January 30, 2017

What Trump's Seven Countries Have in Common---They Are All on PUTIN's Mid East Wish List

We have been so alarmed at Trump for taking a big, old stinky Trump dump on the Statue of Liberty and the U.S. Constitution that we have forgotten who benefits from the executive order. Rather than looking to see what the countries do not have in common ( no Trump business ties) look to see what they have in common.

That is where Russia comes in.

Russia is actively courting the oppressive regime in Iran. No links necessary. And Iran has always wanted control of Iraq, the other big oil producing Shia state. Severing U.S. ties with these two countries by turning away political refugees makes it that much easier for Russian controlled totalitarian regimes to oppress and control the Iraqi and Iranian people. Turning away U.S. military assets from Iraq---such as interpreters---will make it harder for the U.S. to do anything in Iraq since no one will want to work with a country that goes back on its promises and abandons its allies---leaving Russia and Iran free to step into the void.

What about the five smaller countries on the list. Were they chosen at random? I doubt it. I think Putin sent Trump a memo. A wish list. "These are the countries Mother Russia wants. Take care of it."

Here is CNN on the seven countries which Trump/Putin targeted.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/29/politics/trump-travel-ban-countries/


Syria. Check. We know that Russia is actively attempting to consolidate control of Syria.

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2017/01/russia-iran-turkey-game-syria-170126131318559.html


Yemen. Check.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/samuel-ramani/why-putin-is-keeping-a-cl_b_12184874.html

On August 21, 2016, former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh urged Yemen’s Houthi government to give the Russian military access to all of Yemen’s bases, ports and airports. To justify this bold policy suggestion, Saleh praised Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “positive attitude” in the UN Security Council, and described Russia as Yemen’s “closest kin” in the international community.

Somalia. Check.

http://www.ibtimes.com/somalia-seeks-russias-help-fighting-al-shabab-terrorists-strengthening-economy-2355958

Somalia is asking Russia to help equip its armed forces to fight terrorism in the Horn of Africa nation, where Islamic militant group al-Shabab is waging a deadly insurgency against the Western-backed government, according to Sputnik news agency, which is owned and operated by the Russian government. Mogadishu is also seeking Moscow’s support in strengthening its flagging economy, Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke reportedly said Tuesday at a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov

Sudan. Check

http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article60560

Sudan’s President Omer Al-Bashir will visit Russia in the coming two months to discuss mutual cooperation, according to the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Libya. Check.

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/01/russia-endgame-libya-170116061913370.html

In a quick turn of events this week, Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar met Russian officials in an effort to secure crucial military support that would pave the way for his control of the North African country.

Haftar visited a Russian aircraft carrier off the coast of Tobruk from where he held a video conference with Russian defence minister Sergey Shoigu. Italian State TV RAI reported that Haftar signed an agreement whereby Russia would build two military bases near Tobruk and Benghazi.

Why might Putin want to control seven Middle Eastern countries? Oil. If you add up Russia, Iran, Libya and Iraq, you come up with a world oil superpower. But oil doesn't do you much good if you can not ship it. Sudan, Yemen and Somalia make them a powerhouse on the Red Sea. Iran/Iraq/Syria connect the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean.

The last thing that Putin wants is refugees from these countries coming to the land of the free, making a lot of money, gaining political clout and then using that clout to do what Irish-Americans did for their home country. After its losses in Afghanistan, Russia retrenched. But it is ready to become a world colonial superpower again. And it is counting upon Trump to pave the way for them by telling the oppressed people of those countries "You either suck up to Putin and his puppet or die."

January 29, 2017

Guess What Trump's Favorite Film Is?

I was thinking about what has been happening and Trump's outrageous behavior and how he seems to be actively participating in the meltdown of his career in politics, and it suddenly occurred to me "Trump is playing some freaky version of Charles Foster Kane from some weird personal misinterpretation of the film."

Keep in mind that in modern America, we all see ourselves as characters in films, just as people used to use fairy tales as archetypes. Bill Clinton's foes would have done well to make note of the fact that his favorite movie was High Noon--meaning he was just waiting for a whole bunch of bad guys to try to take him on.

I decided to look it up online to see if my hunch was correct. And it was. Trump loves Citizen Kane. And he thinks that what happened to Kane was a "modest fall." And that he needed a better woman. Making it all about love. And everyone knows that we love a character in direction proportion to the amount of love he shows for someone or something else. Poor little rich boy. He loved others so much that he tried to save them. And his political foes shot him down. And that made him an even greater man. The End. Roll credits.

Here is a link.

http://www.indiewire.com/2016/11/donald-trump-misinterprets-citizen-kane-interview-1201747615/

Be sure to watch the video link. I now believe that Trump is actively seeking his own political ruin out of some misguided desire to emulate Charles Foster Kane. That he never divested because he never really intended to do this job for more than a brief time. That he took advantage of millions of Americans, putting their livelihoods at stake so that he could act out a narcissistic fantasy.

What a tool.

January 29, 2017

Are Steve Bannon and Kellyanne Conway Under Orders to Get Trump Kicked Out of Office?

"Alternative facts"???? You would have to be brain dead not to know that this phrase would immediately start a run on George Orwell's 1984. How many people out there heard the words and did not think about "Newspeak"? Anyone?

And vetoing Homeland Security when it suggested---very reasonably--that the executive order to detain folks from certain countries should make exception for people who live here legally--like doctors, U.S. military translators, business owners---or have a very good reason for visiting the U.S---like being honored with an Academy Award nomination or being an athlete???? You would have to have the IQ of slime mold not to know how that one was going to play out in the press.

Which begs the question---what the hell are Steve Bannon and Kellyanne Conway up to? They certainly are not serving the best interest of the current POTUS. So, who is giving them their marching orders?

Several possibilities come to mind. 1. The most obvious--maybe they are both idiots, in which case they will hang themselves with their own idiocy. But what if they are not as dumb as they look? (Note Conway graduated with honors from both college and law school). In that case, we must consider other possibilities.

2. Maybe it is Russia. Putin and his master Mogilevich are probably very sharp when it comes to engineering a Russian fascist coup, but do they really understand Americans? The same folks that believe that the Constitution gives them a right to fly carrying a loaded assault rifle are less than amused when told to "shut up." That's First Amendment and they know they have a right to wave a Nazi flag in front of a synagogue if they want, and the only thing that separates our country from Europe---where their party is illegal--is the U.S. Constitution. The natural response of Americans when told to "shut up" is to take to the streets, marching and waving signs and getting all up in Trump's face. We are an apocalyptic people, always looking for a good excuse to toss out the old and make way for the new.

Note to Trump. If your advisers are taking advice about how to do pr for your administration from a bunch of Russians, fire them. Russia is full of people who quietly endured the czars and then the communists. They are obviously sheep compared to your average ruggedly individualistic American, descendants of all the Europeans who would not bow their necks under someone's jack boot.

Another possibility---3 a. Manchurian Candidate by character assassination. Are Bannon and Conway under orders to make Trump look so appalling that he is forced to resign or face impeachment. If Bannon and Conway' shenanigans cause the Stock Market to crash, Trump will be blamed and the Republicans who are currently keeping silent will suddenly start demanding his head. Here is what Karl Rove said when Trump caused Boeing stock to drop.

“What he did yesterday was he de-stabled the stock of a major American company,” he said. "That stock is held by millions of Americans."

“Now, it’s not just a bunch of executives in Chicago or a bunch of management types sitting in Charlotte, N.C., or Seattle, Wash., where they have their management facilities,” Rove added of Boeing.

“[It’s held by] pension funds, by university endowments, by ordinary people who’ve invested in Boeing. There’s one elemental thing a president ought to keep in mind, which is the power of his words, and therefore, the accuracy of his words.”

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/309231-gop-strategist-trump-not-accurate-on-boeing

Imagine what Rove will say if a whole lot of stocks drop?

3 b.Trump could even be complicit in this one. Maybe the blackmail material which Putin holds over his head is so bad (like stat rape) that he would rather look like a mad man and go along with his political ruination that resist and face jail time. An ex-president unfairly hounded from office by his enemies can make a pretty good living. Maybe he is counting the days until he can resign and get the hell out of DC.

The result in either 3a or 3b, Mike Pence, a man who, under ordinary circumstances would never get elected is suddenly POTUS. And Pence, unlike Trump, has proven that he can be bought.

Campaign finance records from a 1990 run for Congress show that Pence, then 31, had used political donations to pay the mortgage on his house, his personal credit card bill, groceries, golf tournament fees and car payments for his wife.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/think-trump-is-scary-check-out-mike-pence-on-the-issues_us_57f137d5e4b095bd896a11db

Making Pence an ideal tool for people like Putin and the Kochs. Hell, maybe this whole thing was dreamed up by Karl Rove. He, at least, seems to understand the American people. And he has had nothing but good things to say about Pence. And Rove and Trump had a private meeting back in June....

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/03/us/politics/karl-rove-donald-trump.html

Oh, and Conway used to work with Pence. Maybe she will be working with him again, soon. Maybe she is Mike Pence's "Nancy Reagan." Trump could sure use a Nancy Reagan of his own right now.

January 29, 2017

Thank You Steve Bannon For Showing Us Your True Fascist Colors

The Department of Homeland Security wanted to exempt foreign nationals who held green cards and work Visas. These folks---doctors, tech, scientists, teachers---had already been vetted. They held important jobs in this country. They were part of the work force. They were part of the American dream, which encourages foreigners with necessary skills to leave their own countries and come to the US to make our work force stronger. For centuries, the United States has been luring the best and brightest from the Old World to the New World with the promise of freedom of religion, freedom of speech and economic opportunity.

Steve Bannon wants to stop all that. He wants to turn us into a third rate country where skill and productivity and hard work are less important than the penis between a man's legs and his lack of melanin skin pigment. He wants a country that is so starved for talent, that someone with a pitiful talent like his looks like a genius.

Had the executive order exempted those holding work visas or permanent residents, Trump could have claimed it was about national security. But Steven Bannon had to stick his rosacea stained white nose where it did not belong and make it about fascism---racial and ethnic purity. His America would rather do without health care, without safe skies, without hard working taxpayers----if those doctors, IT folks and hard workers have brown skin or worship Allah rather than Jehovah.

I did a little research into my own family tree recently and discovered that many of my ancestors---in particular the "McCamys"---were not the poor, huddled, starving of Europe. They were dissenters, Presbyterians in the case of the McCamys, who could not practice their religion in the UK, where only the Church of England was allowed. Or Huguenots, who had no religious freedom in France. They were heretics, criminals, "terrorists" according to their kings---and they came to the New World bringing with them education and skills, and they got to work in a land where they would not be taxed unfairly or denied jobs due to their faith. A lot of Steve Bannon's followers had ancestors like mine--ancestors who would be rolling in their graves if they could see their descendants sitting on their butts in front of the TV, watching Fox News and whining about their lack of "white privilege".

Steven Bannon's followers have been duped. They think that the reason that they are not doctors or engineers or military officers is because someone with a different skin color or religion "stole" those jobs from them. And so, when Bannon penned an executive order that kept at least one doctor from coming back to the U.S. to serve the sick, they cheered. Never mind that the sick folks she was supposed to serve might have included one of their own family members. Never mind if one of their neighbors will die from lack of care. They would rather be dead. Steven Bannon told them so.

And that is what is so terrible about fascism. Its goal is not racial and ethnic purity. Fascism is a tool of the rich used to push the people down and keep them down. Deny them health care and education and hope, feed them anger and fear and despair, so that they remain weak and poor and submissive to their "betters"---folks like Bannon who plans to lord it up in his new, frightened, dumbed down America. Fascist leaders do not admire or respect their followers. The Steve Bannons of the country are secretly laughing at Trump's base, even as they whisper into their ears "You could have been something, if not for that (expletive racial slur) who stole your birthright from you."

Watch out America. Our Goebbels won't look like this.




That's the German version of Steve Bannon. Our fascist propagandist will look like this, an ordinary Joe who beats his wives and does not get to the gym as often as he should. A regular guy except for his ambition. A Richard Nixon in Bubba clothes:

January 28, 2017

In His First Seven Days, Trump Has....

1. Driven his approval rating down by eight points---a feat that is even more impressive when you recall that he started with the lowest approval rating of any newly elected president in recent history. I am not sure I have ever seen a rockier “honeymoon.”

http://fortune.com/2017/01/24/donald-trump-approval-ratings/

2. Given the mainstream press (the NYT) the balls to call him out on his “lies” rather than using familiar euphemisms such as “misstated.”

Good thing, too. An emasculated press is not good for anything except “keeping its mouth shut.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/23/us/politics/donald-trump-congress-democrats.html

Speaking of "keeping its mouth shut", Trump (via spokesman Bannon)

3. Told the press to "keep its mouth shut", a bit odd coming from a man whose number one job is to uphold and defend the Constitution----the Constitution whose first Amendment has something in it about freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Is there some new kind of ultra orthodox Federalist that I have not heard about? A group that only wants to the Constitution but wants to dump all the amendments as being against the Founders' wishes at the moment in time when they wrote the Constitution? If so, we should hook them up with the NRA, those staunch defenders of the second amendment.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/316360-bannon-media-should-keep-its-mouth-shut

4. Declared his administration (again via a surrogate) to be in possession of "alternative facts,"

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/01/22/kellyanne-conway-says-donald-trumps-team-has-alternate-facts-which-pretty-much-says-it-all/?utm_term=.c10e5b4cb9bf

which in turn has

5. Driven sales of George Orwell's 1984 up to first place on Amazon!

http://time.com/money/4648774/trump-1984-dystopian-novel-sales-brave-new-world/

6. Given the mainstream press (the WaPo) the balls to question his sanity. Or maybe, in the case of the WaPo, I should say “gave them the tits” seeing as this what former Nixon Attorney General John Mitchell threatened to put in a wringer, precipitating the Watergate investigation.



https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2017/01/25/maybe-trump-isnt-lying/?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-e%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.efc6e51f16ad#comments

7. Generated the largest single day protest march the nation has ever seen. I put this in bold, because it takes a lot to get Americans off their butts and out into the streets. Bonus points for global protests in places as remote as Antarctica. And check out this headline!




http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/womens-march-anti-donald-trump-womens-rights-largest-protest-demonstration-us-history-political-a7541081.html

8. Threatened to impose martial law in Chicago. Hmmm. Could this be connected to the fact that 500,000 Chicagoans marched against him?

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/25/us/trump-threatens-federal-intervention-in-chicago-citing-carnage.html

9. Threatened to withhold “federal funds” from sanctuary cities.

http://www.salon.com/2017/01/25/president-trump-signs-executive-order-threatening-to-withhold-federal-funds-from-so-called-sanctuary-cities/

Recall that these cities are the source of much of the nation’s tax revenue. Meaning that when Trumps says he will not pay for LA’s ports or New York’s airports or Chicago’s highways or Boston’s public health, he is threatening to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs that keep the red states afloat. Plus, big port cities rely upon federal funds to keep us all safe from terrorists. Meaning that to Trump, shipping a maid back to El Salvador is more important than keeping our children from being blown up by ISIS.

10. Declared that water boarding is not torture.

http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/316435-trump-waterboarding-isnt-torture

11. Tweeted 52 times!

http://trumptwitterarchive.com/#/archive

January 25, 2017

Draft Dodger Trump's Latest Attack on Veterans---the Federal Hiring Freeze

Trump got out of the draft by claiming to be disabled due to heel spurs. Meanwhile, a lot of Americans who were not born with silver spoons in their mouths were forced to serve in the Vietnam War. Many died. Many others were left with permanent medical problems for which they receive care at the VA--Veterans Administration. Now, Trump wants to take away their health care. And, he wants to make it harder for them to find jobs, too. And he has found an easy way to do it----freeze all federal hiring.

http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/trump-hiring-freeze-dod-va-veterans

Did you catch that? The "swamp" is staffed by veterans---men and women who served their country in the military and now serve it as federal employees. And disabled veterans---those who have paid an enormous price for their country---will now find their job options even more restricted. That means more homeless veterans, more unemployed veterans.

To rub salt in the wound, the hiring freeze include the Veterans Administration. That's right. The folks who serve veterans. Remember how Trump said he would fix the long waits at the VA? He was lying. He is making it impossible for the VA to fill vacancies---and due to retirement, there will also be openings for doctors, nurses, therapists, social workers, pharmacists, technicians and all the other who care for our disabled veterans.

The VA is the largest health care provider in the country and the second largest in the world, after Great Britain's National Health. To freeze hiring is to put the health and safety of veterans at risk. It is almost as if Trump wants veterans to have to wait so long for care that they die....

Traitor, molester and now foe of veterans---is this really an American president?

January 22, 2017

GOP Atrocities: What Are They Doing While Trump Distracts us with his Media War Circus?

So, what is the GOP getting up to while Trump provides a media circus distraction? They are making mortgage's more expensive for middle class home buyers, they are gutting consumer safety rules, they are taking away your health insurance ---and even if you do not use ACA, you may lose your local doctor or hospital if the number of uninsured in your area suddenly rises. Anything I have missed? We really need to keep a running tally/list of everything that they are doing to make life more miserable for Americans.

January 22, 2017

The New Newspeak: When Trump and Co. Lie, It is "Alternative Facts."

Hold on to your heads, gentle readers. Otherwise, they might explode and you'll find yourself cleaning bits of brain matter out of the carpet.

Yesterday, Trump and his spokespeople "falsely stated" or "misrepresented" (traditional Newspeak for a presidential falsehood aka "lie" when the rest of us do it) facts about the number of people who showed up for the inauguration, the weather, his relationship with the intelligence community. "With False Claims, Trump Attacks Media on Turnout and Intelligence Rift" writes the New York Times, showing that it is still a gentile newspaper that would never accuse the POTUS of "lying". "On his first full day in office, Trump visited the CIA for a stream-of-consciousness airing of grievances — including against journalists — that included the false claim that the crowd for his swearing-in stretched from the Capitol down the Mall to the Washington Monument," reports the Washington Post. "Sean Spicer didn’t take questions at a news conference — or tell the whole truth" declares a headline further down the WaPo's front page.

All very proper. The mainstream media may criticize the president, but it never, ever accuses him or his surrogates of telling a lie. The POTUS may "claim falsely," he can "misstate". There are rules which govern these things----

Not so fast, says Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway (from the MSNBC web age):

Did you get that? The amended edition of the official "Newspeak" manual will be in the mail as soon as Trump and Co. get through with dismantling the federal government and rewriting the Constitution. But in the meantime, never ever accuse Trump of "falsely stating". When the POTUS lies, he does so because the "facts" in the alternative reality in which he lives are different from the "facts" in our world. Where does Trump live? In the pages of George Orwell's 1984.

Next up from Trumpland: the New New Math or why one Trump supporter equals ten Obama supporters.

January 16, 2017

Healthcare Smoke and Mirrors: Good Prez, Bad Congress

Do not be fooled. When Congress promises to take away everyone's healthcare, they are pandering to their base. Their base wants everyone except themselves to lose their healthcare.

Do not be fooled. When Trump promises healthcare for everyone, he is pandering to his base. His (business) base wants to continue to be able to make a profit from the U.S. Medical Industrial Complex--currently valued at 15% of the GNP! It can't do that if no one has insurance.

Here is how this one will play out. Congress will proudly announced that they have killed Obamacare. Their base will be delighted at how quickly the new Congress has attacked Obama's legacy---and then will ask "What about my health insurance?"

Trump will quickly step in with a veto. "Not so fast!" he'll say (much to the relief of the loyal base that wants to keep its own health insurance while everyone else does without). "Congress, do your job! I promised everyone insurance!"

What happens next? This involves some tea leaf reading, but I will take a stab at it:

1. Tax Credits for Insurance Premiums---because the GOP can call this a tax cut and stick it on their total of taxes cut! Those who are currently getting money to help pay premiums will instead be given a tax credit--which is great for those who make enough money to pay a lot of taxes, but not so good as your income goes down.

2. Medicaid will expand in all 50 states---because red states love federal handouts, they just did not want to accept one to which they had attached the named Obama. They will be more than happy to accept money to which they attach the name "Trump." Some extremely minor and inconsequential tweaking of the federal/state ratios of spending will suddenly make the Medicaid expansion palatable to GOP state legislators.

3. Private insurers will be able to deny you a policy or charge you higher rates for pre-existing conditions. This allows the GOP to get rid of the individual mandate. It will also make insurance companies extremely happy. What's that you say? Trump has promised that no one will be denied insurance due to pre-existing conditions? See number 4.

4. The return of high risk insurance pools. Eeks! Scary. Anyone who ever spent $25k a year paying for high risk insurance with a $10k per person deductible for two family members with (mild)asthma and (controlled)diabetes knows how horrible high risk insurance is. And how un-affordable. Meaning that many people who really ought to be insured go naked instead---and hospitals are forced to write off their care. So, how can Trump keep his promise to health care providers that they will not be stuck with unpaid bills for care rendered to patients with health conditions? Here is where the GOP is gonna have to get creative. See number 5.

5. First some background. We have two parallel health care systems in the U.S. One (the private) is for people who are not sick and do not need health care. The other (government funded) is for people who are sick and need health care in order to survive. The second exists to keep people from dying on the streets in front of little Trixie which might scar little Trixie for life. Trump has promised he won't let people die in the streets in front of little Trixie and even the most hard hearted Republican does not think that little Trixie should see something like that. It might make her start asking uncomfortable questions. How do we keep people from dying on the streets? Anyone who applied for and was denied a private insurance policy due to pre-existing conditions will be offered a bare bones Medicare Part A that will cover inpatient services including surgery but which will provide no outpatient coverage at all. This will have hospital administrators and surgeons singing Trump's praises---and will allow people to die of their preventable diseases in the hospital rather than on the streets.

So, in summary, look for a switch from government subsidies to tax credits, Medicaid expansion in all 50 states (because Walmart can not do business if its minimum wage employees are too sick to work), the return of "pre-existing conditions", the return of "high risk insurance pools" for those who actually want to treat their re-existing conditions and Medicare Part A Lite for those who would rather just die with dignity in a hospital from their pre-exiting conditions than spend half their disposable income paying for insurance.

If this all goes through, as I expect it will, look for our rate of preventable disease to climb, total health care spending in this country to climb, and life expectancy to decline under Trump and the GOP. Because the GOP does not care about the health of U.S. citizens. They care about the financial health of the insurance and provider industries. And if anyone complains "Where is the preventive care?" Trumps self styled outlaw base will shout back "Preventive health care is for pussies!"

January 15, 2017

Heroin Industry's Future Looks Rosy Under Trump!

One industry is especially enthusiastic about President Select Donald Trump's plan to "Make America Great Again!"

In recent years, the heroin industry has had to deal with a glut of high quality, low priced product in the U.S. combined with unfair competition from legal pharmaceuticals---opiate pain medications prescribed by doctors. But all that is about to end. Under Trump, millions of Americans will lose their access to health care as they lose their ACA insurance. Fortunately for them, the heroin market will be there to satisfy their need for relatively cheap, effective pain relief that Congress can not take away with a stroke of the pen. And when the VA is privatized and the veterans, many of whom suffer from chronic pain and mental illness related to their military service are forced to seek care in the private sector, they will discover that there are few non VA associated doctors who are willing to treat chronic pain in those who also have mental illness. So, the veterans will become regular customers of the heroin industry. Last but not least, there are GOP plans afoot to stop Medicaid payments for opiate pain medication. Meaning that people who live in medical poverty due to debilitating chronic illness will also be forced to look to their local drug dealer for relief.

And Trump's foreign master, Vladimir Putin has big plans for Afghanistan, source of much of the world's opium. Putin is said to be courting the Taliban, who grow the poppies that keep the heroin industry going.

http://www.newsweek.com/putin-russia-taliban-afghanistan-obama-trump-united-states-oil-529461

The Russia mob (that controls Putin who controls Trump) has good reason to want closer ties with the Taliban. Heroin is big business in Russia.



http://fortune.com/2014/09/14/biggest-organized-crime-groups-in-the-world/

With the ruble currently weak, Russians are struggling to pay for their much needed heroin. However, once Trump and Putin have raised oil prices and stabilized Russia's oil dependent economy, Russian addicts will find it easier to make their payments. And supply side does not work if the folks who buy your product can not afford it.

Across the ocean, the border wall between Mexico and the United States should allow Trump/Putin/ the Russian Mob to limit how much heroin gets across the border. This will help them control prices for their product in the U.S, which should see a huge increase in demand for the reasons I describe above.

Our new Attorney General Jeff Sessions can be counted upon to do his part. He has indicated that he wants to prosecute those who use medical marijuana in states that have made it legal. These sitting ducks (many of them are literally sitting in wheelchairs) will take up all the DEA's time, giving the heroin industry some much needed breathing space in which to grow. Plus, all those folks who have been treating their pain with legal weed will also join the ranks of potential heroin addicts.



http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/12/jeff-sessions-coming-war-on-legal-marijuana-214501

Economic factors also affect people's drug use. If folks are desperate with no hope for the future they are more likely to turn to alcohol and drugs. So, take away their Social Security and Medicare. Tell them they will have to work in their grueling, dead end low wage jobs until they drop dead. Many of them will look for solace in a bottle or from a syringe.

If your heroin franchise has not been as profitable and you had hoped, don't close up shop yet. Heroin's fortunes are about to rise again as Trump makes America Great (for Drug Dealers) Again!