Mr. Trump continues to attack veterans, and in particular, Medal of Honor holders which has caused the national VFW to condemn him for his “asinine comments about the Medal of Honor.” It continues to completely befuddle me as to how veterans could possibly support someone who never served, has criticized John McCain and generally spoken about military veterans as losers. I am not sure that I get where these folks are coming from. Hopefully, they will, in light of the most recent insults, change their support.
Inflation fell below 3% for the first time since 2021. This likely is attributable to a number of factors, one of which is consumers being much more careful about their spending which is causing organizations like Target and Walmart to put specials on. We are also seeing that in the fast-food industry there is a real attempt to drive down prices. The question is, will consumers continue to tighten, or will they simply take advantage of these lower prices that are being offered by these large organizations. Hopefully, it is the latter, because as we know the consumer spending is the backbone of the US economy.
One of the more interesting developments is in a recent article in the New York Times it was pointed out there have been a number of high-profile Republican candidates, including J. D. Vance who have converted to Catholicism. This is bringing about something of a different policy perspective as Mr. Vance has indicated his belief that unions, in fact, have value for workers which has been an issue Republicans have fought for years. You can’t find in general terms a Republican who is pro-union, yet Mr. Vance appears to fall into that category and is basing it upon his Catholic beliefs. We will see where this takes us.
Mr. Trump is also raising the specter of tax cuts as he looks to eliminate income tax on Social Security. Obviously, this is an attempt to curry favor with those of us receiving Social Security and hospitality workers by his proposing no tax on tips. The analysis being done by economists says that this would contribute to the national debt in extraordinary numbers, and likely speed up the reduction in Social Security benefits for all. This is just another cheap political trick by Mr. Trump as he tries to persuade people to vote for him and sells it as some kind of economic boon. Obviously, it is a boon to those who have their taxes reduced, but not to the overall economy and it certainly will not have a positive effect on the debt deficit, which again, is another issue Republicans have railed against for years, yet they pass the Trump tax cuts which greatly increase the deficit and a result, the debt, and now are toying with these tax cuts which would be almost as devastating to the debt and deficit as his tax cuts were.
Hospitals are circling back to an issue that was raised in earnest about 10 years ago, and that is to trying to treat patients at home. One of the methodologies that they are employing is the use of paramedics to conduct in-home screenings and, to some extent, treatment. Obviously, this is less expensive because of the nature of the providers, but also the fact that rooms are not occupied in the hospital. In many communities the volunteer fire department has paramedics, although with the declining level of participation as a result of the increases in training requirements, many departments short. If those could be replenished, they could be a ready source of the needed paramedics to assist in the homecare process as I noted above by doing screenings, blood pressure, blood work for diabetes, wound care, any number of tasks that could help in keeping people out of the hospital and with the hope for reduction in overall costs to the medical system. It may well be worthwhile to develop a core of trained paramedics even if they were paid on a joint basis by a number of the local departments with funding provided by New York State to drive this process.
The Canadian rail strike could be devastating to the supply chain and thus the economy. The Canadian government announced it was requiring arbitration but the Teamsters Union has indicated it is opposed to it and that is a developing story to see whether or not the rail workers will go back to work.
Trump is to sponsor an awards gala for insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol on January the 6th. When you combine that with his remarks about the Medal of Honor it seems to me like if you were a police officer, active-duty military, or a veteran, how can you support him? By the way, I’m a veteran as well, and that is one amongst many reasons why I do not support him.
The Presidential campaign wanders on, and it appears that the momentum of the Democratic ticket is holding. Whether or not that will last as we get into the tough part of the campaign and actual policies are discussed – we’ll have to wait and see.
Bill Owens is a former member of Congress representing the New York 21st, a partner in Stafford, Owens, Piller, Murnane, Kelleher and Trombley in Plattsburgh, NY and a Strategic Advisor at Dentons to Washington, DC.
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