Some Short Subjects for Varied Interests

Future Relations With Russia
The next president will face immediate pressure from the national security establishment to implement a tougher approach in Trump's wake. This could include new and rigorously enforced sanctions, increased arms sales to Ukraine, a renewed push for NATO expansion, more pressure on Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria, a new cyber offensive against Russia in retaliation for 2016, and covert support for opposition movements in Russia and its former satellites. But the next president must also make clear that the United States does not intend to expand its own sphere of military influence.

Elected-Office Seeking White Nationalists
In Trump's America there appears to be a rash of white nationalists running for elective office. Depending on definition, anywhere from 9 to 17 white supremacists and far-right militia leaders are currently running for House and Senate seats, governerships, and state legislators. Heidi Benich, director of the Southern Poverty Center's Intelligence Project, pointed to an August 2017 Washington Post/ABC News poll, indicating that 9 percent of Americans now find it acceptable to hold neo-Nazi views. (Among strong Trump supporters, 17 percent say they accept neo-Nazi views, and 13 percent say they have no opinion one way or the other.) (Source: Donna Minkowitz. "Off to the Racists," "The Nation," May 14, 2018.)

Reduced Education Spending
In all, 29 states are now spending less per student on K-12 education than they were a decade ago, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. A  number of those states have also cut income taxes. Notably, the 10 states that have experienced the largest decline in spending per student since 2008 all currently have Republican governors and Republican-controlled legislatures. (Source: "Red-State Rebellion," "The Nation," May 14, 2018.)

U.S-China Trade Talks
The U.S. has been insisting that China shrink the U.S. trade deficit with China by $200 billion by the end of 2020. The U.S. document included demands that China immediately stop providing subsidies to industries listed in a key industrial plan. The U.S. says China should agree not to target U.S. agricultural products and "not oppose, challenge or otherwise retaliate" when the U.S.moves to restrict Chinese investments in the U.S. in sensitive sectors. (Source: Gillian Wong and Dake Kang, "U.S.-China Trade Talks Produce Little," "The Nation," May 14, 2018.)

The Shell Company: Essential Consultants
Michael Cohen's shell company, Essential Consultants LLC (EC), received $500,000 from an investment firm whose biggest client was a company controlled by a Russian oligarch and ally of Putin. About $4.4 million passed through EC, including money from Novartis, AT&T, and Korea Aerospace Industries. Stormy Daniels' attorney, Michael Avenatti, said the allegations "appear to reflect a pattern and practice by Michael Cohen of accepting money in return for access to the president."

AT&T confirmed it paid into EC to provide insights into the Trump administration. Novartis said it paid Cohen to provide his expertise into health-care polices. Novartis was paying $100,000 a month , but decided to not pursue the relationship after first meeting with Cohen, but continued to pay  him. The Koran aerospace company thought Cohen could supply valuable information about international aviation accounting practices.

Selective Judgment on Foreign Elections
Although Sarah Huckabee Sanders told the White House press corps that "We don't get to dictate how other countries operate. What we know is Putin has been elected in their country." Yet, President Trump has strongly condemned the reelection of Venezuela president Nicolas Maduro to another six-year term. Trump signed an executive order to block the government of Venezuela from selling or collateralizing certain financial assets. Trump also congratulated China's President Xi Zinping  for being established as president for life.

ADDENDUMS:
*Last week, the Supreme Court upheld the legality of clauses in employment contracts forcing employees to settle disputes with their employers individually with a third-party arbitrator. But workers' ability to band together is crucial to making legal protections real.

*Goldman Sachs believes that an expanding deficit and debt level is likely to put upward pressure on  interest rates, further expanding the deficit.

*A Trump tweet of May 20: "I hereby demand , and will do so officially tomorrow, that the Department of Justice look into whether or not the FBI/DOJ infiltrated or surveilled the Trump Campaign for Political Purposes -- and if any such demands or requests were made by people within the Obama Administration."