Tidbits Political Quotations
To Accompany the December 12, 2019 edition of Tidbits
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2019/Tidbits121219.htm            
Bob Jensen at
Trinity University




My Latest Web Document
Over 400 Examples of Critical Thinking and Illustrations of How to Mislead With Statistics --
-
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/MisleadWithStatistics.htm

Animated  Visualization of the United States’ Exploding Population Growth Over 200 Years (1790 – 2010) ---
A Visualization of the United States’ Exploding Population Growth Over 200 Years (1790 – 2010)

USA Debt Clock --- http://www.usdebtclock.org/
The published national debt is a lie
Here's the real federal debt ---
https://www.truthinaccounting.org/about/our_national_debt

In September 2017 the USA National Debt exceeded $22 trillion for the first time ---
http://www.statedatalab.org/news/detail/national-debt-surpasses-20-trillion-for-the-first-time-in-us-history

Human Population Over Time on Earth ---
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUwmA3Q0_OE 



 

Thomas Piketty +++ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Piketty

Billionaires (and millionaires)  hurt economic growth and should be taxed out of existence, says bestselling French economist ---
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/12/billionaires-should-be-taxed-out-of-existence-says-thomas-piketty.html

 

Here's a humorous TED talk that seriously argues why the world needs billionaires

https://www.ted.com/talks/harald_eia_where_in_the_world_is_it_easiest_to_get_rich

 

Why did Cuba abandon its socialist/communist dream of equality for everybody?
The Guardian:  This was the egalitarian dream of Cuba in the 1960s: For years in Cuba, jobs as varied as farm workers and doctors only had a difference in their wages of the equivalent of a few US dollars a month.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jun/12/cuba 

 

Here's a somber and serious Guardian article on why the Cuban model of income equality for all is a disaster ---
Fidel Castro says his economic system is failing ---

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/sep/09/fidel-castro-cuba-economic-model

 

While a move is underway to destroy the American Dream of rags to riches (by taxing away the riches) the Chinese dream is on the rise.
The Chinese Dream
How a Chinese billionaire went from making $16 a month in a factory to being one of the world's richest self-made women with an $8.3 billion real-estate empire
---

https://www.businessinsider.com/worlds-richest-self-made-woman-wu-yajun-net-worth-2019-2

Top 50 Billionaires in China ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chinese_by_net_worth

Jensen Comment
The question for students to debate is why a supposed communist country allows so many billionaires to rise up from poverty.
That's supposed to happen in the USA where a child growing up in deep poverty (think Oprah Winfrey or Howard Shultz) became a multi-billionaires.
But is it also supposed to happen under communism? If so, why?

 

One reason is that many billionaires can afford to pour lots of money into high risk ventures. When's the last time you heard about a high risk (think Silicon Valley) venture in Europe?

 


Wikiquote from Wikipedia --- https://www.wikiquote.org/

 

Excellent, Cross-Disciplinary Overview of Scientific Reproducibility in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy ---
https://replicationnetwork.com/2018/12/15/excellent-cross-disciplinary-overview-of-scientific-reproducibility-in-the-stanford-encyclopedia-of-philosophy/

[Researchers] are rewarded for being productive rather than being right, for building ever upward instead of checking the foundations.---
Decades of early research on the genetics of depression were built on nonexistent foundations. How did that happen?

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/05/waste-1000-studies/589684/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=atlantic-daily-newsletter&utm_content=20191022&silverid-ref=NTk4MzY1OTg0MzY5S0

Bob Jensen:  My take on research validation or lack thereof is at
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/TheoryTAR.htm

 

Tom Lehrer on Mathematical Models and Statistics ---
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfZWyUXn3So
You must watch this to the ending to appreciate it.

 

And nevertheless conclude that the optimum amount of restriction of immigration is zero point zero, zero, zero? Amazing. Economics are generally skeptical models that yield corner solutions ---
https://www.econlib.org/do-you-talk-about-it-in-open-borders-yes/
Jensen Comment
To the list of questions I would add "Do your talk about the Tragedy of the Commons?"
The problem with open borders is somewhat related to the economic problem of "The Sharing of the Commons" where giving everybody the right to use a free resource leads to everybody losing that resource. At what point will allowing billions of people share in the free medical care, free college, and other scarce resources ruin it for everybody ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons

 

Open immigration can’t exist with a strong social safety net; if you’re going to assure healthcare and a decent income to everyone, you can’t make that offer global ---
Paul Krugman
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/724654-open-immigration-can-t-exist-with-a-strong-social-safety-net

 

History will prove former President Donald Trump was correct about Mexico one day funding an impenetrable wall --- to keep out over 2 billion starving green immigrants seeking to enter Mexico from the north.
Bob Jensen

 

Some Fatherly Words of Wisdom from Jack Bogle, Founder of Vanguard Investments, to My Sons ---
https://jborden.com/2019/06/16/some-fatherly-words-of-wisdom-from-jack-bogle-founder-of-vanguard-investments-to-my-sons/

 

Milton Friedman:  The Lesson of the Spoons ---
https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2019/08/spoons-are-in-aisle-9.html
Chopsticks would be even better

 

The Young Left’s Anti-Capitalist Manifesto: Its goal is to remake our economic system — and the Democratic Party ---
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-young-lefts-anti-capitalist-manifesto/

 

I have a complaint about America today, and it is simple: we don’t love business enough ---
Tyler Cowen
https://www.econlib.org/library/Columns/y2019/Klingbigbusiness.html

 

The Amazon Rain Forest Is Nearly Gone ---
https://time.com/amazon-rainforest-disappearing/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-brief&utm_content=20190914&xid=newsletter-brief
Amazon rainforest fires: Everything we know and how you can help ---
https://www.cnet.com/how-to/amazon-rainforest-fire-whats-happening-now-and-how-you-can-help-update-indigenous-tribes/
There Are More Fires Burning in Africa Than Anywhere on Earth ----
https://time.com/5665794/africa-forest-fires-amazon/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-brief&utm_content=20190901&xid=newsletter-brief
If forests go up in smoke, so can carbon offsets ---
https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/13/20859156/forests-fires-carbon-offsets-amazon-california

 

"In Praise of Cheap Labor," by Paul Krugman, Slate, March 21, 1997 ---
https://slate.com/business/1997/03/in-praise-of-cheap-labor.html

 

Corruption in general has a deleterious effect on the readiness of economic agents to invest. In the long run, it leads to a paralysis of economic life. But very often it is not that economic agents themselves have had the bad experience of being cheated and ruined, they just know that in this country, or in this part of the economy, or this building scene, there is a high likelihood that you will get cheated and that free riders can get away with it. Here again, reputation is absolutely essential, which is why transparency is so important. Trust can only be engendered by transparency. It's no coincidence that the name of the most influential non-governmental organization dealing with corruption is Transparency International.
A Conversation with Karl Sigmund:  When Rule of Law is Not Working
https://www.edge.org/conversation/karl_sigmund-when-the-rule-of-law-is-not-working

Mortgage Backed Securities are like boxes of chocolates. Criminals on Wall Street and one particular U.S. Congressional Committee stole a few chocolates from the boxes and replaced them with turds. Their criminal buddies at Standard & Poors rated these boxes AAA Investment Grade chocolates. These boxes were then sold all over the world to investors. Eventually somebody bites into a turd and discovers the crime. Suddenly nobody trusts American chocolates anymore worldwide. Hank Paulson now wants the American taxpayers to buy up and hold all these boxes of turd-infested chocolates for $700 billion dollars until the market for turds returns to normal. Meanwhile, Hank's buddies, the Wall Street criminals who stole all the good chocolates are not being investigated, arrested, or indicted. Momma always said: '"Sniff the chocolates first Forrest." Things generally don't pass the smell test if they came from Wall Street or from Washington DC.
Forrest Gump as quoted at http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Rec/rec.sport.tennis/2008-10/msg02206.html

It is not that machines are going to replace chemists. It’s that the chemists who use machines will replace those that don’t ---
Derek Lowe

Gallup: Americans Say No. 1 Problem is 'Government,' No. 2 is 'Immigration' ---
https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/michael-w-chapman/survey-americas-no-1-problem-government-no-2-problem-immigration

 

"If you open the borders, my God, there's a lot of poverty in this world, and you're going to have people from all over the world. And I don't think that's something that we can do at this point."
Bernie Sanders
https://www.businessinsider.com/bernie-sanders-says-he-does-not-support-open-borders-2019-4

 

Great fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite 'em, And little fleas have lesser fleas, and so on ad infinitum ---

Augustus De Morgan

Prior to 1980 what was unique about the year of his birth in 1871?
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/De_Morgan.html

Also see
 

Hermann Weyl born in Hamburg, Germany. He wrote, "One may say that mathematics talks about the things which are of no concern to men. Mathematics has the inhuman quality of starlight---brilliant, sharp, but cold ... thus we are clearest where knowledge matters least: in mathematics, especially number theory." ---
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Weyl.html
Also see Mathematical Analytics in Plato's Cave
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/TheoryTAR.htm#Analytics

 

Georges Simenon wrote nearly 200 novels. Hitchcock telephoned one day and was told, "Sorry, he’s just started a novel." "I’ll wait,’ came the reply
https://www.spectator.co.uk/2019/08/if-only-georges-simenon-had-been-a-bit-more-like-maigret/

 

12 inspiring quotes from Martin Luther King Jr.---
https://www.businessinsider.com/inspiring-martin-luther-king-jr-quotes-2017-1

 

21 outstanding Warren Buffet quotations ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/warren-buffett-21-best-quotes-2019-2
Also see
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/the-25-best-warren-buffett-quotes-in-one-infographic/

 

The Atlantic:  The Swiftly Closing Borders of Europe ---
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/12/europe-france-italy-immigration-border/578179/

Italian Minister tells NGO Italy doesn’t want migrants: “Our ports are closed!” ---
https://voiceofeurope.com/2018/12/italian-minister-tells-ngo-italy-doesnt-want-migrants-our-ports-are-closed/#.XB6WCZMs_Xo.twitter

The enemy is fear
We think it's hate
But, it's fear

Gandhi

 

13 of the (alleged) most famous last words in history ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/famous-last-words-in-history-2017-10

21 of Michelle Obama's most inspiring quotes on work, success, and relationships ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/michelle-obama-most-inspiring-quotes-advice-becoming-2019-1

 

19 unforgettable quotes from legendary Marine Gen. Jim 'Mad Dog' Mattis, who quit as Trump's defense secretary ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/general-mattiss-best-quotes-2016-11

 

Here are the Ten Best Pieces of Advice from 2018 Commencement Speakers ---
Click Here

Sometimes the grass is greener on the other side because it's been fertilized with more bullshit.
Anonomous

 

The Lucretius Problem is a mental defect where we assume the worst case event that has happened is the worst case event that can happen ---
https://www.fs.blog/2015/04/lucretius-problem/

 

The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal.
Aristotle

 

The Economic Ignorance of Bernie Sanders ---
http://reason.com/archives/2018/08/09/the-economic-ignorance-of-bernie-sanders

 

Walter E. Williams --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_E._Williams
Walter E. Williams:  Fraud in Higher Education ---
https://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2019/12/04/fraud-in-higher-education-n2557348?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=12/04/2019&bcid=b16c6f948f297f77432f990d4411617f&recip=17935167

 

A left-wing journalist just added to the staff of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., once celebrated Hugo Chavez's leadership in Venezuela, claiming that "his brand of socialism achieved real economic gains." . . . In 2013, Sirota wrote a lengthy defense for Slate on Chavez's reign in Venezuela shortly after the dictator's death, which he called an "economic miracle."
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/bernies-new-speechwriter-applauded-chavezs-economic-miracle

Also see
https://www.salon.com/2013/03/06/hugo_chavezs_economic_miracle/

 

In Defense Of American Excellence ---
https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2019/11/in-defense-of-american-excellence.html

 

Oklahoma police officer gets a Starbucks cup labeled ‘Pig’ ---
https://nypost.com/2019/11/29/oklahoma-police-officer-gets-a-starbucks-cup-labeled-pig/

 

ABC Broadcasts Anti-Religious Pop Music From Hell ---
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3797201/posts

 

Current jobs numbers indicate the black unemployment is the lowest it's ever been since the government began tracking the figure in the early 1970s ---
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/bronsonstocking/2019/11/29/bet-founder-says-2020-election-is-trumps-to-lose-says-dems-should-change-strate-n2557235?utm_source=thdailypm&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl_pm&newsletterad=&bcid=b16c6f948f297f77432f990d4411617f&recip=17935167
Jensen Comment
That does not mean the employment rate for blacks is low enough in the highest paying professions.

 

China is Still Building an Insane Number of New Coal Plants
https://www.wired.com/story/china-is-still-building-an-insane-number-of-new-coal-plants/ ---
 

The developing world has hit the brakes on clean energy ---
https://www.technologyreview.com/f/614750/the-developing-world-has-hit-the-brakes-on-clean-energy/

 

China Isn't Doing Much as the World's Largest Climate Changer ---
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-11-27/amid-rising-climate-alarms-china-keeps-calm-and-carries-on?cmpid=BBD112919_WKND&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_term=191129&utm_campaign=weekendreading

 

'They're Trying to Wipe Us Off the Map.' Small American Farmers Are Nearing Extinction ---
https://time.com/5736789/small-american-farmers-debt-crisis-extinction/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-brief-farmers-debt&utm_content=20191130

 

Captive tigers in the U.S. outnumber those in the wild. It’s a problem ---
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/11/tigers-in-the-united-states-outnumber-those-in-the-wild-feature/

 

China Isn't Doing Much as the World's Largest Climate Changer ---
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-11-27/amid-rising-climate-alarms-china-keeps-calm-and-carries-on?cmpid=BBD112919_WKND&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_term=191129&utm_campaign=weekendreading

 

The New York Times and Other Fake News Media ---
https://mises.org/wire/woke-media-apologists-state?utm_source=Mises+Institute+Subscriptions&utm_campaign=8c0e8c27dd-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_9_21_2018_9_59_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8b52b2e1c0-8c0e8c27dd-228708937

 

Media Faces New Level of Repression in Africa ---
https://www.ozy.com/around-the-world/africa-faces-a-new-level-of-repression-of-free-press/246767/?utm_term=OZY&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DD_2019_12_01&utm_content=A

 

Walmart’s revenue is still twice that of Amazon, though Amazon’s total value on the stock market is the fourth largest among American companies, more than double Walmart’s.) And while Amazon may sell nearly half of cloud-computing services, it points out that the cloud makes up a small fraction of information technology spending. ---
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/30/business/amazon-baltimore.html

Milton Friedman:  The Lesson of the Spoons ---
https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2019/08/spoons-are-in-aisle-9.html

 

Measuring the Impact of 20 Years of Socialism ---
https://finance.townhall.com/columnists/danieljmitchell/2019/12/02/measuring-the-impact-of-20-years-of-socialism-n2557326?bcid=b16c6f948f297f77432f990d4411617f&utm_campaign=nl&utm_medium=email&utm_source=thdaily

 

Carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. have fallen to the lowest levels in a generation—natural gas is a big reason why ---
https://qz.com/1757157/carbon-dioxide-emissions-in-the-u-s-have-fallen-to-the-lowest-levels-in-a-generation-natural-gas-is-a-big-reason-why/

Jensen Comment
Alternative energy is not necessarily less polluting than natural gas. For example, biomass plants emit carbon and other pollutants out of smoke stacks. Solar energy is not necessarily less polluting if it relies on batteries that are very polluting when they're manufactured. California still relies on coal plants when purchasing back up power on the grid.

 

Illinois among least financially-transparent states in U.S., report finds ---
https://www.statedatalab.org/news/detail/illinois-among-least-financially-transparent-states-in-us-report-finds

 

NYT:  90,000 Packages Disappear Daily in N.Y.C. Is Help on the Way? ---
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/02/nyregion/online-shopping-package-theft.html

 

Stanford University study finds that almost half of California's 2012 income tax increase was eroded by people who moved away or lowered their taxable income --- 
https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/has-california-hit-limit-tax-rates?utm_source=Stanford+Business&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Stanford-Business-Issue-176-12-1-2019&utm_content=alumni

 

One Version of The American Dream:  30 companies worth at least $1 billion that didn't exist 10 years ago (not all are based in the USA) ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/companies-unicorns-worth-1-billion-didnt-exist-10-years-ago-2019-11

 

New York state is facing the largest budget gap in several years due largely to higher costs for Medicaid ---
https://www.statedatalab.org/news/detail/to-close-states-budget-deficit-raise-taxes-or-cut-spending

 

The pension system is going to fail in Kentucky ---
https://www.statedatalab.org/news/detail/bevin-the-pension-system-is-going-to-fail-in-kentucky

 

Gigafactory Plan:  US automaker GM and South Korean battery manufacturer LG Chem announced a $2.3 billion joint venture (JV) to create an electric vehicle (EV) battery plant near Lordstown, Ohio.---
https://www.businessinsider.com/gm-lg-chem-partner-for-us-electric-vehicle-battery-foundry-2019-12

 

The Daily Beast Claims Tom Steyer Is Running a Donor Scam ---
https://www.blabber.buzz/conservative-news/720451-daily-beast-tom-steyer-is-running-a-donor-scam-special?utm_source=c-alrt&utm_medium=c-alrt-email&utm_term=c-alrt-GI&utm_content=5iEzoSRA3OwmMZouDYnIqL3RgHsaffHcB6hB5DcjF-f0.A
How he's doing it is interesting.
I don't know of any billionaire who has gone to such extremes to buy the USA presidency with television advertisements and gifts for votes

 




 

Joe Biden Proposes $1 Trillion in New Corporate Taxes ---
https://www.wsj.com/articles/joe-biden-proposes-1-trillion-in-new-corporate-taxes-11575492332?mod=djemCFO

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden proposed nearly $1 trillion in new corporate taxes on Wednesday as he sought to generate more revenue to pay for his policy plans on health care, climate, infrastructure and education.

One of his new taxes would go after companies such as Amazon.com Inc. that have years when they report profits to investors but show little or no U.S. tax costs. A second would double the minimum tax rate on overseas income of U.S.-based multinationals.

Until now, Mr. Biden has largely confined his ideas to rolling back parts of the 2017 Republican tax cut and pursuing policies that the Democratic Obama administration, in which he served as vice president, couldn’t get through Congress.

The new proposals come atop Mr. Biden’s previous calls for tax increases, which would push the corporate tax rate to 28% from 21%, tax unrealized capital gains at death and push the top rate on individuals to 39.6% from 37%.

Mr. Biden’s proposed tax increases now total $3.2 trillion over a decade, though his campaign confirmed on Wednesday that he also supports repealing the $10,000 cap on the state and local tax deduction, a tax cut that would disproportionately benefit some of the high-income households who would be hit by his tax increases.

Still, Mr. Biden’s tax plans are more modest than those of his main rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) have proposed wealth taxes on the super-rich. Both of them, along with Mayor Pete Buttigieg, have called for returning the corporate tax rate to 35%.

 Jensen Comment

Continued in article

Joe Biden Vows to Give Taxpayer-Funded Obamacare to All Illegal Immigrants in U.S. ---
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgxwGCGtjlPQwKppkFwvsWhGNlMXs

 

Jensen Comment
Bernie Sanders finally convinced Joe Biden as well as Elizabeth Warren that voters are too stupid to understand how $1 trillion (or much more in the case of Sanders and Warren) in new taxes is really a tax increase on the lower income and middle income taxpayers. Biden at last believes that voters are too dumb to understand that business firms don't pay taxes. Biden, Sanders, and Warren think voters are just too uneducated to understand that business firms don't pay taxes. Instead business firms collect taxes from their customers. Nearly all companies contributing to Biden's $1 trillion in new corporate taxes will raise prices to (gasp) customers of Amazon, Walmart, etc. who mostly are lower and middle income customers.

 

And tariffs will have to be increased on imported goods (think sugar, TV sets, mobile phones and computers) to make it possible for USA corporations to raise prices enough to collect the added trillion (or trillions) in new business taxes.

 

In their zeal to attract ignorant voters, I don't think Biden, Sanders, and Warren want to let on that taxing trillions from business firms and investors will kill the stock markets. These politicians hope voters are too stupid to realize how much their own futures depend on viable stock markets and other capital markets. The vast pension funds of workers will get wiped out if those capital markets get wiped out.

 

Biden,.Sanders, and Warren think voters are too stupid to realize the mammoth size of the number $1 trillion or more in taxes. The CBO's estimated total Federal revenue from all sources for 2019 is $3.490 trillion ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_federal_budget
What's another trillion or more in new taxes?
As the saying goes:  "The Road to Hell is Paved With Good Intentions."
Exhibit A is Venezuela.

 


 

Financial Transparency Scores of the 50 State Governments ---
https://www.truthinaccounting.org/news/detail/financial-transparency-score-2019
Truth in Accounting's Full Report ---
https://www.truthinaccounting.org/library/doclib/Financial-Transparency-Score-2019.pdf

01 Idaho (Most Transparent Accounting)
02 North Dakota
03 Nevada
04 Utah
05 Virginia
06 West Virginia
07 Wyoming
08 Indiana
09 Maine
10 South Carolina

 . . .

 

41California
42 Illinois
43 New Jersey
44 Missouri
45 Alaska
46 New Mexico
47 Nebraska
48 Vermont
49 North Carolina
50 Connecticut (Least Transparent Accounting)

Jensen Comment
This is pretty much a red (conservative) versus blue (liberal) outcome in the top 10 versus bottom 10 outcomes, although the red versus blue dichotomy does not hold as well for the rankings of the other 30 states in the middle. Virginia became more of a bluish state in 2019.

 

Not all states with the heaviest taxpayer burdens are in the bottom 10 (least transparent) accounting rankings. The states with the heaviest taxpayer burdens are shown in red at
https://www.statedatalab.org/ 

 


Walter E. Williams --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_E._Williams

Walter E. Williams:  Fraud in Higher Education ---
https://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2019/12/04/fraud-in-higher-education-n2557348?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=12/04/2019&bcid=b16c6f948f297f77432f990d4411617f&recip=17935167

. . .

It's clear that high schools confer diplomas that attest that a student can read, write and do math at a 12th-grade level when, in fact, most cannot. That means most high school diplomas represent fraudulent documents. But when high school graduates enter college, what happens? To get a hint, we can turn to an article by Craig E. Klafter, "Good Grieve! America's Grade Inflation Culture," published in the Fall 2019 edition of Academic Questions. In 1940, only 15% of all grades awarded were A's. By 2018, the average grade point average at some of the nation's leading colleges was A-minus. For example, look at the average GPA at Brown University (3.75), Stanford (3.68), Harvard College (3.63), Yale University (3.63), Columbia University (3.6), and the University of California, Berkeley (3.59).

The falling standards witnessed at our primary and secondary levels are becoming increasingly the case at tertiary levels. "Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses" is a study conducted by Professors Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa. They found that 45% of 2,300 students at 24 colleges showed no significant improvement in "critical thinking, complex reasoning and writing by the end of their sophomore years."

An article in News Forum for Lawyers titled "Study Finds College Students Remarkably Incompetent" cites a study done by the American Institutes for Research that revealed that over 75% of two-year college students and 50% of four-year college students were incapable of completing everyday tasks. About 20% of four-year college students demonstrated only basic mathematical ability, while a steeper 30% of two-year college students could not progress past elementary arithmetic. NBC News reported that Fortune 500 companies spend about $3 billion annually to train employees in "basic English."

Continued in article

How to Mislead With Statistics

The best students in the world, charted ---
https://qz.com/1759506/pisa-2018-results-the-best-and-worst-students-in-the-world/

Once again, Asian countries came out on top. In the latest test, China and Singapore ranked first and second, respectively, in math, science, and reading. Elsewhere, Estonia is noteworthy for its performance, ranking highly in all three subjects.

In the world’s biggest education test, one small country has raced past all the others ---
https://qz.com/853656/massachusetts-ranks-nears-singapore-the-education-powerhouse-in-global-assessment-of-15-year-olds-who-are-the-best-students-in-the-world-according-to-pisa-2015/

The United States fared poorly, as usual: with a math score of 470, it performed well below the OECD average, and it is among the lowest-performing countries in the subject. Results in science declined from 2012, coming in at 496, slightly above the OECD average. In reading, it also performed slightly better than the OECD average (493) at 497.

 


How to Mislead Without Statistics

While the USA West Coast Beats Math Down as Racist
Seattle Schools Propose To Teach That Math Education Is Racist—Will California Be Far Behind? ---

https://www.hoover.org/research/seattle-schools-propose-teach-math-education-racist-will-california-be-far-behindseattle

 

Asia Expands its Math Curriculum Down to the Second Grade
Vietnam to Introduce Statistics, Probability in 2nd Grade in New Syllabus -
--

https://saigoneer.com/vietnam-news/17753-vietnam-to-introduce-statistics,-probability-in-2nd-grade-in-new-syllabus

SEATTLE PUBLIC SCHOOLS K-12 Math Ethnic Studies Framework (20.08.2019)
https://www.k12.wa.us/sites/default/files/public/socialstudies/pubdocs/Math SDS ES Framework.pdf
Thank you Zafar Khan for the heads up

Power and oppression, as defined by ethnic studies, are the ways in which individuals and groups define mathematical knowledge so as to see “Western” mathematics as the only legitimate expression of mathematical identity and intelligence. This definition of ​legitimacy is then used to disenfranchise ​ people and communities of color. This ​erases the historical contributions ​ of people and communities of color.

Jensen Comment
I find it interesting that Seattle public schools asserts "Western" mathematics disenfranchises communities of color as if "Eastern" communities of color don't count. Throughout history "Eastern" mathematics (think India and China)  is probably more rigorous in terms of mathematics than Seattle's so-called oppressive "Western" mathematics.

My link to how Vietnam is including statistics and probability in the second grade merely reflects the emphasis "Eastern" communities place upon mathematics and statistics.

Why do "Ethnic Studies" always blame the West for the disenfranchisement of "communities of color." This same disenfranchisement of some communities of color is far greater in "Eastern" communities of color.

The problem with the above Math Ethnic Studies Framework is that the changing of math studies from how it is taught in the Western hemisphere and Asia serves to further disenfranchise some communities of color for being competitive in colleges and careers. All communities of whites and color should get credit for mathematical contributions in history. But we should avoid current "Ethnic Studies" form of mathematics that disenfranchises some color groups from the rigors of mathematics as taught in both the West and the East.



 

 

How to Mislead With Statistics

The best students in the world, charted ---
https://qz.com/1759506/pisa-2018-results-the-best-and-worst-students-in-the-world/

Once again, Asian countries came out on top. In the latest test, China and Singapore ranked first and second, respectively, in math, science, and reading. Elsewhere, Estonia is noteworthy for its performance, ranking highly in all three subjects.

In the world’s biggest education test, one small country has raced past all the others ---
https://qz.com/853656/massachusetts-ranks-nears-singapore-the-education-powerhouse-in-global-assessment-of-15-year-olds-who-are-the-best-students-in-the-world-according-to-pisa-2015/

The United States fared poorly, as usual: with a math score of 470, it performed well below the OECD average, and it is among the lowest-performing countries in the subject. Results in science declined from 2012, coming in at 496, slightly above the OECD average. In reading, it also performed slightly better than the OECD average (493) at 497.

 

Disadvantaged Schools Don't Need Smaller Classes --- They Need Better Teachers ---
https://qz.com/1759506/pisa-2018-results-the-best-and-worst-students-in-the-world/

Jensen Comment
Who can argue against wanting and needing better teachers? But I've long contended that two-parent homes (like you find in Finland, China, Estonia, and other top-ranking nations) are the single most important factor in education. It isn't just the helping of kids do homework. What's more important are the externalities of two-parent homes in terms of discipline, teamwork, role modeling, motivation, and (gasp) happy homes.

The problem is that you can't just legislate two-parent homes like you can legislated increased school  budgets.

Jensen Comment
I'm bound to be lambasted for a closing observation on this topic of "best students." I begin by noting that these are averages, and averages are distorted by outliers and skewed distributions. Now the controversial observation:  The highest ranking nations in terms of education are really not very diverse and generally are highly restrictive regarding immigration.

But before we conclude that diversity may draw testing performance down, we need to observe that there are many confounding factors when it comes to measuring what we really want from education in terms of economic performance, innovation, etc. For example, the USA is overwhelmingly successful in terms of development of new medications and technologies in spite of the relatively poor performance of the USA relative to top performing OECD nations on the PISA tests ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programme_for_International_Student_Assessment
The above articles contain some legitimate complaints about PISA testing as a measure of education performance.

I'm a strong believer is diversity and rather generous limits on diverse legal immigration. But open borders can destroy the USA or any other advanced economy irreparably.


Statistically Controlling for Confounding Constructs is Harder than You Think—Jacob Westfall and Tal Yarkoni ---
https://blog.supplysideliberal.com/post/2019/10/17/jacob-westfall-and-tal-yarkoni-statistically-controlling-for-confounding-constructs-is-harder-than-you-think

Bob Jensen's Threads on P-Values and What Went Wrong ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm#WhatWentWrong

 

 


 

NY Times: Democratic Presidential (Candidate)Tax Plans Would Hit Blue States The Hardest ---
https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2019/11/ny-times-democratic-presidential-tax-plans-would-hit-blue-states-the-hardest.html

New York Times, How Democrats Would Tax High-Income Professionals (Not Just the Mega-Rich):

Moody’s data shows that higher taxes would be paid disproportionately in Democratic-leaning states.

Much of the Democratic primary race has focused on taxes aimed at the billionaire class — policies devised to reduce inequality and fund progressive goals on health care and education.

But there’s also a less discussed tax increase in leading Democratic policy proposals that would affect not just a tiny sliver of the ultra-wealthy, but also millions of high-income workers. For these people, many of them affluent professionals in Democratic strongholds, it would be the biggest tax increase in recent memory.

This year, American workers and their employers owe a combined 12.4 percent on Social Security payroll taxes for income up to $132,900 (rising to $137,700 in 2020). They owe nothing on earnings above that level.

Some Democrats in the thick of the presidential race and on Capitol Hill now seek to change or eliminate that cap — potentially placing a new double-digit tax on high earners, with several plans focusing on earnings above $250,000. ...

Moody’s data also shows that the higher taxes would be paid disproportionately in Democratic-leaning states. The 12 states with the highest share of earners who would owe higher taxes all voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, led by New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Jensen Comment
The most liberal candidates spending plans for green initiatives, medicare-for-all, free college, guaranteed income, reparations, and open borders will also destroy stock markets, real estate markets, and pension savings.\

 


 

How to Mislead With Cherry Picking

 

Time Magazine:  Slavery Still Exists All Around the World. Here's How Some Countries Are Trying to Change That ---
https://time.com/5741714/end-modern-slavery-initiatives/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-brief&utm_content=20191202&xid=newsletter-brief

 

Jensen Comment
Notice how the above article fails to mention the most notorious modern-day slave trading nation in the world --- Libya. That's probably because Time Magazine became an extremely biased leftist magazine, and it's not politically correct to point out that Arab nations  like Libya remain a slave-trading nations.

 

Libya still has open slave markets.  It's just something the leftist media does not like to mention (except CNN did mention it at least once) ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_Libya

 

Time Magazine cherry picked away any mention of the current Arab slave markets.
 

 


 

How to Mislead With Psychology

A Theory for Why Trump’s Base Won’t Budge ---
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/12/how-narcissists-wear-out-their-welcome/602446/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=politics-daily-newsletter&utm_content=20191202&silverid-ref=NTk4MzY1OTg0MzY5S0

But Trump is stranger than any diagnostic category can convey. Narcissism is a psychological construct with profound implications for an individual’s well-being and interpersonal relationships. Personality and social psychologists have done hundreds of studies examining narcissistic tendencies, revealing certain patterns of behavior and outcome. In some ways, Trump fits those patterns perfectly. But in at least one crucial respect, he deviates.

Continued in article

Jensen Comment

First let me state that I did not vote for Trump and will never vote for Trump unless the only alternative wants to spend $20+ trillion per year in new social programs that will destroy the stock markets, pension funds, and the USA economy in general.

I don't think that Trump's voting base is glued to his narcissistic tendencies. If anything most of his base hates the ridiculous extremes of his narcissism, paranoia, morality, and general lack of integrity. I think the main reason for his success to date in politics is the fear of voting for what the Democratic Party wants to offer as an alternative --- a spendthrift who will destroy the USA economy.

Having said this, I do think there's a certain amount of psychology gluing Trump to some of his base. Some in this base are appalled at the unfairness with which he's been treated in the media and more recently by the House of Representatives. The attacks on him are relentless and unprofessional to a fault ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joy_Reid
Many American voters hate this kind of unfairness and political correctness taken to extremes.

There's also a certain amount of psychology to the "fixity" of the voting base for most all past presidents. Note how the approval ratings of virtually all recent presidents hovered at or near 40% going into their final year in the White House ---
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/?ex_cid=rrpromo
Their approval ratings stayed near 40% until the end except in the case of Jimmy Carter (after the Iran Hostage Crisis) and Bill Clinton (after Monica).

Trump's voting base sticks with Trump because these voters like the campaign promises he made and his obsession to fight for these promises. And his base includes a surprising proportion of minorities.

I do think Donald Trump can be beaten in 2020. However, it will take a better alternative than the Democratic Party is currently putting forth for public evaluation. Most of the spendthrift Democratic Party candidates frighten even former President Obama (who most definitely does not support Donald Trump in any way). Cory Booker gave up an opportunity to be a winner by becoming more like Bernie Sanders and less like Barack Obama. By the way, Barack Obama deported over a million undocumented refugees.

 

 

How to Mislead With Cherry Picking

 

Chronicle of Higher Education:  Some 250 People (mostly from India) Arrested in ICE’s ‘U. of Farmington’ Sting Operation ---
https://www.chronicle.com/article/Some-250-People-Arrested-in/247635?utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&cid=at&source=ams&sourceId=296279

 

Jensen Comment
Notice that the above article fails to mention that this was a fake university for ICE that was commenced by President Obama's administration. It would not be politically correct for the left-leaning Chronicle to mention this in the above article. The Chronicle also has a new policy of not allowing comments due to fear that they might be conservative.

 

NPR is more informative on President Obama's role in this sting operation.

 

NPR:  An Elaborate ICE Sting Set Up A Fake College To Lure Student Visa Fraud ---
https://www.npr.org/2019/11/29/783681028/an-elaborate-ice-sting-set-up-a-fake-college-to-lure-student-visa-fraud

. . .

 

INSKEEP:
OK. First, I should note, you said 2015 or '16, so this goes back to the Obama administration. President Trump has his own immigration policies, but this is not necessarily part of that. It came from before, right?

 

WARIKOO:
Exactly. They started this when President Obama was in office, correct.

 

Continued in article

I suspect that mentioning this was just not politically correct for the Chronicle's readership base.

 


 

Library Systems Technology:  What Are the Larger Implications of Ex Libris Buying Innovative?
https://sr.ithaka.org/blog/what-are-the-larger-implications-of-ex-libris-buying-innovative/

Jensen Comment
One of the chronic worries of capitalism is the tendency to reduce competition in the frequent rise of oligopolies and monopolies. When competition is in jeopardy price gouging should be controlled either by forced breakups (as in the case of AT&T) or by government regulation (as in the case of electric utility companies). Sadly government controls are subject to political corruption. Socialism, however, is not the answer since that is a monopoly subject to  even more political corruption.  Exhibit A is Venezuela.

 

The biggest weapon we have to fight political corruption is freedom of the press where there are countless examples of political corruption being exposed by local newspapers. This is why I really, really hate to see the decline in newspapers across the USA.

 

For examples of government corruption controls that seem to work we need to look to the capitalist nations of Scandinavia. However, since these nations have such sparse populations there are all sorts of difficulties extrapolating to diverse nations the size of the USA. Scandinavian nations are also less innovative and face many fewer problems arising from price gouging due patents. For example, you don't look toward Scandinavia for new drugs since most of the new drugs are invented in the USA.  Drug price gouging in the USA arises because of patent monopolies and political corruption that protects those monopolies.

 


 

Germany has no nuclear weapons but can drop nuclear bombs ---
https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2019/12/germany-fact-of-the-day-9.html

The Luftwaffe can do that thanks to Nato's nuclear-sharing scheme, under which America quietly stations nuclear bombs across five countries in Europe.

Jensen Comment
Furthermore Germany did not have to invest much of any kind of money to obtain nuclear and other military defenses. The USA will jump into action if Germany comes under attack from anybody. Would Germany do the same if the USA comes under attack (such as from Iran or North Korea)?
 


 

The five English-speaking democracies have heaps in common. All are free-talking, free-enterprise-loving places (though they often fall short of these ideals). They are attractive places, too. Between them, they draw in two-thirds of the world’s highly skilled immigrants. By contrast, of the 750m people who Gallup reports would like to migrate, only 1% want to move to the People’s Republic. Sydney alone has more foreign-born residents than mainland China.
https://worldin.economist.com/article/17310/edition2020anglosphere-and-sinosphere-drift-apart

Jensen Comment
You can tell the difference between border walls by looking at which direction  people are headed when they try to get under or over those walls.
The most desperate refugees trying to sneak into China are from North Korea.
China increasingly attracts tourists not intending to stay, but so does Zimbabwe that offers photographic safaris ---
https://theworldin.economist.com/article/17359/edition2020chinas-new-foreign-travellers

 

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_migration
As of 2019, the top ten immigration destinations were:

·         United States

·         Germany

·         Saudi Arabia

·         Russian Federation

·         United Kingdom

·         United Arab Emirates

·         France

·         Canada

·         Australia

·         Italy


In the same year, the top countries of origin were:

·         India

·         Mexico

·         China

·         Russian Federation

·         Syrian Arab Republic

·         Bangladesh

·         Pakistan

·         Philippines

 


 

Levy: Why I Resigned In Protest From Penn Law's Board When A Conservative Professor Was Punished (for not being politically correct)---
https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2019/12/levy-why-i-resigned-in-protest-from-penn-laws-board-when-a-conservative-professor-was-punished.html

 

TED Talk:  Why it Pays to Listen to People You Disagree With ---
https://www.ted.com/talks/zachary_r_wood_why_it_s_worth_listening_to_people_we_disagree_with?utm_source=newsletter_weekly_2018-04-21&utm_campaign=newsletter_weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_content=talk_of_the_week_button

Levy: Why I Resigned In Protest From Penn Law's Board When A Conservative Professor Was Punished (for not being politically correct)---
https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2019/12/levy-why-i-resigned-in-protest-from-penn-laws-board-when-a-conservative-professor-was-punished.html

Politically Correct Big Brother Will Not Allow Free Speech in USA Colleges
Williams College plans to revise its policies after a faculty petition to adopt free speech guidelines enraged student activists ---
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/04/23/williams-college-rework-free-speech-policies-after-controversies?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=1aea7e93d2-DNU_2019_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-1aea7e93d2-197565045&mc_cid=1aea7e93d2&mc_eid=1e78f7c952

Political Correctness at Georgetown University
Kevin K. McAleenan, acting head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, was shouted off the stage by protesters who interrupted his talk at Georgetown University’s law school ---
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/07/us/politics/homeland-security-chief-protesters.html?cid=db&source=ams&sourc

Conservative Law Prof Heckled by CUNY Protestors ---
https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2018/04/conservative-law-prof-heckled-by-cuny-protestors.html

Political Correctness in Universities Never Quits
Black Pro-Life Speaker Disinvited From Cornell ---
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/briannaheldt/2019/03/27/black-prolife-speaker-disinvited-from-cornell-n2543853?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=03/28/2019&bcid=b16c6f948f297f77432f990d4411617f&recip=17935167

Beloit College:  The incident (a pro-capitalism speaker)  was the latest in a string of free expression occurrences on college campuses where students have intentionally drowned out speakers whose views they find distasteful ---
Click Here
Capitalism is such a dangerous topic that mention of it should be banned in all colleges and universities

Bob Jensen's threads on political correctness ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies2.htm#PoliticalCorrectnesshttp://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies2.htm#PoliticalCorrectness

 


 

 

 


 

 

 


 

 

 


 

 

 




Updates on Medical Insurance

 

Joe Biden Vows to Give Taxpayer-Funded Obamacare to All Illegal Immigrants in U.S. ---
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgxwGCGtjlPQwKppkFwvsWhGNlMXs

 




Bob Jensen's Tidbits Archives ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbitsdirectory.htm 

Bob Jensen's Pictures and Stories
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Pictures.htm

Summary of Major Accounting Scandals --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accounting_scandals

Bob Jensen's threads on such scandals:

Bob Jensen's threads on audit firm litigation and negligence ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Fraud001.htm

Current and past editions of my newsletter called Fraud Updates ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm

Enron --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudEnron.htm

Rotten to the Core --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudRotten.htm

American History of Fraud --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudAmericanHistory.htm

Bob Jensen's fraud conclusions ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudConclusion.htm

Bob Jensen's threads on auditor professionalism and independence are at
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Fraud001c.htm

Bob Jensen's threads on corporate governance are at
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Fraud001.htm#Governance 

 

Shielding Against Validity Challenges in Plato's Cave ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/TheoryTAR.htm

·     With a Rejoinder from the 2010 Senior Editor of The Accounting Review (TAR), Steven J. Kachelmeier

·     With Replies in Appendix 4 to Professor Kachemeier by Professors Jagdish Gangolly and Paul Williams

·     With Added Conjectures in Appendix 1 as to Why the Profession of Accountancy Ignores TAR

·     With Suggestions in Appendix 2 for Incorporating Accounting Research into Undergraduate Accounting Courses

Shielding Against Validity Challenges in Plato's Cave  --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/TheoryTAR.htm
By Bob Jensen

What went wrong in accounting/accountics research?  ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm#WhatWentWrong

The Sad State of Accountancy Doctoral Programs That Do Not Appeal to Most Accountants ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm#DoctoralPrograms

AN ANALYSIS OF THE EVOLUTION OF RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS BY THE ACCOUNTING REVIEW: 1926-2005 ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/395wpTAR/Web/TAR395wp.htm#_msocom_1

Bob Jensen's threads on accounting theory ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm

Systemic problems of accountancy (especially the vegetable nutrition paradox) that probably will never be solved ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudConclusion.htm#BadNews

Bob Jensen's economic crisis messaging http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/2008Bailout.htm

Bob Jensen's threads --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/threads.htm

Bob Jensen's Home Page --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/