Month: February 2025

Federal spending needs a scalpel, not a chain saw

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Regarding the budget carnage in Washington, DC, here’s a few things I feel strongly about. I’m interested to know if you agree or disagree.

1. A federal budget deficit of $1.8 TRILLION is unacceptable and unsustainable. The federal government needs to end deficit spending and enact a balanced budget amendment.

2. Federal spending, especially on the military, has grown way too big.

3. There absolutely is waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal budget.

Agree, yes? Yet Elon Musk’s metaphor for addressing legitimate budgetary concerns is a chain saw. I’ve used a chain saw (on wood, to be clear). It’s not a delicate or discerning tool. Cutting federal waste, fraud, and abuse with a chain saw will eliminate much more than the fat. Americans are seeing that, and more and more are unhappy about it.

To “muskify” (my latest linguistic contribution) programs that benefit most Americans and protect our environment, national parks, water, and air might be deemed juvenile if it weren’t so devastating. Devastating as in life-and-death devastating. Continue Reading →

You’re invited!

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I’ve got a big announcement to share: In my spare time, I’ve managed to learn and memorize all 21 Chopin Nocturnes!

Check out the first recording on my YouTube channel. The rest will be published over the next 12 weeks weeks on Thursday mornings. Know in advance that: (1) I’m not a virtuoso, but I don’t suck; (2) the recordings include improvisations that might offend “serious” musicians; (3) there are classical guitar, Irish whistle, and vocals thrown in; and (4) I had more fun with B-roll than adults oughta have.

But wait, there’s more. You’re invited to a live performance combined with conversation about relocalizing food production. Kathy and I and others are hosting a series of house parties/events. The format is a 60-minute concert followed by 60 minutes of food talk. At the two events at our home, Kathy and I will serve “sips and nibbles.” We’re asking for free will donations for Birds & Bees Urban Farm and The Fallon Forum.

Let me know if you’re interested in hosting or sponsoring an event. Continue Reading →

Stopping the slide into dictatorship

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Let’s cut right to the chase. Some of my Republican and Independent friends (yes, I have a bunch of them) don’t want to hear this: Donald Trump is leading America into dictatorship!

If that wasn’t obvious before, it’s becoming more and more obvious with each passing day. With every new executive order and presidential tweet, we can see where things are headed.

As we (individually and collectively) decide how to respond, it’s helpful to understand how we got here.

First, I blame the endless growth economy. Dictatorship is the logical outcome of an economic system that denigrates people as mere “consumers.”

Dictatorship is where you land when “the economy” becomes, essentially, the state religion, when people, land, plants, and animals are trampled because they’re in the way of resources coveted by industry.

You know you’re on the precipice of dictatorship when leading political figures are millionaires and even billionaires — some of them unelected. Continue Reading →

An Iowa Democrat worth listening to

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It’s no secret that I think the Iowa Democratic Party is an unmitigated disaster. That’s not a hard argument to make, given the scarcity of Democrats holding elected office at the Statehouse — super-minorities in both chambers and only one statewide elected official. When it comes to the US Congress, Iowa Democrats have exactly zero elected officials representing our state.

Iowa used to have a strong Democratic Party. And don’t get me wrong: Iowa needs a strong Democratic Party.

That can happen again if people start listening to this guy: State Rep. Josh Turek. Continue Reading →