Staring Down the Barrel of a Trade War

Regular readers of my policy commentary here or on my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1007197659) will recognize that I believe that both Bernie and Donald Trump are wrong about trade agreements and the path we are currently on is alarmingly similar to the path that led to the Great Depression beginning with the Smoot Hawley act that created tariffs on goods from other countries and set off a trade war between the US and many countries with whom we did business.

This is not to say that we can't do a whole lot better at crafting trade agreements, but to take the simplistic approach of blaming the loss of jobs on trade agreements - ignoring for example the much more powerful effects of technology causing the replacement of human labor with robots and software.

We would be far better served by an effort to better understand the forces at work in our economy and the world economy and working to develop MORE trade agreements that reflect those changes. 

We are all well aware that change is the rule in our world and the speed with which change occurs increases dramatically with each passing year. Why would we want to apply 1920s ideas to the problems of the 21st Century? They were disastrous then and only likely to be more disastrous today.

Right now it appears that the US is deeply divided along classic lines of liberal vs conservative ideology but If that is the case (and I contend that it is NOT the case) this is merely the early rumblings of a divide that is built around an entirely new paradigm.

The new ideological divide will not be liberal vs. conservative; it will be centralization vs decentralization. I believe that we are watching the early quakes in the final stages of the meltdown of BOTH Classic Capitalism and Communism and the birth of a new paradigm where successful nations lead the way toward economies built around principles that embrace the power of blending economics principles and social collaboration to craft "new" definitions of work and what constitutes a meaningful life.

I am not a utopian. I don't suggest that these changes will be simple, easy or painless. Like any other social and economic revolution they will be painful, jarring and confusing at best.

A trade war that ignores the lead for us to lift all boats in this new world would be the worst thing we could do.

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A Suggestion for Covert Sanctions Against Russia

The actions by the OBama administration including the expulsion of individuals directly involved in the hacks that were intended to influence the outcome of the US Elections are a good start and effectively "Name and shame" some of the primary culprits, including Putin directly.

In addition to the public sanctions the President has said that some covert actions will be taken as well. My suggestion is that among those sanctions we include a hack of emails of individuals involved in the doping scandal of Russian Olympic athletes. Particularly if we can make public evidence that the Russian Government was actively involved in the doping campaign and provide the evidence needed to make the case for a long-term suspension of all or most of the Russian Olympic team, other high level athletes and their coaches.

There are few things more important to the Russian psyche than their International athletic prowess. To have the extent of the government complicity and that of their nationally acclaimed athletic coaches and athletes revealed would give the International Olympic Committee the evidence needed to sanction Russia much more severely than the virtual slap on the wrist that they have gotten to date.

I'm not an expert on hacking but I am betting that this would be a relatively easy hack and the odds that the leadership within the secret cabal that orchestrated the doping of athletes would be arrogant enough to have openly communicated among themselves by email.

-wdk

Russian Meddling in Election Calls for Serious Treatment

http://www.nytimes.com/…/us/obama-russia-election-hack.html…

I am saddened beyond measure by this. I believe that this is an existential crisis for the American idea.

Sadly there is no way to rectify this that will not create more problems and worse ones. Once the decision was made to release the Comey letter about HRC's emails the Republican leadership - who were informed about the Russian meddling should have done the same with this information. At the same time both Republican and Democratic leaders should have raised the alarm about Russian meddling in the election. They should have trusted the American people to cast their vote with all of the information. By not doing so, in my opinion the Republican leadership is guilty of complicity with the Russians if not Treason by default.

We must freeze the results of the election and clear the air by getting to the truth as soon as possible. A commission comprised of equal numbers of Republicans and Democrats - people who are beyond reproach. If I were President I would choose a former Supreme Court Justice like David Souter to lead the commission and stress to the members that this was the most important moment of their lives and an existential challenge to the American idea. The slightest wiff of partisanship will consign them to the same ash heap that Benedict Arnold occupies.

There can be no change to the outcome of the election because to allow this would surely allow the partisans to derail the process. We will have to live with the fact that the Russians succeeded in affecting the outcome of ONE election to assure that they are NEVER able to do so again.

Rebuilding a Quality of Life Vision for All Americans

by Wayne D. King

Secrets of the Patriot

It could be said that this image represents both sides of Tuesdays election. It was President Kennedy who said "It is far better to light a candle than to curse the darkness." We have a lot of candles to light together because it won't be long before the American people realize that both sides have sold them a bill of goods and become mired in the past - failing to recognize that the world is shifting beneath our feet and we must become the agents of change or we will surely become its victims.

Here's my brief five point plan for a good start. Some of it probably will be seen as radical but the times call for bold ideas.

1. Raise the minimum wage to $15.00 over a reasonable period of time. This is the easy one but we need to give working people a living wage.

2. Begin the process of instituting a Guaranteed Annual Income for every American. We can start this with a pilot to test the viability of this concept. However, there is no questioning the fact that wages are falling, largely as a result of globalization and technology displacing workers. This is only going to get worse no matter how much Politicians bark about bringing jobs back home. We need to find a new way to give Americans a good standard of living in a world where marginal costs continue to decline toward zero and a good standard of living will need to be defined by more than the size of a paycheck. This will have to be funded by the 1% but they will understand the need for it. This will be the most controversial of my 5 points but it is coming.

3. Institute a National Service requirement. Every young American required to choose either the military or national/humanitarian service. When the children of the wealthy sacrifice side by side with young men and women from the inner city and rural poor communities we will begin to understand one another and develop shared hopes and dreams.

4. Guarantee a debt-free College or Trade School education for every American who wants one. Good public schools should not benefit at the expense of good private schools after all public schools already have the support of the taxpayers.

5. Institute a Medicare for all Health Care system. Medicare is one of the nation's greatest success stories. There will still be a two tiered healthcare system in the US but the vast majority of Americans will be guaranteed healthcare as a right.

All of these things begin to recast our definition of "quality of life" where certain basic needs are met and beyond this each of us has the opportunity to build a life around both traditional work and commerce or sustenance from within the sharing economy.


Secrets of the Patriot
Open Edition Prints beginning at $17.00
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The Draft Horse Poster

The Draft Horse Fine Art Poster

Between the Republic and Chaos

Between the Republic and Chaos
Pence is Called to Defend the Republic

by Wayne D. King

Mike Pence should resign from the Trump ticket if Trump continues to risk our democracy by declaring the election is rigged despite all evidence to the contrary.

Everyone knows that I am no fan of Donald Trump but this latest gambit threatens the very fabric of our Republic. Its a lonely job but there is no one else who can do it. Mike Pence stands between the Republic and chaos.

If anyone had the right to declare that the election was rigged if was Al Gore in the 2000 election. He had received almost a million more votes than his opponent and the election had come down to a fight over the Eleectoral college votes in Florida. Plenty of American's would have done whatever Gore asked them to do. But Al Gore put the welfare of our republic over his own personal pain and outrage. History will deem him a hero of the Republic for that. 

Gore knew that we were facing an existential crisis if he continued to dispute the election - even though his supporters were not threatening violence. So he put his dream on the shelf in the best interest of the country. 

I watched all this happen from a hotel room in Lagos, Nigeria. So many people around me asked if there would be a revolution or tanks at the gates of the White House. After all, their own experience had been that even fair elections often ended in violence and the jailing of opposition leaders. Despite the pain of losing the election I was so damn proud of my country. I'll never forget being in a hotel lounge with about 100 Nigerians who actually asked me to explain to them what had happened. I gave an impromptu lecture on democracy to a facinated group of Nigerians, explaining that the peaceful transition of power was - in fact - the true test of a democracy's strength. Its easy to have an election, its hard to stand down if you feel that you should have won, evidence or not.

Election 2016 - Less than Candid

Donald Trump is not only ginning up anger - with no evidence - his supporters have been encouraged to violence. Talk of Second amendment solutions and killing of journalists could easily cause our nations fabric to tear and be damaged for generations. 

Mike Pence has been a good soldier for Trump. I'm sure that he has had to step up and do things that his conscience was shaken over but he cannot allow this to go on. He must, for his own legacy and for the best interests of the country, stand up to Trump and give him an ultimatum. Cease and desist or he will step down and leave Trump alone screaming into the storm.

The parallels between this moment and the final days of the Nixon administration are enormous. But even Richard Nixon did the right thing before permanent damage was done to the Republic. 

I for one pledge not to gloat or to blame the Americans who have supported Trump in this election when it is over. I will reach out to do my part to heal the wounds. But for now, we must continue to speak out strongly. We must call attention to the risk that Trump is taking with our Republic. Its not too late for those citizens to take a stand. 

It is within their power to say, "I was with him through thick and thin until he began to put the Republic at risk. Tens of thousands of young Americans have given their lives to defend what we have built. When his actions began to undermine their sacrifice I just had to say enough."

A Rainbow of Daisies 

President Gore and World War Three

President Gore and World War Three

By Wayne King

Shame on the people who booed Bernie today. Politics is the art of the possible. Bernie gave it everything he had and even with the DNC's  fingers on the scales he almost pulled it off.

We all learned what happens when good people are dogmatic about their presidential candidate, just ask President Gore.

Bernie Sanders is a genuine hero who at 74 dragged his weary ass all over the country trying to change the world. He almost did it will and will undoubtably have a huge impact on the Clinton agenda and the congress if we can win it back.

Before he died Ted Kennedy said that his biggest mistake was his unwillingness to compromise on National Healthcare when he had a chance to get half a loaf instead of the entire loaf. Had he done that - he said - we would have every American covered today.

Nader voters gave us the Iraq war and George Bush. People who booed Bernie and don't heed his advice may give us Donald Trump and quite possibly World War Three.

I am no fan of Hillary Clinton and I am heartsick that it has come to this but I'm not going to take the risk that my son Zach will get caught up in the meat grinder of an international conflagration. I'm voting for Hillary Clinton and praying that she will exercise enough restraint to prevent us from burning down the world and enough vision to prevent the planet from burning up.

Indian Wind Open Edition Photo Print by MoosewoodMindscapes
View Flowing Photography online at zazzle

FBI Wise to Move Cautiously on Assessing Causation in Orlando Shootings

FBI Is wise to move slowly on assessing the causes of the Orlando shootings. While some have had a knee jerk reaction over this declaring that the FBI Is somehow "afraid" to label Islamic terrorism as the root cause of the shooting in Orlando I believe that there are still some unanswered questions that need to be asked. Specifically, why did the shooter invoke several different islamic groups all of which hate each other and are in competition soldiers and supporters. Was he invoking these groups as a way to cover what was purely an act of hatred and self-loathing? It is important that we not jump to conclusions without careful consideration.

Wind in the Sheets
Painted Sheets Abstract No 18
16x24"
Limited to 5 original prints
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