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The Democrat Party is attracting candidates for President faster than Tom Brady collects Super Bowl rings. He got another one as the New England Patriots beat the Los Angeles Rams 13-3.

Back to the proliferation of candidates. I often said “I’m not a member of any organized political party… I’m a Democrat.” And any organization, in order to survive, needs a leader with common sense.  There’s a bunch of wise old Democrat leaders in Washington but they have a problem: they’re old!

So along comes this new, young firebrand Congresswoman from the Bronx, with no credentials and no leadership experience, who has assumed the mantle of the Democrat Party. To her credit she’s pulling the Democrat wagon down the road at a good clip. But she’s veering so far to the left the wagon load of candidates she’s hauling will end up in the ditch. She’s too young to run in 2020 and she has not publicly endorsed anyone. But I can definitely tell you who her favorite is: Nicolas Maduro.

Howard Schultz, owner of Starbucks, says he is running in 2020. He might end up a good President. Anyone who can convince millions of Americans to buy coffee every morning for three times what it’s worth would stand a good chance of persuading us to contribute enough extra taxes to balance the budget. He knows how to cut costs, too. Half of the coffee drinks he sells are cold; he doesn’t even pay to heat ‘em up.

Michael Bloomberg, another billionaire businessman who was a Democrat mayor of New York, says he may run. Both of these men are abandoning the Democrat Party, figuring no old white male has a chance at the nomination, unless maybe it’s Joe Biden.

I heard another potential Democratic candidate for President say he is for “Women’s Health.” Well, I hope so. How could anyone be against females being healthy?

But “women’s health” seems to be a code term for “pro-abortion.” And for a few extreme politicians, including the governor of Virginia, it even includes “infanticide.” Oddly, that governor is in more trouble for a photo of him in blackface 35 years ago at a Halloween party than for aborting live babies. Both are bad. But which does the most harm?  What about today when a white person, or black, puts on a feathered headdress and stomps around like a wild Indian?

The debate over a physical barrier along parts of the Mexican border is approaching another deadline. Speaker Pelosi already called any kind of wall “immoral” and added that this particular wall has a terrible cost/benefit ratio. This shocked most of her fellow Congressmen; since they’ve been in Congress, they never heard of a cost/benefit ratio having any consideration in a spending bill.

I’m not an economist, but which of these choices would likely cost less to keep thousands of immigrants from crossing our border:  500 miles of a 30-foot steel-slat fence, or paying border agents to stand shoulder to shoulder, 24/7, along that same 500 miles? Of course technology, such as drones, can help, but how does a drone keep an immigrant from touching our soil? And the fence can last 50 years. How much would a million extra border guards cost in 50 years?

Now here’s an idea with a great cost/benefit ratio for Speaker Pelosi: pass a law saying that just because a foreigner gets one foot on American soil he or she has no right to stay without our permission. And while you’re at it, prohibit lottery immigration and letting immigrants who came illegally, but are now legal, from bringing in all their relatives. Great benefit, no cost.

We’re going to hear the State of the Union, finally, tomorrow night (Feb. 5). President Trump says he will cover just five points, which is far better than 30 or 40 that some previous presidents have crammed into an hour talk. The Democrat response has already been written and can be summarized in six words: “Whatever Trump is for, we’re against.”

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“The one way to detect a feeble-minded man is to get one arguing on economics.” DT #2239, Oct. 6, 1933

“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 Congress men 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

We used to talk about how a good president could keep the trains running on time. This shutdown ended because President Trump couldn’t keep the planes flying on time.

We’re glad the Air Traffic Controllers and all federal employees are back on the job, and getting paid.

Television newscasters highlighted employees who were so broke they couldn’t afford food for their kids or gas for the car. For their benefit, I hope that, along with their back pay, the government sends a copy of the FEMA fact sheet explaining how much savings workers should set aside for emergencies. One or two month’s salary is the minimum.

We’ve got bickering and back-stabbing between Democrats and Republicans; we don’t need bickering and hurt feelings between ones who had an “involuntary furlough vacation” and the ones who had to work through the shutdown. That disparity is probably the real reason so many called in sick instead of working.

The argument over a wall on the Mexico border caused the shutdown.  My recent ideas for a physical barrier, including my analogy with “chickens on a football field,” have failed to persuade any Democrat, including Speaker Pelosi. They have their own ideas for “border security” (which loosely translates to “open borders”).

The President has 3 weeks to convince Democrats to appropriate $5 Billion for 250 miles of steel barrier. Can he convince Speaker Pelosi? Not a chance. She is so dead set against an “immoral” wall she will go to her grave opposing any kind of wall. Her grave will likely be in the back yard of the Pelosi Estate, which is surrounded by a wall.

Concerning the battle between Trump and the Democrats, here is an interesting quote by a former president, “You now see how essential system and plan are for conducting our affairs wisely with so bitter a party in opposition to us. They look not at all to what is best for the public, but how they may thwart whatever we propose, though they should thereby sink their country.”

Was that President Obama? Or Clinton? Or FDR? No, it was Thomas Jefferson, in 1804.

We’ll get back to the wall/fence/barrier argument in a week or two.

Did you see the Washington Post newspaper headline: “Five black activists arrested for vulgar verbal attack on high school students?” Of course not. There was no such story although there should have been. Instead the more common “headline” in the news and social media last weekend was “White Catholic boys wearing MAGA hats abused a Native-American Vietnam War veteran at the Lincoln Memorial.” To their credit, most of these “news” folks corrected their initial story. But a few persistent Trump-haters stuck with their story. No one is disliked more in this country than Trump and Trump supporters, unless maybe it’s the New England Patriots and a couple of NFL referees.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“I hope the Democrats win this election just for one thing. I have heard 5,000 hours of speeches on a ‘return to Jeffersonian principles,’ and I want to see what ‘Jeffersonian principles’ are.” DT #700, Oct. 24, 1928

“Jeffersonian Principles has always been a big sales argument with us Democrats. It seems that Jefferson was for the poor. Well, that strikes me as being mighty good politics in those days for that’s about all there was.” Saturday Evening Post, March 30, 1929

Friends and countrymen (and women), I’m looking for 8 volunteers for a demonstration of border security.

Here’s what we’ll do. Find a high school football field and put up an 8-foot chicken wire fence on one sideline and both end zones.  Then we’ll turn loose 3000 chickens (White Leghorn pullets) on the grass field. We’ll add a dozen Rhode Island Reds and a dozen Bantams. All these chickens will be content, at least for a while, pecking and scratching the sod.

But one sideline, 100 yards long, is open. No fence to contain the fowl. How do we keep them from escaping? Well, that sideline will be patrolled by my 8 volunteers, plus Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. We’ll let the two Congressional leaders add some technology, maybe a couple of drones, to help corral the chickens. I’ll give each volunteer a small lasso, but be careful not to wring their necks. Let’s not upset PETA.

Our challenge is to keep chickens from crossing that boundary. Do you think 10 people can do it? Maybe. Those chicks will be happily eating bugs, ants and earthworms.

Oh, I forgot two little details. The two dozen Rhode Island Reds and Bantams are the most critical ones to keep from crossing. Under no circumstances are any of those 24 allowed to cross the sideline. Second, we’ll have 11 football players on the field trying to “drive” the chickens toward the open side.

Can you see that field? Chickens running about, wings flapping, and 11 athletes, arms flailing, trying to herd them across the sideline that’s protected by 10 people frantically twirling little lassos, guarding their ten yards of the boundary.

To be fair, we’ll only run this little experiment for 8 hours, a normal work shift. Do our volunteers have any chance of succeeding? Not a chance. Not a chance. Even if all 8 were professional soccer goalies, hundreds will cross the boundary. Even if they concentrated on stopping the two dozen “undesirables” they would surely miss a couple of them.

Now, change the scene. Add a fence on that sideline with a gate at one corner. The gate could easily be guarded by two ordinary people, even Schumer and Pelosi. One person could patrol the fence to capture any chicken that dug under or flew over it. That means chickens are prevented from crossing that border, and the other 7 folks can be reassigned to other locations where a fence is not feasible, or to airports and seaports where 40 percent of unwanted “chickens” are entering.

Whether this little experiment will change any Democrats minds about a border fence, I’ve got my doubts. In their definition of border security, there is no place for any kind of physical barrier.

Every farmer and rancher knows fences are not perfect and they don’t last forever. But ask one with a thousand cattle (or 3000 free range chickens) how many cowboys would be needed if there was no fence around the pasture.

This partial government shutdown is getting serious since it went on beyond the holidays. Employees missed their first paycheck on Friday, and many seem to be flat broke. I found a helpful article with suggestions on how much savings a person should have for emergencies such as this one. It was published by FEMA, and ironically, probably written by employees who are currently furloughed.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“You may ask: Isn’t the Presidency higher than Senator? Well, no! The Senate can make a sucker out of any President, and generally does.” Republican Convention article, June 8, 1920

“Washington, D.C. papers say: ‘Congress is deadlocked and can’t act!’ I think that is the greatest blessing that could befall this country.” WA #59, January 27, 1924

“Say, did you read the latest census figures? Talk about putting a quota on immigration. Why, the Yankees are swarming into the South like locusts… They ought to be met at the Mason-Dixon Line and deloused.” DT #1201, June 1, 1930

(This is longer than usual because of the topic. “The Wall” vs. “open borders.”   I’m expressing my opinion below; if you have an opposite opinion write your own column. If you hate the idea of a fence/barrier/wall to discourage illegal border crossings, then stop reading, because nothing below will likely change your mind. Oddly, however, most Democrat leaders have changed their minds from 10 or 12 years ago.) COLUMBUS: You probably know that Will Rogers said, “I’m not a member of any organized political party… I’m a Democrat.”  Will also made it clear he was neutral in his political commentary. Common horse sense was the most important factor. Yes, humor and some silliness came into play. Let’s start today with the silly. Nancy Pelosi offered a 3-point “Pelosi Plan” instead of “The Wall.” 1. Build a Beaded Curtain (not to be confused with an Iron Curtain.) 2. Hire 10,000 cowboys on horseback to corral any immigrant who figures out how to break through the beads. Will the cowboys be armed? No, no, no. Only lassos.   3. Hire 50,000 other folks, as follows: 10,000 judges to rule on asylum claims; 10,000 lawyers to prosecute the cases; 10,000 lawyers to represent the immigrants; 10,000 wranglers to care for the horses; and 10,000 to repair and replace beads. The Pelosi Plan for border security is intended to have the same result as the border security plans in place for the last 30 years. Nancy Pelosi should be out of the picture, at least until January 3. The House already voted for a budget bill with $5 Billion for the wall. But the Senate needs 60 votes, not just the 51 Republicans, to pass the budget bill. So, nine Democrats would have to agree with Republicans that we need a secure border to minimize illegal immigration. Chuck Schumer has controlled his Democrat Senators with an iron fist; no one has dared to cross him, including two from West Virginia and Indiana who won re-election in November by saying they would support Trump’s border wall. With the urgency of the government shutdown, the Senate should be called back in session for a vote January 2. Then we will  know who favors border security and who wants to continue the shutdown. By the way, Schumer was for a border wall before he was against it. Does that sound like common sense? Democrats do make a valid point. They claim it is unreasonable to build a wall on the entire 1954-mile border. There are mountains, cliffs, canyons, the Rio Grande River, and other geological features where construction would be nearly impossible. So for that reason, they say no portion of a Wall should be built because it is immoral. How about if we build a Wall where the immigrants like to cross? Common sense says let’s put up a wall or fence where immigrants find it easiest to sneak in. This will deter many. Others will look for other spots to sneak in. So that’s where the next sections will be built. What about the ones who tunnel under it, or climb over it? If the wall itself is nearly impenetrable then our officers can spend their time finding the few who do somehow get across. Why doesn’t Mexico pay for the wall? They will, indirectly. The total annual net cost of folks here illegally is at least $25 Billion. This includes law enforcement, education, medical, and social services. A Wall won’t eliminate that total cost, but the investment in a complete “secure border” should pay off quickly. What about the 40% who come by other means and overstay their Visas? Once we stop the 60%, those will be much easier to control. We know who they are, and where they entered. Technology can be used to track them down. There are other issues including businesses that hire illegal immigrants at low wages, “social activists” who encourage immigration by any means possible, and politicians who expect to gain votes. If you think Will Rogers would support unlimited immigration, think again. The Cherokees and all other Indian tribes in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) would have voted for a wall along their border with Kansas on the north and Missouri and Arkansas to the east to keep out “Intruders.” The Indians petitioned Congress for support to protect their border. After much debate, in 1898 Congress came down firmly on the side of the Intruders. Will 2019 be any different?

 

The Republican Congress passed a Democrat budget bill. Instead of trying to reduce our $19 Trillion debt, Congress and the President are adding another half Trillion dollars.

The bill was loaded with Christmas presents for practically everybody that votes. It’s the exact opposite of most Christmas presents because these will be paid for by the children and grandchildren. See, they’re too young to vote now. By the time they can vote Congress will likely pass even more expensive budget bills that will draw their attention away from this one.

When you write a bill that’s 2000 pages of fine print you can pack a whole lot of secret gifts in there. You can bet those Congressmen and Senators that voted for a 2000 page bill only read the handful of pages that had some special favors for their favorite voters. As to any appropriations they might be strongly opposed to, well, they just ignored ‘em.

If you have youngins in the family, and you are fortunate enough to take in some extra dough from components of this appropriation such as oil exports or a solar subsidy, you should squirrel away a big chunk of it for the kids. When they start paying taxes they’re gonna need all the dough they can get.

Historic Christmas quotes by Will Rogers:

“I am too busy replacing presents to write today. I bought some mechanical and electric things for the kids and wore ’em out playing with ’em myself.” DT #120, Dec. 23, 1926

“Well, the neckties were all red and the socks were all too small.  So there is practically nothing I can do but just sit and wait for another holiday.”  DT# 441, Dec. 25, 1927
“This has been the hottest day we have had in California in years. Everybody that is not at the beach is huddled under the thousands of outdoor Christmas trees to get in the shade. Even the imitation snow is melting. All Santa Clauses are in bathing suits and wearing a palm leaf fan for whiskers.”  DT# 1065, Dec. 24, 1929

“Merry Christmas….  Men, act surprised this morning as if you didn’t know the tie was coming.”  DT #121, Dec. 24, 1926

“Well, Christmas has passed. I was just thinking if there was some way to make the Christmas spirit continue during the other days of the year, why we would be the most happy and wonderful Nation on Earth. Gosh, if all of us that was able would just feed and do things for folks without waiting till Christmas. I think we mean well, but we just sorter got in our heads that about one day a year pays our obligations off, then we swell up and hide our Conscience till the next gift day comes along.” WA #628, Jan 6 1935

You probably know that President Trump wants $5 Billion to continue construction of The Wall. He said he is willing to take the blame for “shutting down” the government December 21, if Congress does not add this to the roughly $4000 Billion already in the budget. Yes, you read that right; $5 Billion would increase government spending by 0.13 percent. But Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer are adamantly opposed, even though ten years ago they were in favor of a secure border to keep out illegal aliens.

Here are four observations on a possible government shutdown.

First, the budget for three-fourths of the federal government has already been funded (including the military), so the impact of a shutdown would be minimal.

Second, most of the expense of a shutdown happens before the shutdown because everybody has to waste time planning for a possible shutdown.

Third, whether a shutdown lasts one hour, one day, or one month, employees are always paid for the time they sat at home. The idea that a couple of weeks without any federal government activity would save money is a joke.

Fourth, the shutdown would start on Saturday, Dec. 22, and essential employees would still be on the job. Here’s a question: How many non-essential federal workers are planning to take vacation days during the Christmas-New Years week? Would you believe, all of them? So political haggling could result in a 10-day shutdown, until January 2, and most of us wouldn’t even notice. And  those workers would get the days off, without being charged vacation leave, then get paid later anyway. What a country.

Now, I don’t mean to joke about a shutdown. I know it is a serious issue and is not desirable for anybody directly affected.

Concerning the $25 Billion total cost of The Wall, and why doesn’t Mexico pay for it… imagine a solid wall had been in place for the last ten years, with only needed workers allowed in, legally. No freeloaders. No drug dealers. No MS-13 gang members. Does anyone doubt we would have saved over $25 Billion in various government services already?

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“There is very little dignity, very little sportsmanship, or very little anything in politics.” DT #1949, Nov. 2, 1932

“Politics is not the high class, marvelous thing that lots of you picture.” Nov. 10, 1932

In Washington, Robert Mueller put out information on two of the main culprits he is going after, Michael Cohen and Paul Manafort.  Are they guilty? More important, did they spill the beans on Donald Trump?

Suppose you went to a college football game between two rivals. The next day you read newspaper reports from the home cities of both teams. Amazingly, you wonder if the writers watched the same game.

Well, it’s the same with this “Mueller game.” Of course, President Trump claims there was no connection between the charges against those two and Russian influence in his election. Trump’s opponents claim the charges show a clear path to immediate impeachment.

Former FBI Director James Comey testified to Congress behind closed doors. Even though it was not public, he refused to answer a lot of interesting questions. The transcript of his answers was released, with whole sections blacked out. So we still don’t know his role (or President Obama’s role) in deciding who’s phones would be tapped during the Trump and Clinton campaigns in 2016.

George H. W. Bush took a final train ride, from Houston to his final resting place at Texas A&M University. His family had a great history with railroads and he enjoyed train rides. In the week since his death, everyone, especially media folks, was heaping praise on him, as a gentleman, a warrior, and for his life time of public service.

I read an interesting statistic about media coverage during Bush’s 1992 campaign. Even though the economy was rapidly recovering from a downturn in1990, over 90 percent of stories on the economy were negative. Then miraculously, in the month after the election of Bill Clinton, almost 90 percent of similar stories were positive.

Here’s an interesting question about the Bush presidency. How might it have changed if Republicans had controlled Congress those four years? As it was, Democrats had solid control of both the House and Senate.

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

“At the great San Diego World’s Fair yesterday [former president Herbert] Hoover received a tremendous ovation.

There is no country in the world where a person changes from a hero to a goat, and a goat to a hero, or vice versa, as they do with us. And all through no change in them. The change is always with us. It’s not our public men that you can’t put your finger on. It’s our public. We are the only fleas weighing over 100 pounds. We don’t know what we want, but are ready to bite somebody to get it.” DT #2768, June 19, 1935

The Lame Duck Congress is up against a wall. They have to pass a budget that President Trump will sign. And Trump says he won’t sign any budget unless it includes several Billion for The Wall.

Meanwhile Senator Chuck Schumer, the Minority Leader, said if there is a government shutdown it will be the Republicans fault because they control the House, the Senate and the Presidency. An optimist would conclude he will encourage other Democrat Senators to go along with whatever the 52 Republican Senators decide. But he’s shrewd; he knows it takes 60 votes in the Senate to pass a bill.

I hate to say it, but a lot of Democrats prefer to have the humanity issues with Hondurans storming the fence, Border Patrol officers responding with tear gas, teen age boys confined in tents, and women and children having to live in the mud in Tijuana. Democrats say all these immigrants must be given asylum hearings, although they know that only about 3 percent are accepted for asylum. (Most of the other 97 percent stay here illegally.)

Our farmers are breathing a bit easier. Apparently China has agreed with President Trump on a deal that will delay some tariffs and China will buy soybeans and other farm products. We have huge piles of soybeans and corn from record yields, with much of it stored outside.

President George H. W. Bush died Friday at age 94. Barbara Bush died a few months ago, and most folks feel he was ready to join her in Heaven. He was President from 1989 to 1993, and would have likely been re-elected for a second term if Ross Perot had not run as a third party candidate.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“Live your life so that whenever you lose it, you’re ahead.” WA #445, July 5, 1931

“No man is great if he thinks he is. It’s great to be great, but it’s greater to be human.” DT #1122, Feb. 28, 1930

“Now these fellows in Washington wouldn’t be so serious and particular if they only had to vote on what they thought was good for the majority of the people in the U.S.” WA #64, March 2, 1924

On Thanksgiving, as you sit down to enjoy a bountiful feast, take a moment to thank a farmer. That huge meal with turkey and all the trimmings cost about the same as it has the last couple of years. Yet, the farmer’s income this year is about seven-eighths as much as last year, and far below what they made a few years ago. You probably know that China stopped buying our soybeans and our cows are producing milk faster than we can drink it.

The lame-duck Congress is debating the so-called Farm Bill (which is 80 percent food stamps). They are not arguing over how much farmers ought to get. No, the debate is whether able-bodied young folks who choose not to work should receive food stamps. It’s a worthwhile debate, but there are plenty of jobs available.

Wrapping up the election, the Senate will stay Republican, while the House will switch back to Democratic control for the first time since 2010. The credit for the switch goes to suburban voters who voted for the Democrat for Congress.

I think I’ve figured out why it happened. Do you agree? Previously it was country folks (mainly conservative Republicans) who moved to the suburbs for a new job in the city. Recently, it’s the city folks (mainly liberal Democrats) who have moved out to the suburbs, often to get away from Democrat-ruled cities. But, out of habit, they still vote Democratic.

Ironically, the same effect is occurring for whole states. People leave California and New York, for example, because of high taxes and regulations, and land in Republican states, such as Arizona, Texas and Florida. But they vote for candidates favoring the same policies they left behind.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. The more turkey you eat at dinner the less hash you will be bothered with the rest of the month.” DT #92, Nov. 24, 1926

“Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. [President] Coolidge asked us to thank the Lord, but to kinder hint to Him also that we are aware that a Republican Administration had assisted Him in providing this plentiful bounty.” DT #729, Nov. 27, 1928

“If I run for something, this would be my platform: No part of any turkey served later than Sunday night after Thanksgiving.” DT #1972, Nov. 29, 1932

“Wish all the Farmers would move to town one year; that’s the only way I know to clear the thing up.” WA #452, Aug. 23, 1931

Whoa. Florida is doing it to us again. After the results were announced late Tuesday night, the Election Boss in Broward County contacted Tallahassee saying, “Hold your horses. We have several hundred thousand ballots yet to count. And many of them haven’t been marked yet.” I think she sent the message by telegram.

Would you like to be in charge of putting on an election? You have one job, for one day, every two years. And you have about 720 days to prepare for it. (And you thought preachers had it easy, six days to prepare for one day a week.)

The good news is that 99.9 percent of these officials across the country do their job well. The bad news is that a couple of them forgot that Nov. 6 was Election Day and that vote counting was to be finished by midnight.

Was Will Rogers referring to Broward County 94 years ago? “If I was running for office I would rather have two friends in the counting room than a Republican Slush fund behind me. More candidates have been defeated after 6 o’clock in the evening than were ever defeated during Election Day.” WA #100, Nov. 9, 1924

Democrats elected enough Congressmen and women to regain control of the House. With a Republican Senate and Republican President most folks are saying in the next two years even less will be done (if that is possible). So it could be a repeat of 1924: “Washington, D. C. papers say: ‘Congress is deadlocked and can’t act.’ I think that is the greatest blessing that could befall this country.” WA #59, Jan. 27, 1924

One hundred years ago, Nov, 11, 1918, World War I ended with an Armistice. President Trump is in France honoring the sacrifice our American boys made to save Europe from the Germans. Over 4,000,000 served, and 110,000 died. Oddly, in comments today, President Macron of France did not seem to appreciate the patriotism of our boys in helping to save the hide of his countrymen. And this scorning by European leaders of our contribution is nothing new. Here’s Will Rogers in 1926, “There is only one way we could be in worse with Europeans, and that is to have helped them out in two wars instead of one.” Letters of a Self-Made Diplomat to his President, page 4.

Personal note: My great-uncle, Bill Lowther, served in WWI. He returned to the farm in Wildcat, WV, owned and ran a small general store, and lived to age 105.

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

“Today was Armistice Day, celebrated to commemorate the end of the slaughter.” DT #80, Nov. 11, 1926