Frigid temperatures have taken over most of the country, except Alaska. We’ve been cold so long that President Trump is getting credit for ending global warming. That’s a joke.

The economy has been growing since Trump’s election in November 2016, with the stock market up about 25 percent. That’s not a joke. He and Republicans deserve some of the credit. Frankly, many Democrats disagree. My question to them is this: If a Democrat was President, and Democrats had the majority in Congress, would the Dow average be at 25,000? Would it even be at 20,000?

Of course there are other factors in the economy including: Gross Domestic Product, employment, and wages. The number of people depending on “food stamps” dropped by 2 million.

President Trump should be cautious in predicting the Dow will reach 30,000. Yes it can keep climbing, but it can also drop to 20,000 or 15,000 or…

We’ll check back in a year to see how we’re doing.

In Washington, we seem to have a dog chasing its tail. The special counsel, Robert Mueller, is investigating collusion between Trump and the Russians based (partly) on information in a document called a “dossier.” Now, the Republicans in Congress want to investigate the ones who paid for and wrote that dossier.

Competition is getting hot for the award for Best Fiction: the Dossier, or Fire and Fury.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“I have read New Year predictions till I am blue in the face about the great future [of several companies], but I have yet to see one word on what [next year] holds for the Democrats. And that’s the very thing that makes me believe us Democrats may get a break in the coming year. I base my faith on the fact that 98 percent of all predictions are wrong, and on the fact that it’s an off year in politics and all off years are Democratic years.” DT #1071, Dec. 31, 1929

[early in the Great Depression] “Well, the old year is leaving us flat, plenty flat. But in reality it’s been our most beneficial year. It took some of the conceit out of us…  I don’t think [President] Hoover, the Republicans, or even Russia, is responsible for this. I think the Lord just looked us over, and decided to set us back where we belonged.” DT #1384, Dec. 30, 1930