First. check out  a recent New York Times column by Thomas L. Friedman has taken on a green hue with his latest book, "Hot, Flat and Crowded".Thomas Friedman telling us why "ex-spies," who know what really is going on, know that a Trump Presidency would be a catastrophe for the nation and its allies.  Just click here to read it.   

Then move on to           Kathleen Parker's Washington Post column wherein she tells why "opposing Trump amounts to a moral imperative" for her. Click here to read the column.  Now, this columnist, contrary to Thomas Friedman, has probably voted Republican ever since she was old enough to vote. In the column, she quotes a voter who "definitely doesn't want Trump to win and definitely want Hillary to lose." Such voters, as an old fisherman once said, must learn to "fish or cut bait."  Right now they are still cutting bait.  

Here's one who isn't, though.  In a Letter to the Editor recently published in the Palm Beach Post, a Republican writer recently classified Trump supporters as either (1) anti-immigration and/or prejudiced, (2) "anybody but Hillary" people, (3) permanent Republican voters, regardless of the candidate and (4) those who after comparing the candidates, have decided that Trump has the best interest of the country at heart. 

After a few paragraphs of such "cutting bait," he finally starts to fish when he concludes by saying "Let's realize our problems are complex and Clinton is talking complex solutions and working together to make things better, while Trump is delivering one-liners. Hillary risk is far, far less than the Trump risk come November."
JL


(Note about clicking on links to articles published elsewhere:  Up until last year, I frequently included entire columns in this blog.  No one ever complained, but a professional journalist who occasionally follows the blog pointed out that actually, I was infringing on copyrighted material.  So to keep everything "kosher," while I may still quote a few lines from a published column, I switched over to providing links on which readers might click to read the entire original column.  (JL)

The First Presidential Debate
Here’s my take on the first Presidential Debate, written within ten minutes of its end, even before listening to any of the TV analysis or reading about it in the papers.


In very general terms, Hillary looked fine.  I would define her appearance as “unflappable.”  Donald, on the other hand, was “flappable.”   The “split-screen” approach enabled the viewer to see the reactions of each while the other was speaking, and that’s where this was really visible. Trump often grimaced or scowled at what Clinton was saying.  Hillary just smiled, even when in strong disagreement with Trump. 

When not speaking, and just listening, Trump often squinted.  I suspect the lighting bothered him.  Hillary had no such problem.  It occurred to me that his frequent campaign appearances wearing a “Make America Great” baseball cap might be for the purpose of shading his eyes from bright light.  He should see an ophthalmologist.  I believe this was almost as damaging to him as was Richard Nixon’s sweating during his first debate with John Kennedy in 1960.
  
Basically, Trump did an excellent job of criticizing the direction in which the country has gone during the past eight years.  But, he said nothing any different from what he has been saying throughout his campaign, criticizing government in regard to trade, job creation and national security.  For example, his solution in regard to unemployment was tax reduction at all levels, making it easier for business to create jobs.  As for bringing jobs back from overseas, he blamed Democrats and incompetent people in government who didn’t know what they were doing for letting them go there in the first place.  

Clinton offered detailed proposals for solving the challenges the nation faces, here and abroad while Trump pointed out that they were the fault of prior administrations, and can be attributed to Secretary Clinton to a great extent, so how can she be expected to solve them, he asked.   Clinton’s thrust was forward looking.  Trump’s was retrospective.
  
If each came to the debate with a “plan” for how they would answer questions, Clinton was able to pretty much stay “on plan” while Trump frequently went “off plan” to respond to Clinton’s charges.  For example, when Clinton criticized a past Trump comment that he had hoped for a collapse of the real estate bubble (which occurred in 2007) as being a good opportunity to make money, he responded that it was simply “good business” to do so.  Clinton’s responses were brief, enabling her to quickly get back “on plan.” 

If this debate had a winner, it would be Clinton.  No Trump supporters were converted, but some undecided voters and Johnson or Stein backers might have been.

                                           *              *             *
And here is an "addendum," written after hearing some of the "morning after" comments on the tube.

The folks at Fox TV actually thought Trump had won the debate.  One of their blonde a.m. anchors quoted a poll from Variety (that's a show-biz magazine) giving Donald a 75-25 edge.  Clinton campaign chair John Podesta, whom she was interviewing at the time, snickered and said that "real" polls were showing the contrary.  Getting to the meat of the debate, however, the general consensus was that Hillary kept Donald on the defensive.  Some wondered why, other than an offer to trade his tax returns for Hillary's 30,000 emails, he didn't inject the Clinton Foundation, Benghazi and the emails themselves into the debate.  On Fox, one "analyst" complained that there were no questions posed by the moderator on those subjects.  Sadly, many Trump supporters don't recognize that the demands of governance go beyond that!  Far beyond that!  Of note is the fact that immigration wasn't mentioned.  I suspect that it's a subject Trump handles well at his rallies before his supporters, but was unwilling to raise with Hillary poised to counter his statements.  And she just didn't have time to raise the subject.

So my initial analysis was correct.  Clinton won. Unless the remaining two debates can be limited to the emails, the Clinton Foundation and Benghazi, (or Trump can successfully twist them into that) anticipate a steady decline in Trump's numbers.   Johnson's and Stein's support will drift to Clinton, just as will the crucial "undecided" 10%.  Trump doesn't have a clue as to what is required of a President, and it showed.  
Jack Lippman

Donald Loves to Use Other People's Money

Last week “Dangerous” Donald Trump touted the advantages of using “Other People’s Money” to finance things.  Specifically, he suggested that the Gulf States, not the United States nor Europe, finance relief efforts in Syria.  Real estate developers usually use “OPM” to finance their projects.  That’s where he learned this.  This might be a good idea all by itself but it ignores the intricacies of foreign policy which determine how we deal with other countries.  Syria is not a real estate development.

Image result for trump lying

Banks and other financial institutions usually lay out the money, with minimal if any participation by the developer, for residential or commercial construction projects.  And the developer somehow manages it so that the debt ultimately turns out to be someone else’s problem.  This is the business philosophy of “Dangerous” Donald Trump and has no business being injected into our government.  Certainly, “government” has always been financed by “OPM” but in that case, the “other people” are the taxpaying individuals and businesses of the country.

Conservatives have always complained about the government’s annual deficits and the national debt, and these are valid issues.  But from day one, this country has been financed by tax-supported debt.  We didn't have the money to pay for the American Revolution.  So we borrowed from France, ultimately striking a deal to repay them, and individual colonies, soon to become states, issued bonds.  We printed worthless paper money which found a good measure of patriotic acceptance.   But the country had an obligation to ultimately pay its debts, as it does today, which it did and still does today, despite occasional Congressional obstructions.  This is not the way Donald Trump does business.  Ask the folks in Atlantic City or those who were disappointed by Trump University.

Recognize how the philosophy of using “OPM” in the business world differs from levying taxes to pay for government!  I doubt that “Dangerous” Donald Trump understands this, despite his undergraduate education at Fordham and the Ivy League University of Pennsylvania.

Recently, the Washington Post published a lengthy article explaining how “Dangerous” Donald paid off some of his personal debts using money raised by his charitable foundation, some of which had been donated by him to it, but also including a lot of “OPM.”  Because of the tax-favored status of such foundations, this was illegal, but that did not deter Trump from paying bills with Foundation checks (That's how he reportedly paid off Florida Attorney Generall Pam Bondi for not pursuing the Trump University scam and settled the infamous Mar-a-Lago flagpole dispute with the town of Palm Beach by having the his Foundation write checks to a charity, even though the Foundation itself had never put up any illegal flagpoles.  Trump-owned Mar-a-Lago did ... and the Foundation paid to settle.) 

Image result for flag over mar a lago This is known as "self-dealing" with “OPM” and any tax accountant or lawyer will tell you it is a crime.

Perhaps Trump’s attacks on the Clinton Foundation, which doesn’t do this kind of thing with its donations (and is guilty of nothing more than picking up the phone when a big donor calls and pointing them in the right direction), is based on the fact that he thinks their Foundation must be as sullied by financial finagling and misuse as his obviously is.  He is so used to avoiding compliance with the law, that he must believe others must be as scurrilous as he is.  T'ain't so, Donald!  You are one of a kind.

Take the time and read the article from the Washington Post showing how dishonest this pathetic excuse for a Presidential candidate is.  To do so, click right here.  The next day, the Trump campaign issued a response to the Post article, broadly criticizing it without offering any facts and turning it into an attack on the Clinton Foundation!  That response, as well as the Post’s meticulous answer to it can be read by clicking here.

To borrow “Dangerous” Donald’s way of speaking, for any voter to support him, they must be very, very, very gullible and extremely and tremendously naïve.

But there are a lot of those folks around, so if you don’t want “Dangerous” Donald Trump in the White House next year, IT IS YOUR OBLIGATION TO GET OUT THERE AND HELP HILLARY CLINTON TO WIN ON NOVEMBER 8, even if you don’t live in one of those crucial “toss-up” states.   (Contact me if you want to know how to do that.)
Jack Lippman

                                               

$38,000,000,000 U.S. Military Aid to Israel

The United States has agreed to increase the amount of aid given to Israel for military purposes for the next ten years from about 3.1 billion dollars to 3.8 billion dollars annually.  Tell those folks who claim Barack Obama is anti-Israel to put that in their pipes and smoke it!

  Image result for barack Obama

But, this increase is not quite so much as it appears to be because the 500 million dollars which is paid for Israel’s missile defense each year is now included in this annual number, whereas formerly it was separate.  Nevertheless, 38 billion dollars over the next ten years will purchase quite a bit of military aid, including the missile defense money.

Image result for Israeli missile defense

Two changes, tightening up this aid package, reflect the less than ideal relationship between the United States and Israel. The agreement is not subject to revision over the next decade and the existing provision allowing Israel to spend up to 26% of the money for military items made in Israel, rather than in the United States, will be gradually phased out.

While the United States is a great supporter of the State of Israel, our government feels that the Nuclear Reduction agreement with Iran will significantly delay that nation having nuclear weapons.  The Israeli government disagrees.  However, many believe that without the agreement, Iran would have nuclear weapons right now, and the Middle East would be in a far greater mess than it presently finds itself, with Israel heavily involved militarily.  There are those in high places in Israel who believe this, but in order to maintain a working majority in the Knesset, they cannot publicly state so.

A better relationship between Iran and the United States seems to be essential if ISIS is to be permanently defeated and the Syrian crisis resolved.  We recognize that Iran cannot be ignored because of the geopolitical make-up of the Middle East.  Look at a map.  Of course, to Israel, Iran is an implacable enemy, and our dealing with them in regard to nuclear weapons and sanctions removal, is offensive.  

Finally, the United States feels a two-state solution is needed to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli dispute, and that further Israeli settlements on the West Bank make this difficult.  Israel feels that there cannot be a two-state solution until they have someone with whom to talk who is not dedicated to the destruction of the State of Israel, and until then, the settlements will continue.  At this time, no such person exists.  The United States should recognize this, and its granting this military aid package to Israel seems to do so.

So, these are the areas where Israel and the United States do not see eye to eye.  But still, thirty-eight billion dollars is a lot of aid to give to someone with whom we do not always agree.  It is testimony to the strength of our historic relationship with the State of Israel which clearly overshadows the areas of disagreement mentioned above.

Certainly, it is to the credit of the Obama administration that this increase in military
aid to Israel is taking place.

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Hillary Clinton is in agreement with it.  While Donald Trump, along with Clinton, has indeed pledged to protect Israel, his position on a one or two-state Palestinian solution and on military aid is ambiguous.  In fact, a few months ago, Trump actually was insisting that Israel itself pay for military aid, but he eventually reversed his position on that, as he does with many issues which he does not understand in depth. 

Clinton six-pointed star

One should not forget the anti-Semitic Trump campaign poster released a few months ago, featuring a six-pointed star, originated by an anti-Semitic group supporting Donald Trump.  It leaves a sick taste in one’s mouth.

In addition to his having the support of anti-Semites, many Jews also support Trump's candidacy, primarily because he disagrees with Obama’s (and Hillary Clinton’s) willingness to deal with Iran and their support of a two-state solution.    Image result for eyeglasses for myopia
Becoming myopic, they don’t look much further than that.  But I don’t know of any anti-Semites in Hillary Clinton’s camp.  They are all backing Donald Trump

I wonder why.  I wonder if Ivanka ever wonders why. Image result for ivanka trump wearing jewish star  

She may be the first to wise up to the evil powers which are waiting in the wings, rubbing their hands as their egotistical, narcicisstic and flamboyant candidate does his thing for the gullible and naive.
JL
Hillary's Hair
Living among seniors in South Florida, one encounters a lot of women in Hillary Clinton's age range.  There are many in their sixties, seventies and eighties who remain quite attractive.  That's because they take care of themselves, particularly their hair.  Almost all of them sport relatively short haircuts which look great.  As they grow older, they just don't look right with long hair  (like Ivanka Trump above).  

This is true of Hillary Clinton and most of her campaign pictures show her with short hair.  That's smart!  Jump over to the Trump campaign, or take a look at a lot of the clips used on Fox News, and you will see more of Hillary with long hair.  She looks awful in such pictures and that is why they are used by her opponents. 

Here are two photos to illustrate my point.  The bottom one is from the Benghazi hearings where she is wearing an ugly green suit and has long hair.  Everywhere else she seems to favor blue, but that day, it looks like she went to the Goodwill Center and picked out that green suit. She looks awful in green. Maybe it was St. Patrick's Day? The Republicans are having a field day with that photo!    I believe that Secretary Clinton needs a permanent style consultant. But please, don't let her hair style or choice of apparel on any given day control the way you vote.   Forget the hair on her head.  It's what inside that counts.  


                                                                                                                          
Image result for Hillary clinton  

And in all fairness to her opponent, he has nice hair too.  His colorist should get an award. His or her work guarantees a lot of support for him from alumni of Syracuse, Miami and Clemson Universities.
JL



Wrapping It Up

Looks like "Dangerous" Donald did some uncredited plagerism. 

Image result for make america grate again       

And here is why semi-literate cheese manufacturers are supporting Trump!

Trump: Make America Grate Again!

Thats all for now, Folks!

JL          

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