Today is another of what I call O & O days. I owe you an explanation. In this case O & O stands for Opinion and Observation. Perhaps more accurately opinions about observations. Enough about how my head works; let’s get on with it.
Who Else?
Monday and Tuesday’s news were full of the announcement that Donald Trump’s long time CPA firm, Mazars USA, has dumped him. This is another wall that is crumbling in on the former guy. Trump was a liar long before he entered the White House and his whole image and business are now a house of cards about to crumble.
The exact sum is impossible to ascertain, but there is no doubt that Trump owes hundreds of millions if not a billion in debts, much of which is coming due in the near future. It is beginning to appear that even if he sold off assets, he can’t cover it.
It is reasonable to assume that one of the main reasons Mazars USA dumped him is that he has manipulated the value of assets to serve his purposes and thereby committed bank and insurance fraud. The CPA firm wants no part of that! It is better to lose a client than incur the wrath of several regulatory and law enforcement entities.
Trump currently has a stranglehold on many GOP candidates in part because they fear him pumping millions into a challenger’s race. If they collectively held firm Trump simply can’t afford to take them all on. Furthermore, in the long run his money will not be a factor. While he has cash flow (largely due to the Big Lie) he does not have sufficient (if any) net worth.
Federal Waste By Not Spending
This didn’t get a lot of press but it is very telling.
Friday it was reported that the IRS has a serious backlog (in the tens of millions) in processing returns. Keep in mind we are still in February. The reason for the backlog is insufficient resources. The federal government is split into departments, much like a corporation. All of them are cost centers with one exception: the IRS, it is a revenue center.
The federal government runs an annual deficit. So, we have a “business” running in the red and the “managers” are insufficiently funding the one entity that actually makes a “profit”. If I had designed a model like that in school, I would have never gotten my management degree. I content that you don’t need a management degree to figure this one out. In fact, you don’t need much of an education; you just need some common sense and a cursory knowledge of arithmetic.
Even An East Coast Boy Can See The Problem
America is a large and geographically diverse country. Currently water isn’t a constant and huge problem in the East, but the story is much different in the West. While I’d like to get a bit more into it with someone much more skilled in the matter than me, I was alarmed when I read of a study that concluded that the Southwest has experienced its driest two decades in 1200 years. (The 1200 years factor gave me pause.)
In any event, this is not the first study that tells us that climate change is making the water issues in the West worse. In the not that distant future we may be looking at two very different water issues in America. Too much water in the East via sea level rise and not enough in the West via drought all caused by climate change which man’s activities are exacerbating.
A Big Number
A few days ago the Washington Post reported that at least 1,055 (almost 3 per day) people were shot and killed by police in 2021. That was the highest number since the paper began monitoring this in 2015. As my regular readers know I am very pro-police for a liberal. I think the job of a frontline law enforcement officer is far from an easy one. All that said, the number and more so the trend, is alarming!
First off, I’m certain many of these fatal shootings were legitimately good shoots. Police officers need to defend themselves and I never want to see a dead police officer! With the emphasis given to police shootings, the alternative methods often available and the public outcry why is this number increasing?
I have to believe that the biggest factor we have never adequately addressed in policing is police culture. It’s tough to be a good guy or gal when you depend on your brothers and sisters in blue to have your back in a dangerous and possibly life threatening situation.
OK, that’s enough for today. If I didn’t give you reason to think check your pulse.
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