tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54399388868951182762024-03-08T13:20:41.421-08:00Thoughts on Liberty, Economics & Life...“To take from one, because it is thought his own industry and that of his fathers has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers, have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, the guarantee to everyone the free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it.” — Thomas Jefferson, April 6, 1816Jack Chamblesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16714642268269970475noreply@blogger.comBlogger232125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439938886895118276.post-48550523223955630362024-02-19T08:28:00.000-08:002024-02-19T08:30:08.691-08:00Did Racism create Capitalism?Back in 2022 I invited Ibram X. Kendi, author of "How to be an Antiracist' to join me at Valencia to debate his contention that captialism was born out of racism. He did not make it, but here is a <a href="https://www.kaltura.com/index.php/extwidget/preview/partner_id/1881491/uiconf_id/30648821/entry_id/1_wikx0hp1/embed/dynamic">speech</a> you might find useful to answer this imporant question.
<a href="https://www.kaltura.com/index.php/extwidget/preview/partner_id/1881491/uiconf_id/30648821/entry_id/1_wikx0hp1/embed/dynamic"></a>Jack Chamblesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16714642268269970475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439938886895118276.post-9589219534919934532024-02-18T15:05:00.000-08:002024-02-18T15:05:21.837-08:00The Economics of Trump's NATO remarksIn case you missed it, recently former President Donald Trump stated that if he were in office once again he would "encourage" Russia to invade members of NATO who are, by his estimation, not paying enough for their security. The chart below shows the percentage of GDP each NATO member pays toward NATO defense. While there has been a stated expectation that each nation pays 2% of its GDP towards the protection of this organization, most nations fall a bit short. To Trump, this means they are not paying their bills and thus, should be left unprotected should a future invasion take place.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://www.forces.net/sites/default/files/NATO%20defence%20expenditure%20estimates%20for%202023%20120224%20CREDIT%20NATO.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" src="https://www.forces.net/sites/default/files/NATO%20defence%20expenditure%20estimates%20for%202023%20120224%20CREDIT%20NATO.jpg"/></a></div>
I would like to offer Donald Trump two thoughts.
First, if, for example, Russia took you up on this and invaded Germany while you were President, the other NATO members would be obliged to come to Germany's defense. Think for a moment what this would mean for the global economy. Surely, exports from the U.S. to NATO nations would collapse during this quasi-World War. This means less money for the U.S. and a shrinking U.S. economy. Moreover, this invasion would lead to far fewer goods coming from NATO to the U.S., triggering a drop in our aggregate supply and higher inflation. Meanwhile, this global recession would cause tax revenues to plumment, social welfare spending to rise and by the time the dust settled the U.S. would lose far more money from leaving NATO to fend for itself than we are currently losing by subsidizing the nations that fall short of the 2% goal. In short, Trump's remarks reflect horrible economic policy.
The second thought is this. Consider why NATO was formed to begin with. Allowing rogue states like Russia and an increasingly militarized China to view the United States as a potential bystander is an invitation to World War III. Plus, his bluster most likely has many NATO members thinking (rationally so), "O.K., fine. See who comes to help the United States if you get into a war in the future."
One can only hope that there are a few adults in the Trump room who can convince him of the idiocy of making his recent comments the official stance of the United States.
Jack Chamblesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16714642268269970475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439938886895118276.post-7613915155657379642024-02-14T07:38:00.000-08:002024-02-14T07:47:26.432-08:00Biden's Memory vs. Trump's NarcissismIt has been, for any of you that check this blog from time to time, nearly 2 years since I have given enough of a damn to write anything. You have not missed my Op-Ed pieces for the Orlando Sentinel, or any other paper for that matter, because I no longer choose to waste my time on the rapidly eroding quality of print journalism in this country (the Wall Street Journal being one exception...). That said, I wanted to chime in on the state of politics in America in the winter of 2024 as we slog towards what might be the most embarrassing elections in our nation's history.
It goes without saying, but I will say it anyway, that we have, from the left, President Joe Biden who seems to care so little about our country that he is willing to run for re-election despite overwhelming visual and audio evidence that he is incapable of filling this office until he is 86 - or for that matter, 82 - years of age. It is somewhat shocking and at minimum, disturbing to watch Mr. Biden struggle to communicate about anything.
I am 57 and sometimes (often) struggle to remember what the best lines are to finish a thought, or a lecture. Therefore, I do have sympathy for a man who has a horrible job that requires mental alertness on a scale few can fathom. It is for that reason that my sympathy turns to anger and bewilderment that he is willing to risk huge errors in judgment and a possible Constitutional crisis all to, in his words, "finish the job I started." How the Democrats save us from his nomination, I do not know.
Then there is the potentially far more terrifying prospect of the re-election of Donald Trump. In 1991 I changed my voter registration from Republican to Libertarian because I realized that George H.W. Bush had taken Ronald Reagan's party and flushed it down the quasi-liberal toilet. His son gave us more "Compassionate Conservatism" at the expense of the budget and good economic policy and then gave us a War on Terror that gutted our founding principles.
No to be outdone, Donald Trump has succeeded in ENDING all signs of what the Republican party used to be. From his disastrous and idiotic trade war with China to profligate spending, cruel and irrational immigration policies and complete refutation of the fact that America needs allies, Donald Trump and his Constitution-ignoring minions are now poised for what will be the 2025-2029 "Revenge Tour". Make no mistake about it, a second Trump term will be dominated by a 78-82 year old narcissist who will be hell-bent on destroying everyone - and every institution - that dared to tell him that he was not re-elected in 2020 or that he was unfit to be president ever again.
This revenge tour will also most likely be conducted in an environment where China will once again be targeted, and Russia will be emboldened. I would not be shocked if his outsized view of his own greatness and mission will lead to armed conflict on a scale we have not seen in decades. For the past two years when people have asked me my view on where we are as a nation I have said, "Jimmy Crack Corn". For older readers you will know that in the song bearing that phrase, the next line is...."and I don't care."
I really wish I still cared as much about our country as I used to. I still love the idea of what our nation was supposed to become. Ben Franklin was asked by a citizen, "So, Mr. Franklin, what kind of country did you create for us?", shortly after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. His answer? "A Republic, if we can keep it." I think Mr. Franklin - and other Founders - knew that the moment the ink dried on that parchment paper, the clock was ticking on this republic. The ticking has sped up because the American people have become so ignorant, polarized, spoiled and arrogant that we have selected "leaders" who are an embarrassment to the men and women who valued our liberty back in the day. Jack Chamblesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16714642268269970475noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439938886895118276.post-33310642659831344412022-06-10T13:27:00.003-07:002022-06-10T13:29:06.416-07:00How to stop Stagflation now<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi7dSNokVl-tqYiLVpXvllqqrtMnT4oGayVL5UZW1c49TRYumcbdNCNvNHp95WKtK2MlwXgs4JLjB0AT0jHEPYQ6mqz6TGq-d0gmIQ08ol6uhTS862kCmIPCe-YZhlom6znj6nw00BaJher94YpkNK4UEOzCPxvcaYbekILD7YWgCYP0_1Wg506V7WvJg" style="font-size: 12pt; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2366" data-original-width="3155" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi7dSNokVl-tqYiLVpXvllqqrtMnT4oGayVL5UZW1c49TRYumcbdNCNvNHp95WKtK2MlwXgs4JLjB0AT0jHEPYQ6mqz6TGq-d0gmIQ08ol6uhTS862kCmIPCe-YZhlom6znj6nw00BaJher94YpkNK4UEOzCPxvcaYbekILD7YWgCYP0_1Wg506V7WvJg" width="320" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><br />The latest inflation data was released on June 10</span><sup style="text-align: justify;">th</sup><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;">
and the news is getting worse.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;">Prices
increased 8.6% in May – the largest increase since the country started
Christmas shopping in 1981. Making matters worse is the fact that the economy
contracted by 1.4% in the first quarter of 2022.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">For those of you who are new to this type of party – meaning
you are under the age of 50 – this is called stagflation, and it is the worst
of all economic developments.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Stagflation first reared its ugly head in the United States
in 1971 and stayed there for over a decade.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Nixon tried wage and price controls (see Elizabeth Warren’s
current call for the same) only to create shortages and black markets.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Jimmy Carter tried to spend his way out of trouble, only to
see the ‘Misery Index’ - the sum of inflation and unemployment – reach a record
that has never been broken.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Now it is Joe Biden’s turn to either look like a savior or
share the dunce cap worn by his predecessors.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">If he is serious about fighting stagflation – without seeing
a Federal Reserve Bank created recession, do it for him – he needs to do just
one thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is, he must immediately
take measures to increase the overall supply of goods and services in this
country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To do that, he must ignore his
party, overturn Trump’s bad ideas and have the courage to be unpopular until
non-inflationary economic growth reappears.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">First, President Biden has to inform the climate change
zealots that now is not the time to worry about how much ice is in the Artic in
the year 2417.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He should announce,
immediately, that permits for oil drilling on federal lands that have gathered
dust for the past two years will be approved while all federal regulations that
are currently rushing us towards a fossil fuel-free society will be
tabled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Notice that as gas prices
have crept towards $5 per gallon, the oil companies are not acting like they
used to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the past, high gas prices
would have led to a flurry of production increases everywhere crude can be
found.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Not now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Biden and
his climate change minions have scared the oil and gas industry into sitting on
proven reserves and barely budging the production needle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He needs to tell them – yesterday – to drill,
drill, drill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This will help increase
supplies, lower prices and offset what has been lost from Russia’s war against
Ukraine.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Second, he needs to open the borders – and they need to be
wide open.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are currently over 2
million fewer immigrants in the U.S. than we would normally have because of
Trump’s lousy understanding of the value immigration has in a modern economy.
That, plus the slowdown that occurred during the height of the pandemic has
created a terrible labor shortage that has fueled skyrocketing prices for
homes, food and everything else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
need more people and since Americans do not seem eager to go back to work, we
need to get them from anywhere and everywhere.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Third, Mr. Biden needs to call off Donald Trump’s trade war
with the planet and announce that there will be pressure on Congress to
eliminate all tariffs on all goods that are produced in any country on the
planet that wants to sell to us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
elimination of tariffs would help offset a great deal of the supply-chain
issues that have kept prices high and would create more competition, lower
prices and economic growth.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Finally, while there is nothing Joe Biden can do to undo his
inflationary $1.9 trillion stimulus package from 2021, there is a message he
can send to Wall Street that would be helpful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That is, that government spending – across the board – will be cut.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That means corporate welfare, social welfare
and every other category in between in order to show some measure of
inflation-fighting fiscal discipline.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">If all this sounds like some ridiculous fairy tale that would
never happen, well, that is true.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">That is why many economists are now saying that this decade –
yes, the decade – is going to look a lot like the 1970’s, minus the polyester
and disco music.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Jack Chamblesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16714642268269970475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439938886895118276.post-84254456677556811802022-02-19T16:32:00.002-08:002022-02-20T04:44:54.968-08:00Paul Bell - Legendary Oklahoma football coach - and father figure<p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="text-align: center;">Today, Paul Bell, my high school football coach in Hugo, Oklahoma (1981-83) passed away.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEho1Vet8JaQXOsqP9JUaOMBvoWlXhCuv-Xu_gaJygPoEGXZVLxFhVJzNGzUXwadrtX16fryts0dBfVz5zbnNs3CaDStmjpHr9MY4a8u0N3_tBSWT8_poBL1EUHDlsmOy1cAGdV2G3-F07zozmBTytP5C0lMLvwz3ZCzvYkHybjLHC-oK-i1f3A4DRFxlw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEho1Vet8JaQXOsqP9JUaOMBvoWlXhCuv-Xu_gaJygPoEGXZVLxFhVJzNGzUXwadrtX16fryts0dBfVz5zbnNs3CaDStmjpHr9MY4a8u0N3_tBSWT8_poBL1EUHDlsmOy1cAGdV2G3-F07zozmBTytP5C0lMLvwz3ZCzvYkHybjLHC-oK-i1f3A4DRFxlw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="496" data-original-width="400" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEho1Vet8JaQXOsqP9JUaOMBvoWlXhCuv-Xu_gaJygPoEGXZVLxFhVJzNGzUXwadrtX16fryts0dBfVz5zbnNs3CaDStmjpHr9MY4a8u0N3_tBSWT8_poBL1EUHDlsmOy1cAGdV2G3-F07zozmBTytP5C0lMLvwz3ZCzvYkHybjLHC-oK-i1f3A4DRFxlw" width="194" /></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Words cannot describe how much Coach Bell meant to me and the thousands of other young people he impacted during his time as an educator and coach.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">In the 1970's he was the coach of Eufaula, OK high school where he shaped the careers of legends like J.C. Watts and the Selmon brothers.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The number of All-State and All-American players he coached is staggering. He had players who ended up in the NFL Hall of Fame and who were considered candidates for President of the United States.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">But he also had a far greater impact on the players he coached by being a true father figure.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Eastern and Southeastern Oklahoma is a hard part of the world to grow up in. When I was a kid, the fathers of that era were not the type to hug a lot or say "I love you" with great, or any, frequency.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Paul Bell was different.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">It was not uncommon for him to finish an important football, or life lesson, and look you right in the eye and say, "I love you." </p><p style="text-align: justify;">You knew pretty quickly that he meant it by the way he fought for us, taught us and molded us into men.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The molding could be tough as hell though.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Coach Bell grew up in Depression-era Oklahoma, worked in the oil fields, served in the military and was a champion boxer and undersized guard for his national championship college football team. He was a hard-nosed, no-nonsense man that I seriously doubt many of today's NFL, college or highschool kids could have tolerated.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">He was not shy about loudly correcting stupid things we did and did not tolerate laziness. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">From his two-a-day practices in Oklahoma's summer to his fourth quarter drills that made you wish you were 1,000 miles from his practice field, when he put us through conditioning drills you knew it was meant to last a lifetime.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">And a lifetime it has lasted.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">There have been many times when I have been in the proverbial 4th quarter of work, parenting, coaching or being a husband. I cannot count the number of times that I have felt Coach Bell's influence when I needed to finish strong or outwork someone else. His tough love shaped my character and helped me understand the difference between excellence and mediocrity.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Late in his life I would take my sons to his home and he treated them like they were his own. He laughed with them, showed them football drills and asked them questions about their interests and their lives without ever bragging about himself.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">He also never discussed something with me or any other player that is also a testament to his character. Coach Bell was let go by Hugo after three seasons. Years later we found out that one of the the biggest reasons for his dismissal was his decision to have the first African-American quarterback in school history take the reins for our team. This was a hugely unpopular decision with the people in Hugo who had power and influence over the school board even though it was the right one for our team. That quarterback ended up taking Hugo to back-to-back state playoff appearances his junior and senior year.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">This, and countless other stories about him are sure to circulate in the days ahead.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Paul Bell's legacy is one of character, discipline and dedication to young people while showing them it is fine for a tough guy to show love and kindess at the same time.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Thank you, Coach Bell.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">I love you too....</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p>Jack Chamblesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16714642268269970475noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439938886895118276.post-83183367206229660102022-01-18T09:42:00.009-08:002022-01-18T09:50:00.558-08:00How President Biden can Fight Inflation<p><span class="TextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><span face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif">What follows is my Op-Ed in today's Orlando Sentinel</span></span></span></p><p><span class="TextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><span face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif">___</span></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: black;"><span class="TextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><span face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif">Readers of this paper who are under the age of 50</span><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif"> </span></span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" color="windowtext" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">do</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" color="windowtext" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> not recall the last time the United States experienced a rapid increase in the price of, well, everything.</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW115106478 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW115106478" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW115106478 BCX0" paraeid="{43d60eec-179c-4f6a-8c0b-6c2f1e6ec8dc}{177}" paraid="71394613" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Recently the latest inflation data was </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">released,</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> and the report was staggering. Last month, prices rose by 7% - the largest increase since </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">1982. This figure represents an acceleration of upward pressure on prices that has been taking place si</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">nce the end of the short-lived, but severe 2020 recession.</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW115106478 BCX0" paraeid="{43d60eec-179c-4f6a-8c0b-6c2f1e6ec8dc}{177}" paraid="71394613" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="EOP SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW115106478" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW115106478 BCX0" paraeid="{43d60eec-179c-4f6a-8c0b-6c2f1e6ec8dc}{191}" paraid="2112710646" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Left unchecked, every American who receives an increase in their wage or salary in 2022 better hope that it approaches double digits, otherwise they will </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">only be</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> able to say, “Thanks for cutting my pay” to their employer.</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW115106478 BCX0" paraeid="{43d60eec-179c-4f6a-8c0b-6c2f1e6ec8dc}{191}" paraid="2112710646" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="EOP SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW115106478" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW115106478 BCX0" paraeid="{43d60eec-179c-4f6a-8c0b-6c2f1e6ec8dc}{201}" paraid="1397699571" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Yet, it does not have to be this way</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">. </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> There are steps the Biden Administration, Congress and the Federal Reserve Bank can take today to prevent a disastrous repeat of the </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">1971-82 </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">period</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> when a new term, “stagflation” reared its ugly head.</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW115106478 BCX0" paraeid="{43d60eec-179c-4f6a-8c0b-6c2f1e6ec8dc}{201}" paraid="1397699571" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="EOP SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW115106478" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW115106478 BCX0" paraeid="{43d60eec-179c-4f6a-8c0b-6c2f1e6ec8dc}{217}" paraid="744084280" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Inflation takes place when the demand for goods and services increases at a faster pace than suppliers can produce. Stagflation occurs when the overall supply of goods and services declines. Stagflation is the worst of all </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">economic evils because when supply falls throughout a nation it not only pushes up </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">prices,</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> but it also leads to a recession and higher unemployment.</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW115106478 BCX0" paraeid="{43d60eec-179c-4f6a-8c0b-6c2f1e6ec8dc}{217}" paraid="744084280" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="EOP SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW115106478" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW115106478 BCX0" paraeid="{43d60eec-179c-4f6a-8c0b-6c2f1e6ec8dc}{229}" paraid="1312784731" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">What we are seeing today is, for now, demand increasing </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">e</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">xtremely fast</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> while supply is slightly falling, or depending on the sector, barely increasing.</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW115106478 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW115106478 BCX0" paraeid="{43d60eec-179c-4f6a-8c0b-6c2f1e6ec8dc}{229}" paraid="1312784731" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="EOP SCXW115106478 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW115106478" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW115106478 BCX0" paraeid="{43d60eec-179c-4f6a-8c0b-6c2f1e6ec8dc}{239}" paraid="805044363" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">This problem has been created by several sources. </span><span class="EOP SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW115106478 BCX0" paraeid="{43d60eec-179c-4f6a-8c0b-6c2f1e6ec8dc}{239}" paraid="805044363" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="EOP SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW115106478" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW115106478 BCX0" paraeid="{43d60eec-179c-4f6a-8c0b-6c2f1e6ec8dc}{245}" paraid="1916733323" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">First, the Trump and Biden Administration, to fight the economic dislocation caused by the pandemic, sent out trillions of dollars in stimulus checks, whether you need</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">ed it or not, to boost demand and shore up consumer and business confidence. That coincided with drastically expanded unemployment benefits and monthly tax credits paid </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">out to families, even if their finances were on solid footing.</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW115106478 BCX0" paraeid="{43d60eec-179c-4f6a-8c0b-6c2f1e6ec8dc}{245}" paraid="1916733323" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="EOP SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW115106478" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW115106478 BCX0" paraeid="{43d60eec-179c-4f6a-8c0b-6c2f1e6ec8dc}{255}" paraid="218671058" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Simultaneously, the Federal Reserve Bank, adjusting for inflation, has provided the nation with negative interest rates throughout 2021 and today</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">. </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">If you have a 3% mortgage payment, with inflation of 7% you are </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">paying negative 4% interest to your bank</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">. </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> This has help fuel an explosion in home buying </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">like</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> the pre ‘Great Recession’ binge of the early 2000’</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">s.</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW115106478 BCX0" paraeid="{43d60eec-179c-4f6a-8c0b-6c2f1e6ec8dc}{255}" paraid="218671058" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="EOP SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW115106478" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW115106478 BCX0" paraeid="{da5a7b07-1645-4499-b6e3-2ac85224a59e}{22}" paraid="2132844614" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">On the supply side of the equation, both Presidents Trump and Biden have fueled rising input costs of production with their economically absurd foreign trade policies</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">. </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Neither of these gentlemen have su</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">bscribed to the centuries-old belief that free trade leads to economic growth, </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">prosperity,</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> and lower inflation </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">because of</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> a steady flow of products and competition.</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW115106478 BCX0" paraeid="{da5a7b07-1645-4499-b6e3-2ac85224a59e}{22}" paraid="2132844614" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="EOP SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW115106478" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW115106478 BCX0" paraeid="{da5a7b07-1645-4499-b6e3-2ac85224a59e}{42}" paraid="1219447837" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Instead, we have seen an increase in tariffs on most of our trading partners which forces them to raise prices while allowing American companies, who now have less competition, to follow suit with their own </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">increase in prices.</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW115106478 BCX0" paraeid="{da5a7b07-1645-4499-b6e3-2ac85224a59e}{42}" paraid="1219447837" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="EOP SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW115106478" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW115106478 BCX0" paraeid="{da5a7b07-1645-4499-b6e3-2ac85224a59e}{50}" paraid="325006649" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Moreover, economists keep pointing out the </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> dramatic expansion in government spending has led to historic reductions in the labor force</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">. </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">In many cases, throughout 2021, </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">government benefits paid far more than work so people simply pulled out of the labor market</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">. </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">This further decreased the supply of goods and services and has contributed </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">to</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> our current state.</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW115106478 BCX0" paraeid="{da5a7b07-1645-4499-b6e3-2ac85224a59e}{50}" paraid="325006649" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="EOP SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW115106478" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW115106478 BCX0" paraeid="{da5a7b07-1645-4499-b6e3-2ac85224a59e}{74}" paraid="2120145990" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">It cannot be overstated that the pandemic has led to supply chain issues that neither Trump nor Biden could have </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">foreseen</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> or fixed quickly</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">. </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Yet, there are some things that Pres</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">ident Biden could do now to help 2022 look more like the previous 40 years.</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW115106478 BCX0" paraeid="{da5a7b07-1645-4499-b6e3-2ac85224a59e}{74}" paraid="2120145990" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="EOP SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW115106478" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW115106478 BCX0" paraeid="{da5a7b07-1645-4499-b6e3-2ac85224a59e}{90}" paraid="1775721774" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">First, he must avoid pushing for an even greater expansion of government spending that creates disincentives for people to work. Second, he needs </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">to reverse Trumps’s anti-immigration stance and make it far easier for people to enter the country join the labor force.</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW115106478 BCX0" paraeid="{da5a7b07-1645-4499-b6e3-2ac85224a59e}{90}" paraid="1775721774" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="EOP SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW115106478" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW115106478 BCX0" paraeid="{da5a7b07-1645-4499-b6e3-2ac85224a59e}{98}" paraid="1666501798" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Third, his current regulatory agenda that has drastically increased the rules, </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">paperwork,</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> and expense of owning a business </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">must</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> be </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">reined</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">in</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">. </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Every new </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">regulation is a cost</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">. </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Every cost gets paid for when we go shopping.</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW115106478 BCX0" paraeid="{da5a7b07-1645-4499-b6e3-2ac85224a59e}{98}" paraid="1666501798" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="EOP SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW115106478" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW115106478 BCX0" paraeid="{da5a7b07-1645-4499-b6e3-2ac85224a59e}{130}" paraid="376042114" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Fourth, unlike his predecessor, Mr. Biden needs to openly work with the Federal Reserve (see Ronald Reagan and Paul Volcker) to raise interest rates now – and by a large enough amo</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">unt to slow the irrational growth of demand we are seeing.</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW115106478 BCX0" paraeid="{da5a7b07-1645-4499-b6e3-2ac85224a59e}{130}" paraid="376042114" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="EOP SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW115106478" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW115106478 BCX0" paraeid="{da5a7b07-1645-4499-b6e3-2ac85224a59e}{138}" paraid="321752133" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Whether Mr. Biden has the political courage to do this is uncertain.</span><span class="EOP SCXW115106478 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><p><span class="TextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><span class="TextRun SCXW115106478 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">What is certain is that if he does not, this decade is going to look a lot like the 1970’s - and no one should want that.</span><span class="EOP SCXW115106478 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span>2 Orlando Sentinel</span></span></p><p><br /></p>Jack Chamblesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16714642268269970475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439938886895118276.post-51902024033174744562021-04-20T11:56:00.002-07:002021-04-23T09:25:38.230-07:00The Luckiest Man on the Face of the Earth<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjxPYfWl3kQ56ul9-mKiTwSxDwCxeMAau6PJltlHt5fDH_Kb0fr5G8meFzAEgpvJN4unawcp5AyiI1_CWlT5FSYgqr7NiWmTWYq2Yz3T-gZEP8XGxrEvMYilnO2QyEhL1HVdxyHC3xpI7b/s750/Gehrig%2527s+banner+2021.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="750" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjxPYfWl3kQ56ul9-mKiTwSxDwCxeMAau6PJltlHt5fDH_Kb0fr5G8meFzAEgpvJN4unawcp5AyiI1_CWlT5FSYgqr7NiWmTWYq2Yz3T-gZEP8XGxrEvMYilnO2QyEhL1HVdxyHC3xpI7b/w313-h234/Gehrig%2527s+banner+2021.png" width="313" /></a></div><p style="text-align: justify;">On May 2, 2018 I was standing in the third base coaching box in the bottom of the 7th inning of the Legacy Charter High vs. Masters Academy playoff game.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">We were losing 8-0 and were a couple of outs away from a likely season-ending loss.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">My oldest son, and Legacy's captain,<a href="https://www.orangeobserver.com/article/legacy-high-retires-chambless-no-14"> Gehrig Chambless </a>was in the batters box getting ready to come to the plate for the last time in his high school career and the last time he and I would be on the field together as father and son.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">I had been his coach for virtually every season since 2006 from the TFA Royals, through Winter Garden Little League and Legacy High School.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">I remember how excited Gehrig was to get his first uniform - #14 - when he was 7 years old. He loved being on a team and having official games. his first game ever he stood out in right field and practiced his swing.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Before he took his last swing in 2018 I noticed that he was wiping his eyes and had his head down.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Slowly, he turned and began walking all the way out to where I was standing.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">When he got to me it was clear he was shedding tears. He looked at me and said, "Thanks for coaching me all these years...." and then he gave his dad and coach an unforgettable hug.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">On April 19, 2020 I retired from coaching baseball. That night Gehrig and I, along with his mom and brother, watched 'Field of Dreams' for probably the 15th time. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">It was the last movie Gehrig and ever watched together and one that is especially meaningful to me now.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Every time the ending of this movie plays out, I weep like I am seeing it for the first time. When Kevin Costner says, "Dad....you wanna have a catch?" I always - like any other American son - pictured that being me and my dad.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The last time Gehrig and I played catch as father and son was in 2019. Strangely, we got to be all by ourselves on his high school field and we played catch for a longer period of time than we ever had. I did not want that evening to end. I knew that would most likely be our last time together on a baseball field. As we walked off together I hope he felt how special that time was to me. I hope it was to him. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Gehrig died on April 26, 2020. Bizarrely, I new see myself in the Kevin Costner role but instead of seeing my dad slowly turn and realizing it is him it is actually, in my mind, my son. I can picture in my mind the image of him in his catcher's gear, youthful, strong and free of the troubles that come as we get older.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Lou Gehrig once said - even as he was facing his own early death - that he felt like "the luckiest man on the face of the Earth."</p><p style="text-align: justify;">I feel like I was the luckiest dad and coach on the face of the earth to have Gehrig Chambless as my son and player.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">And wish I could see him on Earth one more time, in his catcher's gear and say to him, "Gehrig, would you like to play catch?" </p><p style="text-align: justify;">I think he would love to.....</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/b_wnD6jxREU" width="320" youtube-src-id="b_wnD6jxREU"></iframe></div><br /><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><br /><p><br /></p><br /> <p></p>Jack Chamblesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16714642268269970475noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439938886895118276.post-79227251774321673602021-02-19T16:42:00.000-08:002021-02-19T16:42:11.023-08:00Little Bighorn - a poem by Gehrig William Chambless<p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 26.6pt center 3.75in; text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/3ca96b81dc48f2021989a6dd64bd0f3e372533e3/c=0-173-1229-867/local/-/media/2018/06/18/INGroup/Richmond/636649377176589408-Edgar-Samuel-Paxson---Custer-s-Last-Stand--closely-cropped.jpg?width=660&height=373&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="373" data-original-width="660" src="https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/3ca96b81dc48f2021989a6dd64bd0f3e372533e3/c=0-173-1229-867/local/-/media/2018/06/18/INGroup/Richmond/636649377176589408-Edgar-Samuel-Paxson---Custer-s-Last-Stand--closely-cropped.jpg?width=660&height=373&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 26.6pt center 3.75in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 26.6pt center 3.75in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">LITTLE BIGHORN<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><u><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 11;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></u></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><u><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></u></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The gentle breeze blowing soft <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Upon the silent plains <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The amber glow of summer sun<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Last light of the day<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The howling wolf from mountains far<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
graceful eagle soars <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The night before the fiery hell<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The peace at Little Bighorn<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
rifle rounds are stored and stashed <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Within
an easy reach<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">They
check the lines, shouting names<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Searching
for a breach <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Three
hundred strong, they march and pray<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Asking
that their Lord <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Guide
the General’s heart and mind <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
road to Little Bighorn <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
visions of darkness, moons before<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Warned
of those to die<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“Soldiers
falling into camp<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Like
grasshoppers from the sky”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
words of Sitting Bull, from spirit worlds<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
rally of the sworn <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">To
stand and die for their land<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
hope of Little Bighorn <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
forming of the treaty <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Lakota
and Cheyenne<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Drawn
by winds and dancing stars <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">To
make another stand<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
trails from far to Greasy Grass<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
making of a lore <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
braves that moved in for the kill<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Surrounding
Little Bighorn<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Painted as the dawning sky<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Proudly standing tall<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">They sat astride their mighty steeds <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The hammer set to fall<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The thousands strong, they dreamed of this<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The day that it was born <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Upon the myths and legends told <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The tale of Little Bighorn<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The soldiers marched, steadily on<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Toward the place that fates<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Had chosen for the blood to run<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Toward the painted face<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The fields of green, their boots would tread<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Where ground would soon be torn<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And then a man boldly cried <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“March to Little Bighorn”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The soldiers heart, with all its care<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">For those he’d left behind <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Was pierced for sins of greater men<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Who ordered him to ride <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The proud old man, with yellow hair <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Too proud to sheath his sword <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Spurred his mount, and dared to ride <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">To the jaws of Little Bighorn <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">One by one, they fell around <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The braves still seemed to come <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">But the proud old man, with yellow hair <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Wouldn’t drop his gun<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And the fury of men betrayed by those<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Whose honor wasn’t more <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Than that which drifts with the wind <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The scourge of Little Bighorn<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
arrows flew and crimson streams <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Flowed
from those who passed<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">As
they dropped to the ground <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Upon
the broken Greasy Grass<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
widows of men who fell that day<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And
all their woeful mourns<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Could
be heard across the plains <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
fall of Little Bighorn<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
proud old man, with yellow hair<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Too
proud to raise the white<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Rallied
again, and called to arms <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Those
to stand and fight<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
soldiers crawled to the proud old man<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
weary, tired, and worn<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">They
could feel the hand of death <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Choking
Little Bighorn<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Battle
cries joined the wind<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Melting
strongest minds<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Of
the men that fought to live<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Trying
to survive<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
smell of powder filled the air <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And
the sun upon the corpse<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Of
the first to fight and die<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Losing
Little Bighorn <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And the proud old man, with yellow hair<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Stood up one last time<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">He raised his sword in prideful dare<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Beneath the stars and stripes <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And a thousand arrows pierced his heart <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Just as was forewarned <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And the proud old man, with yellow hair<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Died at Little Bighorn<o:p></o:p></span></p>Jack Chamblesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16714642268269970475noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439938886895118276.post-34759076537787162102021-02-07T13:07:00.003-08:002021-02-07T13:10:44.726-08:00Biden’s Irrational Approach to Regulations will Cost all of Us <p><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2021/01/20/us/20dc-orders/merlin_182629368_7ae09189-5bd4-4d0c-a712-0d1a32b14676-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="600" src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2021/01/20/us/20dc-orders/merlin_182629368_7ae09189-5bd4-4d0c-a712-0d1a32b14676-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Like many other folks who work in my chosen field, the 2020 election was not a contest involving the lesser of two evils but more like<span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></span><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">choosing</span><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span>between the evil of two<span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></span><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="background-image: url("data;border-bottom:1px solid transparent;background-position:left bottom;background-repeat:repeat-x;"); border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">lessers</span></span><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></div></span></span></span></div><p></p><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p lang="en-US" style="color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p lang="en-US" style="color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Free market economists spent four exhausting years trying to explain to our students and anyone who would listen why Donald Trump’s anti-immig</span><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">ration and nationalistic trade policies were damaging to the American economy. At the same time, we were wary of the litany of tax and regulatory proposals coming o</span><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">ut of the Biden camp. When someone runs for president during a recession and calls for even more punitive capital gains and income taxes, along<span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></span><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">anti-business, and anti-employment rules, it makes you wonder about their economic literacy.</span><span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></p><p lang="en-US" style="color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p lang="en-US" style="color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">So, like other pro-capitalism economists, I joined roughly 1% of the rest of the country and threw my vote away on the Libertarian candidate.</span><span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></p><p lang="en-US" style="color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p lang="en-US" style="color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">On January 20</span><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 9.5pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">th</span></span><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> I was happy to s</span><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">ee Trump leave office but immediately missed one good aspect of his presidency.</span><span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></p><p lang="en-US" style="color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p lang="en-US" style="color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">On the day he took office, President Joe Biden issued a presidential memo entitled, “Modernizing Regulatory Review”. The memo was intended to ensure that every review process would reflect the latest in economic and scientific research and would fully account “for regulatory benefits that are difficult or impossible to quantify.</span><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">”</span><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span>Furthermore, the memo insisted that these regulatory reviews not have any harmful anti-regulatory or deregulatory effects.</span><span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></p><p lang="en-US" style="color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p lang="en-US" style="color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">At the risk of insulting the intelligence of some of you who instantly know what this means, let me explain what this memo does.</span><span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></p><p lang="en-US" style="color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p lang="en-US" style="color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Students of economics learn that</span><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span>rational behavior exists when the benefits of some action equal or exceed the direct plus opportunity cost. President Biden’s memo instructs regulatory authorities to<span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></span><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">consider</span><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span>proven benefits that the scientific and/or economics community has established, THEN search for benefits that cannot be measured easily, or at all. While this is taking place, the reviewers are instructed to ignore the opportunity costs of pursuing any efforts that would lead to<span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></span><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">less regulation.</span><span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></p><p lang="en-US" style="color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p lang="en-US" style="color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This is akin to you seeing a shirt that you know is worth $20 to you. You then add to that $20 another $5000 in made up benefits that would come from the shirt helping you land a<span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></span><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">job as CEO of Google.</span><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> If the shirt costs $120 you then ignore the second-best choice for how to use that $120 and buy the shirt anyway because the known benefit ($20) plus the impossible to measure benefit (the odds of<span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></span><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">landing the job</span><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">) are greater than $120.</span><span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></p><p lang="en-US" style="color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p lang="en-US" style="color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Biden memo charts a new course towards greater, arguably irrational, but inarguably expensive, new regulations.</span><span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></p></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p lang="en-US" style="color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p lang="en-US" style="color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What everyone should understand is that economics policy does not take place in a<span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></span><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">vacuum</span><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">. Every regulatory decision handed down by executive order or Congressional action is a new cost imposed on business firms and indi</span><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">viduals. Those costs have measurable effects on job creation, entrepreneurship, prices and more.</span><span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></p><p lang="en-US" style="color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p lang="en-US" style="color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">By ignoring the basic facts of proper cost-benefit analysis, the Biden Administration is charting a course that makes economic recovery</span><span color="inherit" lang="en-US" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.275px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span>more difficult in the short run and economic prosperity less likely in the long run.</span></p></div>Jack Chamblesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16714642268269970475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439938886895118276.post-67008687091034503102020-11-26T08:02:00.005-08:002020-11-28T04:32:09.928-08:00Finding thankfulness after the death of my son<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsnjzeuXf2tcrY1dy2vUiTDrRTLnGYcyq0qEEGDd_omfhIIue2aIy_rzFOKP0OTJW9CO11jkV7JO_HQSHcKPv6p9gcU9384nUnzyAzpg2NJpwy84EPjVhSn3egY7GUig_Arhl9XpldAtJo/s1520/Vacation+2019+-+Oregon+%2526+Washington+102.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1520" data-original-width="907" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsnjzeuXf2tcrY1dy2vUiTDrRTLnGYcyq0qEEGDd_omfhIIue2aIy_rzFOKP0OTJW9CO11jkV7JO_HQSHcKPv6p9gcU9384nUnzyAzpg2NJpwy84EPjVhSn3egY7GUig_Arhl9XpldAtJo/s320/Vacation+2019+-+Oregon+%2526+Washington+102.JPG" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Today is Thanksgiving. </div><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Seven months ago today, on April 26th our son Gehrig died.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">To say that the last seven months have been difficult would be like saying that torture is a somewhat uncomfortable experience.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Our family's loss has been one that has permanently scarred us. Every waking moment - and even in our restless nights and dreams that come when we are asleep - we are tormented by the reality of never seeing him again on this Earth.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Gehrig William Chambless was a superstar of a human being - as well as a superstar in every endeavor he pursued.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">His infectious smile, his easy-going demeanor and his giving spirit touched so many lives - and still does to this day. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">From the time he was a little boy he was, to me, a near-perfect son. When he was a little boy he was easy to laugh, always eager to please and a pure joy to teach - whether it was as a home-schooling father, or as his baseball coach. He wanted to be excellent in everything he put his mind or hands to.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">His short stories, <a href="https://screenwritingfromiowa.wordpress.com/2020/07/30/the-lonely-tavern-a-poem-by-gehrig-chambless/">poetry</a> and songs came from a mind that I could not comprehend. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">His athletic prowess in ice hockey, football and baseball was the stuff of legend.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Yet, it was his love of family that resonates with me most today as I think about what I am thankful for.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Today I have found myself thinking of parents who have lost children to miscarriages, or whose children lived for only a few hours after birth. I have thought about parents whose children have died as toddlers and those who raised children who made it to adulthood but ended up awful human beings.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">If we had lost Gehrig early in his life - or watched him turn into a bad person later in life - today would be one of immeasurable pain and regret. I know I would be sitting here today wondering, "What would he have been like if he had made it past infancy?" or, "Where did we go wrong to have a young man turn out this way?"</p><p style="text-align: justify;">I am truly grateful that on November 26, 2020 I can look back at the life we had with our son and know that for 21 years, 2 months and 22 days we were so staggeringly blessed by one of the all-time great human beings that thankfulness is the most appropriate emotion we should be experiencing today.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">I love you Gehrig. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwscc_pvaoeuLBk7kUAwa14RFuV543AaOyxPuIkaRtmNPzG6wb4SAzhKNdrITYRhK2zI5iTxBcyKGhchvyY-Q' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">To view his Memorial Service (which starts at the 3:50 mark) please see <a href="http://www.gehrigchambless.com">www.gehrigchambless.com</a> </div><br /><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p>Jack Chamblesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16714642268269970475noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439938886895118276.post-26465046920857170322020-11-04T19:02:00.000-08:002020-11-04T19:02:23.550-08:00A Libertarian perspective on Biden's victory<p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://image.cnbcfm.com/api/v1/image/106764651-1603837520644-bid.jpg?v=1603837583&w=678&h=381" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="381" data-original-width="678" height="254" src="https://image.cnbcfm.com/api/v1/image/106764651-1603837520644-bid.jpg?v=1603837583&w=678&h=381" width="452" /></a></div><br />I must admit, I have enjoyed telling people I know that "I voted for Jo" - only to see the looks on their faces as they ponder how I could have voted for Joe Biden. When I tell them "Jo Jorgensen" I get the "who the heck is that?" look.<p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">On Tuesday I joined 1.6 million other Americans - 1.1% of the people who voted - by selecting someone who had no chance to win. Libertarians always vote for people who have no chance to win. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">We do not care.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">We vote for Libertarian candidates because we do not believe the modern Republican or Democratic parties stand up for our uncompromised values.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Donald Trump opposed the free movement of human beings (immigration) and the free movement of products (international trade with no tariffs). He did nothing to slow down government spending and used eminent domain unashamedly to build his border wall. We hated all of that since we believe that people should have the right to move from point A to point B if they think point B is a better choice; believe that no government should tell businesses which nations they can sell to, and in what quantities; believe government spending should fit within Article One, Section Eight, Clause One of the U.S. Constitution (the Madison view, not the Hamilton view) and abhor the use of eminent domain for any reason.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">We were happy that Trump cut personal and corporate income taxes (although no income tax would be better). We loved his reduction in government regulations which lowered production costs and fueled greater supplies of a myriad of goods and services and appointed many justices who had a more strict constructionist view of the Constitution. Those judges will be here long after his last U-Haul leaves the White House so that is worth something.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Libertarians are braced for Joe Biden and his likely Bernie Sanders/Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - inspired agenda that will shove new rules and regulations - along with new taxes and new welfare-state/wasteful infrastructure spending - into our economy. He will likely regulate energy markets in a way that will not ban fracking or fossil fuels but will make extracting and selling them more expensive and thus make the cost of living for all of us - especially the poor - increase.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">He will try to raise taxes on people who make more money than the rest of us only to find out what all Democrats find out. Money and people are mobile and rich people do not get to be rich by being stupid. He will not get the revenue he hopes he will, economic growth will slow and rich people will still be rich while the rest of us see less job creation and opportunities.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">He will try to expand government spending to solve his Covid-19 anti-economic growth, safety at all cost belief system, which will only increase the debt (just like Trump) and saddle future generations with large tax increases long after he has left us.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">He will spend our money on idiotic Keynesian schemes to build up our infrastructure. This was the same nonsense that did nothing for growth when Obama was the President and did nothing for our economy during the Great Depression. Taking one dollar from me to shuffle over to the construction of a windmill means I am poorer by one dollar and the government is richer by one dollar. If my plans with that dollar were better than the dollar for the windmill it would have been more efficient to let me keep my dollar. That is a fact that has not changed and Biden will not suddenly alter that fact.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">However, there is some potential good news from a Biden presidency.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">First, he will likely try to pick up where Mr. Obama left off and rejoin the Trans-Pacific Partnership. He will probably be more inclined to pursue expanded free trade and end the moronic trade war Trump started with China. This will boost the demand for American goods and lower prices we pay for foreign goods.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">He will more likely end the cruel and xenophobic immigration policies of Donald Trump. This will increase the supply of labor in areas that currently face critical shortages while at the same time restoring America as a nation that welcomes human beings who want to simply have a better life.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">It is also likely that he will seek to restore our relationships with our allies. Libertarians differ on the degree to which we need "entangling alliances" but it is certainly arguable that it is better to have a president who seems presidential, intelligent, polite, dignified, humble and receptive to the views of others than the guy we have had in office for the last four years.</p><p>If Biden can just hold off the socialists that are going to try to run him over and act like his own man he just might be a more centrist president and we will, as usual, be o.k. for the next four years.</p><p><br /></p>Jack Chamblesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16714642268269970475noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439938886895118276.post-34830853004286185182020-10-01T08:08:00.004-07:002020-11-01T12:32:46.680-08:00Searching for my White Privilege<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit; text-align: justify;">The following is my Op-Ed from the October 1, 2020 edition of The Orlando Sentinel</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit; text-align: justify;">_____________</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit; text-align: justify;">As our fractured nation continues to deal with unending controversy surrounding issues of race, police practices and social justice I have found myself pondering where people like me fit into the equation of equality – or the lack of it – that dates back to the first forced enslavement of black people from the continent of Africa. </span></p><blockquote style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" type="cite"><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><blockquote type="cite"><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px; margin: 0px 0px 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I am a 54-year old heterosexual Christian white male.<span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span>That places me in at least five categories that currently subjects me to implied – and sometimes overt – accusation of being privileged to the point of not being able to comprehend my status as such, nor able to understand the plight of people who do not fit within the same profile I benefit from. </span></p><p style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px; margin: 0px 0px 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">After all, everything about my station in life – race, sexual orientation, age, religious affiliation and gender – pretty much matches up with the people who founded our nation on the principles that we are all created equal while slavery, the political degradation of women, gays and non-Christians went hypocritically unchallenged. </span></p><p style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px; margin: 0px 0px 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span>Since that time we have seen what people like me would call “great progress” even though there should have never been a need for progress to begin with.<span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span>Had our Founders truly believed in the concepts they so eloquently shipped off to the King of England we would not have witnessed the battle for equal rights that so many disenfranchised groups have had to wage in our lifetime and in the lifetime of people who are not even born yet. </span></p><p style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px; margin: 0px 0px 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Yet, I am troubled by an assumption – that often borders on accusation – that I am not sure about.<span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span> </span></p><p style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px; margin: 0px 0px 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">That assumption is that I, by virtue of being white, have inadvertently benefited from a legacy of white supremacy that I am oblivious too.<span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span>I have been told by some of my colleagues that we white people suffer from a form of cancer that dates back to 1619 and that until we reach a true level of higher conscientiousness we will be part of the ongoing problem of racism in this country. </span></p><p style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px; margin: 0px 0px 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I was born in Germany.<span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span>My mother and her mother were too.<span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span>My grandmother was bombed out of her home during WWII, wrapping her children in wet blankets to keep them from being engulfed in flames.<span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span>My mother was born without her American father ever seeing her.<span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span>She grew up in horrific poverty and depended on care packages from a family in New York to avoid starvation.<span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span>By 14 she was working full-time to help support her mother. </span></p><p style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px; margin: 0px 0px 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">My father’s mother died when he was two.<span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span>His father was murdered when he was four.<span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span>He grew up an orphan being shuttled around from home to home until he ran away from an abusive house, eventually dropped out of school and joined the Air Force. </span></p><p style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px; margin: 0px 0px 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">When he and my mother moved back to the United States they had no money and fed me with the free milk our milkman would drop off on our doorstep in Hugo, Oklahoma. </span></p><p style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px; margin: 0px 0px 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Hugo is the poorest town in one of the poorest states in America. </span></p><p style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px; margin: 0px 0px 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I grew up in a white household but based on the economic conditions I saw – and experienced firsthand – I am not sure how the word “privilege” fits in. </span></p><p style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px; margin: 0px 0px 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I was the first person in my family to graduate from high school and attend college.<span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span>My parents did not have the money to pay for this so I worked jobs ranging from construction in West Texas to land clearing; grocery bagging and more.<span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span> </span></p><p style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px; margin: 0px 0px 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">When I graduated from college my first job application as a college instructor ended up with a department head telling me that I was the most qualified applicant but that due to “affirmative action considerations” I would not be hired.<span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span>I did not feel that this was something I should feel privileged about. </span></p><p style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px; margin: 0px 0px 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">For nearly 30 years now I have taught my students that the long history of economics has proven a few things to be immutable facts. </span></p><p style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px; margin: 0px 0px 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">One of them is that there has always been –and always will be – people who are too stupid to stop engaging in the irrationality of bigotry, xenophobia, racism, sexism, homophobia and more.<span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span>I teach my students that to practice these awful “isms” not only denies other human beings their natural right to life, liberty and property, but it places the person engaging in these acts of hate in the unproductive condition of failing to maximize the value that comes from serving your fellowman without regard to anything other than the mutual gains from trade. </span></p><p style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px; margin: 0px 0px 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">On behalf of other white people who did not grow up privileged – and teach others how to treat everyone with dignity – I would like to ask the “white privilege” accusers to judge us the same way you would like to be judged. </span></p></div></div></div></div></blockquote></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote>Jack Chamblesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16714642268269970475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439938886895118276.post-75481842675929811452020-07-03T19:26:00.000-07:002020-07-03T19:26:44.708-07:00July 4, 1776 and what it means today<div style="text-align: justify;">
As our country approaches its 244th birthday I thought it would be appropriate to share with you a scene from the<i> John Adams</i> miniseries. Our nation is in the midst of what we have always been in the midst of - turmoil, factions and political upheaval. This is what makes our nation special. People of all walks of life; of all skin colors; of all belief systems and of all political orientations get to demand that our nation live up to the promises that were supposed to be kept. I for one am not worried that the pandemic or social unrest will tear us apart. People have been predicting the decline of America from the first moment the ink began to dry on the Declaration of Independence. </div>
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We have never been perfect. We have always been flawed.</div>
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But it is our flaws that allows us to incrementally - and sometimes suddenly - realize that all people have a God-given right to life, liberty and property.</div>
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It is when any one of us has a legitimate argument that our rights are being violated that we stand up and demand change.</div>
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This is how it was intended to be.</div>
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So whether you are part of the 'no mask' movement of the Trump supporters or part of the 'Black Lives Matter' movement you are living out 244 years of what America is and should always be about - dissent, discord and demands that the principles of our founding documents be adhered to.</div>
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So, happy Independence Day - whatever Independence looks like to you.</div>
Jack Chamblesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16714642268269970475noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439938886895118276.post-34512971797095325482020-04-24T13:27:00.002-07:002020-04-24T13:29:59.687-07:00Why Democrats should fight to end Shelter-in-Place orders<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcf66esOMVoCbAc0HWMx_JX-X25hwJH-5l-19Iwoj4_zLhMJj8S6a9-HThwsgix6Jq-4XQn2DRgX8o4XWlRLL9ZaGwr3IEjM1bZabQAevBma7ZUBpJcdIsqxQSpx8BTR_SiueSHY8gsWPG/s1600/charles-darwin-9266433-1-402.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcf66esOMVoCbAc0HWMx_JX-X25hwJH-5l-19Iwoj4_zLhMJj8S6a9-HThwsgix6Jq-4XQn2DRgX8o4XWlRLL9ZaGwr3IEjM1bZabQAevBma7ZUBpJcdIsqxQSpx8BTR_SiueSHY8gsWPG/s320/charles-darwin-9266433-1-402.jpg" width="320" /></a>In a recent Pew Research Center study it was revealed that <a href="https://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/religious-family/atheist/party-affiliation/">69% of voters that lean democrat or are democrats are also atheists. </a></div>
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This means that Joe Biden and every Democratic governor in the United States should demand an immediate end to all shelter-in-place orders and a re-opening of the American economy.</div>
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Think about it. If you are an atheist you ostensibly believe in the theory of evolution rather than creation. If you believe in evolution you, by deductive reasoning and logic, also believe that pandemics are simply part of nature and nature's way of selecting members of various animals - in this case humans - who are most fit to survive the spread of deadly viruses, while the weakest members of the species are naturally 'selected' for their biologically natural fate.</div>
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Any follower of Darwin should be perplexed by the fact that we are expending valuable resources to protect the most vulnerable citizens of our country. That is to say, the elderly. Atheists should lead the charge to stop this artificial protection of senior citizens under the argument that every dollar we spend protecting a weaker member of our species, the more harm we inflict on younger, healthier member of the human race by subjecting them to greater debt and ultimately higher taxes for decades to come.</div>
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Among those 69% of Democrats who do not support creationism, they would also have to argue - lest they come off as ignorant hypocrites - that the shutdown of our economy is unfairly punishing those businesses that had been thriving by serving their customers well. In biology, only those species that have successfully adapted and mutated as the ecosystem demands it will be selected for success and the rest of the competitors will die off. So, if you were running a business that had figured out how to serve people faster, or better, or with some unique product or service model that was better than your next best competitor, the government is artificially killing you - and violating Darwin's theories - in two ways.</div>
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First, the government is forcing you to shut down, or reduce your service offerings. This is like a forest ranger forcing a successful pack of wolves to hunt less or move to less productive hunting grounds. </div>
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Second, the government is taking money away from successful members of our species and giving it to less successful businesses all in the name of 'stimulus'. This is like the same forest ranger taking away the elk that a pack of productive wolves has killed and giving that kill to wolves that heretofore had been hunting in less productive areas, or were not hunting productively.</div>
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Now the inferior wolf pack is rewarded for being inferior while the productive pack is left to figure out how to navigate an environment where you are punished for being successful.</div>
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This leaves us with the fact that if you are a Democrat - and an atheist - you can only legitimately contend that the pandemic should be allowed to run its course - even if millions die - and that government should not artificially interfere in stopping the pandemic or prevent people from freely choosing to interact with one another. Atheists can only argue that humans are capable of reason and logic that have evolved over thousands of years and therefore humans should be allowed to freely determine whom they interact with and in what manner.</div>
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To argue anything else - like protecting the weak and supporting your brother in his time of need - might sound a little bit like what believers in God would argue. </div>
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<br />Jack Chamblesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16714642268269970475noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439938886895118276.post-69202036582445319562020-04-14T08:10:00.001-07:002020-04-14T08:10:51.871-07:00President Trump has 'Total' Power? Of course he does....<div style="text-align: justify;">
In case you missed it Donald Trump claimed that as president he has "total authority" and that "that is the way it's gotta be" in a news conference yesterday. Today, there are no mass protests, no marching on Washington, D.C. while keeping with social distancing standards. There is no public outrage as far as I can see. There is no figurative middle finger being extended by the cowering governors of most states in our country. There is nothing. And it makes sense.</div>
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Did any of us really believe this guy has ever read the U.S. Constitution, much less believes in it?</div>
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Does it really matter if he has read it, or remotely cares about it?</div>
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Well, no, it does not.</div>
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The American people have proven to be all too willing to subjugate themselves to the omnipresent, all-knowing, all powerful government - at every level. </div>
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I just finished grading an all-essay exam for my roughly 200 students at Valencia. One of the questions asked them to consider the proper role of government in a market-based economy during a pandemic and to discuss our rights as Americans within the context of dealing with the Covid-19 virus. It was sickening to read that the vast - and I do mean vast - majority of my students want the government to go even farther than it has in protecting us from the possibility of sickness. Most of my students - and dare I say most Americans - are all too willing and ready for the federal government to declare some form of economic and social martial law and strip us of our rights until we are all safe from this virus. They want government to use force to keep people inside and not let them move about somewhat freely as is currently the case. They are in favor of jailing people who are caught outside. They want government to step in and provide -with no end in sight - the greatest expansion of social welfare spending anyone has ever seen.</div>
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Most shocking is that my students and their fellow Americans, have imminent faith in the ability of politicians to make these decisions. They seem, during this grave crisis, to revere elected officials as some sort of secular gods with perfect knowledge of when to say "all clear" and perfect foresight into what measures must be taken and what enforcement mechanisms would be most appropriate.</div>
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I am reminded of the French economist, Frederic Bastiat, who, in 1849 wrote a book called, <i>The Law. </i>Towards the end of this book he writes: </div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif;"><i><span style="color: red;"><b>“If the natural tendencies of mankind are so bad that it is not safe to permit people to be free, how is it that the tendencies of these organizers are always good? Do not the legislators and their appointed agents also belong to the human race? Or do they believe that they themselves are made of a finer clay than the rest of mankind?”</b></span></i></span></div>
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Which brings us to Donald Trump and his claim of total authority. If we live in a nation of people who are largely recipients of the gift of liberty and who, with the exception of people nearing 100 years of age - have not had to fight to defend this gift, how can we possibly see that Donald Trump -and other government officials - are simply doing what all politicians do. That is, during times of crisis, we see those in power push the boundaries of that power in order to expand the size and scope of their authority. Lincoln suspended many of our Constitutional rights during the Civil War. FDR oversaw the internment of Americans who happened to be of Japanese descent. George W. Bush used September 11th to justify the Patriot Act. President Obama used the last financial crisis to push through Constitutionally questionable banking and health care laws and so on.</div>
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Now we get to a president, who appears to be a classic narcissist - and one whose core supporters do not seem to interested in limiting his authority. What else should we expect but to see him claim total authority? He knows his supporters will ignorantly cheer him on. He knows the rest of us will not put on our masks and take to the streets. He knows that maybe 1/2 of one percent of Americans even know what the Constitution says about presidential power and that not even 1/2 of one percent care about what Alexander Hamilton called, "this frail and worthless fabric." </div>
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Therefore, if history records that the acceleration of Americans slide into a despotic state began during the 2020 pandemic, it will be because of overwhelming ignorance of what our Founding Fathers gave us - and apathy to what it means - that will be the primary cause.</div>
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<br />Jack Chamblesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16714642268269970475noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439938886895118276.post-5275430169964707112020-03-26T06:19:00.000-07:002020-03-26T06:19:01.306-07:00A Millennial Introduction to Socialism Part II<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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One of the great complaints about capitalism that all supporters of Bernie Sanders cite is the incessant greed that the pursuit of profit creates in our country. We are told - by people who most likely majored in the humanities - that we should not put profit over people and that community well-being is a more laudable goal.</div>
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Let me ask you young folks a question...</div>
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Have you enjoyed toilet paper shopping lately? How is that going? Are you enjoying finding empty shelves, long lines and near panic-like conditions among shoppers desperate to find cleaning supplies, meat and bread?</div>
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Well, my friends, welcome to what the world looks like in Venezuela every day. Take a look at this video. <i>It will take only 3 minutes and 43 seconds away from your Instagram posting</i> and will help you see what the world would look like if we adopted socialism on a macroeconomic scale.</div>
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Shortages happen from time to time in a market economy. The shortages we are seeing at this time stem from historic increases in the demand for everything we think we will need to get through this pandemic. As demand increases, suppliers scramble to increase production in order to profit from this unique opportunity. We have seen countless stories of companies shifting away from beer production, for example, in order to produce hand sanitizer. Car makers are shifting into the production of medical equipment and so on.</div>
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The driving motivation behind this shift is not the common good, but rather the uncommon profit opportunity.</div>
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In socialism, businesses would be prevented from capitalizing on this shift in demand. Prices would be controlled by government, inventories would be rationed - by the government - and the incentive to increase production would be eliminated - leading to permanent shortages.</div>
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This is what life is like every day in Venezuela. The government there has waged war on entrepreneurship for over two decades and thus the incentives to produce toilet paper - and everything else - has been wiped out. People in this once prosperous nation now line up every day to try to find things that will help them survive.</div>
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In America, because of capitalism, we know that eventually the flow of goods will return to its normal level. None of us go to bed at night wondering if there will ever be meat at the store again.</div>
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If left to the devices of people like Bernie Sanders - and his young followers who have not taken an economics class, nor have ever lived in Venezuela - we would face shortages of everything, every day.</div>
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Jack Chamblesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16714642268269970475noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439938886895118276.post-91130696317573463922020-03-25T16:02:00.000-07:002020-03-25T16:02:10.523-07:00Dear Millennials, THIS is what Socialism looks like!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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One of the greatest unintended consequences of the government's reaction to Covid-19 is the first-hand, once-in-a-lifetime lesson in what socialism really looks like. So to all of you folks out there who are somewhere between 18 and 35 please read this carefully. It could save your life.</div>
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I know many of you have been super-excited for quite some time with the Presidential candidacy of Bernie Sanders. Some of you have acknowledged that Bernie is now finished but has laid important groundwork for youger socialists like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who can pick up his mantle and carry it forward in your quest to finally have Democratic-Socialism arrive in the United States.</div>
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It is somewhat understandable - for two reasons - that you would want this. First, if you are 35 years old it means you were in kindergarten when the Soviet Union fell apart. It means you have never lived one day in a nation that was pitted against a nation that was threatening to export human misery on a mass scale to the rest of the world - or bomb us into oblivion as a second-best choice.</div>
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You did not get to live in a world where 40% of the population lived under communism or socialism. You have never even lived in a world where Scandinavia, long held out as the dream of you young socialists, actually practiced socialism. See <a href="https://www.heritage.org/index/">https://www.heritage.org/index/</a></div>
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So, having no frame of reference other than modern-day Venezuela, for what socialism looks like, you are largely ignorant of what it would look like to live through it. Of course my students from Venezuela do not need to read any more of this post because they have lived through socialism and are well versed in the deprivation it creates. That is one reason why they are my favorite students. They live for liberty and value it more than my American students do.</div>
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A second reason why young Americans want socialism is because this has been a lousy century for you. When you were babies your government turned on its own people in the wake of September 11th on a scale that would make George Orwell shudder. From the Patriot Act to domestic surveillance to a nation that makes us cow-tow at airports, you have lived in a nation that has largely traded in its liberty for security.</div>
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Then, when you were a little older, you got to see the second worst recession in our nation's history and the mass-hijacking of your futures when the Federal Reserve Bank and the federal government combined to bail out large banks and corporations that would make Robin Hood cheer. It is no wonder you want Grandpa Bernie to give you free health care, free tuition and free child care. You have grown up watching government give away your future earnings in the form of artificially pumped up money supplies and plunder in favor of the well connected. Now you want your share.</div>
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Finally, we now see your government destroying liberty in the name of health care security by locking us down and telling us we cannot go places they do not approve of and that we have to be in our homes at 11PM. In exchange for that, Congress is going to steal another $2 trillion from your future (did you think the stimulus was free money?) and destroy your jobs and income in the present.</div>
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Socialism is an economic system that violates the rights of the individual in order to serve the desires of the state. Socialism means the nationalization or overt control over key industries. Socialism means a huge expansion of the size of government on the backs of future taxpayers. Socialism means lots of rules and regulations in order to make us all safe.<br />
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As you prepare to be locked in your homes by our new quasi police-state think about this...<br />
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Which seems better - the freedom and chance for prosperity you had a few weeks ago, or the security and reliance on the state that you are getting now?<br />
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Remember, be careful what you wish for....Jack Chamblesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16714642268269970475noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439938886895118276.post-37025923518821210852020-03-22T19:52:00.001-07:002020-03-25T16:36:01.978-07:00A Libertarian Guide to Social Distancing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I hate to admit this but all this social distancing stuff is coming pretty easy for me. As a Libertarian (since around 4 seconds after George H.W. Bush became president) I have long valued being, well, alone.</div>
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The Republican party has the elephant for a mascot. The Democrats have a Jackass (insert joke here). The Libertarians have a porcupine! Think about it. The porcupine is a solitary animal who just wants to be left alone to look for food and other porcupines. Voluntary association is the hallmark of a good porcupine. If you bother one you get a face full of quills.</div>
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For around 50 years I have been the human equivalent of a porcupine. The one friend I have who lives near me (my Texas and Tennessee friends do visit much...) also happens to be my wife. I do not own a cell phone because I find human contact overrated. I therefore have no social media presence. This blog does not count because I post what I think and do not really care what people think about what I think. I don't ask for, or expect, "likes" because I do not care what you like. I like what I like and then, if I feel like it, share it with other people.</div>
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I have been this way forever. When I was in Eugene Field Elementary school in Hugo, Oklahoma, I used to run a way every year during the school picnic to play in the woods with whatever kid I could convince to break out with me. The moment the teacher had us stand in a socialistic line to march to the park I was plotting my escape. Right after lunch I would bolt with my willing partners and not come back until it was time for all the sheep to march back to school.</div>
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In the first grade, on my very first report card, my teacher wrote, "Jack is progressing well but refuses to comply with society's standards of behavior." Damn right. Society is not my boss. I, as a six-year old, felt that I was my boss until I got home and my parents let me know that I needed to comply with some rules - or get a belt across the behind for refusing.</div>
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With this Coronavirus I find that my life has not changed much. I still have one friend who I hang out with regularly. I am now at home, with my wife and dog Jake and I am fine. I have been re-watching <i>Stranger Things</i>, working out, folding socks for the first time since Obama was president, cooking a little more often and doing projects that need to be done. I miss talking to my students but they are fine. I miss sports on television but not enough to stress over it. Since I have never texted anyone, I do not miss that. Since I am not on Instagram I do not miss that. </div>
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I would recommend to anyone reading this to consider the possibility that most human interaction is not necessary and in fact, is actually pretty annoying. Do you miss the way people drive on the roads? Do you miss people blathering on their phones in restaurants and movies? Probably not. </div>
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I think the world would be a better place if we could just learn to enjoy our time away from each other. Maybe we would be a little nicer, a little more tolerant and actually engage in meaningful conversation once we are allowed to hang out again.</div>
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Until then, enjoy the solitude. After all, unless you hate yourself you will enjoy your company.</div>
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<br />Jack Chamblesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16714642268269970475noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439938886895118276.post-90946391361301999122020-03-20T07:31:00.001-07:002020-04-24T12:58:51.219-07:00Trump's Tariffs Leave the U.S. Short on Vital Medical Supplies<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Exchange; font-size: 17px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 17px; outline: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i style="background-color: white;">From the March 19, 2020 Wall Street Journal</i></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">Why would the U.S. increase the cost and difficulty of supplying protective gear to doctors and nurses? Why would Washington obstruct the acquisition of lifesaving equipment? Because the sclerosis of trade protectionism, once it takes hold, constricts economic health and adaptation.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">Chad Bown of the Peterson Institute for International Economics calculates that the Trump administration has imposed new taxes on almost $5 billion of medical exports from China, totaling about 26% of U.S. health-care imports. With tariffs, the U.S. government is making it harder for first responders to procure masks, sterile gloves, goggles, hospital gowns, surgical drapes, thermometers and breathing masks. America also imports about $22 billion of medical technology from countries all over the world, including CT systems, patient monitors and X-ray devices.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">U.S. medical distributors are busy hunting for alternative producers and testing their equipment for interoperability when they should be concentrating on getting supplies to those in need. China, in turn, has diverted its sales to other markets. After President Trump hit Chinese medical suppliers with a 25% tariff in 2018, China’s exports to the U.S. dropped by 16%. In some cases, American users had no good alternatives because suppliers must get certified by the Food and Drug Administration, which can take more than two years. U.S. medical-equipment producers have also been plagued by the president’s new tariffs on imported components.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3; text-align: center;">Mexico ranks second to China in supplying protective medical equipment to the U.S. But Mr. Trump’s erratic threats have helped undermine confidence in building that country’s industries for export.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">The administration recently offered an indictment of its own economic isolationism. It quietly—and only temporarily—reduced tariffs on a smattering of Chinese medical products. Such half-measures fall far short. If Chinese exporters face multiple demands, they will prioritize countries without tariffs or time-limited tariff suspensions.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">Two researchers at the World Bank, Aaditya Mattoo and Michele Ruta, have identified another trade problem the U.S. has overlooked. By March 11, two dozen economies had restricted exports of medical supplies, including Germany, France, South Korea and Taiwan. Mr. Trump’s misstatement about shutting down trade with Europe caused anxiety among U.S. providers because the European Union is now the primary foreign supplier of America’s CT systems, hand sanitizer, patient monitors and pulse oximeters, X-ray machines and breathing masks. A mere seven countries account for 70% of the exports of artificial respirators, vital tools for the seriously ill; if one of them banned exports, prices could increase by up to 10%.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">There’s a lesson in the world-wide surge of food prices from 2008-11—overlooked in nearly every retrospective analysis of the financial crisis. As president of the World Bank at that time, I worked with the World Trade Organization to limit restrictions on agricultural exports. Nevertheless, recent World Bank research shows that export limits pushed up global food prices by an average of 13% over that period, and 45% for rice.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">Crises cry out for international leadership. In the postwar era, American officials reconciled global good sense with U.S. self-interest. The Trump administration should eliminate all U.S. tariffs on medical products to reduce the cost of the pandemic response, and it should urge other countries to do the same. Forty-six developing economies impose tariffs of 5% to 25% on respirators. The U.S. should rally partners in the Group of 20 to ban restrictions on exports of medical products related to C<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">ovid</em>-19 so that the world avoids price spikes, prevents panics, gains benefits of scale and specialized production, preserves variety of sourcing—and saves lives.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">In addition to coping with a pandemic, Americans face a new debate about the country’s role in the world. Some are using the pandemic to argue for greater isolation. That counsel of retreat failed miserably to counter the Great Depression in the 1930s and the security threats of 1941. As recently as the 2008 crisis, Americans learned again that they couldn’t wall themselves off from the world.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-family: "exchange"; font-size: 17px;">The U.S. will need to diversify sources of key supplies, and companies will need to build supply chains that are more flexible and resilient. Nations and businesses should consider prudent inventories and stockpiles. But precautions shouldn’t degrade into costly, self-defeating illusions of autarky. Export bans and tariffs on medical goods increase costs, create shortages and make Americans less safe. If other countries embrace these sorts of trade restrictions, major U.S. exporters, including farmers, will be devastated.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">Modern challenges—viruses, economic disruptions, the environment, cybersecurity, food supplies and more—require economic powers to act in concert, even as they pursue their own national interests. Last year the Health Industry Distributors Association warned presciently that Mr. Trump’s medical tariffs “put a risk to our nation’s public health preparedness.” Americans are now paying the price for the president’s failure to recognize that his trade wars and walls would backfire.</span></div>
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<em style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Mr. Zoellick is a former World Bank president, U.S. trade representative and deputy secretary of state.</em></div>
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Jack Chamblesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16714642268269970475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439938886895118276.post-85615959945697306552020-03-19T10:01:00.001-07:002020-03-25T16:24:26.789-07:00How Irrationality Might Lead to another Great Depression<div style="text-align: justify;">
As all of you can plainly see this virus is radically reshaping our economy right now. I wanted to share with you an article I wrote (published in today's Orlando Sentinel) that will help you have better insight into what at least one economist is thinking. If you are willing, sharing your insights into what you have experienced so far might be useful and therapeutic.</div>
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Here is the article..</div>
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<strong>How Irrationality might lead to another Depression</strong></div>
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As the United States, and the world, reacts to the spread of the Covid-19 virus I find myself wondering how many Americans are still alive who witnessed the economic calamity that began in October 1929. They would come in handy right now as economic advisers to a nation that is about to panic its way into a possible second Great Depression.</div>
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It is staggering to fathom how economically myopic and reactionary our “leaders” are being at this critical time in our nation’s economic history.</div>
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Everywhere we look we are being told to go home, stay home, don’t go out; don’t interact with one another and more. It is as if the politicians have been bestowed with some special powers to engage in policy making decisions that will somehow magically defy the laws of supply and demand.</div>
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Let’s look at it.</div>
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In an economy of more than 330 million consumers who purchase more than $20 trillion in goods and services annually, how do we continue to fuel the demand side of the economy if we are told we should not buy tickets to sporting events, hotel rooms, theme parks, restaurants and more? If we only go out to buy toilet paper and medical masks, where do the millions of workers who depend on our purchases earn enough money to avoid being sent to the unemployment lines?</div>
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Our labor force and suppliers are also being bombarded by the doomsday scenarios outlined by those we put into office to make good decisions.</div>
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Sending labor suppliers home disrupts the entire supply chain of goods and services that prevent massive shortages, business closings and collapsing infrastructure. The more people who are withdrawn from the labor force the greater the threat of stagflation – a combination of high unemployment and inflation – that last reared its head in the 1970’s and early 80’s.</div>
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Of course we are all being told that these decisions, while painful for a while, will be far better than leaving us alone to make our own choices of buying, selling and working. The experts are saying that unless our lives are interrupted for an indeterminate period of time we will suffer even greater losses in the long run.</div>
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Exactly how do we know this? What if this virus goes on into the fall? How many months can our economy survive shattered by the possibility of accelerated cases around the globe? What if in the meantime we see unemployment surge to levels higher than at any time since the 1930s? What if the gross domestic product dives by double-digits?</div>
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Do we really believe that Americans are ready for an economic downturn that no one under 100 years old has ever endured? Can we really expect deprivation on a scale that eliminates virtually all luxury spending and sends millions into poverty?</div>
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It is important to note that there is virtually nothing in the way of monetary and fiscal policy that our government could use to fight another Depression.</div>
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Interest rates are already historically low and, as we saw in the 1930’s, if people are scared to borrow, nothing the Federal Reserve Bank does can compel us to incur more debt.</div>
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Taxes are also low by historical standards. Donald Trump’s recent cut in personal and corporate income taxes generated very small gains in revenue – an indication that more tax cuts would not create greater economic growth.</div>
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The federal deficit – fueled by profligate spending by both parties – is also near record levels so even more spending is not likely to create more jobs.</div>
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I am afraid that economic historians will someday look back at 2020 as the year our hyper-reactive society allowed elected officials to shut down the largest economy in the world and ended up destroying more lives from the ensuing economic meltdown than the virus would have.</div>
Jack Chamblesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16714642268269970475noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439938886895118276.post-28591002228455075382018-08-27T07:56:00.001-07:002018-08-27T07:56:29.885-07:00 Capitalism is all we need to fight Climate Change<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeAbU-DjUmn-X8_vsIanniYnVBmiKNO1S7mkftSmQXRKYT59bnQ2ynzqn0nshM3kGsulsVJXtOz41qLprf1WFKhPw84ZhRLokHmwMwwl8bGpKMfdm-FW441gZYqL4kVpYTjgQose62yf7u/s1600/Polar+bear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeAbU-DjUmn-X8_vsIanniYnVBmiKNO1S7mkftSmQXRKYT59bnQ2ynzqn0nshM3kGsulsVJXtOz41qLprf1WFKhPw84ZhRLokHmwMwwl8bGpKMfdm-FW441gZYqL4kVpYTjgQose62yf7u/s320/Polar+bear.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<em>What follows is my Op-Ed in the August 22, 2018 Orlando Sentinel</em></div>
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This week the Trump administration announced plans to roll back regulations on coal-fired power plants, effectively abandoning the Obama-era attempts to do away with coal as a primary resource for power generation.</div>
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Critics of Trump’s policies on energy often point out that since he took office, there has been a push to deregulate sectors of the economy that deal with the burning of fossil fuels, and thus, exacerbate the problem of climate change. If Trump’s policies are left unchallenged, we are told, we risk thrusting the United States back into the unenviable position of being the world leader in the destructive creation of pollution that will condemn posterity to deal with the ravages of permanent climate change.</div>
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The response by the vast majority of Americans to this dire prediction is a collective yawn rooted in a self-interested perspective on energy usage. That is because no matter how much moral suasion is used to get us to care about some kid who will be around 200 years from now, we really care more about our wallets and personal convenience 200 seconds from now.</div>
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Think about it. Every time we hear the phrase, “if we all work together…..” do we end up working together?</div>
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We are told to drive cars that are low-emission and environmentally friendly. We ask, “How much will that car cost?” We are told to drive the speed limit to conserve energy, but we are late for work or enjoy speeding.</div>
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The good news is that we don’t really have to work together to accomplish victory over rising global temperatures. That is because profit-driven companies are doing all the work for us.</div>
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Because of rapid advances in technology — driven only by the desire to make more money — we have seen drastic reductions in the price of power created by wind and solar. Natural gas is now cheaper than coal. Therefore, no matter what the president will claim on Twitter, market forces and the drive for greater market share has already led to the expansion of non-coal power and less carbon dioxide emission.</div>
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The same is true in innumerable industries. Household appliances use less energy than ever before. Not because Whirlpool wants to save polar bears from shrinking ice, but because Whirlpool wants to cash in on our desire to save money first and then save polar bears as a bonus.</div>
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Food is now produced with far less energy than decades ago. Cars continue to roll off the assembly line that generate a fraction of the toxic emissions that we saw in the 1970s.</div>
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From phosphate-free detergent to the growth in products produced with recycled materials, we have seen an explosion in environmentally friendly goods and services that all come from the fruits of capitalism, rather than some government program or legislative mandate.</div>
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In fact, where we see the government involved in the protection of the environment is where many disasters occur. From the Flint, Mich., water supply to poorly managed government forests that burn in California to accidents that lead to toxic spills, government’s record in protecting the planet is not impressive.</div>
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By comparison, the pursuit of money has led to impressive results.</div>
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Therefore, even though most of us only care about our immediate needs and our limited financial resources, we can go to sleep knowing that the same system that guarantees the production of food, medicine, housing and everything else we might want or need can be trusted to produce products that will slow climate change over time.</div>
Jack Chamblesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16714642268269970475noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439938886895118276.post-55886347102116452472018-07-05T07:27:00.002-07:002018-07-05T07:29:02.203-07:00What will we do when the last WWII veteran dies?<em>What follows is my July 4, 2018 Op-Ed in The Orlando Sentinel</em><br />
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<em><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-vJrEMv4b0SJcc2ji5JXMmUU52ZOcRuKi-_mBjh7a1qYPH5KR4G_2MK1PUiD828Y0SRXaLRgpKPJtWyuM5CVbPbftf-6HlFmC49R4Dyjn3FhxAWfXKqHWC6F8maqdK_52Aexon5IM4qY2/s1600/Joe+Dickson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="318" data-original-width="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-vJrEMv4b0SJcc2ji5JXMmUU52ZOcRuKi-_mBjh7a1qYPH5KR4G_2MK1PUiD828Y0SRXaLRgpKPJtWyuM5CVbPbftf-6HlFmC49R4Dyjn3FhxAWfXKqHWC6F8maqdK_52Aexon5IM4qY2/s1600/Joe+Dickson.jpg" /></a></em></div>
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<span style="color: white;">What will we do when the last </span><a href="http://www.orlandosentinel.com/topic/unrest-conflicts-war/wars-interventions/world-war-ii-%281939-1945%29-EVHST00000110-topic.html" id="EVHST00000110" style="color: #e05504; text-decoration: none;" title="World War II (1939-1945)"><span style="color: white;">World War II</span></a><span style="color: white;"> veteran dies? Seventy-five years ago today, the United States was less than a month into the invasion of Normandy. This invasion – the largest in our history – involved more than 160,000 allied forces and thousands of ships and aircraft. By July 4, U.S. forces were fighting in horrible weather amid the hedge rows of France in an effort to drive out the Germans.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white;">William C. Coleman, one of the paratroopers who dropped into Normandy the night before the invasion, was a prisoner of war the day America celebrated the Fourth of July. Wounded as he dropped out of the sky, Coleman, a 19-year-old from Orlando, fought bravely before being captured and imprisoned until he escaped as World War II was ending in the European theater.</span><iframe class="teads-resize" style="border: currentColor !important; display: block !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; min-height: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 703px;"></iframe></div>
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<span style="color: white;">His story – and his life following the war – was incredible to hear. He was an amazingly successful state politician and businessman and was instrumental in helping with veterans’ causes for decades after he came home from war.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white;">William Coleman died in 2012. Before his death, my children were fortunate enough to sit with their great uncle as he shared with them what the last war for American liberty was like for him and countless other soldiers.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white;">A highway leading to the east campus of </span><a href="http://www.orlandosentinel.com/topic/education/colleges-universities/valencia-college-OREDU0000160-topic.html" id="OREDU0000160" style="color: #e05504; text-decoration: none;" title="Valencia College"><span style="color: white;">Valencia College</span></a><span style="color: white;"> is now named after him.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white;">When I was a kid, I got to sit with Joe Dickson (pictured above), a gunner on a tank serving under Gen. George Patton. Dickson, from tiny Hugo, Okla., was a giant of a man with a laugh and good nature matching his size. When I would ask him about the war, he was always careful to not talk about the deaths he was part of, but did share stories that brought the sacrifice he had made to light. I thought he was bigger than life.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white;">All over America there are other veterans of World War II with similar life stories, yet every day more than 370 WWII vets pass away. Of the 16 million Americans who served during this time, only 600,000 are still alive – with most of them well into their 90s.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white;">It is deeply troubling to me, and undoubtedly, many more Americans, to contemplate what our country is losing every day. With the passing of every veteran, we are losing a connection with a time when an entire country rose up to fight for and defend the principles of constitutional liberty that the Founding Fathers spoke of on July 4, 1776. We are also losing historians, in effect, who lived through the horrors of war and witnessed the consequences of allowing nationalistic leaders to turn demagoguery into mass killing. With the loss of these eyewitnesses to history our nation – and others – we risk repeating the grave mistakes made in the years leading up to and including World War II.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white;">Consider this:</span></div>
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<span style="color: white;">Recently, a study published by U.S. News & World Report found that 45 percent of Americans could not name one World War II-era concentration camp, and 66 percent of millennials had never heard of Auschwitz. I wonder what would happen if you asked the average college student in America to identify various events like D-Day, the Battle of the Bulge, Pearl Harbor and more? Do you think the typical American would be able to write an essay about Hiroshima or identify the Axis powers?</span></div>
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<span style="color: white;">I seriously doubt it.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white;">Ten years from now, the average WWII veteran will be over 100 years old. Twenty years from now they will be gone, and along with them the ability of the rest of us to sit at their feet and hear about what it was like to defend a nation during war; what it was like to have millions of citizens rally to gather needed supplies and what it felt like to witness the power of American capitalism out-produce all of our enemies in stunning fashion to equip our fighting forces with unprecedented military superiority.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white;">On our 242nd birthday, perhaps we all should try to find veterans of this war and ask them questions, listen to their stories and thank them for preserving liberty for all of us.</span></div>
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<strong><em></em></strong> </div>
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Jack Chamblesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16714642268269970475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439938886895118276.post-72942813348533941832018-06-19T06:26:00.000-07:002018-06-19T06:31:15.426-07:00Teaching Economics in an Idiocracy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6r0NMiNNZjKKsJvrJzHkNO2bDAAI-OstEOuBdYFQ3WUMH8qoX2pzGm37Hr22dPDrhoDq3JP34OE8v7-kLh_u_AtoYEyURQTfqVVvUdWpz3IFjgij1r-KCLFcELnLbYze4_lXO62oOD6sN/s1600/sanders_trump%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="412" data-original-width="620" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6r0NMiNNZjKKsJvrJzHkNO2bDAAI-OstEOuBdYFQ3WUMH8qoX2pzGm37Hr22dPDrhoDq3JP34OE8v7-kLh_u_AtoYEyURQTfqVVvUdWpz3IFjgij1r-KCLFcELnLbYze4_lXO62oOD6sN/s320/sanders_trump%255B1%255D.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><o:p></o:p></span></b> <strong><em>What follows is my June 19, 2018 Op-Ed in The Orlando Sentinel</em></strong></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">A few years ago one of my
colleagues sent me the trailer to a movie called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Idiocracy.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This film was set
in the United States in the year 2505.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The premise of this film was that after 500 years of rapid population
growth among Americans with lower levels of intelligence and low birth rates
among smarter people, eventually the country was filled with idiots. This
included the President (a profane former professional wrestler), his cabinet,
all levels of government and the entire citizenry.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">My problem with this movie is the
assumption that it would take 500 years to create a nation of non-thinkers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I see it, in many ways, we have already
arrived.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I have been an economist for just
over 30 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I reflect back
over what life was like over that time period I clearly recall how simple my
job used to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Granted, economics is
not easy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is indeed one of the most
challenging subjects you can study.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What
was easy was the degree to which Americans could process economic theory and
supporting evidence in a myriad of categories.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Take the concept of international
trade for example.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Economists dating
back to Adam Smith have clearly illustrated how the principle of comparative
advantage leads to mutual gains from trade.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There is a reason, I tell people that we have grocery stores rather than
gardens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all use the money we make
from where we are skilled and then give that money away to farmers who possess
an advantage over us in the growing of everything we want to eat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We win when we get good food at prices we can
afford and we win because we do not have to allocate long hours to learning how
to coax a tomato out of the ground.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">When Florida sends oranges to
Minnesota we do not hear about Minnesotans massing at their border in protest
over the “dumping” of oranges in their state any more than Floridians complain
when corn from Minnesota arrives in our stores.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Both states win from this event.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The same is true when we buy
steel from Canada.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oops.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">We seemed to understand that
trade from nation to nation makes sense – years ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today, when I try to show Americans how
foolish President Trump’s steel tariffs are, I get much more resistance from
Trump supporters who contend that somehow he is going to magically bring back
the moribund and horribly inefficient American steel industry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Canada, I hear, is keeping America from bring
back jobs in this key industry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No
matter how much I (and other economists) point out the last time we tried this
more than 200,000 jobs were lost in the steel-using industries (see George W.
Bush’s steel tariffs), Trump voters believe that their guy has special powers
over the laws of economics.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">It does not get much better when
immigration comes up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Forgetting for a
moment that economists have repeatedly shown that immigrants create more jobs
than they displace; engage in less crime than native-born Americans; use social
welfare benefits less than Americans and play a valuable role in keeping prices
down in everything from agriculture to home construction; Trump supporters in
my classes and in the community want no part of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They don’t even want to hear about speeches
by Republican legend, Ronald Reagan, calling for amnesty and promoting open
doors for immigrant seeking greater liberty and opportunities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Talking to Democrats is also an
exercise in futility.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">For the new wave of Bernie
Sanders/Elizabeth Warren supporters it is like talking to a wall when you show
them the economic policies of John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">It is staggering the blank stares
of incredulity that I get as I lecture on Kennedy’s massive personal and
corporate income tax cuts and how the economy of the 1960’s achieved record low
unemployment rates, rising incomes and a doubling of government tax revenue in
the wake of his pro-growth tax cuts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Instead, the fans of Bernie want
the top 1% to be hammered with higher taxes in the name of “fairness”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Asking them to define fairness yields more
blank stares.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">When people I talk to learn of
Bill Clinton’s passage of NAFTA and his global drive to open foreign markets to
American investment capital, they adopt the anti-trade sentiment of Bernie and
Donald Trump even when they see the data on net increases in wages and jobs in
the wake of his sound trade policies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I could mention the trouble I run
into explaining the stupidity of the $15 minimum wage and Bernie’s idea of
providing jobs and health care to every American who wants one, but this paper
limits my word count.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">If America is to avoid becoming a
land of idiots, it is incumbent upon all of us who understand truth to engage
our fellow citizens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Otherwise, the
profanity-using, professional wrestler President is right around the cor…….<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Never mind.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></o:p></div>
Jack Chamblesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16714642268269970475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439938886895118276.post-77300171831532786562018-06-05T12:46:00.004-07:002018-06-05T12:46:47.032-07:00Our right to gamble on sports does not come from government<div style="text-align: justify;">
<em><strong>What follows is my May 24, 2018 opinion piece in The Orlando Sentinel</strong></em></div>
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On Sept. 26, 1981, I was lying on the living room floor of my parent’s home watching the University of Southern California play Oklahoma in a much-anticipated college football game. In the week leading up to the game I made several bets with friends and school mates that USC would beat OU. As a 15-year old kid living in Oklahoma, I found it easy to find people who were willing to place a bet.</div>
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USC won and I spent the next few days collecting my cash.<iframe class="teads-resize" style="border-image: none; border: currentColor !important; display: block !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; min-height: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 100% !important;"></iframe></div>
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John Locke would have been quite proud of me.</div>
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Almost 200 years earlier, in his second treatise on government, John Locke — one of the philosophical architects of American politics — wrote, “A liberty to follow my own will in all things where that rule prescribes not, not to be subject to the inconstant, uncertain, unknown, arbitrary will of another man, as freedom of nature is to be under no other restraint but the law of Nature.”</div>
<div class="trb_ar_cont" data-ar-cont="Article continues below" style="text-align: justify;">
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<aside class="trb_ar_sponsoredmod" data-adloader-networktype="nativo" data-load-method="trb.vendor.nativo.init" data-load-type="method" data-v-ntidd="1069533" data-withinviewport-options="bottomOffset=100"><div data-src="http://ib.3lift.com/ttj?inv_code=orlandosentinel_article_mid_opinion" style="display: none;">
<br /></div>
</aside><aside class="trb_ar_sponsoredmod" data-adloader-networktype="nativo" data-load-method="trb.vendor.nativo.init" data-load-type="method" data-v-ntidd="1069533" data-withinviewport-options="bottomOffset=100">Locke understood what the U.S. Supreme Court has finally made official in our country.</aside><span data-content-kicker="Related"></span><aside class="trb_em trb_embed" data-content-id="99277100" data-content-size="small" data-content-slug="os-ed-sports-better-front-burner-20180521" data-content-subtype="story" data-content-type="story" data-role="sc_item imgsize_ratiosizecontainer " data-state=""><figure class="trb_em_ic_figure" data-role="imgsize_item"><aside class="trb_em trb_embed" data-content-id="99274786" data-content-size="small" data-content-slug="os-ed-tempted-to-bet-student-athletes-front-burner-20180521" data-content-subtype="story" data-content-type="story" data-role="sc_item imgsize_ratiosizecontainer " data-state=""><a class="trb_em_m_lk" data-content-media-present="true" href="http://www.orlandosentinel.com/opinion/os-ed-tempted-to-bet-student-athletes-front-burner-20180521-story.html"><figure class="trb_em_ic_figure" data-role="imgsize_item">That is the simple fact that as free human beings living in a country that long ago codified our natural right to life, liberty and property it is simply nobody’s business if a person decides to take part of (or all of for that matter) the fruits of their labor — and gamble on sporting events.</figure></a><figure class="trb_em_ic_figure" data-role="imgsize_item"></figure></aside><figure class="trb_em_ic_figure" data-role="imgsize_item"></figure></figure></aside><figure class="trb_em_ic_figure" data-role="imgsize_item"></figure><figure class="trb_em_ic_figure" data-role="imgsize_item">There should have never been the need for Las Vegas casinos, offshore booking or black-market gambling sites if our government had stayed out of our business to begin with.</figure><div style="text-align: justify;">
Sports gambling in America — even with its limited options — is a nearly $5 billion industry even with the near unanimity among state legislatures in banning this market.</div>
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Of course, as politicians always discover, no law that man or woman writes ever triumphs over the laws of supply and demand. From the era of Prohibition to the current war on drugs, time and time again we see that as long as profits can be earned and consumers are available, someone will find a way to enter the market and supply us with what we want.</div>
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Now that the Supreme Court has opened the door to legal gambling, we should all celebrate what is going to unfold.</div>
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First, in a recent interview, NBA owner <a href="http://www.orlandosentinel.com/topic/business/mark-cuban-PEBSL0000924-topic.html" id="PEBSL0000924" title="Mark Cuban"><span style="color: #e05504;">Mark Cuban</span></a> commented that legalized sports gambling will double the value of professional sports franchises.</div>
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Cuban is a smart guy who sees the potential for a vast new market to open up.</div>
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Imagine the changes that could take place in the arenas and stadiums across the country. You can expect to see gambling kiosks throughout stadium concourses. It will also make sense to retrofit stadium seats to provide touch pad technology that allows people to gamble from their seats on everything from the score at halftime to whether a player will make his next free throw. Of course it also makes sense for teams to make cellphone apps available to gamble remotely on everything people want to gamble on.</div>
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Politicians should be celebrating as well. First, among people who are passionate about gambling on sports, the overall demand for sports-book services is somewhat to very inelastic. This gives state governments the opportunity to impose taxes on a per-wager basis or on the winnings of gamblers and sports-booking agents. The newfound tax revenue would allow state governments to shore up their budgets and spend on initiatives they deem necessary.</div>
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</div>
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The state of Florida already does this with our version of legalized gambling known as the lottery. If gambling tax revenue would be added to lottery money, we might hear a lot less about critical shortages of revenue for everything from heightened school security to our over-burdened infrastructure.</div>
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Critics, of course will charge that legalized sports gambling will promote addiction, financially decimate families and ruin people’s lives.</div>
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What the economic moralizers always miss is the fact that there is already a thriving black market from which addiction can form. Las Vegas — and the chance to financially ruin your life — is a flight away. Moreover — and perhaps most important — it is also a fact that we have, as free citizens, the natural right to be stupid with our money.</div>
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</div>
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If the government has the right to decide whether we should gamble on NFL games, why doesn’t it — in the name of protecting society and families — have the right to ban foods high in sugar and fat, or ban suggestive music or magazines that degrade women?</div>
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In 1849, French economist Frederic Bastiat summed up this whole gambling argument this way:</div>
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“If the natural tendencies of mankind are so bad that it is not safe to permit people to be free, how is it that the tendencies of these organizers are always good? Do not the legislators and their appointed agents also belong to the human race? Or do they believe that they themselves are made of a finer clay than the rest of mankind?”</div>
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Let the gambling begin.</div>
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<div class="trb_sc" data-role="sc_information sc_container" data-sc-c="page" data-sc-cont="story" data-sc-contid="99275184" data-sc-desc="On Sept. 26, 1981, I was lying on the living room floor of my parent’s home watching the University of Southern California play Oklahoma in a much-anticipated college football game. In the week leading up to the game I made several bets with friends and school mates that USC would beat OU. As a..." data-sc-nn="Orlando Sentinel" data-sc-sl="os-ed-sports-betting-yes-american-freedom-front-burner-20180521" data-sc-th="http://www.trbimg.com/img-5b0727fe/turbine/os-ed-sports-betting-yes-american-freedom-front-burner-20180521" data-sc-ti="Gung-ho for legal sports betting: A win-win-win" data-sc-url="/opinion/os-ed-sports-betting-yes-american-freedom-front-burner-20180521-story.html">
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Jack Chamblesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16714642268269970475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439938886895118276.post-36626670580238278442018-02-22T08:17:00.001-08:002018-02-22T08:17:18.268-08:00Please stop handing Olympians our flag<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<em><strong>What follows is my Feb. 22nd Op-Ed in the Orlando Sentinel</strong></em></div>
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On Feb. 22, 1980, I was a 13-year old sitting in front of a black-and-white television watching the United States hockey team play the seemingly invincible juggernaut from the Soviet Union. So few people thought the U.S. had a chance that night that the game was actually tape-delayed and broadcast after it was already over.</div>
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Of course, everyone knows what happened next. The U.S. team, filled with nothing but college kids, shocked the planet and ended the USSR’s domination in this sport. During the game, for the first time anyone could recall, American fans broke out into an ear-splitting chant of “U…S…A.”</div>
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Several years ago, I interviewed Jack O’Callahan — a prominent member of this team — for a book I was writing. He told me that the players were stunned by this arena-shaking chant and used it to raise their game to a championship level.</div>
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Two days later, the same young men topped Finland to win the last gold medal our country has ever seen in men’s hockey.</div>
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After the game against Finland, U.S. goalie Jim Craig stood on the ice looking for his widowed father in the stands. While he was searching, a young woman came up and put an American flag over his shoulders. This spontaneous act was not designed to help Craig make millions in endorsements or portray himself as a special patriot. It just happened.</div>
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Thirty-eight years later, American competitors — and their fans — have hijacked this moment of purity and turned it into a farce.</div>
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Every American who finishes in 17th place in any event is met with the USA chant, as if coming in near last place merits the mimicking of the 1980 moment.</div>
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All Americans who win medals are immediately given flags to hoist so that the cereal and cellphone companies will have their free photographs ready to go when those athletes cash in on their “let’s turn gold into cash” moment.</div>
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Granted, I have nothing against using victory to chase the fruits of capitalism. If I won a gold medal in any event, I would cash the checks that would follow.</div>
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Yet, there is something more to this.</div>
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Notice what happened when American superstar <a href="http://www.orlandosentinel.com/topic/sports/snowboarding/shaun-white-PESPT000008749-topic.html" id="PESPT000008749" title="Shaun White"><span style="color: #e05504;">Shaun White</span></a> won his medal in snowboarding. He was handed the flag for his “Jim Craig moment” and then proceeded to drag it on the ground and even walk on it.</div>
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There it is.</div>
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For White — who later apologized for this incident — and the rest of the teenage and millennial Americans competing in the Winter Games, the flag probably is nothing more than a prop to most of them. The Cold War is over. Our schools rarely teach much American history anymore, and it is probably unlikely that their parents taught them to respect the flag (see the NFL protesters of the same age group).</div>
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Therefore, I would like to suggest the following:</div>
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First, all Olympians should receive basic instruction in how to hold our flag — and hoist it only if we beat Russia in something or beat everyone else for a gold medal.</div>
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Second, American fans should realize that the “USA” chant has been overused and perhaps should be replaced with clapping and cheering — unless we beat Russia in something.</div>
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Third, people should stop handing the flag to all athletes who win medals, and instead hand them boxes of cereal or posters of the cars they will be marketing after the games — unless we beat Russia in something.</div>
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This would be more genuine and would keep curmudgeons like me from bringing up 1980 every four years.</div>
Jack Chamblesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16714642268269970475noreply@blogger.com0