Donald Trump's new method of measuring trade

Donald Trump has claim that our current method of measuring economic data is not accurate enough and has recommend a new method.  But according to mainstream economist who have reviewed Trump's suggestion, state that this new method would make trade deficits seem larger, which would make Trump's protectionist policies seem necessary. Charles Lane wrote an article on The Washington Post titled, "Trump's attempt to massage economic data isn't new. But there's a better way," were he tries to normalize Trump's current proposal. He begins by making the claim that Bernie Sanders and possibly Hillary Clinton would have recommended deviating from the way we measure economic data to a new method that supports a political agenda such as the one Trump has introduced. Charles Lane then tries to support his first claim by making another claim, that in 2014 14 Democrats from the House propose to Barrack Obama the "same math" that Donald Trump wants to implement. He then points out that a left-wing activist by the name of Lori Wallach supports Trumps proposal to further his claim that the left agrees with such idea. By now it is crystal clear that his intended audience is the left, which are the democrats and the liberals. The logic behind him constantly claiming that democrats were in favor of the "same math" way before Donald Trump is to convince the readers that this idea originated from the left and not from this new administration. His objective is to normalize Trump's new method and to reduce resistance for such proposal.  Charles Lane provides no real opposing views and some of the sources he cites could not be found, supporting my belief of him being a discreditable source. Overall he blends common knowledge and facts with distorted truth in an attempted to convince or at least confuse the reader.

An article published by CNN titled " Two-thirds of Navy strike fighter jets can't fly", describes the dire state of the Navy's fleet and is another example of the condition the U.S. military is in. Just like that title indicates, almost two-thirds of the Navy's F/A 18 fighter jets are grounded due to needed maintenance.  As a result of the Budget Control Act put in place in 2011, it has left the military with an aging fleet that is being used 25% to 50% beyond its designed lifespan and with an undermanned workforce. With budget restrictions in place and no increase in defense spending, the Navy as well as the other services are having a hard time increasing the number of maintainers as well as obtaining the amount of necessary aircraft parts to put the jets back in the air. The military with a shortage of operational aircraft, an overused fleet, and a lack of manpower have left it unprepared for future conflicts.