5/26/2019

My dear Friend and president, DJT,

            It looks like you are having a blast in Japan. I'm jealous. Golf, sumo, Japanese BBQ - sounds like fun. Some say that SA is on a charm offensive and that this trip is all about demonstrating the strong bonds between Japan and the USA. It looks to me like two buddies are getting together to have some fun. Since you are such good friends, I hope you will take the time to listen to AS and his concerns. You may not be "disturbed" by North Korea's recent missile tests, but I know that SA is. Possible tariffs on cars and car parts must be plaguing him, too. I hope you will do your best to pay close attention, ask questions and express empathy for his worries.

https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-japan-visit-menu-for-dinner-prime-minister-abe-shinzo-2019-5

            Are you familiar with Catherine Rampell (CR), economic columnist for the WP? I just discovered her today. The woman is brilliant, but her message is unsettling. She says that your administration is in the process of "chipping away at the independence and integrity of our federal statistical agencies, whose data is critical to keeping our democracy functioning and our economy healthy." I hope you will stop doing that. We need good numbers!!! My dad used crop reports to help his NC hog farmers figure out how to minimize their feed prices. According to CR the statisticians who generated those reports are quitting in droves because their offices are moving to some unknown location. We don't have enough number crunchers in this country. Please do what you can to keep them employed so we can insure that our federal stats are as accurate as they can be. 

            I also encourage you NOT to change the way we compute deaths due to pollution or people living in poverty. Changing measurement systems screws everything up - just remember what happened when Jimmy Carter tried to convert the US to the metric system. It was a mess.

            Otsukaresama deshita,