Hoofbeats on the Bridge

10/29/2025

While Democrats insist the government needs to extend and increase ACA subsidies, it's worth rereading this from back in 2016.....

pssst. shshsh. we have to keep our voices down because they don't want us to know and we're not supposed to be talking about this. notice the mainstream media haven't run a single story even though it's been two and a half months.

but many aspects of the affordable care act ("obamacare") are only now taking effect. each january 1, more of the taxes and money transfers become active.

on january 1, while you weren't paying attention, the following took effect:

l. the medicare tax went from 1.45% to 2.35%.
2. the middle class income tax bracket went from 35% to 40%.
3. the payroll tax went from 37% to 52%.
4. the capital gains tax went from 15% to 28%.
5. the dividend tax went from 15% to 40%.
6. the inheritance tax went from 0 to 55%.
7. a new 3.5% real estate transaction tax was created.
8. $553 million additional dollars were transferred from social security to the affordable care act to help cover rising costs. to cover this loss, social security recipients will not receive annual cost of living increases, and spouses will no longer receive benefits unless they also paid in. (remember when the affordable care act first became law $855 million was transferred from medicare and $380 was transferred from social security to cover initial costs.)

10/29/2025

This is now NINE years old but still very much worth reading.....

New York Times --- Anyone who says it doesn't matter whether Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton wins this election has not been paying attention. Mfr. Trump possesses a dangerous blend of intellectual laziness, towering policy ignorance and recklessness. Ms. Clinto has real ethical and moral issues, is the worst criminal ever to run for national office, and is already owned by two dozen foreign dictators and tycoons before she ever takes office.
But there's a more important question here. It's not "Who Are These Politicians And How Did They Get This Way?" Instead, it's "Who Are These American Voters And How Did They Get This Way?"
The ugly truth is this : We Have Become Shiites and Sunnis.
More and more of our politicians and voters resemble the core of the Middle Eastern population. Every single aspect of Middle Eastern life is seen through the binary lens of Islam and its two largest factions : Shiite and Sunni. You are either one or the other. There is no grey area, no compromise, no middle ground. The politics, culture and military strategies of the Middle East are a seesaw game between these two modes of zero sum, rule or die, my way or death thinking.
The attitude is either "I am strong so I don't have to meet you in the middle," or "I am weak so I cannot meet you in the middle." Even worse, it is usually "I am on the side of Allah, Right and Justice and you are on the side of Satan, Chaos and Evil, and there is no compromise with Evil."
Politico last week reported that GOP officials are already sketching plans to stymie a President Hillary Clinton agenda. Liberals are already warning Ms. Clinton not to bring Republicans or even Conservative Democrats into her Cabinet or consider meeting them halfway.
This is a 21st Century form of Tribalism. We're not trying to solve problems. We're just trying to advance "our side," while blocking "the other side."
Step back and look at this campaign objectively. It's a frightening sight.
There is the sorry spectacle of Clinton supporters turning themselves into pretzels to defend her, even though any rational person can see she has broken every ethic, moral and law and has embraced several dozen very shady donors to her money laundering Clinton Foundation in exchange for political favors doled out while she was Secretary of State and promised when (if) she becomes President. On the other side, Trumpeters are in denial. He has insulted parents of slain war heroes, mocked a handicapped reporter, stereotyped whole groups of minorities, and revealed a stunning disinterest in policy issues domestic and foreign. He has zero experience in government and, although he graduated from the elite Wharton School of Finance, itself a fine achievement, as an adult he has displayed a disturbing intellectual shallowness. But it doesn't matter.
Shiites stick with Shiites. Sunnis stick with Sunnis. Rule or die. Onward for God and the Democrats. Wave the Flag for Republicans. Nothing Else Matters. Loyalty is the only priority. The Party is all.
This is not the Democracy the Founding Fathers envisioned. They understood that Compromise was the keystone of Democracy. As a matter of fact, they feared political parties. Thomas Jefferson said it best : "Once political parties rise, the people will vote based on party affiliation and not based on issues. This would be death of Democracy." Now we see what he was foretelling.
We have serious problems. We now see that Obamacare was only a beginning. It has serious flaws. We must correct these. Our immigration policies are broken. We must design a new system for the 21st Century. Our entire tax system is out of date. We must redesign it from the ground up. Whether you believe it is caused by man or long range natural cycles, climate change is real, and it is rushing forward. We must design policies to deal with its consequences. We are $21.3 trillion in debt. How do we pay this down without shutting down the government? We have 95 million Americans out of work. How do we find jobs for them in a century of outsourcing, ever increasing technology and a failing school system? How do we support an aging population with declining resources?
All of these demand intense intellectual discussions by our very best minds. We must take the best ideas from the right, the left and the middle and meld them into a solid approach. The notion that we can separate into two hostile camps and not talk to each other is insane.
There is no doubt that both parties have betrayed the people, and there is plenty of blame to go around.
But take a look at the Middle East. How well is their Shiite-Sunni dichotomy working for them? Disastrously. Do we want that here?
We have allowed ourselves to be led around by a bunch of no compromise politicians more interested in their own careers than in solving problems. The landscape is littered with think tank ideologues in the pay of one industry or another, broadcast news know nothings, a lunatic fringe on both the right and the left, and, worst of all, a population of TV addicts who would rather watch reality shows, football and sitcoms than think for themselves.
We either need to abolish political parties entirely, or, at least, shunt these two to the sidelines and create two new ones. There is room in America, indeed there is a critical need, for continuing debate on the two eternal philosophies of large central government vs. small decentralized government. We need spokesmen for both views. But after they're argued their positions, they need to sit down and work out policies which combine the best of both and solve the problems.
As Americans we were once summoned by our politicians to raise our eyes to the Moon, to dream the impossible and then set about achieving it. We became the world's greatest nation by working together, not savaging each other.
Lately we've been summoned by our politicians to race to the bottom. By any rational standard, we now see the two worst political candidates in our history.
We're locked in now. We have only these two choices. We can't change that. But what we can change is what happens after the election. Whoever wins, we as voters have to demand that the politicians in Washington stop posturing and come together or we're going to vote the whole bunch out and start from scratch.
Either that, or we're going to become just another Middle Eastern nation with Shiites and Sunnis forever at war.

06/14/2022

Nationally renowned cowboy poet, veterinarian, and storyteller Baxter Black died Friday at the age of 77. Black, a resident of Benson, Arizona, was a beloved figure in the agricultural industry, and outpourings on his behalf have been going on for months while Black was in hospice care. READ ON:
https://www.agdaily.com/lifestyle/beloved-cowboy-poet-baxter-black-away/

04/08/2022

This is six years old but still very much worth reading.....

New York Times --- Anyone who says it doesn't matter whether Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton wins this election has not been paying attention. Mfr. Trump possesses a dangerous blend of intellectual laziness, towering policy ignorance and recklessness. Ms. Clinto has real ethical and moral issues, is the worst criminal ever to run for national office, and is already owned by two dozen foreign dictators and tycoons before she ever takes office.
But there's a more important question here. It's not "Who Are These Politicians And How Did They Get This Way?" Instead, it's "Who Are These American Voters And How Did They Get This Way?"
The ugly truth is this : We Have Become Shiites and Sunnis.
More and more of our politicians and voters resemble the core of the Middle Eastern population. Every single aspect of Middle Eastern life is seen through the binary lens of Islam and its two largest factions : Shiite and Sunni. You are either one or the other. There is no grey area, no compromise, no middle ground. The politics, culture and military strategies of the Middle East are a seesaw game between these two modes of zero sum, rule or die, my way or death thinking.
The attitude is either "I am strong so I don't have to meet you in the middle," or "I am weak so I cannot meet you in the middle." Even worse, it is usually "I am on the side of Allah, Right and Justice and you are on the side of Satan, Chaos and Evil, and there is no compromise with Evil."
Politico last week reported that GOP officials are already sketching plans to stymie a President Hillary Clinton agenda. Liberals are already warning Ms. Clinton not to bring Republicans or even Conservative Democrats into her Cabinet or consider meeting them halfway.
This is a 21st Century form of Tribalism. We're not trying to solve problems. We're just trying to advance "our side," while blocking "the other side."
Step back and look at this campaign objectively. It's a frightening sight.
There is the sorry spectacle of Clinton supporters turning themselves into pretzels to defend her, even though any rational person can see she has broken every ethic, moral and law and has embraced several dozen very shady donors to her money laundering Clinton Foundation in exchange for political favors doled out while she was Secretary of State and promised when (if) she becomes President. On the other side, Trumpeters are in denial. He has insulted parents of slain war heroes, mocked a handicapped reporter, stereotyped whole groups of minorities, and revealed a stunning disinterest in policy issues domestic and foreign. He has zero experience in government and, although he graduated from the elite Wharton School of Finance, itself a fine achievement, as an adult he has displayed a disturbing intellectual shallowness. But it doesn't matter.
Shiites stick with Shiites. Sunnis stick with Sunnis. Rule or die. Onward for God and the Democrats. Wave the Flag for Republicans. Nothing Else Matters. Loyalty is the only priority. The Party is all.
This is not the Democracy the Founding Fathers envisioned. They understood that Compromise was the keystone of Democracy. As a matter of fact, they feared political parties. Thomas Jefferson said it best : "Once political parties rise, the people will vote based on party affiliation and not based on issues. This would be death of Democracy." Now we see what he was foretelling.
We have serious problems. We now see that Obamacare was only a beginning. It has serious flaws. We must correct these. Our immigration policies are broken. We must design a new system for the 21st Century. Our entire tax system is out of date. We must redesign it from the ground up. Whether you believe it is caused by man or long range natural cycles, climate change is real, and it is rushing forward. We must design policies to deal with its consequences. We are $21.3 trillion in debt. How do we pay this down without shutting down the government? We have 95 million Americans out of work. How do we find jobs for them in a century of outsourcing, ever increasing technology and a failing school system? How do we support an aging population with declining resources?
All of these demand intense intellectual discussions by our very best minds. We must take the best ideas from the right, the left and the middle and meld them into a solid approach. The notion that we can separate into two hostile camps and not talk to each other is insane.
There is no doubt that both parties have betrayed the people, and there is plenty of blame to go around.
But take a look at the Middle East. How well is their Shiite-Sunni dichotomy working for them? Disastrously. Do we want that here?
We have allowed ourselves to be led around by a bunch of no compromise politicians more interested in their own careers than in solving problems. The landscape is littered with think tank ideologues in the pay of one industry or another, broadcast news know nothings, a lunatic fringe on both the right and the left, and, worst of all, a population of TV addicts who would rather watch reality shows, football and sitcoms than think for themselves.
We either need to abolish political parties entirely, or, at least, shunt these two to the sidelines and create two new ones. There is room in America, indeed there is a critical need, for continuing debate on the two eternal philosophies of large central government vs. small decentralized government. We need spokesmen for both views. But after they're argued their positions, they need to sit down and work out policies which combine the best of both and solve the problems.
As Americans we were once summoned by our politicians to raise our eyes to the Moon, to dream the impossible and then set about achieving it. We became the world's greatest nation by working together, not savaging each other.
Lately we've been summoned by our politicians to race to the bottom. By any rational standard, we now see the two worst political candidates in our history.
We're locked in now. We have only these two choices. We can't change that. But what we can change is what happens after the election. Whoever wins, we as voters have to demand that the politicians in Washington stop posturing and come together or we're going to vote the whole bunch out and start from scratch.
Either that, or we're going to become just another Middle Eastern nation with Shiites and Sunnis forever at war.

10/27/2016

More bad news for the Clinton/Obama campaign. (You've noticed Barack and Michelle Obama and Chelsea have been doing most of the campaigning recently while Hillary stays home protecting her fragile health. It's important to the Obamas that Hillary wins to continue their legacy.) On the heels of the daily Wickileaks and the realization that Affordable Care Act premiums are exploding while care is being reduced, comes now the official announcement that Obama's claim of 5% unemployment has been a significant exaggeration. The Government Accounting Office has released accurate statistics and they're a disaster. As of October 1, 2016, the total population of the U.S. is 324 million, 865 thousand 724. Many of those are younger than 18 or older than 65. Some are also disabled, students or in the military. The population of Americans between 18 and 65 who are actually in the workforce, rounded off, is 245 million. Of that 245 million, 150 million (rounded) are employed. This leaves 94 million, 753 thousand unemployed. This means the current unemployment rate in America is 38.674%. This is higher even than during the Great Depression. The day Barack Obama was inaugurated in January 2009, there were 43 million 536 thousand unemployed. So in eight years Obama's policies have more than doubled the unemployment rate. People in the Rust Belt states of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin have sensed that the jobless rate was a lot higher than White House officials were claiming, but now they have the actual statistics to prove it. This is not going to help Hillary argue that we should continue the policies of the previous administration.

10/16/2016

Washington ----- Come with us now to 1824. War hero Andrew Jackson, Speaker of the House Henry Clay and two third party candidates--- John Quincy Adams and William Crawford --- are running for President. Jackson is seen as a political outsider who can clean up the corruption in Washington, but offends many voters with his rude, crude, insulting style and his huge ego. Clay is loved by Kentuckians but seen by many nationwide as part of the corrupt Washington establishment. Adams and Crawford are seen as third party candidates who cannot win but could play spoiler roles. In the general election, Jackson wins both the most popular votes and the most electoral college votes but falls short of the needed electoral college votes to be declared the winner. This throws the election to the House of Representatives. Under Speaker of the House Henry Clay, the House names John Quincy Adams as the President. Two weeks later, Adams appoints Clay as Secretary of State. Democrats are outraged, accusing Clay of selling Jackson out for the promise of the Secretary of State appointment. Fans of Jackson demonstrate in the streets of Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York City. However, John Quincy Adams goes on to become one of our most respected Presidents. He paid down the national debt, which had been run up by the War of 1812 and construction of various highways and canals. He set up a series of banking regulations; pushed a highway network westward to the Mississippi River; funded the locks and canal around the Falls of the Ohio at Louisville, which allowed efficient shipping from Pittsburgh to New Orleans; established a system of tariffs which allowed American factories and businesses to come into existence, grow and thrive; pushed hard to create and fund a national public school system; and refused to involve the U.S. in various European, Middle Eastern and South American military conflicts. After leaving the White House, Adams successfully ran for Congress and served seven terms. He is one of only two Presidents to serve in Congress after serving as President.

The point of this is that our system is designed to rescue us from elections like this one if we will use the powers the Founding Fathers gave us.

09/01/2016

New York Times --- Anyone who says it doesn't matter whether Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton wins this election has not been paying attention. Mfr. Trump possesses a dangerous blend of intellectual laziness, towering policy ignorance and recklessness. Ms. Clinto has real ethical and moral issues, is the worst criminal ever to run for national office, and is already owned by two dozen foreign dictators and tycoons before she ever takes office.
But there's a more important question here. It's not "Who Are These Politicians And How Did They Get This Way?" Instead, it's "Who Are These American Voters And How Did They Get This Way?"
The ugly truth is this : We Have Become Shiites and Sunnis.
More and more of our politicians and voters resemble the core of the Middle Eastern population. Every single aspect of Middle Eastern life is seen through the binary lens of Islam and its two largest factions : Shiite and Sunni. You are either one or the other. There is no grey area, no compromise, no middle ground. The politics, culture and military strategies of the Middle East are a seesaw game between these two modes of zero sum, rule or die, my way or death thinking.
The attitude is either "I am strong so I don't have to meet you in the middle," or "I am weak so I cannot meet you in the middle." Even worse, it is usually "I am on the side of Allah, Right and Justice and you are on the side of Satan, Chaos and Evil, and there is no compromise with Evil."
Politico last week reported that GOP officials are already sketching plans to stymie a President Hillary Clinton agenda. Liberals are already warning Ms. Clinton not to bring Republicans or even Conservative Democrats into her Cabinet or consider meeting them halfway.
This is a 21st Century form of Tribalism. We're not trying to solve problems. We're just trying to advance "our side," while blocking "the other side."
Step back and look at this campaign objectively. It's a frightening sight.
There is the sorry spectacle of Clinton supporters turning themselves into pretzels to defend her, even though any rational person can see she has broken every ethic, moral and law and has embraced several dozen very shady donors to her money laundering Clinton Foundation in exchange for political favors doled out while she was Secretary of State and promised when (if) she becomes President. On the other side, Trumpeters are in denial. He has insulted parents of slain war heroes, mocked a handicapped reporter, stereotyped whole groups of minorities, and revealed a stunning disinterest in policy issues domestic and foreign. He has zero experience in government and, although he graduated from the elite Wharton School of Finance, itself a fine achievement, as an adult he has displayed a disturbing intellectual shallowness. But it doesn't matter.
Shiites stick with Shiites. Sunnis stick with Sunnis. Rule or die. Onward for God and the Democrats. Wave the Flag for Republicans. Nothing Else Matters. Loyalty is the only priority. The Party is all.
This is not the Democracy the Founding Fathers envisioned. They understood that Compromise was the keystone of Democracy. As a matter of fact, they feared political parties. Thomas Jefferson said it best : "Once political parties rise, the people will vote based on party affiliation and not based on issues. This would be death of Democracy." Now we see what he was foretelling.
We have serious problems. We now see that Obamacare was only a beginning. It has serious flaws. We must correct these. Our immigration policies are broken. We must design a new system for the 21st Century. Our entire tax system is out of date. We must redesign it from the ground up. Whether you believe it is caused by man or long range natural cycles, climate change is real, and it is rushing forward. We must design policies to deal with its consequences. We are $21.3 trillion in debt. How do we pay this down without shutting down the government? We have 95 million Americans out of work. How do we find jobs for them in a century of outsourcing, ever increasing technology and a failing school system? How do we support an aging population with declining resources?
All of these demand intense intellectual discussions by our very best minds. We must take the best ideas from the right, the left and the middle and meld them into a solid approach. The notion that we can separate into two hostile camps and not talk to each other is insane.
There is no doubt that both parties have betrayed the people, and there is plenty of blame to go around.
But take a look at the Middle East. How well is their Shiite-Sunni dichotomy working for them? Disastrously. Do we want that here?
We have allowed ourselves to be led around by a bunch of no compromise politicians more interested in their own careers than in solving problems. The landscape is littered with think tank ideologues in the pay of one industry or another, broadcast news know nothings, a lunatic fringe on both the right and the left, and, worst of all, a population of TV addicts who would rather watch reality shows, football and sitcoms than think for themselves.
We either need to abolish political parties entirely, or, at least, shunt these two to the sidelines and create two new ones. There is room in America, indeed there is a critical need, for continuing debate on the two eternal philosophies of large central government vs. small decentralized government. We need spokesmen for both views. But after they're argued their positions, they need to sit down and work out policies which combine the best of both and solve the problems.
As Americans we were once summoned by our politicians to raise our eyes to the Moon, to dream the impossible and then set about achieving it. We became the world's greatest nation by working together, not savaging each other.
Lately we've been summoned by our politicians to race to the bottom. By any rational standard, we now see the two worst political candidates in our history.
We're locked in now. We have only these two choices. We can't change that. But what we can change is what happens after the election. Whoever wins, we as voters have to demand that the politicians in Washington stop posturing and come together or we're going to vote the whole bunch out and start from scratch.
Either that, or we're going to become just another Middle Eastern nation with Shiites and Sunnis forever at war.

04/07/2016

Saw a few of these being installed on a trip just last week.

This is the first of a series of robot like machines that can make you a cup of coffee, hot chocolate or cappuccino; shape a burger patty from ground meat, grill it, add specified ingredients, and serve it; pour and stir a milkshake; measure out a bag of French fries; crack and fry an egg, then place it on a bun; or do any of the other tasks involved in running a fast food restaurant.

McDonalds and other chains are now installing these machines in outlets in California, New York, Chicago and other cities which have passed laws raising the minimum wage to levels the restaurants cannot afford. So workers are being replaced by machines. Instead of earning $10 an hour, workers will now be unemployed.

In Seattle, where a $15 minimum wage law was passed a year ago, 213 fast food outlets have closed. These machines may make it possible for them to reopen.

So the Leftwing Liberal Democrats who campaigned so hard to raise the minimum wage to unaffordable levels have caused thousands of unskilled workers to lose their jobs and go on Welfare.

The company making the fast food robots is Momentum Machines of San Francisco.

"It's simple economics," explains national business and economics writer Joshua Krause. "The people pushing these minimum wage increases are apparently oblivious to the reality that small business owners cannot afford the increased costs, so they're either forced to close, or forced to automate. So another whole layer of entry level jobs is being eliminated."

04/07/2016

This is the first of a series of robot like machines that can make you a cup of coffee, hot chocolate or cappuccino; shape a burger patty from ground meat, grill it, add specified ingredients, and serve it; pour and stir a milkshake; measure out a bag of French fries; crack and fry an egg, then place it on a bun; or do any of the other tasks involved in running a fast food restaurant.

McDonalds and other chains are now installing these machines in outlets in California, New York, Chicago and other cities which have passed laws raising the minimum wage to levels the restaurants cannot afford. So workers are being replaced by machines. Instead of earning $10 an hour, workers will now be unemployed.

In Seattle, where a $15 minimum wage law was passed a year ago, 213 fast food outlets have closed. These machines may make it possible for them to reopen.

So the Leftwing Liberal Democrats who campaigned so hard to raise the minimum wage to unaffordable levels have caused thousands of unskilled workers to lose their jobs and go on Welfare.

The company making the fast food robots is Momentum Machines of San Francisco.

"It's simple economics," explains national business and economics writer Joshua Krause. "The people pushing these minimum wage increases are apparently oblivious to the reality that small business owners cannot afford the increased costs, so they're either forced to close, or forced to automate. So another whole layer of entry level jobs is being eliminated."

03/10/2016

pssst. shshsh. we have to keep our voices down because they don't want us to know and we're not supposed to be talking about this. notice the mainstream media haven't run a single story even though it's been two and a half months.

but many aspects of the affordable care act ("obamacare") are only now taking effect. each january 1, more of the taxes and money transfers become active.

on january 1, while you weren't paying attention, the following took effect:

l. the medicare tax went from 1.45% to 2.35%.
2. the middle class income tax bracket went from 35% to 40%.
3. the payroll tax went from 37% to 52%.
4. the capital gains tax went from 15% to 28%.
5. the dividend tax went from 15% to 40%.
6. the inheritance tax went from 0 to 55%.
7. a new 3.5% real estate transaction tax was created.
8. $553 million additional dollars were transferred from social security to the affordable care act to help cover rising costs. to cover this loss, social security recipients will not receive annual cost of living increases, and spouses will no longer receive benefits unless they also paid in. (remember when the affordable care act first became law $855 million was transferred from medicare and $380 was transferred from social security to cover initial costs.)

03/06/2016

Flint, Michigan --- Regardless of whether you're a Democrat or Republican, whether you like Obama or not, whether you prefer big government or small government, or what you think of government programs, we should all be able to agree on two undeniable facts.
l. During the last seven years, we have systematically admitted millions of illegal immigrants and then relocated them across the country. Communities in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Georgia, and a dozen other states woke up to planes and buses unloading a hundred or so illegal immigrants, temporarily housing them in dorms, military bases or other facilities, and telling town councils and school boards to figure out how to absorb them. Regardless of whether you support this or oppose it, this program demonstrates the ability of the government to successfully achieve such a goal.
2. The disaster in Flint is entirely government's fault. Federal and state and local government have mismanaged this community for 50 years. Flint was a company town built a century ago to house workers for the many auto plants. As auto plants closed and sent their jobs to Mexico and Asia, Flint faded from prosperity into despair. Those who could left, but the ones who failed to find jobs elsewhere remained, until today the majority of Flint is on Welfare. For 50 years Democrats have unanimously controlled the city council and mayor's office, and they have never invested a dime in updating their infrastructure. The water pipes have been leaching lead into the water for decades but it was low enough to ignore, despite the fact health officials kept warning about it. Recently Detroit, which supplies Flint with its water, decided to triple the rate it charges, and Flint could not afford it. So it began drawing water from the river that runs through town. Except that water is seriously polluted. The acidic water ate away at the lead pipes so anyone using the water was exposed to toxic lead levels. Flint residents must now rely on bottled water shipped in. They cannot afford it. Charities and some celebrities are temporarily paying for this water, but that generosity cannot last forever. The entire population is affected, but of critical concern are the children.

Turning our backs on this crisis is not acceptable. Government created it through neglect, and government must solve it. But it goes beyond lead in the water. Flint has now deteriorated to the point where it is a hopeless community in which to grow up. A child cannot receive a fair chance in life growing up in Flint.

Therefore, it seems obvious we should relocate these kids. If we can relocate millions of illegal immigrants, we can relocate a thousand of our own children and their families.

Because many people have already left Flint, as of March 1, 2016, we have 806 families with 1353 children remaining. Let's do the math. If we chose 80 communities, two in some states and one in the smaller ones, each could accept 10 families. Each school system would need to absorb 16 children. There are many towns which might welcome 10 new families with 16 new children, as they face declining populations and the threat of losing their schools. These are American families, American children. They were born and raised here. They speak English. They want to work. They know their town is dying and would be grateful for a chance to start over in a fresh, clean, functional community.

The cost of such relocation should not be an issue. In 2015, we spent $750 million providing illegal immigrants with health care under The Affordable Care Act, even though Congress specifically forbade the President from doing that. It would not cost nearly that much to relocate these 806 families with their 1383 children.

Flint is more of a test of our American values and political system than is our willingness to accept illegal immigrants from Syria, Mexico or anywhere else. Surely we can all agree we must take care of our own. And it might be an issue everyone from both parties could agree on. If we can't come together to help the children of Flint, there is no chance we can solve our greater problems.