A good laugh … biting the hand … the media … and more

Here are a few tidbits to chew on.

Geraldo Rivera wants the president to nominate Merrick Garland to the next Supreme Court opening. (diversityinc.com)

LAUGH OUT LOUD – Credit Fox News Channel’s laughable Geraldo Rivera with this laugh for the day. Commenting on what President Trump should do to move Democrats to get on board with his agenda, Rivera suggested that Trump announce that he will nominate Judge Merrick Garland to fill the next Supreme Court vacancy. All together now. Roar. Rivera claims to be a 40-year friend of Trump. With friends like Rivera …   Incidentally, Rivera says he is a “liberal Republican.” There is no such position.

BITING THE HAND – Decades ago, environmentalists began their movement against the “big bad” oil companies and their dirty fossil fuels.   Those companies soon educated consumers on the thousands of household products made from petroleum. The real eye-opener was the revelation to many that those companies were improving their 401k’s, and returning dividends to pension investors and other entities they will depend on in retirement.

Now – for your next big laugh – have you heard that the Portland, Oregon City Council voted to stop all new investment of city cash in corporate debt after hearing hours of testimony from the public who said they did not want their tax dollars supporting corporations. About a third of the city’s $1.7 billion investment budget is invested in corporate securities. The city says it is its response to corporations with environmental and social tracks that do not meet the city’s standards.

Shifting its investments to U.S. Treasury bonds and U.S. agency debt is expected to reduce revenue for city services by $3-5 million annually. Just more leftist thinking from the state that voted 50 percent for Hillary Clinton and 39 percent for Donald Trump. Do you suppose they may one day wake up and realize they are supporting Trump administration policies?

AND, SPEAKING OF PORTLAND, OREGON, did you hear that they have allowed the mere threat of left-wing protesters to cancel its annual Avenue of Roses Parade.

MORE NONSENSE FROM USA TODAY NEWSPAPER – Still pushing the doomsday predictions of a worst-case scenario of sea levels rising out of control – 10 to 12 feet – by 2100, the paper said that the U. S. Naval Academy, JFK Airport and the Jefferson Memorial would be among well-known locations that would be underwater. In its coverage, the paper published a photoshopped picture of President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate mostly underwater.

And, rather than publishing the long list of President Trump’s first 100 days of accomplishments, USA Today devoted an entire page on April 30, to the president’s tweets – the most popular, the 10 most retweeted, those in which he referred to media entities, and the day by day tweeting with total counts for each day of the week. At USA Today, that’s journalism.

Linda Valdez of The Arizona Republic wants the DNC to stop asking for money. (news10.net)

HERE IN ARIZONA, The Arizona Republic’s liberal editorial writer Linda Valdez chastised fellow Democrats to ask for something besides money. It seems she’s tired of receiving those DNC requests for $1, $5 or more. Citing the “GOP assault on the environment, health care, trade, the arts and consumer protections,” she writes, “Democrats need a creative strategy to touch people’s hearts, not their wallets.”

“Touch people’s hearts.” That’s why we call them “bleeding heart liberals.” She still doesn’t understand why people voted for Donald Trump. They have had enough of the EPA’s job-killing environmental rules, the high premiums and deductibles of ObamaCare, wasteful spending on the arts, and the myth of consumer protection. Trump administration actions will soon be putting money into the wallets of Democrats, but they won’t credit Trump.

HOUSE REPUBLICANS defeated an effort by Democrats to force a vote on legislation that would require President Trump to release his tax returns and White House and Mar-a-Lago visitor logs. In addition, during the White House briefing on the proposed tax reform plan, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that the president has “no intention” of releasing the documents. Stand firm, Mr. President, stand firm.

GOOD SENSE? I was drawn to a letter to the editor of The Wall Street Journal with the headline, “Cuomo’s Free Tuition Plan Makes Sense,” by Robert Mujica, New York state’s budget director. Touting the governor’s action as “a progressive achievement,” in other words more welfare, he credits the governor with making New York the first state to provide tuition-free college for the middle class. “Under the program,” he states that “a family making up to $100,000 a year will save as much as $25,800 – or nearly the average student-debt loan in New York.

The program provides an incentive for students to graduate on time because the longer they remain in school, the more debt they take on. Unbelievably, New York’s community college graduation rate is nine percent and 39 percent at four-year institutions.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT, our economy grew by just 0.7 percent in the first quarter. While we watched the Dow Jones rise since Donald Trump’s election and have seen a rise in consumer confidence along with business optimism fed by hints of a soon-to-come tax reform, The Wall Street Journal rightly states, “that sentiment alone won’t lift the economy out of the Obama two percent doldrums,” as it warns the GOP had better get moving on tax reform or risk reelection problems in the 2018 midterms.