Rich Rifkin

United States

Columnist at The Davis Enterprise

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Articles

Our best laid plans in Iran could still go awry

5 days ago | davisenterprise.com | Rich Rifkin

TACO is the acronym that has bedeviled the president of the United States the last month. It means Trump Always Chickens Out. He earned that knock by threatening to raise tariffs by staggering amounts, only to back down repeatedly and extend whatever deadlines he had set. In that respect, he has been all talk, no action.
Rich Rifkin: Best-laid plans in Iran could still go awry

5 days ago | davisenterprise.com | Rich Rifkin

TACO is the acronym that has bedeviled the president of the United States the last month. It means Trump Always Chickens Out. He earned that knock by threatening to raise tariffs by staggering amounts, only to back down repeatedly and extend whatever deadlines he had set. In that respect, he has been all talk, no action.
Rich Rifkin: Better pavement will be cost-effective for Davis

2 weeks ago | davisenterprise.com | Rich Rifkin

Davis roads have been deteriorating ever since 2001, when the Davis City Council enhanced — and therefore increased the cost of — pensions for firefighters and cops and later did the same for all other city employees. Money that had been covering basic services — road repairs, parks and greenbelt maintenance, tree trimming and programs for poor children and seniors — has been diverted to pay for rich retirements for current and former workers. Davis now has two different pension bills.
Rich Rifkin: Trump's tax policies will raise our trade deficit

1 month ago | davisenterprise.com | Rich Rifkin

It’s not surprising when someone who doesn’t listen to, read or understand the work of experts bases his beliefs on falsehoods and draws factually wrong conclusions. Donald Trump arrogantly presumes he knows more about climate science than climate scientists, more about medicine than medical researchers and more about history than historians. So it comes as no surprise to educated Americans that Donald Trump thinks he understands economics, yet is wholly wrong and ignorant on the subject.
Get motivated to maintain your muscle mass

1 month ago | davisenterprise.com | Rich Rifkin

As colds go, this one was rather mild. A sore throat followed by rhinitis and lethargy for several days. No cough; no headache; no fever. It was, nevertheless, enough to keep me out of the gym and off my bicycle for a week. When I returned to exercising, I wasn’t 100%. I could keep up on a group ride to Dixon, but was tired after just 32 miles. At my gym, the first day back after seven off, I was noticeably weaker and decided the wisest course was to get in fewer reps.
Rich Rifkin: Musk and Trump are not saving government money

2 months ago | davisenterprise.com | Rich Rifkin

When Donald Trump appointed billionaire business executive Elon Musk to lead his newly minted “Department of Government Efficiency” — known as DOGE — the president asked Musk and his staffers to root out “waste, fraud and abuse.”During a bill-signing ceremony at his estate in Florida, President Trump praised the work of his appointees.
Teetering on the edge of Trump tariff trauma

2 months ago | davisenterprise.com | Rich Rifkin

Since Donald Trump took office in January, he has executed the most erratic economic program in American history. One week he tells our closest friends and fiercest rivals he is going to dramatically raise tariffs on everything we buy from them. The next he puts those hikes on hold. Less than three months into his presidency, Trump has played this game multiple times.
Rich Rifkin: Diabetes is too costly to not cure

2 months ago | davisenterprise.com | Rich Rifkin

Diabetes is an expensive disease. According to the American Diabetes Association, “People with diagnosed diabetes now account for one of every four health care dollars spent in the U.S.” Diabetics cost our medical system 2.6 times as much as those without that diagnosis. Every five years, the ADA publishes an economic report.
Trump's tariffs may topple the American economy

Mar 17, 2025 | davisenterprise.com | Rich Rifkin

In his April 25, 1987 radio address, then-President Ronald Reagan explained his opposition to the sort of trade protectionism now being boosted by President Trump. “Over the long run, trade barriers hurt every American worker and consumer.”Mr. Reagan lived through the Great Depression and correctly understood that the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 “greatly deepened the Depression and prevented economic recovery.” He wanted to prevent a recurrence of a trade war in his time in office.
Rich Rifkin: High-ranked schools beget high home prices

Mar 3, 2025 | davisenterprise.com | Rich Rifkin

Homeowners and prospective buyers in our area know that houses in Davis sell for a premium compared with those on the market in Woodland and other nearby towns. While no two neighborhoods in different cities are ever exact comps, Mariposa Street in northwest Woodland and Cornell Drive in Central Davis are close. Single-family tract homes built in the 1960s. Similar lot sizes and ranch architecture.