Mark Tuesday April 22 on your smartphone calendar. Better yet, set up an alarm that morning to go vote in the city runoff elections.
The Northside did a great job of turning out and giving John Horhn a huge lead over incumbent Chokwe Lumumba in the Democratic primary for mayor. But the job is half finished. If turnout drops substantially, the race could be close. So be sure to finish the job and turn out on Tuesday, April 22.
The big story this week is the topsy turvy stock markets. As I write this Wednesday afternoon, markets are rebounding but not all the way.
We’ve all known that Trump is a bull in a China shop but this takes the cake. In one day, eight trillion dollars in value vanished worldwide. That’s got to be some kind of personal record. (And Trump is probably proud of that.)
I am not an "ever Trumper" (unlike most of my friends). I am skeptical of all politicians, right and left. To me, the proof is in the pudding. If Trump’s strategy works, good on him. But if it doesn’t, he'll get my blame.
Remember the big placard Trump held up in the press conference showing all the big tariffs other nations were charging American imports? It showed “Tariffs Charged to the U. S.” The European tariff was listed at 39 percent.
But this is not true. The average tariff on U. S. goods imported to the European Union is more like two or three percent, slightly higher than the U. S. tariff on European goods.
The 39 percent number is the percent difference between U. S. imports from Europe and European imports from the U. S. It’s a trade imbalance percent, not a real tariff.
Trump is arguing that if the U. S. imports more stuff from Europe than Europe does from the U. S., then Europe is somehow screwing the U. S.. But this is not necessarily so.
First of all, Trump’s numbers don’t include services, a huge category. If you factor in services, the trade imbalance is negligible. Also, the U. S. is richer than Europe. As a result, Americans have more buying power than Europeans. That certainly would be a factor.
I have no problem with Trump driving tougher trading bargains with other nations, especially China. But to do it in such an inflammatory, catastrophic way served no purpose other than to spook financial markets and cause damage to tens of millions of American who have 401K plans.
It would have been much better for Trump to start with China, test his hardball tactics and then progress to other countries if it worked.
American financial markets are the envy of the world. One reason we have such an imbalance of trade is that investment money comes from all over the world to invest in our country. This is a good thing and it has allowed the U. S. to essentially be the banker to the world and the de facto currency. It’s a good thing when the United States can sell Treasury bills all over the world any time it needs money. This is real power.
Part of retaining that power is ensuring that the whole world has confidence in the American financial system. Huge 15 percent swings in one day don’t build confidence.
It’ll bounce back, mostly. Stocks have been near historic highs and were due for a major correction. I hope Trump has learned a lesson. As President, he has some responsibility to keep the wheels on as he speeds our country around the curves.
After a year or two of Jackson water being out of the news, it’s back in the news this week. JXN Water, the quasi-federal authority that has commandeered our local water system, wants to raise rates $9 a month. Rats. I guess the party's over.
JXN Water has been a blessing and its manager Ted Henifin has made huge progress putting Humpty Dumpty back together again. Pressure is up and stable. Huge leaks have been repaired. The boil water alerts have stopped. It’s amazing what $800 million in federal money can do.
But the money was there mainly for infrastructure, not operations, and the expenses are exceeding the revenue, still.
The real problem is not too little money from paying customers. It’s the fact that 15,000 Jackson water customers aren’t paying anything at all. Henifin seems to be dragging his feet in following through on his promise to cut off the non-paying customers. Paying customers would be much more inclined to accept the $9 per month increase if Henfin would quit giving away so much water for free.
Another point of contention is the fact that JXN Water is exempted from the normal bidding laws. Henifin can hire anybody he wants to at any price. This allows him to move fast and he has, but now that the crisis is over, it’s time for JXN Water to follow the same bidding procedures all government entities must follow.
All societies grapple with crime and punishment. Do we lock criminals up and throw away the key for the good of all others? Or do we try to forgive and rehabilitate because “There but for the grace of God go I”?
This issue is particularly significant in Mississippi which has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world. Some see this as a good thing, others a bad thing. Certainly a locked up criminal can’t harm others.
All of this comes into focus this week as the parole board released, after 32 years, one of the most notorious killers from Jackson, Lamar Phillips.
Phillips was only 20 when he shot 21-year-old Bradley Dew, a star football player and honors student from Tennessee attending Millsaps.
Dew was driving back from work at the Mosquito Grill around midnight when Phillips and Cedric Morris fired at Dew for target practice, exchanging shots with the same .32 millimeter pistol.
Phillips later blamed rap music, weed, and alcohol for causing him to kill that night. Phillips killed another person several days later.
As reported on the Jackson Jambalaya website, assistant Hinds County district attorney Cynthia Speetjens, who prosecuted the case, said, “I'm horrified. I'm just horrified. It was as senseless a murder as I've ever dealt with. The victim was a remarkable young man. It was cruel, it was evil. I just can not fathom what could have caused anyone to think Lamar Phillips was worthy (of parole). I don't know how this guy should be paroled.”
The case spurred the state legislature to change the law to limit parole for life sentences for murder. But the law was not retroactive. Now Phillps is free.
