Mountain Views News, Sierra Madre Edition [Pasadena] Saturday, November 26, 2016

B4

OPINION 

DICK Polman

Mountain Views-News Saturday, November 26, 2016 

JOHN L. MICEK

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Keely Toten


MAKE OUR (COSTLY) INFRASTRUCTURE GREAT AGAIN

By his own 
admission, 
President-elect 
Donald Trump is 
a guy who likes to 
build stuff: A golf 
course in Scotland. 
A hotel in Washington D.C. A great, big 
beautiful wall on the American border 
with Mexico.

 But when it comes to his most 
ambitious building project yet - a badly 
needed, $1 trillion upgrade of America’s 
roads, bridges, railways and airports, the 
nation’s incoming 45th chief executive is 
running into an challenge tougher than 
winning over even the crankiest of New 
York City code inspectors:

 Finding a way to pay for it.

 If there’s one thing we know about 
Trump’s agenda, it’s that he wants to cut 
taxes - bigly - punching an estimated 
$7.2 trillion hole in government revenues 
over the next decade.

 And if there’s one more thing we know, 
it’s that building and fixing roads and 
bridges isn’t cheap. 

 In an interview with The Hollywood 
Reporter, Trump’s chief strategist, 
Stephen K. Bannon, suggested that the 
administration’s proposed infrastructure 
plan could be paid for on the back of 
massive borrowing (Because, let’s face 
it, that’s something his boss knows more 
than a little about).

 “Like [Andrew] Jackson’s populism, 
we’re going to build an entirely new 
political movement,” Bannon told the 
trade paper. “It’s everything related to 
jobs. The conservatives are going to go 
crazy. I’m the guy pushing a trillion-
dollar infrastructure plan. With negative 
interest rates throughout the world, 
it’s the greatest opportunity to rebuild 
everything. Ship yards, iron works, get 
them all jacked up. We’re just going to 
throw it up against the wall and see if it 
sticks. It will be as exciting as the 1930s, 
greater than the Reagan revolution 
— conservatives, plus populists, in an 
economic nationalist movement.”

 That’s a pretty revolutionary message. 
And it should be music to the ears 
of progressives, who have spent the 
last five years pushing for President 
Barack Obama’s proposed national 
infrastructure bank, only to see it hit a 
brick wall of Republican resistance on 
Capitol Hill. 

 But it also puts the incoming White 
House on a collision course with 
Republicans in the U.S. House and 
Senate, who were swept into office in 
2010 and beyond, by running as deficit 
hawks.

 “To just add it to the national debt, I 
don’t think President-elect Trump or 
members of the Republican Conference 
would support that,” U.S. Rep. Mark 
Meadows, R-N.C., a member of the 
House Transportation Committee and 
the conservative Freedom Caucus, told 
Politico.

 Still, Bannon does have a point: If 
you’re going to borrow to pay for a big-
ticket project, it’s best to strike while 
rates are low and the iron is hot.

 Even the most rabid pro-business 
conservative will tell you that 
infrastructure spending is a good 
investment. That’s because they’re good 
for business and because those projects 
only cost more the longer they’re put off.

But if deficits do really matter to 
Republicans, that means they’re going to 
have to look elsewhere for money. And 
the only targets rich and fat enough are 
such third-rail entitlement programs as 
Medicare.

 And for all his bluster about draining 
the swamp and repealing and replacing 
Obamacare, Trump was smart enough 
not to say boo about gutting Medicare or 
Social Security to his base.

So then what?

 The truth is, no one really knows how 
Trump will pay for his plan.

But we do know at least three more 
things are true:

 First, infrastructure projects are proven 
economic winners and job-creators. 
According to a 2012 study by the Federal 
Reserve Bank of San Francisco, you get 
$2 back in economic growth for every $1 
you spend on infrastructure.

That’s more tax revenue and more direct, 
indirect and induced economic activity, 
which is critical if Republicans want to 
offset that loss in federal revenue from 
Trump’s proposed tax cuts.

 Second, Republicans may cave to 
Trump on infrastructure if it means they 
can get something they really want - like 
a Medicare or Social Security overhaul.

 And, third, and maybe most 
importantly, because giant cardboard 
checks come in both red and blue, all 
concerned get to claim a win (calling 
all Democrats, who wouldn’t recognize 
a win these days if it hit them with 
backhoe).

 And we know there’s nothing more the 
incoming president likes more than for 
America to win again.

 It might even have been on a hat.

——

 © Copyright 2016 John L. Micek, 
distributed by Cagle Cartoons newspaper 
syndicate.

 An award-winning political journalist, 
Micek is the Opinion Editor and Political 
Columnist for PennLive/The Patriot-
News in Harrisburg, Pa. Readers may 
follow him on Twitter @ByJohnLMicek 
and email him at jmicek@pennlive.com.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

ELECTORAL COLLEGE

The framers of the US Constitution 
created the Electoral College as a result 
of a compromise for the presidential 
election process. During the debate, 
some delegates felt that a direct popular 
election would lead to the election of 
each state’s favorite son and none would 
emerge with sufficient popular majority 
to govern the country. Other delegates 
felt that giving Congress the power to 
select the president would deny the 
people their right to choose. After all, the 
people voted for their representatives to 
the federal legislature. The compromise 
was to set up an Electoral College system 
that allowed voters to vote for electors, 
who would then cast their votes for 
candidates, a system described in Article 
II, section 1 of the Constitution.

 Each state is allocated a number of 
electors equal to the number of its US 
senators (always two) plus the number 
of its US representatives (which may 
change each decade according to the size 
of each state’s population as determined 
in the Census).

 Whichever party slate wins the most 
popular votes in the state becomes 
that state’s electors—so that, in effect, 
whichever presidential ticket gets the 
most popular votes in a state wins all the 
electors of that state.

 The debate has started again as to 
whether the US Constitution should 
be amended in order to change the 
presidential election process. Some 
promote eliminating the Electoral 
College in favor of a direct popular 
vote for president while others believe 
the Electoral College should remain 
unchanged. Just as compromise solved 
the initial problems of the framers so 
it is that compromise can solve this 
problem. The solution is to change the 
electoral votes to electoral points and 
reward each candidate a percentage 
of points based on the percentage of 
popular votes received in each state. This 
would eliminate the “winner take all” 
system thus allowing for all the votes 
to count. A voter is more apt to believe 
their vote counted when a percentage 
of popular votes are taken into account 
rather than the “all or nothing” system 
currently in existence. Further, this new 
system would integrate the desire for a 
popular vote for president with the need 
for the individual states to determine 
who actually gets elected.

 As for political primaries the number 
of delegates awarded in each state should 
be determined by the percentage of votes 
won by each candidate.

 For 2016 multiplying the percentage 
of votes each candidate received {in each 
state} times the number of electoral votes 
{in each state} results in the following: 
Clinton 256.985 and Trump 253.482.

Joe Bialek

Cleveland, Ohio

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LEFT TURN/RIGHT TURN

Peter Funt

 MAKING SENSE by Michael Reagan


TRUMP’S ART OF THE SPIEL 

Apparently we were too quick to take Donald Trump at 
his word during the campaign. After a visit to the White 
House, a tour of the Capitol and a heart-to-heart with 
Lesley Stahl, Trump is furiously issuing clarifications. He 
told Stahl that law-abiding undocumented immigrants are 
“terrific people,” that President Obama is “very smart and 
very nice,” and that Bill Clinton is “very, very, really, very nice.” 

 More revisions are reportedly on the way, including: 

 What he said: “(I’m) calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims 
entering the United States…”

 What he meant: “From now through New Years, Muslims and their families 
who stay for two nights at the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas will get 
a third night free! As our website promises, ‘This is a place to live life without 
boundaries, limits or compromise.’” 

 What he said: “I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will 
make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words.”

 What he meant: “I will tell you, Home Depot has vinyl fencing, unassembled, 
with dog ear pickets. And, if we buy now, they offer free shipping.” 

 What he said: “When you’re a star they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab 
‘em by the pussy.” 

 What he meant: “You know, Billy, there’s a fortune in making those cat videos 
for YouTube. People will watch anything with a pussy. You can tickle ‘em, stroke 
‘em, even grab ‘em.” 

 What he said: “You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood 
coming out of her…wherever.”

 What he meant: “I gotta say I love ‘The Walking Dead,’ but this guy Negan is a 
bad hombre. He clubbed poor Glenn and there was blood coming out of his eyes, 
his ears…wherever.” 

 What he said: “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot people 
and I wouldn’t lose voters.” 

 What he meant: “You know, I’m a big fan of Instagram. Big fan. Sometimes I 
just walk out of Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue and shoot people and post it on 
Instagram and Facebook. It’s beautiful, really beautiful.” 

 What he said: “I would bring back waterboarding and I’d bring back a hell of a 
lot worse than waterboarding.” 

 What he meant: “At Mar-a-Lago we’re bringing back waterskiing. You know, 
I used to love waterskiing––it’s a hell of a lot more fun than synchronized 
swimming, which, by the way, a lovely Russian girl got a gold medal for at the 
Summer Olympics.” 

 What he said: “We’re going to repeal it, replace it, and get something great!” 

 What he meant: “Most of Obamacare will remain intact, but I want millions 
of Americans to also be covered when filling Garcinia Cambogia weight loss 
treatment prescriptions recommended by my good friend Dr. Oz.”

 What he said: “Rosie O’Donnell’s disgusting both inside and out. You take a 
look at her, she’s a slob.”

 What he meant: “Rosie O’Donnell’s disgusting both inside and out. You take a 
look at her, she’s a slob.”

——-

 Peter Funt can be reached at www.CandidCamera.com

 Peter Funt is a writer and speaker. His book, “Cautiously Optimistic,” is available 
at Amazon.com and CandidCamera.com. © 2016 Peter Funt. Columns distributed 
exclusively by Cagle Cartoons, Inc., newspaper syndicate.

THE TRUMP 

TRANSITION TIZZY

The liberal media has been in a frenzy all week.

 It thinks Donald Trump and his transition team are taking too 
long to announce his cabinet picks and other appointees.

 Let me check my calendar. 

 Yep. It’s been less than ten days since Trump shocked the world 
-- and sickened the liberal media -- by humiliating Hillary Clinton. 

 And already the media are working as hard as they can to make Trump look like he doesn’t 
know what he’s doing — before he doesn’t even do anything.

 I understand the liberal media’s pain. I understand they feel like their lives have been 
ruined for at least the next four years. 

 I remember having similar thoughts in 2012, 2008, 1996, 1992 and 1976.

But come on, MSNBC, CNN, ABC, etc., etc. Bill Clinton took his time picking his people. So 
did Bush II. So did my father. It’s part of the process. 

 So let’s back off a little and give Trump a little slack. He’s got to drain a pretty big cesspool 
in Washington. He has 4,000 positions to fill.

 It’s been obvious for a long time he was not just going to make some phone calls and hire 
3,993 Bush II administration alumni who’ve been making their livings as lobbyists for the 
last eight years. 

 The tizzy over Trump’s supposedly slow transition process is just another step in the liberal 
media’s agenda – which is “Dump on Trump.” 

 First they were cutting their wrists over his election win. Now it’s his appointments. Wait 
till they see his Supreme Court picks.

 For the next four years, when it comes to President Trump, the liberal media are going to 
accentuate the negative, not the positive.

 As much as I wasn’t a supporter of Donald Trump in the primaries, I said after the 
convention that I wasn’t going to allow him to lose because I didn’t show up to vote for him.

 The fact is, I showed up and so did almost 70 million Americans.

 My hat’s off to Trump.

 He’s the president-elect. We Reagans support him. We had our time in the sun and now it’s 
time for Trump supporters to have theirs.

 Godspeed, President Donald. Whatever I can do to help, I’m there. No cabinet post would 
disappoint me.

 I hope he puts the right people around him. He’s done pretty well choosing people in the 
business world.

 And let’s face it. We conservatives and others have been saying for a long time we needed 
a businessman in White House.

 Last I looked, we were still $20 trillion in debt. Maybe President Trump can do something 
about that.

 I’ll bet he’ll surprise us. Everyday I get more and more respect for him. He stands his 
ground.

 Whether you agree with his positions or not, he stands his ground.

The great thing about my dad was that he knew what he believed and knew why he believed it. 

 I’m starting to feel that Trump knows what he believes, too, and he knows why he believes 
it, come hell or high water.

 Meanwhile, I have a tip for our impatient media. 

 I’m not a journalist. But if I were, instead of doing dumb stories about why President-elect 
Trump is taking so long to make his picks, I’d start checking out the list of potential Supreme 
Court nominees he gave us.

——-

 Copyright ©2016 Michael Reagan. Michael Reagan is the son of President Ronald Reagan, a 
political consultant, and the author of “The New Reagan Revolution” (St. Martin’s Press). He is 
the founder of the email service reagan.com and president of The Reagan Legacy Foundation. 
Visit his websites at www.reagan.com and www.michaelereagan.com. Send comments to 
Reagan@caglecartoons.com. Follow @reaganworld on Twitter. 

 Mike’s column is distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate. For info 
on using columns contact Sales at sales@cagle.com.

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