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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 Mountain Views News PUBLISHER/ EDITOR Susan Henderson PASADENA CITY EDITOR Dean Lee EAST VALLEY EDITOR Joan Schmidt BUSINESS EDITOR LaQuetta Shamblee PRODUCTION Richard Garcia SALES Patricia Colonello 626-355-2737 626-818-2698 WEBMASTER John Aveny DISTRIBUTION Joe Frontino CONTRIBUTORS Chris Leclerc Bob Eklund Howard Hays Paul Carpenter Kim Clymer-Kelley Christopher Nyerges Peter Dills Rich Johnson Merri Jill Finstrom Rev. James Snyder Dr. Tina Paul Katie Hopkins Deanne Davis Despina Arouzman Renee Quenell Marc Garlett 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 Mountain Views News has been adjudicated as a newspaper of General Circulation for the County of Los Angeles in Court Case number GS004724: for the City of Sierra Madre; in Court Case GS005940 and for the City of Monrovia in Court Case No. GS006989 and is published every Saturday at 80 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., No. 327, Sierra Madre, California, 91024. All contents are copyrighted and may not be reproduced without the express written consent of the publisher. All rights reserved. All submissions to this newspaper become the property of the Mountain Views News and may be published in part or whole. Opinions and views expressed by the writers printed in this paper do not necessarily express the views and opinions of the publisher or staff of the Mountain Views News. Mountain Views News is wholly owned by Grace Lorraine Publications, Inc. and reserves the right to refuse publication of advertisements and other materials submitted for publication. Letters to the editor and correspondence should be sent to: Mountain Views News 80 W. Sierra Madre Bl. #327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Phone: 626-355-2737 Fax: 626-609-3285 email: mtnviewsnews@aol.com 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. Mountain Views News Mission Statement The traditions of community news- papers and the concerns of our readers are this newspaper’s top priorities. We support a prosperous community of well- informed citizens. We hold in high regard the values of the exceptional quality of life in our community, including the magnificence of our natural resources. Integrity will be our guide. We’d like to hear from you! What’s on YOUR Mind? Contact us at: editor@mtnviewsnews.com or www.facebook.com/mountainviewsnews AND Twitter: @mtnviewsnews Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com | ||||||||||||||||||||