Tidbits Political Quotations
To Accompany the January 31, 2021Edition of Tidbits
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2021/tidbits013121.htm  
         
Bob Jensen at
Trinity University




The Jewish Express:  A Brief History of Antifa: Part I ---
https://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/a-brief-history-of-antifa-part-i/2020/06/14/

The Jewish Experess:  A Brief History of Antifa:  Part II ---
https://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/a-brief-history-of-antifa-part-ii-antifa-in-the-united-states/2020/06/24/
Also see
https://www.wnd.com/2020/09/biden-claims-antifa-isnt-real-wnds-free-22000-word-e-book-proves-lying/

When Antifa received word that Ngo's book was for sale at Powell's bookstore, they decided to show up and demand that the local chain cease selling it all together ---
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/bethbaumann/2021/01/11/watch-antifa-demands-a-local-bookstore-stop-selling-andy-ngos-book-about-antifas-nasty-tactics-n2582974?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=01/12/2021&bcid=b16c6f948f297f77432f990d4411617f&recip=17935167
Nobody want to be the target of Antif's's arsonists

FBI director calls Antifa 'a real thing' ---
https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/516911-fbi-director-wray-calls-antifa-a-real-thing '

Antifa group continues occupation of Seattle-area hotel with plans to stay permanently for free ---
https://thepostmillennial.com/antifa-takes-over-seattle-area-hotel
Did you notice how the major media no longer reports these takeovers?

According to The New York Times, potentially 90 percent of those who have tested positive for COVID-19 have such insignificant amounts of the virus present in their bodies that such individuals do not need to isolate nor are they candidates for contact tracing ---
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/29/health/coronavirus-testing.html

My Latest Web Document
Over 600 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

Debt to GDP Ratio by Country 2020 ---
https://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/countries-by-national-debt/

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

MIT's Links to Covid-19 Trackers Around the World ---
https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/05/07/1000961/launching-mittr-covid-tracing-tracker/

Johns Hopkins University:  Updated Map and Table on the Number of Coronavirus Cases for Every Nation ---
https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6
Accuracy is subject to wide margins of error for every nation and varies greatly between nations.

Covid019 in New Hampshire ---
https://www.nh.gov/covid19/

The best maps for comparing counties and towns in your state are provided by your state. For example, here's the map showing the distribution of cases for New Hampshire counties and towns ---
https://www.wmur.com/article/new-hampshire-coronavirus-map/32009329#
 


 

Beautiful News Daily (news and statistics to offset all of today's bad news) ---
https://informationisbeautiful.net/beautifulnews/

 

 Here's a humorous and serious 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

 

Miracle of Chile --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_of_Chile
Movie:  The Chicago Boys of Chile ---
https://vimeo.com/ondemand/chicagoboysenglish

 

How to Fix Economic Inequality? ---
https://www.piie.com/microsites/how-fix-economic-inequality

 

Cuba’s Dubious Miracle ---
https://www.hoover.org/research/cubas-dubious-miracle

 

The Singapore Dream:  How Singapore's richest man went from welding in a factory for $14 per hour to owning a $17 billion hotpot restaurant chain ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/life-of-singapore-richest-man-from-welder-to-hotpot-billionaire-2020-1

 

After 40 years of capitalism, China’s income is divided almost as unequally as America’s ---
https://qz.com/1591961/thomas-pikettys-new-research-shows-rising-inequality-in-china/
China has more billionaires than any other country in the world (and generating more at a higher rate than any other nation) ---
https://qz.com/1919974/china-created-a-record-number-of-billionaires-despite-covid-19/

 

A Letter to My Children Regarding Bernie Sanders ---
https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/digital/a-letter-to-my-children-regarding-bernie-sanders/
A study of Bernie's past reveals a very dangerous man who could bring down the USA

 

The Bill Is Coming Due for China’s ‘Capitalist’ Experiment ---
https://www.yahoo.com/news/bill-coming-due-china-capitalist-113012069.html
Thanks Wm. Dennis Huber for the heads up

 

What's Wrong With a Wealth Tax?
https://www.manhattan-institute.org/whats-wrong-with-a-wealth-tax

 

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?

 

Here's a humorous and serious 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

 

Vaccine Politics in Europe Versus America ---
https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2021/01/vaccine-politics-in-europe-and-america.html

 


 

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

 

I detest what you write, but I would give my life to make it possible for you to continue to write ---
Voltaire

 

"This is perhaps the assembly of the most intelligence ever to gather at one time in the White House, with the exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone"
John F. Kennedy at a White House party

 

As cities chose to reduce police budgets for 2020, this is what happened to their murder rates ---
https://ritholtz.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/murderspike.jpg

 

Harper's:  A Letter on Justice and Open Debate --- |

https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/thomas-chatterton-williams-on-race-identity-and-cancel-culture

 

They're Coming to America ---
https://townhall.com/columnists/calthomas/2021/01/21/theyre-coming-to-america-n2583446?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=01/21/2021&bcid=b16c6f948f297f77432f990d4411617f&recip=17935167

 

Scientists suggest US embassies were hit with high-power microwaves – here’s how the weapons work
https://theconversation.com/scientists-suggest-us-embassies-were-hit-with-high-power-microwaves-heres-how-the-weapons-work-151730

 

The Guardian:  American classics among most ‘challenged’ books of the decade in US (protesters want them removed from libraries and schools) ---
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/sep/28/classics-books-most-often-challenged-and-banned-in-us-banned-books-week-to-kill-a-mockingbird
Bob Jensen's threads on banned books
 

In 1785 the state legislature of Virginia unanimously rejected a proposal from evangelicals to free the state’s slaves ---
https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2020/09/virginia-fact-of-the-day.html

 

When the Great Scorer comes to write against your name, one unforgiveable sin (racial profiling) outweighs all the good you've done in life.

Bob Jensen

 

Kobe Bryant:  We need to make the most of every minute we have ---
https://www.newsweek.com/i-wont-take-see-you-later-granted-148449

 

It is not knowledge, but the act of learning, not possession but the act of getting there, which grants the greatest enjoyment.

Carl Friedrich Gauss

 

Political Correctness:  New York Times Conveniently Revises History on the 2020 Antifa/BLM-Led Riots ---
https://legalinsurrection.com/2021/01/new-york-times-conveniently-revises-history-on-the-2020-antifa-blm-led-riots/

 

The 2020 Election Was a Rebuke of Socialism ---
https://reason.com/2021/01/18/the-2020-election-was-a-rebuke-of-socialism/

Even Though Biden Won, Republicans Enjoyed The Largest Electoral College Edge In 70 Years. Will That Last?

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/even-though-biden-won-republicans-enjoyed-the-largest-electoral-college-edge-in-70-years-will-that-last/

Taiwan’s Crowdsourced Democracy Shows Us How to Fix Social Media ---
https://wearenotdivided.reasonstobecheerful.world/taiwan-g0v-hackers-technology-digital-democracy/

The Result of "Too Much Money": Asset Price Inflation and Inequality ---
https://mises.org/wire/result-too-much-money-asset-price-inflation-and-inequality?utm_source=Mises+Institute+Subscriptions&utm_campaign=70a67886d5-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_9_21_2018_9_59_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8b52b2e1c0-70a67886d5-228708937

 

James Baldwin Talks About Racism in America & Civil Rights Activism on The Dick Cavett Show (1969) ---
http://www.openculture.com/2020/08/james-baldwin-talks-about-racism-in-america-civil-rights-activism-on-the-dick-cavett-show-1969.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+OpenCulture+(Open+Culture)

 

Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose. And it’s an unreliable guide to the future

Bill Gates, “The Road Ahead”

 

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

 

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

 

China ‘forcing Uighur Muslims and other minorities to work in cotton fields’ ---
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/china-forcing-uighur-muslims-and-other-minorities-to-work-in-cotton-fields-6vz3750t6
Socialist and communism advocates often overlook instances of slavery forced by governments rather than capitalists

 

U.S. physicists rally around ambitious plan to build fusion power plant ---
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/12/us-physicists-rally-around-ambitious-plan-build-fusion-power-plant  

 

A short history of corruption in Illinois ---
https://www.data-z.org/news/detail/a-short-history-of-corruption-in-illinois

 

History of United States Immigration Laws ---
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgxwGCkZzrvQkcFbRplBPwBFwmFDs

 

DHS: Illegal Border Crossings Surge In Anticipation of Biden Presidency ---
https://legalinsurrection.com/2020/11/dhs-illegal-border-crossings-surge-in-anticipation-of-biden-presidency/

 

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

 

Wherever they burn books, they will also, in the end, burn human beings ---
Heinrich Heine
https://thecritic.co.uk/in-defence-of-knowledge/

 

It is by now well known that some of the greatest modern philosophers held racist views ---
https://aeon.co/essays/racism-is-baked-into-the-structure-of-dialectical-philosophy  ---

Also see
https://aeon.co/essays/racism-is-baked-into-the-structure-of-dialectical-philosophy

 

Assorted Charlie Munger Quotations ---

https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/warren-buffett-berkshire-hathaway-charlie-munger-12-best-quotes-2020-5-1029210949

 

RIP Walter E. Williams ---
Walter Williams, R.I.P. | National Review
Also see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_E._Williams

 

Walter E. Williams:  Insults to Black History ---
https://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2020/06/24/insults-to-black-history-n2571095?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=06/24/2020&bcid=b16c6f948f297f77432f990d4411617f&recip=17935167

 

Walter E. Williams:  The Leftist Effort to Revise American History ---

https://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2020/08/05/the-leftist-effort-to-revise-american-history-n2573650?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=08/05/2020&bcid=b16c6f948f297f77432f990d4411617f&recip=17935167

 

Walter E. Williams:  Disgusting Professorial Teachings ---
https://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2020/10/21/disgusting-professorial-teachings-n2578378?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=10/21/2020&bcid=b16c6f948f297f77432f990d4411617f&recip=17935167

 

Walter E. Williams:  The True Plight of Black Americans

https://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2020/06/10/the-true-plight-of-black-americans-n2570249

 

 

Walter E. Williams:  Institutional Racism ---
https://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2020/08/26/institutional-racism-n2574936?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=08/26/2020&bcid=b16c6f948f297f77432f990d4411617f&recip=17935167

 

Walter E. Williams: The Fight for Free Speech
https://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2020/10/07/the-fight-for-free-speech-n2577499?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=10/07/2020&bcid=b16c6f948f297f77432f990d4411617f&recip=17935167

 

Walter E. Williams:  Back to Academic Brainwashing ---
https://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2020/08/19/back-to-academic-brainwashing-n2574500?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=08/19/2020&bcid=b16c6f948f297f77432f990d4411617f&recip=17935167


Walter E. Williams:  The Devil and Karl Marx ---
https://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2020/09/16/the-devil-and-karl-marx-n2576177?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=09/16/2020&bcid=b16c6f948f297f77432f990d4411617f&recip=17935167

 

Walter E. Williams:  Profit of Freedom and Capitalism ---
https://townhall.com/columnists/starparker/2020/12/09/dr-walter-williams-prophet-of-freedom-n2581244?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=12/09/2020&bcid=b16c6f948f297f77432f990d4411617f&recip=17935167

 

Is Racism Responsible for Today's Black Problems? ---
https://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2020/07/29/is-racism-responsible-for-todays-black-problems-n2573212?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=07/29/2020&bcid=b16c6f948f297f77432f990d4411617f&recip=17935167

 

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/

 

Walter A. Williams:  The Nation's Report Card
How are K-12 schools doing under President Trump versus President Obama?
https://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2020/05/06/the-nations-report-card-n2568167?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=05/06/2020&bcid=b16c6f948f297f77432f990d4411617f&recip=17935167

Jensen's Comment
Most K-12 schools were probably doing better when I was a child than they're doing today. The downhill slide is greatest in the gang-ridden schools, drug-infested urban schools like Chicago and New Orleans. Throwing money at such schools is not the answer until life at home recovers. Finland knows this, which is why Finland's dads spend more time with school children than the moms or the teachers.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/dec/04/finland-only-country-world-dad-more-time-kids-moms

 

Walter E. Williams:  Insane News Tidbits ---
https://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2020/05/27/insane-news-tidbits-n2569329?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=05/27/2020&bcid=b16c6f948f297f77432f990d4411617f&recip=17935167

 

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

 

Rep. Ilhan Omar Calls For “Dismantling” of US “Economy and Political Systems” (VIDEO) ---
https://www.blabber.buzz/conservative-news/944250-radical-seattle-city-councilmember-kshama-sawant-vows-to-overthrow-the-united-states-and-replace-with-a-socialist-world?utm_source=c-alrt&utm_medium=c-alrt-email&utm_term=c-alrt-GI&utm_content=1Cugtgg08BDw-1AwBlaN1Qmmriw..A
Jensen Comment
Republicans are most grateful that Omar played a huge role in getting Biden nominated

 

Republican women flipped numerous House seats in 2020.---
https://www.vox.com/21562289/republican-women-election-records

 

California Voters Rebuked Their Governor, Legislators at the Ballot Box ---
https://reason.com/2020/11/13/california-voters-rebuked-their-governor-legislators-at-every-turn-on-election-day/

 

Report: Belgian nursing homes failed patients amid pandemic ---
https://apnews.com/article/pandemics-coronavirus-pandemic-nursing-homes-belgium-europe-b23dd8c702f43ab9abf0e5b51ff468c9

 

Bernie Burns AOC? Tells CNN Good Progressives Do Not Support 'Defunding Police' ---
Click Here


Biden's Startup Plan: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly ---
https://www.thestreet.com/mishtalk/economics/bidens-plan-the-good-the-bad-the-ugly

 

The Optimal Rate of Inflation ---
https://blog.supplysideliberal.com/post/2020/12/17/the-optimal-rate-of-inflation

 

Biden's Pick To Run the Commerce Department Is No Progressive ---
https://reason.com/2021/01/13/bidens-pick-to-run-the-commerce-department-is-no-progressive/

 

New York City landlords face over $1 billion in unpaid rent ---
https://www.data-z.org/news/detail/new-york-city-renters-face-over-1-billion-in-unpaid-rent-survey-finds
How should this be handled in a landlord's published annual report?

 

Su-57: Why Russia And India Killed Their Joint Strike Fighter Deal ---
https://www.19fortyfive.com/2021/01/su-57-why-russia-and-india-killed-their-joint-strike-fighter-deal/

 

Ayn Rand provides a glimpse of how this regulatory process works in “Have Gun, Will Nudge.” ---
https://ari.aynrand.org/issues/government-and-business/regulations/pov-have-gun-will-nudge/

 

California Unemployment Fraud Expected to Reach $10 billion ---
https://www.theepochtimes.com/california-unemployment-fraud-estimated-to-reach-10-billion_3660072.html

 

Death rates in Austria, Germany,Italy & Sweden in 2020 lowest in last 10 years! ---
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3926260/posts
Go figure!

 

Why New Hampshire Is Suing Massachusetts ---
https://townhall.com/columnists/jeffjacoby/2021/01/18/why-new-hampshire-is-suing-massachusetts-n2583281

 

Extreme Violence Breaks Out On Inauguration Day, Media Ignores Because It Wasn't MAGA ---
https://www.blabber.buzz/blab/pop/1023705-extreme-violence-breaks-out-on-inauguration-day-media-ignores-because-it-wasn-t-maga?utm_source=c-alrt&utm_medium=c-alrt-email&utm_term=c-alrt-GI&utm_content=4_IBzIGwv_cPJlMRU4kb7RWtLkQ..A

 

People in Five States Say Get Me Outta Here ---
https://www.thestreet.com/mishtalk/economics/people-in-five-states-say-get-me-outta-here

 

New Mexico’s Leaders Say Biden Energy Bans Will Devastate State’s Economy ---
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3928197/posts

 

How should we regulate crypto?
https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2021/01/how-should-we-regulate-crypto.html

 

California prof: Heterosexuality is ‘tragic’ ---
https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16693

 

Susan Rice and the Fact-Checker Farce ---
https://townhall.com/columnists/timgraham/2021/01/27/susan-rice-and-the-factchecker-farce-n2583762?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=01/27/2021&bcid=b16c6f948f297f77432f990d4411617f&recip=17935167

 

The Fed Doubles Down on Mistakes Despite Rampant Speculation ---
https://www.thestreet.com/mishtalk/economics/the-fed-doubles-down-on-mistakes-despite-rampant-speculation
Expect more QE printing of money without taxation or borrowing

 

 




Relative to his predecessors, President Trump was relatively stingy with his pardons and commutations

Most pardons and commutations a motivated by politics rather than money, although buying presidential pardons is nothing new. Some of Bill Clinton's pardons were highly suspicious --- 
https://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-clinton-pardons-analysis-story.html 

Interestingly, Clinton was also impeached but still gave (sold?) 396 pardons. 
Carter awarded 566 pardons.

George W. Bush's father granted a very stingy 74 pardons.
FDR gave 2,819 pardons and 488 commutations.

 

Obama gave 212 pardons on top of a whopping 1,715 commutations. Recent presidents (including Trump) gave fewer pardons than the thousands given by FDR, Eisenhauer, and most other presidents --- 
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/11/24/so-far-trump-has-granted-clemency-less-frequently-than-any-president-in-modern-history/ 
Note that this graph does not include over 100 pardons and commutations given by Trump on the way out of town. 

 

Trump was relatively stingy when compared to most presidents since Teddy Roosevelt granted 668 pardons and 363 commutations.

 


You Are NOT Ready to Retire Until You Can Answer These 7 Questions (Successfully) ---
https://www.kiplinger.com/retirement/602069/you-are-not-ready-to-retire-until-you-can-answer-these-7-questions

Jensen Comment
Some things may be changing. President Elect Biden promises a national health care plan that could affect the timing of your retirement. For example, currently you're not eligible for Medicare until age 65 unless your are declared disabled. However, if a national health care plan is in place you might be able to better afford health care insurance if you retire long before before age 65.

A huge consideration at the moment is having enough income to fund years in a nursing home --- which the article points presently costs an average of $8,800 per month per person on Medicare (those not eligible for Medicaid). Nursing home insurance became outrageously expensive. Bernie Sanders, who just became head of the powerful Senate Budget Committee, has long promised that a national health plan will cover long-term nursing care. My point is that if Biden and Bernie get their way it will cost a whole lot less in retirement for medical and long-term nursing care even if you retire early.

On the opposite side of the coin, there's the worry of what inflation will do to living costs.
Liberal economists like Paul Krugman are now arguing that the USA can spend tens of trillions more on new social programs without causing high inflation. When Bernie Sanders was running for president he promised nearly $100 trillion in new social programs above the current $4.4 trillion in total annual federal spending.

It's no longer the desire of the majority of Americans, politicians, or liberal economists to restrain spending green initiatives, national healthcare, bailouts of all 50 states, free college, minimum income for all Americans, reparations, housing, food stamps, medications, etc. In my opinion that kind of spending will most certainly bring high inflation.

It would be foolhardy to plan for retirement without planning for high inflation.

The Fed Cannot Spot Inflation. Can You?
https://www.thestreet.com/mishtalk/economics/there-are-no-hawks-on-the-fed-only-ostriches


The Minimum Wage Debate (feelings are so strong it probably is more of a war than a debate)
https://www.blabber.buzz/blab/pop/1023693-the-flip-flop-that-can-cost-america-4-million-jobs-biden-s-treasury-pick-forgets-her-old-opinions?utm_source=c-alrt&utm_medium=c-alrt-email&utm_term=c-alrt-GI&utm_content=06zogopD0FR_-qkpQTYmRsUU8Iw..A
Also see
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/18/opinion/minimum-wage-us.html

Jensen Comment

Liberal economist Paul Krugman and Fed Chairman Janet Yellen are yelling that almost no jobs will be lost with a $15 immediate increase in the minimum wage across all 50 states. Their screams overlook some  of major arguments against more than doubling the minimum wage. Firstly, there's an enormous underground economy where employers seeking to pay no benefits (think medical insurance, Social Security benefits, and unemployment compensation) and often are seeking lower wages by hiring below minimum wage, especially in such trades as child care, house cleaning, landscaping, food services, farms, ranches, construction, roofing, stolen car chop shops, etc. Law enforcement often overlooks this underground economy since it supports millions of children both in the USA and in the home countries of undocumented underground economy workers. What Krugman and Yellen are overlooking is that the underground economy may grow by leaps and bounds with a a doubling of the minimum wage, especially when combined with the Biden/Harris open border initiatives.

Secondly, their arguments overlook living cost differences across every inch of the USA. A $15 minimum wage is probably not enough in NYC, Boston, Atlanta, Dallas, Austin, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, etc. The $15 minimum wage is too much of a shock in the majority of very remote and rural places where rents are cheap and small businesses are struggling to survive whele existing much lower wages. I live in a rural mountain region where our closest Walmart and other big box stores pay more than $15 per hour. But there are many more jobs in small (often seasonal) businesses, dairy farms, small inns, apple farms, etc. Dairy farms are a good example where many dairy farms are folding even at much lower minimum wages paid to workers ---
https://www.vpr.org/post/they-should-include-us-vermonts-immigrant-farmworkers-push-coronavirus-aid#stream/0
There are just not enough jobs in big corporations up here to absorb all the rural workers, especially part-time workers in very small and very struggling businesses.

There's also a question of timing. Hitting businesses on the verge of bankruptcy due to loss of revenue in this pandemic will easily be the straws that break camels' backs in 2021 and 2022. At least wait until the economy recovers from Covid-19.

It's ludicrous to promise that an immediate doubling of the minimum wage will not result in millions of job losses combined with a spike in the underground economy for labor.

What Paul Krugman and Janet Yellen Don't Want You to Discover
NBER:  Myth or Measurement: What Does the New Minimum Wage Research Say about Minimum Wages and Job Loss in the United States?
https://www.nber.org/papers/w28388


Liberal Economist:  Janet Yellen's Swiss Cheese Statements on the US Dollar ---
https://www.thestreet.com/mishtalk/economics/janet-yellens-swiss-cheese-statements-on-the-us-dollar

. . .

Well La Dee Frickin Da

For starters, it is Fed policy and government fiscal policy that sets the tone for the US dollar.

Yellen can make whatever swiss cheese statements she wants but how would a central bank act if it wanted to sink the dollar? 

Steps to Weaken a Currency

1.  Cut interest rates

2.  Engage in massive QE balance sheet expansion
(QE entails printing money in Quantitative Easing)

3.  Pledge to keep rates low indefinitely

4.  Pledge to ignore inflation and let it run hot to make up for alleged undershooting 

5.  Encouraging more fiscal stimulus

The Jerome Powell Fed is five for five on doing the very things that would cause the dollar to sink and Yellen supports all of them.

Other counties are doing many of the same things and if they weren't the dollar would be dropping faster.

Regardless, please ignore her disingenuous, cheesy statements because actions speak louder than holes. 

The Jerome Powell Fed is five for five on doing the very things that would cause the dollar to sink and Yellen supports all of them.

Other counties are doing many of the same things and if they weren't the dollar would be dropping faster. 

Regardless, please ignore her disingenuous, cheesy statements because actions speak louder than holes. 

Continued in article


Blockchain --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockchain

LBRY in NYTimes ---
https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2021/01/lbry-in-nytimes.html


There is Now One and Only One Criterion That Outweighs All Other Contributions to the Human Race

Forty-four schools whose namesakes the board believed to have shameful histories were dropped, including Feinstein Elementary School, John Muir Elementary, Lincoln High, Lowell High, Roosevelt Middle, and Washington High, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
https://www.blabber.buzz/blab/pop/1023977-california-cancelling-presidents-washington-lincoln-and-liberal-queen-dianne-feinstein?utm_source=c-alrt&utm_medium=c-alrt-email&utm_term=c-alrt-GI&utm_content=4_IBzIGwv_cPJlMRU4kb7RWtLkQ..A
Jensen Comment
I recently watched the Ken Burns PBS series on the history of national parks. Ken Burns lavishes all sorts of praise on John Muir for his being the primary person for starting the USA's National Park System. We may not yet have a national park system had it not been for John Muir. Apparently all the good Muir did for environmentalism cannot offset a few remarks about the laziness of native Americans of his time. Racism is no longer a criterion. It is The Criterion that outweighs all other criteria upon which we measure contributions to society.

 

According to this professor, 'Science, statistics, and technology are all inherently racist' ---
https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=16685
Jensen Comment
At the turn of the turn of the 20th Century Henry Ford was a racist who invented the Model T assembly line and later versions of Ford factories. Because he was a racist, should Ford vehicles and assembly lines accordingly have been banned from this earth? In 1962 James Watson along with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins were awarded the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material". Because Watson is a racist his DNA discoveries should his DNA discoveries have been banned from science and medicine? Since statistical inference was advanced greatly by such racist as Sir Ronald Fisher, should statistical inference be banned from science and university curricula?




Updates on Medical Insurance

 

The good, the bad, and the ugly of England's universal health-care system ---
https://theweek.com/articles/789287/good-bad-ugly-englands-universal-healthcare-system

 

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

 

COMMON SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS (DRUG ADDICTION) ---
https://www.addictiongroup.org/resources/faq/sud/

 

Bob Jensen's threads on health insurance ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Health.htm

 




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 homepage --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/