February, 2018, Part 2, Political Class Insanity: Much More California Insanity and Political Kickbacks In Missouri

It is the beginning of 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)Yesterday we discussed the insanity that the state government of California considering passing a law that would fine and/or jail a restaurant server who gives a plastic straw to a customer who did not ask for it. Straws? Jail time or a fine? We listed out all of the major issues facing Californians (homelessness, poverty, infrastructure, etc.) and pointed out the insanity that state government politicians are instead focusing on plastic straws.

But as a public service we wanted to do a quick follow up to that story to start off today’s insanity. Apparently, it is not just state politicians in California that are obsessed with plastic straws. Local California city politicians in Davis, California and San Luis Obispo, California have ALREADY passed stringent plastic straws in restaurants laws. So great that these local politicians have eliminated all other issues facing their residents and can now move onto the pressing straw issue [sarcasm].

2) Let’s stay in California, always such fertile ground for political class insanity. In the year since Trump became President, many California politicians have been so appalled by this situation that they have threatened to leave the union and have California become an independent country. In my personal opinion, as soon as they pay off their share of the Federal government's national debt they should be allowed to leave.

But now it appears that these politicians that have been threatening to leave the union are not representative of all Californians. There is a movement afoot that seeks to have a large land mass of the state leave the STATE of California, form a new state, and remain a part of the United States:

• According to recent news reports, several efforts are underway to create a new state, “New California,” that would secede from the current state of California and become a new state of the United States.
• New California would consist of the counties across the top of the current state, along the eastern side of the state, and counties along the southern border of the state, leaving the western coastal regions as the only remaining parts of “old” California.

• In fact, some counties, 21 in total, have already publicly declared their independence from the rest of that state in a purely theoretical, non-binding manner.
• In theory if this was to happen, New California would still be a large state with a large land mass, over 10 million residents, and would largely rural.

This effort is admittedly a long shot since both the U.S. Congress would have to approve their application for statehood (which could well happen) but also the state government of California would have to approve their application to leave the current state of California, far less likely to happen in a a state legislation dominated by coastal and entrenched Democrats.

However, this is a great example of how well factions within the American political class have successfully pitted citizens against citizens. Whether it is Democrats in California that want to leave the country or Republicans in California who want to leave California, never has the political class divided the country this much. 

As a result, we continue to bicker amongst ourselves while politicians get rich and never have to accomplish anything significant or resolve any problem as long as they keep out attention on what divides vs. what unites us. Insanity.

3) Let’s keep it rolling for California:

• According to a September 17, 2017 LA Times article by Howard Blume, at that time Governor Jerry Brown was about to sign a very important piece of legislation.
• This legislation, wait for it, was to FINALLY designate an official state of California….dinosaur.
• Yes, 66 million years after it went extinct, the state of California is finally getting around to naming the Augustynolophus morrisi the official state dinosaur in legislation written and sponsored by state senator Richard Bloom because it "is essential to California's society because it nurtures an educational opportunity for the youngest Californians to become interested in paleontology." 

Yes, rather than working on fixing California’s failing public schools and infrastructure, rather than addressing the vast homeless and drug addiction problems, rather than spend time and effort on doing any constructive, it seems that California politicians would rather waste time honoring an extinct animal. This is fresh off their last heavy effort where they worked together to name denim as the official state fabric. Pathetic.

4) Over the past couple of months we have talked about any number of current politicians that have been arrested, prosecuted and convicted of serious, serious crimes. Former Congresswoman Corrine Brown is going to jail for stealing funds from a faux charity she established to help out kids in need. Yesterday, we talked about Joy Cooper, a sitting Florida mayor, that has been arrested by the Feds after an FBI sting operation found her accepting illegal kickbacks.

Today let’s go over to Missouri where we find that:

• Former Jackson County, Missouri executive and prosecutor Mike Sanders entered a guilty plea to a felony charge and is likely to face real jail time.
• The charge was conspiracy to commit wire fraud which involved a plan to steal campaign funds for his personal use.
• According to reporting by the Kansas City Star: “According to papers filed with the court, Sanders and former Chief of Staff Calvin Williford would direct payments from political campaign committees to “strawmen” who claimed campaign work.”
• In reality, these strawmen did no political work for Sanders, they just ended up cashing the checks, laundering the money, and bouncing back funds to Sanders and Wilford.
• In court Sanders admitted illegally pocketing between $15,000 and $40,000 between 2006 and 2014 for his personal use.

Just another fine example of the types of people that populate the current American political class.

That will do it for today’s insanity, most of which was courtesy of the California political class. More insanity to follow.

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