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Twelve Democrats debated in Westerville, Ohio, on Tuesday. Bernie Sanders appeared to be fully recovered from his heart attack. Elizabeth Warren, however, is still recovering from being attacked.

The other eleven candidates jumped on her for refusing to admit taxes will increase on the middle class to pay for her “Medicare for All” plan. She announced today that in a few days she will actually admit taxes will increase, and by how much. She had vastly over-estimated how many billionaires and multimillionaires we have and their ability to cover the $3 Trillion cost per year.

President Trump, on the other hand, under-estimated the furor over his invitation to the G-7 Group. He offered his Doral Country Club at-cost. Of course it’s in Miami in June, so rates are really low. Democrats led the charge despite Trump’s promise that the Trump organization would make no profit.

I imagine the leaders of these major countries were happy to find out they would not have to stay in a hot, humid place with a hurricane threat. Miami calls their basketball team the “Heat,” and they play in the Winter! These leaders would prefer a mountaintop resort with cool air and bright sunshine even if it costs ten times as much. It will be interesting to see what the total cost is at the new site (including for all officials, media and security), compared to estimates for Doral.

Back to Bernie Sanders for a moment. Somewhat surprisingly he picked up the support of the young New York Congresswoman who aspires to be the leader of the Democratic Party, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Ilhan Omar of Minneapolis joined AOC in endorsing Sanders.

This brings up an interesting possibility if Sanders is elected President. Will he name Ocasio-Cortez, with her Green New Deal, as the Secretary of Energy? Congresswoman Omar would love to be in charge of Homeland Security. Do you suppose Senator Warren would accept the position of Treasury Secretary? For laughs, he could ask Hillary Clinton to be his Ambassador to Russia. With California Senator Kamala Harris as VP, wow, what a dynamic administration that would be. (Maybe I should replace “dynamic” with “dynamite;” this would blow up our economy as we know it.)

With Brexit and Impeachment debates occurring at the same time, have you noticed a similarity? In Britain, three years ago, the voters voted to exit the European Union. In the US, 3 years ago, voters elected Donald Trump (yes, as Hillary Clinton keeps reminding us, thanks to the Electoral College). Yet in both instances, in Parliament and Congress, officials in charge are refusing to accept the will of the people.

In the United Kingdom, top politicians never believed their citizens would ever vote to exit the EU. They have been fighting to cancel that vote ever since.

In the United States, we know Democrats who thought Clinton was a shoo-in, and have wanted to take out Trump from the day after the election.

Now, there’s a value of having experienced people, with years of wisdom, to serve as a rudder of the ship of state. But when they become an anchor… not so good.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“If Socialists worked as much as they talked, they would be the most prosperous style of Government in the World… It’s absolutely impossible for any Socialist to say anything in a few words.”  There’s Not a Bathing Suit in Russia, page 58, 1927.

“Poor coffee and no bathtubs have drove more Americans out of England than unfamiliarity with their language has.” DT #849, Apr. 16, 1929

[Response: After receiving a compliment on this issue from a prominent professional speaker, I replied, “For many of these lines, I’m smiling as I write them.”  She replied, “As you should!! You are a superb writer, great wit and have to be up to date every week. A rare talent.”.   I accept those glowing comments with humility because they come from one of our best speakers and speech coaches, Patricia Fripp. I have learned much from her.]

Columbus: Yes, I’m in Columbus, and it’s Columbus Day. Unless you’re an Indian, then it’s Indigenous People Day. And yes, I know, “Indian” is a word stuck on us by Columbus. But it is easier to spell than Indigenous. And about the only people celebrating today are Federal government workers and Italians.

Meanwhile, between Red China and Turkey, we’ve got ourselves in enough of a pinch to almost take your mind off Impeachment.

You’ll notice I said Red China, not China. That’s what we called it fifty or sixty years ago when we knew it was run by Communists. And Nationalist China was on the island of Formosa, now Taiwan. Hong Kong was part of the British Empire, although no one here paid any attention to Hong Kong.

Over the years, beginning with President Nixon’s visit in 1972, we have forgotten that mainland China is still Communist. Oh, they “make nice” with our businesses and politicians, and pro basketball players. We see a country with 1.3 billion people that provides cheap labor for manufacturing our imported goods yet has more “middle class” consumers than we have. One example: the Chinese buy more Buicks that we do.

Then along comes Hong Kong.  When Britain decided to let go of the territory they reached a 50-year agreement with Red China in 1997 that Hong Kong would continue to operate fairly independently. Of course the British, not to mention Nixon and most Americans since 1972, have assumed that the leaders in Red China would eventually see the light and adopt our democratic principles. Well, the 50-year deal lasted 22 years. Xi Jinping took over in 2012 and has declared he is President for life. Nowhere close to democratic.

Why didn’t Britain turn Hong Kong over to Taiwan, or give its 7 million residents complete independence?

And then Erdogan of Turkey pops up. He was elected President, but runs the country like a dictatorship. It used to be a democratic nation and is part of NATO. The Turks hate the part of their population who are the Kurds. We like the Kurds because they are good fighters and helped us defeat (or control) the ISIS Islamic terrorists. But there are Kurds that hate the Turks and keep terrorizing them. Kurds want their own country, Kurdistan, formed mainly from parts of Turkey, Syria, Iran and Iraq.

So what happened? Turkey ignored threats from President Trump and attacked the Kurds in northern Syria. In China, Xi Jinping celebrates 70 years of Communist rule and ignores tariffs and pleas from Trump concerning Hong Kong.

Question: has the USA lost its clout? Also, are we better off to remove ourselves from internal conflicts in the Middle East and Southeast Asia?

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

          “Christopher Columbus landed on some islands, but they always stretched a point and give him the best of it and said he landed in America… Being an Indian, I don’t mind telling you that personally I am sorry he ever found us. The discovery of America has been of no material benefit to us, outside of losing all our land. I am proud to say that I have never yet seen a statue to him in Oklahoma.” WA #190, Aug. 1, 1926

“Turkey has been laying off three months now without any war, and Peace is just about killing them.” Letters of a Self-Made Diplomat to his President, Aug. 26, 1926

“Turkey likes to end one war on Friday, and start another one on Monday.” (Paraphrased from a recorded speech)

“We are always hearing about the Chinese Problem.  To the Chinese it’s no Problem; it’s just another Fact.  We dident find that they had a Problem till we found they had some money to buy something we had.  Then we found they had some things to sell cheaper than the rest of the world, so that, naturally, made them a Problem.” Saturday Evening Post, Apr. 2, 1932

“We will stop those Chinese from fighting among themselves even if we have to kill them to do it.” DT #160, Feb. 4, 1927

(Before I get into “Weekly Comments” let me wish Bernie Sanders a full recovery from his heart attack. I hope he can participate in the Presidential debate October 15, even if he has to sit down. In fact, put him and the other dozen candidates in rocking chairs. Arrange it like they are sitting on the front porch of a farm house. To borrow a phrase from my friend Jeanne Robertson, the audience could have a rockin’ good time.) Don’t you agree? Our brains are being overloaded with opinions, innuendos, rumors, outright lies, cheap shots and tall tales. Therefore, I am gonna give you FACTS, and only FACTS. Concerning all the hot topics – Impeachment, Immigration, Russia, China, Hong Kong, Iran, Ukraine, Biden, Schiff, Trump, Pelosi, Global Warming, Red Meat – below is a list of facts that absolutely everyone agrees on one hundred percent. Whether Democrat, Republican, Independent, Agnostic, Muslim, Methodist, Californian, Kansan, Navajo, Cherokee, Male, Female, or rather not say. Here is my complete list of undisputed facts: Have a good day. Historic quotes by Will Rogers:   “The remark you make must be founded on facts. You can exaggerate and make it ridiculous, but it must have the plain facts in it. Then you will hear the audience say: ‘Well, that’s pretty near right.’”  How to be Funny, July 1917 “Why don’t they limit (radio stations) to how many rumors they can broadcast without any single iota of facts.” DT #2231, Sept. 27, 1933

(This is longer than usual. Hope you can make it to the end.) Columbus: What a week! Speaker Pelosi announced the House would start an Inquiry into Impeachment. Why now? Because Trump called the President of Ukraine (Zelenskyy) July 25 and spent 30 minutes threatening him, demanding seven times that he investigate Joe Biden’s son, and cancelling millions of dollars in military support.  These details came from a Whistleblower report (apparently by a high up official in the CIA) because the phone call itself was top secret and would never become public.  The Intelligence Committee, chaired by Adam Schiff, would conduct the Inquiry. The next day Trump released a transcript (actually detailed notes by two or more intelligence officials who listened to the call). Wait, I thought this was top secret. Well, surprise, surprise. Biden’s name appeared only three times, all in the same paragraph. The only mention of military was by Zelenskyy, saying he wanted to buy more Javelins for defense purposes. Then Pelosi said the Whistleblower complaint, not the Transcript, was the authentic document and was the real reason for the Inquiry. Was the Whistleblower also on the call? No, but he had talked to a couple who were on the call, plus other CIA friends, and they were all mad at Trump. So he felt compelled to write down all the comments and send this document to Schiff and Attorney General Barr. Thursday, Chairman Schiff opened the Inquiry by quoting from the Transcript of the infamous call. Well, it was not exactly quotes. The Transcript was in English but Schiff translated it into what is best called “Schifglish.” (Here are a few pertinent quotes by Trump and the Ukraine President, plus the Schifglish translation.) Trump: “We do a lot for Ukraine. A lot of effort and a lot of time. Much more than the European countries are doing.” Schifglish: “We’ve been very good to your country; no other country has done as much as we have.” Trump: “I would like you to do us a favor though because our country has been through a lot [referring to the Mueller Russia investigation]… They say a lot of it started with Ukraine. Whatever you can do, it’s very important that you do it if that’s possible.” Schifglish: “I have a favor I want from you though. And I’m gonna say this only seven times so you had better listen good.” Zelenskyy: “Yes, it is very important for me as President and we are open for any future cooperation in relations between the United States and Ukraine… One of my assistants spoke with Mr. Giuliani just recently and we are hoping he will be able to travel to Ukraine… I also plan to surround myself with great people and in addition to that investigation, I guarantee that all the investigations will be done openly.” Trump: “I will ask Giuliani to call you along with the Attorney General… There’s a lot of talk about Biden’s son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that. Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you could look into it…” Schifglish: “I want you to make up dirt on my political opponent, lots of it.    You know what I’m asking so I’m only going to say this a few more times, in a few more ways.” Zelenskyy: “The issue of the investigation of the case [firing the prosecutor] is actually the issue of making sure to restore the honesty so we will take care of that and will work on the investigation of the case.” Trump: “I will have Mr. Giuliani and Attorney General Barr call and we will get to the bottom of it… Good luck with everything.” Zelenskyy: “I want to thank you for the invitation to visit the United States, specifically Washington, DC.” Trump: “Whenever you would like to come to the White House, feel free to call. Give us a date and we’ll work that out. I look forward to seeing you.” Schifglish: “And don’t call me again! I’ll call you when you’ve done what I asked.”   Then a concluding comment by Chairman Schiff: (This Transcript) “reads like a classic organized crime shakedown.” So, for a few Congress members who have been demanding impeachment since Trump was elected (including Maxine Waters-CA and Al Green-TX) this is their dream. They have been Aiming for almost 3 years, Pelosi has finally Fired the shot, and they think they are finally Ready with a charge that will stick. Maybe. They are ignoring President Zelenskyy who a few days ago stated clearly he felt no pressure at all. It was a friendly call. The central figure in this case is Joe Biden’s son. Hunter Biden was hired by a Ukrainian in 2014 as an “oil and gas expert” to consult for a salary of $600,000. You may wonder, why didn’t anyone in Congress question this hiring of the Vice-President’s son, with zero expertise in oil and gas, at an outrageous salary? Simple: almost everyone in Washington is hoping for similar deals for their family members. And many are already cashing in. Don’t rock the boat, especially when an earlier investigation found nothing illegal about Hunter receiving $50,000 a month from Ukraine, plus a one-time deal from China for millions of dollars. Clearly, many news writers and political commentators have the opposite view. Of the handful of folks who have read all the way to here, half may disagree. In fact, half the people in this country will not be satisfied unless Trump comes to the same end as Richard Nixon. Historic quote by Will Rogers: (On Corruption) “The ones that are getting some of it don’t want it brought up.”  Saturday Evening Post, March 30, 1929

A bright 16-year old from Sweden is inspiring her fellow teenagers here to learn more about climate around the globe. I think she’s also planning to speak at the United Nations.

You probably remember that she is so determined to eliminate fossil fuels she came to New York by sailboat, and it took her two weeks. Swimming might have been faster.

Now, whether those leaders and UN delegates coming from about 200 countries will follow her lead I got my doubts. Maybe Spain could sail on a replica of the Santa Maria. But can you picture the folks from China and India crowding on a sailing skiff for a month or two?

I know these young folks are seriously concerned. Adults they respect are telling them that unless we eliminate coal, oil and gas in 12 years we’re all gonna die. Here’s a question for them: What percent of the global total of greenhouse gas does the U.S. contribute? If you have a teenager around, ask them. Make it multiple-choice: 75%; 45%; 35%; or 15%. (Answer below)

Last week I alluded to a story in the New York Times about Justice Brett Kavanaugh that concluded he should be impeached. Within a few hours the story was debunked although a few candidates for President still want to impeach him. Meanwhile Congress started impeachment interviews aimed at President Trump. Sadly, a lot of Democrat leaders apparently don’t think any of their candidates for 2020 can beat him in the election. So they have to get him out before the election.

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

“If your time is worth anything, travel by air. If not, you might just as well walk.” DT #389, Oct. 20, 1927.

[The answer is 15%. China and India are the biggest contributors.]

Did you watch the 3-hour Democrat debate? I wanted all ten candidates to answer a question about fossil fuels, but none was asked. (The Moderators were more interested in health insurance, immigration, and confiscating guns than they were in jobs, investments and the economy.)

Elizabeth Warren has been clear in her position on fracking: ban it immediately! I think I heard her say we would be completely off coal, gas and oil by 2035. Of course this drew a lot of attention in states that produce fossil fuels. Surprisingly, the leaders in states where people USE fuel had no reaction. Those are the folks who will suffer from higher prices, shortages, and blackouts.

You might say, “No, we’ll have all the energy we need from solar and wind.” Makes sense except for one drawback: wind machines are made with steel and solar collectors use a lot of plastic. Steel and plastic require a lot of coal, oil and gas. Hmmm. Maybe a President Warren would import them from China.

I want to compliment candidate O’Rourke of Texas for a positive comment about regenerative agriculture, which uses no-till and cover crops to build soil health and sequester carbon from the air. If the other candidates don’t know what that is, they had better ask an Iowa farmer to explain it.

Even though Speaker Nancy Pelosi doesn’t want to hear the “I-word,”  over a hundred members of Congress have stated, in one way or another, a desire to impeach President Trump. Congressman Nadler of New York City and Congresswoman Waters of California have been yelling for impeachment even before he was inaugurated. Most of the hundred are a bit reluctant. Instead of “IMPEACH!” they use milder words such as inquiry, investigate, considering, possibly, probably, maybe…

Meanwhile, others in Congress want another guy impeached: Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh. It’s for something he supposedly did in high school or college. Before the 535 members of Congress get all riled up about it, maybe they should reflect on their own younger years.

Did you hear that young folks are upset about reruns of the popular TV show “Friends.” I hope they don’t go all the way back and watch reruns of Gunsmoke. A lot of people got shot on those shows. And many folks around Dodge City did not like Indians.

Maybe we should concentrate on how we treat people today, and not complain about the way it was 20, 50 or 100 years ago.

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

“Poor Democrats, I love ‘em. Now they are dying to scare up an issue by trying to discredit Mr. Hoover because some lobbyist wrote a letter saying that he knew President Hoover’s secretary, and that the secretary was very partial to Cuban sugar in his coffee in the morning, and that in view of this dastardly plot Mr. Hoover should really be impeached. Then they wonder why they don’t get anywhere.” DT #1064, Dec. 23, 1929

Have you noticed that many of our farmers and ranchers are under attack? No, they’re not being shot at.

But farmers are blamed for using Roundup and other chemicals. Raising beef animals and feeding them grain. Locking hens in tiny cages. Growing genetically modified crops. Making people fat. And China and Mother Nature both took aim at Midwest corn and soybean growers.

Our Energy producers look at farmers and say, “Yes, but people still eat three meals a day. They want to completely stop using our oil, gas and coal.”

I guess they are both targeted. Environmentalists want imitation beef made out of plants to replace real beef (Isn’t it also made out of plants, mainly grass and a little corn?) and electricity from wind and solar instead of fossil fuels and nuclear.

The Democrats running for President are leading the pack against fossil fuel. Has any candidate bragged about the value to our economy of low cost natural gas and oil? Ten candidates were on CNN one night for seven hours straight. Did anyone utter even a hint of a compliment for our most abundant energy sources?

The next debate is this week (September 12) with ten candidates for 3 hours. I hope a moderator will ask each candidate this question: What will be the role of fossil fuels in the 4 or 8 years of your Administration? And if you plan to ban fossil fuels, will they be banned by November 2024? Or 2028?

Although natural gas is the cleanest burning and least costly of our fuels most candidates want to ban hydraulic fracturing (fracing). I’m guessing they never heard of horizontal drilling or they would be against that too.

Can you imagine a candidate in the mid to late 1800s saying, “Replacing whale oil, which is a natural biological product from our endless oceans, with dirty black crude oil from in the ground is an abomination?” Or, “Why would anyone throw out a candle with a warm glow that depends only on a match to start it in preference to a new-fangled incandescent bulb that needs a constant supply of high voltage through a dangerous mangle of wires that can shock you?”

Back to 2019. It seems that by 2024, or 2028 at the latest, we’ll be eating Mung bean burgers grilled over a solar fire. But what if the sun don’t shine? I hear that Hormel is getting into the fake meat business so the backup plan is to open a can of fake Spam.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“There is not a better day in the world to be spent than with a lot of wise old cowmen around barbecued beef, black coffee and good ‘free holy’ beans.” DT #2430, May 17, 1934

“The farmer has to be an optimist or he wouldn’t still be a farmer.” WA #57, Jan. 13, 1924

 “What has the poor farmer done against the Almighty and the Republican administration [Democrat candidates?] that he should deserve all this?

If it’s not the heat, it’s the deep snow.

If it’s not the drought, it’s the floods.

If it’s not the boll weevil, it’s the tariff.

If it’s not the cinch bugs, it’s the Federal Reserve.

If it’s not relief he needs, why, it’s rain.” DT #1258  Aug. 6, 1930

“Just flew over Oklahoma City where they have struck the big oil wells right in town. They are going to move the Capitol buildings to put in wells.” DT #985, Sept. 22, 1929

Time for another Recession? We’ve finally recovered from the one back in 2008, and a lot of folks think it’s time we had another one.

In case you’ve forgotten, the Great Recession of 2008 was caused primarily by pressure from Congress (mainly Congressman Barney Frank) that told banks to give low interest mortgages to low-income people who were unlikely to ever pay it back. That was a small percentage of the housing market. But it caused all home prices to balloon. So homeowners in their fifties, sixties and seventies (who should have known better) refinanced their nearly-paid-off houses with a 30-year loan at the high price, and lavishly spent the new-found money. Or they bought a new, more luxurious house at an inflated price.

When the housing boom turned into a bust, a lot of folks found themselves owing, say, $400,000 on a house worth only $300,000. Or maybe owing $200,000 on starter home, but with no income because they lost a job. A few unscrupulous bankers played a role, but the result was a crash in the housing industry.

That’s one way to start a Recession.

Now, we have other folks determined to start a new one in the next year. This small group consists mostly of twenty candidates for President and Democrat politicians hoping to unseat a Republican Congressman or Senator in 2020.

As a favor to the Democrats, here are three sure-fire ways to start a Recession.

1. Don’t buy anything. Consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of the economy.  So ask all Democrats to stop spending, except for the bare essentials. (What? No Christmas presents? Well, remind the kids that Christmas 2020 will be twice as good.)
2. Sell all your stock, including retirement accounts; put it all into cash. Of course this only applies to those who did not already dump their stock the day after Donald Trump was elected in 2016.
3. Don’t pay back student loans, only the minimum interest payment. Senator Warren and other candidates promise to cancel student debt anyway, so only a sucker would pay it off early.

Now, I’ll admit this is not guaranteed to start a Recession. But it would be fun to watch Trump and the Republicans scramble to prevent it.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

(After the stock market crash in October 1929) “When Wall Street took that tail spin, you had to stand in line to get a window to jump out of, and speculators were selling space for bodies in the East River… Now they know what the farmer has been up against for eight years.” DT #1013, Oct. 24, 1929

(my old friend, Speaker of the House) “Nick Longworth… blamed the Democratic party for the financial depression that is enveloping the world. It’s really the biggest advertisement that the Democratic party have ever had. Why, if they was that important, they wouldn’t be Democrats. They would all be Republicans.” DT #1312, Oct 7, 1930

Joe Biden is the Democrat front runner, and his supporters want him to stay in front. Their suggestion is for him to imitate President Coolidge from now until November 2020. “Silent Cal” had “Economy” as his platform in 1924. He was just as economical with his words as he was with our tax dollars.

Now, telling Biden not to talk is like telling Trump not to Twitter. So as a compromise he has agreed to only speak before noon. From noon to midnight he can ride in parades and wave, and go to fundraisers where he will only stand there and grin. Yes, he will pose for selfies with big donors, but with his hands tied behind his back (yes, literally). We poke fun, but actually Joe Biden is no different than he has been for the last fifty years, but now his critics have video cameras.

The biggest surprise of the week is that Greenland might be up for auction. Yes all 500 million acres of it and 60,000 residents. It is owned by little Denmark, which is like Rhode Island owning Texas. Greenland is suspected of having vast natural resources but Denmark is losing their shirt because they don’t know how to drill or mine through all that ice. The citizens are opposed, but when Denmark cuts off their welfare payments, they might welcome a bid from America. And they had better hope we can outbid China.

Greenland has the potential of becoming the world’s number one exporter of ice. With global warming, that might be the main reason to bid on it.

Greenland was named by the same advertising agency that named the Cherry Sisters vaudeville act. (Those five young “singers” from Iowa were awful, and Will Rogers said one time, on stage, “the Cherry Sisters were named before anybody discovered Lemons.”) See, the perfect name, “Iceland,” was taken. And “Frozen” was already trademarked by Walt Disney.

Greenland holds the distinction of being the only big island you can fly over all day and not see anything green. Except maybe for Australia in a drought.

The idea of us buying Greenland has come up before, but President Trump is being criticized for even hinting at it. You would think that everyone yelling about global warming would be praising the idea. They are always preaching that all the ice in Greenland will melt, and oceans will rise, wiping out our coastal cities. So it ought to be logical for them to see that if we own Greenland, it gives some place for those millions of flooded out citizens to relocate to.  And our farmers could use most of the 500 million acres to grow corn, wheat, cotton, bananas, and pineapples. Even lemons.

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

(paraphrased) “Buy land, because they aren’t making any more of it.” WA #381, April 13, 1930

The Federal Reserve Board met last week and lowered interest rates by 0.25 percent. That was good news for the economy. But the Chairman of the Fed stepped to the microphone and spouted off, telling the world this was bad news. So, every “federal reserve” in every major country, and a few minor ones, slashed their own interest rates. Some are so scared they set interest below zero. Yes, you loan them $100,000 and a year from now they will give you back $98,000. What a deal. [Here’s Will Rogers, April 1929, “There is two things that can disrupt business in this country. One is war, and the other is a meeting of the Federal Reserve.”  He offered this advice, “Sell your house and lot this morning; the Federal Reserve Board meets this afternoon.”] Joe Biden is leading the polls to become the Democrat candidate for President in 2020. He decided to borrow an idea from Hillary Clinton and go one giant step farther: Eliminate coal and all other fossil fuels. Has Joe Biden latched onto the Green New Deal? The improving economy under the Obama-Biden Administration was greatly helped by the boom in our oil and gas production. Has Joe forgotten that though he spent most of his adult life serving in Washington, he went home almost every night to Delaware? On a train. Powered by diesel fuel. Replace diesel with solar? You couldn’t strap on enough solar collectors on a 100-car train to power one locomotive. In Iowa, Senator Elizabeth Warren announced a plan to guarantee farm income by limiting the acres we plant to corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton and other crops. She did not know we tried this in the 1930s. (See quote below) Historic quote by Will Rogers: “It was a fine plan, well carried out. We wanted to raise commodity prices and Mr. (Henry) Wallace (Secretary of Agriculture), wanted to give farmers a profit…. It was a plan to plow under every third acre of wheat and the wind came along and blew out the other two acres. It was a plan to plow under part of the cotton. We did, and other nations like Brazil found out where we plowed it under, and they come along and dug it up, and now they’ve got more cotton than we have. Somebody had a plan to teach hogs birth control, and now it’s a habit with them… When a Senator comes to Washington with a plan, send ‘em to Russia. That’s the home of plans. They eat, sleep and drink plans in Russia. That’s why there’s starvation there, because you can’t digest a plan. Everything in Russia is run by plans; everything here is run by accident.” Radio, April 21, 1935 (this quote is slightly rearranged)