Thursday, January 16, 2025

January, 2025, Part 7, Political Class Insanity: Hochul Drives More Residents Out Of State, Homeless American Kids Abound Across The Country and Karen Bass Lied

 Every month we devote posts to just general political class insanity that is running rampant through the country. The members of the American political class continue to show that they are incapable of efficiently operating any level of government in this country.


Even their best efforts are almost always ineffective at resolving any problem facing Americans. They spend a great amount of time not trying to improve the lives of their citizens but continually ensuring their reelection and enriching themselves, their families, and their friends in the process, all at taxpayer expense.


1)We have often made the case that Kathy Hochul, governor of New York state, is a prime reason why so many New Yorkers are fleeing the state for other, less taxing, less costly, and better quality of life locations. Her actions, along with her fellow politicians in the state, have put her state at the top of  our top list of states that are likely to get to bankruptcy court first.


As more and more people leave a state like New York, the tax base of residents and businesses gets smaller. Most of the time, politicians do not reduce spending in reaction to a dwindling tax base, they just raise taxes on those that still remain within the state’s borders. These higher tax burdens drive more people out of the state, further reducing the tax base, and the financial death spiral is on.


Hochhul made the situation even worse with her attitudes towards New Yorkers that do not agree with her views politically. It is one thing to continually raise taxes on your residents, but when you disparage them, and encourage them to leave the state because their political leanings do not agree with hers, that is just pouring gas on a financial fire.


Side note: New York residents on average can pay up to 15% of their income on just state and local taxes in New York. Combine that with a top marginal tax rate of 37% for Federal income tax and many New Yorkers are paying over 50% of their income in taxes. 


And apparently she did not learn her lesson. As we have previously discussed, she has initiated a “congestion toll” tax on people driving into Manhattan during certain hours and certain days of $9 per vehicle. While it may be called a toll it is a tax on commuters. And in all likelihood, this additional tax will  drive more  taxpayers out of her state.


And the vultures in other states are ready to willingly accept former New Yorkers to their states and cities:


  • Boca Raton, Florida mayor Scott Singer, apparently is one not to miss an opportunity to  make his city better.

  • He recently made an offer to those residents and businesses thinking of getting out from under Hochul’s thumb:“#NYC commuters are paying another tax just for the privilege of driving on congested roads. How many more reasons do you need to move your business to [Boca Raton] where our business climate is as sunny as our real climate with our low tax rate!”

  • Since Florida is the number one destination of ex-New Yorkers according to the Census Bureau, he has a pretty good shot of getting productive residents and businesses to come make his city better.

  • But Mayor Singer has some competition since New Hampshire state representative Joe Sweeney is making a similar pitch for his state:“Are you a New Yorker upset about congestion pricing? New Hampshire 100% Income Tax, Capital Gains Tax, Interest & Dividends Tax, Sales Tax, and Congestion Pricing FREE.”

  • Even some New York politicians are smarter than Hochul, considering what Queens City Council member Bob Holden recently stated: “The government’s job is to make life easier for its residents and businesses, not to drive them away. With Tyrant Hochul and the lunatics in Albany pushing policies like the congestion scam tax and crushing businesses with high taxes, it’s no surprise cities like Boca Raton are offering a better deal.”

With economic ignorance like Hochul’s, along with her disdain for residents who do not share her political views, New York still remains firmly in the race to be the first state to go bankrupt as residents and businesses flee.

2)Before we do the next political class disaster, keep in mind that Biden just released another $500,000,000 to be sent to the endless war between Ukraine and Russia:


  • According to a recent report from HUD, there are 2,235 homeless kids in Seattle attending city public schools.

  • That is a 20% increase over the previous year which was on top of a 30% increase in homeless kids from two years ago.

  • Reasons for the whopping increase in the homeless kid population include inflation, rising home rental rates, and the diversion of taxpayer wealth to take care of the illegal immigrant invasion caused by Biden’s failed immigration policy.

  • But the problem is not restricted to the city schools since across the whole liberal state of Washington there are currently about 41,000 homeless kids which is up from 35,000 the year before.


And yet, millions of illegal immigrants get daily shelter, food and medical care courtesy of American taxpayer wealth. Really bad priorities of the American political class, in Washington and elsewhere. 


3)And the Seattle/Washington homeless kids problem is not restricted to  the northwest. California currently has 246,000 homeless kids going to their schools. And yet, Governor Gavin Newsom and the state government of California just set aside $50,000,000 to protect illegal immigrants in California from deportation once the Trump administration takes over


This comes out to about $200 per homeless kid. Not much, but enough to get some good meals, new clothes or a couple of nights’ shelter in a hotel for these kids. Another set of politicians but the same bad priorities.

4)Karen Bass is the mayor of Los Angeles, the current site of some of the worst wildfires ever. We have discussed her incompetence in previous posts, how she cut the LA Fire Department budget by $17 million and wanted to cut the budget by even more, how she diverted some of that money to stupid social programs like transgender cafes and social justice art. Fire hydrants did not work, reservoirs were empty.


As a result, over two dozen residents are dead, thousands of structures  have burned down, thousands of acres are burned to ash. And despite dire warnings earlier this month that predicted some very dangerous weather and high Santa Ana winds were very conducive to destructive fires, the good mayor decided to fly halfway around the world to Ghana, Africa. For such ego-centric world trekking, she is being severely crucified.


But it would not have been a problem if she had listened to the promise she  made to LA residents in a New York Times interview on  October 17, 2021. She promised that if elected as mayor she would only travel to major U.S.  cities and not travel to foreign countries during her term: “[N]ot only would I of course live here, but I also would not travel internationally — the only places I would go would be D.C., Sacramento, San Francisco and New York, in relation to L.A.,” 


But like many American  politicians,  she  lied. Not only did she visit Ghana, public records indicate she has traveled outside the country four times in just the past year, all at taxpayer expense. She went to Mexico and traveled THREE times to Paris for the 2024 Olympics.


Another politician,  another  liar.

That will do it for today: not unexpectedly, American politicians are still liars, still treat illegal  immigrants better than  suffering Americans, and are still so ignorant when it comes to economic and tax policy.


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If you agree that we need to deseat every member of Congress for their lack of success and accomplishment, then please consider going to the following petition link to help the cause:


https://www.change.org/p/deseat-congress-reset-freedom



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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:

Tuesday, January 14, 2025

January, 2025, Part 6, Political Class Insanity: Cuomo Is Back, More Corrupt on In NYC, Bad Priorities In DC and New Jersey Torpedoes Teacher Competence

 Every month we devote posts to just general political class insanity that is running rampant through the country. The members of the American political class continue to show that they are incapable of efficiently operating any level of government in this country.

Even their best efforts are almost always ineffective at resolving any problem facing Americans. They spend a great amount of time not trying to improve the lives of their citizens but continually ensuring their reelection and enriching themselves, their families, and their friends in the process, all at taxpayer expense.


1)First, a review:


  • People are still  living in tents and temporary housing in the middle of the winter in  North Carolina as a result of the autumn hurricanes and FEMA’s failure to properly get them into real housing.

  • Thousands and thousands of people have  lost their homes and their possessions as a result of the Los Angeles wildfires that are still burning out of control.

  • Well over 700,000 Americans are homeless today.

  • Over 21 million Americans still do not have health insurance coverage.

  • Millions of Americans are having trouble feeding their families as a result of Biden’s failed economic policies and the resultant inflation.

  • Over 100,000 Americans will likely die this year since they cannot get effective drug addiction treatment.


In the midst of all this, Biden has decided to send yet another $500,000,000 worth of taxpayer money to Ukraine to help fight the Russians. This is an endless war that the Biden administration has not even tried to stop, an  administration that  just keeps dumping billions and billions of dollars down the toilet that is this conflict.


Cannot help but wonder how much more effectively that $500,000,000, and the billions spent before this, would have helped the Americans in need listed above. Terrible, terrible priorities.


2)As  a former New Jersey resident, I was never happy with the very, very high property tax bills that were imposed on every property owner in New Jersey, making the state one of the highest taxed states in the union. The one consolation that I was able to draw was that a load of that money was going towards what I considered a very good public school system, at least where my family lived. Up-to-date facilities, certified and well trained teachers, expensive but at least there was value coming back.


Given what is going on in the teaching environment now in the state, not sure that I would be getting the same value back for the high taxes being paid:


  • A new New Jersey law that took effect January 1st removes the logical requirement that a public school teacher in the state had to pass a reading, writing, and math test in order to get certified for teaching in the state.

  • Anyone  seeking an instructional certificate will no longer need to pass a “basic skills” test administered by the state’s Commissioner of Education.

  • According to state senator, Jim Beach: “We need more teachers, This is the best way to get them.”

  • Yes, rather than find ways to get qualified teachers to teach the state’s kids, let’s just let anyone without necessarily having the skills get into the classroom, their expertise not being an issue.

  • No surprise that the state’s powerful teachers union pushed for the lessening of teaching qualifications in order to get more members, calling the competency test “an unnecessary barrier to entering the profession.”

  • Still trying to  figure out how a basic literacy test is an unnecessary barrier.


High taxes and low requirements for teaching in the state’ schools, another example of getting less value and quality for the tax dollars we hand off to American politicians.


3)Oh, and by the way, New Jersey is not the only state denigrating education in the country:


  • California and Arizona have lowered their requirements for teacher certification.

  • New York was the first to eliminate teacher certification tests altogether.

  • Massachusetts went to the other end of the education, the kids, by lowering testing requirements in order to allow more kids to pass rather than make up for learning shortfalls.


And what has degrading teaching requirements done for New York students? According to the National Education Association, only about 50% of New York students in grades three through eight tested as proficient in math and English in the 2022-2023 school year. These dismal results even though the state spends about twice as much on education than the national average while the state teachers are among the highest paid in the country.


So downgrade teaching skills, spend a lot of taxpayer money, and get dismal education results. Sounds about right for the American political class.


4)A number of times we have discussed the reality that it looks like New York City mayor, Eric Adams, may be running one of the most corrupt and criminal administrations in the history of the city. Numerous officials in many city government departments have been arrested, indicted, investigated, and fired.


And this corruption party keeps on  giving:


  • A number of high ranking police officials have recently been removed from their positions.

  • This follows closely on allegations that their former chief was accused of allegedly using his high ranking position to solicit sex in exchange for overtime duty and pay.

  • The latest police officials to  get the boot are from the Internal Affairs organization.

  • These officials did  not necessarily get fired but were given lower ranking and much less prestigious police assignments.


More taxpayer wealth still not being used efficiently or effectively if so many government employees continue to be downgraded, arrested, fired, etc.


4)And despite wasting taxpayer wealth, despite never seeming to run efficient or effective programs and projects, and often getting people killed, somehow tired, failed, and  rethread politicians continue to haunt us. Consider:


  • Andrew Cuomo is the former governor of New York.

  • He was forced out of office as a result of thirteen women accusing him of sexual predator and harassment actions. 

  • This led to him being nicknamed the “Love Gov,” and it was not meant as a compliment. 

  • On another front, he allegedly ordered nursing home facilities to accept people who had COVID symptoms or the actual disease, a stupid order that likely resulted in the  unnecessary death of thousands of nursing home residents.

  • And yet, according to a recent poll, he is the early leader in the Democratic party to be the next candidate for the mayor of New York City.

  • Sexual predator, unnecessary deaths because of his ignorance and he is leading the field as reported by Politico.

  • He is the favorite candidate of 32% of the Democratic voters polled, more than three times the percentage of his nearest rival, former NYC comptroller, Scott Stringer at 10%.

  • The current mayor, Eric Adams, polled at a dismal 6%, very difficult to do when you are the incumbent but an indication of how badly NYC voters view his performance.


It seems that retread politicians and weather forecasters are the only professions in the world where you can be wrong far more times than being right and still keep your job.  Sexual predator and alleged covid executioner, and he’s the leader for being the mayoral candidate for the city Democrats.  That speaks volumes of how broken our political system has become.


Enough for today: bad priorities in Washington, bad teaching philosophies in New Jersey and  elsewhere, more corruption in  New York City, and  Cuomo makes a comeback.


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If you agree that we need to deseat every member of Congress for their lack of success and accomplishment, then please consider going to the following petition link to help the cause:


https://www.change.org/p/deseat-congress-reset-freedom



**********************


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: