May 2025 – Week 5 Edition
Please Educate Our Youth About the Meaning of Memorial Day
The CBS Evening News on Memorial Day cited results of its poll showing fewer than half (42%) of Americans understand the meaning of Memorial Day and who is honored on this historic day.
The purpose of Memorial Day is to honor military personnel who died in service to our country.
The survey also highlights a generational gap about our knowledge of Memorial Day, with 56% of Baby Boomers (born from 1946 to 1964) knowing the correct definition, while less than half that number, 27% of Generation Z (born between 1997 and 2012, currently age 13 to 28) know the correct definition. In between those two extremes, only 38% of Millennials (age 29 to 44) know the correct definition.
Clearly, our youth are not learning the meaning of Memorial Day in their schools, so please take the time to discuss Memorial Day and the meaning of this important holiday during your family gatherings.
I have written a letter to the editor of several major publications asking them to do the same for their readers.
Three country music artists have recorded four patriotic songs that my friends and family who served appreciate hearing on this holiday. All three of these recording artists have held many events abroad entertaining and uplifting our troops with these and other patriotic songs:
- “Arlington” by Trace Adkins
- “American Soldier” by Toby Keith
- “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue” by Toby Keith
- “God Bless the U.S.A.” by Lee Greenwood
Listen and watch the performances of these songs to get a better appreciation of the importance of this day.
Most importantly, thanks to all who served our country in the military.
Federal Spending Increases Continue to the Push Deficit Higher
The so-called “One Big, Beautiful Bill” passed the House last week but it will likely be held up quite a while in the Senate, since there aren’t many spending cuts in that bill, mostly tax cuts. Many Republican Senators will insist on some spending cuts, or else we may face another $2 trillion in red ink this year.
Increasing debt is typically bad for our nation’s credit rating and the dollar. However, it is often good for gold and rare coins, which is why I strongly recommend contacting our representatives to help add gold, silver and rare coins to your investment portfolio.
Beyond the normal increases in social spending, including a passive acceptance of massive fraud and waste in Medicaid, this Bill includes a large increase in defense spending this year and next. While we honor those who have bravely died protecting America, we should also remember that protecting America means seeing far fewer brave Americans dying in future wars! The essential role of “protecting America” through a “Department of Defense,” does not mean that we should engage ourselves in many entangling alliances with overseas nations, according to many previous presidents, in their Farewell Addresses:
“Steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world” – George Washington
“Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations; entangling alliances with none”
– Thomas Jefferson.
“We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence by the military-industrial complex.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower
President Trump is one of the most peaceful Presidents in the postwar era, in that he clearly wants to end wars, not start them or continue them. He does not want to see any our brave Americans soldiers die in battle if he can prevent it. He is also clearly disturbed by seeing the dead and wounded in Ukraine. He does not want to see thousands more sentenced to a lifetime of disability or depression from war wounds.
After the President’s recent tour of the Middle East, the fastest growing sector in the stock market is “the military-industrial complex,” the aerospace and defense sector. Billions of investment dollars are pouring into those stocks after the President secured a $142 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia, which the White House described as the largest defense sales agreement in history. The agreement covered state-of-the-art warfighting equipment and services in five categories: air force and space capabilities, air and missile defense, maritime and coastal security, border security and land forces and communication systems.
The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” that passed the House this past Thursday includes funding for a range of military upgrades. Overall, the bill is part of a broader effort to push defense spending to $1 trillion in fiscal year 2026, up from about $870 billion this year, a year when the U.S. defense spends more than the next 10 nations combined. So, perhaps we can focus more on defending our homeland and less on improving the military might for other nations, thus creating lower debt loads for our grandchildren.
Just a thought.
Gold rose 5.7% in the week leading up to the Memorial Day weekend and silver rose 4%, while stocks fell 2.6% in the S&P 500 and 2.5% in the Dow. These moves were mostly over fear of possible failure in tariff talks with the European Union (EU), especially after a confrontational post by President Trump in a “Truth Social” post early Friday. However, on Sunday, the president posted a more cordial, hopeful post and markets reversed early Tuesday, with stocks rising and gold slowing its continued growth pattern, showing markets tend to overreact to social media posts!
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