After listening to President Trump’s rambling on how our new proposed health care plan, will have lower premium and deductibles, I started to think, it sounds too good to be true, but could it be a reality, we the people of the United States have just figured out how to improve not only our economy, but able to utilize the rest of the world, to give them the health care that they might lack. You probably thinking that I probably just had to much wine to drink, or just hallucinating, honestly I could use a glass of wine before I finished with this posting but it occurred to me that every person no matter where they live, wants to be healthy, for many they live in countries that provide medical care, and there are others who never been to a doctor, yet alone a hospital.

So here is what I am thinking about what the United States and President Trump might want to try. The first thing we need to do is to eliminate the middleman, by that I mean the insurance companies, their CEO’s makes salaries and bonuses that amount in tens of millions of dollars, let eliminate them totally. Our government will self insure every American citizen. Secondly, the government will own every hospital and medical center, all ambulances, medical supplies and fixtures. Thirdly, they will own and operate all medical schools in this country. Fourthly, the government will assume All insurance liabilities for all medical personnel. Fifthly, every medical worker, doctors, nurses, janitors, lab workers, custodians, and ambulance drivers will be an employee of the United States government. Sixthly, all nursing home, rehab facilities will be ruined by the government. All pharmacies,and medical research centers will be owned by the government.

Lets not stop here, instead of building a wall around Mexico, lets let them share in our medical bonanza, they need medical assistance too, we can form a bilateral partnership of building state of the art hospitals and nursing homes, drug factories, and medical schools that will not just teach students how to be doctors, but they will train all aspects for the medical profession, from med techs, phlebotomists, nurses, a can’s. Our partnership will not just stop with the likes of Mexico, we can be partners with countries like the Philippines, China, Korea, Italy, Japan, Africa, Brasil, and even Russia.The more people we can help, the cheaper it will be for everyone. There is no reason to justify over $5000.00 a month to stay in a nursing home, by having our seniors spending their final years in a country that can literally provide one on one care, it will not only lower the cost of hospital care, but it will greatly improve the quality of life for our deserving seniors.

Maybe we can ask President Trump if he could tell his children to stay out of politics, and start thinking about building all the needed medical facilities that could make the difference of not only providing affordable health care in the United States but for the rest of the world, and also provide 100 of millions of jobs.

Hopefully President Trump and our elected officials won’t let us down.

You probably think that I misspelled the word weak wrong, and should used the word week, and meant week-end, well sorta. I am getting quite annoyed of so many of bitching about the problems with the health care problem, and the cutting of so many of our needed social programs, sorry we can’t all be rich like our President, but we can be stronger if we unite, without protests, telephoning our politicians, and letting our feeling being heard on social media. It’s quite simple, and for many of you, I am retired, don’t have to miss any days off from work.

We can let President Trump know about our frustration is just stay home on the week ends, no shopping, no health clubs, no eating out, no going to church or synagogues, no filling up your cars with gas, no buying of lotto tickets, no driving, no visiting of friends and relatives, no going to the movies or plays, no sporting events, no visiting at hospitals and nursing homes, just stay home and don’t spend any of your hard earn money.

I know that this will be very, very hard, but if we don’t let our government know that even though many of us aren’t billionaires, we as a whole spend a lot of money, when many of our businesses see the effect of us not spending as much money as we usually do, they will feel the pinch and start speaking out for their clientele.

If we don’t make our voices and especially our money speak out what is important to us, like affordable health care, climate control, programs for the poor, elderly, and rights of women, then we will ending up of not having enough income to spend on our upcoming week ends, we will be loosing our savings to pay for the rising costs of health care, and with the upcoming increases in the fed rate, there will so many Americans losing their homes, and many more unable to afford their first home.

So what do you think, are you willing to stay at home for a couple of week ends, or do you want them to be your upcoming weak ends?

By now many of you are aware of the passenger incident of Dr. David Dao, be thrown off an United Airlines flight, because of the plane being over booked. The fact that such gestapo tactics of brutalizing injuring a member of the medical profession reminds me what I read about the tactics of Adolph Hitler. Sure United Airlines was embarrassed, and gladly made a gallant settlement with Dr. Dao, but I have second thoughts of ever flying United, in fact I also have mixed emotions of ever stepping in the great arena, that housed the great Chicago Bulls era, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Dennis Rodman,  this  Chicago Arena is named the United Center.

It’s unfortunately that United renew their naming rights in 2013 for another twenty years, but I am sure that the public sentiment of just one ousting from United’s plane will be  forgotten, United will probably offer a special sorry discount for their upcoming flights, but still I am disappointed that Chicago’s mayor or the Illinois governor didn’t make any effort, of seeing it’s possible of canceling United’s naming contract. The United Center houses not only the Chicago Bulls, but also the Chicago Black Hawks hockey team, when it’s not hosting sporting events, it show cases many concerts.

Still I can’t get Dr. Dao’s images out of my head, and the fact he lost a couple of teeth, a suffered a concussion, mortifies me. Please call me the Grand Pessimist, I guess I belong in an Alice Wonderland novel as the Mad HowieMaui, but with my luck I would be the book that someone brought with them for an upcoming flight with United Airlines, oh my God, I hope Alice and the Mad Hatter will be ok, should be know problem, lightning does not strike the same place twice, what could United do to a Giant Rabbit anyway?

As I enter my seventh decade as an American, I find myself at the thresh hold, of trying to figure out if my finality of life, has to end with the likes of what could be my last president, Donald Trump. Through out my life, the office of the presidency was reserved for Americans of courage and conviction, Americans who had a mission not only for their families but for their country. I have been privileged to have the following, as my president, Truman, Eisenhower,Nixon,Ford,Kennedy,Johnson,Carter,Regan,Bush, Clinton,Bush, Obama, and now Trump. A very impressive list, except it’s president Donald Trump has me worried if my country may find itself either in a detrimental war, facing the warnings of mother nature, and the brink of financial ruins.

Never in my life, have I spent so much time worrying if America ever going to prosper again, such issues of massive unemployment, another housing market collapse, and a complete annihilation of the United States. The stakes are higher now, we have more participants that could put the end of my great country. It’s no longer a status quo with just China and Russia, North Korea, and Isis, are now are new enemies, and at any time we might find President Trump making that premature decision of declaring WAR, and order missile launchings without even asking congress to make this legal decision. Perhaps I am getting paranoid, but I will try to calm down a little, and try to reflect on Trump’s first 100 days, the good, the stock market advanced to 21,000, Trump is letting the rest of the world, is that it means business when it comes to it’s defense, including wanting to build a world around Mexico, tax breaks for everyone, especially for the wealthy, and he is making himself visible on social media like no other president. Now the bad, he won’t reveal in tax forms, he doesn’t have a health care plan to replace Obama Care, and he is doing away with so many of our wonderful programs, as the EPA, Meals on Wheels for us seniors, programs for the arts, he is against climate control, doesn’t care about our Native Americans sacred burial grounds when it comes to the Dakota Pipe Line, and he doesn’t not care about the additional tens of millions of dollars for all the additional security of him and his family going to his Florida home every week end, certainly these are many bad things, the the ugly aspect I find myself reflecting with Donald Trump, is why the hell did he ever want to disrupt our great American legacy of our past presidents, men of courage, distinction and honor?

I was trying to think this afternoon on what I should put on my www.howiemaui.com blog, but as usual I relied on my faithful source of “howiemaui,ism”, President Donald Trump and his www.twitter,com page, it seems that nearly his first one hundred days, that “The Orange”, as one person described him misses his past civilian  life, he misses driving his own car, he misses being able to go anywhere he wants to go, see who ever he wants to see, and in simple plain english, he misses being the old Donald Trump, that can let the world know that his Donald Trump. But what I don’t understand why did he take the job of the American presidency in the first place? Was it for power,  glory, or does he really care about making “America Great Again”?

Today at a NRA meeting, he really made me feel great, he referred to his possible 2020 presidential opponent, Elizabeth Warren as “Pocahontas”, also telling the NRA audience that she is great as it. When is he going to stop insulting people, our country is not about hatred, at lest I thought it was? Why cannot President Trump start acknowledging the goodness and kindness of all of his fellow Americans? For example, today is the twentieth anniversary of Ellen Degeneres announcement of being gay, doesn’t the president could think how Ellen’s daring move, was responsible of perhaps saving the lives of other gay people, who would resort to suicide, then face unbarring humiliations of the tens of thousands did in the 1990’s, or about yesterday was the 90th birth of Coretta Scott King, the widow of Dr Martin King Jr., a simple acknowlegement to the family, would of shown that he cares, no, Donald Trump just likes to antagonize as many people, religions, world leaders, and who ever he wants. For those who like because they are rich as him, or so hateful as him, why can they just tell him that the party is over, it’s time to get someone who not only wants to be the president of the United States, but also wants to make their permanent resident in the White House, and just wants to be a nice PERSON!

Since Donal;d Trump has taken the office of president, and putting his effort in making America great again, I have neglecting what was the American dream I once thought about when I was young. Growing up in America, was like being part of a motion picture, it seems that seeing life on a television was such a big difference than looking up things in the encyclopedia britannica, mom wanted me to be educated, and I think she paid some $35.00 a month for three years so I could learn about the world that I lived in. I can still remember it’s flimsy thin like newspapers pages, and thinking I could copy of their articles for a high school assignment. It seems every week, there wither the Viet Nam War to scare me, or wondering if President John was hurting his beagle buy pulling him by his ears, there were so much great music, Elvis, The Beatles, Stones, and Simon and Garfunkel, Life Magazine, Look Magazine and Time Magazine were priced under a dollar, and most of all I never heard the word cholesterol, as long as I drank three glasses of milk a day, eat my meat and potatoes, and shampoo my hair once a week, I was  certified healthy, and yet the American dream was starting to make sense.

I started to think that eventually I was going to get old, but that was a million years from now, I concentrated on getting good grades in high school, and hope my parents could financially help me go to college, even though I loved taking photos, I had no idea that that the university, that I would spend four years, had a photography department, sure enough, Jesus wanted me to be a photographer. My American dream was starting to take place, well not exactly, my dream only lasted for just five months as a photographer for the Champagne News Gazette, my desire to the next Jimmy Olsen, photographer for The Daily Planet was shattered, however my love of cameras, films, and the dark room was some thing I could could never abandon, I found the true profession, as a photo salesman for many of Chicago finest camera stores, I even ventured for six months as a photo assistant for a commercial photographer, all in all I had a four decade profession, I did not make a lot of money, but I was with people who love photography. Even though it ended on new years eve, 2011, I look back at it now and say now, I did what I loved to do. I met my wife of almost twenty five years through one of my photo customers, and I finally can say at seventy years old, that tMy American Dream was just to be happy and like what I was doing.

I don’t hear President Trump, or my fellow Americans admitting  if they are happy, and not so much reflecting on what they should or could of done with they lives, but just ask them selves, “Am I Happy”, and if not, what do I plan to do about it. Sure it’s admirable that President Trump wants a “Greater America”, but I would like him to ask his fellow Americans, “What is your American Dream?”

Very interesting on what I have been reading about President Trump’s new tax proposal, gosh this is refreshing, I look forward each April 15, knowing that I might have to come up with the extra thousand dollars I will have to pay my accountant and of course Our Uncle Sam, but according to our new 100 day president, I might be eligible for a double marriage exemption, nice and boy do I need it, with my wife wanting to retire, and some two years away from getting medicare, I have been losing sleep on how are we going to come up with the additional $1000.00 a month for health care and the loss of of my wife’s income, maybe and I am going to keep my fingers cross, just maybe my wife can start collecting her social security without being penalized, maybe her social security just might the amount we need to pay for our health care. getting the additional loss of income will be tough, but maybe we can start cashing out our savings and investments, maybe I can pull about fifteen years of additional income, and if I make it that long, I just pray that I die before we run out of money.

I doubt if President Trump can give us a ten dollars a month raise in our social security for good behavior?

With everyone paying less taxes, how are we going to pay for all the good and services to live and run the country? It’s simple, less programs and services, and we are going to do with less, things that we took for granted, like health care, will not be the quality that we once had, many of the goods and services that were once able to afford, are no more, the dollar store is now the three dollar store, and our cheap foreign automobiles will only be afforded for the rich.

We will pay less taxes, and certainly have less to show for. It might be the final jolt that we need, the rich love being rich, and us poor Americans are going to wonder why we ever elected_____________________________________________.

You fill in the blank.

I can remember maybe some twenty years ago, that all credit card interest was a write off on my income taxes, at the the time I was making very little money, and my bank was in the form what ever credit I had left on my available credit card, I lived for the day, and what the hell, the couple of hundred dollars I spent on credit card interest enabled me to have a couple of extra luxuries. Today, is a completely different ball game, over the years I made a lot more money, and was able to discipline myself, to save some money for my retirement, not much, but it was better than nothing. Now that I am retired, living on my social security, my wife’s income, and some investment income, I see the “Calm Before The Storm”, President Trump’s enforcing a 20% border tax, on items that are imported into the United States, and the addition of reducing the corporate tax from 35-15%, will eventually, turn our country financially upside down.

The likes of foreign automobiles, drugs, and oil will have a serious repercussion on our spending power, us americans will not be able to afford many of these imported items, even though the government  will be trying to collect more taxes on the items that are imported in this country, in the hopes that it will be an incentive for the country to build more factories in hope to create more jobs, will not work. The prime reason why many items are cheaper to manufacture outside the United States is that labor is cheaper, rediculously cheaper, and no worries about their workers having an union and receiving benefits.

Once the border tax take place, many countries will enforce  even higher taxes on our goods and services, and once that takes place, our US Dollar will be worth less. All in all, in this country we like shopping at our dollar stores, and don’t even care that we are buying so many items from China, that would three times the cost if they were made in the United States.

Another point that we better be prepared for, that many of the deductions that give us the financial incentive to buy our homes, is due that the mortgage interest is a deduction, many other deductions as our medical expense and education costs maybe the thing of the past as once was my credit card interest as a tax deduction.

Eventually we could end up with a straight percentage income tax, and I doubt it will be the same for the wealthy, it will destroy our economy, there will be no longer a middle class, you either are poor and in the case of our president, very rich, who has many more rich people helping him run his country. Pretty scary.

I hope I am wrong, but the Titanic was a warning, start thinking about selling your house, put your savings in precious metals and most of all Pray!

I can’t reveal his name, but he is young, has a lot of energy, and a dog with a spiritual name, Isaiah. People say that I am just too old to spend much of my time on social media, tough, I never thought this seventy year old could have the time of his life staring at my Mac Book laptop, but I realize my clock is ticking faster and faster each day, and suddenly I am grasping for so many answers, that I just took for granite. There are so many people, that I am grateful for assisting me on my spiritual journey, Dr Wayne Dyer, Tony Robins, Dali Lama, Bishop Tutu, Mother Theresa, and now my parish priest with the dog.

It seems that some of my fellow parishioners did not like my priest’s political comments or his Easter humor, about getting your Ash in church, where else are you going to get your ash, I came to the defense of my priest by replying on my Facebook page, by agreeing,  “Don’t Be An Ash Hole” , the point is that there is not enough genuine religious that I think what most people need, but I always wonder if Jesus was with us today, how would he preach to us? Would would he say to President Trump, Vladimir Putin, and of course Pope Francis? I would hope to think that we be kind, have compassion, and treat your fellow human being with respect and love.

Our country was built on the premise of being allowed to worship what ever religion we choose, like Jesus being a Rabbi, and sacrifice his life so we can the belief that our eternal God has a master plan for his Universe. There are probably over 10,000 CATHOLIC saints, so many of these have given their lives for Jesus. I can’t understand why my priest has to get rid of his Facebook page, and why would anyone complain to our Bishop. Isn’t this one of our religious freedoms? Should Pope Francis get off social media, should we strike off all those who dare to challenge many of the problems of the world?

My mornings are not the same without my Priest with the dog name Isaiah, I love to share the photos that I have taken at church, especially at our senior’s monthly get togethers. I know I can email my priest, but it is not the same, I want to share him and his dog with the rest of my Facebook friends, please pray for me, and get enough nerve to call the Bishop.

Let’s stop the bull shit, no we have right to ask our country what it can do for us. I am not going to discuss J. F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Speech, it was plagiarized, and we been given a lot of crap. The American People, have defended their country, and worked very hard to keep it’s future  going, now is the time that you President Trump that you take of your constituents, by making sure that they can get affordable health care for themselves, as well as their families. You know that most Americans are struggling financially, and the one thing they fear is to get drastically sick, and unable to care for their families. So lets do it right away. Bernie Sanders has said it, but this time it’s up to you and your Congress to step up to the plate and hit a home run. Every American, person living in the United States, every corporation,church, synagogue, and even our charities and non profit foundations, have to pitch in, and I emphasize have to pay their fare share of your new health care tax, more income you make, the more you will be taxed, and here is the solution, to attain our new affordable health care, the health care tax will be calculated on your gross income, before any DEDUCTIONS, no games, simple calculations, if you make ten million dollars and your health care calculation is six per cent, guess what?, your contribution will be $600,000.00. The health care game is OVER, living in the United States is certainly the “Land of Opportunity”, but it also means that you have to help your fellow American, for once and for all, Crime will Pay, all of our money making entities, gambling casinos, and state lottos will be taxed.

Who saids life has to be fair? With President Trump’s new health care plan, it will be more than fair, it will make us the proud and healthy Americans that we will need to be.