DJT energy and climate change policy as response to China getting away with 80 GW of new coal powered electricity plants for 2024 under Paris Agreement

01/31/2025

DJT Alaska policy to open up the natural gas potential in Alaska comes from the Republican position that the US should also get some allowance for its needs the way China did for 80 GW of coal powered electricity production in 2024 under Paris Agreement. This is the Republican argument as Senators Dan Borghum of North Dakota and Dan Sullivan of Alaska present it for DJT. DJT reasoning is that Paris Agreement is not fair to US needs. Seen in this way the DJT policy is much more nuanced than media present it- it is for Make America Great Again by using advantages such as Alaskan production and Shale while at the same time pursuing pristine environment and tackling climate change. As this theory goes the stronger economy would give US more resources to tackle climate change. Biden signed on to this approach in a small way when he let Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia put the same idea in his energy plans. Seen in this way DJT is not portrayed as trying to destroy climate change action plans.

Linked Articles

Opinion | Trump Lifts Sanctions on Alaska

WSJ 01/31/2025

The Editorial Board

The Guardian 01/31/2025

How low interest rates from the banks created 2009 financial crisis were squeezing Americans and most of all seniors

06/05/2024

In 2010 Charles Schwab pointed out that low interest rates were squeezing Americans, most of all seniors on fixed incomes and pensions. In 2024 first quarter the higher interest rates in one quarter alone created an additional $770 billion in interest and dividends for Americans, many of them seniors, according to US Federal Reserve. This is the damage done by the recklessness of the banks and financial sector and seniors have paid heavily for this and for the wars in the Middle East which reduced the growth potential of the US economy that were embraced by Reagan and Bush, Trump and Obama. The war money was not used to build new infrastructure to replace the old as it should have been leading to China having new infrastructure and America's being aging and worn out.

Linked Articles

Low Interest Rates Are Squeezing Seniors

Wall Street Journal 03/30/2010

Charles R. Schwab, Charles, R., Schwab

WSJ 06/05/2024

David Uberti

"Pay their fair share of taxes" Biden asks of corporations showing 2017 predecessor tax cuts did not increase investment and added $100 billion yearly to the US Deficit

03/08/2024

By paying their fair share of taxes Biden says in State of Union speech to US Congress 2024 one can increase investment in education, affordable childcare and better living for seniors in their homes, and still cut the deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars. What is fair share? Certainly not zero percent that 55 of the largest corporations paid on $40 billion in profits in 2020, and corporate minimum tax was introduced at levels of 15% for which most ordinary Americans are not eligible for. And certainly not 8.2% that Biden said was being paid by 1000 billionaires in the US. Not a single penny more is being asked of hard working Americans earning less than $400,000 a year. Biden said he wanted to see the corporate minimum tax at 21% not 15%, and the top corporate tax rate set at 28% not the 21% that it was reduced to in 2017 from 35%. In short his predecessor turned to help companies and billionaires profit from the popular distress of the shipping of jobs overseas and the 2009 financial crisis caused by Bank executives without investing the nation's capital resources in manufacturing at home in scale to match and exceed China's. And at the same time neglecting to do anything about the concerns of the people for ease of living- affordable access to childcare, preschool education, education, health care to match Europe/China/India in quality and cost, and aging transportation infrastructure of airports, subways, roads and bridges. The savings when this is done properly go to cut the deficit by over 4 trillion dollars and keep America as the leader of all G-20 economies.

Linked Articles

Biden Draws Sharp Contrast With Trump in State of the Union

WSJ 03/07/2024

Ken Thomas, Tarini Parti

WSJ 03/07/2024

Andrew Restuccia, Andrew Duehren, Richard Rubin

The collapse of American education and the slowest growth in America's history 2000-2020 as Biden tries to reverse this in 2024

05/19/2023

Krugman looks at the extraordinary effort put in by Robert Gordon of Northwestern University to look at the growth of America since 1850 over periods 1850-1870, 1870-1910, 1910-1950, 1950-2000 and 2000-2020 showing that the last 20 years have the lowest growth in American history. Gordon looks at the near collapse of American education, scores on NAEP of two thirds of 8th graders failing reading comprehension reflect this sad state of affairs that president Biden is trying to reverse in 2024. Other research shows a drop in potential GDP of 2 percentage points when education is failing as it has been for 2 decades. Other researchers have shown what is openly evident today that technology such as social media do more harm, that other internet use technology has not done much for education only established monopolies as with Google and Apple.

Linked Articles

Paul Krugman Reviews ‘The Rise and Fall of American Growth’ by Robert J. Gordon

New York Times 01/25/2016

Paul Krugman, Paul, Krugman

Wall Street Journal 08/27/2014

Willliam Galston, Willliam, Galston

Clean drinking tap water for every home - the stark contrast between China and India

04/05/2023

What this tells one is that GDP requires a new indicator which is Quality GDP which will mean that if you pollute rivers and air then real GDP as an economic concept is totally inadequate even useless, unless one subtracts from that economic GDP number the amount of investment it would take to clean up the rivers or the air. If regulatory agencies cannot control industries from polluting rivers, the case in China, then an additional number has to be subtracted from economic GDP called regulatory deficiency adjustment. The GDP numbers were gained through indiscriminately burning fossil fuels and this means climate change damage so that to be correctly stated China's GDP number would have to be offset by deducting the adjustment for trillions of dollars in climate change correction action. This would shrink the gap between India and China's GDP to where India may be in a position using advanced technology, renewable energy, regulation, and large foreign investment to close the gap with China in the next 10-15 years. China could also benefit because of the new approaches taken by India could be something to learn from as the two countries each have the population of the EU and the US+ Canada combined.

Linked Articles

In China, the water you drink is as dangerous as the air you breathe | Deng Tingting

The Guardian 06/02/2017

Hindustan Times 04/05/2023

Report on Russian disinformation effort 2014-2017 by two cybersecurity companies for the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee

12/18/2018

Linked Articles

Opinion | What We Now Know About Russian Disinformation

New York Times 12/17/2018

Renee Di Resta

New York Times 12/18/2018

Protecting the U.S. auto and steel workers, by replacing NAFTA- first trade deal of the Trump administration

08/28/2018

Linked Articles

Mexico Pact Eases Car Makers’ Concerns

WSJ 08/28/2018

Chester Dawson, Mike Colias

WSJ 08/27/2018

Josh Zumbrun

The 1976 Montreal Olympics, the 2004 Athens Olympics, the 2014 Sochi Olympics and the Rio Olympics- decades long debt hangovers and costs growing from the $1+ billion in Montreal to $50+ billion in Sochi

08/24/2016

Developing and developed countries alike have seen the cost of the Olympics as a huge burden. Many countries or cities that committed to hosting the Olympic games during boom years were facing economic hard times by the time of the games. Corruption and mismanagement of public funds, overspending and cost overruns added to the problems. Citizens uproar caused cities such as Boston and Oslo to withdraw bids for the Olympics. The Olympics appears to be a costly way to show off a country, and raises questions about better allocation of funds in other directions, especially when upward mobility is a problem for the middle and working class, countries have other infrastructure needs, and neglected basic needs in education, healthcare, public services.

Linked Articles

The 40-year hangover: how the 1976 Olympics nearly broke Montreal

The Guardian 07/06/2016

The New York Times 08/23/2016

Michael Powell

Donald Trump's economic advisory team- executives from the finance industry and the real estate industry with strong connections to Wall Street

08/05/2016

Linked Articles

Trump Announces Economic Policy Advisory Team

WSJ 08/05/2016

Nick Timiraos

Washington Post 08/05/2016

Jim Tankersley

Ireland, Northern Ireland and Britain- preserving the gains of the peace deal and the open borders after Brexit

07/12/2016

Northern Ireland favored Remain in EU by 55%. Should it be pushed into a situation of withdrawing from the EU like Scotland which also favored Remain based on the preference of voters in England and Wales? Should Ireland be divided by hard borders again after 20 years of peace and open borders? These are questions the people of Ireland are asking.It is also a question for Irish Americans who supported the peace deal.

Linked Articles

Brexit and Irish Unity

The New York Times 07/12/2016

DW.COM 07/05/2016

Donald Trump's proposal for 45% tariff on China's exports to the U.S.- how a policy of bringing jobs home could lead to the loss of 1 million U.S. jobs

03/08/2016

By damaging the international trading system including with allies such a Canada, Britain, France and Germany, the result of a downward spiral through higher tariffs in other countries, could end up costing the U.S. 1 million jobs. Under such a system the U.S. would lose many of the advantages of its booming tech sector, its tech driven global advantages in many industries, without signifcant gains in low cost imports such as clothing which would simply migrate to other countries such as India. The problem of worker wage stagnation in the U.S., and loss of jobs in certain sectors, is very real, but this is the wrong way to tackle the problem. China is already moving towards a consumer driven economy. Economists show that trade with Mexico would be seriously hurt both ways, creating more pressure of migrants at the border under such proposals as a 45% tariff and its indirect effect on Mexico, when the actual fact is that net migration from Mexico is the lowest it has ben in decades. Politics can do strange things as when two senators Smoot and Hawley from agricultural states Utah and Oregon, at the head of important committees in the U.S. Congress pushed and passed legislation for a 60% tariff in 1930 for the industrial sector they had no idea about. When Smoot and Hawley lost reelection in 1932 they left behind a lot of damage, especially for the farmers and workers they thought they were fighting for.

Linked Articles

How Trump’s Hard Line on Trade Could Backfire

Wall Street Journal 03/25/2016

Bob Davis, Bob, Davis

Wall Street Journal 03/08/2016

Holman W. Jenkins Jr., Holman, W., Jenkins, Jr.

Partisan opinion and the Pew Research polls on how U.S. public opinion views the July 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran

09/09/2015

Increasing skepticism about the deal's provisions shown in Pew Research Center polls taken in July and Sept 2015.

Linked Articles

Senate Democrats vs. voters on Iran [Updated] - The Washington Post

Washington Post 09/09/2015

Jennifer Rubin, Jennifer, Rubin

Washington Post 09/09/2015

Dana Milbank, Dana, Milbank