Consider these three issues ...

Thoughts for the day

I normally don’t post in the evening, but I couldn’t wait ‘til the morning. Are you as concerned as I am? Let me know …

What's the difference between $8 billion and $8 million?

Earlier this week, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) published a list of cuts it has made. According to Forbes, one of the largest cost savings was an $8 billion canceled contract for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). While this contract initially was valued at $8 billion, the price savings ended up being a mere $8 million. When asked about this discrepancy, Elon Musk said, "Some of the things I say will be incorrect." No kidding. I'm no math genius, but I calculate $8 million is one tenth of one percent as much as $8 billion.

Democrats have both a message problem and a messenger problem

Doyle McManus is a longtime columnist with the Los Angeles Times. On Monday, he outlined several problems Democrats are having these days. One of the key questions McManus asked was this: Should the party move more to the center or lean hard to the left? If you ask me, the answer can be summed up in two words: Project 2029. Despite its length, the GOP's Project 2025 proved to be the Trump Bible all Republicans embraced last fall. They were one big chorus singing from the same Hymn Book. Project 2029 is the antidote my party needs if it expects to take back the White House in 2028.

What’s happening at the Kennedy Presidential Library?

Thanks to Donald Trump and Elon Musk's heavy-handed, cost-cutting measures, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library closed its doors on Tuesday. For the record, no other presidential library suffered the same fate.

I am not a member of the Kennedy family, but I cherish a letter then-Senator Kennedy sent my father in 1958, shortly after they met in San Francisco. It was there my dad told the presidential hopeful he would happily serve as a Kennedy delegate to the 1960 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles.

That letter has been displayed on my bookshelf for years. In it, Kennedy wrote, "Dear Dave, I enjoyed our recent informal talk. I am forwarding to you a copy of The Strategy of Peace, which I am hopeful you find of interest. It is a compilation of my speeches on foreign policy and defense. Again, many thanks for taking the time to drop by my hotel suite." The letter is signed "Jack Kennedy."

Having worked as a congressional staff assistant on Capitol Hill, I know letters like the one Sen. Kennedy sent my dad are written every day; still, I'm guessing there is a record of it in the now shuttered Kennedy Presidential Library. Which makes me wonder why the Nixon and Reagan Presidential Libraries were left open on Tuesday. Anyone care to guess why?

-DF