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Asking a professor whether they think graduate students are exploited as cheap labor in the lab is akin to expecting a potential suspect to voluntarily confess, not because any given professor is necessarily in the wrong but because whether they like it or not or acknowledge it or not, they operate within an entrenched hierarchy designed for their benefit, one where in the decades since WWII, universities and the scientific enterprise they support evolved to indeed subject graduate students and later post-docs as well to work conditions rather akin to indentured labor.Rather than asking professors, examining independent analyses of the scientific enterprise and of graduate student efforts to unionize provides better understanding, and this US- and biomedical research-specific answer draws on such material.A tenured professor (or principal investigator) typically operates with unquestioning authority as the head of a lab or lab section. Though it's a work environment with quite the extreme power asymmetry, academia runs on the principle that tenured professors self-regulate but we know from Wall Street and Silicon Valley that self-regulation simply doesn't work.In recent decades, some changes and trends in academia further exacerbated this power asymmetry in the US.Research by tenured professors yields manifold economic and other benefits to the university that employs them,Grant money.Prestige.Fees from increased student enrollment using names of star academics as recruiting tools.Potential revenue from patents, licensing fees, biotech and other commercial spin-offs, partnerships and the like.The passage of the Bayh–Dole Act - Wikipedia in 1980 codified and spurred the expansion of such commercial aspects of federally funded university research. Thus motivated, universities expanded their research activities and, generously subsidized by federal monies, tenured professors eagerly and successfully recruited more students to their labs. Research labs thus expanded and even more so during the late Clinton-early Bush II years when the NIH budget ~doubled over a mere handful of years.Problem is while faculty were thus incentivized to churn out more and more Masters and PhDs, faculty positions remained largely stagnant even as mandatory faculty retirement got abolished in 1994. This intensified academic competition, exacerbated the supply-demand gap between eligible candidates and available faculty positions, and increased the pressure to publish research papers within shorter time frames.Too Many Graduate Students, Backbone of Academic Labor; Too Few Faculty PositionsUS universities evolved to staff labs not with a full-time workforce on the university payroll with the benefits and protections that accompany such a designation but with a constantly churning temporary labor force in the form of graduate students and post-docs funded through fellowships, grants, scholarships, teaching or research assistantships (1, 2).Notice how the position of the post-doc barely existed pre-WW II and has ballooned since the 1980s. The post-doc is a purely made-up temporary position whose very existence exemplifies an artificially created supply-demand problem between a glut of PhDs and lack of faculty positions that can absorb them into academia, even as it conveniently offers a steady pipeline of well-trained, cheap labor.Paternalistically labeling graduate students' work products euphemisms such as 'labor of love' or 'intellectual pursuit' cannot mask the ugly reality that an inherently asymmetric relationship leaves them little or no recourse against discrimination, exploitation or harassment, all of which are pervasive and massively under-reported across academia (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10).Meantime, universities and graduate student advisors have consistently fallen short in managing student expectations, woefully failing to train and prepare them for alternate career choices. Some of this may stem from a classic frog-in-the-well mindset. After all, a typical academic best knows how to be an academic and can likely offer little or no guidance about other career options.In the meantime, since the 1980s, an immigrant student population, *cough* workforce, began swelling the ranks of undergraduate and graduate (Masters, PhD) students as well as post-docs (11). Coming in on temporary student visas with little parity or bargaining power with respect to the professors who sponsor their higher studies, such students are the very definition of a captive workforce.The abrupt squeeze on federal research funds in the wake of the Great Recession was a tremendous shock wave to this gussied up system, akin to a pin abruptly and sharply pushed into a tightly inflated balloon. Its aftermath only further exacerbated an already obscene gap between a supply glut and an even further cratering demand.The terms of the exchange are a graduate student's labor in the lab and increasingly, in the classroom as well, in exchange for a degree. Problem is this phony paternalistic mindset deliberately devalues academic labor (1, see below from 2, emphasis mine).'The troubles plaguing academic science -- including fierce competition for funding, dismal career opportunities for young scientists, overdependence on soft money, excessive time spent applying for grants, and many more -- do not arise, Stephan suggests, from a shortage of funds. In 2009, she notes, the United States spent nearly $55 billion on university- and medical school–based research and development, far more than any other nation.The problems arise, Stephan argues, from how that money is allocated: who gets to spend it, where, and on what. Unlike a number of other countries, the United States structures university-based research around short-term competitive grants to faculty members. The incentives built into this system lead universities to behave “as though they are high-end shopping centers,” she writes. “They turn around and lease the facilities to faculty in [exchange for] indirect costs on grants and buyout of salary. In many instances, faculty ‘pay’ for the opportunity of working at the university, receiving no guarantee of income if they fail to bring in a grant.” Those who land funding staff their labs with students enrolled in their department’s graduate program, or with postdocs. Paid out of the faculty member’s grant, both types of workers depend on the primary investigator’s (PI’s) continued success in the tournament.Universities, however, also face considerable risks. They must, for example, provide large start-up packages to outfit new faculty members for the competition. Newcomers generally have about 3 years to establish a revenue stream -- to start winning “the funding to stay in business,” Stephan says. The need to reduce risk explains universities’ growing penchant for hiring faculty members off the tenure track and using adjuncts for teaching. “Medical schools have gone a step further,” Stephan notes, “employing people, whether tenured or nontenured, with minimal guarantees of salary.” Where tenure once constituted a pledge to pay a person’s salary for life, it now constitutes, in the acerbic definition I’ve heard from some medical school professors, a mere “license to go out and fund your own salary.”Risk avoidance has scientific as well as financial consequences. “The system … discourages faculty from pursuing research with uncertain outcomes,” which may endanger future grants or renewals. This peril is “particularly acute for those on soft money.” Experimental timidity produces “little chance that transformative research will occur and that the economy will reap significant returns from investments in research and development.”As in all financial ventures, cost determines much of what goes on in the laboratory. “Cost plays a role in determining whether researchers work with male mice or female mice (females, it turns out, can be more expensive), whether principal investigators staff their labs with postdoctoral fellows (postdocs) or graduate students, and why faculty members prefer to staff labs with ‘temporary’ workers, be they graduate students, postdocs, or staff scientists, rather than with permanent staff.” Postdocs often are a PI’s best staffing buy, Stephan writes, because their excellent skills come with no requirement to pay tuition, which at top private institutions can run $30,000 a year or more. Overall, the need to reduce risk and cost in the grant-based system produces “incentives … to get bigger and bigger” by winning the maximum number of grants and, because grad students and postdocs do the actual bench work, to “produce more scientists and engineers than can possibly find jobs as independent researchers.”Many universities, meanwhile, took out large loans during flush times to finance buildings and equipment intended to give them an edge in attracting grants. They find their fiscal stability “severely threatened when funding from grants plateaus, or does not grow sufficiently to keep pace with the expansion. They face even more serious prospects when budgets decline in real terms.” The nation’s enormous investment in biomedical research has also “created a lobbying behemoth composed of universities and nonprofit health advocacy groups that constantly remind Congress of the importance of funding health-related research,” Stephan adds. This gives rise to unceasing claims that no amount of science funding is ever enough.Although one topflight report described this setup as “ 'incredibly successful’ from the perspective of faculty,” Stephan observes, “it is the Ph.D. students and postdocs who are bearing the cost of the system -- and the U.S. taxpayers -- not the principal investigators.” Undergraduates also carry an increasing share of the load, she adds: Their tuition, often paid with student loans, rises as more funds go to research. Their teachers, meanwhile, increasingly are cut-rate adjuncts rather than the famous professors the recruiting brochures boast about.'This decision to greatly expand graduate student enrollment and use them as poorly paid, poorly protected, temporary academic labor in a greatly expanding academic research landscape has fueled years-long demands for unionization across the US university landscape.On August 23, 2016, the National Labor Relations Board - Wikipedia ruled that graduate students at private colleges are also employees of the colleges where they work and study (12, 13, see below from 14).'The National Labor Relations Board issued a 3-1 decision in Columbia University that student assistants working at private colleges and universities are statutory employees covered by the National Labor Relations Act. The Graduate Workers of Columbia-GWC, UAW filed an election petition seeking to represent both graduate and undergraduate teaching assistants, along with graduate and departmental research assistants at the university in December 2014. The majority reversed Brown University (342 NLRB 483) saying it “deprived an entire category of workers of the protections of the Act without a convincing justification.”For 45 years, the National Labor Relations Board has exercised jurisdiction over private, nonprofit universities such as Columbia. In that time, the Board has had frequent cause to apply the Act to faculty in the university setting, which has been upheld by the Supreme Court.Federal courts have made clear that the authority to define the term “employee” rests primarily with the Board absent an exception enumerated within the National Labor Relations Act. The Act contains no clear language prohibiting student assistants from its coverage. The majority found no compelling reason to exclude student assistants from the protections of the Act.’This groundbreaking decision will surely reverberate across US academia. For example, in April 2018, Harvard graduate students voted 1931 to 1523 to join the United Auto Workers (15, 16).Bibliography1. How Economics Shapes Science: Paula Stephan: 9780674088160: Amazon.com: Books2. Academia's Crooked Money Trail3. The Pyramid Problem4. Moss-Racusin, Corinne A., et al. "Science faculty’s subtle gender biases favor male students." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 109.41 (2012): 16474-16479. http://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/109/41/16474.full.pdf5. Clancy, Kathryn BH, et al. "Survey of academic field experiences (SAFE): Trainees report harassment and assault." PLoS One 9.7 (2014): e102172. Survey of Academic Field Experiences (SAFE): Trainees Report Harassment and Assault6. Better advice for ‘Bothered’7. Sexual harassment is rife in universities, but complaining means risking your career8. It's Time for the ‘Harvey Effect’ to Reach Academia9. SEXUAL HARASSMENT OF WOMEN: Climate, Culture, and Consequences in Academic Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, Medicine, 2018. Sexual Harassment of Women10. Why science breeds a culture of sexism11. The 2018 Science & Engineering Indicators published by the National Science Board (NSF). https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&ved=0ahUKEwiBksjdu5PcAhVF7FMKHdCZAX8QFghJMAM&url=https%3A%2F%2Fnsf.gov%2Fstatistics%2F2018%2Fnsb20181%2Fassets%2Fnsb20181.pdf&usg=AOvVaw1SAjBmXcf-Vc40_J8JHvV012. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjL84SL-ZTcAhVCmuAKHXkKAjwQFghMMAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.chronicle.com%2Fitems%2Fbiz%2Fpdf%2FChronFocus_GradStudentUnionv4_i.pdf&usg=AOvVaw1wWE-XamAyB6bgczMEUKgW13. Grad-Student Unions14. Board: Student Assistants Covered by the NLRA15. Harvard graduate students vote to form a union16. Harvard agrees to negotiate a contract with graduate-student union

Today, ERP systems are critical for managing thousands of businesses of all sizes and in all industries. To these companies, ERP is as indispensable as the electricity that keeps the lights on.ERP systems are designed around a common, defined data structure (schema) that usually has a common database. ERP systems provide access to enterprise data from multiple activities using common constructs and definitions and common user experiences.Procure to PayThis business flow outlines how a company creates purchase orders for the procurement of goods or services and then processes associated invoices for payment, transfers to General Ledger, and reconciliations with bank statements.This flow involves the following products:* General Ledger: General Ledger receives accounting information from many Oracle applications. After the accounting information is imported, journals can be posted and account balances can be updated.* Cash Management: Reconciles cash payments, adjustments, and corrections to cash payments* Payables/iExpenses: Supplier invoices are entered into Payables, and if appropriate, matched to purchase orders in Purchasing. During the matching process, the invoice distribution is copied from the purchase order (in the case of an expense) or the appropriate liability account (in the case of an inventory item). Payables, expenses, and payments are interfaced to General Ledger. Invoices for asset purchases can be interfaced to Assets.* Purchasing/iProcurement: Purchasing captures accounting information about requisitions and purchase orders. Purchase orders are sent to suppliers who respond by delivering goods or services and sending invoices that are processed in Payables. During the accounting period, accruals for goods set to accrue a liability on receipt are sent to General Ledger. Any suppliers set up in Purchasing are shared with Payables and vice versa.Inventory: Oracle Purchasing, as well as other Oracle applications, uses items defined in Oracle Inventory. If the item is designated as a planned item, demand can be generated in the form of requisitions and sent to Purchasing where purchase orders or blanket releases can be created to replenish inventory levels.Order to CashThis business flow encompasses activities starting from order entry, checking/booking of the items in the inventory, shipping of goods, raising invoices, reconciling bank statements and transferring accounting entries to General Ledger.This flow involves the following products:* General Ledger: Imports journals relating to inventory transactions, receivables invoices, adjustments, credits, and receipts* Receivables/iReceivables: Creates invoices and book receivables for shipped goods, services, and so on; corrects invoices, manages collections and records/generates payments from customer* Purchasing/iProcurement: Generates requisitions/drop shipments* Inventory: Provides items or inventory relief* Order Management: Enters orders, ship goods, and provides services* Cash Management: Reconciles customer payments and miscellaneous transactions with bank statements.This business flow outlines how a company analyzes or anticipates demand, and translates that demand into a production plan.This flow involves the following products:* Advanced Supply Chain Planning (ASCP)/Material Requirements Planning (MRP): Creates constraint-based or optimized plans and requisitions (purchase or internal) to replenish Inventory.* Cost Management: Supplies cost information for optimized planning.* Oracle Work in Progress (WIP): Uses discrete, project, repetitive, assemble-to-order, work-order-less, or a combination of manufacturing methods. Inquiries and reports provide a complete picture of transactions, materials, resources, costs, and job and schedule progress.* Capacity: Calculates your capacity load ratio by resource or production line, thereby ensuring that you have sufficient capacity to meet your production requirements.* Bills of Material (BOM): Stores lists of items associated with a parent item and information about how each item is related to its parent.* Purchasing/iProcurement: Requisitions are received from Inventory and ASCP/MRP. Procures goods and services, and records periodic and perpetual accruals.* Inventory: Sets up inventory/expense items and records inventory activity such as receipts of inventory, returns, and corrections.* Order Management: Demand is based on sales orders.Campaign to OrderThis business flow outlines how a company initiates, runs, and tracks a market campaign to attract and secure more orders. The business flow in the slide does not reflect the complete back-end integration with many of the shared entities but depicts more of the front-end functionality.This flow involves the following products:* Discoverer: Market segments of your customer base are created by using Discoverer. From the market segment, a target segment is created (for example, Market Segment = All Repeat Customers, Target Segment = Males over the age of 35).* Marketing: A Marketing campaign is created in Marketing, which targets a particular audience. Campaigns are executed using many different channels (for example, Web, email, sales calls, and etc).* Scripting: A script to help the sales agent through a particular offer is created and made available to all inbound agents. This script can be launched from the Sales application.* Audience: The audience receives email, phone calls, reads an advertisement, and so on.* Advanced Inbound: In this scenario, a call is placed to a 1-800 number, directed to the inbound call center, and then routed to an appropriate sales agent.* Sales: The sales agent launches a script containing details of the offer about which the customer is inquiring.* Order to Cash Flow: The sales agent creates a quote and the quote is passed to Order Management or to the Order to Cash business flow.Click to OrderThis business flow relates to a company specifying its online sales setup. This flow encompasses activities starting from customer registration, setting up of product catalogs, setting up of targeted storefronts, and finally capturing of the order. However, the business flow in the slide does not reflect the complete back-end integration with many of the shared entities. The modules displayed in the slide depict more of the front-end functionality.This flow involves the following products:* iStore: iStore is the focal point of Click to Order. It enables a company to do business on the Web by using business-to-consumer (B2C) and/or business-to-business (B2B) models.* Java Transaction API (JTA): JTA provides the user management functionality to the store to enable the creation of users and their management.* Inventory: Product or services sold in the store are items in Inventory.* Marketing: The eMerchandizing module of Marketing can be used to advertise and make product recommendations within the store. Also, campaigns involving a discount are created in Marketing, those discounts are created in Pricing.* Sales: Saved shopping carts that have been used for a predetermined amount of time are made available to Sales as leads.* Pricing: iStore can call the pricing engine to determine the price of an item and check whether modifiers exist that can be applied to the price. Quoting can also call Pricing to determine the price.* Quoting: A saved shopping cart is actually a quote in Quoting.* Order to Cash: iStore communicates via the Order Capture Foundation APIs to Order Management (Order Fulfillment). The follow-on flow would be the Order to Cash flow.Contract to RenewalThis business flow encompasses activities such as managing and renewing contracts (both manually and automatically) and authoring new service contracts for prospects or existing customers. However, the business flow in the slide does not reflect the complete back-end integration with many of the shared entities. The modules displayed in the slides depict more of the front-end functionality.This flow involves the following products:* iStore: An order placed in iStore can have a sales contract created for it. During checkout, the customer has the option to accept or negotiate the terms of the sales contract.* Quoting: From Quoting, a sales representative can create a quote for a customer and then create a sales contract from the quote for further negotiation.* Sales Contracts: Sales contracts are created in the Sales Contracts module.* Quoting: From Quoting, the quote is sent to the Order to Cash flow for booking and fulfillment. If the item purchased has a warranty attached, or an extended warranty is purchased, a service contract will be created when it is instantiated in the customer’s installation base.* Service Contracts: If the item the customer wants a warranty for was not purchased from the deploying merchant, then a warranty or service contract can be purchased and billed through Service Contracts.* Accounts Receivable: Accounts Receivable invoices for the item, an item with extended warranty, or only the service contract.Request to ResolutionThe Request to Resolution business procedure enables a customer or customer service representative to create a service request, search for a solution from Knowledge Management, resolve, and close that service request. This business flow enables companies to manage the service request lifecycle including service request escalation and charges for the service provided. However, the business flow in the slide does not reflect the complete back-end integration with many of the shared entities. The modules displayed in the slide depict more of the front-end functionality. The dotted lines (- - - - - ) in the slide show some of the additional options to resolve a service request.* Customer: A customer has purchased a product from a merchant who has implemented iSupport. The customer logs in to iSupport.* iSupport: When logged into iSupport, the customer can view and update the installed base.* Installed Base: The products owned by the customer account. This can be done automatically or manually.* Inventory: Only products in Inventory can be added automatically or manually.* Knowledge Management: Search for solutions by using Knowledge Management. If you cannot find a solution, you can submit a service request.* Teleservice: The merchant facing application used by the merchant’s support personnel* Order Capture Foundation APIs: From iSupport or Teleservice, a customer can also create a return material authorization (RMA). When an RMA is created, it is submitted to the Order Fulfillment cycle.* Order to Cash: Order Fulfillment can also refer to the Order to Cash flow. When it is in the Order to Cash flow, the order is credited with line types for a return.Project to ProfitThe Project to Profit business flow encompasses activities from project initiation, planning, scheduling, and scope. It also covers managing of resources and defines work breakdown structure, and collection of expenses.This flow involves the following products:* General Ledger: Receives journals* Payables/iExpenses: Records project-related invoices* Receivables/iReceivables: Records progress billings* Purchasing/iProcurement: Records committed costs* Assets: Capitalizes assets* Payroll: Records project-related labor* Projects: Defines and tracks projects along with resourcesPeople to PaycheckThis business process encompasses activities related to calculation and generation of payroll payments to employees. This flow enables users to set up necessary payroll elements and methods for particular employees, perform payroll processing (standard, periodic, supplementary, and one-offs for a single employee), pay employees by check or direct deposit, request various related reports, and perform costing and transfer of completed payroll data to General Ledger.This flow involves the following products:* HRMS: Manages HR-related activities* Payroll: Manages payroll* Cash Management: Reconciles payroll* General Ledger: Records labor expensePlan to ReplenishPurchasing, Inventory: Perform Min-Max PlanningEstablish Inventory Planning Policies* Defines the policy for the management’s guidelines for planning the purchase or assembly of material outside of the ASP plan—for example, safety stock levels and order quantities by item* Determines item Min-Max levelPlan Min-Max Material* Plans for the replenishment of Inventory using Min-MaxRequisition to Receipt* Performs direct transactions such as requisitions, raise and issue purchase orders and receipts by using Purchasing, or raise receipts using Inventory.Purchasing: Generate Requisitions* Performs requisition import and creates requisitions* This concurrent program can be scheduled to run automatically.Benefits to PayrollAdminister Employee Benefits* Employees receive benefits information to evaluate benefit plan offerings for annual open enrollment.* Employees review their current benefits before making new annual elections.Determine Participant Eligibility* Benefit eligibility modeling is performed to evaluate various benefit choices and costs to an employee based on eligibility.Manage Benefits Enrollment* Manage benefits for new enrollments and open enrollment.Administer Third Party Vendor Relationships* Extract new and changed employee benefits enrollment information for submission to the Benefit Providers.Administer Flex Spending Accounts (US Only)* FSA accounts are maintained for employee health care and dependent care reimbursement requests.Post to PayrollProcessed enrollments and benefit payments have been posted to the payroll for processing in the designated pay run.Forecast to PlanThis business flow outlines how a company uses sales order history to produce a forecast, design a production, manufacturing, or distribution plan from that forecast, and how to analyze, revise, and simulate changes to that plan.The flow involves the following products:* Demand Planning: Create consolidated forecasts based on marketing, sales, and manufacturing.* Order Management: Provide sales order information.* Advanced Supply Chain Planning (ASCP): Create constraint-based plans or optimized plans.

When Trump boasted that his IQ was higher than Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's, it was part of a pattern. In 2013, he tweeted that his IQ was "much higher" than Barack Obama and George W Bush. He has also claimed a higher IQ than comedian Jon Stewart. This is a guy who seems obsessed with IQ…. what psychologists might rightly call “illusory superiority,” a condition of cognitive bias wherein a person overestimates their own qualities and abilities, in relation to that of others…..or what we might call wishful thinking.Trump has never revealed his own IQ. So can we work it out? Well, it’s not as impossible as it looks, here is a review of what we do know, all of it quite revealing and refection of a person’s intelligence. After all, isn't the real issue not an abstract IQ number, but how we leverage our intelligence to interact, socialize, learn and maneuver through the ups and downs that life throws at us?So let's take a look at the evidence readily available in regard to both men.Trump is a guy who doesn't read, has no interest in any type of intellectual pursuits of any kind and was rated as really dumb by one of his Profs;"William T. Kelley, who taught Trump at the University of Pennsylvania, said, “Donald Trump was the dumbest goddamn student I ever had.”Source: Chicago Tribune “Donald Trump's biggest flaw: He's not that bright” https://www.chicagotribune.com/n...“Trump transferred into Wharton’s undergraduate program — then known as the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce — after spending two years at Fordham University in New York. Despite Trump’s repeated mention of Wharton, his own classmates hardly remember him, and he even describes the school’s high-flung reputation as overwrought in his 1986 book, “Trump: The Art of the Deal.”In a 1985 biography of Trump, Jerome Tuccille wrote that he was not an honor student and “spent a lot of time on outside business activities.”Another biographer, Gwenda Blair, wrote in 2001 that Trump was admitted to Wharton on a special favor from a “friendly” admissions officer. The officer had known Trump’s older brother, Freddy.Source: Trump flaunts Wharton degree, but his college years remain a mystery. The Daily Pennsylvanian; Trump flaunts Wharton degree, but his college years remain a mysteryTony Schwartz, the ghostwriter of “The Art of the Deal,” ( you really didn’t think Trump wrote this did you?) said Trump had “a stunning level of superficial knowledge and plain ignorance.”Source: https://bluenationreview.com/don...This is not a smart person. By the way, one of the markers of intelligent people is their vocabulary. One psychologist who tests students rated Trump’s vocabulary at the grade 6 or 7 level, virtually spot on to General Jim Mattis’ assessment.Source: Donald Trump speaks at the level of an 8-year-old, analysis findsSource: https://bluenationreview.com/don...David Cay Johnston, a financial reporter, and someone who knows Trump intimately, having literally followed and reported on Trump and his career for decades, had this to say after scoring an interview with Trump, at a time when Trump was planning to enter the casino business. Johnston said he was stunned by Trump’s lack of business acumen and stated: “Trump couldn’t answer basic business questions that a first-year Wharton student could.” This was a poseur, a phony, someone who always got by on bluff and intimidation, unable and/or unwilling to do the work or take the time to learn the business or develop the business skills necessary to succeed.Source: “It's Even Worse Than You Think; What the Trump Administration Is Doing to America By David Cay JohnstonIt has become more than apparent that Trump knows little about most things and next to nothing in terms of either managing his administration, the country or in fulfilling his role as president. Not only are these accusations voiced by his opposition, but similar concerns have also been even documented by his cabinet ministers, a number of whom have called him an idiot, a “fucking moron” or as “having the intelligence of a 5th or 6th grader”, virtually spot on with General Jim Mattis’ assessment of Trump’s ability.Source: “Fear: Trump in the White House” by Bob WoodwardSource: Donald Trump speaks at the level of an 8-year-old, analysis findsSource: https://bluenationreview.com/don...This guy is always claiming he " is like a real smart guy", yet Gary Cohn, the former White House adviser and former head of Goldman Sachs, someone considered as one of the, if not the, smartest guys on Wall Street, having joined TRUMP as an advisor, stated “this man HAS THE I.Q. OF AN INBRED TANNING BED”.Cohn said he was “astounded” by the depths of the president’s stupidity. He said it was a stone-cold, mind-blowing, we’ve-never-seen-an-I.Q.-in-the-single-digits-before levels of stupidity.He called the president a joke a liar and a “con on the public”, this from Cohn, the Goldman Sachs president turned National Economic Council director. Cohn stated he came away from his very first meeting with Donald Trump “astounded” by just how dumb the guy was.Cohn gave examples of what he meant. During a chat about various economic issues, Cohn told Trump that the Federal Reserve would likely increase rates during his first term in office, to which the President responded, “We should just go borrow a lot of money, hold it, and then sell it to make money.” This suggestion and “lack of basic understanding” about how federal debt works apparently sent chills up Cohn’s spine.Cohn went on to explain that borrowing more money would increase the deficit and add to the debt, something that would, in theory, be counterproductive for a delusional president who had pledged to completely eliminate the federal debt!!But “ I’m like a really smart guy”, wasn’t finished: The president-elect offered a solution. “Just run the presses—print money,” Trump said. Cohn suggested that would be detrimental to the fiscal and economic health of the U.S., since printing vast amounts of money leads to inflation. . . . Cohn also pointed out that there was a federal debt ceiling, a statutory limit to the amount of debt the federal government can have outstanding. Even approaching the debt ceiling can be harmful to the stock market and U.S. economic growth. But Cohn’s message did not seem to connect. Cohn told friends “It was clear that Trump did not understand the way the U.S. government debt cycle balance sheet worked”. Of course, the fact that the 45th president of the United States is an idiot is not exactly a new revelation.Source: “Fear: Trump in the White House” by Bob WoodwardBy contrast, Obama attended two top Ivy league schools, Columbia and Harvard Law, where he earned the very vaunted Harvard Law Review role in 1990.Here is what the New York Times reported at the time back in 1990: “The Harvard Law Review, generally considered the most prestigious in the country, elected the first black president in its 104-year history today. The job is considered the highest student position at Harvard Law School.The new president of the Review is Barack Obama, a 28-year-old graduate of Columbia University who spent four years heading a community development program for poor blacks on Chicago's South Side before enrolling in law school. His late father, Barack Obama, was a finance minister in Kenya and his mother, Ann Dunham, is an American anthropologist who did fieldwork in Indonesia.”As well as the high office won on merit, of note is the fact that both of Obama’s parents were well educated, each holding graduate degrees as well as a Ph.D. in his mother’s case. The education of parents is often a harbinger of similar intelligence levels in their offspring.Harvard professor Laurence Tribe is a sort of legal rock star rated as one of the very best of the best legal minds and American Law Professors who taught Obama and had this to say about his famous student: Upon checking his day timer, Tribe pointed out, "and there's an exclamation point next to it. ( Obama’s name)" That was to remind Tribe how impressed he was by this skinny kid in jeans, a sweatshirt and an afro, then a lowly first-year law student.” Their first conversation lasted hours, and Obama went on to work for Tribe on articles and books, including one called Abortion: The Clash of Absolutes.Tribe recalls that his research assistant tried to find a way out of deeply entrenched lines of the abortion debate, focusing instead on education and access to birth control. "It's as though he was looking not just for a point in the middle of a spectrum, but for a line that was perpendicular, so that one could get outside the tragic choice."The two have remained close, with Tribe serving as a mentor and informal adviser to the president over the years.Professor Charles Ogletree plays a similar role in Obama's life. In 1989, Ogletree taught a non-credit Saturday course to give first-year students a basic set of skills in law school.Ogletree remembers the student “who always arrived on time, sat in the front row, and was professorial almost to a fault. After answering the question, Obama would say, "But Al, who talked earlier, had a very good point when he said X. And Sarah, I think she really captured it when she said Y. And if you think about Latoya, her analysis was ..." at which point Ogletree would interject, "Barack, I'm teaching this class, not you!" That might sound like the arrogance Obama is sometimes accused of, but to Ogletree it sounded like this student was trying to bring everyone into the conversation.Bridge-BuilderAccording to Harvard classmate Ken Mack, “He (Obama) seemed to know who he was, be very grounded. Even then, classmate Ken Mack recalls, Obama stood apart. Mack is now a professor at Harvard Law School and author of the book Representing the Race: The Creation of the Civil Rights Lawyer."He seemed to know who he was, be very grounded," says Mack. There was no sign of the kid people used to call "Barry.""If you would've told me that someone had called him Barry, I would have been surprised. Barry is a little bit diminutive — that would not have fit him at all," Mack saysTaking The LeadBy the end of Obama's second year, his academic record and reputation had qualified him to run for one of the most prestigious roles at the law school — president of the Harvard Law Review.The review editors were a partisan, contentious group. Classmate Brad Berenson remembers the guy from Hawaii who floated above the fray. "One of the enduring images I have of him is of a guy in jeans and a leather jacket, Jimmy Dean style, standing out in front of Gannett House smoking a cigarette."Berenson was one of the conservatives, and in a long, contentious election, his group ultimately supported Obama's candidacy."They did that in part because they had a sense that he was more open-minded and would listen to the conservatives, and would value and accept their contributions in a way that some of the other candidates would not," says Berenson, who worked in the George W. Bush White House and is now a member of Romney's justice advisory committee. The following are Obama's top 16 major accomplishments:1. Ended the 2008 RecessionIn February 2009, Congress approved Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus package. It cut taxes, extended unemployment benefits, and funded public works projects.The recession ended in July 2009 when GDP growth turned positive.In just seven months, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act pumped $241.9 billion into the economy. That increased growth to a robust 3.9 percent rate by early 2010. By March 30, 2011, almost all ($633.5 billion) of the funds were spent.2. Modernized the Auto IndustryObama bailed out the U.S. auto industry on March 30, 2009. The federal government took over General Motors and Chrysler, saving three million jobs. It forced the companies to become more fuel efficient and therefore more globally competitive.3. Received the 2009 Nobel Peace PrizeOn October 9, 2009, Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. The Committee lauded "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." He withdrew troops from Iraq in 2011. He reduced the U.S. nuclear warhead stockpile by 10 percent.4. Reformed Health CareOn March 23, 2010, the Affordable Care Act revolutionized healthcare. By 2014, the economy benefited from having 95 percent of the population on health insurance.The greater number of people receiving preventive care reduced the number of expensive visits to emergency rooms.That slows the rise of health care costs for everyone. That's because Medicaid reimburses hospitals for emergency care. Those are the most significant of Obamacare's 10 advantages.Why did health care need to be reformed? Rising costs threatened to take over the entire federal budget. It was also the no.1 cause of bankruptcies. In return, Americans received the worst health care in the developed world. It is the only one of 33 developed countries without universal health care.President Donald Trump promised to "repeal and replace" Obamacare. As of October 2017, he has failed to pass any legislation. But he is weakening Obamacare even without repeal.5. Regulated the Big BanksIn July 2010, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act improved regulation of eight areas that led to the financial crisis. The Consumer Financial Protection Agencyreduced harmful practices of credit cards and mortgages. The Financial Stability Oversight Council regulated hedge funds and banks that became too big to fail. The "Volcker Rule" banned banks from risking losses with their depositors' money. Dodd-Frank clarified which agencies regulated which banks, stopping banks from cherry-picking their regulators.Dodd-Frank directed the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. These regulated the riskiest derivatives, like credit default swaps and commodities futures. Dodd-Frank also asked the SEC to recommend how the credit rating agencies, like Moody's and Standard & Poor's, could be improved.6. 2010 Tax CutsIn December 2010, Obama and Congress agreed upon additional stimulus in the form of an $858 billion tax cut. It had three main components: a $350 billion extensionof the Bush tax cuts, a $56 billion extension of unemployment benefits, and a $120 billion reduction in workers' payroll taxes. Businesses received $140 billion in tax cuts for capital improvements and $80 billion in research and development tax credits. The estate tax was exempted (up to $5 million), and there were additional credits for college tuition and children.7. Eliminated bin Laden Threat and Withdrew Troops from Iraq and Afghanistan WarsOn May 1, 2011, Navy SEALs attacked the al-Qaida leader's compound in Pakistan and eliminated Osama bin Laden. Later that year, Obama withdrew troops from the Iraq War. Three years later, renewed threats from ISIS meant troops had to return. The Sunni-Shiite split within Islam means there may always be wars in the Middle East.In 2014, Obama wound down the war in Afghanistan. Ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan should have reduced annual military spending. At over $800 billion, it was the largest discretionary budget item and one of the leading causes of the budget deficit and national debt.Instead, spending on the War on Terror remained higher than during the Bush administration.8. Raised Fuel Efficiency StandardsOn August 28, 2012, the Obama administration announced new fuel efficiency standards. He required cars and light trucks obtain 54.5 MPG by 2025. That would reduce oil consumption by 12 billion barrels, saving drivers $1.7 trillion. It would also reduce the damage of climate change by lowering greenhouse gases.The Trump administration promised to roll back these standards. But California requires zero-emissions vehicles. Twelve other states adopted the mandate. Major automakers must build cars to meet stricter standards in the European Union and Asia.9. Won 2012 Presidential Re-electionOn November 6, 2012, Obama won a second term. Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney promised to repeal Obamacare and Dodd-Frank. Voters were not sure about eliminating health benefits and regulations against big banks. Romney failed to capture the country's imagination by not presenting a new vision for economic growth.10. Reduced Carbon EmissionsObama announced carbon reduction regulations in 2014. He enacted the Clean Power Plan in 2015. It reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 32 percent from 2005 levels by 2030. It did this by setting carbon reduction goals for the nation's power plants. To comply, power plants agreed to create 30 percent more renewable energy generation by 2030. It encourages carbon emissions trading by allowing states that emit less than the carbon cap to trade their surplus to states that emit more than the cap.11. Nuclear Agreement With IranOn July 14, 2015, Obama brokered a nuclear peace agreement with Iran. That meant Iran could not longer build a nuclear bomb in three months. Instead, it would take at least a year. In return, the United Nations lifted the economic sanctions it imposed in 2010. Trump is weakening the agreement to try and negotiate a better deal for the United States.12. World's Largest Trade AgreementOn October 4, 2015, Obama's team negotiated the Trans-Pacific Partnership. It would have replaced NAFTA as the world's largest free-trade agreement. It would have removed tariffs between the United States and 11 other countries that border the Pacific Ocean. On January 23, 2017, Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement. The other countries are planning to continue the agreement anyway. Japan and the European Union are negotiating their own agreement.Obama launched the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership between the United States and the European Union.Obama's term ended before negotiations on the TTIP could be finalized. It would have been bigger than the TPP. President Trump has not made much progress on the TTIP.13. International Climate Change AgreementOn December 12, 2015, Obama and 196 other countries announced the Paris Climate Agreement. Countries agreed to reduce carbon emissions and increase carbon trading. The goal is to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures. Developed countries will contribute $100 billion a year to assist emerging markets. They bear the brunt of damage from climate change. They face increased typhoons, rising sea levels, and more severe droughts.On October 5, 2016, enough countries ratified the agreement that it went into effect. At the 2016 G20 meeting, China and the United States agreed to ratify the agreement. These two countries are the world's largest emitters of greenhouse gases. On June 1, 2017, Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from the agreement.14. Third-Best Job CreatorObama is the third-bestt job-creating president in U.S. history. His policies put 16 million people to work from the depths of the recession in December 2009 to the end of his term. That's because unemployment continued to rise even after the recession ended in July. It takes a few months of economic growth before businesses are confident enough to begin hiring again.Other AccomplishmentsMaintained Continuation of Federal Reserve Policy - Obama appointed Federal Reserve Vice-Chair Janet Yellen to replace Ben Bernanke. She maintained an expansionary monetary policy that created the lowest interest rates in 200 years. This allowed the early stages of the housing recovery and slow but steady business expansion to continue. That's because Treasury yields affect mortgage interest rates.Deficit Spending - The major mark against Obama is the increase in the national debt. Part of the reason for this increase was the deficit spending he used to stimulate the economy. Deficits fell in his second term. Obama's total deficits were $6.785 trillion, more than any other president.·FY 2017: $666 billion·FY 2016: $585 billion·FY 2015: $438 billion·FY 2014: $485 billion·FY 2013: $679 billion.·FY 2012: $1.087 trillion·FY 2011: $1.3 trillion.·FY 2010: $1.294 trillion.·FY 2009: Added $253 billion in stimulus spending to the Bush budget.No Personal Scandal - One achievement has gone unnoticed but is nevertheless admirable. That's Obama's unblemished personal record. President Obama has served longer than any president in decades without the appearance of the word “scandal” on the front page of The Washington Post.For any thinking person, looking at Trump and Obama, there is no question that Obama essentially the same height as Trump, but metaphorically Obama is head and shoulders over Trump, more intelligent and smarter in every measurable way.