Wednesday, March 27, 2024

March, 2024, Part 6, Political Class Insanity: Second Amendment Sanity In Wyoming, Dying Homeless In Los Angeles, Economic Ignorance In Minnesota, and Unhappy Americans Everywhere

 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 operating any level of government in this country. 


Even their best efforts are almost always inefficient and 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)Liberals and Democrats in this country have long had a hatred for the Second Amendment and have tried all types of ways to restrict Americans’ ability to protect themselves using the Second Amendment for that purpose. But the politicians in Wyoming have finally realized that the liberal way of thinking, as it applies to so-called “gun free” zones, is more fatal than liberals think they are:


  • Simply stated, a gun free zone makes it illegal  to carry a gun within the confines of a gun free zone be it a school, a public venue, etc.

  • The faulty reasoning is that making it illegal to carry a gun inside these zones would make a criminal, or crazed gunman, stop and not carry out their intentions since it would be illegal.

  • But in  reality, if someone is crazy enough to want to shoot and kill people,,  a law is not going to stop them, they are criminals by definition the law does not inhibit them.

  • And in reality, a crazed gunman is more likely to seek  out gun free zones since they know that law abiding citizens will not want to break the law and  will be unarmed and defenseless.

  • In fact, research by the Crime Prevention Research Center shows that 82% of mass shootings between 1998 and 2023 occurred in gun free zones.

  • As a result, the  political class in Wyoming has finally come to its senses and will soon pass legislation that bans gun free zones with a few exceptions (hospitals, mental health clinics, jails).

It is a common sense and rational decision that will hopefully make potential mass shooters think twice before carrying out their evil plans since they are now more likely to themselves get killed by Wyoming citizens using their restored Second Amendment  rights in the state.


2)The American political class no longer cares about the good of the country for the most part, they are more concerned about their continued self enrichment by being in office and bashing their opponents,  never debating the issues and the need to fix what ails the country. They continue to divide the country along economic, racial, and political  affiliation lines in order to satisfy their greed and lust for power,


As a result they have Americans fighting among themselves while the real culprits are the politicians that make sure they keep us angry and divided. It is a brilliant move on their part, but makes sure that we never come together to resolve the major issues facing the country with  plans to  fix those issues.


The end result of their divisive rhetoric and actions result in the following sad reality in this country:


  • According to the  latest annual “World Happiness Report,” the United States fell down 8 spots and is now rated as the 23rd most happy country in the world, an all-time low.

  • People in  Finland are the happiest folks for the seventh year in a row.

  • This  is the  first time that the U.S.  was not in the  top 20 as far as happiness.

  • A lot of the unhappiness is driven by those under 30 years of age  in this country: “In the US, happiness or subjective wellbeing has decreased in all age groups, but especially for young adults,” Gallup managing director Ilana Ron Levey told CBS News in an emailed statement, adding that social connections are one key factor contributing to these generational disparities in happiness. “The World Happiness Report and the Gallup/Meta social connectedness data show peak loneliness for younger Americans. It’s widely recognized that social support and feelings of loneliness are influential factors in determining overall happiness, and these dynamics differ across various age groups.”

  • Afghanistan was the  most unhappy place  in the  world.

  • Even  Israel, a country constantly under attack and criticism ranked 5th happiest.


As politicians continue to harp on the  negatives and set citizen against citizen we will all probably continue to  be unhappy living in a country of hate and pettiness, a country that is severely divided by those that should be uniting us for common goals.


3)As politicians  across the  country at all levels of government continue to  lavish billions of dollars on illegal immigrants to take care of their food, shelter, and medical  needs, hundreds of thousands of American citizens have their needs unmet:


  • Over 2,000 homeless people, likely mostly American citizens, died in Los Angeles in 2023, a 300% increase from 2014.

  • According to  a report by the Guardian newspaper, “Bodies have been found in “tents, encampments, vehicles, parks, alleys, vacant lots, underpasses, bus stops and train stations.” 

  • The over 2,000 deaths in  2023 brings the grand total  of homeless deaths  in the past ten years to 11,572.

  • For various reasons, the Guardian report asserts that the 2,000 is probably an undercount.

  • The LA department of health  estimates that almost 60% of these homeless deaths were “accidental,” another word for drug overdose: “The data shows a dramatic increase in fentanyl-related deaths over time, with 30 cases listing the powerful opioid as the cause of death in 2018; 255 in 2020; and 633 in 2022,” the Guardian reported.


Yes, Americans are suffering from hunger, lack of shelter and  lack of medical attention including drug addiction treatment.  And yet, politicians continue to spend and waste our tax dollars on foreign aid, foreign wars, self enrichment and the gentle and generous caring of millions of illegal immigrants while American citizens continue to suffer.


4)Even to the causal  observer, it has to  be obvious that American  politicians have virtually no economic sense of understanding basic economic principles. Examples of their ignorance are far too numerous to go into today but consider just another example of their ignorance when it comes to pretty simple economic realities:


  • Rather than let  the  market drive customer preferences, the Minneapolis city council recently flexed their  economic ignorance and  ordered the ride sharing companies, Lyft and Uber, to increase their compensation  to their drivers via recent legislation.

  • That legislation ordered the companies to pay their drivers $1.40 per mile and $.51 per minute or at least $5.00 per trip.

  • Their intent was to try and get the average compensation of their drivers up to the city minimum wage of $15.57 an  hour, up from the average of $13,64 per hour.

  • As a result of this economic meddling, both companies have decided to  stop operating in the city because of the ignorance of the politicians and the dire economic onus the politicians imposed.

  • Lyft will shut down city operations on May 1st and Uber will do  the same at about the  same time  including stopping all airport runs.


Again, rather than let individuals and the market to set prices, the politicians inserted themselves into the process and as a result:


  • City citizens will  now have  two  fewer options to get around.

  • With fewer options, no Uber and  Lyft, there will be less  competition which  means cab companies can now increase their fares making it more expensive to  get around.

  • The Lyft and Uber drivers, who were perfectly content with the existing monetary arrangement,  now are out of jobs, i.e. “The good news is your pay went up,  the bad news is your job disappeared.”


So as a result of their economic ignorance, their citizens will pay more for transportation,  the unemployment rate will go up in the city,  and it will be  more inconvenient for city citizens to get around, strike one, strike two, strike three. What was a perfectly functioning economic arrangement between buyers and sellers got destroyed.


Council Member Jamal Osman perfectly summarized his economic ignorance when  he stated, "Drivers are human beings with families, and they deserve dignified minimum wages like all other workers." And now those drivers/human  beings/family breadwinners are soon  to  be unemployed despite Osman’s  lofty goals.

The  mayor of the city actually tried to prevent this economic disaster by initially vetoing the legislation,  showing at least some degree of understanding basic economics. But the city council overrode his veto to the dismay of many. Ignorance is bliss…and economically dangerous.

Enough insanity for today: economic ignorance in Minneapolis, homeless death rate  continues to rise, Americans are very unhappy,  and finally, a little bit of common sense relative to the Second Amendment in Wyoming.

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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:

Saturday, March 23, 2024

We All Now Live On A Tax Farm

 It is tax season and most of us are probably going through the annual tax preparation headache. As you go  through this process, which can be quite expensive given how well  or how poorly you do your tax planning, keep in  mind the following few realities:


Reality Number 1 - I recently came across a concept that is quite appropriate for tax season. The concept maintains that we no longer live in a free society or free country where we are free to keep the vast majority of our earnings for use by ourselves and our families.  It maintains that we are now nothing more than a “tax farm” in which politicians reap the result of our hard earned dollars via extensive taxation, to  spend on usually wasteful, non-productive, and ways that have usually no direct or any benefit to  ourselves and our families. 


This “tax farm”  theory hypothesizes that we have  devolved into such a state in this country where we are now subservient to the tax burden that politicians increasingly seem to place on us. In other words, we are not free individuals any more, we are tools of the state and the politicians and government bureaucrats that operate that state.


Reality Number 2 - While your focus these days is probably on Federal and state income tax realities, those are just a few of the many, many taxes on the tax farm that the American political class imposes on all of us, as the following, non-comprehensive, list of taxes illustrates:


  1. Federal Income Tax

  2. State Income Tax

  3. State Sales Tax

  4. City Sales Tax

  5. Property Tax

  6. Unearned Income (interest and dividend) Taxes

  7. Alternative Minimum  Tax

  8. Business Taxes

  9. Social Security Tax

  10. Medicare Tax

  11. Estate Tax

  12. Inheritance Tax

  13. Lodging Tax

  14. Capital Gains Tax

  15. Unemployment Tax

  16. Sin Taxes

  17. Gas Tax

  18. Gift Tax

  19. Home Sale Tax

  20. Drive License Fee (yes, a government “fee” is just another word for “tax”)

  21. Fishing License Fee

  22. Hunting License Fee

  23. Boat License Fee

  24. Gun Registration Fee

  25. Tollway Tolls

  26. Car Registration Fee

  27. Obama Care Tax and Fees

  28. Federal Telecommunication Taxes


Just to re-emphasize, this is probably not a comprehensive list of government taxes,  fees, and licenses.


Reality Number 3 - On average, how do these taxes translate into how much money the average citizen pays to any form of American government? The big hitters are as follows:


  • Average effective Federal  income tax burden - 10.6%

  • Average effective state and local tax burden including state income tax, property tax, and sales tax - 11.75%

  • Social Security and Medicare tax burden - 7.65%

  • Tax burden from just these three tax sources - 30%.


So, before you pay any taxes on your cigarette and alcohol consumption, the gas for your car, your fishing licenses, and the other twenty or so taxes listed above,  you have already given the American political class 30% of your income. It is probably safe to say, depending on your life situation, upwards of 40% of all money you earn each year is taken away for government use.


Reality Number 4 - And where and how is this money spent? Consider just a very, very short list of examples of government expenditures:


  • $75 billion dollars sent to fight the Russians in Ukraine, a war that Biden/Washington has neither the intelligence, the skill, the desire, or the ability to resolve.

  • $170,221,103 sent to Egypt, a military dictatorship (fiscal 2022)

  • $187,797,256  sent to Lebanon, the home base of the terrorist group, Hezbelloah (fiscal 2022)

  • $18 billion sent to the United Nations (fiscal 2022), a dysfunctional, useless, and expensive waste of money with no track  record of success.

  • $200 million sent to San Francisco to renovate the Presidio city park AND the Presidio Country Club, an exclusive, millionaire private golf country club, in Nancy Pelosi’s Congressional district.

  • Biden’s State Department is going to spend $15 million to create “gender scholarship programs” at Egypt and Lebanon universities to promote gender studies.

  • The U.S. State Department has provided American taxpayer dollars to a “queer” Muslim organization in India to provide “LGBTQWI” people in the region with a online platform to write.

  • Untold billions of dollars have already been spent to feed, shelter, and service the 8 million or so illegal immigrants that have entered the country since Biden took office.


Reality Number 5 - While politicians are spending  our tax wealth on golf courses, unwinnable wars, and foreign aid, consider the situation millions of Americans find themselves in right now:


  • About 600,000 Americans, including kids and veterans, are homeless today.

  • Studies show that upwards of 17 million Americans are having challenges feeding their families, given the food inflation reality of the Biden  administration.

  • Probably close to  200,000 Americans will  die of a drug overdose this year.

  • Millions of Americans still cannot afford health insurance which  is likely restricting their medical and health options.


Reality Number 6 - So as you file your income taxes in the coming weeks, consider how a lot of your  money will  likely be spent and wasted by a greedy, inept and self enriching political class and how that money could have  been so much better used if it stayed in your pocket or at least helped the millions of Americans in need. 


Oh, also keep all of these realities in mind in November when you vote and decide if you want to  continue to be part  of this national “tax farm.”


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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: