Donald Trump's undergraduate economic education didn't teach him very much

Trumpzi alert! MIDDLE CLASS UNDER ATTACK

The Trump trade war with China is reckless economic policy, run amok

An echo opinion letter published in the Kentucky newspaper the Lexington Herald Leader

Donald Trump's conservative war on the middle class continues.

Trumpzi has violated the Constitution to unilaterally impose tariffs, which are a massive sales tax on U.S. middle-class consumers.  Trump wrongly claimed the tariffs would lessen the trade deficit. Ha! Instead the tariffs have increased the trade deficit to an all-time high. The counter-tariffs by other countries are hurting bourbon export sales from Kentucky. 

Rather than imposing a tariff, China decided to just stop buying U.S. soybeans so U.S. soybean farmers are slowly going bankrupt.

Trump keeps claiming that the United States is collecting billions of dollars from China due to the tariffs. Despite his undergraduate degree in real estate economics he does not grasp the simple fact that tariffs are paid by the importer, not the exporter. 

China has not paid one cent due to the tariffs. 

It has all been paid by U.S. importers who in turn raise their prices to U.S. consumers. American middle-class citizens are the ones paying for the tariffs. The same citizens who got nothing from the Trump/ McConnell/ Ryan tax cuts for the rich.

Kevin Kline, Lexington Kentucky

Political road to credibility

The political road home- an echo opinion published in the Kentucky Lexington Herald newspaper

There is nothing believable or credible about the (#fake) Donald Trump’s administration and hence it is without any influence. 

Influence is the foundation of power for diplomacy. This administration has been about creating and exacerbating false crisis after false crisis while ignoring the reality of real crises all about it.

We cannot continue to allow a few that prefer ignorance and prejudice over intelligence and reason to mislead our country. We cannot continue to allow a few that prefer deception and greed over honor and good will to undermine the influence and power of our nation.

We as a nation have lost our way and until we start pursuing the principles that build our collective character, such as freedom, equality and justice through democracy, we will be sapped of our strength and relegated in our global history as an aspirant without resolve.

This is the harsh reality and if we lack the courage to face it and work against the trends as they are we are gaining the loss we richly deserve.To the world, the Trump administration represents everything that should not be followed, and he should not be followed by anyone here in our home either.

Robert Moreland, Lexington Kentucky

Donald Trump fails to lead lacks vision shows "jerkhood"

Donald Trump never speaks as a leader. He yearns to be an autocratic dictator, like the guys he enjoys emulating.

Rather, he's either defending himself against the probability of eventually going to jail or he's in a raging "campaign mode", wasting time by attacking all other people except for Vladimir Putin, Kim Jung Un, the Saudi Crown Prince and people who are despicable racists.

Two Kentucky echos with points of view about Donald Trump's failed leadership published in the Lexington Herald Leader newspaper.

1.  Where is a President who serves all of US?

U.S. representatives are elected to represent the people, senators the states. The president is elected to lead the nation and represent us internationally. When these entities find common ground, good things are accomplished. Currently, this is not the case.

The president has failed to convince the people that building a wall along our southern border is worthwhile. Polls show only 35 percent of the people support this; while 55 percent oppose it Our members of Congress rightly reflect this divide. Rather than recognize this failure and re-evaluate the issue, the president proudly allowed the government to shut down, a callous act.

After careful study of data published by the Department of Homeland Security, I affirm the majority position, and urge our representatives to hold fast to achieve a more effective solution to our immigration problem. Furthermore, I urge Donald Trump to listen to all of the people to find the common ground and an acceptable solution.

In our democracy, the people have the power and responsibility to ensure we are governed righteously, and the president is obligated to pay attention to the aggregate versus his base. We people run the country. The president serves us. This makes America great, always has, always will.

Edmund S. Miller, Lexington

And another Kentuckian wrote.....

2,  Trump is a failure

Republicans went down in flames under Donald Trump’s leadership in the midterm elections, leaving him little influence in Congress. Congress has only two means of exerting influence – setting policy and the power of the purse.

If policy is clear in legislation, the courts can slap an overstepping president’s filthy hand in support of Congress, as Trump has found out. Trump set his priorities on spending before the elections. When he signed a bill of massive, absurd tax cuts, he de facto vetoed any discretionary spending in the future.

For Trump to now demand discretionary spending for his antiquated wall that will be added to the national debt without a funding source is beyond ridiculous. Trump’s destabilizing jerkhood, inability to harness public opinion, loss of elections and inability to work the system highlight his gross failure.

Allen T. Kelley, Lexington

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Echo editorial from "coal country" ~ Trump coal policy is "no policy"

Coal miners continue to die from lack of investment in health care and the technologies needed to improve their occupational exposures to deadly respiratory diseases, but the Trump administration falsely claims that "coal will (somehow) be great again". 

https://www.kentucky.com/opinion/editorials/article217170045.html
This is an echo editorial 

Trump coal plan kills more than it helps

BY The Lexington Kentucky Herald-Leader Editorial Board

August 22, 2018 

Donald Trump vowed to bring back coal jobs and he has released a plan he says will help.

Too bad that even his own Environmental Protection Agency says his plan would kill and sicken more Americans.

Deregulating emissions standards will result in the release of more soot and smog-forming chemicals that will kill up to 1,400 Americans a year by 2030, EPA documents show. It will also cause an extra 40,000 cases of worsening asthma and 60,000 lost school days by 2030.

And that does not fully factor in the direct impact of environmental degradation and loosen safety regulations on coal communities.

This is not what Eastern Kentucky residents say they want.

Their priority is decent-paying jobs expected to grow with the national economy. It makes no sense to try to jump-start a declining energy source in the face of changing technology and stark economic realities.

Not at such high a cost.

The Trump plan dismantles President Barack Obama’s 2015 Clean Power Plan, aimed to respond to climate change by increasing federal regulation of emissions and promoting cleaner energy, including natural gas and solar and wind power.

Repeal of the Obama plan, when factoring in impact of health costs, would cost the country $1.4 billion to $3.9 billon annually, according to the EPA.

The Trump plan is certain to get bogged down in court challenges, just as the Obama plan has been. Meanwhile, coal communities still need significant investment.

A misguided plan that likely will never be implemented is not the fulfillment of the promise Trump made to Kentucky voters.

Instead, Trump needs to focus less on how to boost flailing coal companies and more on ways to aid coal communities.

Every state should publish a citizenship ceremony: like in Kentucky

"...you are the community that the commonwealth of Kentucky needs now more than ever.”

Quite frankly, I continue to be surprised by finding gems of progressive thinking published in the Kentucky Herald-Leader newspaper. Yesterday's post was a re-blogged letter to the editor written by the son of Jewish immigrants, who had fled the Holocaust.  Today, I'm proud to reblog the original news story that inspired the letter.

Lexington Kentucky Senior U.S. District Judge Joseph Hood spoke at a naturalization ceremony Friday at Lexington Catholic High School. Hood administered the Oath of Allegiance to 50 new U.S. citizens who immigrated from other countries. Tom Eblen teblen@herald-leader.com

A morning with 50 people who are helping make America great, as always- by Tom Eblan

I wish you had been with me Friday morning. I got to spend an hour in a room filled with people who make America great, have always made America great and will always make America great, again and again.

There were 50 of them sitting in the Lexington Catholic High School auditorium, surrounded by family and friends. They introduced themselves by name, the town where they live and the country where they were born. Then, each of them added: “I am proud to become an American citizen.”

They came from 29 nations, including Russia, Iraq, China, Cuba, India, France, Canada, Germany, Yemen and Colombia. They now live in such places as Lexington, Frankfort, Pikeville, Simpsonville, Waddy and Carlisle.

Each raised his or her right hand and took the Oath of Allegiance, renouncing “all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty” and promising to “support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”

Senior U.S. District Judge Joseph M. Hood then declared them our newest citizens and addressed them as “my fellow Americans. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?”

Hood explained to the audience that each new citizen had demonstrated a functional command of English and had studied U.S. history and civics. Among other things, they had been tested on their ability to name the president, vice president, governor, speaker of the House of Representatives, Supreme Court justices and other officials.


“You know,” Hood mused, “I’ve often wondered just how many of our current citizens could pass that test.”

These new citizens were welcomed by representatives of local chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution, whose members trace their ancestry back nearly two and a half centuries to the nation’s first soldiers and patriots.

“This is truly a great nation, and it’s made up of many people just like yourselves,” said Georgia Clemons, who urged them to “join in and be a good neighbor.”

“We are a nation of immigrants and their children,” Mary Ann Hayes reminded them.

“While our history is important to us and we’re proud of our past, we believe that the strength of our nation is not in our lineage but in the freedoms our ancestors fought for,” Carol Behr said. “We welcome you here today as friends, fellow countrymen.”

In an atmosphere where President Donald Trump ran an anti-immigrant campaign and has sought to ban refugees and immigrants from several nations, it was notable how many speakers at this naturalization ceremony described their own immigrant roots.

Hood spoke of his ancestors from Ireland and Italy, adding that every American has a similar story unless they are a full-blooded Native American.

“And just think,” he said, “if they had made us take a citizenship test, we might have had some problems.”

Most of the speakers also emphasized the new citizens’ right and duty to vote.

“It’s easy to sit on the sidelines and complain about things that you don’t like,” said Nita Smith of the League of Women Voters. “But every American citizen has the responsibility to become part of democracy and vote. This is a responsibility that some Americans have become very lax about. I hope that you will take it very seriously.”

Alison Lundergan Grimes, noting that this was the 70th naturalization ceremony she has attended since becoming Kentucky’s secretary of state in 2012, said that when she was re-elected in 2015 only 30 percent of Kentucky voters cast ballots.

“It’s time that we change a minority of people determining what’s happening for the majority of us,” she said.

Grimes urged the new citizens to register to vote, either at tables on their way out with her staff or the League of Women Voters, or online at GoVoteKentucky.com.

“Here in Kentucky, y’all means we welcome all,” Grimes told our newest citizens. “You are the courage, you are the compassion, you are the community that the commonwealth of Kentucky needs now more than ever.”

(MaineWriter- bravo Lexington KY and congratulations to 50 newly sworn in Americans.  Obviously,  keeping America great as always.)