2016 May 28^th

Memorial day weekend is upon us and Donald Trump is aghast at the inadequacies of the VA hospitals. He is helped mightily by the ham handed VA administrator who said the long waits endured by veterans seeking treatment were no worse than the waits endured by those waiting to get on rides at Disneyland. Of course he also said that the VA should be evaluated on the veteran’s total experience rather than simply on the wait times, but the damage had been done and now there will surely be more push toward privatization. Give vets vouchers and let them seek treatment with hospitals and physicians that accept Medicare.

That’s unworkable because while many physicians and hospitals accept Medicare, the payments Medicare will make on the patient’s behalf do not always cover the total cost of the care. The vet will still have to pay for a portion of his/her care under this plan.

Trump has also declared that California has no drought problem. This is incredibly good news for many residents of that state. According to Trump there is plenty of water it is just being diverted to save a very small endangered fish species. It is true that some water from the Sacramento River outflow is being diverted to ensure the survival of some fish species, but anyone looking at the water levels in California’s various dams and reservoirs will not believe anything so ridiculous as the notion that California has no water shortage.

Trump has had another abrupt change of mind; this time it was about his debate with Bernie Sanders. He was recorded, just yesterday, saying that he looked forward to such a debate, that he welcomed it. That has changed.  Now he says that as the Republican presumptive nominee it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to debate someone from the other party who is not likely to be their nominee at all. Of course nothing has changed from the period when he said he looked forward to the debate, to now, when he has declined.  It’s obvious that what has happened is that Trump’s advisors have convinced him that debating Bernie would gain him nothing, and could lose him a good deal. Imagine the image of the six foot three inch gold plated billionaire business man, leader now of America’s conservative party, losing a debate to a red-faced, angry, septuagenarian socialist; wouldn’t that have been a hoot?

Trump has been accused of profiting from the housing crisis by buying up cheap properties. His response is that he’s a businessman and that’s what businessmen do; they make a profit. I wonder what might happen if Trump is elected President; it occurs to me that once he has the codes required to launch our nuclear arsenal at an enemy he could ask, and get, an absurdly high price for that information from either China or Russia. Perhaps he could have them bid against each other for the information.  The money from that competition would surely run into the trillions. Trump could use it to pay down the national debt, but after he takes a personal commission of course; he is a businessman after all.