Mr. Trump and the Constitution

Mr. Trump: Meet the Constitution

The Evidence Mounts That We Have Elected a Seriously Unbalanced Man as President

I was beginning to come to grips with the results of the election, but after seeing some of the president-elect's appointments and his response to Clinton's increasingly large lead in the popular vote, I beginning to wonder if there's not something seriously wrong with Donald Trump. When things get really tough how is he going to respond?

Pressure Mounts and Trump's Tantrums Become More Frequent

Another Piece of ObamaCare That Trump Should Keep

Making Health Care More Effective

Post Literacy

Some interesting insights on the impact of non-book literacy.

“People wonder why their daughter is taking 10,000 photos a day. What they don’t realize is that she isn’t preserving images. She’s talking.”


Donald Trump--the First President of Our Post-Literate Age

Wells Fargo Wants Defrauded Customers to Undergo Arbitration

Look up chutzpa in the dictionary and it says "see Wells Fargo."

Wells Fargo Accounts Arbitration

Vouchers versus Charter Schools

There is no evidence that vouchers improve educational outcomes--in fact just the opposite. There is considerable evidence that charter schools can be a positive force, but only if there is supervision and accountability.

The Wrong Way to Fix Public Schools


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Repealing Obamacare

How many people is the GOP willing to hurt? This is an instance where Trump is thinking more clearly than the rest of his party. Their determination to oppose everything Obama accomplished has blinded them to the realities of health insurance and the positive changes the ACA has brought to the lives of millions of Americans. No one can deny that the law is flawed as it stands, but better to fix it than repeal it. Repealing it before fixing or replacing it can only lead to chaos.

GOP and Healthcare Chaos


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Location:S Highway 69,Big Cabin,United States

A Response to Krugman

There's a lot of truth here for liberals to take in. Especially the Democratic establishment. We/they acted a lot like the Republicans in the last election. It's dangerous to write off any section of the populace--as Clinton discovered. It may be difficult to appeal to everyone, but it's a task worthy of any candidate. Of course one would like to accomplish such a goal without resorting to lying.


Krugman and the Working Class


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Pitfalls and Opportunities in the Middle East

What will motivate Trump's policies in this crucial area? So far his foreign policy appointments haven't given us much insight.

Donald Trump's Choices in the Middle East


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Trump's Opportunity

Trump and Great Business Ideas for America


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A Portent of Things to Come?

“If America wants to know what is coming, it should study what happened here. It’s predictive,” said Martin Ford, a local government representative. “I have just seen him do in America, on a grander scale, precisely what he did here. He suckered the people and he suckered the politicians until he got what he wanted, and then he went back on pretty much everything he promised.”

Donald Trump in Scotland

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Charter Schools and Accountability

Charter schools aren't necessarily a bad idea. But execution is critical. Why are so many charter school supporters against accountability? Ms. DeVos and Michigan are a prime example of why charter schools often get a bad rap. Throwing money at for-profit charter schools without demanding accountability is asking for failure. Good for investors, bad for students and their parents.

The Secretary and Charter Schools in Michigan

And a longer article on how to ruin a school system and ways to save it.

Detroit as a case study.


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Humor in the White House

Farewell to the Comedian in Chief

But in 2017, the joke will be on us.


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For What It's Worth

There's something happening here
What it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware…

The Populism Perplex


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See You in Court.

Donald Trump and the Lawsuit Presidency

An American iPhone--Not Likely

An American iPhone--Not Happening


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The City Upon a Hill

Brad DeLong:

American Patriotism: New England vs. Virginia vs. Ethno-Linguistic
Preview of American Patriotism New England vs Virginia vs Ethno Linguistic

There are, broadly speaking, three kinds of American patriotism. There is Kentucky, which is the standard ethno-linguistic nationalism of soil and blood (think: age of Andrew Jackson). There is Virginia, which is a peculiar form of libertarianism-of-adoption: "we" have come here so that nobody else can boss "us" or those we adopt to become "us" around (think: Thomas Jefferson). And there is New England, which is the utopian nationalism of election: those who elect to come here and help "us" to build utopia are "us", and are very welcome as long as they commit to building the City Upon a Hill.

To no one's surprise, I like the third kind. And here is its root, in John Winthrop's Arabella Sermon:

John Winthrop: From "A Model of Christian Charity":

"We are entered into covenant with Him for this work...

...We have taken out a commission. The Lord hath given us leave to draw our own articles. We have professed to enterprise these and those accounts, upon these and those ends. We have hereupon besought Him of favor and blessing. Now if the Lord shall please to hear us, and bring us in peace to the place we desire, then hath He ratified this covenant and sealed our commission, and will expect a strict performance of the articles contained in it. But if we shall neglect the observation of these articles which are the ends we have propounded, and, dissembling with our God, shall fall to embrace this present world and prosecute our carnal intentions, seeking great things for ourselves and our posterity, the Lord will surely break out in wrath against us, and be revenged of such a people, and make us know the price of the breach of such a covenant.

The only way to avoid this shipwreck is to follow the Counsel of Micah: "to do Justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with our God". For this end:

we must be knit together in this work as one man,
we must entertain each other in brotherly affection,
we must be willing to abridge our selves of our superfluities for the supply of others necessities,
we must uphold a familiar commerce together in all meekness, gentleness, patience, and liberality,
we must delight in each other, make others' conditions our own, rejoice together, mourn together, labour and suffer together,
always having before our eyes our commission and community in the work, our Community as members of the same body.

So shall we keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. The Lord will be our God and delight to dwell among us as his own people, and will command a blessing upon us in all our ways, so that we shall see much more of his wisdom, power, goodness, and truth then formerly we have been acquainted with.

We shall find that the God of Israel is among us when ten of us shall be able to resist a thousand of our enemies, when he shall make us a praise and glory, that men shall say of succeeding plantations: "The Lord make it like that of New England." For we must Consider that we shall be as a City upon a Hill: the eyes of all people are upon us.

So that if we shall deal falsely with our god in this work we have undertaken, and so cause him to withdraw his present help from us, we shall be made a story and a byword through the world. We shall open the mouths of enemies to speak evil of the ways of God and all professors for Gods sake. We shall shame the faces of many of God's worthy servants, and cause their prayers to be turned into curses upon us, till we be consumed out of the good land whether we are going.

And to shut up this discourse with that exhortation of Moses, that faithful servant of the Lord, in his last farewell to Israel, Deut. 30:

Beloved there is now set before us life, and good, death and evil, in that we are commanded this day to love the Lord our God, and to love one another, to walk in his ways and, to keep his commandments and his ordinances, and his laws, and the articles of our covenant with him, that we may live and be multiplied, and that the Lord our God may bless us in the land whither we go to possess it...

J. Bradford DeLong on November 23, 2016 at 07:29 PM


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Addressing the Impacts of Globalization

May be a challenge to follow but worth the work. Baldwin shows why Bernie was right (protect individual workers) and Trump is wrong (protect American jobs). The two are not equivalent. Protecting jobs will hurt all Americans, including workerS. Globalization is too broad a term to address the real problems caused by the expansion of the world economy over the past 200 years.

Outline of Richard Baldwin's new book on globalization


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Would You Rather Be California or Texas/Kansas

Despite the propaganda put out by the yahoos in the state government, Texas has not done as well economically as California and Kansas has done way worse.

California versus Trumplandia


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What Might Happen if Climate Change Is Not Contained

These interactive graphics show what could happen under different assumptions regarding changes in sea level due to climate change. Are these risks we are willing to take by denying that climate change is real?

What the deniers climate legacy could look like.

Also, this summary of the science as promoting ignorance movement is relevant to the incoming administration.

Climate change in Trump's Age of Ignorance.


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The Republicans Would Cut Off Their Nose to Spite Obama

The TPP has weaknesses, but backing out now would hurt America's interests and give a leg up to China. It's just another example of "if Obama likes it, we must hate it."

Making China Great (Again)


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Location:W Oak St,Louisville,United States

It's not Keynes--It's Ripping Off the Taxpayers

Infrastructure Build or Privatization Scam?


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Location:I-30 W, Hope, Arkansas United States

Look Out Trump Voters, He's Coming for Your Medicare

Not a surprise to the rest of us, but you've been hornswaggled.

The Medicare Killers


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What Did Obama Do as President, You May Ask?

If anyone ever asks you what President Obama has done in eight years.

Note how many of these actions were aimed at making government more transparent, efficient and less sleazy.

400 Obama Accomplishments (So Far) with Citations

Winning an Election Does not Entitle One to Upend Basic Values

Larry Summers:

"The widespread perception is something like this.  Mr. Trump has vowed to ban Muslims from entering the country and to force deportation of Mexicans. He has ridiculed the disabled. He has accepted without criticism the enthusiastic support of the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups that were previously on the fringes of society. He has invoked standard anti-Semitic tropes in his political advertising. And he has made clear that he believes grabbing and groping women is appropriate behavior.

Black students, gay students, Hispanic students, Muslim students, disabled students, female students – all of them now fear that the basic security and acceptance on which they relied is at risk. Help lines are flooded with calls.  Those who seek to count hateful incidents report an upsurge. 

It is surely wrong to hold the President-elect personally responsible for all the words and deeds of all who support him.  Equally, the President-elect has a moral obligation to stand up for tolerance and against intolerance whatever its source...

More importantly, democracy does not mean electrocracy. Winning an election does not entitle one to upend our basic values. The refusal to tolerate blatant racism, bigotry and misogyny are beyond compromise.  The first obligation of anyone currently in a leadership position is not to find common ground with our new President-elect now that the ballots have been counted and the election is over. It is instead to once again make it possible for all who live in our country to feel safe."

Larry Summers: Anti Political Correctness

The Messy Politics of Obamacare Repeal

"The best policy and politics would be to fix parts of the law that have produced big recent increases in the cost of premiums for the sliver of Americans who don't get insurance through Medicare, Medicaid or their employers, and don't qualify for subsidies through Obamacare. Some cutbacks and additional cost controls would also be useful and popular. But the Republican base would never accept those measures, meaning the likely course will be to craft a radical replacement.

Then, a year or two from now, the headlines wouldn't be about rising premiums or not being able to keep your own doctor. They'd be about some of the 20 million newly insured people being thrown off the rolls; cutbacks in Medicaid for poorer Americans; crowded emergency rooms; weakening of provisions that are reducing hospital-caused patient harms; maybe some hospitals going broke, and the insurance industry in chaos. If Ryan gets his way there could also be articles about steps toward privatizing Medicare despite Trump's campaign pledge not to. (The Speaker was called out for falsely claiming last week that this course was needed because Obamacare is causing Medicare to go "broke." In reality, the full solvency of the hospital part of Medicare has been extended for up to 12 years.)"

From Bloomberg View on repealing Obamacare.

If You Thought Trump's Win Would Change the Nature of America--You Were Right

Apparently many of Trump's supporters believe his election gives them free rein to follow through on his campaign rhetoric.

So far more than 400 incidents of hate, intimidation and harassment since the election.

Q: How you tell if Paul Ryan is lying? A: His lips are moving.

Republican Falsehoods About the Affordable Care Act (AKA Obamacare)

The Value of Work

I think Sherrod Brown should be a prime candidate for leading the Democratic Party post-Obama.

Sherrod Brown: When Work Loses It's Dignity.

Climate Change and US Security

Military Leaders Urge Trump to See Climate Change as a Security Threat

Link to The Center for Climate and Security

Helping Republicans Understand Health Insurance

Or maybe they do understand it--that would be worse.

What would be worse than completely repealing Obamacare?

What Rough Beast (apologies to W.B. Yeats)

Leave it to a Brit to understand us better than we understand ourselves.

Robert Skidelsky-- Slouching Towards Trump

For reference W.B. Yeats, "The Second Coming"


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Global Bull in the China Shop

Philippe Legrain--Trump's New World Disorder


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Can Trump Be Tamed?

Nouriel Roubini--The Taming of Trump


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Is Trump the Second Coming of George Bush?

Jeffrey Frankel--Who is President Trump?


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What America's Economy Needs From Trump

Joseph Stiglitz


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Do Republicans Really Understand Health Insurance?

Obamacare is easy to criticize, but hard to replace.

The Republicans and Obamacare


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Paul Krugman's Day Has Improved

The Long Haul.


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Does Character Matter?

Maybe, Maybe Not


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The Revenge of the Deplorables

There is some truth in what Clive Crook says. The most qualified, yet burdened, candidate in history ran what was in retrospect a very dumb campaign. Clinton and her handlers didn't realize the impact of Trump staking out an extreme position on some issues--like immigration--like trade--like... Her reaction in many cases was to take the other extreme when, as Crook says, she might well have been advised to recognize the grain of truth in what Trump was saying. As a candidate one doesn't have to oppose everything one's opponent says.

Clive Crook: The Revenge of the Deplorables


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Trump and Potential Ethics Issues

The questions he could ignore as a candidate may be harder to dismiss as president. Especially if his kids don't run the business the way he would like. Or horrors, run it into the ground.

Trump's Business Ties Will Run Afoul of the Constitution

The Conflicts of Interest President


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OMG. Trump Has Turned David Brooks Into a Liberal

David Brooks has always been the conservative counterpoint to the liberal columnists in the NYT. Post-Trump, he's beginning to sound like Paul Krugman. I wonder how many more transitions like this we'll see?

David Brooks: The View from Trump Tower


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The View from Outside

Because of who we are and the role we have played in world affairs since 1945, our politics is more important than we might think. Most of the rest of the world (Russia excluded), for varying reasons, watched our election with dread. Now their worst fears have been realized. What sort of president will Trump be for the rest of the world?

For Europe, Trump's Election Is a Terrifying Disaster


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To See the Potential Future of a Trump Presidency We Have Only to Look at Trump as Entreprenurial Grifter

Where will Trump's policies strike home? Where will resistance come from? Will it be effective? Will being president enlighten Trump about how the world really works? Will he adapt?

Resist Much.


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An Early Assessment of Trumponomics

Steven Rattner on the potential effects of Trump's economic plan. The appeal of portions of his plan to certain groups of voters is based on a lack of understanding of how the economy fits together. Some of the rest, eliminating regulations for example, would eliminate constraints on banks and big business that could have significant negative effects on ordinary people.

First. Do Harm.


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Can the Foxes Really Guard the Henhouse?

The Wrong People to Drain the Swamp


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Location:Termini San Luis Pass Rd,Galveston,United States

Paul Krugman Is Having a Really Bad Day...

But he has some good advice.

Thoughts For the Horrified


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Mother Nature Isn't Happy

Physics doesn't care who is president.


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Location:Termini San Luis Pass Rd,Galveston,United States

Garrison Kellor's Advice to Democrats

Can Democrats Really Relax?


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Let's Be Clear About What Happened

The people who put Trump over the top weren't who we expected. It was well-off and educated white males. Among the well-off and educated, only women gave a majority to Hillary. What did the males in this group see in Trump (or fail to see in Hillary)? What do they expect from Trump as president?

And what we should do.


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The Governor Prayed for Oil--Here's Her Answer

SCIAM: Magnitude 5.0 Earthquake strikes Oklahoma

I'm Still A Lance Armstrong Fan

He beat unbeatable cancer and when he tried to compete in the Tour, he saw that everyone else had an advantage--they doped. He decided not to get beaten, so he doped, too. He beat everyone, just as he would have beaten everyone if they had all been clean.

Lance Armstrong Tries to Recycle His Image


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Tax Cuts for the Rich Only Cause Deficits

Time to throw away the notion that tax cuts for the rich will stimulate the economy. It is a notion unsupported by any evidence. The case of Kansas provides a strong counterargument--it's hard to see how Kansas can escape from its current budget problems without raising taxes back to at least the levels before Brownback's cuts. The damage to the Kansas economy may be virtually permanent.

William G Gale: An Agenda for Inclusive Growth

If You're Wondering About That Nobel Prize I

"My Back Pages (1964)"

Crimson flames tied through my ears
Rollin' high and mighty traps
Pounced with fire on flaming roads
Using ideas as my maps
"We'll meet on edges, soon," said I
Proud 'neath heated brow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I'm younger than that now.

Half-cracked prejudice leaped forth
"Rip down all hate," I screamed
Lies that life is black and white
Spoke from my skull, I dreamed
Romantic facts of musketeers
Foundationed deep, somehow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I'm younger than that now.

Girls' faces formed the forward path
From phony jealousy
To memorizing politics
Of ancient history
Flung down by corpse evangelists
Unthought of, thought, somehow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I'm younger than that now.

A self-ordained professor's tongue
Too serious to fool
Spouted out that liberty
Is just equality in school
"Equality," I spoke the word
As if a wedding vow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I'm younger than that now.

In a soldier's stance, I aimed my hand
At the mongrel dogs who teach
Fearing not that I'd become my enemy
In the instant that I preach
My existence led by confusion boats
Mutiny from stern to bow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I'm younger than that now.

Yes, my guard stood hard when abstract threats
Too noble to neglect
Deceived me into thinking
I had something to protect
Good and bad, I define these terms
Quite clear, no doubt, somehow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I'm younger than that now.

If You're Wondering About That Nobel Prize II

Not Dark Yet (1997)

Bob Dylan

Shadows are fallin' and I've been here all day
It's too hot to sleep and time is runnin' away
Feel like my soul has turned into steel
I've still got the scars that the sun didn't heal
There's not even room enough to be anywhere
It's not dark yet but it's gettin' there.

Well, my sense of humanity has gone down the drain
Behind every beautiful thing there's been some kind of pain
She wrote me a letter and she wrote it so kind
She put down in writin' what was in her mind
I just don't see why I should even care
It's not dark yet but it's gettin' there.

Well, I've been to London and I been to gay Paris
I've followed the river and I got to the sea
I've been down on the bottom of the world full of lies
I ain't lookin' for nothin' in anyone's eyes
Sometimes my burden is more than I can bear
It's not dark yet but it's gettin' there.

I was born here and I'll die here against my will
I know it looks like I'm movin' but I'm standin' still
Every nerve in my body is so naked and numb
I can't even remember what it was I came here to get away from
Don't even hear the murmur of a prayer

It's not dark yet but it's gettin' there.

Last Election Post from Me Until November 9

It's depressing watching Trump eat away at Clinton's lead. His tactics are beyond the pale--insisting that Mrs Clinton's election will create a "constitutional crisis." His claims that the election is rigged are fatuous. He wants to sue everyone who has challenged him. He and his surrogates are doing everything they can to chip away at the American democratic process.

But beyond that I am depressed by the number of people who have voted or who intend to vote for Trump. I can't even guess what they think they would get. His economic and foreign policies are insane--we've seen what his improving prospects have done to the stock market over the past few days. Most people in other countries think we're insane to slow  candidate to get this far--Saudi Arabia with nukes!

More than two thirds of the statements out of his mouth are lies, but he has the gall to call Hillary a liar. One publication went through his speeches and discovered he tells a lie on average every three minutes. His feelings towards women and minorities--essentially anyone different from him--have been clearly set out during the campaign.

Hillary may not be the perfect candidate, but no one can argue that there has ever been a more qualified person to run for president. Trump's ignorance of anything outside real estate fraud is a disgrace to grownups every where.

I find the prospect of a Trump presidency absolutely frightening. I can't understand why some people view it without concern.

The Era of the Big Lie

For me, the most amazing thing about this campaign is that Trump has been able to paint Hillary as a liar and the news media has allowed him to get away with it. In any rational world Trump would have been called out so repeatedly for his lies that he wouldn't be able to carry even the reddest state. Trump doesn't have even a passing acquaintance with the truth. He can tweet something at night and deny it in the morning. And 40+ percent of my fellow citizens are going to vote for him. This is both astonishing and depressing.

The Post Truth Presidency

The Decline of the American Political System

I watch in wonderment as seemingly rational people vote for a disgrace to humanity.

Paul Krugman: Who Broke Politics