Penny Press 23, 2020 · Trump, the Democrats, the Media and Impeachment Editor’s note: This...

Penny PressNevada, USA Volume 17 Number 20 JANUARY 23, 2020

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THE PENNY PRESS,JANUARY 23, 2020PAGE 2

By JANE M. ORIENT, M.D.Special to the Penny Press

The words of the year as 2019 ended appear to be “OK Boomer” and “woke.” To this Boomer, it appears that the younger generation

is blaming us for all the Evil in the world, from their perch of “woke” moral superiority. They consider us to be out of touch and over the hill.

According to Merriam-Webster, “woke” means “aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice).” It went from being a black activist watchword to internet slang.

It is apparent that there is a giant political divide in this country, partly but not entirely intergenerational. In my opinion, my generation bears a lot of blame, but probably not in the way that most Millennials think. Waiting for us to die and get out of the way is not going to solve the problem—particularly in medicine.

There is one indisputable advantage I have as a Boomer. I have had the experience of being young; my younger patients have not experienced growing old. I know exactly what that cross-stitched embroidery on my wall means: “Ve get so soon old und so late schmart.”

I was young and impressionable and passionately held some very ill-informed opinions. I did some stupid things—but did not do worse

things because I had the benefit of learning something from older people’s experience.

I had the inestimable advantage, which so many young people today lack, of having a traditional extended family. My mother was at home, running my father’s contracting business. My grandparents lived next door. I played Scrabble with Grandma, and learned a little German from Grandpa. My father was home every night. I got some invaluable experience, not especially enjoyable at the time, by sweeping the floor and picking up bent nails at construction sites.

I got a nice head start because of my dad’s hard work. It put me through medical school debt-free. Most Millennials cannot have the same advantage. Their daddies could not have learned skills like

carpentry at home, or built a house by themselves, starting with the surveying and ditch-digging with pick and shovel. “Protective” regulations would have prevented it. They cannot build up savings as I could, when one could earn real interest not cancelled out by inflation, and when much less of one’s paycheck was devoured by taxation.

Do Millennials have the same chance to get into medical school as I did? It depends. The admissions process in my day was generally meritocratic even if not entirely fair. Today, the main emphasis is “diversity.” Straight white males and Asians seem to face discrimination. A correct attitude is critical, while organic chemistry may not be required at all—never mind that the body is a chemical

Penny PressNEVADA USA 16 PAGES VOLUME 17 NUMBER 20 JANUARY 23, 2020

Penny WisdomWe all know that he's goofy, but we all have a goofy uncle that shows up at the summer picnic that we sort of like. And that's the quality of Joe Biden. He's sort of the goofy uncle at the summer picnic… —Karl Rove

The Conservative Weekly Voice Of NevadaInsideThe President DoesNot Need Exoneration

See Editorial Page 6

RON KNECHT PAGE 5FRED WEINBERG PAGE 6ROBERT RINGER PAGE 7DOUG FRENCH PAGE 9BYRON BERGERON PAGE 10ROBERT ROMANO PAGE 11CHUCK MUTH PAGE 14

2020 Thoughts of A Boomer Doctor

Commentary

Continued on page4


factory, built on carbon-based (i.e. organic) chemicals. The new doctors are different—not necessarily better.

Virtually all students will face a crushing load of debt, because of soaring tuition without any improvement in knowledge output. Unable to take the financial risk of declaring independence, and faced with new, ever-increasing re-certification requirements, young physicians will be enslaved to the opinions of their employers and specialty boards.

The Boomer generation is largely responsible. The Berkeley window-smashing “Free Speech” movement assured your ability to constantly fling obscene or profane words, while undermining cultural norms and traditional authorities. One institution after another—universities, the media, churches, professional organizations, charities, political parties, even businesses—surrendered to the radicals’ Marxist, holier-than-thou ideology.

Boomers also brought us the “entitlements” that are bankrupting government and mortgaging the labor of the younger generation. Most don’t care about robbing their grandchildren when this consequence is pointed out to them. State governments, professionals, insurers, and

bureaucrats are also most concerned about getting their share of the loot.The younger generation throughout its early years is trapped in

age-segregated cocoons, surrounded by guilt-inducing, fear-inspiring indoctrination; immersed in virtual reality; isolated from natural family, their cultural history, opportunities to learn real-world skills, and dissenting opinions.

As C.S. Lewis pointed out, it is important to read old books because each generation makes different mistakes. It is critical for the generations to talk to each other—to break down the barriers of censorship and distrust, to seek universal truths, and to keep the flame of freedom alive. We need to be awake and in touch.

Jane M. Orient, M.D. obtained her undergraduate degrees in chemistry and mathematics from the University of Arizona in Tucson, and her M.D. from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1974.

Kids Are Trapped In Age Segregated CocoonsContinued from page 3

Trump, the Democrats, the Media and ImpeachmentEditor’s note: This column ran on October 8, 2019; it’s still timely and accurate.

If you’re confused and somewhat bewildered by the efforts of Democrats and mainstream media (MSM) to impeach President Donald Trump – well, it’s not your fault. I hesitate to address the subject, but I’ll try to provide some perspective.

The Dems first mentioned impeaching Trump about two days

after his election. From then on, they had an ever-growing list of reasons they said merit impeachment – or none at all beyond their inability to accept that he won. The real reason they want to impeach him is that they despise him and his supporters. One anti-Trump Deep Stater calls us smelly WalMart people.

The Dems and MSM first assured us Trump’s 2016 election campaign won by collusion with Russia. Allegedly, the Russians spent some six-figure amount (well less than $1-million) for on-line ads that defeated Hillary Clinton. Those Russkies must be pretty clever because many other parties spent many millions for on-line and other communications and failed to achieve such impact.

What actually happened was the Clinton campaign had hired a law firm with connections to the “intelligence community.” That

firm hired an unreliable British spy to work with his Russian contacts to dig up dirt on Trump and subvert his campaign. He produced the “Steele Dossier,” some poor ammunition for the Clinton campaign that even he admitted wasn’t reliable.

Meantime, the Deep State conspirators atop the FBI and CIA and throughout the Obama administration were working at their president’s behest on illegal investigations and fraudulent court filings to cripple the Trump campaign. When he was elected, these efforts continued, now seeking to undermine his administration and remove him by any means necessary.

The means included the Mueller investigation, which the Dems and MSM assured us continuously was about to provide conclusive evidence of the Trump campaign’s “collusion” with the Russians and other illegal acts. They skated over the fact collusion is not a crime, let alone one of the “high crimes and misdemeanors” needed to impeach.

In Congressional hearings, Robert Mueller admitted he did not investigate the substantial collusion of the Clinton campaign with Russians that had been documented. Evidence surfaced recently that at least one Deep Stater in the Trump administration secretly communicated with Mueller during the investigation. Others were part of his Democrat investigation team.

But the Mueller team failed to find any criminal activity by Trump or his campaign. They did range far afield and played hardball, including vicious pre-dawn SWAT-type raids and solitary confinement for persons who had not been convicted of any crime. They did so to secure some tainted confessions unrelated to their basic mission and charge some Russians on other matters.

We were assured by Dems

and the MSM the investigation would find clear basis for Trump’s impeachment. When it failed to do so, they became desperate.

So, another Deep State intelligence officer came forward with a “whistle blower” complaint that in a phone call with the new Ukrainian leader Trump made a quid pro quo (this for that) deal that Ukraine would investigate Joe Biden’s son to help Trump’s campaign. But this person had no first-hand knowledge about the call and was merely repeating lies his fellow Deep Staters fed him.

When the call transcript came out, there was no quid pro quo in the conversation and mention of Biden only by Ukraine’s leader.

Even though the discussion implicated a Ukrainian investigation of Biden, there was good basis for it. Biden himself admitted in recorded public comments that he used a threat to withhold authorized aid to Ukraine to force firing of a prosecutor investigating a corrupt deal in which his son got great riches from a Ukraine gas company.

So, Trump had a constitutional duty – not just discretion – to seek Ukraine’s aid in this matter: His charge in our constitution to enforce our laws.

The Dems, MSM and the Deep Staters simply ignored this fundamental point and decided to use the matter as their major excuse to raise impeachment. Under their interpretation, anyone could violate American law in cahoots with foreign actors and then become a candidate for president – and the actual president couldn’t seek the other country’s investigatory help.

Sweet!For them, it’s verdict first and

then trial.More soon.


The Penny Press Tips Its Cap To:President Trump for calling Jerrold Nadler what he is—a “sleazebag”.

And the Republicans in the Senate for holding firm and voting to table Chuckie Schumer’s “amendments” to the rules for the Senate trial of the President. Schumer has the unmitigated gall to call the Senate trial rules “unfair” after the House Democrats cobbled together an impeachment without hearing from the key players which the Republicans wanted to hear from.

The Penny Press Sends A Bronx Cheer And A Bouquet of Weeds To:The legacy media for their portrayal of the Senate trial as if it were a NASCAR race. The difference is that NASCAR races actually mean something and the Senate trial—unlike NASCAR—is predetermined with a meaningless outcome.

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Tips Of Our Capand

Bronx Cheers

RON KNECHT

Commentary: Ron Knecht

The problem with impeachment by the House and a trial in the Senate is that it’s all—in the crude but effective words of President Donald Trump—bullshit.

It takes 67 votes in the Senate to convict and remove the President.

That’s not going to happen. It probably would not happen even if the Democrats in the Senate held a majority.

Yet, we have people like Nancy Pelosi sounding like the blowhard social climbing politician she is, Adam Schiff sounding like the freshman pencil-neck getting beat up by the seniors every day that he is, Jerry Nadler sounding like the poor imitation of Jabba the Hut that he is; pretending that this is really important because they hope that it will somehow tar the President’s reputation so badly that he will lose re-election.

I wasn’t there in 1789, but I’m guessing that is not what our founders had in mind.

In the words of the Nigerian uncle in the TV show Bob Hearts Abishola, “What a bag of douche.”

I’ve written this many times.

West of the Hudson River, East of the LA County line and South of the Cook County line there is a whole nation out there and we don’t give a flip if the President wanted to investigate corrupt Joe Biden and his equally corrupt son by threatening to withhold foreign aid from a country we really don’t trust anyway.

And these buttheads in the House desperately wanted to impeach this President because…well, they hate him. In fact, one particularly vile freshman Muslim in the House celebrated her 2018 swearing in by telling the crowd that she would “impeach the mother f**cker”. That inspires great confidence in the majesty of the House of Representatives, right?

And as far as obstructing Congress, why does the President need to do that? The House is plenty capable of doing that all by itself.

Here’s the bottom line:

If the President actually did EVERYTHING that the House has accused him of, he was simply doing his job.

Joe Biden and his neer’do’well drug addict son Hunter absolutely did what they were actually accused of and, since they have admitted they did so, they should be in prison. You cannot simply claim immunity by running for President. In words even goofy Uncle Joe should understand, a Presidential campaign is NOT a get out of jail free card. In point of fact, the former Vice President is on tape ADMITTING, actually, BOASTING about what he did. And that human slug son of his clearly used his father’s position to unjustly enrich himself at the expense of the taxpayers.

So what we have here is purely a political exercise which only morons think is important.

Nonetheless, we’re going to get bombarded by the media and their pet Democrats over the next weeks by nonsense leading to…nothing.

All in an attempt to make sure that President Trump won’t win re-election.

Frankly, were it legal in Las Vegas and I were setting the lines in the books, I would think it a great way to lose the casino’s money to set very long odds on the President getting re-elected. Of course, there may always be union workers who would balance the bet, but that would be stealing money from my co-workers.

That’s a cute way of saying that despite the “polls” you might see from the media, removal by the Senate is the ONLY way to get rid of this President. And, as I’ve pointed out above, the odds of that happening are close to zero.

That fact is that this President does not need to be exonerated because he’s done nothing wrong.

FRED WEINBERG


OPINIONFrom The Publisher...

Trump Has Done Nothing Wrong, Bidens Should Be In Prison


Taking Bernie and the Radical Left Seriously

As you are undoubtedly aware, Uncle Bernie’s minions are threatening to burn down cities if their favorite commie doesn’t get the Democratic nomination. A Project Veritas undercover video features a man by the name of Kyle Jurek, described by Sanders’ Iowa field director as one of the campaign’s “top tier organizers,” saying, “F…ing cities burn” (if Donald Trump is reelected) and “I mean, we don’t have a lot of time left. We have to save f…ing human civilization.”

He went on to say that “If Bernie doesn’t get the nomination, or it goes to the second round at the DNC convention, f…ing Milwaukee will burn. It’ll start in Milwaukee, and then, when the police push back on that, other cities will just f–ing (loud noise).”

Threats and violence from the Radical Left were totally predictable, of course. A year ago, in Part II of my article evaluating the Democratic presidential candidates, this is what I said about Sanders:

I doubt [Sanders] can win the Democratic nomination — and certainly not the presidency — but this time around I expect him and his rabid supporters to be out for blood now that they realize Horrible Hillary and the Dirty Dems screwed them out of the 2016 nomination.

Now, suddenly, a lot of people are starting to take Bernie Sanders — an entertaining amalgam of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, and Krusty the Clown — seriously. Bearing an eerie resemblance to Horrible Hillary mentor Saul Alinsky, Bernie is a crotchety old goat who sincerely believes that a majority of Americans would welcome socialism/communism into their lives.

Make no mistake about it, when Bernie rages on about redistribution-of-wealth schemes, he’s not just some idealistic old fool. On the contrary, he gives hope to millions of Americans who actually do dream of a Bolshevik-style uprising in in the United States. Trust me, these people would love nothing more than to see blood running in the streets. It may be hard for normal people to comprehend, but envy loves blood even more than it loves free stuff.

To envy-crazed Democrats like Kyle Jurek, Bernie represents much more than just a humorous sideshow in the fight for the Democratic nomination. As the first Democratic candidate to openly embrace socialism, he is nothing short of a heroic cult figure. Best everyone start taking Bernie seriously, because he is serious — every bit as serious as all the other lefties who have preached revolution of the masses over the past 150 years.

Radical Left revolutionaries hate the fact that most people will not cast their ballots for an agenda that calls for them to surrender their money and freedom, which is why they consider violent revolution to be a viable option. They realize that people don’t give up their freedom easily, so they believe it’s their moral duty to save people from their own bad judgment.

It’s also why, at a time when a majority of Americans have let it be known that they want to move away from government control, government regulations, and government theft, immature, low-information students, along with their low-information, even more immature college professors,

are singing the praises of free … Free … FREE! Not free as you and I understand the word, but free in the sense of having other people pay for the things you want.

No question about it, free will always be music to the ears of a significant percentage of the population, and freeloaders could care less who pays the bills. These are the folks who are feelin’ the Bern and are euphoric about Sanders’ chances of winning the Democratic nomination and ascending to the White House.

Not only is the envy-based anger of the left every bit as strong as the MAGA anger that brought Donald Trump to White House, the Radical Left has one big advantage: To them, Marxism is a religious crusade that demands a willingness to resort to any means necessary to bring about change that is to their liking. So, even though zombie Democrats are looking quite crazed and moronic right now, it would be wise not to underestimate them.

On the other side of the political coin, when a conservative gets up every morning, he thinks about how to get ahead in the world by providing value in the marketplace. He may not consciously think about it that way, but it’s instinctive for normal people to strive to better their existence. The last thing on their minds is trying to figure out ways to gain control of other people’s lives.

Leftists believe time is on their side because of their undying commitment to foist their Machiavellian agenda on mentally lethargic Americans. Not just the most extreme leftists, but even so-called moderate liberals. In fact, moderate liberal is an oxymoron, because liberalism, as the word is now commonly used, is an extreme ideology that calls for control over other people’s lives.

That said, there’s no doubt in my mind that Trump will win in a landslide in November, and I expect Republicans to take back the House and increase their numbers in the Senate as well. That, however, should not bring about a collective sigh of relief, because the long term is not so certain.

Why? Because those on the Radical Left are masters at playing the long game. Which is why you can count on Democrats to keep pressing forward with their Radical Left agenda even after the election is over, regardless of the outcome. Remember, unlike unprincipled, weak-kneed Republicans, Democrats never — ever — let up.

Thus, the most important question of our time is: Which side will prevail over the long term? Will the MAGA people fall into the comfort zone and go the way of the Tea Partiers, or will they stay strong and ramp up their efforts to push back against Washington? The one thing you can count on is that the Radical Left will not fall into the comfort zone and will try to — you guessed it — overturn the 2020 election. ROBERT RINGERRobert Ringer (© 2020)is a New York Times #1 bestselling author who has appeared on numerous national radio and television shows, including The Tonight Show, Today, The Dennis Miller Show, Good Morning America, ABC Nightline, The Charlie Rose Show, as well as Fox News and Fox Business. To sign up for a free subscription to his mind-expanding daily insights, visit www.robertringer.com.

Commentary: Robert Ringer

In Praise of Tanker MenIncreasing numbers of Americans are losing sleep about the climate

and agitating that healthcare is a human right. Residents of Flint Michigan and Newark New Jersey want government to provide clean water, again the rallying cry is water is a human right. In a massive story, the New York Times documents the trials and tribulations of people in Kathmandu, who have given up on their government providing water.

Nepal doesn’t qualify as anyone’s Galt’s Gulch, but, with government failing to deliver something as vital to life as water, entrepreneurs have stepped in.

The government’s proposed solution to these grave water shortages, the Melamchi project, has turned into a four-decade-long fiasco of almost unrivaled incompetence. First proposed in the 1970s and begun in 2000, this scheme to divert a mountain river from the Himalayas has been so delayed that the water it will bring — 170 million liters a day in its first phase — is already insufficient to cover half of Kathmandu’s needs. It’s not a good plan, anyway, experts say. The pipeline network is so riddled with holes that “you could have Lake Baikal on the other end and it still wouldn’t be enough, ”Mr. Gyawali said.

The result is 400 competing water delivery trucks, in some cases running 19 hours continuously in order to satisfy demand. While government has thrown up its hands,

The pressure is so weak that many households capture no more than 250 liters on each occasion. For these people and the roughly 30 percent of residents who receive nothing at all, tankers tide them over until the next pipeline flow. Officials recognize it’s a crisis, but say the solution is out of their hands.

Of course there is plenty of complaining. When demand is high and supply is low, high prices and profits attract providers. “Let’s face it: the private sector came in because the public sector failed,” Dipak Gyawali, a political economist and former water minister told the NYT. “And until you clean up government’s act, nothing will change. The tankers are just a symptom.”

Krishna Hari Thapa has been delivering water for a decade, “the number of tankers at his spring has increased from around 30 to over 80 a day.” While the spring water has been reduced to a trickle, he won’t stop, “The money is too good,” writes the NYT’s Peter Schwartzstein. Besides, as Mr. Thapa says, “where else would people get water?”

Mr. Schwartzstein tries his best to make the tanker men the enemy, from the article’s title “Merchants of Thirst,” to quoting landlady Dharaman Lama, who claims, “They’re all thieves, rotten thieves, who should be hanged. It’s disgusting what they do to us.”

What the truck men do is invest capital, work hard, and supply something vital. “The city depends on us,” said Maheswar Dahal, a businessman who owns six trucks in Kathmandu’s Jorpati district. “There would be disaster if we didn’t do our work.”

So where the state has failed, private enterprise has stepped into the breach. Profits will make that happen. High cost makes customers more careful with how much they use. Nobody is wasting water in Kathmandu. “Before, I didn’t think about how often I could shower or when I can clean the house,” said Laxmi Magar, a housewife and mother of six. “But now that water is so expensive I watch every drop.”

Tanker water costs 10 times more than government-supplied pipeline

water, according to a World Resources Institute study. In Mumbai, the cost is 52 times more, according to Schwartzstein. Water seems like something you would always buy in bulk, however, for some, that’s not possible. During the dry season, as you would expect, “The tankers raise their rates accordingly,” writes Schwartzstein. “And because many of these areas have narrow, tuk-tuk-wide streets sprawled across steep hills that often turn to mush in the monsoon, the bigger trucks can’t get through, meaning residents have to buy in smaller sums from middlemen at grossly inflated prices.”

Does the tanker business have a future? Likely, it will boom, in Southeast Asia and beyond. Schwartzstein explains,

“The urban population of South Asia alone is projected to almost triple to 1.2 billion by 2050, and as infrastructure decays and cities continue to sprawl into areas that aren’t served at all, tankers are well-placed to absorb some of the shortfall. Up to 1.9 billion city dwellers might experience seasonal water shortages by midcentury, according to the World Bank.”

A water delivery boom seems unlikely as you pour a glass of aqua from your first-world tap. But, water shortages are not new and tanker men (and presumably women) have come to the rescue before:

When severe drought emptied Cape Town’s reservoirs in 2017 and 2018, wealthy residents sidestepped restrictions by buying extra water from informal operators. When Chennai, one of India’s largest cities, almost ran dry amid weak rains this summer, over 5000 private tankers ferried in water from outside. As these shocks intensify and affect more cities, the tanker men look set for boom times.

Sunita Suwal told the Times. “The state fails us. The tanker men rob us. They all just want to make money from us. Really, what’s the difference?”

The difference? Tanker men are delivering, the state is not.

DOUG FRENCH


Commentary: Doug French


Commentary: Byron BergeronRecycling is a SCAM

I have recently learned some things about recycling and it is discon-certing. I had a potential client call me stating they had been charged with embezzlement from the state of California for you guessed it, recycling. I was a little confused at first. How does one embezzle over recycling. The potential client revealed that California reimburses at 10 cents per recyclable while Nevada only reimburses at 5 cents per recyclable. So the thought is that if you take recyclables from Nevada to California you are embezzling 5 cents per recyclable from the state of California.

When I represent a person charged with embezzlement the first ques-tion is “how much”? That is because if the client can pre-pay the restitu-tion, I can typically get a better negotiation. The potential client who for client confidentiality reasons I cannot identify said, $750,000.00 thousand dollars”! I was shocked. My next question was how did they catch you? “We rented a U-Haul with Nevada plates and they keep track of how many trips we made. Well, obviously, my next question was how many trips did you make, 2-3. That is $250,000.00 per trip.

Full disclosure, I was not retained. But, $750.00.00 thousand dollars? That prompted me to take another look at my Waste Management bill and I discovered they charge 1$ for every receptacle. That means they charge us to separate recyclables for them. 1$ for every household in Washoe County, that is over $430k a year so we can separate the recyclables for them. We work for them. They are also returning the recyclables to the County for $250 thousand per truck. That is an estimate. Probably less in Nevada. Suffice it to say that is a lot of money.

You are not helping the environment. There was a homeless man rid-ing by my house collecting recyclables. I told him you can have mine. But,

I put them in that little green crate, that is owned by Waste Management. Once it is in the crate all recyclables are owned by Waste Management. I was on my way to court and exited my home and saw a police officer detaining the homeless man. I inquired is there a problem officer? The officer responded yes, this man is stealing from Waste Management. The officer informed me that once it is in the Waste Management receptacle, it is now their property.

They are going to arrest a homeless man and then incarcerate him at my expense because I put recyclables in their little green crate? No thanks, I will put them in a bag.

I then made a trip to the landfill. There were people picking through the landfill. I again inquired what are they doing. The attendant said, they are picking out recyclables. Of course they are, they pay people to pick out the recyclables, they are worth $250,000 per truck. Why not pay someone $8 an hour to make $250,000 at the tax payer expense. It is a good thing that we recycle.

But, this is a micro economy. I inquired where does Waste Management take our recyclables? The attendant responded right here, to the land fill. So when I separate our recyclables they are taken to the same place if I place them in the trash? Yes.

Now they do not put them in the landfill, they only place them next to the landfill, but you are doing nothing to help the environment. If you want to help the environment donate to people who clean the ocean off the coast of another country, maybe Rio. If you separate your recyclables here, then you make Waste Management money, you reduce their payroll and potentially make someone lose a job.

You do nothing when you recycle. If you want to protect the environ-ment give to people overseas. BYRON BERGERON

NAFTA No More as President Trump Wins USMCA Passage

A little more than a year after President Donald Trump promised to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) if Congress did not adopt the USMCA — on Dec. 1, 2018, he said, “I’ll be terminating it within a relatively short period of time. We get rid of NAFTA. It’s been a disaster for the United States… And so Congress will have a choice of the USMCA or pre-NAFTA, which worked very well…” — on Jan. 16, the Senate has overwhelmingly adopted the USMCA 89 to 10.

Senate passage came after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) finally relented and allowed the trade deal to come up on the House floor, followed shortly thereafter by easy House passage 385 to 41 on Dec. 19, 2019.

Pending Canadian ratification of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade deal, NAFTA is all but a memory.

None of this is surprising. President Trump won the Republican nomination and then ultimately the election in 2016 in the Rust Belt particularly on the political strength of his trade agenda, uniting conservative and union households and savaging Hillary Clinton as pro-NAFTA.

Now, Trump’s success in reshaping American politics around trade has now been confirmed by the massive bipartisan support for the USMCA.

Key bellwethers on the Democratic side came with pro-union Democrats including U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) all supporting passage. Both Democratic Michigan Senators Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters voted for it. Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) stands out as an exception as voting no, but then again, he’s running for President. But so is Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and she supported it.

That tells you everything you need to know right there.The blue-collar Democrat voters who supported President Donald

Trump in 2016 and put him over the top ended up supporting the Trump trade agenda, making passage of the USMCA a political certainty even as Democrats in Congress were itching to impeach Trump and get the Senate trial underway. For those Democrats, there was greater political risk in going against Trump on trade than anything else.

To get the trade agreement done, Trump effectively threatened tariffs on Mexico plus withdrawal from NAFTA to bring all parties to the table, hammered out a deal and got it safely across the finish line — all in time for 2020.

And, as President Trump promised, the deal moves the ball in the America first direction.

Country of origin requirements are being increased to 75 percent, up from 62.5 percent, requiring automobiles will have at least three-quarters of their parts made in North America.

Mexico will recognize the right of collective bargaining and all parties agreed that “40-45 percent of auto content be made by workers earning at least $16 per hour,” according to the U.S. Trade Representative. In 2016, average pay in Mexico for manufacturing was $3.91 an hour. In 2017, the Associated Press ran a report entitled “In Mexico, $2 per hour workers make $40,000 SUVs.” This is a tremendous concession, and most certainly an improvement on NAFTA from a U.S. producer perspective.

On agriculture, Canada is allowing in greater access for U.S. dairy products.

On currency, the USMCA “address[es] unfair currency practices by requiring high-standard commitments to refrain from competitive devaluations and targeting exchange rates, while significantly increasing transparency and providing mechanisms for accountability,” according to the U.S. Trade Representative.

Since 2008, the Mexican peso has depreciated against the U.S. dollar by 50 percent, from $0.10 per $1 USD to $0.05 per $1 USD. The new provision will give aggrieved parties an opportunity to target currency devaluation as an unfair trade practices, something that could set a new gold standard for trade agreements. This mirrors provisions in the newly signed executive, phase one trade deal with China, as gaining these provisions in USMCA is what enabled U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to extract them from Beijing as well.

On intellectual property, cross-border copyrights, trademarks and patents will be enforceable to cut back on knock-offs, plus additional protections for pharmaceutical and agricultural producers.

On financial services, U.S. financial services will be allowed to compete with local financial services in Canada and Mexico, getting most-favored nation treatment.

On textiles, the agreement will “[p]romote greater use of Made-in-the-USA fibers, yarns, and fabrics by: [l]imiting rules that allow for some use of non-NAFTA inputs in textile and apparel trade… [and by] [r]equiring that sewing thread, pocketing fabric, narrow elastic bands, and coated fabric, when incorporated in most apparel and other finished products, be made in the region for those finished products to qualify for trade benefits,” according to the U.S. Trade Representative.

Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning welcomed news of USMCA’s passage, declaring, “President Donald Trump kept his promise and ended the giant sucking sound that was NAFTA. The overwhelming Senate passage of Trump’s signature trade deal is an affirmation that a President who is determined to put America’s interests first can rewrite the rules for international trade.”

And all the so-called experts, the same ones who predicted Trump couldn’t win in 2016, said that such agreements with Mexico, Canada, China, Japan and South Korea were impossible to negotiate because Trump was threatening to use tariffs, that instead we’d have trade wars and recessions or depressions.

Boy, was that wrong. Instead, Trump levied the tariffs, the trade in goods deficit with China was cut by 13 percent in 2019 and everyone came to the table. It’s the year of the trade deal.

Now all the agreements are in the bag, unemployment is at a 50-year low and U.S. labor participation among working age adults is on the rise. The economy is humming, and USMCA will only help it grow even more as it boosts U.S. exports.

Meaning, President Trump was right all along on trade. His art of the deal to use U.S. leverage in the trade negotiations paid off big time and now the victories are mounting with USMCA and the China deal — all in time for 2020. Watch for trade to continue to dominate the landscape this election year as it reshapes American politics yet again and tells us whether 2016 and President Trump was a fluke — or the future. ROBERT ROMANORobert Romano is the Vice President of Public Policy at Americans for Limited Government.


Commentary: Robert Romano

Big Apple Issues Blanket Get-Out-of-Jail Free Cards

Not all bad ideas start in California. Here’s one from New York…though likely coming to Cali soon. And then, if the Legislature stays in its current makeup, Nevada could follow suit.

On January 1st, New York’s new “bail reform” law, allowing offenders to walk free without bail until trial, took effect.

Nicknamed “catch and release,” the law eliminates the need to post bail for people caught committing a host of crimes ranging from assault to stalking to grand larceny and even possession of a weapon on school grounds.

As conservative commentator Dana Loesch noted…“The new legislation doesn’t allow judges to have any discretion in

determining whether a person is a flight risk, nor whether they pose a threat to public safety or will commit more crimes.”

The result was as predictable as the sun rising in the east.The New York Post reported last weekend that a guy named Gerod

Woodberry robbed four New York City banks between December 30 and January 8. But because of the new catch-and-release bail reform law, the judge couldn’t force him to post bail before being released.

So they just cut him loose last Thursday. At which point he immediately proceeded to rob a FIFTH bank on

Friday.And now he’s suspected of robbing a SIXTH bank yesterday!Lovely.Then there’s Eugene Webb, a 26-year-old homeless dude who last

Friday was arrested “for allegedly slugging a 23-year-old woman in the face so hard that two of her teeth were knocked out.”

Hours later he attacked a second woman, “punching the 35-year-old and kicking the back of her head.”

Yet because of the new catch-and-release bail reform law, Judge Ann Thompson was forced to “cut the serial slugger loose.” And according to the New York Post he “grinned as he left court” and returned to his old stomping (literally) grounds.

Insanity.But make no mistake. This absurd catch-and-release bail reform

legislation will make its way into the 2021 session of the Democrat-controlled Nevada Legislature – and could very well pass.

We’re doomed.Vegas Chamber Puts New Lipstick on PigThe Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce is reinventing itself…

again. Or, more to the point, trying to reinvent its image by launching a new name and logo.

The new shorter name will simply be “Vegas Chamber.” Which is fine as it goes. Shorter is often better.

However, that creates the acronym “VC” - which Vietnam War era veterans will immediately identify with the “Viet Cong.” Major fail.

And then there’s the new color scheme for the VC logo. A pale pastel

rainbow combo. You know, like the LGBLT logo. Very PC, VC. Lastly, get a load of this new, heart-pounding slogan: “Cultivating

growth and prosperity is our purpose.” Sure sends a tingle up your leg, doesn’t it?But this cosmetic make-over can’t hide the fact that the Chamber, over

the years, has tried to play both sides politically and constantly undercuts the interests of its members by endorsing candidates who are openly hostile to the business community.

For example, in 2018 the Viet Cong…sorry, Vegas Chamber…endorsed hard-left Nevada state senators Yvanna Cancela and Julia Ratti.

Ditto in the Assembly, where the VC gave its seal of approval to the likes of Jason Frierson, Steve Yeager, Chris Brooks, Maggie Carlson, Howard Watts and Ellen Spiegel.

A better slogan would be: “Cutting Our Own Throat for Over 40 Years.”

FAMOUS LAST WORDS“I encourage every parent in America to remove their children from

government schools until the entire government school system collapses and then I encourage salting the ground on which it stood. There is no greater cause of America’s decline than government schools.” – Radio talk-show host Jesse Kelly CHUCK MUTH(Mr. Muth is president of CitizenOutreach.org and publisher of NevadaNewsandViews.com. He blogs at MuthsTruths.com. His views are his own.)


Commentary: Chuck Muth


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