My observations on the news of the day.
ON SECOND THOUGHT – It seems as though Republicans are having second thoughts on the repeal and replace of ObamaCare. House and Senate members have been meeting with White House staffers to iron out differences. Meanwhile, a group of Democrats have written to the president that they would be willing to discuss health insurance if he would take repeal off the table. Fat chance. Personally, I’d like to see the GOP resolve differences and press ahead without Democrats if they can be assured of getting the needed votes.
THE SOUTHERN BORDER WALL – I’ve learned that in the Trump administration’s request for proposals for the construction of the wall, the government seeks to build a 30-foot-high concrete or see-through structure to be sunk six feet into the ground that would require at least one hour to cut through using power tools.
CONSIDER THIS STATISTIC – The Pew Research Center reports that in 2014, seven per cent of all U.S. births – about 275,000 babies – were born to parents who were in the U.S. illegally.
PERCEPTIONS MATTER – Apparently, President Trump’s actions during his first two months in office have meaning to Americans. Consumer confidence surged to a 16-year high in March, the highest since 2000, according to the Conference Board. The boost was attributed to the record jobs reported in February, with much-needed increase in private sector construction jobs.
FUTURE OF COAL INDUSTRY – There are those who say coal jobs will not be coming back despite President Trump’s effort to keep his campaign promise to coal miners in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Wyoming. While that may be true, the president, with his reversal of Obama era regulations, has cleared the way. Now it’s up to existing coal companies to take advantage of the opportunity.
You will recall how Hillary Clinton tried to win over coal miners by offering a $30 billion “bribe” to help them, after foolishly saying “we’re going to put a lot of coal miners and a lot of coal companies out of business” on the campaign trail. “The (Obama) administration has systematically eviscerated a high-wage industry, coal … and then offers welfare money,” said National Mining Association spokesman Luke Popovich at the time.
During his campaign, Trump listened to the miners and learned that they weren’t interested in job training handouts; they wanted to mine coal.
A TALE OF TWO KOOKS – Michael Moore, known for his liberal drivel, upset over President Trump’s reversing President Obama’s Clean Power Plan, tweeted:
“Historians in the near future will mark today, March 28, 2017, as the day the extinction of human life on earth began, thanks 2 Donald Trump.”
Then there’s CNN’s Angela Rye, who, during a discussion of how the wiretapping issue might have been treated under the Obama administration, said “Barack Obama had to be the next best thing to Jesus.”
