Trump Agenda

Trump is leading by example. He is telling the world to get off its ass and get to work. He believes that leaders of all countries should put their country first and root out all corruption. He believes that individuals and families are responsible for themselves. He knows that because laws regulating economies are national, that all economies are national.

Trump is restoring the US to its original intent and is restoring families to be the dominant economic unit based on human nature. He is fighting the “Deep State” to restore the US Constitution (as originally written) and restore the “rule of law”. He is fighting to restore border security with the wall. He is fighting to restore US Immigration based on labor force needs and merit. He is fighting to reduce the US Trade Deficit and discourage corruption and theft. He is opposing failed Marxist policies including Communism, Socialism, communitarianism, government corruption and overreach.

Trump believes in the “laws of economics” where consumers can control the prices by using the law of supply and demand. If beef prices go up, we buy chicken. This free market capitalism needs to be restored to lower the cost of education and healthcare by removing it from federal government control and restoring it to the “States and the People” to comply with the US Constitution and the 10^th Amendment.

Comments

Education and Healthcare are overpriced and underperforming because government has over-subsidized these industries. These subsidies need to be reduced and eliminated.

Many US Federal Departments, Agencies and Programs are not authorized by the US Constitution and these functions need to be returned to the States and the People.

The US Federal Government has caused more problems than it has solved. Congress needs to assume responsibility for writing their own Bills and Regulations and have Agencies enforce the laws and not make the laws. Congress needs to review its 20,000 laws and begin to repeal that bad laws that do the most damage.

Campaign contributions need to be limited to “voters only” and only for those candidates who appear on their ballots. We won’t get incorruptible elected officials until the sources of corruption are removed.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

US Average Temperature by State

Florida 70.7F

Hawaii 70.0F

Louisiana 66.4F

Texas 64.8F

Georgia 63.5F

Mississippi 63.4F

Alabama 62.8F

South Carolina 62.4F

Arkansas 60.4F

Arizona 60.3F

Oklahoma 59.6F

California 59.4F

North Carolina 59.0F

Tennessee 57.6F

Kentucky 55.6F

Delaware 55.3F

Virginia 55.1F

Missouri 54.5F

Kansas 54.3F

Maryland 54.2F

New Mexico 53.4F

New Jersey 52.7F

Illinois 51.8F

West Virginia 51.8F

Indiana 51.7F

Ohio 50.7F

Rhode Island 20.1F

Nevada 49.9F

Connecticut 49.0F

Nebraska 48.8F

Pennsylvania 48.8F

Utah 48.6F

Oregon 48.4F

Washington 48.3F

Massachusetts 47.9F

Iowa 47.8F

New York 45.4F

South Dakota 45.2F

Colorado 45.1F

Idaho 44.4F

Michigan 44.4F

New Hampshire 43.8F

Wisconsin 43.1F

Vermont 42.9F

Montana 42.7F

Wyoming 42.0F

Minnesota 41.2F

Maine 41.0F

North Dakota 40.4F

Alaska 26.6F

It’s colder in the Northern States that border Canada like Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and Alaska.

It’s warmer in the Southern States that border Mexico like California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and the Gulf States like Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida and the Southern Ocean Front States like Georgia and South Carolina.

Temperatures are lower in mountain ranges and temperatures have wider ranges in longer states like California.

https://www.currentresults.com/Weather/US/average-annual-state-temperatures.php

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

Iran Blocking Oil Shipments

US sanctions have cut Iran’s GDP in half and Iran is lashing out by sabotaging tankers and seizing tankers that supply countries with 21 million bbd.  The US wants Iran to stop its nuclear weapons program and stop funding Islamic Terrorism across the globe.
 Iran tanker seizure: What is the Strait of Hormuz?, 7/29/19, BBC.
Are there other routes for oil?

The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow shipping route in the Gulf region, is at the center of rising tensions. Two Royal Navy warships are now in the Gulf, to protect ships sailing under the British flag. So, what is the waterway and why does it matter? What is the Strait of Hormuz?

Despite its small size, the Strait of Hormuz is one of the world's most important shipping routes.

It is about 96 miles long and only 21 miles wide at its narrowest point, with shipping lanes in each direction just two miles wide.

Bounded to the north by Iran and to the south by Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Strait of Hormuz connects the Gulf with the Arabian Sea.

The strait is deep enough for the world's biggest crude oil tankers, and is used by the major oil and gas producers in the Middle East - and their customers. At any one time, there are several dozen tankers on their way to the Strait of Hormuz, or leaving it.

How much oil goes through it? About a fifth of the world's oil, nearly 21 million barrels a day, passed through the Strait of Hormuz last year.

In 2016, the most recent year for which comparable figures are available, the strait was the world's busiest sea route for oil. It carried about 19 million barrels a day - more than the 16 million barrels a day that went through the Strait of Malacca, a major international waterway in the Indian Ocean.

In comparison, just five or six million barrels a day went via the Suez Canal and Bab el-Mandeb in the Red Sea.

The Strait of Hormuz is vital for the main oil exporters in the Gulf region, whose economies are built around oil and gas production.

In 2018, Saudi Arabia sent nearly 6.4 million barrels of oil per day via the strait, while Iraq sent more than 3.4 million, the UAE nearly 2.7 million and Kuwait just over two million.

Iran also relies heavily on this route for its oil exports.

And Qatar, the biggest global producer of liquefied natural gas (LNG), exports nearly all its gas through the strait.

It has become particularly important in recent years for the major economies in Asia.

Most of the oil going through the strait in 2018 went to China, Japan, South Korea and India. And the US also imported nearly 1.4 million barrels a day via this route.

The UK does import some oil from the Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz, as well as around a third of its liquefied natural gas.

The Strait of Hormuz is still the best route for transporting large volumes of oil out of the Gulf and is the only route by sea.

There are some land-based pipelines that can carry oil.

A Saudi pipeline goes to the Red Sea, and has a capacity of about five million barrels of oil a day.

Abu Dhabi has a pipeline that can carry about 1.5 million barrels of oil a day down the coast, to beyond the Strait of Hormuz. And there is a pipeline that can transport Iraq's oil to the Mediterranean coast.

But not all these pipelines are working at full capacity.

And they cannot transport nearly as much oil as can be carried by ship. Does Iran control the Strait of Hormuz?

UN rules allow countries to exercise control up to 12 nautical miles (13.8 miles) from their coastline. This means that at its narrowest point, the strait and its shipping lanes lie entirely within Iran and Oman's territorial waters.

Conflict in the Strait of Hormuz

Iran diverted a British-flagged oil tanker to one of its ports, which the UK said was illegal

US forces destroyed an Iranian drone that came close to the USS Boxer

The US said it was ready to carry out air strikes after Iran shot down a US drone

Two tankers were damaged by explosions after leaving the Strait of Hormuz

Four tankers were hit by blasts within the UAE's territorial waters

Shipping and oil installations were targeted during the 1980s Iran-Iraq war

However, international conventions give ships - including military vessels - the right of passage through a state's territorial waters.

Iran is allowed to act in its own territorial waters - but not at the expense of the right-of-passage for foreign ships.

The US has now beefed up its military presence in the region. But it has also said it is keen for other countries to play a part in safeguarding the Gulf and wider region.

And the UK is providing a naval escort for British-flagged ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-49070882?intlink_from_url=https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/cjnwl8q4ggwt/iran&link_location=live-reporting-story

Comments

So far, only US and UK battleships are arriving to guard oil tankers, but that could change if China, Japan, South Korea, India and others join to ensure that they get their oil.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

Iran Strikes and Protests

The Iranian general strikes are a series of protests that are taking place across Iran against the economic situation.

4/14/18, Baneh shopkeepers started strikes which continued for twenty days.

5/22/18, truckers stopped working in 160 cities. Their strikes continued for ten day

6/25/18, On 25 June 2018, shops were shut and thousands gathered in the Bazaar area of Tehran to protest the economic situation. This was met with security forces firing tear gas at the protestors. Protests against the economic situation also occurred in Shahriar, Karaj, Qeshm, Bandar Abbas, and Mashhad. Some of the stores were closed enforcedly by unknown individuals.

6/26/18 People in Tehran took to the streets for the third straight day on 26 June, with many shops in Tehran's Bazaar remaining closed.

Videos from social media showed the crowd in downtown Tehran chanting "Death to the dictator" and "Death to Palestine". Security forces clamped down on the protesters once again, arresting a large number of people. Strikes and protests were also seen in Kermanshah, Arak and Tabriz.

6/27/18, Protests continued for a third day in Tehran, despite a heavy security presence, Reuters referred to the three days as "the biggest unrest since the start of the year". Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, addressed the protests for the first time and called on the judiciary to punish those who disrupted economic security. Many of the protests involved traders in the Grand Bazaar in Tehran, who complained that the devaluation of the Iranian rial had forced them to stop trading.

6/28/18, sources told Radio Farda that merchants had closed down the Bazaar in the city of Arak. Tehran's prosecutor general stated that a large number of protesters had been arrested and would likely face trial. Jafar Dolatabadi also stated in an interview that the protesters grievances are not only economic, and that "people are grappling with political and social concerns".

9/11/18, shopkeepers in Iranian Kurdistan initiated a one-day strike in response to the missile attack by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps on the headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran, and the execution of Ramin Panahi and two other Kurd activists. In response to the strikes, the security forces arrested five Kurdish activists.

9/22/18, truckers across several Iranian cities restarted their strikes against the rising expenses of their jobs. 

9/26/18, the strikes continued and were seen in Ahvaz, Qazvin, Shahreza, Borujerd, and Urmia. 

9/27/18, 70 truckers in Fars, Tehran, and Qazvin province were arrested as strikes continued into their fifth day. The Free Truckers Union announced that the strike had spread to 31 provinces across the country. The judiciary stated that those arrested could face the death penalty. 

9/29/18, on the eight day of the strikes, the number of truckers arrested reached 89.

10/1/18, the truckers strikes reached their 10th straight day and were seen  in Bukan, Khosrowshah, Arak, Fooladshahr, Nishapur, Tiran, Takestan, Kermanshah, Sanandaj, Qazvin, Karaj, Bandar Abbas, Ardabil, Dezful, Yazd, and Najafabad. The number of arrested also reached 156. By the 13th straight day of the strike over 230 truckers were arrested.

10/8/18, the strikes continued and reached their 17th consecutive day. Security forces responded by arresting a number of truckers, which increased the number of people arrested to 256. On the same day, Bazaaris in multiple cities across Iran closed their shops and went on strike in protest to the economic situation. Strikes were seen in Sanandaj, Bukan, Saqqez, Marivan, Baneh, Miandoab, Tehran, Isfahan, Mashhad, Tabriz, and Chabahar. 

10/9/18, The strikes continued into although they were reduced in size from the previous day, and were seen in Tabriz, Shahriar, Shahreza, and Sanandaj.

10/13/18, teachers across Iran started a two-day nationwide strike in protest to high expenses and inflation.Teachers in Tehran, Mashhad, Tabriz, Isfahan, Shiraz, Kermanshah, Ilam, Yasuj, Sanandaj, Simorgh, Hamedan, Amol, Zarrin Shahr, Gonabad, Eslamabad, Torbat-e Heydarieh, Marivan, Sarvabad, and Garmeh, went on strike. At least two teachers were arrested on the first day of the strike.

10/14/18, teachers went on strike for a second day.

11/1/18, truckers went on strike for the fourth time this year in Tehran, Zanjan, Isfahan, Asaluyeh, Nahavand, and Shahrud in protest to the arrest of hundreds of truckers in October. 

11/2/18, workers at the Haft Tappeh Cane Sugar Company's factory in Shush start their own strikes.

Workers from several factories in Iran have been on constant strikes due to unpaid wages and inflation.

11/2/18, teachers in most provinces went on strike for the second time in 2018. 13 teachers were arrested during this strike.

11/15/18, workers strikes escalated and protests spilled onto the streets of Shush. Some workers in Shush called for the factory to be operated by a workers council. The following day, the workers disrupted the Friday Prayer service of the city. They chanted "Hossein, Hossein is their cry, theft is their pride", "Death to oppressors, long live workers", and "Workers are willing to die, but will not accept oppression". 

11/17/18, worker protests continued in the streets of Shush on despite the presence of the security forces and riot police.

1/17/18, hundreds of workers of the Foolad Company in Ahvaz protested in front of the Governor's office. Protestors in Ahvaz chanted "Let go of Kashoggi, think of us", and "Inflation, increasing prices, be responsible Rouhani".

11/18/18, nineteen protestors were arrested in Shush. 

11/21/18, thirteen of the protesters in Shush were released from prison, the arrested protestors faced charges of "acting against the regime".

11/24/18, workers joined by ordinary citizens, protested in Ahvaz and clashed with the security forces. 

11/24/18, workers of the vegetable oil factory of Zanjan protested in front of the governor's office in Zanjan due to unpaid wages.

11/28/18, workers protested for the 24th consecutive day in Shush, despite the city's police commander stating that any gatherings were against the law.

11/28/18, worker protests occurred in Ahvaz as thousands of workers took to the streets.

11/18/18, Workers Syndicate at the Haft Tappeh sugar mill in Iran’s Khuzestan province announced that the security forces had arrested two of their representatives, Esmail Bakhshi and Mohsen Armand. 

11/29/18, The syndicate announced that government forces arrested its senior member Ali Nejati in his house.

12/4/18, workers in Ahvaz protested for the 25th straight day, and chanted "Palestine and Syria are the root of our problems".

12/17/18, security forces cracked-down and arrested 31 workers in Ahvaz whom they i/refdentified as the leaders of the protests. The day before workers had gathered in Ahvaz and declared that they would take their protest to the capital Tehran, if their demands were not met. 

12/13/18, Ali Nejati, was transferred to hospital, after long and distressing interrogations.

12/18/18, a lone protester on the island of Kish, stood in front of the main square of the city and graffitied anti-regime and pro-worker slogans, which included: "Imprisoned workers must be freed", and "long live the Shah". 

12/18/18 and 12/19/18, security forces stormed the houses of Foolad workers in Khuzestan province and arrested up to 41 workers. 15 workers at Ilam Petrochemical Plant in central western Iran were convicted to six months’ imprisonment and 74 lashes by a state court after they gathered in protest outside the factory for their fellow experienced workers being laid off. The court charged them with “disrupting public order and peace”.

12/21/18, truck drivers across the country started their fifth round of nationwide strikes in protest to inflation and rising expenses.

12/27/18, security forces attacked with tear gas a teachers gathering outside the education office in Isfahan, central Iran. Teachers were protesting their low salary and the arrest of their colleagues who are now in jail.

1/2/19, farmers gathered in Isfahan to protest the lack of water in the Zayanderud. The protestors were met by security forces who fired tear gas and live rounds into the air to disperse the crowds.

1/22/19, retirees gathered in front of the parliament building in Tehran and chanted "Torture and forced confessions, have no effect anymore". 

1/24/19, teachers gathered in five provinces to protest their current living and teaching conditions.

2/14/19, teachersprotested living and teaching conditions outside the Ministry of Education offices in Ardabil, Mashhad, Marivan, Sanandaj, Orumieh, and Kermanshah 

2/14/19 teacher's rights activist was arrested in Sanandaj.

2/26/19, railway workers in Tabriz and Shahroud went on strike. Earlier that day, a large group of retirees gathered in front of the parliament building in Tehran to protest low pensions. Protesters chanted "no nation has seen such a dishonourable parliament" and "shame on those who claim to be the upholders of justice".

3/3/19, teachers across Iran started a three-day nationwide sit in, in protest to low living wages and unfavourable job conditions. This is the third sit in this year by teachers across Iran. The same day, railway workers in Andimeshk went on strike to protest unpaid wages and blocked the Ahvaz to Mashhad train from running its route. The families of Esmail Bakhshi and Sepideh Gholian also gathered in front of the judiciary in Shush to protest their arrest

3/4/19, mobile bazars went on strike and protested in Tehran, Tabriz, Ahvaz, Mashhad, and Isfahan. The strike was called to protest the new initiative started by the Ministry of Communications which prevents them from registering the smartphones they want to sell.

3/5/19, workers of Chamshir Dam in Gachsaran went on strike and gathered outside the governorate to protest 14 months of unpaid wages. On the same day, workers of the Ministry of Agriculture gathered in front of the parliament building in Tehran and protested their low wages. Railway strikes also continued in Tabriz and Lorestan province.

3/6/19, Foolad retirees took to the streets in Isfahan due to low pensions. The protestors chanted "Our revolution was a mistake" and "Rouhani the liar, resign".

3/7/19 teachers took the streets in Kermanshah, Urmia, Ardabil, Mashhas and Isfahan multiple cities across Iran.

5/1/19, workers, students, and teachers gathered in front of the parliament building in Tehran to protest poor economic conditions, and lack of individual rights. Protesters chanted "Workers, teachers, students, unite" and "High costs and inflation are hurting people's lives". The security forces clamped down on the protests and 40 demonstrators were arrested.

5/2/19, teachers across 13 provinces in Iran protested their poor work and living conditions. The security forces arrested at least 3 teachers in Tehran.

6/23/19, protestors in Kermanshah can be seen wearing yellow vests in inspiration by the French Yellow vests movement.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018%E2%80%932019_Iranian_general_strikes_and_protests

Comments

Iran had 37 strikes and protests in 2018 and 14 more so far in 2019. They need to vote out their leaders. Iran has a population of 83 million. Iran is scheduled to hold elections in 2020. Iran’s inflation rate is 50%. Unemployment is 12%.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

Private Sector Economy

Countries need to expand their private sector jobs in order to improve their economies.  Private sector jobs include individually owned and family owned businesses, sole- proprietorships, private corporations and public corporations that receive their revenue by selling their products or services to customers.

Public sector jobs are government jobs that are funded all or in part by tax subsidies. This includes jobs in government, military, police, courts, public transit and public infrastructure. We can shrink these expenses with better behavior.

Some private sector companies are funded completely or in part from taxes like military equipment manufacturers and businesses who sell their products or services to the government. The revenue these government contractors receive for government work are paid with your tax dollars.

Rather than follow the US Constitution, legislatures have crossed the line and over-subsided activities that were once in the private sector. Prices exploded because consumers were not in charge of controlling the price. Education and Healthcare costs are unsustainable because of public schools, Medicare and Medicaid. Public transit is inefficient with buses and trains that run half-full and they don’t go where we need to go. Government entities like Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Sallie Mae are loan companies that are backed and subsidized by taxes and should be privatized.

Social Security is a Ponzi scheme invented by government to provide disability insurance and retirement plans. But the tax deductions we pay to fund these go direct to the federal government. We need to transition this to become individual accounts that we own and that our families can inherit.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

Brexit Fixit

Boris Johnson Becomes the UK’s New Prime Minister, by conservative zone, 7/27/19.

Britain has a new Prime Minister as of this week. Boris Johnson will be taking the top office at Downing Street after a recent vote by the Conservative Party. Johnson’s first and main challenge will be reuniting a divided party and nation over Brexit; something outed Prime Minister Theresa May was unable to do.

The 53-year-old Johnson is a former journalist and mayor of London. He was a key figure in the initial success of 2016’s original Brexit initiative. Johnson’s latest victory was decisive, he topped competitor Jeremy Hunt by almost twice the number of votes to secure the top office. The UK reports a vote of 92,153 for Johnson to just 46,656 for Hunt. The vote was held within the Conservative Party, not in the country at large, so just 139,000 people voted — per tradition in the United Kingdom. This has led to backlash from those left out of the voting process and leads to a uphill fight for Johnson as he takes over the party and the position of Prime Minister.

Here in the United States, President Donald Trump is on the record as a Johnson supporter. The President is also in favor of Brexit, so he sees these results as both support of Brexit and as confirmation of his own popularity in Britain.

“He’s tough and he’s smart. They say the British Trump. They say that’s a good thing. They like me over there. That’s what they wanted. He’ll get it done. Boris is good,” Trump said.

Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the left-wing Labour party, was swift to complain on Twitter. - “Boris Johnson has won the support of fewer than 100,000 unrepresentative Conservative Party members by promising tax cuts for the richest, presenting himself as the bankers’ friend, and pushing for a damaging No Deal Brexit,” he wrote. “But he hasn’t won the support of our country.”

Johnson will be able to get to work right away. Former Prime Minister Theresa May has formally resigned. Johnson in turn is heading to Buckingham Palace to formally meet with Queen Elizabeth II. Once he assumes office, Johnson will be the 14th Prime Minister approved by the Queen during her long reign as leader.

Brexit is not the only issue facing the incoming Johnson; once he is officially approved, he will need to attend to not just this issue, but ongoing problems with Iran. Johnson inherits ongoing Iran related talks and questions about Britain’s support of sanctions on Iran designed to prevent the further development of nuclear weapons.

Johnson is reportedly unconcerned about the daunting circumstances he faces, and the outing of his predecessor for a lack of action on Brexit. He cheerfully spoke to the press, highlighting his eagerness to proceed and ensure that the Brexit initiative is a success. Expect to see Johnson in the news as Brexit proceeds and the flamboyant and outspoken politician moves into the official residence at Downing Street.

https://www.conservativezone.com/articles/boris-johnson-becomes-the-uks-new-prime-minister/

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader