The Horrors and Destruction that Donald Trump Has Imposed On America...Just Kidding! Part 3

Before we start today’s discussion, let’s review my voting history: 

• I have never voted for a Republican for President in my life. 
• Thus, I did not vote for Trump. 
• I have rarely voted for a Republican for national office in my life. 

A year ago, many liberals, Democrats, and millenials were besides themselves with grief and fear because their pre-ordained queen, Hillary Clinton, was not elected President. Instead, Donald Trump was elected, an individual that these same people despised, hated, and feared, an individual they felt would endanger and possibly destroy the country and our democracy. For the past year they fretted, worried and lashed out at anything or anyone that even remotely smelled of Donald Trump.

Given that Trump has been in office for a year and we are at the end of that calendar year, I thought, that as someone who did not vote for him, it would be a good idea to review the horror, trauma, and terrible things that Trump has subjected the country to in just one short year. The first two posts we did on this topic identified 62 things that have happened since Trump became President:

https://loathemygovernment.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-horrors-and-destruction-that-donald.html

https://loathemygovernment.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-horrors-and-destruction-that-donald_31.html

The following list adds to those initial 62 successes:

1) After a two year increase in big city murders in the last two years under the Obama administration, the country’s overall murder rate in big cities declined in 2017 under Trump with New York City experiencing 290 murders, the lowest number since 1951, and Los Angeles having its 8th consecutive year in which murders were under 300.

2) Under the Trump economy, the African American unemployment rate has fallen to the lowest level in at least 45 years, 6.8% according to CNBC reporting and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

3) According to Reuters, the US economy in Trump’s first year as President added 2 million jobs despite the depression of job creation because of the hurricanes of 2017.

4) Many of the new jobs were in higher paying industries such as construction, professional and business services, and manufacturing vs. lower paying retail industry which saw a slight loss in jobs.

5) According to Paul Bedard, reporting for the Washington Examiner on January 4, 2018, the number of companies that have given bonuses to their employees, increased their charitable donations, or reinvested into their company as a result of the Trump tax cut is now over at least 100 companies including, but limited to:

1. We have previously covered how AT&T, Boeing, Fifth Third Bank,Wells Fargo, and Comcast have given employees and charities billions of dollars from the Trump tax cuts.
2. AAON — $1,000 bonus checks to 2,000 employees.
3. AccuWeather – year-end bonuses to all employees. (Approx. 450 – 500 employees)
4. Aflac – increase 401(k) match from 50% to 100% on the first 4% of compensation plus one-time $500 contribution to every employee’s 401(k); $250 million increase in overall U.S. investment.
5. American Airlines — $1,000 bonuses for every employee (excluding officers). The bonuses will total $130 million. AA had 127,600 employees as of Sept. 2017.
6. American Bank – $1,000 bonuses for 60 employees
7. American Savings Bank – $1,000 bonuses to 1,150 employees; base wage increase from $12.21 to $15.25
8. Americacollect – $300 - $500 bonuses for 250 employees
9. Aquesta Financial Holdings — $1,000 bonuses to 95 employees; base wage hike to $15 per hour
10. Associated Bank – $500 employee bonuses (exact number receiving bonus unknown at this time); base wage will rise from $10 to $15 per hour
11. Bank of Hawaii – $1,000 bonuses to 2,074 employees; base wage increase from $12 to $15
12. Bank of the Ozarks – Bonuses of up to $1,200 for 2,300 employees
13. BB&T – $1,200 bonuses for 27,000 employees; base wage will rise from $12 to $15 per hour; $100 million in charitable donations
14. Canary LLC – due to tax reform, the company will hire more employees and increase capital spending.
15. Central Pacific Bank – all 850 employees will receive $1,000 bonuses; base wage will rise from $12 to $15.25
16. Citizens Financial Group — $1,000 bonuses for 12,500 employees and $10 million for charitable donations
17. Comerica Bank — $1,000 to 4,500 non-officer employees; base wage increase to $15 per hour
18. Community Trust Bancorp — $1,000 bonuses for full time employees and $500 bonuses for part-time employees (exact number receiving bonus unknown at this time)
19. Copperleaf Assisted Living – $200 - $600 bonuses for 175 employees
20. Dayton T. Brown Inc. (engineering/testing company) — $400 bonuses for each of the 210 employees
21. Delaware Supermarkets Inc. — $150 extra bonuses to 1,000 non-management personnel.
22. Express Employment Professionals — $2,000 bonuses to more than 200 non-executive employees
23. First Hawaiian Bank – $1,500 bonuses to 2,264 employees; base wage increase to $15
24. First Horizon National Corp. – $1,000 bonuses to 4,000 employees
25. Gate City Bank — $1,000 hand-delivered bonus checks to 538 non-management personnel; $500,000 higher charitable giving; $500,000 worth of free home appraisals.
26. INB Bank — $500 bonuses to 200 employees. The bonuses will exclude the Senior Management Team. The base wage will be raised to $15 per hour
27. Kansas City Southern — $1,000 bonuses. (Exact number receiving bonus unknown at this time; the company employs 6,485)
28. Melaleuca – all 2,000 employees will receive a $100 bonus for each year they have worked at the company
29. National Bank Holdings Corporation – $1,000 bonuses for employees making less than $50,000 (exact number receiving bonus unknown at this time)
30. Nationwide Insurance — $1,000 bonuses to 29,000 employees; increased 401(k) matching contributions for 33,000 employees
31. Navient – 98% of Navient’s 6,700 employees will receive a $1,000 bonus (approx. 6,566 bonus-eligible employees)
32. Nelnet — $1,000 bonuses for 4,100 employees
33. OceanFirst Financial Corp. – base wage increase to $15 per hour
34. Ohnward Bancshares — $1,000 bonuses for all 260 employees
35. Pinnacle Bank — $1,000 bonuses for 1,007 employees
36. PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. — $1,000 bonuses to 47,500 employees; an additional $1,500 in employee pension accounts; base wage hike to $15; $200 million charitable contribution
37. Regions Financial Corporation – base wage increase to $15 per hour; $40 million in charitable donations; $100 million in capital expenditures
38. Rush Enterprises – $1,000 bonuses for all 6,600 employees
39. Sinclair Broadcast Group — $1,000 bonuses for 9,000 employees
40. Southwest Airlines — $1,000 bonuses for all 55,000 employees; $5 million additional charitable donations
41. TCF Financial Corporation — $1,000 bonuses for full time employees; $500 bonuses for part time employees (exact number receiving bonus unknown at this time);
42. The Flood Insurance Agency — $1,000 bonuses for 17 full time employees
43. Territorial Savings Bank — $1,000 bonuses to 247 employees; base wage hike from $11.25 to $15.00 per hour
44. Turning Point Brands, Inc. — $1,000 bonuses for 107 employees
45. Unity Bank – all 200 non-executive employees will receive a $750 bonus
46. U.S. Bancorp – $1,000 bonuses for 60,000 employees; base wage hike to $15 per hour; $150 million charitable contribution

This list does not include the hundreds if not thousands of small and medium sized businesses that are also rewarding their employees, their charities, and their operations with increased benefits and rewards. And remember, these bonus payments are also in addition to the lower tax levels that the Trump tax cuts will incur for over 100 million working Americans and their families.

To see Mr. Bedard’s entire article that also includes the press releases praising the tax cuts go to the following link:

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/over-100-companies-giving-trump-bonuses-after-tax-victory-tsunami-building/article/2644944
So for those of you that feared the end of the world with Trump’s election, here is a list of more 49 Trump benefits and accomplishments to go with the list of 62 accomplishments we published a few days ago. Let’s be honest Trump haters, he has done a pretty good job in just the first twelve months of his term.

Given your gross error in judgement relative to Trump, let me ask that you to do us all a favor by implementing the following changes in your behavior and attitude:

• Chill out, tamp down your TDS affliction. No matter how much you hate Trump on a sexist, personal basis, get over it. He is the legally and duly elected President, he will be around for a while so refocus your hatred on more constructive issues and matters. You will live a lot longer if you take your hatred out of your heart and soul and devote it to something positive.
• I would really appreciate it if some of you would apologize to the Trump voters you have disrespected in some of the grossest terms possible over the past year. You have called millions of voters racists, ignorant, stupid, Nazis, KKK members, and other horrible names simply because you disagreed with their voting choice. No American should be called such disgusting names simply because they exercised their Constitutional rights to the best of their abilities. Plus, slandering over 60 million Americans is no way to unite the country and get it focused on the real issues facing us all.
• More personally, I would like, no I am demanding, an apology from some of you for your slanderous and disgusting name calling because in doing so, you insulted and disrespected my sister, my family members, my friends, and my co-workers who simply voted their conscience. I will defend their right to vote anyway they wanted and will no put up with your childish and vicious venom and bile directed at them, very important people in my life
• And finally, I challenge you to read the following blog post, a post that shows quite clearly that it was hateful people like some of you and your silence during the Obama years that actually caused Trump to be elected. Thus, the people you hate for voting for Trump are actually looking back at you in the mirror:

https://loathemygovernment.blogspot.com/2016/03/how-american-liberals-and-washington.html

If you were silent in the dozens of instances listed in this post then you were responsible for the very thing you hate: a Trump Presidency. Or put another way, a so far successful and productive Trump Presidency. Over 100 accomplishments in less than a year is not too shabby despite many of wanting both Trump and the country to fail.

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:


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

January, 2018, Part 5, Political Class Insanity - The Self Destructive of an Unbiased Press

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) One of the pillars of any democracy such as ours is freedom of the press. Freedom of the press should provide a strong, independent watchdog that helps keep unbridled political lust and corruption in check. For hundreds of years it worked great in this country, informing the voters, uncovering corruption, and being a watchdog for freedom.

That tradition of independence has probably been violated and endangered with the current collection of journalists in positions of power in this country today. “Fake News” went from a nothing to a hot topic in a very short time. Mainstream media outlets stake out positions rather than remaining unbiased, neutral observers and reporters of news and reality in order to maximize their companies’ bottom line profits by creating cults of followers. 

The lack of unbiased reporting by traditional news outlets has let to the formation of new, fast growing alternative news outlets who also usually cater to a political point of view or leaning. While they arose because of skewed reporting of the traditional outlets, the newer outlets are usually just as skewed and just as biased.

And one of the causes of this breakdown in the traditional goodness of the free press in this country has been the cross pollination of journalism with the political class, as the following list illustrates:

• ABC News executive producer Ian Cameron is married to Susan Rice, National Security Adviser.
• CBS President David Rhodes is the brother of Ben Rhodes, Obama’s Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communications.
• ABC News correspondent Claire Shipman is married to former White House Press Secretary Jay Carney
• ABC News and Univision reporter Matthew Jaffe is married to Katie Hogan, Obama’s Deputy Press Secretary
• ABC President Ben Sherwood is the brother of Obama’s Special Adviser Elizabeth Sherwood
• CNN President Virginia Moseley is married to former Hillary Clinton’s Deputy Secretary Tom Nides.

So you can see why many people feel that the free press in this country can no longer be trusted. Not only have they seen and experienced slanted and biased news reporting over these past few years, but the above list shows one reason why that might be true: the political world is now tightly married into the journalism world, leading to the very high potential for collusion between what were once opposing forces in our society. 

Any collusion between the political class and the journalists that are expected to keep it honest is not healthy for any democracy. Think Pravda in the former Soviet Union for an example of how close we are to our democracy imploding because politicians and journalists are manufacturing fake news or manipulating real news over the dinner table, be it at the home of Virginia Moseley and Tom Nides or the home of Susan Rice and Ian Cameron. Dangerous, dangerous insanity.

2) Let’s combine this previous point, the mainstream media and journalists not reporting the whole news in an unbiased manner, and update the sexual predator exploits of politicians across the country. The Daily Wire recently put out a list of two dozen potential and real sexual predator situations involving two dozen Democratic politicians. 

The point the article made, besides actually reporting on these new sexual predator situations by politicians, is that Virginia Moseley types at CNN deemed them not worthy to be reported as news since, the implication being, they involved Democrats behaving badly and that if this list was about Republican politicians, CNN would be all over the stories listed below: 

• According to the Daily Mail on November 20, 2017, four more women have come forward to accuse former Democratic President Bill Clinton of sexual assault. The women’s attorneys have notified Clinton that they plan to file four separate lawsuits against him.
• The Huffington Post reported on November 21, 2017 that Congresswoman Diana DeGette accused a former Democratic Congressman, Bob Filner, of sexually assaulting her when both were serving in Congress: “Some years ago, I was in an elevator and then-Congressman Bob Filner tried to pin me to the door of the elevator and kiss me. And I pushed him away. I mean, I was his colleague. He couldn’t take action against me. And believe you me, I never got in an elevator with him again.”
• The LA Times reported on November 20, 2017, that Democratic California assemblyman, Raul Bocanegra, had resigned his leadership role in the California state government and will not seek re-election after sexual harassment allegations were made public. A total of six women so far have accused him of sexual harassment.
• The Washington Beacon reported on November 13, 2017 that a New Mexico Democratic Congressional candidate, David Alcon, had been arrested for stalking. He had been sending unwanted text messages to a woman, one of which included a picture of his genitals.
• CBS in Denver reported on November 10, 2017 that Democratic state lawmaker Steve Lebsock had been accused by ten women of sexual harassment. One of the women was a fellow lawmaker who says, “says Lebsock became aggressively lewd at a bar on the last day of the 2016 legislative session when he found out that Winter’s husband was out of town."
• On a related story to the previous point, the Denver Post reported on November 14, 2017 that Colorado Democratic House Speaker Crisanta Duran had been accused of covering up the sexual harassment allegations against the same Steve Lebsock.
• The Minnpost reported on November 21, 2017 that Minnesota state lawmaker Dan Schoen had resigned over sexual harassment allegations. Two women had made the accusations with one claiming that at a campaign event back in 2015 Schoen had grabbed her buttocks while stating she had a "good door-knocking ass." 
• The Sacramento Bee newspaper reported on November 16, 2017 that a third woman had come forward to accuse California Democrat state senator Tony Mendoza of sexual harassment. 
• The Mercury News reported on November 11, 2017 that Democratic Senate leader Kevin Leon was also now involved in a sexual harassment controversy.
• The Inquirer reported on October 11, 2017 that Democratic Pennsylvania Commissioner of the town of Radnor had been arrested on multiple counts of child pornography. He is charged with receiving and sending hundreds of images of child sexual abuse, some involving toddlers and infants.
• The Buffalo News reported on November 20, 2017 that a woman had claimed that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo had ignored her pleas to investigate one of his staff people who was allegedly sexually harassing her. Cuomo himself is named in a Federal lawsuit that the woman has filed.
• The Ledger Enquirer reported on November 13, 2017 that a Democratic state lawmaker, Calvin Smyre, has been accused of sexual misconduct. A so-called Democratic Party activist claims that Smyre sexually assaulted her in 1996 in Chicago.

You get the idea, I will list the other 12 politicians below, there story is about the same as the twelve listed above. Now, please note, that in most cases, all of these are currently just accusations, nothing has been proven in most cases. 

However, that is still not a reason for the CNNs of the world not cover at least a handful of these stories. If these were 24 cases of Republicans and sexual harassment and sexual assault I would bet that the Virginia Moseleys of the world would be all over these stories. But they are Democrats acting poorly so no coverage at all as the Daily Wire proved in their research for their article, they could not find any coverage via CNN on these politicians at all. 

It is obvious that CNN has chosen “sides” in the world of politics which renders the free press an appendage of the political class, not an independent reporter and overseer of the political class. And when the press becomes an appendage, our country and democracy suffers irreparable damage.

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

The remaining twelve Democrats allegedly acting perversely but not being covered by CNN:

• Florida Democratic Party President Sally Boynton Brown resigns amidst sexual harassment controversy. (Sunshine State News - 11/20/2017)
• New Mexico Democratic legislator Sen. Michael Padilla accused in two Federal lawsuits of sexual harassment. (The Albuquerque Journal - 11/18/2017)
• Colorado Democratic Rep. Paul Rosenthal accused of sexual harassment and groping. (The Denver Post - 11/17/2017)
• Illinois Democratic Sen. Ira Silverstein accused of sexual harassment. (CBS CHicago - 10/31/2017)
• Missouri Democratic Rep. Josh Peters accused of sexual harassment. (The Kansas City Star - 01/25/2017)
• Nevada Democratic Sen. Mark Manendo resigns amid numerous sexual harassment allegations. (KTNV - 07/18/2017)
• Oklahoma Democratic lawmaker Will Fourkiller accused of sexual harassment. (NewsOK - 01/10/2017)
• Oregon Democratic lawmaker David Gomberg accused of inappropriately touching women. (Pregon Lives - 10/30/2017)
• Former Washington Democratic lawmaker Brendan Williams accused of sexual harassment. (The Seattle Times - 11/01/2017)
• Connecticut Democratic councilman Scott Chamberlain resigns after ‘furry’ profile revealed. (The New York Daily News 09/08/2017)
• Florida Democratic Sen. Jeff Clemens resigns over sexual misconduct. (Politico - 10/27/2017)
• Ohio Democratic governor candidate Justice William O’Neill brags about his sexual history on Facebook. (The Washington Post - 11/18/2017)

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

January, 2018, Part 4, Political Class Insanity: Kicking People Out Of Their Homes, Fruitlessly Searching for UFOs and Wanting UN Peacekeeping Troops In Chicago

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) If California is the worst state to be in now from just a depressing stand point, e.g. high taxes for low or no benefits, high levels of poverty and homelessness, substandard schools, skyrocketing state government debt, etc., then Chicago is likely the worst city to be in now. High debt, horrible schools, and worst of all, a murder rate that is out of control due to criminal and gang violence.

We have reviewed the death and maiming toll in Chicago many times in this blog. We have pointed out that the killing and gang/drug violence has been out of control for a long time and the local, county, state, and Federal politicians seem to have no concept on how to solve the problem. Because if they did, then the problem of criminal violence and death and maiming would have been solved long ago.

How bad have things gotten, how desperate have locals gotten to find a solution, any solution to the killing and wounding? Consider a recent report by CBS News:

• Cook County (Cook County includes Chicago) Commissioner Richard Boykin has put forth the radical suggestion that the United Nations send in peacekeeping troops from other countries to fight the violence.
• He says foreign UN troops are needed to fight the “quiet genocide.”
• Boykin actually made a trip to New York City to meet with Oscar Fernandez-Taranco of Argentina, the U.N. Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Support, to seek UN help with “horrific levels of shootings” and other violent crime in West Side and South Side Chicago communities: “I’m hoping to appeal to the U.N. to actually come to Chicago and meet with victims of violence, and maybe even possibly help out in terms of peacekeeping efforts, because I think it’s so critical for us to make sure that these neighborhoods are safe.”
• He correctly pointed out in a news conference just prior to his trip that, “leaders in Chicago and Cook County have failed to protect many communities from violent crime.”
• He went on to explain that, “There is a quiet genocide taking place in too many of our communities. Eighty percent of those who are being killed by gun violence are African American, and often killed at the hands of another African American. So we must protect these population groups, and that’s what the United Nations does. They’re a peacekeeping force. They know all about keeping the peace, and so we’re hopeful that they’ll hear our appeal.”

I appreciate his thinking outside of the box to try and resolve this violence issue and I also appreciate his frustration and desperation to get something done. But really, the United Nations and peacekeeping troops? Name one spot in the world today, or ever, where UN peacekeepers ever did a good job at keeping the peace? The UN is a bloated, ineffective and inefficient organization that cannot get out of its own way. 

Plus, the reality is that the country in no way whatsoever is going to allow foreign troops to occupy an American city. It is a total waste of time to even try and make that happen. While I feel Boykin’s frustration, maybe his energy would be better spent reforming our drug laws which give rise to violent drug cartel gangs who openly battle for turf on Chicago’s streets. 

Maybe his energy would be better spent finding ways to bring jobs and economic opportunities to the residents of Chicago to help people more easily and more safely avoid a life of crime. 

Maybe his energies would be better spent ousting long term politicians from their jobs, politicians who have proven over time they have neither the will, the brains, or the desire to fix the violence.

UN peacekeeping troops in Chicago? Insanity.

2) One of our favorite pastimes in this blog is to report on stupid uses of taxpayer wealth by all levels of government and politicians. We once reported on how the National Science Foundation used over half a million dollars to create a video game that simulated “Prom Week.” We reported on how the Department of the Interior used taxpayer wealth to replace all of the windows in a government park building that had been closed for years and no plans were in place to ever reopen the building again despite all new windows. Another government agency wasted thousands of dollars to determine that in bars men generally prefer younger, thinner women. Insanity.

Which brings us to the latest wasting of $22 million in taxpayer wealth:

• According to New York Times reporting, the Pentagon has spent at least $22 million of taxpayer wealth investigating reports of UFOs since 2007.
• The program was super secret and hidden deep inside Pentagon accounting budgets to hide its existence. 
• And while the Pentagon now admits to the program and says that it ended in 2012, there are reports that investigations are still going on within the budgets of existing Pentagon organizations.
• The program started at the insistence of former Nevada Senator Harry Reid.
• Oh, just be “coincidence,” much of the research and money went to an aerospace research company headed by a long time friend of Reid’s, Robert Bigelow who just happens to be located in Reid’s home state of Nevada.
• Reid proudly stated that he did not regret blowing $22 million chasing UFOs, a chase that netted nothing: “I’m not embarrassed or ashamed or sorry I got this thing going. I think it’s one of the good things I did in my Congressional service. I’ve done something that no one has done before.”

A few questions and observations Mr. Reid:

• Nothing came of this program so why are you so proud of it? If the objective was to prove UFOs exist, you failed.
• Just because you have done “something that no one has done before” is no reason to be proud. No one had previously gassed to death six million people like Hitler did and that is nothing to be proud of. Or as the old saying goes, “just because you can does not mean you should.” Just because you spent and wasted $22 million on a failed idea does not mean you should have.
• During this time frame we know now that it was highly likely that thousands and thousands of veterans were not getting the prompt and needed professional medical care that they were promised and yet you were wasting $22 million chasing bogus UFOs. Terrible waste of money and terrible priorities.

Insane.

3) Let’s finish up today’s insanity and government out of control review with some local political class insanity from Denver, Colorado, as reported in the February, 2018 issue of Reason magazine:

• Cynthia Lopez owned a house in Denver that she wanted to sell.
• She had a found a buyer that wanted to pay $265,000 for her home.
• But just days before the sale was to be closed, the local political class and the bumbling government apparatus it runs got involved, much to Ms. Lopez’s dismay.
• Denver government workers told her that her home was part of an affordable housing program, unbeknownst to her, and that she could not sell the house for over $180,000 even though she had found a buyer willing to pay $85,000 more.
• The local government officials readily acknowledged that Ms. Lopez had not been told or made aware when she bought the property that it was low income designated.
• Nevertheless, the local government officials told her tough beans and not only did she have to sell the house for far less than market value but she also had to sell it quickly since she did not qualify for low income housing, given her higher than allowed income, of which her home was designated as, and she needed to get out of the neighborhood and program and her home as quickly as possible.

This is a prime example of government and common sense being out of control. Through no fault of her own, a poor citizen is being forced out of her home and is being forced to take a substantial financial hit at the same time. Pure insanity.

So let’s review what our politicians have wrought on us today: kicking innocent people out of their homes, wasting money chasing UFOs, and wanting foreign combat troops via the United Nations to come to Chicago to do what Illinois and Chicago politicians cannot do, stem the violence. Three stupid solutions courtesy of the American political class. More insanity to follow.

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:


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

January, 2018, Part 3, Political Class Insanity: John Kerry Enriches His Daughter, California Kills Jobs, and More

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) Nowhere do American politicians show their ignorance more than on economic matters. They almost always opt for the solution that satisfies their political intentions rather than the economic solution that is right. In fact, more often than not, their decisions on economic policy make a bad situation worse, not better. Consider some analysis of a recent economic action from California politicians:

• Joe Crowe, writing for NewsMax on December 15, 2017, reviewed the recent action taken by California politicians regarding the minimum wage in that state.
• The state has enacted legislation that will force companies to pay their workers at least $15 an hour by 2023.
• An analysis of that law by the Economic Policy Institute, which looked at employment trends from 1990 through 2017, concluded from their analysis that each 10% increase in the minimum wage in California resulted in a 2% decline in jobs for minimum wage workers.
• This led the Institute to conclude that this latest economic foray by state politicians will cost the state 400,000 jobs.
• Most of the job losses will be in the food service and retail industries, typical industries that hire lower waged people. lower income people.

As always, when politicians meddle in economics and the free market they end up hurting the very people they say they are helping. Or as we have said many times, “the good news is that you have to be paid at least $15 an hour at your job,the bad news is you no longer have a job (because in this case in California 400,000 jobs are likely to be wiped out because of this new law.” Thus, 400,000 people will see their hourly wage go to zero, not quite what the politicians likely had in mind.

2) Corruption among the American political class seems to be a constant these days. We had the Clintons running a kickback crime syndicate using the Clinton Foundation as a front. Congresswoman Corrine Brown was recently sentenced to jail for defrauding her own charity. Earlier this week we discussed the case of Congressional candidate Shaun Brown who was recently indicted by a Federal grand jury for defrauding her own charity also.

And now we have a story from the Daily Caller website on how former Secretary of State John Kerry defrauded the American taxpayer:

• We have previously reported on how the State Department funneled millions of taxpayer dollars to a charity operated by his daughter, Vanessa Kerry.
• The latest report purports to confirm that Kerry knew all about this sham, non-competitive bid situation and did nothing to stop it.
• The Daily Caller claims that Kerry privately lauded his daughter’s program back in 2014 but did nothing to stop the non-competitive bid renewal of the State Department contract at that time: “What we’re talking about here is a multi-million dollar effort that will strengthen the capacity of healthcare workers to deliver lifesaving HIV services,” Kerry said in December 2014, at a World AIDS Day event. “[I]t will build on the Global Health Service Partnership with Peace Corps and Seed Global Health.”
• These Kerry comments from over three years ago is in direct conflict with the official State Department position that Kerry “played no role” in Department decision to funnel over $9 million to his daughter’s non-profit without any competitive bidding on the project being done.

Makes one wonder, in conjunction with the crime syndicate that his predecessor ran while Secretary of State, was there was ever a more corrupt, crooked State Department under any other President than the one under Obama?

3) The next embarrassment from the American political class is a little dated but worth reviewing anyway. It comes from the Biz Pac Review website in an article written by Carmine Sabia back on November 24, 2017 and is related to the recent sexual predatory issue surrounding not only politicians but journalists and Hollywood power houses:

• Most people know by now that a number of Washington politicians have been outed or at least accused of being sexual predators and perverts.
• One of the most accused those perverts was allegedly John Conyers, a Congressman from Michigan, who eventually resigned as a result of his actions and/or accusations against him from numerous women.
• Mr. Conyers apparently, at least in the initial stages of the sexual predator scandals, was not going to resign and apparently found a way to justify the reason for not resigning, according to his lawyer: “Mr. Conyers is not going to resign. If everybody that was facing ‘allegations’ — including the President, members of the House and Senate — resigned, we’d have a lot of unemployed people walking around.”
• The lawyerly statement is kind of admitting your client is wrong without admitting he is wrong, i.e. everyone else is being accused or is guilty of sexual harassment and worse so let’s not worry about my client’s alleged behavior, everyone else does it also.
• The lawyer then tried to rebound off of this “everyone else is doing it” defense to claim his client is innocent of the numerous charges even though we know that taxpayer funds were used to settle a 2015 lawsuit of sexual harassment that a woman had brought against the Congressman.

I did not do anything but even if I did, a lot of others may have done the same thing so you cannot punish all of us. Which sounds like an adult version of the excuse you gave our mom when you were a kid, “everyone else was doing it,” e.g. jumping off a bridge, so it is okay. Pathetically insane.

That will do it for today’s insanity: group think...and sin in Washington, John Kerry’s “I see nothing imitation” when it comes to enriching his own family with taxpayer wealth, and economic ignorance in California and the death of 400,000 jobs. More insanity to come.

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:


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