News items of interest to myself that I once would have posted to Face Book I will now post here.  July 2016.

July 2016:  Hillary Clinton's E-mail investigation is in the news (and has been for quite a long time) again because the Congressional investigation has ended at a cost of $ 7 million.  I would like to know "how many jobs did that congressional effort create?"

Trump's comments about Mexicans and Muslims (negative always) has created a attitude in this country that bigotry is fashionable again.  People in the public eye can create a atmosphere that makes others follow along.  JFK created a atmosphere of public service and many young people went into teaching or the Peace Corps; a positive impact I would note.  Jimmy Carter made conservation  fashionable and people walked more and drove slower and wore sweaters instead of turning up the heat and using more electricity.  On the other hand, Ronald Reagan made it fashionable for us to hate the government and there are now militia groups arming themselves so they can take down the government if they so desire.  Now Trump, with his tirades against Muslims and Mexicans and immigrants has increased the occurrence of racial and group hatred.  And instead of blaming Trump for the impact of his actions, we blame Obama for them.

At the end of Bill Clinton's term of office the budget had a pretty nice surplus.  Al Gore and democrats wanted to set that money aside to fund Social Security well into the future.  Put the money in a "lock box" Gore said.  George Bush and the republicans wanted to return that money to individual tax payers.  Because Bush won a corrupt election the surplus was returned to individuals, the vast majority going to the wealthy like himself and Dick Cheney.  Now with the Social Security fund is running low the republicans want to cut the benefits to Social Security.  How anybody today depending on SS to provide basic needs and voting for republicans has to boggle the mind.