Category: Uncategorized

I was in Claremore, Oklahoma last weekend celebrating “my” 140^th birthday. Even Google.com got in on the celebration all day November 4.

Jennifer Rogers Etcheverry (great-granddaughter) was there as usual. Joel McCrea (represented by grandson Wyatt McCrea) and Barry Corbin received major awards from the Memorial Museum. I asked Barry Corbin how many movies he has made. He said, “Oh, between 200 and 300, starting with Urban Cowboy.”  He’s no stranger to television either, including starring in Northern Exposure.

The Oklahoma Legislature has a bill that would rename part of historic U.S. Route 66 for President Trump. Now I don’t want to sound egotistical but that road already has a name: the Will Rogers Highway. Maybe the Legislature can find an anonymous stretch of highway out in the panhandle and name it the Trump Road.

Did you ever hear a preacher deliver a sermon based on Route 66? You may know that Route 66 goes right through downtown Claremore. Rev. Ray Crawford at the First United Methodist Church figured out a way to tie the 22^nd Chapter of 1 Chronicles, which is about David preparing resources to leave for his son Solomon, to kind of a marathon relay race the whole length of Route 66. Personally, if I had to be in a relay race, I would run my part on horseback. Well, Dr. Crawford said the relay is more about time (years) rather than distance. We need to pass the faith and our resources to the ones following along behind us.

I think that’s a great idea even if you’re not a Methodist. What we do with what we have is a powerful measure of who we are. As two examples, I think Jennifer Rogers and Wyatt McCrea have been well prepared and accepted the baton passed down from their famous ancestors.

I heard that CNN completed some essential investigative reporting on President Trump’s tweets. CNN’s team of journalists unearthed 186 misspelled words in three years of Trump tweets.

Lord, I’m glad CNN wasn’t around when I was writing daily and weekly newspaper articles in the 1920s and 30s. English teachers was the only ones back then concerned about my lack of interest in proper grammar and spelling. Everybody else that could read understood what I aimed to say except mayby the professors at Harvard.

Tomorrow is Armistice Day, November 11, a day to honor our military and have a parade. They changed the name to Veterans Day, but were practically forced to keep it on Nov. 11, even when it’s not a Monday. We’re also celebrating the end of the Berlin Wall 30 years ago. You’ll remember President Reagan saying, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” And he did.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“Been reading editorials on President Coolidge’s armament speech. Several papers have asked, ‘What would Europe do if we were in difficulties and needed help?’ (My) reply to those inquiries: Europe would hold a celebration.” DT #717, Nov. 14, 1928

“If we really want to honor our (veterans), why don’t we let THEM sit in the reviewing stands and make the people march by?”  WA #36, Aug. 19, 1923

[I received this nice compliment: “Randall Reeder really does a nice job –I heard it said when a person dies ,he is soon forgotten –not in Will’s case ! Thank you very much!”   Yes, we try to keep Will alive.]

California is a leading producer of nuts. That’s great news if you like almonds. But the nuts I’m talking about are in Sacramento.

There have been a lot of wildfires in California, and the electric company gets blamed for most of them. These fires often start on windy days from a spark in dry hill country.  You would think the electric company would be encouraged to spend all available funds to clears trees and brush and upgrade their equipment to improve safety, and residents would get rebates for “fireproofing” their houses and surrounding land. But no, not in California.

The homeowners are encouraged to install solar collectors. Then the electric company is required to buy the solar kilowatt-hours and pay retail rates instead of wholesale.

What happens when the electric company shuts off electricity for a couple of days to prevent fires? Aren’t these homeowners lucky to have solar electric? No, the solar systems are inter-connected so they only work when the electricity is on.

What if they installed wind machines instead of solar? Well, the electric company only cuts off power when Santa Ana winds are high, say 50 to 100 miles per hour. Wind machines are designed to automatically shut down at such high wind speeds.

The root cause of these problems is a Governor and Legislature in Sacramento that hate fossil fuels. But smart homeowners and businesses are buying backup generators, which are powered by… fossil fuel.

Several cities are banning new gas lines and even forcing homeowners to tear out their fuel oil furnaces.

And get this, California has banned fur coats . First they cut off your heat, then ban fur coats. People were already fleeing California to escape high costs; now it’s to keep warm.

In the World Series between Houston and Washington, it looks like the end of the “home field advantage?” The visitor has won each of the 5 games so far. President Trump attended the game tonight in DC and was booed when introduced. Maybe he would get a friendlier reception if he goes to the next game, “away” in Texas.

Facebook’s Zuckerberg was interrogated by Congress. Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez questioned him harshly, implying he should prevent political lies from getting on Facebook. Zuckerberg should have responded with the Will Rogers quote below.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

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

“In California, along with all these wonders we have out here is the World’s greatest collection of freak humans on earth. Just start anything out here and if it’s cuckoo enough you will get followers.”  WA #363, Dec. 8, 1929

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