David Passmore
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davidpassmore.bsky.social
David Passmore
@davidpassmore.bsky.social

Distinguished Professor, Emeritus, Penn State University, https://davidpassmore.net; live in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; a Niagara Falls native.

Economics 26%
Education 12%

JOHN FETTERMAN AUTHORED A BOOK

Loaded with insights.

“If men are forced to choose between picking their party or keeping their balls, most men are going to choose their balls.”

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/11/b...
John Fetterman’s Memoir Is Unlike Any Politician’s Book You’ve Read
www.nytimes.com

What would you do with a Pittsburgh turnip?

I am not affiliated, so I guess that is independent. Yes, limits participation in primaries here in PA, too. Might be worth declaring an affiliation just for one week.

Dove who sits most days with 3 others on my windowsill in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The color out my window wanes. Someone reported snow in Pittsburgh this morning. I will miss Fall. Winter better to be good to us.

I hope this becomes true.

COURAGE?

"Each one hopes that if he feeds the crocodile enough, the crocodile will eat him last. All of them hope that the storm will pass before their turn comes to be devoured."

~ Winston Churchill, BBC, 20 January 1940, when he was First Lord of the British Admiralty.

Yes, let's be clear.
Sanders: Let’s be clear… If this vote succeeds, over 20 million Americans are going to see at least a doubling in their premiums… if resolution is passed tonight, we are on a path way to throw 15 million Americans off of medicaid and the affordable care act, 15 million.

I am having a hard time understanding this action.

ADELITA S. GRIJAIVA....NOW?

thehill.com/homenews/hou...

A chance to fix an obstruction "a falsis principiis proficisci"?

For the real deal, see Cicero, "De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum", 4.53, bit.ly/Cice

A Portrait of Leadership:

JUDGEMENT?

"On a visit to New Zealand in July, [Patel] brought plastic 3D-printed replica pistols as gifts to senior national security officials."

“I have never seen a[n]...intelligence organization like the bureau be directed to go after people purely on political, vindictive reasons,” said...a former analyst with Canada’s intelligence and cryptologic agencies. “In a Western democracy, that’s unheard of. It’s every day in Russia and China.”

TRUST IS SO SIMPLE TO LOSE

"Five Eyes officials have watched with alarm as Mr. Patel has fired agents who investigated President Trump and invoked his powers to investigate the president’s perceived enemies."

bit.ly/484AsLj

Looks like me, at 78, loading my dishwasher.

PROPANE SUPPLY IN THE U.S.

rbnenergy.com/analytics/ma...

One comment on NYTimes article:

“But I cannot support a deal that still leaves millions of Americans wondering how they are going to pay for their health care or whether they will be able to afford to get sick,” said Senator Mark Warner (Virginia).

"The shift this time was particularly remarkable given that the deal did not protect the health insurance tax credits, which Democrats had spent weeks arguing was a crucial piece of any government funding agreement."

ARE WE THANKFUL THAT THE GOP HAS DECIDED TO "ALLOW" A FUTURE VOTE?

Many Democrats are livid that their colleagues backed down from the demand to extend health insurance subsidies. Premiums will soar.

Republicans will "allow a vote" to extend expiring health insurance tax credits.

bit.ly/47xBtvd
Senate Moves Toward Ending Shutdown After Democratic Defectors Relent
A small but critical group of Democrats backed legislation to fund the government, providing the votes to move forward with a spending package that would end the shutdown in coming days.
bit.ly
Sanders: Let’s be clear… If this vote succeeds, over 20 million Americans are going to see at least a doubling in their premiums… if resolution is passed tonight, we are on a path way to throw 15 million Americans off of medicaid and the affordable care act, 15 million.
omg
It’s been 45 days since Adelita Grijalva was elected by the people of Arizona.

Mike Johnson is still refusing to swear her in because she’s the final vote for the discharge petition to release the Epstein files.

SUPPLY OF TRANSFORMERS IN A BOTTLENECK IN MAINTAINING U.S. ELECTRICITY DISTRIBUTION

55% of in-service distribution transformers were more than 33 years old in 2024.

We don't make 'em:
Imports account for 80% of U.S. power transformer supply and 50% of distribution transformer supply.

bit.ly/trF
Transformer troubles: manufacturing and policy constraints hit US transformer supply
Soaring demand and manufacturing bottlenecks are creating a supply deficit in US power transformers, driving costs up
bit.ly

ELECTRICITY PRICES INCREASE IN U.S. DUE TO POLES AND WIRES, NOT GENERATION?

Since 2005, utilities have nearly tripled the amount they spend annually on the network of poles, wires, substations, and transformers that deliver power to customers.

bit.ly/3Xgcarz

Tree outside my window in Pittsburgh still smiling this Fall.
This is the kind of investigation James Comer was made for…

One-half of U.S. Imports Are Tariffed
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

TRUMP PARDONS CRYPTO CRIMINAL. BUT HE IS NOT ONE OF TRUMP'S MONKEYS EVEN THOUGH TRUMP RUNS THE CIRCUS

“Okay, are you ready?” Trump answered. “I don’t know who he is."

www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
Trump pardons crypto billionaire Changpeng Zhao
The pardon marks the latest example of the abrupt U-turn Washington has taken on digital assets since Trump's inauguration.
www.politico.com