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The collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) on March 10 took a surprising twist. (Note: The Signature Bank also failed.)

Almost everyone in the nation knows that if you have money in a bank, and it fails, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insures your deposits up to $250,000 (for a married couple it is $500,000). Very few of us have that much cash in a bank. Since most bank accounts are covered by that limit, we weren’t concerned for the depositors in SVB.

But surprise, surprise. SVB (and Signature) had wealthy depositors with huge cash balances; only about 8% of the money in the SVB accounts was covered by FDIC. Some of the SVB deposits were by millionaires in China.

We learned that not only are those depositors wealthy, they are big donors to Democrats. And it is Democrats in Congress and President Biden who are largely responsible for the collapse. As I explained last week, the banks failed because they held near-zero interest bonds. Since January 2022, interest rates jumped, which was caused by high inflation starting in 2021, which was caused by an excessive $5,000,000,000 in federal spending.

So, did these wealthy Democrat donors admit, “Well, it’s my fault so I’ll accept my losses and make a better decision next time?” NO! They called President Biden and demanded that he bail them out! And he did.

President Biden proudly announced that all deposits in SVB and Signature, not just ones under $250,000, would be paid in full. And he emphasized, “no losses associated with the resolution of (the banks) will be borne by the taxpayer.”

So, where will that money come from, if not from taxpayers? The FDIC. The FDIC maintains a balance funded by fees paid by all banks. However, the FDIC reports their “Insurance Fund” has less than half of the $262 billion that might be needed. The additional funds for the bailout will come from higher fees forced on the 4,150 banks that did not fail. Since almost everyone with a bank account is a taxpayer, Mr. President, it is the taxpayers who will bail out the wealthy depositors, including the Chinese.

The “surprising twist” is that the wealthy depositors lose nothing, and you and I pay the price for their mistakes. It should be the other way around.

To be fair, the President and Treasury Secretary Yellen have a responsibility to calm the nation and prevent a run on all the banks. But hinting that ALL bank deposits would be covered by the federal government creates a major hazard. Bank officials, with no responsibility to properly manage their clients’ funds, could make reckless loans based on social and environmental beliefs while denying loans to solid businesses. This could end up like the student loan debacle. When the government took over from the banks, students got loans regardless of the prospects of paying back the money.

Back to the Silicon Valley Bank… Why wasn’t the Federal Reserve alert to the pending collapse? Maybe it was because the CEO of SVB is also on the Board of the Federal Reserve Bank in San Francisco. Wow. SVB even fooled Forbes Media and others into giving them an excellent rating.

President Biden emphatically announced the bank officers would be fired because they failed. Can he do that to a private entity? On the other hand, there are several officials under his direct control that he should fire because they failed. I won’t name any, but you know who they are, including Cabinet Secretaries.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, former president Donald Trump reportedly will be handcuffed and tossed in jail by the Prosecuting Attorney in New York City. The charge is that he wrote a few checks totaling $130,000 in 2016 to quiet an extortion attempt by Stormy Daniels, the once favorite client of attorney, Michael Avenatti.

At the same time, in Washington a Congressional committee reports that bank records show President Biden and his family received a million dollars in a questionable payment from Chinese Communists. And, there are a dozen similar bank transactions under investigation. Financial information found on Hunter Biden’s computer adds to the intrigue.

As possible court cases work through the judicial system over the next several months, Las Vegas will take bets on whether Trump and Biden will be sharing a Presidential Debate stage, or a cell.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

(Speech to the American Bankers Association, 1923) “You have a fine organization. I understand you have ten thousand here… and if you count the ones in the various federal prisons, it brings your total membership up to around thirty thousand.”

“See where Congress passed a two-billion-dollar bill to relieve bankers’ mistakes… You can always count on us helping those who have lost part of their fortune.” DT #1715, Jan. 22, 1932

“If a Bank fails in China, they behead the men at the head of it that was responsible. If one fails over here, we write the men up in the Magazines (praising them).” WA #217, Feb. 6, 1927

Did you see the Budget for Fiscal Year 2024 submitted by President Biden? He wants to spend $6,700,000,000 and raise a slew of taxes. It is more of a political ad for Democrats than a budget because the Republican House will never approve it.

But suppose Democrats were still in control of Congress, and this budget passed. Low-income folks and maybe half of middle-income earners would be cheering, “Yes, make the rich and corporations pay their fair share!”

However, the wild applause would end in a few months. Instead of the mild Recession we now seem to be entering, raising these taxes would dump the economy into a full-blown Depression. Companies would raise prices, reduce worker benefits, and lay off employees to compensate for lower net income. The wealthy would pull back, reducing their investments in stocks. The stock market would go down. The result would cut the value of retirement accounts. And shockingly, because big investors would have fewer capital gains (and more capital losses), in a year or two, federal tax receipts would decrease instead of increase.

But Democrats are not in control of Congress. So, most of the proposed tax increases will be voted down or only increased slightly. The top 1% of wage earners already pay 42% of income taxes, so it’s hard to claim they don’t pay their fair share. (The bottom 50% pay only 2.3% of federal income taxes according to the IRS.) What we need is more people working and paying taxes.

Most people know that Social Security and Medicare are going to run short of money in 10 or 12 years if nothing is done. I’ve heard that Social Security checks would have to be cut by a fourth for all retirees. Medicare payments would also be cut.

So, except for minor increases in taxes to support Medicare, President Biden and Democrats in Congress offer no plan to solve this long-term problem. They ignore it, except to criticize anyone who dares to make a reasonable suggestion, such as increasing the age for Social Security eligibility slowly to age 70 or 72. Workers are living 15 years longer than when the retirement age of 65 was set for Social Security in 1935.

What is the President’s reaction to another long-term problem, global warming? It is the opposite to Social Security and Medicare. To paraphrase the President, “I’m going to cut all fossil fuels. No more oil or natural gas pipelines. No more drilling on federal land or offshore. Electric vehicles are here and now. No gasoline powered vehicles can be manufactured after 2030.”

The result is the supply of energy from fossil fuel is being squeezed (meaning higher prices) and billions of tax dollars are being spent on solar and wind energy, Electric Vehicle subsidies, and 50,000 charging stations. Americans are paying higher prices and more taxes to solve a problem that may not have any substantial economic impacts for at least 50 years.

And it’s called “global warming,” not “USA warming.” Our contribution to global warming is only 15%. If we eliminated ALL fossil fuels here, the global impact would be minimal because China and India are the major contributors. Despite claims by our Secretary of Energy, China shows no intention to reduce global warming. They continue to build coal-burning power plants and import natural gas and oil.

Working on long-term national problems should always be a priority for the President and Congress. Unfortunately, politics determines which ones are essential and skews the proposed solutions.

The failure of the Silicon Valley Bank is directly connected to Democrat policies. The bank invested heavily in government bonds when the interest rates were near zero. Because of excessive federal spending since 2020, inflation went up. To get inflation below 7%, the Federal Reserve was compelled to raise interest rates to about 5%, which dramatically lowered the value of the bonds. When depositors started to withdraw their money, the bank was forced to sell bonds at a loss, resulting in failure.

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

          “The budget is a mythical bean bag. Congress votes mythical beans into it and then tries to reach in and pull real beans out.” DT #2047, Feb. 24, 1933

The FBI and a scientific research agency in the Department of Energy confirmed that Covid-19 came from the Wuhan Lab. Finally!

For 3 years, the Chinese Communist leaders, the World Health Organization (WHO), and Dr. Fauci insisted that Covid-19 came from a bat. They belittled anyone who suggested that perhaps it had come from the Wuhan Lab where advanced research was being conducted on the virus.

Do you remember the first time you heard that Covid-19 might have originated in a virology lab in Wuhan, China? For you, it was probably in March or April 2020 when Virology experts not connected with the Federal government suggested the possibility. But our mass media quickly quashed opinions that disagreed with Dr. Fauci and the CDC.

A year later, in May 2021, Fox News reported the Wuhan Lab was likely Ground Zero for Covid. And now, March 2023, top scientists in the FBI and DOE concluded that Covid had to come from the Wuhan Lab.

Of course, the Chinese Communists refused to allow anyone to investigate at the Wuhan Lab. A few scientists at the Wuhan Lab got sick in late 2019. The virus (officially SARS-CoV-2) was discovered in December 2019, which is why it is called Covid-19. Knowing the virus was transmitted person to person, the Chinese took action to try to protect their own citizens. But they did nothing to keep it from spreading to Europe and the United States. (Some claim that was intentional.)

More than a million Americans have died with Covid. And almost seven million worldwide. Almost everyone has lost a relative or friend to Covid. Millions more have been hospitalized or continue to have lingering effects. Our lives were disrupted like never before. Covid changed the outcome of the 2020 election.

Unrelated to Covid, many of our big cities are spending money in ways that defy common sense. Here are two examples from New York City.

The city council is spending $5,000,000 to install 5 toilets for the convenience of tourists. Yes, a million each. For political purposes, each borough will receive one. The one in Manhattan should be placed in Times Square. On New Year’s Eve, with a million people congregated, waiting for hours for the ball to drop, you may not get your turn ‘till February.

And did you hear that New York City is awarding a total of $5,000,000 as a result of the violent protests in the summer of 2020? You probably remember the scenes on television of police cars being burned, protesters throwing bottles and rocks at police, and stores being broken into, ransacked, and burned. So, in gratitude for their dedicated service, NYC will give $21,000 to each police officer who bravely stood up to the rioters.

What? The police won’t get $21,000 each? Then who does get it?

The $21,000 is for each of the rioters. Can you imagine anything nuttier?

Mayor Adams is likely to get several letters like this one, “Mr. Mayor, you don’t know me, but I’m one of the peaceful protesters in 2020. I smashed a window at Macy’s, ran in and grabbed a fur coat and a dozen diamond rings. I really need the $21,000 because I only got $500 when I fenced the rings.”

Well, that’s $10,000,000 in taxpayer funds the New York City politicians are flushing down the sewer.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

      “Well, as I go to press, everybody is on a trip somewhere if they work for the government. I wonder when the taxpayers take their trip.” WA# 30, July 8, 1923

      “It seems the whole idea of Communism, or whatever they want to call it, is based on propaganda and blood.  Their whole life and thought is to convince somebody else…  The Communist has so many good things he just wants you to join in and help him use some of them.” Saturday Evening Post, Aug. 21, 1926

President Biden made a dramatic trip to the middle of the war zone in Ukraine last week. Did you see him walking courageously with President Zelensky in Kiev? One TV commentator said this was the first time a President entered a war zone since Lincoln traveled to Richmond. Historic. Yes, it’s been more than 150 years, and we elected 30 more Presidents since that risky trip during the Civil War.

Was our President risking his life for a once-in-a-century “photo op?” As they walked, suddenly Air Raid sirens began blaring! Had Putin fired a dozen Cruise Missiles at Kiev? Heart-throbbing scary!

But wait. Why is no one ducking for cover? And none of the Secret Service agents rushed to surround President Biden. Why didn’t they rush him to a bomb shelter?

Well, there were no Cruise Missiles streaking toward Zelensky and Biden. There was no risk of one landing nearby. Someone in the White House had called Putin and informed him of Biden’s visit. And warned Putin that if he dared to attack Kiev during the short Presidential visit, it would make us really mad. The same person asked Zelensky, a former actor, to arrange for the blaring sirens, right on cue.

President Biden made a wise decision to go to Ukraine. Although a lot of Americans, both Republicans and Democrats, are against sending more military equipment to Ukraine, helping the Ukrainians defeat Putin is worth the hundred Billion or even two hundred Billion we’re spending.

Critics are concerned that Putin might fire off nuclear weapons. Who would he attack with a nuclear bomb? Kiev? Paris? Berlin? Washington, DC? Putin is smart enough to know any nuclear bomb dropped on Europe or America would mean death to many Russians. Putin has stashed away over a Trillion dollars. He has no intention of dying or squandering a life of luxury and having to live in exile in a shack in Outer Mongolia.

President Biden continues to confirm support for Ukraine, “As long as it takes.” That sounds determined, but it lacks urgency. Why didn’t he say from the beginning, “Let’s run Putin out of Ukraine as rapidly as possible.” That goal would make Ukraine whole again, including Crimea.

But what about Peace Talks? What would Putin demand to end the invasion? You can bet he would insist on keeping all the territory currently held by Russian troops (and maybe more).

Where would that leave Ukraine? Look at a map. Ukraine would lose about 15 percent of the country, roughly a 100-mile-wide swath of land in the East and Southeast, stretching almost to Odesa. Ukraine would lose all access to the Sea of Azov, meaning that any grain and manufactured goods to be exported from what’s left of eastern Ukraine would have to be sent hundreds of miles by truck or rail to Odesa on the Black Sea.

What would you think about giving up a similar 15 percent of the US? Say, a 100-mile-wide swath along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, from Maine to the Texas border?

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

      “ODESSA, Sept. 2. – Say, these old Russians can really fly. That’s what the Japanese are more afraid of than any other thing, is that these guys will outfly ’em… Who hasn’t pictured Odessa on the Black Sea? Russia and Turkey have been fighting over this for a thousand years.” DT #2520, Sept 2, 1934

      “Russia is a country that looks like it was invented for arguments’ sake. It’s really not, or ever has been a nation: it’s a dispute.” Undated notes

The wreck of a Norfolk Southern train two weeks ago caused a toxic mess for the 4700 people living in East Palestine, Ohio. (Here it’s pronounced Palesteen.) The derailed cars included ones carrying vinyl chloride. (This chemical is the basis for polyvinyl chloride which we all use every day as PVC plastic products.)

Railroad and government officials decided to burn the toxic liquids to avoid the possibility of exploding tank cars. Burning vinyl chloride produces phosgene, a highly lethal gas.

This environmental disaster has contaminated the air, surface water and soil in the area, reaching across the border into Pennsylvania. While residents continue to suffer sore throats, runny eyes and other discomforts, government officials say their well water is safe to drink and air quality in houses is normal.

The issues with this derailment may take years to resolve. Maybe Norfolk Southern should offer to buy the whole town. Or at least buy out any property owner who wants to leave.

Tomorrow is Presidents’ Day. We used to have Lincoln’s Birthday (Feb 12) and Washington’s Birthday (Feb. 23), but Congress lumped ALL Presidents into one holiday which is always on a Monday.

It honors all 46 Presidents. When a few folks find out this celebration includes Joe Biden, they may get so upset they’ll refuse to buy a new mattress at half off. With Biden’s inflation, it may be higher than the full price 3 years ago.

President Jimmy Carter, who is 98 years old, is in Hospice Care. He was elected President in 1976 after the Watergate scandal forced President Nixon to resign in 1974. He has been outstanding as a Past-President for 42 years, working with Habitat for Humanity and for other civic causes. He and Rosalynn Carter lived their strong Christian faith. He has set a standard of service that may never be matched by future past-Presidents. We pray for comfort for him and his family.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers: (about our Presidents)

          “There wasn’t any Republicans in Washington’s day. No Republicans, no Boll Weevil, no income tax, no cover charge, no disarmament conference, no luncheon clubs, no stop lights, no static (radio), no head winds… My Lord, living in those days, who wouldn’t be great?” DT #803, Feb. 21, 1929

“Lincoln’s famous remark about ‘God must have loved the common people because he made so many of them.’… You are not going to get people’s votes nowadays by calling them common. Lincoln might have said it but I bet you it was not until after he was elected.” WA #82, July 6, 1924

“Coolidge made less speeches and got more votes than any man that ever run.” DT #673, Sept. 21, 1928

“I always did want to see [Herbert Hoover] elected.  I wanted to see how far a competent man could go in politics.  It has never been tried before.” Radio, Apr. 30, 1930

          “(Franklin) Roosevelt wants recovery to start at the bottom. In other words, by a system of high taxes, he wants business to help the little fellow to get started and get some work, and then pay business back by buying things when he’s at work. Business says, ‘Let everybody alone. Let business alone, and we’ll get everything going for you, and if we prosper, naturally the worker will prosper.’” Radio, June 9, 1935

After the big China spy balloon crossed the country and was shot down off the South Carolina coast, it seems we have a “Balloon-a-Day” hitting our North American airspace. Another one was shot down today over Lake Huron.

Does it seem odd that the Chinese Communists complained about us because we destroyed their spy balloon? Among the pieces recovered from the ocean, one has English words written on it. A friend reminded me that Hunter Biden’s birthday was February 4. Maybe, just maybe, the balloon was intended for him, and the English words are ‘Happy Birthday Hunter.’

Despite Chinese complaints, President Biden assured the world that the spy balloon(s) won’t damage relations between us and China. He seems determined not to hurt the feelings of Xi Jinping, the Chinese President-for-Life. Instead of downplaying the spying, shouldn’t Biden strongly condemn China?

Xi Jinping is so angry at us, he has threatened to retaliate. If really wants to make millions of Americans mad, he would immediately shut down TikTok. Yes, TikTok. Millions of young people and quite a few adults all over this country would protest. If you thought Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was overwrought when a fellow Squad member was removed from a preferred House committee assignment, imagine her reaction if her millions of followers lost the use of TikTok.

Congress and President Biden know TikTok should be banned. But they are afraid because of backlash, not from China, but from a hundred million Americans obsessed with it.

Remember, Valentine’s Day is Tuesday. Will Rogers did not write or broadcast anything about Valentine’s Day. But he proudly expressed his love for Betty Blake Rogers on Mother’s Day in 1930, “She has been for twenty-two years trying to raise to maturity four children, three by birth and one by marriage… There ought to be some kind of a star given to any woman that can live with a comedian.” (Radio, May 11, 1930)

The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 in the Super Bowl. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes brought them back from a 10-point halftime deficit and they won with a field goal in the closing seconds.

On Thursday a groundhog came out of his hole. He saw the shadow cast by the Chinese balloon, and dove back in. Expect 6 more weeks of speculation about the balloon.

By now you’ve heard a slew of Balloon jokes and various reasons the Chinese Communists might send high tech cameras and instruments across our country from Montana to the Carolinas.

Here’s a couple more:

The Chinese own so much of our farmland they used the balloon to check the crops, count their cattle, and prospect for more land to buy.
They checked skiing conditions in the Rocky Mountain resorts. Seeing the slopes were all overcrowded, they gave up and flew over the Smoky Mountains.
They joined the Scavenger Hunt for Top Secret classified documents. Hey, that’s not so farfetched; out of the millions of classified documents, I bet there’s still a few hundred the Communist leaders hadn’t seen yet.

Several Network News folks emphasized that the F-22 pilot brought down the balloon with ONE SHOT. Yes, to fire at a balloon as big as a domed football stadium, lumbering leisurely over a South Carolina beach on a sunny Saturday afternoon, it only required one shot with a Sidewinder heat-seeking missile.

I bet the pilot is being razzed by other fighter jet pilots and crew. Afterall, he’s trained to fly an F-22 at 1500 mph and attack highly maneuverable enemy planes. They’re probably saying, “Wow, only one shot. You’ll be hailed as the next Eddie Rickenbacker or Chuck Yeager.”

Meanwhile, Hunter Biden wound up admitting what you knew more than two years ago. In my “Weekly Comments” on Dec. 13, 2020, I mentioned information the New York Post had published before the election about Hunter being investigated by the FBI since May 2020. The Post had evidence from Hunter’s laptop computer, but it was refuted by 51 former Intelligence Agency leaders (who lied) as “Russian misinformation,” ignored by mainstream media, and censured by Facebook and Twitter. Last week Hunter Biden sued Rudy Giuliani and other Republicans for sharing information, including Chinese and Ukrainian deals, from his computer which he had abandoned at a computer repair shop in 2020.

President Biden will give a State of the Union speech Tuesday. He will likely emphasize new jobs created, low unemployment, and a growing economy. He will definitely highlight the new money for infrastructure, green energy, electric vehicles, chips, and the need for reforming immigration and police. However, if you hear him brag about how he has reduced inflation, food prices, gasoline prices, illegal immigration, drug use, and crime in our big cities, you and a few million others will be yelling at the TV.

If you don’t want to watch the President, there’s always basketball.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“One of the few stipulated duties of the President is that every once in a while, he delivers a message to Congress to tell them the ‘Condition of the Country.’ This message as I say is to Congress; the rest of the country know the condition of the country, for they live in it and are a part of it. But the Senators and Congressmen being in Washington all the time have no idea what is going on in America. So the President has to tell ’em.” WA #371, Feb. 2, 1930

Okay, readers. Let’s begin today’s column with a multiple-choice question: Why does Congress need to raise the Debt Ceiling again?
A. Less tax money was collected than in previous years.
B. More money was spent than previous years.
C. Both A & B.
D. Neither A nor B.

As you ponder that question, here are some helpful facts. (Data are from various government sources.) In 2012 our government spent $3.8 Trillion. In 2022 they spent $6.2 Trillion, an increase of more than 60%.

Federal tax receipts from all sources (includes ~50% income taxes; 30% payroll taxes; 8% corporate) were $2.5 Trillion in 2012 and $4.8 in 2022. Presidents and Congress continue to spend far more money than received.

Our federal debt was $16 Trillion in 2012. And now it’s almost $32 Trillion. In only ten years the government increased our debt as much as in the previous 235 years. If a family or business behaved the same way, they would go bankrupt.

About 3 million fewer people are employed today than three years ago despite having several million open jobs. Most of the 3 million are receiving money from the government instead of paying taxes.

If Congress and Presidents had followed advice from Will Rogers for the last hundred years (see the quotes below), they would not be arguing over a Debt Ceiling. And I would not have thrown all these numbers at you today.

The answer to the opening question is… B.

Another multiple-choice question I could have asked is, “Why does Congress overspend?” But the number of “choices” would total 566 (one for each Representative and Senator in Congress, and one for the President).

The Super Bowl match up is set for Feb. 12. Philadelphia beat San Francisco 31-7 and Kansas City beat Cincinnati 23-20. Will Rogers, a proud Cherokee, will naturally root for the Chiefs.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“We never will get anywhere with our finances till we pass a law saying that every time we appropriate something we got to pass another bill along with it stating where the money is coming from.” DT #1733, Feb. 12, 1932

(Instead of being in Congress) “suppose you got $100,000 a year for working for a firm and you spent $200,000,000,000 of their money that you didn’t have and you didn’t know where you was going to get it, how long would you be working for that firm?” DT #1813, May 16, 1932

“Nobody can kick on honest deserving relief, and nobody can be blamed for kicking on relieving somebody when they won’t work. The government has got to find some way of telling them apart.” DT #2650, Feb. 1, 1935

          “Half the people in the United States would rather collect one dollar from the government than get $10 from [working].” WA # 119, March 22, 1925

“As soon as we get used to this overdraft why it won’t be so bad, but it’s just while it’s new that everybody’s attention is focused on it. You know a Billion is getting so it’s a lot of dough, even in these hard times.” WA #440, May 31, 1931

“The budget is a mythical bean bag. Congress votes mythical beans into it, and then tries to reach in and pull real beans out.” DT #2047, Feb. 24, 1933

Top-Secret Classified documents keep turning up. It seems that when Joe Biden left office as Vice-President 6 years ago, he filled cardboard boxes with documents, photos and souvenirs collected from 40 years in DC. Then, any time he traveled he would stuff a few in his briefcase. That way, he would have something to read if everyone ignored him. As you know, Vice-Presidents are usually ignored and forgotten, both in office and after they leave.

On Friday they found more at the Biden beach house. The first ones were found on November 2 at the University of Pennsylvania, and ever since they continue to pop up.

The discovery on Friday caught the attention of millions of Americans. See, anywhere the former Vice-President traveled in the last few years, patriotic Americans are searching intently for documents he might have “misplaced.”

It’s a nationwide Scavenger Hunt! Conductors on the Amtrak route from DC to Wilmington are searching around his preferred seat. If he visited your office, check file cabinets.  If he slept at your house, look under the mattress. Inspect the seat pockets on Air Force 2.

One place it would be a waste of time to look is along the Rio Grande. Even if he dropped a couple of Top-Secret documents during his only visit near the river, in El Paso, the Mexican Cartel coyotes would have grabbed them.

Like a regular scavenger hunt, Republicans should provide prizes. Draw a name from all of those who turn in a Top-Secret classified document. And offer a grand prize to the one who finds the most.

While you’re searching for Biden’s mishandled classified documents, see if you can find out how his Administration kept the original discovery in his Wilmington garage a secret for two months. And another mystery you might solve: figure out which of the 36 top legal Interns at the Supreme Court released a draft of the abortion ruling, resulting in the attempted murder of Justice Gorsuch.

Sorry, I got off track. Back to the classified documents… What’s in them is more important than the number found or where they wound up. We don’t need to know the details. But we would like to know if any relate to China, Ukraine, Russia or other country that involved million-dollar deals for the Biden family.

I think the real reason Joe Biden hauled out all these documents was his intention to write a book of Memoirs.

Today is Lunar New Year and people of Asian heritage are celebrating around the world. This begins the Year of the Rabbit. Here’s a Will Rogers connection for you. When Will attended Kemper Military Academy at Boonville, Missouri he played “wide end” on the football team. He was fast, so they called him… Rabbit.

Speaking of football, the National Football League championship run is down to four teams: Cincinnati Bengals, Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles and the San Francisco 49’ers. Most NFL fans agree these are the best teams. The one that wins the Super Bowl in 3 weeks will truly be a deserving champion.

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

“Senator… When you write your Memoirs — That’s another Cherokee word; means when you put down the good things you ought to have done, and leave out the bad ones you did do — well, that’s Memoirs.”  Saturday Evening Post, March 12, 1932

I was invited to speak at another agriculture conference this past week, in St. Louis. This was the thirty-first National No-Till Conference, presented by Lessiter Media, which publishes the “No-Till Farmer” magazine and other periodicals and books, plus Podcasts. I’ve attended all thirty-one conferences.

The conference had about fifty presenters so I can’t list ‘em all. David Hula of Virginia, Randy Dowdy (Georgia), and Russell Hendricks (North Carolina), are champion corn growers who shared their tips to increase production. Marion Calmer (Illinois) has done research on his farm for thirty years and designed innovative components for corn harvesting with combines. Phil Needham (Kentucky) shared tips for wheat growers to increase production and profits, such as planting in rows spaced 5 inches apart.

Two others who have developed new technology and equipment to make grain farming more efficient are Rob Saik (Alberta, Canada) and Gregg Sauder (Illinois). Several leading farmers and university professors also spoke at the conference which lasted from Tuesday to Friday. I’m mentioning this because my talk on Friday morning (presented with Vinayak Shedekar, a new Assistant Professor at Ohio State University) was a review of the latest practical no-till research and a look at the future. By Friday, half of the “future” technology we planned to talk about (including new uses of drones and robots) had already been introduced by previous speakers who had developed and were using it. That shows you how fast technology is advancing to make food production more economical and environmentally friendly.

At the beginning of the conference on Tuesday, I was the Moderator for a series of presentations by 10 companies with innovative products to make farming more efficient (and therefore reduce the cost of food). To wrap up the conference on Friday, I moderated a panel of three farmers who shared 50 tips on growing soybeans. As I closed the conference with about 800 farmers who plant crops without plowing the ground, I slipped in a favorite Will Rogers quote from 99 years ago, “The farmer has to be an optimist or he wouldn’t still be a farmer.”

While I was occupied in St. Louis, we learned about some questionable decisions by people who ought to know better. When Joe Biden left office as Vice-President in January 2017, he took a few boxes of Top Secret Classified documents with him to Delaware.

Nobody knows where all these boxes have been the last 6 years. At least one was found in his garage beside his ’67 Corvette, another in a closet, others in the basement (where Mr. Biden campaigned from for the entire 2020 election) and a box ended up in Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania. These Top Secret documents were discovered before the November election, about the same time that President Biden was scolding President Trump for having Top Secret documents at his Florida home. This just shows that you need to be cautious who you criticize, because you may end up guilty of the same practice. This may also knock both of the old codgers out of the 2024 election.

In Los Angeles, the University of Southern California wants to ban the word ‘field.’ The last two weeks I have been with farmers and ranchers whose livelihood depends on what grows in their fields. I think those professors in the School of Social Work at USC have forgotten where their three meals a day comes from. Do they dislike California farmers for using water to irrigate their fields that they prefer to have available for their hot tubs and swimming pools? Maybe they should ban the word ‘work.’

Who wants to ban gas stoves? Definitely no one who has been cooking with gas for generations. But a few politicians decided gas is bad and we should cook with electricity instead. And where does electricity come from? Forty percent from natural gas.

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

“If you ever injected truth into politics you have no politics.” WA #31, July 15, 1923