Category: Uncategorized

Nov. 4, 2025

COLUMBUS, Ohio: Yes, Nov. 4 is “my” birthday. #146.

I’m a couple days late writing this edition because I was in Claremore, Oklahoma celebrating Will Rogers Days from Friday evening to Monday afternoon. The celebration is a little smaller than the Fourth of July nationally. But in Oklahoma, Will Rogers is #1.

A lot of folks wondered what Will would say about the folks in Washington today. And most of those who answered, including the Chief of the Cherokee Nation, said Will would be disgusted. Disgusted with both sides.

Any common horse sense that ever existed in our nation’s capital has left the barn.

It’s been so long since the government shut down, you may have forgotten what caused it. Since Congress could not agree on a new budget by Sept. 30, the House passed a bill to continue spending at the current level for another seven weeks. Several times since then, “Congress [Senate] met and adjourned right away. One more day’s salary for six hundred went up the taxpayers’ flue.” (DT #103, Dec. 6, 1926)

In the Senate, the simple majority does not rule. For important bills, like the budget, the Senate rules require 60%, or 60 votes. Republicans have 53 Senators, so they need at least 7 Democrats to agree.

Since Republicans have majorities in Congress, plus the President, Democrats blame Republicans for the Shutdown. When a Conservative points out the 60% rule, Liberals claim they are ignorant because they watch Fox News. But really, what Conservatives have been watching is the World Series and football. And after almost every NFL football game, the opposing team members greet each other pleasantly, without the losers demanding a piece of the winner’s prize.

In today’s election, Democrats walloped Republicans. Democrat candidates for Governor easily won in Virginia and New Jersey. According to their campaign speeches, they were running against Donald Trump. The new Attorney General of Virginia favors the death penalty, by firing squad. The losing Republicans agree with Will Rogers, “Politics has got so expensive that it takes lots of money to even get beat with nowadays.” (DT #1538, June 28, 1931)

The new mayor of New York City, Mr. Mamdani, will solve the homeless problem by housing them in city buses. He does not believe Billionaires should exist in NYC. His wish will be granted because all the Billionaires, and most of the millionaires, will move to Florida or Texas. Police stations will be converted to city-run groceries. Operating similar to Russian groceries in the 1950s, the price tags on the front of each shelf will show a price less than half the same item at Kroger or Walmart. Only problem is the shelves will be empty.

In California, the voters decided they don’t want any Republicans in Congress. They figured since Oklahoma, West Virginia, and Wyoming don’t have any Democrats in Congress, California shouldn’t have any Republicans. Well, maybe one or two.

While Republicans and Democrats in Congress argue over the amount of subsidies needed for health insurance, 40 million have lost their food stamps (SNAP). During the Great Depression, with 25% unemployed, Will Rogers wrote, “Congress yesterday turned down the $15 million food bill… You can get a road anywhere you want to out of the government, but you can’t get a sandwich.” (DT #1398, Jan. 15, 1931).  Since California has the most people dependent on SNAP, and New Mexico the highest percentage, maybe their Senators should vote to end the Shutdown or at least fund SNAP.

Will Rogers said, “I’m not a member of any organized political party… I’m a Democrat.” But by golly, today the Democrats were totally organized, mainly by the leadership of Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jasmine Crockett, Rashida Tlaib, Gavin Newsom, and now Zohran Mamdani. There’s nobody in that group equal to Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, or Bill Clinton.

With the election over, if Congress doesn’t reach agreement and end the Shutdown, we’ll all be even more disgusted with ‘em.

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

“Look at what we produce, and there is only about one third of us producing anything. The two thirds are living off the one third, and then we got more than we can sell… For that’s what’s the matter with us. No Country ever had more, and no Country ever had less. Ten men in our Country could buy the World, and ten million can’t buy enough to eat.” (WA #451, Aug. 16, 1931)

Randall Reeder   WillRogersToday(dot)com.     614-477-0439

The government Shutdown continues, so I am “shutting down” comments about the government.

Jennifer Rogers and I are proud to announce…(drum roll)… we wrote a new little book, “Common Horse Sense from Will Rogers: Seven Timeless Tips for Leaders (and Everyone Else).”

Jennifer is Will’s great-granddaughter. She lives in Claremore, Oklahoma (across the street from the Will Rogers Memorial Museum) and is dedicating her life to promoting the legacy of Will Rogers. We’ve been friends for many years.

The book is filled with stories by Will about his servant leadership, plus ones we wrote. Will was a comforter. He put on shows to raise money for victims of floods, drought, earthquakes and deadly fires. Before one show, he wrote, “They will get every cent that comes in, even if there is nobody there but my wife – who will have to pay to get in.” Of course, the show was a sellout.

If Will were alive today, he would be preparing to raise money for the hurricane victims in Jamaica. (Should Jennifer and I do a fund raiser while I’m in Claremore and Tulsa next weekend?)

Can you relate to this? Will said a person “learns by two things, one is reading and the other is associating with smarter people.” Will is known for “All I know is what I read in the newspaper.” Will read several papers to get different views, and humor for his shows.  He was friends with prominent leaders (smarter people) including Henry Ford, Franklin D. Roosevelt, The Prince of Wales, Gen. Billy Mitchell, and Charles Lindbergh. Who are you associating with in your community?

Will was an “Influencer” and “Thought Leader” before those terms were invented. He never held office or built a big business, yet he influenced presidents, comforted families and nations, and made the world laugh – on purpose. His syndicated newspaper columns (daily and weekly) were read by millions. He pushed for a pension for old folks (which became Social Security) and relief for the farmers (which led to the first Farm Bill). His unscripted radio show with a live audience on Sunday nights was the forerunner of our late-night TV shows. He developed techniques that professional speakers and comedians still use today.

Reminder: you don’t have to have a title, such as CEO, President, Principal, or Sales Manager, to be a leader. We wrote this book to give tips and ideas to serve others yourself.

You can order from “ShopWillRogers.com” for $4.95 each. If you are interested in a large number of books for gifts for family and/or business clients send me an email: .

This book is one of 37 “Life-Changing Classics” published by TremendousLeadership.com. They offer bulk sales.

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

       “I joked about every prominent man of my time, but I never met a man I didn’t like.”

COLUMBUS, Ohio: Well, I had better mention the elephant in the room (or donkey). On Saturday morning hundreds of thousands of Democrats across the country, including in Republican states, gathered to hold up signs, sing, and talk among themselves about how terrible the Trump Administration is.

From their standpoint, Democrats are convinced that Trump is a Fascist, like Mussolini in Italy, and a Nazi, like Hitler and his Gestapo. Trump will remove people he doesn’t like whether they are illegal immigrant criminals or ordinary citizens, cancel the 2028 election, and cause oceans to flood our coasts from burning coal and gas.

From the standpoint of Republicans, these Democrats are plumb nutty.       Instead of killing 6,000,000 Jews, Trump is working to end Hamas’ war against Jews. Republicans want to use our own natural resources instead of enriching China by sending them trillions of dollars for solar panels and windmill blades. And if you ask ‘em, most Republicans would offer a $100 bet that the election on Nov. 7, 2028 will not be canceled.

These “No King” celebrations are so popular I suggest they go ahead and schedule one for the last week in December. And maybe one on Easter weekend.

I’ll end this with a question: if Trump was a King, would 7 people out of 330,000,000 be able to shut down the entire federal government?

The Shutdown continues. Millions are being harmed, including government employees who are not being paid and anyone who is owed money by those unpaid employees. Others are hurt by decreased services.

Will Rogers wrote 93 years ago, “What the government has got to do is live as cheap as the people.” (DT #1990, Dec. 21, 1932) But Democrat Senators are demanding an extra $1.5 Trillion from taxpayers to end the Shutdown.

The main argument is on, who deserves healthcare subsidies and who does not? Democrats want to add more money and cover more people. Republicans say the extra subsidies added “temporarily” in 2021 because of Covid need to end on Dec. 31, and illegal immigrants should not receive free healthcare.

In the winter of 1935, New York City had a major snowstorm. Unfortunately, the men who were usually eager to plow and shovel snow didn’t show up to work. Will Rogers wrote, “When the impression gets around that people are being fed who won’t work, you will have an about-face on this relief situation. Nobody can kick on honest [people] deserving relief, and nobody can be blamed for kicking on relieving somebody when they won’t work. The governments and towns have got to find some way of telling them apart.” (DT #2650, Feb. 1, 1935)

Concerning illegal immigrants, many who came here years ago are more eager to work than our own native-born folks who, given a choice, prefer to live on relief. As a farm boy years ago, I can assure you we did “dirty jobs” that very few Americans want to do today. And there aren’t enough former farm kids to do that work.

         Historic quote by Will Rogers:

         “Now, [Congress] 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 of the U.S. That would be a cinch.” WA #78, June 8, 1924

COLUMBUS, Ohio: Today is Columbus Day, Oct. 12. Yes, it got changed to a Monday. I’m sure if Columbus had known about our love for Monday holidays he would have delayed landing for 24 hours.

Many Americans, except for Italians, are against celebrating a man who never got closer than a hundred miles to our shores. He thought he discovered India, so naturally he figured the people already living there were Indians. Oddly, nobody bothered to ask the Seminoles or Cherokees or Iroquois.

You might guess that Will Rogers, a quarter-blood Cherokee, would not be thrilled that Christopher claimed he discovered America. “Being an Indian, I don’t mind telling you personally I am sorry he ever found it. The discovery has been of no material benefit to us, outside of losing all the land. And I am proud to say that I have never yet seen a statue in Oklahoma to him.” (WA #190, Aug. 1, 1926)

In California, Will had a unique angle on Columbus Day, “The Columbus Celebration has rather an added significance to Los Angeles, as they want to celebrate the good fortune of his landing on the Atlantic instead of the Pacific side, because if he had landed out here, he never would have gone back to tell the Queen. He would have stayed right here and nobody would have ever known it but him.” (WA #49, Nov. 18, 1923)

In Ohio, I’m not sure I should admit I live in the Columbus area (Hilliard). We had a big statue of Columbus, but a couple of years ago folks claiming to represent Native Americans forced the mayor to remove it. Then they ran the Indians out of Cleveland.

The partial government Shutdown continues with Senators arguing over subsidies for health insurance. Most of us have no idea how much our doctors and hospitals cost because it’s free or we only pay about 10% to 20% of the bill. We need every bit of our modern medicine and nobody appreciates it more than me (or Will Rogers, who survived serious gall bladder surgery in 1927).

On Sept. 30, Republicans asked the Democrats to continue the same budget for 7 weeks. Two weeks later, if this Shutdown goes the full 7 weeks, we’ll all be headed to our doctor’s office because we’ll be sick of Congress.

In Israel and Gaza, it seems the Hamas terrorists will release the remaining hostages, including bodies of the dead. Not sure how the rest of the negotiations will pan out. The million or so Gaza civilians should be provided shelter and food. The Hamas terrorists should lay down their guns and be given scoop shovels and ordered to fill in the miles of tunnels they spent 20 years digging. The pro-Hamas protesters at our colleges should take a year off and go help with the shoveling.

Let me add two personal notes. In Los Angeles the police arrested an arsonist who set the fire that destroyed most of Pacific Palisades, including the house and barn at the Will Rogers Historic State Park.

The arrest surprised government leaders who blamed the fire on climate change. If they had cleared dry brush from the land instead of passing laws to prevent clearing, the fire would have probably caused only minor damage.

Also, a good friend is now in the Guinness World Record Book. Deborah Gardner of Peoria, Arizona, swam the 21 miles from Catalina Island to the California coast. Yes, hundreds of swimmers have done that. But Deborah is the only 66-year-old woman to do it. The previous record holder was a month younger and held the record for 9 years. She is probably congratulating Deborah and has no plans to go through the rigorous year-long training needed to reclaim the record.

Will Rogers commented on women swimming the English Channel.          “Another American woman just now swam in from France. Her husband was carried from the boat suffering from cold and exposure. She has two children, the smallest a girl, who is swimming over tomorrow.” (DT #27, Aug. 28, 1926)

Some folks are saying I’ve been too hard on Democrats lately. I’ll lighten up a bit because they are underdogs in Washington and having a tough time scoring on Republicans. I’ll overlook Zohran Mamdani in New York City; he doesn’t qualify as a true Democrat.

Senator Schumer of New York is putting up a courageous battle. He has to not only beat Republicans but hold off Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Senator Schumer and other Democrats are putting up quite a fight over the Covid pandemic subsidy for health insurance. They want to continue the 4-year temporary subsidy for 10 more years. Twenty-four million citizens are suffering because the transitory inflation added 20 percent to the cost of everything in 4 years. Now, there’s two words, “temporary” and “transitory,” that no politician ever found in Webster’s.

Can’t blame ‘em because a hundred economists assigned to count the number of new jobs every month were off by 900,000 over the past year. That’s 900,000 extra Americans without a job who still get sick once in a while. Add the 10,000,000 illegal immigrants after Covid and you end up with over-worked doctors and nurses, especially in sanctuary cities. Those cities and a few states need all the money they can claw out of Washington.

In Chicago, Mayor Brandon and Governor Pritzker told the federal agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement that they are on their own. The Chicago police have been de-funded to the point they can’t spare even a half-dozen on bicycles to help out. So, if you live in Chicago, and you don’t want to get shot, the safest place may be in the middle of the gang of protesters confronting ICE agents. Yes, those modern “G-men” are armed. But they know that the mayor and governor want them to shoot a couple of “free speech” protesters. That would be insignificant compared to the dozens that get shot every week. But it would boost the “Pritzker for President” campaign even more than losing 75 pounds.

Democrat office holders may not like ICE. But let me tell you who would have liked ICE. About 135 years ago the Cherokees, Seminoles, Osage and the other tribes in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) would have welcomed ICE to arrest and remove “intruders.” Back then thousands of white men, including armed criminals, from Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas illegally entered and settled in Indian Territory, stealing land, water, timber, and other resources. Residents implored the U.S. government to help. But Congress sided with the Intruders who entered illegally, much “sooner” than would be allowed after 1900.

Yes, before Jim Thorpe ever touched a football, the Intruders were the original Oklahoma Sooners.

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

“Senators are a never-ending source of amusement, amazement, and discouragement.” WA #345, Aug. 4, 1929

(I attempt to write with Will Rogers’ style, poking fun and reflecting on current issues. And I present nationally as a Will Rogers impersonator, sharing quotes and stories (mostly non-political) from Will’s widely popular talks and newspaper columns from the 1920s and 1930s, customized for the audience. My website includes “Quotes” in categories which give a hint to the variety of groups that like “Will Rogers.” As my business card reads: Hire me before I die… again. )

Randall Reeder
WillRogersToday (dot) com     614-477-0439

Plenty of important News this week. A government shutdown is looming Sept. 30. Republicans want to continue the same budget for a few more weeks, postponing a shutdown. But Senator Schumer insists on adding an extra Trillion to cover, among other expenses, Medicaid for illegal immigrants.

Meanwhile, mayors in several cities, including Chicago, Portland, New York City, and Boston, (plus Gov. Newsom of California) are determined to keep all of their illegal immigrants, including known criminals.

These mayors and Sen. Schumer have a plan. Stores and banks have to hire guards to keep from being robbed. If thousands of immigrants are sickly, more Medicaid dollars pay doctors and nurses. Police are leaving, frustrated because anyone they arrest is set free. These mayors are smart; more tax dollars flowing into city coffers and paying fewer police means more money is available to raise their own salaries.

If Congress can’t agree on a budget, don’t be overly concerned. Essential employees will be working, continuing essential services. Any that are laid off for a few days or weeks will get all of their salaries. A shutdown always costs money instead of saving it. They waste a lot of time preparing for a shutdown.

The ones hurt are private citizens or businesses who have “non-essential” contracts providing goods or services to the government.

Now, I don’t pretend to know all the details about shutdowns and ICE removing criminal illegal aliens. I wish there was more common horse sense in Washington and “sanctuary” cities and states. Politicians are riling up radical protesters to keep ICE agents from arresting criminals. I doubt there were any protesters decades ago when the federal “G-men” were tracking and taking out John Dillinger, Al Capone, and Bonnie and Clyde.

Former FBI Director, James Comey, has been indicted on two federal charges. It’s strange. Instead of charging him with actions that affected Presidential elections since 2016, he is charged with lying to Congress related to those actions. This trial won’t go anywhere because juries know that everybody lies to Congress. And Congress turns around and lies to everybody.

In case you older folks are wondering, J. Edgar Hoover, FBI Director for 48 years, did not directly lie to Congress, but he often misled them.

Farmers are hurting financially. This may be a surprise because you’ve seen the meat case with steak at $20 a pound and hamburger at $7.50. Widespread drought for a few years has reduced the cow herd. And a dangerous insect called a screwworm in Mexico is also reducing the amount of beef for sale.

The farmers hurting the most are growing corn, soybeans, wheat or cotton. Those commodities are selling for bargain prices while the inputs these farmers buy (fertilizer, seed, machinery) are all expensive. By the way, the corporations and local businesses serving these crop farmers are also hurting.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is trying to help. President Trump faces the same quandary President Coolidge had in 1923, “He wants ‘help for the farmers.’ But don’t want anyone to have to pay more for their food.” (WA #53)

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

       “If I was [Secretary of Agriculture] Wallace I would say, ‘Boys, you all are just too good farmers. You just raise too much. If you just wouldn’t be so expert for a few years… Your efficiency is driving you to the poor house. So please don’t be such good farmers.’” DT #2439, May 28, 1934

Across the country, students are failing. Schools are failing our students.

Third graders who can’t read; they don’t even recognize the letters. They don’t know the numbers. Seniors graduating who can’t read the cursive words on their diploma.

It’s not about the money. We invest more money in education than ever before. And some of the worst scores are from districts with the highest investment per student.

Several years ago we ranked No. 1 in the world. Now, at least 25 countries have jumped ahead of us. Other countries are doing a better job of educating students, while we are declining.

I come from a long line of teachers. And family members who are not teachers are strong supporters of education.

A hundred years ago schools taught the basic 3 R’s: “Readin’, Ritin’, and Rithmetic.” Students learned Geography, History, Music, Citizenship, Grammar and more. Many of those students were in a one-room school for grades 1 to 8. And they succeeded in life. (Have you seen a typical test required to “graduate” from 8^th grade? If not, you’ll be amazed.)

It seems easy to argue that students today need different skills. Critical thinking instead of memorizing historical facts, geographic locations and the multiplication table. But, no! Facts are the foundation for critical thinking. A student needs to learn about WWI and WWII to think critically about Russia/Ukraine or Israel/Hamas. Is an 18-year-old voter going to understand our $36 Trillion national debt if they can’t make change for a $10 bill?

One essential skill we can all agree on is knowing how to read. Will Rogers said, “We learn by two things: one is reading, the other is associating with smarter people.” Will is also known for saying, “All I know is what I read in the newspaper.”  (Of course, he learned from other sources, but not smart phones.) Will also wrote in 1924, “We are getting to be a nation that can’t read any more. If the [newspaper article] hasn’t got a picture of it, we are sunk.”

If Johnny (or Emma or Jamal or Liam) can’t read how can he learn math, science and history? How did grade school students learn to read 100 to 150 years ago? McGuffey’s Reader was a series for the first 6 grades. (Will Rogers joked that he spent 8 years in McGuffey’s Fourth Reader.)

Can you imagine the howl from the Department of Education in Washington if we suggested going back to McGuffey’s Readers? Of course, we would update some stories and change objectionable text. (One teacher with AI could finish that job in a week.)

For math, Ray’s Arithmetic and The Appleton Arithmetic are possible replacements for “new math,” whatever that is. Take those books (and others of that era for geography and science) and update numbers and facts. For example, if a math problem asks “if eggs are 5 cents a dozen how many eggs can you buy for 65 cents”, change the price.  Add new countries. Update science books; the basics of chemistry and biology haven’t changed. The air we breathe is still Nitrogen, Oxygen, and a little Carbon Dioxide.

Ok, that’s my contribution to solving the education problem.

I’ll let you folks figure out the rest. How do we get parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and the whole community to support the schools and students? Why do kids skip school? How do we attract and reward more good teachers? Are private schools fair competition for public schools? Are trades (electrician, welder, plumber,…) promoted adequately? How can AI and other technology improve student learning?

The memorial service for Charlie Kirk was held today in Arizona. Regardless of whether you agreed with his views on faith, family, free speech, the Bible and the Constitution, you have to admit he has had a huge influence on young people, especially young men. Other men in their thirties, two I could name, have been murdered and their influence continued to grow exponentially.

The Jimmy Kimmel suspension (update, back on air after 6 days) continues to be debated. ABC says it was a business decision. Others blame Trump for “cancelling free speech.” In a nutshell, Jimmy said the killer of Charlie Kirk was MAGA (a supporter of Trump) when he and his whole team should have known the killer was the opposite of MAGA. And he refused to correct the error. Kimmel is paid $17 million to be funny, tell jokes and be entertaining. Here is Will Rogers’ explanation: “Every Gag I tell must be based on truth. No matter how much I may exaggerate it, it must have a certain amount of Truth.” (WA #65, March 9, 1924) and “I have always noticed that people will never laugh at anything that is not based on truth.” (WA #103, Nov. 30, 1924)

You have already heard or read hundreds of comments about Charlie Kirk. My observations may not add to your knowledge or understanding. And that’s ok.

I never met Charlie Kirk. My opinions are based on two sources. One is videos of him speaking and engaging in intelligent debate with individuals on college campuses.

The second source is based on opinions of people who not only met him, but knew him well. So far, from those folks, I have heard only praise for Charlie Kirk.

Like you, I’ve heard and read plenty of negative comments about him and what he stood for. Those comments include that he was racist and hated transgender people and Jews. There is a common thread among the people with negative views: they never met Charlie Kirk or listened to him at length.

Let me take you back a few decades. On college campuses it was common for a person to stand at a prominent open space and start talking loudly. Often, they were promoting a religion or a deeply held opinion. They exercised their right to speak freely. They might attract a dozen students, but were generally ignored. None of those campus speakers, with perhaps a couple of exceptions, ever caught on. They never got the attention of any prominent group or organization.

Then along came Charlie Kirk. A young guy, without a college education, began speaking to students his own age about what was important to him: faith, family and country. He started attracting decent-sized crowds. Eventually he had a following on social media of millions, mostly teenagers, college students, and those in their twenties. (And several older folks, too.)

Why did this matter? Until a few years ago, most “voices” young people heard were liberals. Yes, we had conservative voices, including Ronald Reagan and Rush Limbaugh, but their main audience was adults. (A young Barack Obama, a liberal voice who became a Senator then President, attracted young folks.) The primary voices students heard were teachers and professors. Probably 90% were liberal and voted for Democrats. That’s logical since Democrats in power were more likely to favor raising their salaries than conservative Republicans. But instead of keeping their political views out of the classroom, many openly taught persuasively for liberal causes.

Along came Charlie Kirk and Turning Point USA with conservative views on sex, gender, marriage, love of country, capitalism, and other topics. He knew U.S. and World history, the Constitution, the Bible and basic beliefs of other worldwide religions. He welcomed debate.

Millions of young people adopted conservative practices. They became more interested in religion. After listening to Charlie and learning about his family, they saw value in getting married and having children (in that order).

And they VOTED for conservatives. This raised the ire of Democrats because young voters were supposed to belong to THEM. Charlie Kirk had become an “existential threat to democracy.”

By the way, that phrase and threatening words like Nazi, Fascist, and Hitler should never be used against anyone! You’re welcome to add derogatory words used by the other side. But I doubt if any of those “words” murdered 6 million people.

Why would anyone want to kill Charlie Kirk when they would have been welcomed to the microphone to present their point of view? How could an intelligent 22-year-old from a well-to-do religious family turn 180 degrees into an assassin?

Apparently, it has happened to several others. They leave home, either physically or emotionally, spend their time on vicious “gaming” platforms, communicate on obscure internet channels the rest of us never heard of (Discord), and become “friends” with the wrong crowd. They hear someone described as a “Fascist” (which they could never define) or “phobic” and decide to kill ‘em.

Utah Governor Cox asked us to stop the hateful rhetoric, have conversations with those we disagree with, and resolve differences peacefully.

As my friend LaDonna Gatlin asked, “Let us reach out in love to those in this hurting world who don’t necessarily agree with us.” And, in her beautiful singing “voice” she closed with the hopeful hymn, “Let there be Peace on Earth, and let it begin with Me.”

Randall Reeder

President Trump is always making big changes.  He changed the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America. He paved the Rose Garden and is adding a huge Ballroom to the White House.  He wants to eliminate the Dept. of Education. This week he switched the DOD back to its original name, Department of War.

While he’s in a changin’ mood, I have another suggestion. The USDA, formed in 1862, has outlived its service to farmers. Yes, it’s shameful. Less than 20 percent of the USDA budget goes to support farmers and ranchers. Since the other 80 percent is for SNAP (formerly known as food stamps) the Department of Agriculture needs to be renamed. From now on it’s the U. S. Dept. of Free Food.

Now, Secretary Rollins is an agriculture person. But even she will admit that very little of her budget is to provide relief for the farmer. Four-fifths goes to SNAP, providing free food to over 40,000,000 people.  And the part of the budget for soil conservation (which you’ll remember originated 90 years ago because of the Dust Bowl), is down to $100 million. That’s a pittance of the total USDA budget of $230 Billion.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a direct line to President Trump. Maybe I can get Senator Markwayne Mullin to suggest the change. He’s part Cherokee and is from Will Rogers country in Oklahoma. New York Senator Chuck Schumer is another possibility. He represents a lot more SNAP recipients than he does farmers so he should favor the change to USDFF.

In Chicago… have you ever heard of anyone as proud of their criminals as Governor Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson? And thousands of people joined them in protesting against any federal assistance in reducing crime. But the protesters were smart; they gathered in a safe part of the city, several blocks from where 60 people were shot last weekend. Mayor Johnson is complaining that the Legislature won’t give him an extra $1.6 Billion. Not for more police, but to reward the teacher’s union for their support.

Chicago politicians are determined to retain their reputation from a hundred years ago. John Dillinger robbed banks, and when jailed, a crooked judge and two guards helped him escape. Al Capone made millions on bootleg liquor and killed rivals, including the St. Valentine’s Day massacre in 1929. (See the quotes)

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

          (Radio broadcast from Chicago) “… broadcasting from a sound-proof studio, barricaded in the Wrigley Building. Now I will try to describe what is going on down on the street. The Bugs Moran gang are holding down the east side of Michigan Boulevard and the Capones are entrenched on the other side… There must be a thousand racketeers; there is not an empty gun in the place… Now, folks, you are not going to get me coming out here telling any jokes about these racketeers and gangsters. It is all right to scatter good humor at the expense of the Senate, for they are harmless. But these boys carry a gun.” Radio, June 22, 1930

         “America’s favorite ‘prodigal son,’ Scarface Al Capone, has returned to us and in his honor, we killed two fatted gangsters… Capone goes free to take up his useful life’s work.” DT #1137, March 18, 1930

        “See where they convicted Al Capone on five counts [evasion of federal income taxes]. Now comes the out-on-bail, new trial, change of venue, habus corpus, stay of execution and twenty-one other things that the law has invented to hinder justice. This case is a great boost for (Treasury Secretary) Mr. Mellon and his deficit, for if bootleggers and robbers are liable for an income tax, why our treasury will be richer than France.” DT #1634, Oct 18, 1931

 

Democrat Governors from California to Illinois to New York and Massachusetts are complaining about states with Republican majorities redrawing lines for their Congressional Districts. Texas is the first to do it this year.  The complaints are odd considering that those states did the same thing over the last several decades to elect more Democrats to the House.

Now, Republicans will admit they have 12 states with no Democrats in the House. That adds up to 30 Republicans. California alone has them outnumbered with 43 Democrats.

Democrats are saying they will redistrict to counteract any increase in Republican-leaning districts. The Massachusetts governor was excited to join in until she was told their Congressional delegation is already 100% Democrat.

How about some common horse sense. For Democrat and Republican leaders, maybe the best way to elect more Congress members from your party is to attract more voters with good solid policies that are good for America. In the 2026 election about half of registered voters will vote. For many districts, if either Democrat or Republican leaders can persuade three-fourths of their party in a district to vote, they will win.

You might have heard this week that a pro football player got engaged. There hasn’t been this much excitement for a professional sports star getting hitched since Joe DiMaggio of the Yankees married Marilyn Monroe in 1954. Now, a tight end in Kansas City will never be as famous as DiMaggio. But the young woman he gave a diamond ring is more popular than Marilyn, especially with teenage girls and women of all ages. Taylor Swift will keep on performing and singing beautifully. Chief fans are hoping Travis Kelce can keep his focus on catching the football.

As I mentioned last week I drive a Ford F-150. I filled the tank today with gasoline at $2.76. I heard that Ford has lost more than $45,000 on every Electric Vehicle sold. Henry Ford was criticized for hanging on to the Model T for too many years. I think the current Ford leaders should have got out of EVs before they got in, and the sooner the better. Let Elon have that share of the market.

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

         “Tomorrow is Labor Day. I suppose set by act of Congress. Everything we do nowadays is either by or against acts of Congress. How Congress knew anything about labor is beyond us, but any how tomorrow is Labor Day. It’s a day in the big cities when men march all day [in parades] and work harder than they have in any other of the 365. Even the ones that ain’t working, labor on Labor Day.” DT #967, Sept. 1, 1929 (This was 2 months before the stock market crash that started the Great Depression.)