Aug
27
2026

Interstate Zero: The Road to …

Oh, heck you know where it goes, don't you? So does Mr. Ramirez:

Also of note:

  • Reader, don't hate me, but… For the past couple years I've been in the top tier of the tweeted chart:

    For what it's worth, I've been socking it away at Fidelity, eventually going to the Pun Kids. I try not to be a doomsayer, but they'll probably need it.

    The chart is from the sainted WaPo editorialists, who advise: To get the national debt under control, start with the retirement state. The ABCs:

    The insolvency dates for the Social Security and Medicare trust funds used to be far-off events. Politicians did little to forestall them when they felt like abstract possibilities. Now, they’re right around the corner.

    The main Social Security trust fund will go insolvent in 2032, during the next president’s term in office, according to this year’s trustees report. The Medicare hospital fund will follow in 2033. If Congress does nothing, insolvency would mean cuts of about one-tenth across the board for Medicare and about one-quarter for Social Security.

    Judging by the issue pages of the various candidates longing to be my next Senator or CongressCritter (see below), "Congress does nothing" seems to be the likeliest path.

  • My choices for CongressCritter are not great. NHJoural summarizes: Ships, Pipelines and Trump Divide NH-01 GOP Field in NHJournal Debate.

    If you had “the Jones Act” on your bingo card as a hot topic in the NHJournal NH-01 GOP primary debate—you win.

    The union-backed restriction on foreign ships operating between U.S. ports was one of the few areas of disagreement among Manchester state Rep. Brian Cole, businessman Anthony DiLorenzo, and veteran and nurse Hollie Noveletsky at Wednesday night’s forum at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics.

    Hollie was an ardent defender of the Jones Act. Which, sorry Hollie, is a red flag for me. (It should be one for you too: check the Cato study: The Jones Act: A Burden America Can No Longer Bear.)

    Hollie is also in favor of protectionist tariffs generally, especially those on steel. (Hollie's not only a nurse, she's also CEO of Novel Iron Works, based in Greenland NH.) Her Issues page does not mention Social Security.

    So, no.

    DiLorenzo has his minuses too: he's been endorsed by President Trump, for one thing. His Issues page does mention Social Security. In the worst way, item #4 on his 21-point "Plan To Protect The American Dream":

    Fully support Social Security and Medicare for our citizens.

    Our lovely backup singer, Jane Wickline, comments:

    Brian Cole seems way behind in the polls. His Issues page is, if anything, worse that DiLorenzo's on Social Security:

    At the same time, fiscal responsibility does not mean turning our backs on the commitments we have made. I am committed to protecting programs like Social Security Administration, which millions of Americans rely on after a lifetime of work. These are promises that must be honored, and we can protect them by cutting waste, eliminating duplication, and reforming how government spends, not by putting seniors at risk.

    Reader, imagine my eyes rolling clean out of my head. "Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic" is the phrase that springs to mind.

    So I'll probably hold my nose real hard, and vote for DiLorenzo. At least he doesn't like the Jones Act.

  • Not really that terrible a map.

    Everyone, it seems, has something to say about Dolly. I will (as usual) steal a comment I found most appropriate, from Erick Erickson: Dolly Parton and the Two Commandments.

    What I know is that when our Lord was asked what the greatest of the commandments was, Jesus summed up the ten commandments thusly:

    “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:29-31 (ESV)

    I cannot speak to Dolly Parton and the first of these. That is between her and God. We can all speak to the second commandment.

    Dolly Parton, for years, has donated band uniforms to poor, majority-black schools across the South with no public credit or recognition. She has provided books for children because her father was illiterate. She rebuilt homes and she rebuilt churches. She built and upgraded hospitals in poor communities. She provided jobs and opportunities for the poor.

    She did not demand that the government do it. She used her wealth to do it.

    Dolly Parton did not care if you were gay or trans or straight or white or black or Republican or Democrat. She loved her neighbor as herself.

    Erick-inspired, I will blasphemously adapt John 21:25: Dolly did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.


Last Modified 2026-08-27 11:55 AM EDT