Ken's Comments

We won't put inflation behind us as long as Joe Biden is President and Democrats control one or both Houses of Congress.  There was going to be some level of inflation after the shutdowns of 2020, but the policies adopted by the Biden Administration and the spending bills passed by the Democrat Congress have elevated inflation to levels they have not been at in many years.  As long as Joe Biden is in the White House or Democrats control one House of Congress they will be able to prevent undoing the policies that have put us where we are. Starting on day one, the Biden Administration began adopting policies that fueled the growth of inflation.  Despite it being obvious for months that inflation was running hotter than expected the Biden Administration was in denial, saying inflation was transitory.   Supply chain issues were initially caused by other factors but the Biden Administration has talked about addressing this but none of their policies have been successful.   On the other

Tuesday's election produced dramatic results.  As political experts around the country try to explain what just happened, here's my point of view.  The lessons to be learned by Democrats are different than the lessons that should be taken away by Republicans.  The stage is set for political upheaval at the Federal level in 2022 but how big that will be will be influenced by which party derives the right messages from the election that just occurred.  But to start, if you want a real understanding of what just happened, evaluating the Governor's race in Virginia is important but that is only the tip of the iceberg - you have to look deeper into the races at every level and across the country.  If Democrats focus solely on the Virginia Gubernatorial election and buy into the media claims that Glenn Youngkin's win is indicative of white racism, influence of President Trump, or inability to get President Biden's agenda passed*, they'll be crushed in the upcoming ele

I got my shots.  I recommend everyone get a Covid-19 vaccination unless their personal physician says there is a reason they shouldn't.  I think most arguments I've seen against getting shots are silly.  Now that we've got that out of the way:  I am 100% opposed to penalizing the innocent (i.e. those of us who got shots) by making us wear masks to protect the "guilty" (i.e. those who did not get shots). The CDC released data today on Covid-19 cases.  According to CNN, more than 99.99% of people who are fully vaccinated have been safe from "breakthrough" cases resulting in hospitalization or death.*  ABC7, a local ABC station in Southern California, read the same report and puts the number at 99.999%.**  I got my shot so by the CDC's own numbers, I'm not at risk.   I am 100% opposed to Vaccine IDs or Passports.  It's ironic that many in favor of Vaccine IDs also oppose requiring IDs to vote.  But I'm opposed to Government issued identifica

 In 2008, as a candidate for the office of President, Senator Barack Obama became embroiled in a controversy.  The pastor at the church he and his family attended, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, offered a sermon with strong, negative views about the United States of America.  The sermon expressed points that align directly with what is called "Critical Race Theory" today.   Opponents of then Senator Obama, both his political opponents and opponents in the media, suggested that because Senator Obama and his family attended that Church for a long while the Senator must share the views expressed by Reverend Wright. Obama gave a speech in response.  In that speech he started out expressing hope for America.  That hope was based on his "unyielding faith in the decency and generosity of the American people.  But it also comes from my own American story."  He then recounted that story - "son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas" raised by white gran

The Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments on what one news outlet called a "potentially blockbuster abortion case."*1  The key issue in this case, according to SCOTUSBlog,*2 is "Whether all pre-viability prohibitions on elective abortions are unconstitutional."   This grows out of a Louisiana case decided in 2020 where the US Supreme Court struck down a law requiring doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges at a hospital.  In a 5-4 ruling, the Court said this is an unconstitutional restriction on pre-viability abortions.  Typically, objections from pro-choice advocates is that few abortion providers have admitting privileges and, in some places, they are a considerable distance apart. In the Mississippi case, the State has banned abortions after 15 weeks, the second week of the second trimester.  Mississippi points out that a woman can have an abortion prior to the 15 week mark without restriction, where in the Louisiana case if a woman could not f

Don't get vaccinated the the establishment is coming for you.  CNN Medical Contributor Dr. Leana Wen, also former Planned Parenthood President, said "It needs to be hard for people to remain unvaccinated."  By that she means, harassing people with forms and mandated testing multiple times a week.  She also endorsed "Vaccine Credentialing" - making Americans carry a proof of vaccination card.  Can't require people to get IDs to vote but Vaccine Credentialing IDs, that we can require.  And why?  Because it is a way for the establishment to penalize you for not following their dictates. It started in January, when many Democrats, Democrat supporters in the Media, and Never Trumper Republicans were saying that anyone who worked for or supported President Trump should be banned from jobs, shunned personally and professionally, and subjected to re-education.  They have quietly been putting that into effect. This week we saw stories saying Toyota is the latest corp

The late Gov. George Wallace said "There's not a dime's worth of difference between the Democrat and Republican parties."  That may have been true in the 1960s but it's not true today.  Let's look at some of the differences. On stimulating the economy - Democrats believe they know best how to spend my money.  Example: the $900 billion stimulus package enacted by Democrats in 2009 and the proposed $3 trillion stimulus offered by President Joe Biden now. Republicans believe I know best how to spend my money.  Example: tax cuts by President Reagan, President George W. Bush, President Donald Trump, all resulting in booming economies rebounding us out of recessionary periods. On racism - When Republicans heard the racist comments by US Representative Steve King (R-Iowa), they urged him to resign and stripped him of his committee assignments.**   Democrats?  Recently a Texas party leader made a racist comment about Sen. Tim Scott.  He offered to resign, but the loca

Rod Dreher wrote an article published in The American Conservative titled "What's Happening To Villanova."*  Mr. Dreher provides a copy of a letter published by Father President Peter Donohue and then Mr. Dreher goes on to rip into the University because of the letter. If the only evidence is what is said in Father Peter's message, and that is the only evidence Mr. Dreher offers, then I have to disagree with Mr. Dreher's interpretation.  Here is an alternative view of what Father Peter said:   - We want Villanova to be antiracist.  Good.  I'm against racism and I'm glad Villanova is too. - Antiracist means justice and equity for everyone.  I really like that comment.  When the phrase "Black Lives Matter" first became popular didn't many people (including myself at the time) respond, "All Lives Matter."  Here we have Father Peter saying antiracist doesn't mean we should try to protect one group of people, it means we should try t

It has only taken 60 days to see the difference in the Biden Administration's relations with China and Russia versus the Trump Administration's relations. For four years, we heard that President Trump was too nice to dictators, referring in particular to Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping.  When Trump met the leaders he was cordial and friendly and did nothing to embarrass them publicly.  This was met with great criticism and, on at least one occasion, it was justified such as President Trump's fumbling of a question about Russia's interference in the 2016 election.   On the other hand, while President Trump was cordial to these leaders, the Trump Administration did things the Obama Administration didn't to curtail Russian expansionism.  The Obama Administration refused to provide military weapons to the Ukraine to help them fight the Russians invading their country, the Trump Administration delivered that aid.  Where President Obama drew a line in the sand when asked wh

 Today's headline - "Ford slammed by Union for Plans to Move New Model Production to Mexico." The test for President Biden: What is he going to do about it? During the Trump Administration, a similar event occurred.  GM started scaling back it's operations at the Lordstown Ohio plant and progressively reduced production there until it was ready to close the facility. President Trump condemned the automaker and threatened them with tariffs if they moved production to another country. The outcome was the re-opening of the Lordsville Plant under a new company that will manufacture electric pickup trucks.  This was done with assistance from the Trump Administration, as credited by individuals saying in Trump advertisements that the plant would have been closed for good without Trump's help. Now Ford announced it is moving production of a next generation model from its plant in Avon Lake, Ohio.  They are leaving behind production of pickup trucks, but that's curren

Some are talking about how the Presidential Election was stolen by the Democrats.  Others criticize those folks as peddling false conspiracy theories.  Just stop.  All of you - just stop. Can't you see our country is suffering not just because of that debate but because you're missing the more important issue that needs to be addressed. The Election is over, Joe Biden is President.  But the way the election was run has left our country badly divided and needing healing.  It's time to change the questions being discussed to ones whose answers can unite the country. Try these questions on for size. 1. Is it good for the United States of America that as many as 74 million people question the integrity of the last election? Can anyone honestly answer "yes" to that question?  Can anyone honestly say it's good that tens of millions think the election was fixed?  Is having doubts about the integrity of our election processes  good for our country? 2. If you believe,

With the passing of Rush Limbaugh, America has lost a leading Conservative voice.  I copied the passage below from The National Pulse's article about Limbaugh's passing.  It recounts a speech Limbaugh delivered at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in 2009.  The National Pulse said it "... is widely considered one of the most important moments of his career — an explanation of 'who conservatives are.'”  “We love people. When we look out over the United States of America, when we are anywhere, when we see a group of people, such as this or anywhere, we see Americans. We see human beings. We don’t see groups. We don’t see victims. We don’t see people we want to exploit. What we see — what we see is potential. We do not look out across the country and see the average American, the person that makes this country work. We do not see that person with contempt. We don’t think that person doesn’t have what it takes. We believe that person can be the best h

 Start off positive.  Two things President Biden has done right with Executive orders.  First, the Buy American order.  He promises to use federal dollars to buy from American manufacturers and companies.   Second, he promises to replace the current fleet of US Government vehicles with electric cars.  About time someone did that.  In the long past, I wrote a blog challenging government officials who were truly concerned about climate change to stop yapping and do something about it and one of the things they could do is create a bigger market for electric cars by insisting their government agencies buy them rather than gas powered cars. Two attaboys for President Biden for those.  Because I wanted to start positive, I won't address the other Executive Orders, many of which aren't worth crap.  But I will get snarky now. Now he says it Department - Anthony Fauci goes on Fox News and says "...after that [NY Times] interview I said to myself we really have got to look forward

Last week, President Biden signed an Executive Order that starts out by stating "all persons should receive equal treatment under the law, no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation."  It's intended to offer protections to the LGBTQ community.   Opponents to the Order are speaking out.  Legal counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom stated "President Biden's executive order has directed federal agencies to eviscerate legal protection for women and roll back nearly 50 years of gains for women."  One opponent specifically called out the impact on women's sports of allowing individuals born biologically male to compete against women. Supporters of the President's order are responding in 3 ways.   The first, most frequent, and most offensive response is bullying.  Opponents are called "transphobes," "trans exclusionary radical feminists" or "TERFs," or "gender critical feminists."  Instead of addressin

I believe the saying is if we don't learn from history it will repeat itself.   I went to a movie over the weekend - "News of the World" starring Tom Hanks.*  The movie takes place in 1870, which was relatively early in the Reconstruction period following the Civil War, and the location of the events is the state of Texas. Early scenes show soldiers, Yankees or Blue Bellies as they were called, stopping Texans and demanding they produce a piece of paper - a signed loyalty oath.  The requirement of Loyalty Oaths was ostensibly done in the name of promoting unity - reuniting the country after a bitter war.  But it really was an effort by some in Washington to humiliate their opponents in the War - Southerners - while often promoting their own self-interest.** During the late 1940's and early 1950's we saw the hunt for Communists across the country.  History shows there were Communist spies in many governments around the world and also Communist sympathizers in both

 We own this.  It's our fault.   The last two months have been disappointing and awful, culminating in a tragic disaster this week.  And if you've been a Trump supporter, as I have been, you need to look in a mirror because the blame starts there and runs from each of us individually to all of our fellow Trump supporters whether regular individuals or elected officials, and onward to the people in the Trump Administration, and finally to the President himself. By the end of November it should have been obvious the President and his legal team were incapable of making a legitimate case about what happened on Election Day either in court or in the court of public opinion.  Instead of continuing an obviously futile effort to change the election our focus should have changed. Job 1 should have been winning the Senate seats in Georgia. Job 2 should have been lobbying our State and local governments to change the rules so we never again experience the shenanigans we saw on Election d