Showing posts with label state department. Show all posts
Showing posts with label state department. Show all posts

Monday, January 6, 2025

January, 2025, Part 2, Political Class Insanity: Delusional leadership In The White House, Delusional Leadership in New York, and More Wasteful Spending In The Federal Budget

 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)Unfortunately, all too often over the past four years we have had to point out and review the colossal and numerous failures of the Biden administration:

  • Inflation levels go so high it resulted in inflation rates that had not been attained for about 40 years.

  • Even after moderating, inflation has still been unacceptably high, significantly raising the prices of food, utilities, gas, and other items at rates not seen for a very long time.

  • His plan to withdraw U.S, troops from Afghanistan was a total disaster and which caused the unnecessary deaths of 13 U.S. armed forces personnel.

  • He has allowed well over 10 million un-vetted and unknown illegal immigrants to enter and roam the country, immigrants that included members of international sex trafficking, drug trafficking, terrorist, and criminal organizations.

  • Crime has increased significantly over the past four years, much of which was driven by unsavory illegal immigrants he allowed into the country.

  • From a relatively peaceful world he inherited in 2021, we now have wars and conflicts raging across the globe from the Ukraine/Russian conflict to multiple problems in the Middle East, to the real  possibility that China will invade Taiwan, etc.

  • The dollar as the currency of choice is under attack around the globe, an attack that if successful will unleash more inflation in this country.

  • He has added well over $6 trillion to the national debt, wasting taxpayer wealth on unbelievably bad projects and programs.

  • His family has used his position in the U.S. government for their own self enrichment.

  • Throughout his four years in office he has continued his long tradition of lying and making racially inappropriate comments.

  • His approval ratings have been pitiful and pathetic for years.

Yes, it has been a terrible four years, a terrible Presidency. And yet,, he somehow thinks that his Presidency has been a resounding success, given his recent comments he made at the Democratic National Committee’s holiday reception: "The one thing I've always believed about public service and especially about the presidency is the importance of asking yourself have we left the country in better shape than we found it, and today I can say without [garbled speech] with every fiber in my being, with all my heart, the answer to that question is a resounding yes.” 


Which gets us back to one of the great philosophical questions of all time: is he that delusional that he actually believes he has left the country in better shape than when he came into office or does he think we are that stupid and we believe this idiocy? A question for the ages.


2)Speaking of delusional, consider the recent statements by New York governor,, Kathy Hochul:


  • Subway crime and violence in the New York City subway system have been out of control for a while now.

  • It seems every week there is another violent criminal incident down in the subways.

  • In trying to address the problem, she mandated that National Guard troops be mobilized and sent into the subways to try and curtail the problem.

  • And she bragged about her “success’ in reducing subway crime at a recent event: "In March, I took action to make our subways safer for the millions of people who take the trains each day. Since deploying the @NationalGuardNY to support @NYPDnews and @MTA safety efforts and adding cameras to all subway cars, crime is going down, and ridership is going up."

  • But the timing of this bragging was not good since eight hours before she made these statements an illegal immigrant from Guatemala decided he would set a woman subway rider on fire, resulting in her gruesome death.

  • Another person was killed on the subway the same day the governor made her comments.

  • Recently, four teenage girls attacked and knocked down a senior citizen riding the subway while trying to rob her.

  • Another woman was recently stabbed four times in the subway system during an attempted robbery.

  • Things have gotten so bad that the Guardian Angels have reformed for the sole purpose of protecting innocent people riding the subway system in the city.


Much like Biden’s delusions, does Hochul think that she actually made a difference in the subway crime rate or that we are too stupid to to understand the reality and the hell that is still going on in the city subway system?


3)A few posts ago we discussed a list of stupid and wasteful spending projects that the Federal government, politicians, and bureaucrats have undertaken that are a complete waste of taxpayer money. These examples were taken from senator Rand Paul’s annual recap of stupid Federal government spending. Tha post can be accessed at:


https://loathemygovernment.blogspot.com/2024/12/by-numbers-december-2024-medicaid-fraud.html


However, we apparently missed a few of the more stupid programs the government has undertaken that completely wasted our taxpayer wealth:


  • The Federal government spent $10 billion on leasing, maintaining, and furnishing almost entirely empty buildings as most Federal workers continue to work from home.

  • A Florida man stole $8 million in COVID relief funds to buy himself an island and other purchases.

  • The State Department spent $3 million for “Girl-Centered Climate Action” … in Brazil.

  • The State Department spent $873,584 for movies … in Jordan.

  • The State Department spent $345,434 on football engagement to counter  terrorism … whatever that means.


Just a few of the thousand of idiotic projects and programs that the Federal government has recently spent your tax dollars on. Imagine how many more teachers could have been hired, how many more  school security officers could have been hired, how many more drug addicts could have gotten the treatment they need, how many homeless folks living on  our streets could have gotten shelter,  etc. if we had not spent money in Jordan, Brazil, and on other stupidity both here in this country and around the world. Horrible priorities.

Enough insanity for today: delusional leadership in Washington, delusional leadership In New York, and wasteful spending leadership in the Federal budget.

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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:

Sunday, September 1, 2024

September, 2024, Part 1, Political Class Insanity: Sending Taxpayer Money To The Taliban, Post Office Going Broke, Chicago Fiscal Crisis, and More

 Over the past couple of weeks we have discussed the failed border policies of the Biden administration. These failed policies have unleashed violence and crime on innocent American citizens as well as dangers to illegal  immigrants. The first of those posts can  be accessed at:


https://loathemygovernment.blogspot.com/2024/07/bidens-failed-immigration-policies-and.html


However, during that time, American politicians have continued to show how inept and useless they are so let’s spend a few days catching up on our favorite topic, political class insanity.


1)Many times we have reviewed the total and utter failure that the “defund the police” movement was. In mostly liberal cities across the country, local  politicians belittled, criticized, and antagonized local police officers for something that the vast, vast majority of them  never did. These politicians then reduced their cities’ police budgets as an additional insult to the brave people who protect us every day.


As a result, police officers retired early, moved to other cities where their dedication and bravery was appreciated more,, or left the profession  altogether. This resulted in fewer police resources on the streets to  combat crime and a skyrocketing crime rate in these liberally run cities, endangering the lives and property  of their residents.


And many cities now end up with the  situation that is present in Seattle:


  • Seattle politicians have been particularly cruel and unrelenting in harassing and criticizing their police force.

  • This behavior has killed morale and driven officers out of the city’s police force.

  • Over the past five years, the Seattle police force has shrunk down by 735 officers and  now consists of only 913 people on the force, about a 45% drop.

  • Given those numbers, it is no surprise that crime has skyrocketed in the city: between  2019 and 2024, crime overall has increased 8% with assault cases rising by 21% and murders up a ridiculous 78%.

  • Now, given the lack  of warm bodies to fill the vacant police slots, local politicians, the same  ones that drove trained officers out of the police department, have had to consider hiring illegal immigrants who entered the country as children and were registered with the Deferred Action For Childhood Arrival program.


Do stupid things, get stupid results, sometimes fatal results. Crime is up, those willing to serve on the city’s police force are down, so the need for additional  officers has led to hiring folks, who may be perfectly qualified, who were originally illegal  immigrants to man the force.


2)We have often  discussed the real  possibility that a major American city or an entire American state will  soon go bankrupt as a result of fiscal and political idiocy of their respective politicians. Top states that we think have a good chance of going bankrupt soon include New York, California, New Jersey, and Illinois. 


The politicians in these states have been unable or unwilling to keep state government spending under control which means:


  •  Higher and higher taxes for residents and businesses. 

  • The higher taxes drive residents and businesses out of the state.

  • This out migration  reduces the tax base resulting in less state government tax revenue.

  • Less state government revenue drives politicians to raise taxes and cut services such as police, fire, and education.

  • All of which drives more residents and businesses out of the state and the financial death spiral is in place.


And this same death spiral scenario is happening in major liberal politician-run cities with cities like Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, San  Francisco, Seattle, and  Portland looking down the barrel of their own financial  death spiral.


Over time, our opinion has varied on which state and which  city will be  the first to declare government bankruptcy. However, the latest out of Chicago indicates that Chicago may have taken in the  lead in the race to  bankruptcy court:


  • Chicago mayor, Brandon Johnson, recently announced that the city is facing an almost $1 billion  budget deficit in the 2025 fiscal  year budget.

  • This is about twice the original budget deficit he had to wrestle with in the 2024 fiscal year, i.e. financial conditions for the city government are getting worse.

  • According to Johnson:  "The size of the budget gap is significant. It's going to require decisions that will speak to our overall collective desire to build an economy that works for working people. There will be sacrifices that will be made." 

  • According to his budget director, Annette Guzman, the problem is due to “underperforming revenue,” i.e. they did not collect enough in taxes.


“Underperforming revenue” sounds like the  financial death  spiral discussed above. Thus, the city will have to cut budgets, probably across the board,  meaning fewer police, fire, EMT and education resources, meaning more crime and suffering for citizens, which means more residents and businesses will leave this failing city, and “underperforming revenue” becomes an annual affair. 


Thus, Chicago may now be the leader heading for bankruptcy.


3)There are very few Federal government functions that are worth the taxpayer wealth that they receive:


  • Social Security - going bankrupt

  • Medicare - going  bankrupt

  • Department of Education - has failed to educate our kids for decades.

  • Department of Energy - no accomplishments to show for anything as far as creating cheap and abundant energy sources.

  • Department of Defense - so huge and out of control that even professional auditors cannot audit its finances.


The list goes on and  on.  And let us not forget the latest bad news from the US Post Office:


  • The Post Office is continuing to slowly go bankrupt and thus, recently announced some changes to its operation.

  • To save  money, it is considering plans to slow down the delivery of mail to rural areas.

  • Specifically, “The agency cannot afford to  maintain the same [delivery] for deliveries to far flung areas.”

  • This worsening delivery model for some Americans comes on the heels of a recent 5 cent per stamp increase in July.


Higher prices and worse service, not a formula for success and customer satisfaction but business as usual at the Federal  government.


4)The Federal government and the politicians that operate it failed spectacularly when it came to Afghanistan. Twenty three years ago they sent our  military forces over into the country to unseat the Taliban. And over the next twenty years spent about $2,000,000,000,000 of taxpayer wealth, caused thousands of American armed services people to die or be  wounded, probably directly caused the death of untold thousands of Afghanistan citizens and left the country with the government of Afghanistan firmly in the hands of who else, the Taliban.


But it gets worse, as another failure of the Biden administration has come to light:


  • Somehow the Biden administration has mistakenly sent $293 million to the Taliban over the past couple of years.

  • This astonishing and disgusting waste of taxpayer wealth was uncovered by the Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction.

  • The money was misdirected due to a failure in adhering to so-called “counterterrorism vetting requirements.”

  • Apparently most of the screw ups in sending the Taliban millions of dollars came out of the State Department and its following departments: Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) and International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL).


Incredible incompetence and an insult to the American taxpayer and those brace service people who served in the country.

Enough for today: funding the Taliban, the Post Office in a death spiral, Chicago going bankrupt, and Seattle is desperate to fix their defund the police debacle.



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

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: