#25 - What Do Democrats Recommend ?

Don't get me wrong, I was very happy to see the Trump/Ryan attempt at a solution for medical care/coverage collapse under its own weight, mostly because I don't think that taken as a whole, it was any  better than Obamacare.  However, I would be lying if I didn’t say I also wanted it to fail because it was an important lesson for the party of "No" to learn, that governing is much harder than campaigning, and that getting to a workable agreement is much harder than just opposing an idea.  Paul Ryan said as much in his post-mortem assessment.

So, while it would now be a very fair question to ask the Speaker of the House, "and you're just figuring this out now?", that would just be piling on.

What I really want to know, what I really want to hear is exactly what would Democrats do, if they owned the Presidency, the House and had 60 votes in the Senate, to fix Obamacare?   Because the last time I checked, it still needed fixing

As reported in Bloomberg News this morning, Anthem Inc., which insures 1.3 million Americans under Obamacare, is considering pulling out of the system in 2018, partially as a result of their $374 million loss in 2016. (Bloomberg does state that Anthem is targeting a modest profit in 2017).  If that happens, individuals in Colorado, Kentucky, Missouri and Ohio, will be without coverage.  In case the Democrats haven't figured it out, this is not a good thing for Obamacare, for them or for the country.      

So let's hear what changes they would make, how would they make it more sustainable, what solutions do they have to provide insurance and care for millions of Americans who need it?   Maybe I missed it, but I don't think we have heard "boo" from them in the form of any substantive commentary on this issue since November and they are now, clearly at a crossroads.  Before the elections whenever the topic came up, they said they were willing to work to fix Obamacare, since then we haven’t heard zilch. 

Now, they can choose to sit back and watch the Republican flail away at each other or they can offer up some intelligent solutions and try, at least try, to reach out to moderate Republican's, establish a dialogue, discuss different ideas,  and maybe, just maybe, get something done.

If they don't, they too will become the party of "No", and that doesn't bode well for anyone.

#24 The Return of the Reasonable Republican

I will give Democrats the rest of the weekend to feel good about the Republican implosion on Obamacare.  They deserve a couple of days, they really do, but not much more.  They deserve it because Republican leadership has finally been unmasked for their lack of honesty with the American public. That's the real sin that the Republican leaders have been perpetuating for the last seven or so years, their lack of honesty.  During that time, they went out of their way to dismiss Obamacare as a disaster, as a nightmare, as a train wreck (pick your favorite term of derision), because it was easy to do, it was the low hanging fruit on that very tall tree.  Their dishonestly lies in the wasted seven years of their implied message, seven years that our country can never back.   The implication of course was that if Obamacare was such a disaster, then there must be a better way.  And by extension, either there was a better way to provide health care or we would all be better off without anything in its place.  That piece was never clearly articulated. There was no need.  Enough Americans fell for it, and that was all Republicans needed. And so after seven years of sounding like a broken record, Republicans finally got what they had wished for all along,   They took control of the House, the Senate and the Presidency.

Oh, the election of Trump to the top slot was more than just a referendum on Obamacare, it was clearly based on a large enough percentage of Americans feeling disenfranchised and wanting more than anything to break things, to disrupt the system, to put it to the Man,    This was the manifestation of their anger.  But Trump latched on to the Repeal (and Replace) Obamcare mantra.  (That's all it was, just a mantra, as there was never any strategy on how to do this).  The mantra worked for his image, he would be the disruptor, he would drain the swamp, he would be the grand savior.  So, Repeal and Replace  became a major showpiece of his campaign, and in the end he owned it as much as the Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, the Freedom Caucus and all the other lazy politician's, that's right, lazy.  They had all taken took the easy way.

But now it was time to pay up.  Now that they were all in office, now that they had the keys to the kingdom, the rubber was about to meet the road.   They had completely forgotten to be careful of what they wished for, for they must just get it.  And in their desire for speed, to get something passed to fulfill the mantra, to show decisive action, they rushed a bill through the House, that it seemed no one wanted, no one believed, and no one really understood.  Most importantly, no one could really justify it as being better than Obamacare.   The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office dissed it as an effort to save a little money over ten years, but causing 24 million Americans to lose health coverage.   The Republican response was to dis the CBO, and to argue that their analysis didn't take parts two and three of their grand plan into consideration.  The fact that no one really knew what parts two and three were, was not important. Just trust us, they said, we'll get there.

However, the Republican approach failed to consider that the ground was shifting under their feet. As the shock of Trump's stunning and surprising victory back in early November became to subside, all Americans began to consider what this would mean, not just for the country, but what this would mean for them.   Surprisingly, polls for the Affordable Care Act began to show increasing support, the highest support since its inception.  Some individuals were surprised to learn that the insurance they were on was actually a result of Obamacare.  House members went home during recess to find that public opinion was changing.   Their constituients were now asking what did Repeal and Replace actually mean?   What was going to happen next?  All of sudden the Republican mantra of the last several years seemed hollow. The rubber was meeting the road.

Republican leadership continued to push ahead. The Art of the Deal author had laid down the law. We were going to have vote.  All the while negotiations with the different factions within the Republican party continued to pull the bill in different directions, so much so, that it was confusing what the final bill was going to look like.  And if we were to believe the polls, the bill held only had a 17% approval rating going into its final days.

Ultimately the bill failed under its own weight.  Paul Ryan went to Trump and made the case that it was so bad, that holding a vote would be detrimental to the party.  Not only would it fail and by more than just a few votes, but it would provide Democrats with added ammunition to target Republicans who had won in more moderate districts.

No vote was held, and the Republicans pulled back.  President Trump, being the egotistical, self-centered bully he has been since a child went on to do what he does best, to blame the Democrats, something that while surprising in audacity, was not surprising at all (see richardpiccolo.blogspot.com # 21 dated 3.10.17 - The Art of the Squeal)

But burried just below the rubble of this Republican implosion may be the renewed growth of a old flower that hasn't bloomed in many years, the return of the reasonable Republican.  In the waning days of the non-vote on Repeal and Replace, you began to hear more about the Tuesday Group, a group of  50+ moderates which was founded back in 1994 to counter the Republican House caucus which was dominated by conservative Republicans back in 1994 when Republicans took over the House.  The Freedom Caucus, a group representing 30+ members from the more conservative faction of the party have pulled the Republicans farther right for the last 7+ years, but the bill failed to pass at least in equal part to the motivations of the Tuesday Group and other moderates.  They had concluded that the Republican solution, as currently presented, was worse than Obamacare.  They decided that it was better to fight another day.  And they were right.

They had made the most important decision of their political careers.  It wasn't a vote for or against a bill on health care, it was vote for Country over Party.

Underneath all the rubble and hidden in all the noise on the debate on health care lies a unique moment in our time, a renewed opportunity for both parties to reach accross the aisle and a renewed opportunity for our country.  It will be up to leaders in both parties embrace this moment and take a step in a new direction.

Stay tuned for "A Road Map for the Future"

#23 TBrady #12 Super Bowl 51 Jersey Returns Home, All is Good in the World Again

The return of Tom Brady's stolen Super Bowl 51 jersey today is a gentle reminder to us all of the great country that we live in.  When it was first reported stolen shortly in the aftermath of the Patriot's stunning come-from-behind, greatest-victory-every-achieved, most-memorable-sporting-event-of-the-century, Super Bowl win, it case a pale over this spectacular event.

But that was then, and this is now.   The jersey has been returned to its rightful owner and the world is back in balance. We can all sleep better tonight.  If Norman Rockwell were alive today, he would be working on a portrait right now, of the FBI men showing up at the front door of Tom & Giselle's house in Brookline, with jersey in hand, that big #12 blazoned across the canvas, with all of their kids cheering gleefully in the forefront, almost like it was Christmas morning.  The Brady's lost puppy has been found.  We can all go inside for hot cocoa and cookies.  Lets call Wally and the Beaver and maybe they can come over and play.

This is how it should always be. This is our country.  This is Americana.

Unfortunately the return of the TB12 jersey today does not correlate to a return to sanity in our political system.  Au contraire, insanity prevails and it grows bigger with each passing day.  I have been working all day, so I haven't really had a chance to catch up on the news, but amidst all the back of forth of the ongoing politics to repeal and replace Obamacare, the most stunning revelation of the day was the fact that Congressman Nunes, the Republican Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, which had been tasked to investigate possible ties with certain individuals in the Trump campaign and Russian hackers, revealed information to President Trump and the Press BEFORE sharing it with members of his own committee.   For those of you who don't know how these things work, just know, this approach does not win friends and influence enemies.

As reported by CNN  

"Nunes, a member of the Trump's transition team executive committee, set off a stunning new political controversy Wednesday when he headed to the White House to personally brief President Donald Trump on the revelations. Despite being advised against doing so, sources said Nunes met with Republican members of the Intelligence Committee before his news conference, but did not share information with the Democrats on the committee."

I have to say that I don't believe Trump is guilt of colluding with Russians during the election.  I really don't.  While he has done very little to impress me since his stunning victory back in November, I still don't think he would be that stupid.  Now, time may prove me wrong on this point, but for the moment, I want to give him the benefit of the doubt.

But Nunes, what is Nunes doing?  He is head of committee where he at least wants to maintain an appearance of independance, even if he is already in the bag for his boss.  He wants to complete the investigation as quickly and efficiently and move on.  He shouldn't want to become part of the problem.  His boss has a bad enough credibility problem all by himself and he doesn't need to pile on. But he does!  And so now he his apologized to his Democratic counterparts on his committee, but the cat is out of the bag.  Now Democrats will be pushing for a new select committee or a special prosecutor, neither of which Trump or Nunes wants

Even Republican Senator John McCain said this morning on NBC's Today Show that Nunes’ action "was unprecedented. I have not seen anything like it, and it’s very disturbing. Intelligence committees and armed services committees always work in a bipartisan fashion, and I’m sorry to see what’s happened over there”.

McCain has supported the concept of the select committee to manage the investigation,  but up until now,  Republican congressional leaders argued that the House and Senate intelligence panels were capable of handling the investigation.   I think that point has now officially gone by the wayside.

So it is and so it shall be.  Insanity reigns on capital hill.  It seems hard to believe and I do worry that Trump's ongoing incompetence is contagious and those closest to him are breathing in his germs and getting sicker and equally incompetent by the day.

That's a portrait Norman Rockwell would no doubt refuse to paint. 

#22 - Let's Hear It for the Boys, Let's Give the Boys a Hand!

The tent for climate change just got a little bigger today, and while its just a start, its very encouraging that some Republicans, and conservative ones at that,  are starting to modify their thinking 

As reported in Bloomberg Business today:

Seventeen conservative Republican members of Congress—10 of them in their first or second terms—are bucking long-time party positions and the new occupant of the White House. They announced on Wednesday that they’re supporting a clear statement about the risks associated with climate change, as well as principles for how best to fight it.

Called the “Republican Climate Resolution” by supporters, the statement by House members takes about 450 words to mention conservative thought on environmentalism, support for climate science, feared impacts, and a call for economically viable policy. 

If voters everywhere keep the pressure on their elected representatives, we would expect more dominoes to fall within the Republican Party, enough so that it will matter, and then maybe we can bring some good Republican ideas to the table, work a compromise with Democrats who have been a proponent of dealing with this issue for a long time and maybe, just maybe, we can save the planet for some other generations.

Admittedly this is just a starting point, but wouldn't it be nice to achieve a political tipping point on the matter before we hit the environmental one?

 50

#21 - The Art of the Squeal

So it seems the Republicans are in a bit of a disarray on the best way to repeal and replace Obamacare.  Near as I can tell, there are at least three different factions , maybe four, within the Party with conflicting views on the matter.  It's hard for me to follow everything, who's who, and who believes what.  My program was supposed to be printed by the Congressional Budget Office, but they are in the process of being defunded.

House Speaker Paul Ryan has attributed the divergent opinions to growing pains, now that Republicans control everything.   He noted that they are not used to governing this way.   That's a shame Paul, I didn't think this was going to be so traumatic, maybe you just want to hand Congress back to the Democrats. 

The truth is Paul, I do feel bad for you.  I know you are honestly trying to move the country forward the best way you know how.   And keeping everybody happy is no easy task.  I still have the picture in my mind of your predecessor, former Speaker John Boehner (a good man, and one among a handful of Republicans who would routinely cry at just about any episode of Oprah).  John experienced one of the most privileged moments of his life, when the Pope made a rare visit to Capital Hill in September 2015.  He left that visit a changed man.  The following day, out of the blue, he promptly resigned his powerful position as House Speaker, and left Congress.   The image was iconic. There he was, one of most powerful men in the country, with a huge shit-eatting grin on his face, whistling  Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah, down the halls of this great institution as he left.

I guess meeting God, just has that effect on some people

I know Paul, your a bit jealous right now. John's living he good life, caching up in his fly fishing and predicting that the Republicans will never repeal Obamacare, they will just make some fixes to the health care law.

Isn't it nice t to get a little pick-me-up from an old friend? Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, Paul, zip-a-dee-ay. 

On top of that, while you struggle trying to get everyone in your party to march to the beat of your drum, President Trump (always one step ahead of you) has already announced his Plan B, should you fail.  Apparently the Donald must have been thinking that you should've wrapped up this puppy in a neat bow a day or two after you got the copies off the printer.  Seems  reasonable to me Paul, what's the hold up?

Donald is just taking a play out of his "Art of Deal" playbook.  He's just negotiating.  This cagey veteran of the negotiating table intends to take a hard line position on everything  and then negotiate a middle ground. It is a technique which Donald takes credit for inventing. and which by the way, he is the only person on the planet capable of executing it.  But, you knew this 

His plan B, should you fail, will be to leave Obamacare in place, and then blame the Democrats.  

Brilliant Paul, sheer brilliance. This man's mind works at a level the mere mortals can't comprehend.   While you may believe that his approach contains absolutely nothing to motivate Republicans to come together and form a meaningful consensus, the way you want it, he's already acting like he could care less. Already.  He's advocating a return to the tactics your party has employed for eight years. Do nothing and blame the other guy.  Admit it Paul, you were outflanked. You actually wanted to do stuff, but you're looking pretty naive now. The man is a genius.

So now we know how the story ends, the final piece of the blue print has now been revealed. Donald has now shared his ultimate piece of wisdom.  The secret sauce has been published for everyone to see.   

If you fall flat on your face, just make sure someone else takes the fall.

If you can't do the deal, just do the squeal.

Let's Make America Great Again!  Everyone, all together now.

#20 - Where have you gone, John Belushi? Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you

I am hoping that some day soon we can get passed Amateur Hour in the Oval Office and that the Not Ready For Prime Time Players of the Trump administration can step up their game, so that they may at least appear to be providing a modicum of control over the most powerful country on the planet,

On Monday, President Trump signed his long awaited "Keep Off the Grass/ No Trespassing" Immigration Ban 2.0 executive order.

It's about time.  The reporting said that the administration could have released it last week, but they chose not to, because they wanted to bask in the glow of Trump's most recent speech, which was almost Presidential in tone.    I can't blame them really. As there is no guarantee he will ever sound that way again, I'd want to hang on to the moment too.

Without addressing the question about whether this is or is not the best approach to protect the country, because reasonable people may genuinely disagree on this, let's just assume for the sake of argument, that No Trespassing 2.0 is the best approach.  Let's assume we all agree, that we need this new and improved executive order in order to keep out all the bad hombres, no matter what the downstream ramifications are on all the good hombres.

In that light, NT 2.0 represents a significant improvement over its predecessor.

It does at least three things, which near as I can tell, have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with any of the legal challenges to the executive order, and which therefore must have occurred only because the Not Ready For Prime Time Players actually stopped, perhaps for the first time in their lives .... to think about what they were actually doing, and to maybe get some advice from the GOOD people in government who actually know how to do this stuff.  Praise Jesus and the administrations of the 44 earlier presidents, who somehow added value to the process despite the fact that they were all just a bunch of bottom feeders hanging out in the swamp.

NT 2.0 does the following:


1) It removes Iraq from the list of banned countries.  What a concept.  We are sending an important message to the government who today represents one of our most important allies in the Middle East in fighting ISIS, that you really aren't the scum of the earth after all.  We were just kidding the first time around.  Ha, ha.

2) It also removes Green Card recipients from the banned countries list. It would appear that it finally dawned on some one in Trump administration that you couldn't get any more extreme than the extreme vetting of getting a Green Card.  Who knew?


3). Most importantly, NT. 2.0. provides a 10 day waiting period prior to implementation of the new law. so that government employees who are responsible for enforcing the law can actually try to understand what the crazy mind of Donald Trump has concocted this time.  This is no easy task. Maybe ten days aren't enough, but it's a start.  Oh, I know this change in the executive order means that all the bad hombres in the world are going to swarm the country in mass over these next 10 days, but in truth our president already opened the barn door on this one weeks ago when he announced his first executive order on this topic, without any real planning, and then had to walk it backwards

I am just disappointed in the amazing amount of ongoing incompetency with in the Trump administration.  As I have said, I did not vote for him, but still I was hoping that maybe, just maybe, having an outsider in government might reveal some better ways to run government.  OK, it's official, I was wrong. 

Instead, the first 50 days (OMG, we are only halfway to the first hundred) have brought us among other things, a poorly planned attempt to restrict immigration, controversial selections in cabinet member, an NSA director who had to resign, an Attorney General coming  close to perjury (I don't subscribe to the perjury claim, its the incompetence one that gets my attention), inane, meaningless discussions over crowd size and millions of illegal votes, accusations of wire tapping by our former President, and oh god, more discussions about walls.  

And all I can think of is, one thing- what happens when we are faced with a real crisis?

Republicans have argued that Obama was not a strong enough president, that America has lost its stature in the world under his presidency.  Even if you subscribe to this position, what do you say when the answer to this is Donald Trump.? Strength and stature requires a foundation of competence. Campaigning is easy.  Governing is hard.    I suspect a fair number of Republicans are asking "What did we get ourselves into?"

The original Not Ready For Prime Time Players (including John Belushi, Dan Akroyd, Jane Curtain and Chevy Chase) had a job to do on Saturday Night Live and they did with style and incredible wit.   Their humor was reserved for late night, but it quickly went mainstream.  It was that good and it led the way in the world of comedy.   The cast and crew of Trump's Not Ready for Prime Time Players are simply, not ready for our times, any of them. 

[Note - the one positive attribute of the Trump administration is that there will never be a shortage of material for an amateur blogger.   Go Donny, Go!] 

#19 - Groundhog Day and the Republican Response to Obamacare [How I Moved From Leaning Right to Leaning Left, Part 4]

The opening scene in the Bill Murray classic, "Groundhog Day", begins when the time on the clock radio flips to 6:00 am and the radio alarm kicks off the day with the memorable Sonny and Cher tune, "I've Got You, Babe",

but the tune immediately cuts in to the lyrics at the end of the song:
                              Then put your little hand in mine                             

                              There ain't no hill or mountain we can't climb                             

                              Babe, I got you babe, I got you babe

Nooooo, I don't think this was the exact sentiment House Republicans were shooting for on Groundhog Day, February 2, 2016.    This was the day they were voting to override President Barack Obama's veto of their repeal of the Affordable Care Act, but on this Groundhog Day, there was no bi-partisan feel, no putting hands in hands, no climbing mountains together.  No, instead this scene was reminiscent of the movie, for in the House, this scene had played itself out over and over and over and over again, over 60 times, since 2011, with the same result.  There would be no repeal.

In typical Hollywood "Boy meets Girl, Boy Gets Girl" fashion, Bill Murray finds true love at the end of the movie and with that, he is able to, magically, break out of his repetitive nightmare, and he gets the girl, Andie McDowell, and goes on to live happily ever after.

Well, it now appears that the House Republicans think that they too will magically be breaking out of their repeating nightmare soon, as they have recently found true love as well.  They found it, in Donald Trump.

I know Bill Murray has a smile on his face.  I am less certain about the House Republicans.

                  _______________________________________________

Make no mistake about it.  I believe the Democrats own Obamacare.

They rammed it through Congress without the support of any of the Republicans, although it's not clear to me if the Republicans would have voted for any bill, as they were so intent on not doing anything which could be viewed as a political victory for Barack Obama. Still the design of the program belonged to the Democrats.  It was their design, their implementation, their economics, so by any definition, it was their baby. And if memory serves me right, the bill was so big and the details came in so late, that hardly anyone on the Democratic side got to read the thing at the time of the vote.  But still, they voted.

I would like all Americans to have access to reasonably priced health insurance, but sorry, this is no the way to run a country. 

ObamaCare was not intended to create insurance. Instead it attempted to regulate private insurance to insure that individuals got more rights and protections, and help employees get access to high-quality, affordable health insurance.  Pieces of it were based on a predecessor program in Massachusetts (Romney Care) which seemed to be working, before it was superseded by the Federal law.  It was not a single payer system (i.e the government) and allowed for competition in health industry.  It attempted to create a fair alternative to those who could not afford individual insurance plans, but as always, the devil would be in the details, and the details revealed a lot of problems, including:

• Costs to the government are growing more than predicated
• Individual premiums are growing too fast
• There are noted difficulties for small businesses.  Any employer with more than 50 employees is required to offer insurance to their employees, so this requirement has led some employers to choose not to grow and others to downsize, in order to avoid the law entirely.  This does not help our capitalistic system.
• Insurance providers are dropping out of the program as they don't see the losses of their early years reversing themselves, decreasing competition and reducing options for individuals
• The complexity of the compliance reporting for companies is ....huge.  I have lived this one personally, so I can attest to it.  I think the purpose may be to insure employers offer quality plans to all employees fairly, but they went too far.   Perfect is the enemy of the good, and in their quest for perfection, they had gone too far.

And so ObamaCare either (i) needs to be fixed or (ii) it needs to be repealed and replaced.  I don't care how Republicans do it, as long as they do something.   If it makes Republican supporters happy to say they repealed Obamacare, great. 

So, Republicans finally have what they wished for - they own the House, the Senate, the Executive Branch and they can now do whatever they want to do.  I hope now that they have found true love, and that we will all magically be removed from this repetitive nightmare and we will live happily ever after. 

You can debate the language, the positioning or the approach.  At this point I care less, but I will observe that for several years Obama has said he was willing to discuss changes with the Republicans, and for several years all they did was vote to repeal it.  Instead of proactively engaging and trying to do something, they wasted time and they just held more meaningless votes with the same result.  And in the process, I began leaning more to the Left.

I will readily agree that the Democratic solution is flawed, but at least they tried to do something, at least they tried to help people.  Let's hope Republicans are similarly motivated.

I want the Republicans to succeed, I really do.  This long national nightmare must end and we must move on.  I hope their solution does a better job of insuring those Americans who can least afford to obtain insurance on their own.  If they can come up with an approach which makes health care better, less expensive, and simpler, it will be a win for all Americans and I will applaud their efforts.

But if they don’t, it will be their failure.  Make no mistake about that either.

[Note:  late yesterday, Republicans released their first pass at an attempt to repeal and replace Obamcare (the American Health Care Act, soon to be ...TrumpCare) . I applaud the effort to replace at the same time they are repealing, but the early view of their replacement has not yet been graded by the Congressional Budget Office, so we have no way of what the costs will be, nor how many individuals may ultimately opt for insurance with such a program. As always, the devil is in the details]

#18 - Multiple Choice Question

Which of the statements below are supported by any verifiable proof to back them up?

        A B, C, D, E,  All of the Above, None of the Above

    ____________________________________________________

A)  “Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my "wires tapped" in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!”

                        4.4.17 @realDonaldTrump

B) "In addition to winning the electoral college in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally"
                         Late January 2017 @realDonaldTrump

C) “I know more about ISIS than the generals do”

                        11.13.15 Donald Trump, on the Campaign Trail

D) “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make US manufacturing uncompetitive”

                        11.6.13 @realDonaldTrump

E) “I taught Tom Brady how to throw a spiral”

                          @realRichardPiccolo, shortly after Tom Brady won his fifth Super Bowl

#17 - And The Envelope Says!

To Brian Cullinan, PWC partner

Dear Brian,

How many times have you told your teenage son.  "Son, please, don't text and drive"?

And how many times did your teenage son tell you, "Dad, please, don't tweet, when handing out the Oscar envelopes"?

OK, we don’t know for a fact, if your teenage son actually said this to you Brian, but if he did, it’s too bad you didn’t follow his advice.  Because you tweeted, and oh, how you did tweet.  And the distraction caused by that tweet was almost on par with your son texting while driving, and driving into a gully, that right now probably feels like it’s a thousand feet deep.    

It would not have been so bad, it might not have even made the network news, if you did it during the award for Best Cosmetics and Hair Styling or maybe Best Documentary Short Subject, but no, you had to wait to the climax of Oscar night, when they are giving out the most important award of the evening, the award for Best Picture!

I understand, it was cool to be backstage, yes, it sweet to scoop a pic of Emma Stone accepting the Best Actress Award, and tweet to your friends.  Yes, you are hanging with all the beautiful people.   But sir, you needed to put all that aside, you had a job to do, the most important job of all, handing out the winning envelopes.  And you handed out the wrong one!   Was it that hard?

Were you thinking that if something went wrong, Warren Beatty was going to bail you out?  Warren Beatty? If you saw his performance is Ishtar, that alone should have given you pause.

So now let's cue the videotape, and see exactly where your tweet landed:

1. The cast and crew of “La La Land” started their acceptance speeches, but then had to be whisked away to drown their disappointment in multiple bottles of Tequila.
2. And the folks from “Moonlight” were truly cheated of their magic moment in the spotlight.  The movie about a poor, minority, gay youth could now add "disrespected" to their list of challenges in life.
3. You personally have been banned from the Oscars for life, which considering you'll never want to show your face there ever again, should be just fine by you.
4. PWC's reputation as one of the oldest, finest accounting firms in the world has taken a huge hit. Every year, the firm looks forward to this world-wide exposure, to be associated with this prestigious event.  This year, not so much.
5. It's not clear at this time, but your actions may have lost the account for your firm, possibly ending an 83 year old relationship. It would be a shame if a marriage which has lasted this long, ended in divorce because of your…infidelity. 
6. And for you personally, despite all the good work you have done during your career (and we know it must have been very good work, otherwise you would never have been in this position to begin with), this will be hard to overcome, extremely hard.

CPAs around the country feel your pain.  We feel it deeply.  More than anyone else, we know how you got here and we know what you are going through.  In part because we all know, that "0h, but for the grace of God, go I".  It is not lost on any of us, that we too, could be in a position at any point in our careers, where we inadvertently make a small decision, which ultimately leads to disastrous consequences. We have seen this movie before and we know it does not end well.  This movie has never made it to the Oscar awards.

While some outside the profession may consider yours a simple mistake, those inside it understand, it is more complex than that.  This was not an honest error of judgement, this was not bending over backwards to help a client and in the process crossing a line.  You were not corrupted by money or the prestige of winning an important client.  It occurred because you lost your way and allowed yourself to be personally compromised and to be seduced by the glamour of the moment.   You lost your independence, something you had diligently worked to build and retain over the course of a life time, and in a moment’s time, you blinked, and it was gone.

We have a role to play on the stage of the world, Brian, but it's not out in front of the footlights or to accept the applause at the final curtain.  We are referees brought in to call balls and strikes and to enforce the rules, so everyone might know with honesty and accuracy, who won the game, who received the Oscar or who succeeded in business.  When we voice our opinions, our efforts serve to either affirm or refute the actions of those who seek legitimacy.  There is little glamour here, but it remains an excruciatingly crucial role in our society.

We all hope you bounce back from this Brian, all of us.  We are pulling for you.  But your actions will serve as a reminder to us all, that the line between success and failure can often times be very thin, and none of us can afford to lose sight of it.  None of us can take our eye off the ball, not for an instant.  Not just for own individual well-being, but more importantly, for everyone who is depending on us.  We owe this to anyone who wants or needs our opinions.  We owe it to our friends.

Your friends and colleagues,

#16 Nancy, Nancy, Nancy

Nancy Pelosi is already calling for the resignation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions because he failed to disclose that he met with the Russian Ambassador during the lead up to the Presidential election last November, when he was asked about this topic in his confirmation hearings by Senator Al "I used to relevant when I was on SNL" Franken.

Nancy, Nancy, Nancy - Stop it, you're killing me.

Really, you are getting carried away with yourself.  Based on this latest disclosure, the likely rational response is to demand that Sessions  recuse himself from any investigation in to any possible Trump / Russian connections, but please, it does not rise to the level of termination.  Sessions response could be described as incomplete, misleading, possibly arrogant or just outright stupid, but on any given day these same words could be used to describe Democrats, Republicans or to any and all Trumpeteers (we are still trying to figure out who these people are).

Democrats and Republicans should push for a bi-partisan investigation into the matter, similar to the 9-11 commission. My understanding is that the legal interpretation is that there is no need to appoint an independent special prosecutor, because at this time, there is still no evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

So, Nancy, show the American public that you are fair and rationale public servant (it's hard I know, but give it a try).  Stop with the overreactions, sit back, don't get ahead of your skis, and just enjoy the ride.   If nothing else, it's entertainment.

#15 - Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones

The day after President Trump announced the section of Army Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster as his National Security Advisor, I said it was win for all of us.  I made that statement based on two early data points which had come out in the news. First, he was well respected by individuals on both sides of the aisle, and, second, because he had written a book for taking the military to task for aspects of its public posture during the Vietnam War (which, as a teen in the sixties, made me very happy) .  

I have since learned that McMaster's work began as his dissertation at UNC, which he would then publish as a book, when  he was a just a Major at the time.  McMaster concluded that the Joint Chiefs had been so focused on their own self interests of their different services, that they never properly pressed their opposition to the gradual escalation strategy favored by President Johnson and Defense Secretary Robert McNamara. 

Retired general David Petraeus would later bring the book to General Hugh H. Shelton when he was chairman of the Joint Chiefs in 1997. Shelton said  “It is a valuable resource for leaders of any organization,’’ and made it required reading for all of his staff. 

There are two lessons here, the first that one individual would be thoughtful enough to study history and come to a different conclusion than the prevailing wisdom at the time.  The second was that others in the military want to learn by any mistakes of the past, so they don't repeat those mistakes. These are the strengths of our military which go beyond the number of F-16s and nuclear bombs in our weapons arsenal.

Learning more about this individual who was now tasked with the security of our nation, I was now sure that President Trump had made a solid choice for an extremely important position. 

But there's more.  In his first week in office, McMaster told an all-hands staff meeting that he did not consider the term “radical Islamic terrorism’’ helpful, even as the president Trump continued using it on the same day and as he would continue to use it in a speech to Congress last night.  To describe the use of term in the most delicate way as "not helpful" shows that McMaster will make his thoughts and opinions known even if they run counter to the President, and more importantly, it shows that he has strong diplomatic skills as well, skills which should come in handy as he learns to negotiate the different factions growing within the Trump administration.  

The arguments to avoid the use of the term are (i) that using it denigrates an entire peace-loving religion, (ii) that it will cause some individuals, outside the religion, to blur the line between peace loving Muslims and radical ones, (iii) that peace living Muslims will feel abused  and disrespected themselves and be less cooperative in the battle against the radicals, and (iv) that the repeated use of the term from our president will only serve as propaganda for radicals wishing to recruit others to their demented way of thinking. 

The argument to proactively use the term is captured in a statement by Trump's first National Security Advisor, Micheal Flynn who said "You cannot defeat an enemy that you do not admit exists".  Trump himself has said "Anyone who cannot name or enemy is not fit to lead our country".  The credit for the use of the term pre-dates Trump and goes to other Republican rivals in the primary including Ted Cruz and to his own advisor, Steve Bannon and has been fostered by other conservative news outlets such as Fox News. 

In my way of thinking, the use of the term is just counterproductive. To be more blunt about it, I would say it's just childish, and I am reminded of an important lesson I learned as a child that  "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me".  The point is, if I am a terrorist, I'm not sitting in my hillside cave worrying about what name some orange-colored guy in a blue suit with an American flag pin on his lapel is calling me.   I do, however, have concerns about the sticks, the stones and other multi-ton munitions he may drop on my head.  

The fact that Trump's predecessors George W. Bush and Barack Obama both avoided the use of the term seems lost on him, but if I were permitted to offer advice to President Trump, I would suggest that he follow the lead of one of his well known heros, a man who he holds out to be a strong leader, who also never uses the phrase, Vladimir Putin.   Yes, its true.  Apparently Vlad had done the math and decided, with all he's got going in his world,  he didn't need to do anything to piss off 1.6 billion Muslims in the world.

Politically speaking, it is unrealistic to think that Trump would just immediately stop using the term, as it would be viewed as a broken promise to his supporters, but the hope is that over time, McMaster will coax him to just stop using the term, and eventually his supporters will lose focus on it, and it will become a non-issue.  Based on where Trump is in the evolution of his Presidency, I would be happy with this.  

I applaud President Trump for his most recent selection of H.R McMaster as his National Security Advisor.  It is my sincere hope that he will listen to McMaster's advice, specifically on the non-use of the controversial term and on other more important topics.  I believe it will be imperative to do so.  

It won't do anyone, any good if McMaster leaves the administration in frustration early and goes on to write a sequel to his first book, "Dereliction of Duty".