March, 2020,Part 8, Political Class Insanity: Tlaib Continues To Embarrass Herself and Congress, Hateful Politics In Finland and More

It is another month which means it is again time to review the latest political class insanity from Washington and around the world. Political class insanity takes many forms including the wasting of taxpayer wealth, criminal fraud within government programs, inane and stupid political quotes and actions, the inability to create and implement effective and efficient government programs, stupid and ill performing economic policies and strategies, and other forms of insanity that continue to evolve and surprise and shock us.

Let’s get started:

1) Rashida Tlaib is a freshman Congresswoman from Michigan. She has also been one of the most profane, hateful, and disgusting members of Congress over the past two years. Everyone that disagrees with her is a racist, she has basically called for the destruction of Israel, and she drops f-bombs without much hesitation, hardly the behavior and class one would want from a member of Congress.

But her arrogance and greed may be getting her in serious trouble from a criminal perspective:

• The House Ethics Committee is investigating whether she requested money from her campaign finances for personal use, a Congressional no-no.
• The committee is in possession of documents that highlight the communications between herself and her staff members that indicate she actually had made those requests, an action that would be unethical and possibly criminal.
• Texts and emails indicate that she was desperate to get some of her campaign funds into her personal accounts.
• An April, 2018 email to her staff claimed that she was “struggling financially right now” and “sinking.”
• Specifically: “So I was thinking the campaign could loan me money, but Ryan [Ryan Anderson was her chief of staff.] said that the committee could actually pay me. I was thinking a one time payment of $5k.”
• In another email she complained that she was “just not going to make it through the campaign without a stipend. With the loss of a second income to lean back on, I am requesting $2,000 per two weeks but not exceeding $12,000. The cost of living stipend is going towards much needed expenses due to campaigning that includes car maintenance, child care and other necessities. Please let me know if I can proceed.”
• In a text message she stared, “Sorry for the early text but do you think the campaign can still pay me a stipend until the general. Trying to get out of debt.” 

The House Ethics Committee must now determine whether or not she violated ethics rules and/or Federal Law by diverting campaign funds to personal use. In either case it is not a good look since this person is responsible for helping determine where our tax dollars are spent and yet cannot manage her own personal finances.

2) Let’s stay with Tlaib and another example of why she is such a bad role model and intolerant person in addition to possibly being financially and criminally liable for misusing campaign funds. Obviously, the country is under a lot of stress right now with the coronavirus crisis. Jobs are being furloughed, public gatherings are being curtailed, people are getting sick, and there is a serious economic hit across the economy and the country.

In times like this, some people find strength and solace in prayer. Since the First Amendment provides freedom of religion in this country and protects that freedom of religion from persecution by the government, many people have probably turned to prayer for comfort in these trying times, which is certainly their right to do so.

As a member of Congress, one would think, and hope, that Tlaib would respect that right and someone’s desire to seek strength through their religion. But given her past disgusting behavior, that was probably too much to think of Tlaib. In response to the crisis, President Trump declared March 15th a day of prayer (“We are a Country that, throughout our history, has looked to God for protection and strength in times like these. No matter where you may be, I encourage you to turn towards prayer in an act of faith. Together, we will easily PREVAIL!”). 

In response, Tlaib put forth the following disgusting tweet: “Don’t let this administration address COVID-19 like our national gun violence epidemic. F*** a National day of prayer, we need immediate comprehensive action.”

Nice, dropping f-bombs relative to a simple request and suggestion that people find peace and solace in a particular way, a way that is protected from politicians like Tlaib under the First Amendment. In addition to being crude and disrespectful, I haven't seen any positive input from her relative to what would be “immediate comprehensive action.”

Only after a severe public backlash did she try to weasel her way out of her disgusting remarks: “Let me be clear as someone who has been praying through this all & as someone who attended the National Prayer Breakfast. My retweet was not to be an attack on prayer. It was to bring attention to the need for meaningful action to combat this public health crisis.” 

But this is too little too late. By saying “F**k a National Day of Prayer” she did commit an attack on prayer and those who practice it, no doubt about it. And again, in her attempt to back out of her hateful remarks, she provided no positive input on what would be a “meaningful action” beyond what is being done already.

Bottom line: a despicable representative, a profane person in Congress who might also be a criminal representative of Congress.

3) An annoying habit that has been picked up by the American political class over the years, predominantly by liberals and Democrats, is to refrain from adult, mature, and logic based discussion of issues and just lash out and attack those that have a different opinion from themselves. We documented dozens of such examples in the following post:

https://loathemygovernment.blogspot.com/2016/11/retro-3-obama-presidency-end-of-error.html

Political discourse in this country, especially when disagreeing with a liberal, usually and quickly turns into violent, profane, and hateful attacks against those that have a different opinion.

Apparently, this trait is not restricted to just the American political class, at least one leftist politician in Finland recently displayed the same hateful traits as many American liberals and Democrats:

• Mish Dellinger, is a member of Finland's political class and Finland’s Left Alliance.
• Apparently, Dellinger is a global warming advocate which is certainly his right in a free country.
• However, he took it a step too far when he got caught using an anonymous Twitter account to call for the death of those that do not share his views on global warming/climate change.
• Yes, he wanted all “climate change deniers and fascists” to be put to death for having a different opinion than him, that “climate deniers should be shot.”
• When confronted with accusations that he used the fake account to make the threats he first denied that he was involved in the tweets and then he claimed that others had access to the account.
• He eventually admitted that, “the account does not live up to my values. I sincerely apologize to the party, my fellow party members and the left-wing electorate for the uproar surrounding the issue.” 

What a small minded, hateful person who is also apparently a rabid liar. First he said the account was not his then he said others had access to his account and then he changed his story a third time and apologized for his hateful words. What a loser but unfortunately, he is not much different than the hateful politicians in this country.

4) Last piece of insanity for this month. According to the Convention of States website:

• The Federal government annually sends about $40 billion in taxpayer wealth to foreign countries.
• Some in government claim that foreign aid is a necessary international tool.
• But a new study from the World Bank estimates that over 7.5% of American foreign aid ends up in the bank accounts of wealthy families and corrupt government officials in foreign countries and not used to help the ordinary citizens in those countries.
• The World Bank created those estimates by tracking the deposits of money in offshore bank accounts coming from countries receiving foreign aid.
• In some countries, the amount of money diverted to wealthy people and government officials is as high as 15%.
• But the 7.5% number is only the amount of wealth that leaves the country, it does not count the amount of aid that was stolen and used inside the countries receiving the aid.
• It is known that other parts of the foreign aid is used to buy real estate, high end cars, and make other high end purchases within the country.
• The Convention of States summed up why this abuse of taxpayer wealth is so atrocious: “Of course, $40 billion is just a drop in the federal budget, but it represents one of hundreds of expenses that the federal government fails to oversee. The feds waste billions of taxpayer dollars every year, money that hardworking Americans could use to expand their businesses, take care of their families, or save for retirement.”

We work hard to create the wealth and pay taxes and Congress and the rest of Washington casually hands it out to other, non-deserving wealthy types around the world. Insane.

That will do it for today’s and this month’s political class insanity: wasting our money under the guise of foreign debt, another hateful leftist politician,this one from Finland, and another despicable and hateful member of Congress.

Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:

https://www.amazon.com/Walter-Bruno-Korschek/e/B002KYU08Q/ref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share

It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.

Please visit the following sites for freedom:


http://www.reason.com
http://www.cato.org
http://www.bankruptingamerica.org
http://www.conventionofstates.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w

December, 2015,By The Numbers, Part 1: Guns Reduce Crime, Americans Do Not Want More Syrians, Another Financial Bubble, and More

This is the first post this month as we continue our periodic discussion of “by the numbers.” We do this theme occasionally where we look at the reality of the numbers in the world and not the lies, deceptions, and spin of the American political class. I used to work for a boss whose favorite quote was: “There is nothing more devastating to an opinion than the correct number.” By looking at the statistics, trends, and numbers in our world we can cut through the politicians’ smoke screen to truly understand what is going on and hopefully, remedy the issues of the day.

And there will be a lot of smoke to cut through in the next few posts. Much of what we will touch on has to do with many of the current lies, deceptions, and ignorance many politicians, including this President, have been spewing regarding gun control and terrorism, two topics that this President seems to want to link together for his political gain. 

If you have an inability to believe that guns are anything but evil or that this President always stays in integrity, than do not waste your time reading any further. The numbers we will be reviewing come from reputable sources, often from the Obama administration itself, and these numbers will prove that the American political class only uses facts when they fit their political aims and schemes.

1) According to a Wall Street Journal report that was summarized in the December 4, 2015 issue of The Week magazine, more than $110 billion in auto loans have been given out to borrowers with credit scores below 660, the cutoff that is generally considered as less than “good” credit. About $70 billion went to borrowers with credit scores less than 620, the level considered to be bad credit. 

Sub-prime auto loans are now at almost the same level as they were in 2006, just prior to the onset of the Great Recession. Which seems to indicate that banks and other financial institutions have learned nothing from the horrid experiences they put the coutntry through in 2008 with their sub-prime housing loans that led directly to the Great Recession. And it also proves that Washington’s lame attempt to prevent a future occurrence of a sub-prime fiasco via the Dodd-Frank legislation is a failure since we are right back to where we started with dangerous car loans taking the place of dangerous home loans.

2) We have often made the case that much more often than not, American politicians do the exact opposite of what Americans want them to do, as measured by valid public opinion polls. This is because they are more concerned and focused on their own personal needs, careers, and enrichment rather than what Americans want them to do. The last set of examples of such thinking was summarized in the following post:

http://loathemygovernment.blogspot.com/2015/10/october-2015-by-numbers-part-1-what.html

The following is just another example of such thinking. According to Obama, we should allow at least 10,000 Syrian refugees to immigrate into the country. But according to a recent NBC News/Survey Monkey poll, 56% of Americans are opposed to letting the Syrian refugees into the country and only 41% favor allowing them in. 

Thus, when the President goes off and ridicules those that are opposed to his view, claiming that there is nothing to be scared of from immigrant orphans and widows, he is actually insulting and opposing the majority of Americans. 

And as the recent terrorist shootings point out in California, such a cavalier attitude can get Americans killed and wounded since at least in this one female immigrant case, she was more than willing to kill Americans even if it turned her child into an orphan.

3) Obama and other liberal politicians are hell bent on stripping Americans of their Second Amendment rights. They cry out passionately they are trying to protect us from those with guns who would do us harm. Many of us know this is a total smoke screen to confiscate as many guns as possible and disarm the American citizenry in the face of an overreaching and liberty destroying Federal government and political class. 

And we know this is total bs because we looked at the government crime numbers and trends. Given the gun industry in this country has had a great run of record breaking sales during the Obama administration, the gun control logic would been that crime, especially violent crime, was rising rapidly as more and more citizens had guns. That is why those guns have to be taken away. But the latest FBI annual crime report shows the lunacy of their claims:

• Despite high guns sales and increasing gun ownership across the country, the overall national crime rate went down 1% in 2014 vs. 2013.
• It was also down 9.6% in the past five years and a whopping 22.1% over the past ten years.
• The rate of murder and manslaughter was down 1.2% year over year, down 6.1% over the past five years, and down 20.8% over the past ten years.
• Auto theft was down an amazing 48.1% over the past ten years.
• Rapes were down 17.2% over the past ten years and aggravated assault was down 20.1% over the past ten years.

Down, down, down. All of these downward crime rates occurred in the midst of record gun sales and increases in concealed weapons permits being issued. Could it be that the politicians are that stupid to see that arming law abiding citizens with safe firearms training is an effective crime prevention measure, that we really do not need their help in “protecting” ourselves, we can use the Second Amendment to do that for ourselves? The numbers do not lie, unlike politicians who do, especially when it comes to gun control hysteria.

4) The January, 2015 issue of Reason magazine had some very depressing numbers as it relates to foreign aid. Before we check those numbers, keep in mind the following sad domestic numbers in this country:

• 45 million Americans are receiving Federal food assistance every month.
• 14 million Americans cannot find a full time job.
• Millions of Americans find themselves homeless at least for part of the year every year.
• Millions of veterans are still probably not getting the health care attention that they were promised.

Thus, there are tens of millions of citizens that are having a rough go of it from a healthcare, housing, and food perspective. Which makes the numbers from Reason all that more frustrating. A chart from that article showed the top sixteen countries who received American taxpayer foreign aid in 2012, to the tune of almost $30 billion. 

Think how many Americans could have been helped for with that money vs. what little, if any, benefit we received back from usually hand over billions of dollars to corrupt foreign government officials and their crony pals. 

Some of the most insane features of this foreign aid includes the following:

• Russia received $440.9 million in American foreign aid in 2012. Really?!?! Russia, what conceivable reason could there be to give Russia upwards of half a billion dollars? What is better, giving Russia, a now strong global enemy, over $400 million or providing housing for homeless Americans?
• Israel, one of the most vibrant economies and democracies in the world, got over $3 billion in 2012, all in the form of military aid. What is better, taking care of our vets or funding $3 billion in military spending for Israel?
• Afghanistan got a whopping $12.9 billion in just 2012 alone. Has any U.S. foreign endeavor ever been more wasteful and insulting to the American taxpayer than the whole Afghanistan fiasco?
• Tanzania, Somalia, and Ethiopia each got well over $400 million each in 2012. Does anyone think that the U.S. taxpayer got back in benefits the over $1 billion that we paid out to these countries?

What these numbers, and what the Reason article nicely explained, is that the vast amount of wealth we spend on foreign aid is almost always a waste of money that makes no sense from a political, common sense, or societal perspective.

So, what did the numbers tell us today:

1. Foreign aid is a joke in so many ways.
2. Higher gun possession levels appear to reduce crime, not increase it.
3. The majority of Americans want less Syrian immigrants, not more.
4. The Federal government is failing in preventing another financial industry bubble from developing.

The numbers do not lie, politicians do. More numbers, and more lies, tomorrow.

Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:

www.loathemygovernment.com

It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.

Please visit the following sites for freedom:

Term Limits Now: http://www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com
http://www.reason.com
http://www.cato.org
http://www.bankruptingamerica.org
http://www.conventionofstates.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w