So many of the articles you can read about current events and the work of America's new president make you feel like you're being dragged into a tumultuous quagmire of innuendo, unreality, and farce. ("Let me out! Let me out! No! No!")
The following article, I read, and then afterwards I felt like, "OK, now I've got a handle on -- something, anyway...".
February 8, 2017, on Bloomberg site, written by Barry Ritholtz, the title is "Trump Is Repeating Obama's Rookie Mistakes" --
>>>>>>>>>>>>> The disastrous roll out of President Donald Trump's clampdown on refugees and visitors from majority-Muslim countries wasn't how his supporters were expecting his administration to begin.
While it was a cornerstone of his election campaign, it was poorly thought out, with little consideration given to the inevitable legal challenges, protests and political backlash.
If this seems somewhat familiar, you need only recall President Barack Obama's disastrous launch of the Affordable Care Act, a piece of legislation the administration strained to get through Congress.
The website was unusable and crashed constantly, and was widely recognized as a costly and avoidable error.
It was obvious that the people in charge hadn't thought this through and failed to stress test the site.
It tarnished perceptions of both the program and the administration's cherished reputation for competence.
At the time Obama took office, health-care expansion wasn't the most pressing issue; in the midst of the financial meltdown, it was banking reform. This was a case of misplaced priorities. As former White House chief of staff (and current mayor of Chicago) Rahm Emanuel used to say, "you never want a serious crisis to go to waste."
But that was exactly what the Obama White House did, focusing on health-care expansion instead of taking advantage of the narrow window to implement a full regulatory reform of Wall Street. It was an enormous miscalculation.
By failing to act boldly on financial reform, the Obama team allowed a smoldering resentment to take hold and build among the public.
The massive taxpayer wealth transfer to bankers who should have lost their jobs sowed the seeds of the backlash that fueled the rise of the Tea Party, and led to the huge electoral losses for the Democratic Party and Trump's November victory.
Fast forward to 2017. It looks as if Trump is making a similar error by focusing on immigration first -- and in an ill-considered and misguided way -- instead of making tax reform his biggest priority.
In terms of economic impact, nothing is going to beat the combination of a corporate tax overhaul, repatriation of overseas profits and individual tax reform.
Add the $1 trillion infrastructure plan discussed during the campaign and you have the makings of an economic program that might help growth for a decade.
It seems deeply misguided for Trump not to make this the centerpiece of his new administration.
Instead, the White House is tripping over its own feet. It seems likely that Trump didn't expect to win the presidency, and failed to have a plan in place to hit the ground running. The first two weeks were filled with the sorts of instability that is bad for business and introduces uncertainty into the markets.
But don't write off the odds of tax reform just yet.
A stumble out of the gate isn't unheard of for new presidents. Trump, never having held elected office, comes to the job with no political experience. So maybe it's to be expected that it would take a few weeks or months before he gets his legs under him.
His supporters and the Republican leadership have been willing to give him the benefit of the doubt so far (the opposition, not so much).
Regardless, the window to push through a comprehensive tax reform remains open. But it won't stay open forever.
This has to be the administration's highest priority. There is much to be gained from bringing $2 trillion in profits stashed overseas back to the U.S., reducing the 35 percent corporate tax rate and cleaning up the individual tax rules.
After that, it will be much easier for the Trump administration to achieve its other objectives. Trump may not think he has anything to learn from Obama -- but if there is one lesson, this should be it.
--------------------------- [end, Ritholtz (Bloomberg) article, Feb. 8]
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When calling your U.S. Senator, you can give them three short sentences on the voice mail, during the evening or overnight:
"Hello, I'm James, in Uniontown, Ohio [Gainesville, Florida; Waterloo, Iowa, wherever...]
I hope that you will [support / oppose] [such-and-such bill].
Thank you, and have a nice day."
______________________________
a list of U.S. Senators, by state, alphabetical:
Alabama
Richard Shelby (202) 224 - 5744
Jeff Sessions (202) 224 - 4124
Alaska
Lisa Murkowski (202) 224 - 6665
Dan Sullivan (202) 224 - 3004
Arizona
John McCain (202) 224 - 2235
Jeff Flake (202) 224 - 4521
Arkansas
John Boozman (202) 224 - 4843
Tom Cotton (202) 224 - 2353
California
Dianne Feinstein (202) 224 - 3841
Kamala Harris (202) 224 - 3553
Colorado
Michael Bennet (202) 224 - 5852
Cory Gardner (202) 224 - 5941
Connecticut
Richard Blumenthal (202) 224 - 2823
Chris Murphy (202) 224 - 4041
Delaware
Tom Carper (202) 224 - 2441
Chris Coons (302) 573 - 6345
Florida
Bill Nelson (202) 224 - 5274
Marco Rubio (202) 224 - 3041
Georgia
Johnny Isakson (202) 224 - 3643
David Perdue (202) 224 - 3521
Hawaii
Brian Schatz (202) 224 - 3934
Mazie Hirono (202) 224 - 6361
Idaho
Mike Crapo (208) 334 - 1776, or (202) 224 - 6142
Jim Risch (202) 224 - 2752
Illinois
Dick Durbin (217) 492 - 4062, or (202) 224 - 2152
Tammy Duckworth (202) 224 - 2854
Indiana
Joe Donnelly (202) 224 - 4814
Todd Young (202) 224 - 5623
Iowa
Chuck Grassley (712) 233 - 1860, or (202) 224 - 3744
Joni Ernst (202) 224 - 3254
Kansas
Pat Roberts (785) 295 - 2745, or (202) 224 - 4774
Jerry Moran (202) 224 - 6521
Kentucky
Mitch McConnell (202) 224 - 2541
Rand Paul (202) 224 - 4343
Louisiana
Bill Cassidy (337) 261 - 1400, or (202) 224 - 5824
John N. Kennedy (202) 224 - 4623
Maine
Susan Collins (202) 224 - 2523
Angus King (202) 224 - 5344
Maryland
Ben Cardin (202) 224 - 4524
Chris Van Hollen (202) 224 - 4654
Massachusetts
Elizabeth Warren (202) 224 - 4543, or (617) 565 - 3170
Ed Markey (202) 224 - 2742
Michigan
Debbie Stabenow (202) 224 - 4822
Gary Peters (202) 224 - 6221
Minnesota
Amy Klobuchar (218) 287 - 2219, or (202) 224 - 3244
Al Franken (202) 224 - 5641
Mississippi
Thad Cochran (662) 236 - 1018, or (202) 224 - 5054
Roger Wicker (202) 224 - 6253
Missouri
Claire McCaskill (816) 421 - 1639, or (202) 224 - 6154
Roy Blunt (202) 224 - 5721
Montana
Jon Tester (202) 224 - 2644
Steve Daines (202) 224 - 2651
Nebraska
Deb Fischer (202) 224 - 6551
Ben Sasse (202) 224 - 4224
Nevada
Dean Heller (202) 224 - 6244
Catherine Cortez Masto (202) 224 - 3542
New Hampshire
Jeanne Shaheen (202) 224 - 2841
Maggie Hassan (202) 224 - 3324
New Jersey
Bob Menendez (202) 224 - 4744
Cory Booker (202) 224 - 3224
New Mexico
Tom Udall (202) 224 - 6621
Martin Heinrich (505) 346 - 6601, or (202) 224 - 5521
New York
Chuck Schumer (202) 224 - 6542
Kirsten Gillibrand (202) 224 - 4451
North Carolina
Richard Burr (202) 224 - 3154
Thom Tillis (202) 224 - 6342
North Dakota
John Hoeven (701) 239 - 5389, or (202) 224 - 2551
Heidi Heitkamp (202) 224 - 2043
Ohio
Sherrod Brown (202) 224 - 2315
Rob Portman (202) 224 - 3353
Oklahoma
Jim Inhofe (202) 224 - 4721
James Lankford (202) 224 - 5754
Oregon
Ron Wyden (541) 962 - 7691, or (202) 224 - 5244
Jeff Merkley (202) 224 - 3753
Pennsylvania
Bob Casey Jr. (202) 224 - 6324
Pat Toomey (814) 266 - 5970, or (202) 224 - 4254
Rhode Island
Jack Reed (202) 224 - 4642
Sheldon Whitehouse (202) 224 - 2921
South Carolina
Lindsey Graham (202) 224 - 5972
Tim Scott (202) 224 - 6121
South Dakota
John Thune (202) 224 - 2321
Mike Rounds (202) 224 - 5842
Tennessee
Lamar Alexander (202) 224 - 4944
Bob Corker (202) 224 - 3344
Texas
John Cornyn (202) 224 - 2934
Ted Cruz (202) 224 - 5922
Utah
Orrin Hatch (202) 224 - 5251
Mike Lee (202) 224 - 5444
Vermont
Patrick Leahy (202) 224 - 4242
Bernie Sanders (202) 224 - 5141
Virginia
Mark Warner (202) 224 - 2023
Tim Kaine (202) 224 - 4024
Washington
Maria Cantwell (202) 224 - 3441
Patty Murray (202) 224 - 2621
West Virginia
Joe Manchin (202) 224 - 3954
Shelley Moore Capito (202) 224 - 6472
Wisconsin
Ron Johnson (202) 224 - 5323
Tammy Baldwin (202) 224 - 5653
Wyoming
Mike Enzi (202) 224 - 3424
John Barrasso (202) 224 - 6441
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