Dear Mr. Trump:
The mantra of your campaign, as we've all heard, is that you're 'going to make America great again'. I believe, of all the candidates, you are the one who can do this.
The wall is a good start - a solid and do-able start, and I look forward to seeing it happen.
That said, what's concerning to me and (I think) to many potential voters, is that you are too quiet or vague on how you're going to do the other things you've talked about. Like healthcare and cutting 'waste, fraud and abuse' in government. That's something that's been talked about by every presidential candidate since I started voting - and probably before then. Tell us how, explicitly, you're going to do this.
Regarding healthcare, you've talked about 'getting rid of the lines'. Okay, that's a good step. But tell us how you're going to do this. What will be needed? Give us some idea of what you have in your plan after the lines are gone. Will you use Medicare to cover the indigent? Will you tax people or businesses to do that? What is your ultimate goal - aside from repealing Obamacare? Tell me.
What about those Polish workers? If a contracting company your people hired was at fault, make it clear why you were sued - was it because of deep pockets and the ability to pay? Directly address this issue because it is a big question mark for a lot of people who don't understand that matter.
Directly address the issue of the foreign workers in Palm Beach. That could grow legs and be a problem. It could certainly be a problem come the Florida primary.
Be specific about government waste - how you're going to cut the fat (not just trim it, but take a chainsaw to it). There is plenty of room for doing this - but tell us your plan.
Please, for God's sake! Be explicit about Planned Parenthood. In the minds of most of us, PP is a left wing, liberal monolith that does nothing but abort children. So tell us two things:
First, tell us what you like about it. Then, in the very next breath, tell us in no uncertain terms that, despite the good things it does, it will be defunded because money is fungible. We might be the unwashed masses but we still understand that even if Planned Parenthood says it won't, it will, so stop it. Offer alternatives for low-cost women's health screenings through whatever will be the replacement of Obamacare.
Talk about the bankruptcies - what they were and why, how they were implemented. Tell us what happened after them, how sorry you are for the people left behind and what you did to help them.
Talk about the other core issues that are being raised. The tax returns are gaining momentum out here in the hinterlands - the time to do damage control is now, no matter what Romney or anyone else did.
Mr. Trump, it is time to stop side-stepping around the issues. You have got to talk about this stuff openly, directly, and without hyperbole because the media is no longer paying attention to you. Since Thursday night's debate, they are all over Rubio and Cruz and Kasich because that is who the Establishment want in the Oval Office.
Take your case to the American voter. Be clear. Be specific. Let us inside the walls enough that we, even the uneducated or those lacking big picture capacity or strategic forward-thinking can see what's planned.
You don't have to get down into the weeds - just paint in broad strokes, give the flavor of it. Have Melania and Ivanka and other proxies get out and spread the word. It's impossible to do it all yourself - so have your friends help. Christie, Arpaio, LePage and others can do wonders - and can answer the questions that Hilliary is certain to bring when you face her.
If you address these things before you face Hilliary, she will have less ammunition to use to try to bring you down.
The other thing that's getting really old, are the antics - the name calling and childish antics of throwing water around the stage.
For your disciples - me included - that's fine (although I will say I'm getting a bit weary of it), but for others who are outside the sandbox looking in, they're liable to shake their heads and go to the next sandbox to see what's going on there. If they find a more attractive sandbox, they're going to step inside, park their butts and it's game over until after the convention. Then they'll have to take another whiff and if they don't like the way the consolidated sandbox smells, they'll either defect or stay home.
Mr. Trump - this is winnable - but you have got to be a bit more clear. You have got to be more presidential - more adult than the rest of us. Stop repeating the mantra to the exclusion of hard ideas. I want a hook on which to hang a hat - please give it to me.
Thanks.
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
Saturday, February 27, 2016
Friday, February 26, 2016
Last Night's Bloodbath on CNN...
Wow! Didja see that? It was... (insert your own adjective). Rough and tumble politics at its berst (best + worst = berst) and I'm still not sure who "won".
Poor Ben Carson. The left-behind nice guy, begging for someone to attack him so he could get at least a little air time.
Let's see now... thirty some years ago Donald Trump (actually, more than likely some underling in Trump's development company) hired a contracting company that went out and hired a bunch of Polish illegals. Because Trump didn't pore over the documents for the workers hired by his contractors, but because Trump had name recognition and money, Trump was sued and paid out some undisclosed sum in a settlement.
To me, this is the equivalent of you or me hiring a reputable gardening company, or roofing contractor, or cleaning service or some other service company and getting sued because that company hired a bunch of illegal aliens and mistreated them by not meeting minimum wage laws, etc. I don't see that this has a hook on which to hang anything. But that's me.
CNN and Fox, on the other hand, are saying that the allegation is 'True' - that it was Trump himself, personally, who hired these illegals. They're glossing over, completely dismissing the fact that it was another company that did it and that Trump probably had no idea what was going on until it was too late to rectify.
You don't suppose they (CNN and Fox) are in the pockets of the Donor Establishment, do you? Nah... couldn't be. Could it?
As for the Trump University claim, that is much more disturbing because it seems there might be some there, there. It sounds like a scam to me, based on what I read. One of those house-flipping things that were so popular in the early 2000's, leading up to the housing bubble burst. There were dozens if not hundreds of similar things but, because of name recognition and the presumption of deep pockets, Trump is being sued over it. If he did anything more than lend his name to it, that's bad. However, as bad as it is, it's a black mark not a devastating revelation.
Do I like or condone it? Hell no! But it is, again, one of those things that he probably nodded in the direction of instead of diving into up to his elbows.
To me, there's a difference.
Lots of people, big and little, important and not so important, down the ages have given the nod to things, not realizing the entirety of what was planned, and only found out too late to do anything to stop it. I suspect this is one of those things. Some weasel in Trump's company got this brilliant idea, sold it to his boss (and maybe that boss dressed it up some more and sold it to Trump or another level), and that's how it got started. In the meantime, Trump was off doing other things, trusting people who shouldn't have been trusted, and then...wham! Slapped with a lawsuit.
After all, the head of a company as large as Trump's is not doing everything himself. He's not answering the phones and typing the letters and doing the filing, etc. He's got people for those things, and he's got other people for managing those things and managers for other things. It's like Undercover Boss.
I don't regularly watch that, but I've seen glimpses of a couple of episodes and in each the boss is so distant from the line workers, the people who keep the day-to-day stuff going, that neither knows or recognizes the other. That's probably how it is in the Trump empire.
Now, is that an excuse? Sort of but not really because The Buck Stops Here is a true statement - and it's as true in business as it is in politics.
What Trump is not getting credit for is for not throwing the person or people who got him into those messes under the bus. He hasn't said, 'well, that's because so-and-so did this-and-that'. He's taking it all on himself, which is a sign of a strong character.
So the man has feet of clay. So what. Thirty years ago, when he was in his early thirties, he failed in judging the character of a company he hired. More recently he got involved, gave his name to some bogus 'university' scam. Okay, does that disqualify him from running for office? Mmm. No. Not really.
That's my take on it. And I still think that Trump is the best option of the three on stage last night.
Rubio is owned by the Establishment / Donors and so is Cruz and we don't need another four or eight years of that nonsense. We've still had enough, so Trump is it for me.
That said, I'm going to finish my lunch and get back to work because, in the end, I'll get to vote but I'm only one voice of many in this discussion and whatever is going to happen will happen. I'll just be interested in seeing what it is.
Have a wonderful day!
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
Poor Ben Carson. The left-behind nice guy, begging for someone to attack him so he could get at least a little air time.
Let's see now... thirty some years ago Donald Trump (actually, more than likely some underling in Trump's development company) hired a contracting company that went out and hired a bunch of Polish illegals. Because Trump didn't pore over the documents for the workers hired by his contractors, but because Trump had name recognition and money, Trump was sued and paid out some undisclosed sum in a settlement.
To me, this is the equivalent of you or me hiring a reputable gardening company, or roofing contractor, or cleaning service or some other service company and getting sued because that company hired a bunch of illegal aliens and mistreated them by not meeting minimum wage laws, etc. I don't see that this has a hook on which to hang anything. But that's me.
CNN and Fox, on the other hand, are saying that the allegation is 'True' - that it was Trump himself, personally, who hired these illegals. They're glossing over, completely dismissing the fact that it was another company that did it and that Trump probably had no idea what was going on until it was too late to rectify.
You don't suppose they (CNN and Fox) are in the pockets of the Donor Establishment, do you? Nah... couldn't be. Could it?
As for the Trump University claim, that is much more disturbing because it seems there might be some there, there. It sounds like a scam to me, based on what I read. One of those house-flipping things that were so popular in the early 2000's, leading up to the housing bubble burst. There were dozens if not hundreds of similar things but, because of name recognition and the presumption of deep pockets, Trump is being sued over it. If he did anything more than lend his name to it, that's bad. However, as bad as it is, it's a black mark not a devastating revelation.
Do I like or condone it? Hell no! But it is, again, one of those things that he probably nodded in the direction of instead of diving into up to his elbows.
To me, there's a difference.
Lots of people, big and little, important and not so important, down the ages have given the nod to things, not realizing the entirety of what was planned, and only found out too late to do anything to stop it. I suspect this is one of those things. Some weasel in Trump's company got this brilliant idea, sold it to his boss (and maybe that boss dressed it up some more and sold it to Trump or another level), and that's how it got started. In the meantime, Trump was off doing other things, trusting people who shouldn't have been trusted, and then...wham! Slapped with a lawsuit.
After all, the head of a company as large as Trump's is not doing everything himself. He's not answering the phones and typing the letters and doing the filing, etc. He's got people for those things, and he's got other people for managing those things and managers for other things. It's like Undercover Boss.
I don't regularly watch that, but I've seen glimpses of a couple of episodes and in each the boss is so distant from the line workers, the people who keep the day-to-day stuff going, that neither knows or recognizes the other. That's probably how it is in the Trump empire.
Now, is that an excuse? Sort of but not really because The Buck Stops Here is a true statement - and it's as true in business as it is in politics.
What Trump is not getting credit for is for not throwing the person or people who got him into those messes under the bus. He hasn't said, 'well, that's because so-and-so did this-and-that'. He's taking it all on himself, which is a sign of a strong character.
So the man has feet of clay. So what. Thirty years ago, when he was in his early thirties, he failed in judging the character of a company he hired. More recently he got involved, gave his name to some bogus 'university' scam. Okay, does that disqualify him from running for office? Mmm. No. Not really.
That's my take on it. And I still think that Trump is the best option of the three on stage last night.
Rubio is owned by the Establishment / Donors and so is Cruz and we don't need another four or eight years of that nonsense. We've still had enough, so Trump is it for me.
That said, I'm going to finish my lunch and get back to work because, in the end, I'll get to vote but I'm only one voice of many in this discussion and whatever is going to happen will happen. I'll just be interested in seeing what it is.
Have a wonderful day!
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
Thursday, February 25, 2016
George Will Says On 'Our' Terms, Not On Yours - Excuse Me?
Mitt Romney going after Donald Trump about his tax returns is a bit like this picture, although laid-back Mitt probably didn't bare his teeth (much) when he became a jerk.
What has got the right so twisted up about Trump's candidacy?
I know, I know. That's a naive question. It's power and control, baby, power and control. The Donor Class and Elites are about to lose control of this country to the citizens, and they are scared spitless. What will a democratic republic with candidates chosen by the serfs look like?
I don't think it will change all that much, unless the people running for the other offices - all of the House of Representatives, and thirty-four of the Senators - pay attention to the climate this year. If they do, the face of America could change dramatically for the good for us, the people. We might actually get a representative government that represents us and isn't controlled by a dozen or so uber rich despots.
I hope and pray that all of the candidates or potential candidates recognize what's happening in the world out here, and accede to it, so we can have the kind of government the Founders intended. If they don't get it, they may well not get into office. Some will, but others won't because I also think what's happening is the American people are waking up. We are beginning to recognize our power, and we don't like what we're seeing.
I think what's being made crystal clear is that the normal folks don't like Washington and what goes on there. I don't think the folks like or appreciate the politicians and talking heads telling us what's good for us - it's too patronizing. We... Well, I don't like people like Mitt Romney, who seemed like a nice enough guy when he was running for the same office (using some of Donald Trump's money to get there), casting aspersions by all but saying that Trump has done something dishonest that will be revealed in his tax returns.
Honestly? Honestly? After all the crap and nonsense that's come out of Washington, all of the lies, dirty tricks, traitorous acts (leaving national security secrets wide open to foreign countries), and we're supposed to get excited about someone's tax returns?
If it wasn't so pathetic it would be laughable.
I don't care what's in Trump's taxes. I'm not voting for his 1040 long form. I'm voting for the man, for his ideas and what he says he can do for this country.
Disclosing taxes is meaningless to me. I don't want to look at my own documents, let alone some giant company's returns. Anyway, it's a recent invention - only since the 1970's - and, to me, it's meaningless.
Of course the lawyers and tax accountants get a thrill up their leg from it. It's income, revenue that goes into their pockets while with pore through the pages, looking for any little 'gotcha'. Said 'gotcha' being a dead bore to the rest of us. Unless, of course, it discloses that someone has fourteen distaff children to whom they're paying child support, or something else.
It's obvious. The Establishment are scared by Donald Trump. They're laughing at Bernie and holding their nose over Hilliary, but Trump actually has them worried.
In fact, George Will has said, 'our way or the highway you idiots'. He did exactly that on Fox News Sunday, August 9, 2015 when he said, "Trump supporters need to come into the Republican party on our terms, not theirs..."
Now I have to ask, how arrogant is that? 'My way or the highway', really? What happened to his appreciation of democracy - the will of the people?
There's a clip of this revealing moment on another blog site: conservativetreehouse.com and if you Google 'george will fox news sunday 08/09/2015' you can find it. (I can't link to it here, because I don't have permission.)
It is eye-opening and something that I missed until this kerfuffle all these months later. However, it's become a mantra on Fox and, I realize, it's why I've stopped watching Fox News. I'm disgusted by their partisanship to something that stinks to high heaven - the Republican party.
Now, I am a registered Republican - surprise! - and I am not planning on changing that affiliation because I don't want to get a bunch of distaff candidates who don't stand a chance in an election when I fill out my primary ballot. That said, I will vote for who I see fit when the time comes and I don't need people like George Will and the other Elitists telling me that I'm wrong. Imagine, if you will, a middle finger standing upright from amongst its brothers.
Okay, enough of that now. I'm going to get ready and go to work and do what I do every other day of the week.
Have a wonderful day.
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
 | ||
| from KimberlyCrumby.com |
What has got the right so twisted up about Trump's candidacy?
I know, I know. That's a naive question. It's power and control, baby, power and control. The Donor Class and Elites are about to lose control of this country to the citizens, and they are scared spitless. What will a democratic republic with candidates chosen by the serfs look like?
I don't think it will change all that much, unless the people running for the other offices - all of the House of Representatives, and thirty-four of the Senators - pay attention to the climate this year. If they do, the face of America could change dramatically for the good for us, the people. We might actually get a representative government that represents us and isn't controlled by a dozen or so uber rich despots.
I hope and pray that all of the candidates or potential candidates recognize what's happening in the world out here, and accede to it, so we can have the kind of government the Founders intended. If they don't get it, they may well not get into office. Some will, but others won't because I also think what's happening is the American people are waking up. We are beginning to recognize our power, and we don't like what we're seeing.
I think what's being made crystal clear is that the normal folks don't like Washington and what goes on there. I don't think the folks like or appreciate the politicians and talking heads telling us what's good for us - it's too patronizing. We... Well, I don't like people like Mitt Romney, who seemed like a nice enough guy when he was running for the same office (using some of Donald Trump's money to get there), casting aspersions by all but saying that Trump has done something dishonest that will be revealed in his tax returns.
Honestly? Honestly? After all the crap and nonsense that's come out of Washington, all of the lies, dirty tricks, traitorous acts (leaving national security secrets wide open to foreign countries), and we're supposed to get excited about someone's tax returns?
If it wasn't so pathetic it would be laughable.
I don't care what's in Trump's taxes. I'm not voting for his 1040 long form. I'm voting for the man, for his ideas and what he says he can do for this country.
Disclosing taxes is meaningless to me. I don't want to look at my own documents, let alone some giant company's returns. Anyway, it's a recent invention - only since the 1970's - and, to me, it's meaningless.
Of course the lawyers and tax accountants get a thrill up their leg from it. It's income, revenue that goes into their pockets while with pore through the pages, looking for any little 'gotcha'. Said 'gotcha' being a dead bore to the rest of us. Unless, of course, it discloses that someone has fourteen distaff children to whom they're paying child support, or something else.
It's obvious. The Establishment are scared by Donald Trump. They're laughing at Bernie and holding their nose over Hilliary, but Trump actually has them worried.
In fact, George Will has said, 'our way or the highway you idiots'. He did exactly that on Fox News Sunday, August 9, 2015 when he said, "Trump supporters need to come into the Republican party on our terms, not theirs..."
Now I have to ask, how arrogant is that? 'My way or the highway', really? What happened to his appreciation of democracy - the will of the people?
There's a clip of this revealing moment on another blog site: conservativetreehouse.com and if you Google 'george will fox news sunday 08/09/2015' you can find it. (I can't link to it here, because I don't have permission.)
It is eye-opening and something that I missed until this kerfuffle all these months later. However, it's become a mantra on Fox and, I realize, it's why I've stopped watching Fox News. I'm disgusted by their partisanship to something that stinks to high heaven - the Republican party.
Now, I am a registered Republican - surprise! - and I am not planning on changing that affiliation because I don't want to get a bunch of distaff candidates who don't stand a chance in an election when I fill out my primary ballot. That said, I will vote for who I see fit when the time comes and I don't need people like George Will and the other Elitists telling me that I'm wrong. Imagine, if you will, a middle finger standing upright from amongst its brothers.
Okay, enough of that now. I'm going to get ready and go to work and do what I do every other day of the week.
Have a wonderful day.
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Brainiacs in a Vacuum
That's what they sound like if you read the bitching, moaning and whining about Donald Trump from the so-called 'pundits' in Washington about the current election cycle.
Bill Kristol hates him. George Will hates him. Erick Erickson hates him. And the list goes on - boring in its sameness.
These people say to the rest of us 'we are the Conservatives and you should listen to us.'
I want to know, 'who died and appointed you God?'
These people say 'Donald Trump is not a Conservative because...' Pick your reason (it's all crap by the way).
I demand to know, 'who died and appointed you sole arbiter of what makes a Conservative'?
Is it any wonder the American people are disgusted with Washington?
These 'insiders', and others like them who have written for the National Review, the Weekly Standard and all of the other inside the Washington Beltway political rags, are so brain dead that they don't see the writing on the wall. They have sucked all of the oxygen out of their rarefied little enclave. They are in the last stages of intellectual asphyxiation and don't even recognize the symptoms.
Symptom 1: Iowa. Even Ted Cruz talking about eliminating corn subsidies and the ethanol mandate won the state. Republicans had higher voter turn-out there than the Democrats (180,000 to 171,109, respectively). Cruz was first and Trump was a solid second.
Symptom 2: New Hampshire. Donald Trump blew out the "palatable" candidates - Kasich, Rubio and Bush.
Symptom 3: South Carolina. Donald Trump won forty-four of forty-six counties. The "homeboy" Jeb! got next to zero support despite being the "Establishment" darling and the one candidate these inside the beltway Zombies thought was going to win everything.
Symptom 4: Entrance polling from Nevada. The electoral - the sheeple - are pissed off, fed up, disgusted, angry, you name it. They cast their ballots yesterday and Trump walked away with a twenty point lead over the second place finisher, Marco Rubio.
We, the American people, are shouting at the Washington Zombies: we do not want you to tell us who we should vote for. We are not children. We can and do think for ourselves and we do not want politics as usual.
So now, what do you suppose these brainiacs are saying? They want a third party. They won't support the Republican nominee chosen by the People.
What does this say about them, about their character, their belief in the Founding Principles and Documents - the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights they have purported to support and hold dear all these years? How about:
That, right there is what it says. They are empty suits. They have no honesty. They have no integrity. They have no values. They have no character. They have and they are nothing.
If they don't get their way, if they don't agree with what the citizens of this country want in place of what we're told to want, they act like spoiled babies. They'll pick up their marbles and go elsewhere.
Well, I've got news for them. They don't drive this country as much as they like to think they do. Neither does the donor class of which they are fringe members.
We the People is far more than just words on a piece of parchment. It is an idea and an ideal, and it is coming home to roost.
We the People are fed up - utterly and completely - with the crap and nonsense flowing out of Washington. We have put up with it for thirty years, since Ronald Reagan, and we are done.
We the People did not want Obamacare - but it was shoved down our unwilling throats by the Washington Elites and by Congress. This is payback.
We the People do not like the lies and cover-ups and constant scandals that flow through Washington DC like a river of sewage. This is payback.
Although we're supposed to be 'tired' of hearing about Benghazi, I can tell you I'm not. I don't think many others in this country are, either. I think we know precisely what was done.
Hilliary Clinton and her boss got in over their heads with Libya. When the shit hit the fan they didn't have the first clue what to do and didn't have the brains God gave a chicken to figure it out. They left people to die even though there were others there in country, on the ground and willing to risk it all to save those in the embassy.
When it was all over, with four men dead and others badly wounded, they circulated through the morning shows and pumped up a lie about a stupid video. For days they passed that around, hoping we the people would be just as stupid as they are. But we weren't. We demanded answers so Congress held hearings. In those, the left stonewalled and whitewashed and covered up, just as they always do and the right caved, just as it always does.
Nothing happened, and that pisses me and a lot of other people off. This is payback.
Now we've got the e-mail server mess. Most of the country is paying attention, praying for an indictment or at least a series of subpoenas to move the investigation forward, but it's being stonewalled again.
Trump has said that he will go after Hilliary big time if he's elected. This is payback.
What is going to be sweet music to me and to others who think like me is Trump going after Hilliary. He will be unrelenting, and she will go down in flames because it will all come out.
Comey will wait. Honestly, I think that is why the FBI seems to be dragging its feet. They have enough to pin her to the wall for the rest of her life. I know they do - just based on what's been talked about in the media. But he won't request an indictment. Not yet, because if no crime has been named, if Hilliary doesn't stand formally accused of anything, Obie-One has no grounds for a pardon. She'll be vulnerable - a sitting duck and it is going to be a beautiful day in America when that lights up.
So Bill and Erick and George and all the rest, get over yourselves. You are not at all important or even that interesting out here.
Have a lovely day out in the hinterlands - it's where the real people live.
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
Bill Kristol hates him. George Will hates him. Erick Erickson hates him. And the list goes on - boring in its sameness.
These people say to the rest of us 'we are the Conservatives and you should listen to us.'
I want to know, 'who died and appointed you God?'
These people say 'Donald Trump is not a Conservative because...' Pick your reason (it's all crap by the way).
I demand to know, 'who died and appointed you sole arbiter of what makes a Conservative'?
Is it any wonder the American people are disgusted with Washington?
These 'insiders', and others like them who have written for the National Review, the Weekly Standard and all of the other inside the Washington Beltway political rags, are so brain dead that they don't see the writing on the wall. They have sucked all of the oxygen out of their rarefied little enclave. They are in the last stages of intellectual asphyxiation and don't even recognize the symptoms.
Symptom 1: Iowa. Even Ted Cruz talking about eliminating corn subsidies and the ethanol mandate won the state. Republicans had higher voter turn-out there than the Democrats (180,000 to 171,109, respectively). Cruz was first and Trump was a solid second.
Symptom 2: New Hampshire. Donald Trump blew out the "palatable" candidates - Kasich, Rubio and Bush.
Symptom 3: South Carolina. Donald Trump won forty-four of forty-six counties. The "homeboy" Jeb! got next to zero support despite being the "Establishment" darling and the one candidate these inside the beltway Zombies thought was going to win everything.
Symptom 4: Entrance polling from Nevada. The electoral - the sheeple - are pissed off, fed up, disgusted, angry, you name it. They cast their ballots yesterday and Trump walked away with a twenty point lead over the second place finisher, Marco Rubio.
We, the American people, are shouting at the Washington Zombies: we do not want you to tell us who we should vote for. We are not children. We can and do think for ourselves and we do not want politics as usual.
So now, what do you suppose these brainiacs are saying? They want a third party. They won't support the Republican nominee chosen by the People.
What does this say about them, about their character, their belief in the Founding Principles and Documents - the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights they have purported to support and hold dear all these years? How about:
That, right there is what it says. They are empty suits. They have no honesty. They have no integrity. They have no values. They have no character. They have and they are nothing.
If they don't get their way, if they don't agree with what the citizens of this country want in place of what we're told to want, they act like spoiled babies. They'll pick up their marbles and go elsewhere.
Well, I've got news for them. They don't drive this country as much as they like to think they do. Neither does the donor class of which they are fringe members.
We the People is far more than just words on a piece of parchment. It is an idea and an ideal, and it is coming home to roost.
We the People are fed up - utterly and completely - with the crap and nonsense flowing out of Washington. We have put up with it for thirty years, since Ronald Reagan, and we are done.
We the People did not want Obamacare - but it was shoved down our unwilling throats by the Washington Elites and by Congress. This is payback.
We the People do not like the lies and cover-ups and constant scandals that flow through Washington DC like a river of sewage. This is payback.
Although we're supposed to be 'tired' of hearing about Benghazi, I can tell you I'm not. I don't think many others in this country are, either. I think we know precisely what was done.
Hilliary Clinton and her boss got in over their heads with Libya. When the shit hit the fan they didn't have the first clue what to do and didn't have the brains God gave a chicken to figure it out. They left people to die even though there were others there in country, on the ground and willing to risk it all to save those in the embassy.
When it was all over, with four men dead and others badly wounded, they circulated through the morning shows and pumped up a lie about a stupid video. For days they passed that around, hoping we the people would be just as stupid as they are. But we weren't. We demanded answers so Congress held hearings. In those, the left stonewalled and whitewashed and covered up, just as they always do and the right caved, just as it always does.
Nothing happened, and that pisses me and a lot of other people off. This is payback.
Now we've got the e-mail server mess. Most of the country is paying attention, praying for an indictment or at least a series of subpoenas to move the investigation forward, but it's being stonewalled again.
Trump has said that he will go after Hilliary big time if he's elected. This is payback.
What is going to be sweet music to me and to others who think like me is Trump going after Hilliary. He will be unrelenting, and she will go down in flames because it will all come out.
Comey will wait. Honestly, I think that is why the FBI seems to be dragging its feet. They have enough to pin her to the wall for the rest of her life. I know they do - just based on what's been talked about in the media. But he won't request an indictment. Not yet, because if no crime has been named, if Hilliary doesn't stand formally accused of anything, Obie-One has no grounds for a pardon. She'll be vulnerable - a sitting duck and it is going to be a beautiful day in America when that lights up.
So Bill and Erick and George and all the rest, get over yourselves. You are not at all important or even that interesting out here.
Have a lovely day out in the hinterlands - it's where the real people live.
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
Why Do I Do This!???
Grumble...
You would think at the ripe old age of... I would know better. But I don't, obviously, because if I did I wouldn't do what I did and wouldn't be wide awake at two o'clock, straining to fall asleep until three-thirty when I finally caved and got up.
That was yesterday, after just one glass of wine too many. No hangover, per se, no queasy stomach or sick feeling, but a smashing sinus headache.
Now that could have been a change in weather, some front or pressure system or other coming through. Or it could be the allergies. This year they are horrendous because of the rain and the growth and the pollen. But, because I drank one glass of wine too many Monday night the result was misery, and that has me wondering. I know better so why do I do it?
My nose and lips had reached numb - the warning sign that I've had enough - but when hubby offered me a little more (stupid me!) I held out my glass instead of being sensible.
It's like eating. I love to eat even though I know what's enough, when I've had enough, but I still tend to eat more than I should. Which is one benefit to taking my lunch every day. At least then I can control the portion size.
Yesterday morning, though, deciding that my about-to-explode head might feel better if I got up at three-thirty and ate something, I had a flour tortilla with some left over meat and rice from my experiment with stuffed peppers this weekend (they're pretty good). I hadn't gotten around to putting the extra into the freezer (where it now resides) for next time, so I made a taco. Which did seem to help, along with the coffee (caffeine). I did feel better but at ten past four, with my first alarm set to go off in twenty minutes, I wondered.
Do I turn off that first alarm and go to bed and try to sleep until the second alarm at five-thirty? Or do I just stay up, knowing that because I didn't sleep last night I'm going to be extra tired tonight?
Sometimes I wish I was so well off I could just let my circadian rhythm drive my sleep patterns. It would be so easy since my tendency is to have my sleep pattern want to shift. Some nights I'll be sleepy and wanting to go to bed at seven o'clock. Other nights I'm wide awake and ready to party at eleven.
But I'm not that well off, so I sat there, feeling better and thinking 'maybe I could get some more sleep...' What the heck, I decided to try and...
Yup, going back to bed was a good thing. I wasn't sure it was when the alarm went off at six, but I forced myself out of bed. First thing was to take a shower, putting the kibosh on just going back to bed. I still wasn't thrilled with life and things when I got dressed but a couple of hours later, I felt good. I did sleep, by the way. Not the full hour and a half, but about forty or forty-five minutes, so it helped.
At work I was able to focus and pay attention, got things done. All afternoon I still had energy to get through the day so it's all good. And I DIDN'T drink last night. Even if hubby had offered me temptation I wouldn't. The sinus headache came and went all day but I think that the wine made it worse than it would have been.
Now, is this a lesson I can take with me? Yes. Will I? Probably not, knowing me. But I will try because I really do not want to keep waking up in the middle of the night feeling miserable and like my head would feel better if it just exploded and got it over with.
And, for the record, when I got home last night, hubby and I stuck to water while we watched some of the Nevada election stuff. I fell asleep on the sofa around eight o'clock. Hubby woke me at nine when the results started coming in, and I was in bed by nine-thirty and slept until five-thirty this morning and I still feel like I could sleep more.
Meaning that because of a few glasses of wine night before last, I am still all screwed up. I don't know that I'll stay away from it, so I won't swear or promise, but I will try.
Have a wonderful day!
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
You would think at the ripe old age of... I would know better. But I don't, obviously, because if I did I wouldn't do what I did and wouldn't be wide awake at two o'clock, straining to fall asleep until three-thirty when I finally caved and got up.
That was yesterday, after just one glass of wine too many. No hangover, per se, no queasy stomach or sick feeling, but a smashing sinus headache.
Now that could have been a change in weather, some front or pressure system or other coming through. Or it could be the allergies. This year they are horrendous because of the rain and the growth and the pollen. But, because I drank one glass of wine too many Monday night the result was misery, and that has me wondering. I know better so why do I do it?
My nose and lips had reached numb - the warning sign that I've had enough - but when hubby offered me a little more (stupid me!) I held out my glass instead of being sensible.
It's like eating. I love to eat even though I know what's enough, when I've had enough, but I still tend to eat more than I should. Which is one benefit to taking my lunch every day. At least then I can control the portion size.
Yesterday morning, though, deciding that my about-to-explode head might feel better if I got up at three-thirty and ate something, I had a flour tortilla with some left over meat and rice from my experiment with stuffed peppers this weekend (they're pretty good). I hadn't gotten around to putting the extra into the freezer (where it now resides) for next time, so I made a taco. Which did seem to help, along with the coffee (caffeine). I did feel better but at ten past four, with my first alarm set to go off in twenty minutes, I wondered.
Do I turn off that first alarm and go to bed and try to sleep until the second alarm at five-thirty? Or do I just stay up, knowing that because I didn't sleep last night I'm going to be extra tired tonight?
Sometimes I wish I was so well off I could just let my circadian rhythm drive my sleep patterns. It would be so easy since my tendency is to have my sleep pattern want to shift. Some nights I'll be sleepy and wanting to go to bed at seven o'clock. Other nights I'm wide awake and ready to party at eleven.
But I'm not that well off, so I sat there, feeling better and thinking 'maybe I could get some more sleep...' What the heck, I decided to try and...
Yup, going back to bed was a good thing. I wasn't sure it was when the alarm went off at six, but I forced myself out of bed. First thing was to take a shower, putting the kibosh on just going back to bed. I still wasn't thrilled with life and things when I got dressed but a couple of hours later, I felt good. I did sleep, by the way. Not the full hour and a half, but about forty or forty-five minutes, so it helped.
At work I was able to focus and pay attention, got things done. All afternoon I still had energy to get through the day so it's all good. And I DIDN'T drink last night. Even if hubby had offered me temptation I wouldn't. The sinus headache came and went all day but I think that the wine made it worse than it would have been.
Now, is this a lesson I can take with me? Yes. Will I? Probably not, knowing me. But I will try because I really do not want to keep waking up in the middle of the night feeling miserable and like my head would feel better if it just exploded and got it over with.
And, for the record, when I got home last night, hubby and I stuck to water while we watched some of the Nevada election stuff. I fell asleep on the sofa around eight o'clock. Hubby woke me at nine when the results started coming in, and I was in bed by nine-thirty and slept until five-thirty this morning and I still feel like I could sleep more.
Meaning that because of a few glasses of wine night before last, I am still all screwed up. I don't know that I'll stay away from it, so I won't swear or promise, but I will try.
Have a wonderful day!
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Come On Guys, Make it Believable!
It's funny how invasive time is.
A few weeks ago I had things under control and I was able to spend time doing this little exercise every day. Then I got busy and missed all but two days last week. This week I feel as if things are under better control again, so we'll see. Of course, month-end close is coming and that will probably throw a wrench into the works.
It's pretty much how my letter writing to my mom went. Sometimes I was pretty good, at least once a week or so. Other times I'd go for a while - until getting the 'you never write!' message. She was profoundly deaf (stone deaf) so calling wasn't an option, but that was okay. I never did learn to like talking on the phone. Still don't like it, not even with people I do like. It's just awkward. I'd rather write a letter or meet face-to-face.
But I digress. If one can from something like this... Oops, sorry. There I go again.
Last night I stayed up later than I should have because I was watching one of the Bourne movies. This was the 'Bourne Legacy' - the after, after of the Bourne trilogy and, as a writer, I saw plot holes through which I could drive a train. I wasn't thrilled with the opening third, either.
Don't get me wrong - as action movies go, it lived up to the genre. It's just that the open was so far out in left field, from the man alone in the Alaskan wilderness to the meeting in Washington DC which is only one of a couple of places where Bourne is actually shown and named or discussed. It was disjointed and it took me longer to engage than it should have. If I didn't like action movies, or if I hadn't already seen the three predecessors to this, I would have been completely lost.
As it was, the opening scene with the body lying on the surface of water - lake, river or ocean wasn't immediately clear - was so reminiscent of the first Bourne movie that it was confusing. There was a moment when hubby wondered if we were back there, starting over.
It did start to make some sense, eventually, and it turned out to be a marginally better than average action movie, although some parts in the final scenes were utterly ridiculous. Whatever. It's popcorn for the mind.
The guy who played the male lead in this wasn't as hot as the first guy who ended up dead. I don't know who he was but... (sexist thoughts).
The premise was good but the problems I had were that I have read a lot of Ludlum's books, and Clancy's books and a whole lot of other action / thrillers with misunderstood or misrepresented people on the run from the government that wants to kill them. The problem with that is that I spent the hour after the movie ended picking it apart.
Why, if he's so damned smart, wouldn't he assume that the government is going to be able to track them down?
There's a massive fire yet the government is able to immediately identify one of the bodies burned in that fire as not the person they expected? Gimme a break. The good guy spread kerosene all over the place in mass quantities and the bodies weren't burned beyond recognition? Gimme a break. They would have been toast and only dental records would have helped identify who was who. And the shell casings would have melted and fallen through the floor into the basement - they wouldn't have survived a fire like that.
So, given the facts that:
1) The bad guys wouldn't be able to get into the building for hours since the fire would have to be put out and the burning hot spots cooled;
2) The structure would have collapsed over, around and on top of the dead bodies and soaking wet debris and char would have had to be cleared to get to them;
3) The heat in a fire like that - there was no furniture or anything to obstruct the flames from engulfing the bodies - would have burned all of the clothing, hair and soft tissue, leaving only charred bones behind. It would require forensic reconstruction to identify gender and dental records to identify the individual.
Even with all the resources of the government there are some physical facts that can't be ignored, like these. Thus, the head start by our hero and heroine would have been more like two or three days than 'seventeen hours' as the film had it.
Then, knowing that the government has photographs of both of them on file, since they both worked for the government. And knowing that there are surveillance and security cameras everywhere these days, why did he - this super-duper special agent - not take the basic precautions of changing appearance? Haircut and dye job for her. A little gauze in her cheeks to change the planes of her face. A stoop to her walk, boring glasses instead of trendy-now frames that flatter her face, slightly too-big dowdy clothes, etc. A couple of days of beard growth for him, loose clothes to hide the studly body, etc.
Why fly direct from here to there? Why not ditch the car at the airport, use one of the fake passports and licenses he's carrying around to hire a rental and drive off - heading toward Detroit or Chicago or somewhere else with an airport? Why fly direct from here to there and make the trail so easy to follow? Why not fly from Chicago or Detroit to... oh, I dunno, Vancouver to Tokyo to... Or to Phoenix to Mexico City to...
So this is what I lay awake thinking of. I know, I know. It's not literature. It's popcorn, but it still bothers me. Yes, I enjoyed it, but these were the things that stuck out.
At least the first couple of Bourne movies had more of an air of mystery, a slightly higher level of believability. Particularly the drawn out scene in Movie No. 2 in which Simon Ross buys it. Now that was great intensity and, because it was so well done, was brought into this movie as a tie.
At least in the first one, 'The Bourne Identity' Our Hero does the things I would expect him to do. Yes, in that, he kidnaps the girl, she's terrified but he keeps her safe - cuts and dyes her hair for one thing, teaches her how to hide in plain sight, etc.
Anyway. So that was my evening and night. Evening spent watching the movie and more time at night picking it apart.
Would I watch it again? Yes. But I'd rather see just about any of the Bond movies or any of the other Bourne movies with Matt Damon.
So, that's that.
Now I've got piles of work around and in front of me. Fortunately, I slept well this weekend and turned the first alarm off this morning - slept until five-thirty instead of just until four-forty-five - so I'm not wiped out.
I've got my list compiled - all the documents that have to be approved for clearing - through December 2015. It's not as bad as I thought. I thought it would be far more than it is, but it's still more than 400 documents. And that doesn't include what's accumulated since January 1st.
I'll break it up by individual responsible and send those out to the individuals. Hopefully it will shock them when they see how much is out there, and that shock will encourage them to get on it. Otherwise it'll be the persistent nag feature.
I do have a lot - a couple of inches worth - that aren't on the list but that can be cleared, so I'll work on that today and tomorrow. Speaking of which...
Have a wonderful day!
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
A few weeks ago I had things under control and I was able to spend time doing this little exercise every day. Then I got busy and missed all but two days last week. This week I feel as if things are under better control again, so we'll see. Of course, month-end close is coming and that will probably throw a wrench into the works.
It's pretty much how my letter writing to my mom went. Sometimes I was pretty good, at least once a week or so. Other times I'd go for a while - until getting the 'you never write!' message. She was profoundly deaf (stone deaf) so calling wasn't an option, but that was okay. I never did learn to like talking on the phone. Still don't like it, not even with people I do like. It's just awkward. I'd rather write a letter or meet face-to-face.
But I digress. If one can from something like this... Oops, sorry. There I go again.
Last night I stayed up later than I should have because I was watching one of the Bourne movies. This was the 'Bourne Legacy' - the after, after of the Bourne trilogy and, as a writer, I saw plot holes through which I could drive a train. I wasn't thrilled with the opening third, either.
Don't get me wrong - as action movies go, it lived up to the genre. It's just that the open was so far out in left field, from the man alone in the Alaskan wilderness to the meeting in Washington DC which is only one of a couple of places where Bourne is actually shown and named or discussed. It was disjointed and it took me longer to engage than it should have. If I didn't like action movies, or if I hadn't already seen the three predecessors to this, I would have been completely lost.
As it was, the opening scene with the body lying on the surface of water - lake, river or ocean wasn't immediately clear - was so reminiscent of the first Bourne movie that it was confusing. There was a moment when hubby wondered if we were back there, starting over.
It did start to make some sense, eventually, and it turned out to be a marginally better than average action movie, although some parts in the final scenes were utterly ridiculous. Whatever. It's popcorn for the mind.
The guy who played the male lead in this wasn't as hot as the first guy who ended up dead. I don't know who he was but... (sexist thoughts).
The premise was good but the problems I had were that I have read a lot of Ludlum's books, and Clancy's books and a whole lot of other action / thrillers with misunderstood or misrepresented people on the run from the government that wants to kill them. The problem with that is that I spent the hour after the movie ended picking it apart.
Why, if he's so damned smart, wouldn't he assume that the government is going to be able to track them down?
There's a massive fire yet the government is able to immediately identify one of the bodies burned in that fire as not the person they expected? Gimme a break. The good guy spread kerosene all over the place in mass quantities and the bodies weren't burned beyond recognition? Gimme a break. They would have been toast and only dental records would have helped identify who was who. And the shell casings would have melted and fallen through the floor into the basement - they wouldn't have survived a fire like that.
So, given the facts that:
1) The bad guys wouldn't be able to get into the building for hours since the fire would have to be put out and the burning hot spots cooled;
2) The structure would have collapsed over, around and on top of the dead bodies and soaking wet debris and char would have had to be cleared to get to them;
3) The heat in a fire like that - there was no furniture or anything to obstruct the flames from engulfing the bodies - would have burned all of the clothing, hair and soft tissue, leaving only charred bones behind. It would require forensic reconstruction to identify gender and dental records to identify the individual.
Even with all the resources of the government there are some physical facts that can't be ignored, like these. Thus, the head start by our hero and heroine would have been more like two or three days than 'seventeen hours' as the film had it.
Then, knowing that the government has photographs of both of them on file, since they both worked for the government. And knowing that there are surveillance and security cameras everywhere these days, why did he - this super-duper special agent - not take the basic precautions of changing appearance? Haircut and dye job for her. A little gauze in her cheeks to change the planes of her face. A stoop to her walk, boring glasses instead of trendy-now frames that flatter her face, slightly too-big dowdy clothes, etc. A couple of days of beard growth for him, loose clothes to hide the studly body, etc.
Why fly direct from here to there? Why not ditch the car at the airport, use one of the fake passports and licenses he's carrying around to hire a rental and drive off - heading toward Detroit or Chicago or somewhere else with an airport? Why fly direct from here to there and make the trail so easy to follow? Why not fly from Chicago or Detroit to... oh, I dunno, Vancouver to Tokyo to... Or to Phoenix to Mexico City to...
So this is what I lay awake thinking of. I know, I know. It's not literature. It's popcorn, but it still bothers me. Yes, I enjoyed it, but these were the things that stuck out.
At least the first couple of Bourne movies had more of an air of mystery, a slightly higher level of believability. Particularly the drawn out scene in Movie No. 2 in which Simon Ross buys it. Now that was great intensity and, because it was so well done, was brought into this movie as a tie.
At least in the first one, 'The Bourne Identity' Our Hero does the things I would expect him to do. Yes, in that, he kidnaps the girl, she's terrified but he keeps her safe - cuts and dyes her hair for one thing, teaches her how to hide in plain sight, etc.
Anyway. So that was my evening and night. Evening spent watching the movie and more time at night picking it apart.
Would I watch it again? Yes. But I'd rather see just about any of the Bond movies or any of the other Bourne movies with Matt Damon.
So, that's that.
Now I've got piles of work around and in front of me. Fortunately, I slept well this weekend and turned the first alarm off this morning - slept until five-thirty instead of just until four-forty-five - so I'm not wiped out.
I've got my list compiled - all the documents that have to be approved for clearing - through December 2015. It's not as bad as I thought. I thought it would be far more than it is, but it's still more than 400 documents. And that doesn't include what's accumulated since January 1st.
I'll break it up by individual responsible and send those out to the individuals. Hopefully it will shock them when they see how much is out there, and that shock will encourage them to get on it. Otherwise it'll be the persistent nag feature.
I do have a lot - a couple of inches worth - that aren't on the list but that can be cleared, so I'll work on that today and tomorrow. Speaking of which...
Have a wonderful day!
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
Sunday, February 21, 2016
A 'New Day in America'?
Who woulda thunk? For nearly two weeks the talking heads across the networks have been predicting a Cruz victory in South Carolina because of his standing in the Tea Party and his strong Christian background. They swore the Evangelicals would all go for him. His daddy is a pastor who has been standing in front of congregation after congregation, preaching the Word and pumping for his son.
When Trump called Bush II a liar during the GOP debate and got into an exchange of words with the Pope, all the talking heads predicted a Trump implosion.
In the end, none of that mattered. In fact, it didn’t matter
in a big way.
Yesterday, Trump swept all but two of the forty-six counties in
the entire state, garnering all of the delegates.
Cruz got zero delegates, lost all counties across the board,
and came in third behind Rubio who lost to Trump by ten full percentage
points.
The most shocking event of the moment was that Jeb! announced the suspension of his campaign. Three
states in and he’s quit. Yet he was the one who, just a few months ago, all of
the pundits said would be the front runner and ultimate nominee. He was made out to be the Republican's darling boy and now he's out.
So what is going on in American politics? Why is this
bombastic loud mouthed boor walking away with everything? Well, because…
I’ll stop there. I can’t and I won’t attempt to speak for
anyone else. I can only speak for myself but I do have specific reasons for
hoping Trump wins.
First, I am sick of and disgusted by the buying and selling
of favor in Washington. While candidates run for office they swear up and down
that they’re going to do this, that and the other – all the things they know
the folks back home want to hear. They repeat the lies so often I think they
start to believe them. Then they get elected. They get to Washington and start
learning the ropes. Sooner or later, the phone rings. It’s Warren (Buffet) or
George (Soros) or David (Koch) or Bill (Gates) or Larry (Ellison) or one of the
many lawyer lobbyists. “Hey, you know that bill you’re working on? We’d really
appreciate it if you’d…” And there goes
that campaign promise. It doesn’t matter one jot what’s best for the country or
the folks back home. Money talks and at that level it screams and the
politicians listen. They have to if they hope to get re-elected when their term
ends.
Second, I live in California and I am sick and tired of
feeling, as an American, that I live in Norte Mexico. Mexico ceded California to the United States in 1848 - 160 years ago. Since 1850 it has been one of America’s fifty states yet it feels like we live in Mexico. We have ads on television in Spanish. We have
billboards selling beer and McDonald's hamburgers in Spanish. There are announcements in stores in Spanish. Walking
down the street there are signs for 'carcinerias' and 'tiendas'. I hear conversations in Spanish – and I wonder 'where the hell am I'?
I wonder if all of
these Spanish speaking people are:
a) here legally;
b) if they are here legally, why aren’t they making more of
an effort to assimilate; and,
c) if they’re not here legally, why are we accommodating
them by offering ads and announcements and all the rest of it in Spanish?
If I were to emigrate to a non-English speaking country, I
would not expect that country to make accommodation for me. I would understand
and accept that if I want to be a part of that society, it’s on me to learn the
language and customs. It is not on the new country to make me feel “welcome”.
That is bullshit and it annoys the hell out of me.
Third, I lost my healthcare when I was laid off in 2012.
Before that, I had a great employer-paid plan but, because of the fucking
around with the economy by Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich when they repealed
Glass-Steagall which then allowed the banks to become real estate brokers, and by
George Bush and Hank Paulson when the housing bubble burst and the economy imploded, I lost my job. I could
no longer afford insurance.
Then Obamacare came in. I researched my options but
I couldn’t afford the premiums under that, either. It would take too big a
chunk out of my earnings - twenty percent of my after-tax income. That would mean that I would have to stop eating or move out of my
house into my car or a box under a freeway overpass. So, I’m a criminal. I
don’t have insurance even though, legally, I’m supposed to have insurance.
So on just these three points I am a HUGE Trump supporter.
First, I believe that Trump means what he says. He rarely thinks
before he speaks and he often suffers from foot in mouth syndrome, but I do
think his heart is in the right place. I believe that he genuinely does want to
make America great again and will by rebuilding the economy and by
creating an environment where businesses can thrive. If he can get Congress into a room and negotiate the repatriation of those trillions of dollars off-shore, that will be a good indicator that we're heading in the right direction.
Because he has not taken anything in campaign donations, he is not going to be the recipient of a loaded phone call. Yes, he will get the calls, but he will be under zero obligation to do what the caller wants him to do. They will have no hold over him, and I like that idea. A lot.
Second, I also believe that he will build the wall, and that he will
get Mexico to pay for it. Not directly, obviously, but certainly through
various round-about means. Nothing illegal or underhand, but if he implements
trade tariffs on goods imported from Mexico, that’s one way. If he prevents at
least some of the money earned by illegals here from being sent to Mexico,
that’s another way. There are other means, too.
This means there is zero competition. It means that these
insurance companies can collude and set whatever rates they see fit. They can offer only those
services they feel like offering. And, they can keep the rates too high for many of the
working not-quite-poor who don’t qualify for government subsidies. People like me who don't make enough to comfortably afford the premiums and deductibles but make too much to qualify for subsidies - which I wouldn't want, anyway.
Along with that, we have got to have meaningful tort reform. Doctors should not be seeing each patient as a potential lawsuit. That’s why doctors order slews of
tests that end up pushing the cost of a visit to the doctor’s office into the exosphere. Around here going to the doctor costs a minimum of $180 for a ten
minute or less office visit. That’s the equivalent of a billing rate of more than $1,000 per
hour. Who can afford that? And the reason it’s so expensive is because the
malpractice insurance premiums are wildly expensive.
If doctors didn’t fear being sued because some
patient develops a hangnail two days after an office visit, the costs would
start to come down. If doctors didn’t have to pay their insurers through the
nose to protect them against frivolous lawsuits because an outcome wasn’t what
a patient liked or expected, they could lower their charges to something
affordable. They could go back to being doctors again.
We need to replace Obamacare with something new and much
better. We need real portability – which Obie-One promised but which doesn’t
exist. Right now if you live in Michigan and have an insurance plan you really
like, but your company transfers you to South Carolina or Florida or Texas or
anywhere else, you cannot take your insurance with you. You have to sign-up for
whatever insurance providers are licensed in that state and pay those premiums.
Beyond these things, we have got to get the tax code fixed
and made more equitable. Right now about forty percent of working age people
pay zero tax. They live here. They use the roads, the schools, all of the public
services, but pay nothing for them. How is that right or fair? I don’t think it is and that is why I would like to see a
point-of-sale flat tax.
Everyone buys stuff so why not have everyone pay their
income tax at the point of sale? If everyone paid a fifteen percent flat tax on
every single thing they buy, two percent could go to the local jurisdiction, five
percent could go to the state, six percent would go do the feds for government
spending, and two percent would go directly to Social Security and Medicaid.
The best part of this system is that all of the illegals that are here would also contribute to paying for the roads and schools and hospitals and all the rest of it. That would be another huge boost.
The best part of this system is that all of the illegals that are here would also contribute to paying for the roads and schools and hospitals and all the rest of it. That would be another huge boost.
This would just about eliminate the IRS because there would
be no tax returns, no tax filings except for death taxes and some of the other
off the beaten path stuff. Hundreds of millions of dollars would be saved just
in that.
It would improve cash flow because it would be steady stream
– every day there would be tax collected and disbursed to the various
jurisdictions. With three-hundred million people chipping in fifteen cents of
every single dollar they spend on food, on gas, on clothes and goods and
services, that would be one heck of a lot of money and would go a long way
toward solving the insolvency problem with the huge entitlement programs we all
know are about to fail. Everyone chips in; everyone carries their share of the
load.
Poor people who use state issued EBT cards for either food
stamp programs or unemployment benefits would not be charged. Naturally,
rigorous screening and steps would have to be defined and instituted to prevent
fraud, but that would shelter those people from taxation. The rest of us would
pay tax on everything we buy. Since I pay for basic stuff – nothing like the
things wealthier people buy, I would be taxed on what I buy. People who buy
luxury items would be taxed at the same rate on the high ticket stuff they buy.
It would be fair because everyone would pay based on their buying habits.
As for how do we prevent fraud? It’s as simple as day.
Each state takes responsibility for issuing Social
Security cards. These cards are linked to a national database for Social
Security payout purposes, but are issued, managed and tracked at the state
level. California is the most populous state with approximately thirty-nine million people. Tracking and managing thirty-nine of anything is far easier than tracking and managing three-hundred fifty of the same thing.
The
state boards of equalization already get all employment data – payroll information and
can identify who is working and who is receiving benefits of some sort. When
someone files an application for unemployment benefits, it goes into the state
database, just as it does now. It shows the individual isn’t working and
qualifies for benefits. They are issued a benefit card – and it’s set so that
no tax is taken from their benefits.
Each state is responsible for managing its system, each is
accountable to the federal government, and each is responsible for investigating
cases of fraud and abuse – instead of sending that responsibility and power to
Washington. Because the states are each responsible, they have a vested
interest in making sure that fraud is found and quashed post haste.
Aside from these things, I hope Trump already has staff
working on assessing governmental departments and agencies – how many times do
we have to pay tax to support multiple departments offering the same services?
Why not eliminate duplicative functions, jobs, and services – streamline
government and make it more efficient and cost effective?
If we did that – if we reduced the size of government from
what it is now to one-half or one-third of its current size and cost by
eliminating duplicative services – we would save enormous amounts of money.
Salaries, benefits, office space, consumables like copy paper, toner, pens,
everything anyone uses in the course of business would be eliminated, saving
millions upon millions of dollars every year.
There is so much room for improvement and all it takes is
one man with vision and determination and the ability to negotiate and work
with people from all parts of the spectrum. I think Donald Trump might just be
that man. He is certainly more qualified to do these things than party hacks
and socialists who want to perpetuate the current system.
I'm looking forward to the coming weeks - to Super Tuesday on March 1st and the subsequent primaries.
I am looking forward to a Trump run against the perpetual liar.
I do not see a path to the White House for Sanders, but Trump would have no trouble with him either.
Still, though, all of the pundits are out there again, lining up and saying that Trump won't carry the country, but we'll see. They've been wrong before and I think they will be wrong again. As Trump's underlying messages get out, I think they will resonate and I think he will gain more support and reach 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in January.
Sit up and pay attention - and have a wonderful week.
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
Saturday, February 20, 2016
What a Week!
This has been quite the week around here. It's not that I haven't had time to sit down and write, it's just that I haven't had a block of time, which is what this requires. Starting and stopping and starting and stopping makes it harder to keep the train of thought from derailing, and ideas kept popping in and out. It was a mess. Now, however, I have some time and will take advantage of it.
The new job responsibilities are settling in, but it's still huge. I have a boatload of stuff to work through, but with help and cooperation I'm at least not falling too much farther behind. I don't know that I'm gaining, either, but looking at what it was and what it is, I feel pretty good.
I got the paper mess sorted out (literally). Then I took the items that I had cleared out - about one-half a Banker's file storage box full - sorted out (literally), and have started sending these things off to the people who have to say 'yay' or 'nay' on clearing them out of the system. I've gotten most back, although there are a couple of batches still hanging. I'll send another reminder on Monday, and then pick up the phone.
The problem is, if I don't get responses to these, the pile will just keep getting bigger and it already is. I picked up two big batches on Thursday and Friday, and weaned through that. Low-hanging fruit is gone, so I have to start chipping away at the rock.
Along with this new stuff is the stuff that I was doing - I still have to keep on top of that, so it's a double-challenge because neither is hard but both are time consuming, which means I don't have as much time or energy for other things as I would like.
In politics, one of the best laughs I had this week was seeing Hilliary barking like a dog at one of her events. If she was Howard Dean, with the scream which sank his candidacy a few years ago, she'd be gone by now. But she's not. She's Hilliary - the Anointed One by the DNC and the donors. Although this is getting interesting what with the FBI investigation and some now saying she should step down while the investigation is underway. Yeah. That has a snowball's chance.
Whatever. So she's barking like a dog at a rally and someone picks up on that and does a musical remix, which is funnier than Hades - even if I liked Hilliary it would be funny.
'Who Let The Dogs Out' featuring Hilliary Clinton
Quite presidential, wasn't it? Imagine if that had been any of the GOP candidates - Donald Trump or Ted Cruz. The press would be on constant replay for days. But, no. Hilliary, as always, gets a pass. Nonetheless, it is funny.
And Obie-One, surprise, surprise, surprise, took a pass on Scalia's funeral. He couldn't be arsed to spend an hour or so looking appropriately glum so, to avoid trying to hide that disgusting smile of glee, I suspect he probably hit the golf course. Assuming it wasn't raining. Although, if it was raining in Washington DC, he probably ordered up Air Force One, damn the carbon footprint, and flew to somewhere where it isn't raining so he could put in a round or two before heading to Cuba next week.
Politics as usual, in other words.
In a completely different part of the world, I promised myself that I was going to take a walk on Tuesday. I had wanted to go out on Monday but other life things intervened. So I did walk on Tuesday and I did something I've wanted to do for a while. I took pictures - not photographic quality, just snaps - of some of the architecture in Calistoga.
The term 'eclectic' is somewhat overused in this day and age. Pick up any home decorating magazine and there it is. However, nothing describes the architecture of Calistoga like 'eclectic'. There are craftsman 'cottages', shotgun architecture, French Provincial, California Victorians and mixed up little places that don't really fit any particular style. I did go online to see if I could find any information about some of these buildings, particularly the older ones - 1888 and 1890 - but found nada. Still, they are beautiful.
Here's just a sample, and I apologize for not showing street scenes but even in February Calistoga is packed with tourists. If you want to see tourists, look at pictures of Disneyland. So I didn't take pictures of the tourists, just the bits and pieces of the buildings - the details of them - that interest me.
If you look through the branches in the picture above, you can see 1890 etched into the stone. The building looks like it might have been a bank, once upon a time.
The dark lines on the trim in the picture above are carved, not painted. If the sun were slightly lower, the light would shine through. From inside, I think it would be captivating to see the sunlight through those little embellishments. And across and down this street is this pretty little cottage with its gingerbread trim:
Along with all the other styles, there's this little Greek Orthodox church. It's not as grand as Saint Olga's in Santa Rosa, but it's humble and homey and cute.
And, just for fun, I took a picture of a little fur-baby (s/he and the family were out all over the place, but this is the only one who stopped long enough for me to get a portrait):
And, along the way, I saw these:
So that was my lovely Tuesday and then, Wednesday through yesterday, it was cold, blustery and rainy making Tuesday better than it was.
Wishing you a lovely weekend!
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
The new job responsibilities are settling in, but it's still huge. I have a boatload of stuff to work through, but with help and cooperation I'm at least not falling too much farther behind. I don't know that I'm gaining, either, but looking at what it was and what it is, I feel pretty good.
I got the paper mess sorted out (literally). Then I took the items that I had cleared out - about one-half a Banker's file storage box full - sorted out (literally), and have started sending these things off to the people who have to say 'yay' or 'nay' on clearing them out of the system. I've gotten most back, although there are a couple of batches still hanging. I'll send another reminder on Monday, and then pick up the phone.
The problem is, if I don't get responses to these, the pile will just keep getting bigger and it already is. I picked up two big batches on Thursday and Friday, and weaned through that. Low-hanging fruit is gone, so I have to start chipping away at the rock.
Along with this new stuff is the stuff that I was doing - I still have to keep on top of that, so it's a double-challenge because neither is hard but both are time consuming, which means I don't have as much time or energy for other things as I would like.
In politics, one of the best laughs I had this week was seeing Hilliary barking like a dog at one of her events. If she was Howard Dean, with the scream which sank his candidacy a few years ago, she'd be gone by now. But she's not. She's Hilliary - the Anointed One by the DNC and the donors. Although this is getting interesting what with the FBI investigation and some now saying she should step down while the investigation is underway. Yeah. That has a snowball's chance.
Whatever. So she's barking like a dog at a rally and someone picks up on that and does a musical remix, which is funnier than Hades - even if I liked Hilliary it would be funny.
'Who Let The Dogs Out' featuring Hilliary Clinton
Quite presidential, wasn't it? Imagine if that had been any of the GOP candidates - Donald Trump or Ted Cruz. The press would be on constant replay for days. But, no. Hilliary, as always, gets a pass. Nonetheless, it is funny.
And Obie-One, surprise, surprise, surprise, took a pass on Scalia's funeral. He couldn't be arsed to spend an hour or so looking appropriately glum so, to avoid trying to hide that disgusting smile of glee, I suspect he probably hit the golf course. Assuming it wasn't raining. Although, if it was raining in Washington DC, he probably ordered up Air Force One, damn the carbon footprint, and flew to somewhere where it isn't raining so he could put in a round or two before heading to Cuba next week.
Politics as usual, in other words.
In a completely different part of the world, I promised myself that I was going to take a walk on Tuesday. I had wanted to go out on Monday but other life things intervened. So I did walk on Tuesday and I did something I've wanted to do for a while. I took pictures - not photographic quality, just snaps - of some of the architecture in Calistoga.
The term 'eclectic' is somewhat overused in this day and age. Pick up any home decorating magazine and there it is. However, nothing describes the architecture of Calistoga like 'eclectic'. There are craftsman 'cottages', shotgun architecture, French Provincial, California Victorians and mixed up little places that don't really fit any particular style. I did go online to see if I could find any information about some of these buildings, particularly the older ones - 1888 and 1890 - but found nada. Still, they are beautiful.
Here's just a sample, and I apologize for not showing street scenes but even in February Calistoga is packed with tourists. If you want to see tourists, look at pictures of Disneyland. So I didn't take pictures of the tourists, just the bits and pieces of the buildings - the details of them - that interest me.
The dark lines on the trim in the picture above are carved, not painted. If the sun were slightly lower, the light would shine through. From inside, I think it would be captivating to see the sunlight through those little embellishments. And across and down this street is this pretty little cottage with its gingerbread trim:
Along with all the other styles, there's this little Greek Orthodox church. It's not as grand as Saint Olga's in Santa Rosa, but it's humble and homey and cute.
And, along the way, I saw these:
So that was my lovely Tuesday and then, Wednesday through yesterday, it was cold, blustery and rainy making Tuesday better than it was.
Wishing you a lovely weekend!
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
How Would You Feel?
A man dies. He was a good man, someone who did the best he could given what he had to do. A husband, a father, a grandfather many times over. Wealthy in many ways - loved by family, friends of all stripes from all persuasions, he was well off monetarily. He was a man with many interests and passions: the law, music and fine wines being a few. A good man and decent, one who often made the people around him laugh with the jokes he told.
Yet! Because of his thinking, the way he approached problems in a manner others didn't like, he was hated. Why? Simply because of a difference of opinion.
The man dies. And while this man's wife and his children and his friends grieve in the days after his passing, these others celebrate. They say things like 'how soon can we stop pretending to be sad?' and 'the Devil is back in hell, yay'.
Now whose character do you suppose that speaks of louder?
At the same time these cruel and despicable statements are being made, a woman and her family are grieving. This wasn't a long expected death, a relief of sorts after an illness. It was sudden. The man was traveling with friends. He went to bed, saying he was tired, and he died, alone, far from his loved ones.
The next day these... individuals (since I cannot bring myself to call them 'people', a term I reserve for human beings with caring and true sensitivity toward others) start in.
You know the family saw these things, or heard of them. We live in the day and age of Twitter and Facebook. The news organizations picked it up and reported it.
Now, take a moment. Put yourself in the place of that wife or her daughters or sons. How would you feel if that was your father or husband or grandfather being spoken of in such terms? Would you like it, be able to laugh about it and joke?
What is wrong with individuals who do stuff like this to someone else in a time of grieving? Where is common decency and respect for the dead? Where have character and kindness gone in this world?
We've all heard the term 'you can disagree without being disagreeable'. In this case, I think it goes much farther: 'you can disagree without being hateful', and that's what these individuals are. They are so full of hate it spills out, hurting and damaging a family already hurt and damaged, and for what purpose?
Do they think they're clever or funny? Is that what it is?
I don't. I think this is the worst and lowest form of despicable. It's like kicking someone in the gut and the heart when they're down.
What's almost worse, in a way, is that these people are of the liberal left - the same liberal left that wants to promote the idea and convince the rest of us 'we care more than you do'. What a fine example to show the world. 'We care more than you do.'
Not in this case, not even close in this case, because kind people, caring people, human beings with one single shred of decency or humanity would never even think of doing this to a family in mourning.
To do this privately, among friends and like-thinkers would be shameful enough, but in this day and age of Twitter and Facebook and instant communication it was Tweeted. It was thrown into the public domain without a single care, except personal aggrandizement, of what it might do to a hurting, grieving family.
Rolling Stone Magazine, The Atlantic and other "leading" publications with a left of center agenda proudly kicked this family in the gut while they were dealing with the death of a loved one.
What does that say about the individuals who run these organizations?
What does that say about the people who buy their magazines and papers, supporting these individuals in their lifestyles?
I say it strips pretense away and shows the world their despicable, cruel and debased characters. It makes me sick.
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
Yet! Because of his thinking, the way he approached problems in a manner others didn't like, he was hated. Why? Simply because of a difference of opinion.
The man dies. And while this man's wife and his children and his friends grieve in the days after his passing, these others celebrate. They say things like 'how soon can we stop pretending to be sad?' and 'the Devil is back in hell, yay'.
Now whose character do you suppose that speaks of louder?
At the same time these cruel and despicable statements are being made, a woman and her family are grieving. This wasn't a long expected death, a relief of sorts after an illness. It was sudden. The man was traveling with friends. He went to bed, saying he was tired, and he died, alone, far from his loved ones.
The next day these... individuals (since I cannot bring myself to call them 'people', a term I reserve for human beings with caring and true sensitivity toward others) start in.
You know the family saw these things, or heard of them. We live in the day and age of Twitter and Facebook. The news organizations picked it up and reported it.
Now, take a moment. Put yourself in the place of that wife or her daughters or sons. How would you feel if that was your father or husband or grandfather being spoken of in such terms? Would you like it, be able to laugh about it and joke?
What is wrong with individuals who do stuff like this to someone else in a time of grieving? Where is common decency and respect for the dead? Where have character and kindness gone in this world?
We've all heard the term 'you can disagree without being disagreeable'. In this case, I think it goes much farther: 'you can disagree without being hateful', and that's what these individuals are. They are so full of hate it spills out, hurting and damaging a family already hurt and damaged, and for what purpose?
Do they think they're clever or funny? Is that what it is?
I don't. I think this is the worst and lowest form of despicable. It's like kicking someone in the gut and the heart when they're down.
What's almost worse, in a way, is that these people are of the liberal left - the same liberal left that wants to promote the idea and convince the rest of us 'we care more than you do'. What a fine example to show the world. 'We care more than you do.'
Not in this case, not even close in this case, because kind people, caring people, human beings with one single shred of decency or humanity would never even think of doing this to a family in mourning.
To do this privately, among friends and like-thinkers would be shameful enough, but in this day and age of Twitter and Facebook and instant communication it was Tweeted. It was thrown into the public domain without a single care, except personal aggrandizement, of what it might do to a hurting, grieving family.
Rolling Stone Magazine, The Atlantic and other "leading" publications with a left of center agenda proudly kicked this family in the gut while they were dealing with the death of a loved one.
What does that say about the individuals who run these organizations?
What does that say about the people who buy their magazines and papers, supporting these individuals in their lifestyles?
I say it strips pretense away and shows the world their despicable, cruel and debased characters. It makes me sick.
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Geez, Talk About Coincidence
Yesterday's post was all about 'what's coming next', relating in broad terms my views RE: the world, politics and economics. Then, mere hours later, the news broke that Justice Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court had died. This is a watershed moment in American politics.
Obie-One is in the last year of his presidency, a lamer duck than ever. Nothing he wants to institute as policy or anything else is going to go much of anywhere for the next eleven months. Particularly given the fact that the right controls both Houses of Congress.
All Representatives in the House and thirty-four seats in the Senate will be up for re-election come November, so there is the potential for a major power shift inside the Beltway. When you couple those things with the revolution taking place among the American electorate, this is turning into a perfect storm of an election year.
Mitch McConnell, the Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee that will be responsible for examining and confirming the next Justice, has already said, 'No'. Which is as it should be because whoever is appointed is going to have long-term impacts on the Court and on life here in the United States.
Obie-One will, as he has in the past, put ideology far ahead of Constitutional purism. He will look for a jurist who will be comfortable with, or even be champing at the bit to, legislate from the bench. The problem with that is that once the Supreme Court speaks, there is no court of last resort. The idea of passing a Constitutional Amendment to undo what the Court hands down is just about unheard of. Thirty-eight states have to pass the Amendment and that virtually never happens. Therefore, the Justices who sit on the Court could, if they put ideology ahead of Constitutionalism, be the nation's dictators, consigning the American people to whatever whim they choose to pass into law.
Given that, and with Scalia's passing, the next ten months take on even greater import. Who will be the next President? Who will be responsible for nominating and confirming the next Supreme Court Justice? Will the president be the outsider - Trump? (I leave Carson out because he just ain't going to go the distance - two states under their belts, numbers three and four looming, and he's already flagging.) Will it be the Tea Party candidate, Ted Cruz (who didn't even gain the support of the Tea Party's darling, Sarah Palin)? Or will it be a Washington insider - Clinton, Sanders, Rubio, Bush or Kasich?
On the right, the 'Establishment' candidates cannot gain traction. Look at Jeb! and Kasich. Their poll numbers suck wind and they're showing little signs of improving. After last night's debate, even with all the vituperation and shouting, Trump is still leading in South Carolina with 42% of the Republicans saying they'll be voting for him. Bush, the Establishment Right's darling, is at just six percent, along with Carson. Kasich has nine percent and Cruz and Rubio are in the teens. This, after Trump ignored all warnings and went right after the supposed sacred cow of the Bush family.
On the left, Hilliary's nomination to the head of the Democrat ticket is a certainty unless the FBI steps forward with a better than rock solid case against her. Still, the DOJ will decline to indict and that will set off a massive firestorm if the brainiacs who watch this stuff more closely than I are right.
Of course, as Real Clear Politics posits in the following article, her current deep and persistent brown-nosing of Obie-One is nothing more than a desperate ploy:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/02/13/hillary_clintons_frantic_embrace_of_obama.html
Reading this article stuck a deep chord - created an Ah Ha! moment. It was like a puzzle with a number of unset pieces - something smelled but I couldn't fit the pieces together. Now that I've seen this, it makes perfect sense.
Six months ago, even four months ago, Hilliary was desperate to distance herself from Obie-One. She was defining herself and her candidacy as being different from his. Then came the flare-up with the e-mails and the Foundation, and she's suddenly in Obie-One's hip pocket, breathing deeply. Since December she has begun running as Obie-One's 'third term' apparently hoping that this will offer some protection from Obie's DOJ.
No matter since it looks like the FBI has put the e-mail issue on the back burner and are now going after her through the questionable antics of the Clinton Foundation. Did she trade political favors for donations to the Foundation? Hmmm. Looks like it because the FBI has issued a subpoena to the Foundation. I just hope they find something they can make stick, despite the politics of it, and do it around the end of April when it's too late for anyone but Bernie to make a real run for it.
If it gets down to Trump or Cruz on the right and Berns on the left, it should be a good year for the right. Unless, of course, the American voter gets stupid again and elects a bunch of Democrats into Congress 'to balance the White House'. All that will do is ensure two more years of gridlock which everyone says they don't want.
Still, unless there is an indictment of Hilliary, Hilliary will be the left's only choice for president. Why? Because of the unconstitutional 'Super Delegates'. These are the party hacks, the Democrat sycophants with more money than brains who have sucked at the Kool-Aid teat for so long whatever brains they had have melted. They are puppets of the Democrat party and will do as the party dictates. In this case, the party dictates that they must be for Hilliary. Therefore, these people are already solidly in Hilliary's corner, bought and paid for, committed. That's another CF that's going to get more interesting when and if a recommendation for indictment is sent to the DOJ. Don't believe me? Well... Here's a headline from Salon:
Saturday, Feb 13, 2016 12:30 PM PST
Aside from all of that, what must be sending shivers up the spines of everyone currently serving in Congress is that the American people are sending a strong message that same-old, same-old doesn't play any more. If the majority of people are supporting Sanders and Trump, shunning Hilliary and the Establishment candidates on the right, what does that mean for the upcoming election?
Add into the mix the fact that the Senate - thirty-four of whom are up for re-election come November - will have to confirm, or not confirm, the next Supreme Court Justice. Obie-One has already said, despite McConnell's drawn line, that he is going to nominate someone. In that case, what's a Senator to do? It's like juggling nitroglycerin.
There is not enough time - just two weeks - for Obie-One to nominate a new candidate and get them in front of the Senate for confirmation hearings before the Super Tuesday caucuses and elections. Even if he tries to fast-track it, the Senate has the power and capability to drag its heels.
Iowa and New Hampshire might well have been the canaries in the coal mine for politics as usual inside the Washington Beltway. The American electorate has begun to speak in loud tones, as shown by giving a Tea Party candidate, a businessman / celebrity and a 74-year old Independent Senator from Vermont those two states in resounding fashion. Then there was last night's debate where the fireworks got really nasty between Trump and Bush and Cruz and Rubio.
March 1st, Super Tuesday, is going to be even more telling. If things go as they have gone in the past two states, and South Carolina, Nevada and the fifteen states on March 1st break the same way - for Trump/Cruz and Berns - that will present the Senate with a huge dilemma.
Yes, Hilliary "won" Iowa - but, literally, only by the flip of a coin. She got well and truly trounced in New Hampshire. If Trump and Berns come out of South Carolina and Nevada with a lead, and if they each do well on Super Tuesday, that will pretty much cast the political future in concrete. 'Establishment' will not fly in the coming Congressional election and those people who like their comfy seats and cushy jobs in the Senate are going to have to think long and hard about who they confirm to the Court.
It's not looking good for Hilliary in South Carolina - a must win state for her. Berns is making good inroads into her presumed security there. For weeks the press has been talking about South Carolina being a 'firewall' for her candidacy - but if you read some recent articles about what's going on there, it doesn't look quite so certain. He's closing the gap in published polls, and he's gotten some key endorsements (although the talking heads are declaring endorsements don't matter any more). He's got a strong ground game and it looks like he might just give her a run for her money.
All I can say, again, is that this seems to be a perfect storm in the political realm. A pending nomination to the Supreme Court, an extraordinary field of presidential candidates from which the American people will pick and choose over the coming months, and a Congressional election that will determine the course of this country for the next two years, at least. Watch closely - it's gonna be a rocky ride!
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
Obie-One is in the last year of his presidency, a lamer duck than ever. Nothing he wants to institute as policy or anything else is going to go much of anywhere for the next eleven months. Particularly given the fact that the right controls both Houses of Congress.
All Representatives in the House and thirty-four seats in the Senate will be up for re-election come November, so there is the potential for a major power shift inside the Beltway. When you couple those things with the revolution taking place among the American electorate, this is turning into a perfect storm of an election year.
Mitch McConnell, the Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee that will be responsible for examining and confirming the next Justice, has already said, 'No'. Which is as it should be because whoever is appointed is going to have long-term impacts on the Court and on life here in the United States.
Obie-One will, as he has in the past, put ideology far ahead of Constitutional purism. He will look for a jurist who will be comfortable with, or even be champing at the bit to, legislate from the bench. The problem with that is that once the Supreme Court speaks, there is no court of last resort. The idea of passing a Constitutional Amendment to undo what the Court hands down is just about unheard of. Thirty-eight states have to pass the Amendment and that virtually never happens. Therefore, the Justices who sit on the Court could, if they put ideology ahead of Constitutionalism, be the nation's dictators, consigning the American people to whatever whim they choose to pass into law.
Given that, and with Scalia's passing, the next ten months take on even greater import. Who will be the next President? Who will be responsible for nominating and confirming the next Supreme Court Justice? Will the president be the outsider - Trump? (I leave Carson out because he just ain't going to go the distance - two states under their belts, numbers three and four looming, and he's already flagging.) Will it be the Tea Party candidate, Ted Cruz (who didn't even gain the support of the Tea Party's darling, Sarah Palin)? Or will it be a Washington insider - Clinton, Sanders, Rubio, Bush or Kasich?
On the right, the 'Establishment' candidates cannot gain traction. Look at Jeb! and Kasich. Their poll numbers suck wind and they're showing little signs of improving. After last night's debate, even with all the vituperation and shouting, Trump is still leading in South Carolina with 42% of the Republicans saying they'll be voting for him. Bush, the Establishment Right's darling, is at just six percent, along with Carson. Kasich has nine percent and Cruz and Rubio are in the teens. This, after Trump ignored all warnings and went right after the supposed sacred cow of the Bush family.
On the left, Hilliary's nomination to the head of the Democrat ticket is a certainty unless the FBI steps forward with a better than rock solid case against her. Still, the DOJ will decline to indict and that will set off a massive firestorm if the brainiacs who watch this stuff more closely than I are right.
Of course, as Real Clear Politics posits in the following article, her current deep and persistent brown-nosing of Obie-One is nothing more than a desperate ploy:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/02/13/hillary_clintons_frantic_embrace_of_obama.html
Reading this article stuck a deep chord - created an Ah Ha! moment. It was like a puzzle with a number of unset pieces - something smelled but I couldn't fit the pieces together. Now that I've seen this, it makes perfect sense.
Six months ago, even four months ago, Hilliary was desperate to distance herself from Obie-One. She was defining herself and her candidacy as being different from his. Then came the flare-up with the e-mails and the Foundation, and she's suddenly in Obie-One's hip pocket, breathing deeply. Since December she has begun running as Obie-One's 'third term' apparently hoping that this will offer some protection from Obie's DOJ.
No matter since it looks like the FBI has put the e-mail issue on the back burner and are now going after her through the questionable antics of the Clinton Foundation. Did she trade political favors for donations to the Foundation? Hmmm. Looks like it because the FBI has issued a subpoena to the Foundation. I just hope they find something they can make stick, despite the politics of it, and do it around the end of April when it's too late for anyone but Bernie to make a real run for it.
If it gets down to Trump or Cruz on the right and Berns on the left, it should be a good year for the right. Unless, of course, the American voter gets stupid again and elects a bunch of Democrats into Congress 'to balance the White House'. All that will do is ensure two more years of gridlock which everyone says they don't want.
Still, unless there is an indictment of Hilliary, Hilliary will be the left's only choice for president. Why? Because of the unconstitutional 'Super Delegates'. These are the party hacks, the Democrat sycophants with more money than brains who have sucked at the Kool-Aid teat for so long whatever brains they had have melted. They are puppets of the Democrat party and will do as the party dictates. In this case, the party dictates that they must be for Hilliary. Therefore, these people are already solidly in Hilliary's corner, bought and paid for, committed. That's another CF that's going to get more interesting when and if a recommendation for indictment is sent to the DOJ. Don't believe me? Well... Here's a headline from Salon:
Saturday, Feb 13, 2016 12:30 PM PST
Un-Democratic Party: DNC chair says superdelegates ensure elites don’t have to run “against grassroots activists”
Critics say the unelected superdelegate system is rigged. Debbie Wasserman Schultz basically admitted this is true
http://www.salon.com/2016/02/13/un_democratic_party_dnc_chair_says_superdelegates_ensure_elites_dont_have_to_run_against_grassroots_activists/Aside from all of that, what must be sending shivers up the spines of everyone currently serving in Congress is that the American people are sending a strong message that same-old, same-old doesn't play any more. If the majority of people are supporting Sanders and Trump, shunning Hilliary and the Establishment candidates on the right, what does that mean for the upcoming election?
Add into the mix the fact that the Senate - thirty-four of whom are up for re-election come November - will have to confirm, or not confirm, the next Supreme Court Justice. Obie-One has already said, despite McConnell's drawn line, that he is going to nominate someone. In that case, what's a Senator to do? It's like juggling nitroglycerin.
There is not enough time - just two weeks - for Obie-One to nominate a new candidate and get them in front of the Senate for confirmation hearings before the Super Tuesday caucuses and elections. Even if he tries to fast-track it, the Senate has the power and capability to drag its heels.
Iowa and New Hampshire might well have been the canaries in the coal mine for politics as usual inside the Washington Beltway. The American electorate has begun to speak in loud tones, as shown by giving a Tea Party candidate, a businessman / celebrity and a 74-year old Independent Senator from Vermont those two states in resounding fashion. Then there was last night's debate where the fireworks got really nasty between Trump and Bush and Cruz and Rubio.
March 1st, Super Tuesday, is going to be even more telling. If things go as they have gone in the past two states, and South Carolina, Nevada and the fifteen states on March 1st break the same way - for Trump/Cruz and Berns - that will present the Senate with a huge dilemma.
Yes, Hilliary "won" Iowa - but, literally, only by the flip of a coin. She got well and truly trounced in New Hampshire. If Trump and Berns come out of South Carolina and Nevada with a lead, and if they each do well on Super Tuesday, that will pretty much cast the political future in concrete. 'Establishment' will not fly in the coming Congressional election and those people who like their comfy seats and cushy jobs in the Senate are going to have to think long and hard about who they confirm to the Court.
It's not looking good for Hilliary in South Carolina - a must win state for her. Berns is making good inroads into her presumed security there. For weeks the press has been talking about South Carolina being a 'firewall' for her candidacy - but if you read some recent articles about what's going on there, it doesn't look quite so certain. He's closing the gap in published polls, and he's gotten some key endorsements (although the talking heads are declaring endorsements don't matter any more). He's got a strong ground game and it looks like he might just give her a run for her money.
All I can say, again, is that this seems to be a perfect storm in the political realm. A pending nomination to the Supreme Court, an extraordinary field of presidential candidates from which the American people will pick and choose over the coming months, and a Congressional election that will determine the course of this country for the next two years, at least. Watch closely - it's gonna be a rocky ride!
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
Saturday, February 13, 2016
What's Coming Next?
There is a lot going on in this world.
North Korea, Russia, Syria, Africa - bad things are happening all over the place, but America is looking inward again, paying attention to the political circus playing out while the rest of the world falls apart.
As for the election, it will be interesting to see if 'nice guys finish last' is true, or if it's not.
For instance, I can't help but wonder how long it'll be before the Election Mortician shows up for Jeb! His campaign is fascinating from the standpoint of how badly it's being managed, yet he insists he's serious. His Super PAC, funded by the elites who want him to win, is throwing tens of millions of dollars away in advertising that is not doing a thing to move the needle on the dial. That's telling.
Instead of playing off his last name, it appears that Jeb! is attempting to distance himself from his family by not appending 'Bush' to his candidacy. Of course, that family name comes with a lot of baggage.
In 1989, Daddy said, 'read my lips, no new taxes' and, almost as soon as he was elected, raised the taxes he promised not to touch.
Big Bro launched the ever unpopular war in Iraq. For some of us there is still the WMD question. Most people dismiss that as a false flag, an excuse, but some of us, deeper thinkers perhaps, don't.
What the No War for Oil crowd will not acknowledge is that IF the intel showed that Hussein did have WMDs we might well have been right to invade. After all, Hussein had already used chemical agents on the Kurds in the north part of the country. That was well documented. There are pictures of women and children lying dead in the streets and that showed he was not reluctant to kill thousands of people using chemical weapons.
What if we hadn't invaded Iraq and what if Hussein had launched a chemical or biological attack against Europe or America because we didn't invade and he perceived us as weak and ineffectual? Then what? Still, nothing happened and no WMDs were found so the naysayers were and are right to say nay.
Then there's the little matter of the economic implosion at the end of Big Bro's presidency. He and Paulson devised a scheme to bankrupt our country, and it's working even now. Debt is through the roof, government has greater reach into our private lives, and we are tiptoeing along the edge of an economic abyss - barely keeping from falling off the edge.
So Jeb! comes into the race with that family baggage.
On top of that, whenever I see Jeb! on the news, he always looks like the put-upon pouty little brother. From the expression on his face - something that resembles hurt surprise or desperation - to the slump in his shoulders and slight slouch in his back, he does not look excited, happy or vibrant. Poor Jeb! I don't think his heart is in this. He's doing it because the friends and backers of Daddy and Big Bro are pushing him into it.
No matter what he wants, though. The Koch brothers and the rest of the right-wing political elites are pushing him, and they're pushing his family. Why else are Barbara and George out there? What kind of desperation cry is that when you drag mommy and daddy out of their dotage closet to boost your ratings? That is more than desperate. It's pathetic.
Come on, Jeb! Your parents are in their nineties. Don't you think they have something better to do? I'm sure they do, but this is ugly old political debt coming home to roost. The puppet masters propelled Bush I into the White House and made sure Bush II got there, too (remember Florida with its hanging chads?). Now they've called and the Bush family will perform because the elites do not want a change to status quo and Jeb! would make the perfect puppet. No spine, no gumption and, as far as I can see, little brains and capacity to think for himself. The perfect front man.
Elsewhere, it seems Russia is playing both sides against the middle in Syria. Putin and his generals are propping up Assad and helping ISIS against the Kurds and who the hell cares who's caught in the middle. Putin and Assad certainly don't, and no one in ISIS has a shred of humanity - they are straight vermin across the board.
For now, it's the Syrian people who are bearing the brunt of the horror. They're caught between two forces that are fighting for control of the territory. Unless something is done, the massacre will continue but we aren't supposed to get involved because it's not our fight.
So what does the left propose? Should we just go ahead and bring all and sundry, anyone who asks, into the US and Europe? I don't want to do that. Not because I don't have a heart, but because I do have a head. How easy would it be for ISIS to infiltrate the refugees? Out of 10,000 people if you have just one dozen - twelve bad actors - how much damage could they do here or in Europe?
Show up at an embassy looking like a poor, downtrodden victim. Beg for entrance for yourself and your family and be given a pass with nary a background check, questionnaire or cursory inspection. That's how Obie-One and John Kerry and the rest of the rat pack in Washington want it because it looks so nice, so kind.
Never mind that the wannabe immigrant is holding the design for an attack under his robes. Knowing that we're leery of lone 'strong young men', ISIS has probably already adapted. While the vast majority of Syrian family men really are family men, they will probably use the skirts of willing women, or unwilling women to whom they're married and with whom they have children, and sucker us. Just a few getting into the country and connecting up with sympathizers here could do huge amounts of damage. Hide in the shelter of a woman's burqa with a passel of kids, beg for entrance and... And these vermin have no compunction about hiding in the skirts of their women. That's why they've surrounded themselves with women and children in Syria.
What needs to happen, but won't because Obie-One has none between his legs and Herman Munster (aka John Kerry) has nothing between his ears, is we need to refuse these people. Or we need to bring them in and set them up in those remote REX-84 camps Reagan built. Use them as the modern Ellis Island where these refugees stay until they're thoroughly vetted and can be released into society with better than reasonable assurance that they're 'safe'.
But, in the meantime, Putin and Assad and ISIS have free reign across Syria. That contagion will spread with flareups and outbreaks here and in Europe. It's already pushing into Turkey and, within six months if something doesn't give, Turkey is going to be at serious risk.
In the past few days Homeland Security has warned, again, that ISIS has infiltrated the refugees accepted into Europe and the US. That's about 100% certain, and ISIS is declaring it will bring its war here, to the US, this year. They are here and, because of political correctness - which prevented neighbors from reporting what they saw in the weeks leading up to the San Bernardino shooting - no one is going to report anything that looks peculiar. God forbid we should profile someone because they look, dress, speak and worship a certain way! No! Let's let 'em build their arsenal, do their training and kill dozens or hundreds or thousands of innocents. Too bad they missed the Super Bowl, but there's always the World Series, the political conventions, the Olympics and a bunch of other places full of soft targets.
Needless to say, while I'm not cowering in my bunker, neither am I going to places that are full of crowds. I'm going about my life and living in my part of the world - away from city centers and masses of people - and keeping my head up, my eyes open and my powder dry.
In economics, the Treasury is still fighting to shore up the stock market but it looks like they might be losing the battle. China's Shanghai Index and Japan's Nikkei aren't helping. No matter now hard governments try, they just cannot keep propping up the paper market because there really is no there, there. It's an empty void inside that bubble and that bubble is reaching near critical mass.
International shipping - the Baltic Dry Index - keeps falling.
The US equity markets have been down more than they've been up this year.
OPEC is flooding the market with oil, driving the price of oil down until American companies, fighting the costs of regulation and taxation, can't manage or compete. Chevron is laying of thousands of people in an attempt to cut costs.
What happens if our country's oil and gas companies go belly up? Betcha anything the left will first cheer and then, when the reality of what they've been calling for hits home, cry, 'wait a minute!' But it will be too late. An entire industry will have been destroyed. Hundreds of thousands of people from Chevron and Exxon and their supporting industries will be unemployed and gas prices will be up at $10 or more per gallon because we have to import and there are no domestic producers or refiners.
What these limousine liberals don't get because they have no capacity for rational thought is how the higher prices of gas and oil will impact those people whom they say they care about. How will the working poor who require their cars for transportation manage to pay for the gas they need to get to work? If it costs $10 per gallon and these people are making just minimum wage or a little more, that's a hefty amount of money for them - $100 to fill their tank with ten gallons of gas. Oh! Of course! We'll look to government to help us. We'll ask for subsidies. We'll just add that to the national debt and we'll get the one percent to pay for it.
The US dollar is falling again, despite the Treasury's attempts at manipulation.
What's most worrying is that the US Treasury bills - what used to be one of the safest of the safe investments - has dipped to lows not seen since 2012 and the only reason it's not lower is because the government keeps buying its own paper, making it look better than it is. That's a problem because a) those are the notes the US tries to sell around the world to get money in here so we can keep propping; b) with no one wanting them, which is part of the reason they're falling, it's only going to get worse.
I expect that within the next eighteen to twenty-four months, certainly by 2020, our debt is going to come home to roost in a big way.
If Trump gets in, and if he can effectively negotiate with Congress to undo some of the damage that's been done in the past thirty years, we might push the inevitable back by a few years. If Sanders or Clinton gets in and starts messing around with their Socialist agenda - free things for everyone and damn the cost! - we'll be hosed in short order.
First, our markets will crash and burn because no one is going to want to invest here. We will no longer be seen as the 'safe haven'. Then, our currency will go the way of the Zimbabwe dollar. No one, not even a village idiot, will believe in the 'full faith and credit of the United States' because there will be none. Our dollar will have no value, no perceived intrinsic value anywhere else but here. And, yes, the following image of a one hundred trillion dollar note is real. You can read about Zimbabwe's meltdown here: http://www.cato.org/zimbabwe
Imagine living in a country where the daily inflation rate is at virtually 100%. You go to the store on Monday and the loaf of bread is $2.00. On Tuesday it's $4.00. By Friday - in just five days - that same loaf of bread costs $64 dollars! And we are in far worse position than Zimbabwe. As a country, as an economy, Zimbabwe was nothing compared to the United States.
When we go, it is going to be unbelievable - and it will take down the rest of the world. After the first shock, which will hit like an earthquake and then continue with aftershocks, it will take probably take between six and ten months to start showing signs of settling, but it's going to be devastating and it is something that will take not years but at least a generation from which to recover.
At that point, no one is going to want US dollars - which is something that Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS) have been praying for. OPEC wouldn't mind, either, since they don't like the US all that much. If economically important countries around the world peg their currencies and their trade to another currency, the US will not just be hamstrung, it will be economically crippled.
After things start to recover and get back on track, the United States, because of the monetary manipulation of its government, our enormous debt load and the instant fall from Goliath to gnat, will never be a world player again in our lifetimes. We will be that third world country - the 'has been' over which everyone else shakes their heads, points and says, 'see, pride does go before the fall.'
Chickens coming home to roost and what I predicted in broad terms back in 2007 before Obie-One got the nomination and won the Presidency. Then I said that by 2014 or 2015 our economy would be in a shambles and the Dow would be down around 7,500. I didn't foresee the Treasury and Fed intervention with POMO, so I was wrong about that, but look at the rest of it:
We have nearly doubled our national debt in the past fifteen years. This is debt that we, our children, our children's children and their children's children will never be able to repay. We just passed $19T in debt, without including the entitlements of Social Security and Medicare. Those push our total debt - what we owe to all and sundry - upwards of $64 trillion. That debt is continuing to increase, exponentially, by the second.
Following the Great Recession from 2007 through 2012, the "regular" work week went from forty hours per week to just thirty, meaning that full-time work is no longer full-time. In this scenario, a worker is earning less money per hour and working fewer hours. A $20 per hour worker in a forty hour week would earn $800 per week. In the new paradigm of thirty hours, their real wages are down $200 per week to just $600. No wonder so many people now require government assistance to live!
Aside from wage pressure, unemployment is not as rosy as the Bureau of Labor Statistics and government would like us to believe. Real unemployment is still around 10% but after the BLS manipulates the data, adding in casual workers - people who can't find regular work but are sometimes employed - and temporary workers, along with made up numbers of people it "thinks" are working and pulling numbers out of the air for "kitchen table entrepreneurs", they're able to adjust the unemployment rate to about 5%. Which, in any other scenario, is good. However, the fact that they have to make things up as they go to get it there doesn't tell the whole story.
Supporting my statement above, this is from Gallup's Daily snapshot taken just yesterday morning:
For example, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) does not count a person who desires work as unemployed if he or she is not working and has stopped looking for work over the past four weeks. Similarly, the BLS does not count someone as unemployed if he or she is, for instance, an out-of-work engineer, construction worker or retail manager who performs a minimum of one hour of work a week and receives at least $20 in compensation.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/187589/bls-unemployment-seasonally-adjusted.aspx
So if you want to work but have given up looking through frustration, you're employed.
If you work for just one $20 hour per week, you're employed.
Real wages are down significantly. The number of under-employed, those people with strong training and skills who cannot find work in their field, is huge: 14%.
'Good jobs', those defined as regular work for thirty-plus hours per week, are at 44.7%, down from 45.3% in December and 44.9% in November. This data is also available from the link above.
The Fed is already manipulating the stock market. They are already determining our growth by trying zero interest rates to make our debt burden a bit less intolerable, but that's not working. Investment still hasn't moved because who wants to invest and get no return? Now they're talking, seriously, about negative interest rates.
Instead of putting your money into an account or a fund and getting a return, you get to park your money there and pay for the privilege. This is one reason the government is pushing us away from a cash trade system.
If we no longer have cash, if everything is done by electronic transfer through debit and credit cards and cash transactions go the way of the dinosaur, they will have us by the economic short-ones and can pull as long and as hard as they like. If your money, your labor as represented by money, is in their hands who has control of it? Take a 401k as an example.
If you're in a 401k you're already paying an administrative fee. You put the money in but you cannot touch it until you reach age 59.5. If you do before then, you're penalized except in certain situations and in those you have to repay that money within a set time period.
In the past few years there have been serious steps taken in government designed to take your 401k funds so they can be passed out to people who haven't saved. The 401k annuity program is a first step.
They say you're guaranteed a return but the plan is to turn that into a redistribution of your wealth.
http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2012/12/how-government-is-coming-after-your-ira.html
The linked article is from 2012 and is darker than the more recent articles because the Fed and the Department of Labor have already instituted this scheme. Ultimately, they are planning to reduce your annuity payment to somewhere in the range of 3% per year. That means that for every $1,000 you have saved, you would get an annual payout of just $30, or a whopping $2.50 per month. The rest would be distributed to people who didn't save. How do you like that idea? Your money, the money you worked hard to earn and save, wouldn't be yours anymore. It would belong to someone else because government says so.
That's one of the reasons government wants to do away with cash transactions. You can put your credit card away in a safe or under a mattress, but that's only a representation of your buying power. If your money is kept in digits on a computer someplace, the government can take it, just by the push of a button.
Nine years ago I projected that by 2017 the standard of living in the United States of America will look like Senegal on a good day. We're just about there, the window might be a little bigger than I said back then, but I do think the timbers under this massive mess are starting to crack and shift. It's just a matter of time until it all collapses around our ears.
What's really pathetic are the paper-gold investors. Those people who have invested in gold 'funds' and think they have some sort of security because they 'own' gold. In fact, all they own is a piece of paper.
Going back to my analogy of a tree (gold) and sawdust, you cannot parse a single ounce of gold ten thousand people each think they own into ten thousand ounces of gold. It is just one ounce divided by ten thousand. And that is precisely what investors in EFT gold funds are: the equivalent of sawdust. When the spit hits the fan and those people run to their broker demanding settlement, it isn't going to be there. They will be offered paper currency in exchange, and that is going to be worthless in the scenario I see coming.
But, no worries. The way Pyong Yang is going, and the US is doing nothing to stop, we'll have a nuclear weapon detonating somewhere over US territory in another year or so and that'll solve some problems. Not the currencies and economics, but it will certainly draw our attention away from the fact that no one is working, we're all freezing and starving and the money we have in our pockets is more useful for keeping warm than it is for buying things.
Now, after all of that, look out the window, take a deep breath and appreciate what you have, and have a wonderful day.
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
North Korea, Russia, Syria, Africa - bad things are happening all over the place, but America is looking inward again, paying attention to the political circus playing out while the rest of the world falls apart.
As for the election, it will be interesting to see if 'nice guys finish last' is true, or if it's not.
For instance, I can't help but wonder how long it'll be before the Election Mortician shows up for Jeb! His campaign is fascinating from the standpoint of how badly it's being managed, yet he insists he's serious. His Super PAC, funded by the elites who want him to win, is throwing tens of millions of dollars away in advertising that is not doing a thing to move the needle on the dial. That's telling.
Instead of playing off his last name, it appears that Jeb! is attempting to distance himself from his family by not appending 'Bush' to his candidacy. Of course, that family name comes with a lot of baggage.
In 1989, Daddy said, 'read my lips, no new taxes' and, almost as soon as he was elected, raised the taxes he promised not to touch.
Big Bro launched the ever unpopular war in Iraq. For some of us there is still the WMD question. Most people dismiss that as a false flag, an excuse, but some of us, deeper thinkers perhaps, don't.
What the No War for Oil crowd will not acknowledge is that IF the intel showed that Hussein did have WMDs we might well have been right to invade. After all, Hussein had already used chemical agents on the Kurds in the north part of the country. That was well documented. There are pictures of women and children lying dead in the streets and that showed he was not reluctant to kill thousands of people using chemical weapons.
What if we hadn't invaded Iraq and what if Hussein had launched a chemical or biological attack against Europe or America because we didn't invade and he perceived us as weak and ineffectual? Then what? Still, nothing happened and no WMDs were found so the naysayers were and are right to say nay.
Then there's the little matter of the economic implosion at the end of Big Bro's presidency. He and Paulson devised a scheme to bankrupt our country, and it's working even now. Debt is through the roof, government has greater reach into our private lives, and we are tiptoeing along the edge of an economic abyss - barely keeping from falling off the edge.
So Jeb! comes into the race with that family baggage.
On top of that, whenever I see Jeb! on the news, he always looks like the put-upon pouty little brother. From the expression on his face - something that resembles hurt surprise or desperation - to the slump in his shoulders and slight slouch in his back, he does not look excited, happy or vibrant. Poor Jeb! I don't think his heart is in this. He's doing it because the friends and backers of Daddy and Big Bro are pushing him into it.
No matter what he wants, though. The Koch brothers and the rest of the right-wing political elites are pushing him, and they're pushing his family. Why else are Barbara and George out there? What kind of desperation cry is that when you drag mommy and daddy out of their dotage closet to boost your ratings? That is more than desperate. It's pathetic.
Come on, Jeb! Your parents are in their nineties. Don't you think they have something better to do? I'm sure they do, but this is ugly old political debt coming home to roost. The puppet masters propelled Bush I into the White House and made sure Bush II got there, too (remember Florida with its hanging chads?). Now they've called and the Bush family will perform because the elites do not want a change to status quo and Jeb! would make the perfect puppet. No spine, no gumption and, as far as I can see, little brains and capacity to think for himself. The perfect front man.
Elsewhere, it seems Russia is playing both sides against the middle in Syria. Putin and his generals are propping up Assad and helping ISIS against the Kurds and who the hell cares who's caught in the middle. Putin and Assad certainly don't, and no one in ISIS has a shred of humanity - they are straight vermin across the board.
For now, it's the Syrian people who are bearing the brunt of the horror. They're caught between two forces that are fighting for control of the territory. Unless something is done, the massacre will continue but we aren't supposed to get involved because it's not our fight.
So what does the left propose? Should we just go ahead and bring all and sundry, anyone who asks, into the US and Europe? I don't want to do that. Not because I don't have a heart, but because I do have a head. How easy would it be for ISIS to infiltrate the refugees? Out of 10,000 people if you have just one dozen - twelve bad actors - how much damage could they do here or in Europe?
Show up at an embassy looking like a poor, downtrodden victim. Beg for entrance for yourself and your family and be given a pass with nary a background check, questionnaire or cursory inspection. That's how Obie-One and John Kerry and the rest of the rat pack in Washington want it because it looks so nice, so kind.
Never mind that the wannabe immigrant is holding the design for an attack under his robes. Knowing that we're leery of lone 'strong young men', ISIS has probably already adapted. While the vast majority of Syrian family men really are family men, they will probably use the skirts of willing women, or unwilling women to whom they're married and with whom they have children, and sucker us. Just a few getting into the country and connecting up with sympathizers here could do huge amounts of damage. Hide in the shelter of a woman's burqa with a passel of kids, beg for entrance and... And these vermin have no compunction about hiding in the skirts of their women. That's why they've surrounded themselves with women and children in Syria.
What needs to happen, but won't because Obie-One has none between his legs and Herman Munster (aka John Kerry) has nothing between his ears, is we need to refuse these people. Or we need to bring them in and set them up in those remote REX-84 camps Reagan built. Use them as the modern Ellis Island where these refugees stay until they're thoroughly vetted and can be released into society with better than reasonable assurance that they're 'safe'.
But, in the meantime, Putin and Assad and ISIS have free reign across Syria. That contagion will spread with flareups and outbreaks here and in Europe. It's already pushing into Turkey and, within six months if something doesn't give, Turkey is going to be at serious risk.
In the past few days Homeland Security has warned, again, that ISIS has infiltrated the refugees accepted into Europe and the US. That's about 100% certain, and ISIS is declaring it will bring its war here, to the US, this year. They are here and, because of political correctness - which prevented neighbors from reporting what they saw in the weeks leading up to the San Bernardino shooting - no one is going to report anything that looks peculiar. God forbid we should profile someone because they look, dress, speak and worship a certain way! No! Let's let 'em build their arsenal, do their training and kill dozens or hundreds or thousands of innocents. Too bad they missed the Super Bowl, but there's always the World Series, the political conventions, the Olympics and a bunch of other places full of soft targets.
Needless to say, while I'm not cowering in my bunker, neither am I going to places that are full of crowds. I'm going about my life and living in my part of the world - away from city centers and masses of people - and keeping my head up, my eyes open and my powder dry.
In economics, the Treasury is still fighting to shore up the stock market but it looks like they might be losing the battle. China's Shanghai Index and Japan's Nikkei aren't helping. No matter now hard governments try, they just cannot keep propping up the paper market because there really is no there, there. It's an empty void inside that bubble and that bubble is reaching near critical mass.
International shipping - the Baltic Dry Index - keeps falling.
The US equity markets have been down more than they've been up this year.
OPEC is flooding the market with oil, driving the price of oil down until American companies, fighting the costs of regulation and taxation, can't manage or compete. Chevron is laying of thousands of people in an attempt to cut costs.
What happens if our country's oil and gas companies go belly up? Betcha anything the left will first cheer and then, when the reality of what they've been calling for hits home, cry, 'wait a minute!' But it will be too late. An entire industry will have been destroyed. Hundreds of thousands of people from Chevron and Exxon and their supporting industries will be unemployed and gas prices will be up at $10 or more per gallon because we have to import and there are no domestic producers or refiners.
What these limousine liberals don't get because they have no capacity for rational thought is how the higher prices of gas and oil will impact those people whom they say they care about. How will the working poor who require their cars for transportation manage to pay for the gas they need to get to work? If it costs $10 per gallon and these people are making just minimum wage or a little more, that's a hefty amount of money for them - $100 to fill their tank with ten gallons of gas. Oh! Of course! We'll look to government to help us. We'll ask for subsidies. We'll just add that to the national debt and we'll get the one percent to pay for it.
The US dollar is falling again, despite the Treasury's attempts at manipulation.
What's most worrying is that the US Treasury bills - what used to be one of the safest of the safe investments - has dipped to lows not seen since 2012 and the only reason it's not lower is because the government keeps buying its own paper, making it look better than it is. That's a problem because a) those are the notes the US tries to sell around the world to get money in here so we can keep propping; b) with no one wanting them, which is part of the reason they're falling, it's only going to get worse.
I expect that within the next eighteen to twenty-four months, certainly by 2020, our debt is going to come home to roost in a big way.
If Trump gets in, and if he can effectively negotiate with Congress to undo some of the damage that's been done in the past thirty years, we might push the inevitable back by a few years. If Sanders or Clinton gets in and starts messing around with their Socialist agenda - free things for everyone and damn the cost! - we'll be hosed in short order.
First, our markets will crash and burn because no one is going to want to invest here. We will no longer be seen as the 'safe haven'. Then, our currency will go the way of the Zimbabwe dollar. No one, not even a village idiot, will believe in the 'full faith and credit of the United States' because there will be none. Our dollar will have no value, no perceived intrinsic value anywhere else but here. And, yes, the following image of a one hundred trillion dollar note is real. You can read about Zimbabwe's meltdown here: http://www.cato.org/zimbabwe
Imagine living in a country where the daily inflation rate is at virtually 100%. You go to the store on Monday and the loaf of bread is $2.00. On Tuesday it's $4.00. By Friday - in just five days - that same loaf of bread costs $64 dollars! And we are in far worse position than Zimbabwe. As a country, as an economy, Zimbabwe was nothing compared to the United States.
When we go, it is going to be unbelievable - and it will take down the rest of the world. After the first shock, which will hit like an earthquake and then continue with aftershocks, it will take probably take between six and ten months to start showing signs of settling, but it's going to be devastating and it is something that will take not years but at least a generation from which to recover.
At that point, no one is going to want US dollars - which is something that Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS) have been praying for. OPEC wouldn't mind, either, since they don't like the US all that much. If economically important countries around the world peg their currencies and their trade to another currency, the US will not just be hamstrung, it will be economically crippled.
After things start to recover and get back on track, the United States, because of the monetary manipulation of its government, our enormous debt load and the instant fall from Goliath to gnat, will never be a world player again in our lifetimes. We will be that third world country - the 'has been' over which everyone else shakes their heads, points and says, 'see, pride does go before the fall.'
Chickens coming home to roost and what I predicted in broad terms back in 2007 before Obie-One got the nomination and won the Presidency. Then I said that by 2014 or 2015 our economy would be in a shambles and the Dow would be down around 7,500. I didn't foresee the Treasury and Fed intervention with POMO, so I was wrong about that, but look at the rest of it:
We have nearly doubled our national debt in the past fifteen years. This is debt that we, our children, our children's children and their children's children will never be able to repay. We just passed $19T in debt, without including the entitlements of Social Security and Medicare. Those push our total debt - what we owe to all and sundry - upwards of $64 trillion. That debt is continuing to increase, exponentially, by the second.
Following the Great Recession from 2007 through 2012, the "regular" work week went from forty hours per week to just thirty, meaning that full-time work is no longer full-time. In this scenario, a worker is earning less money per hour and working fewer hours. A $20 per hour worker in a forty hour week would earn $800 per week. In the new paradigm of thirty hours, their real wages are down $200 per week to just $600. No wonder so many people now require government assistance to live!
Aside from wage pressure, unemployment is not as rosy as the Bureau of Labor Statistics and government would like us to believe. Real unemployment is still around 10% but after the BLS manipulates the data, adding in casual workers - people who can't find regular work but are sometimes employed - and temporary workers, along with made up numbers of people it "thinks" are working and pulling numbers out of the air for "kitchen table entrepreneurs", they're able to adjust the unemployment rate to about 5%. Which, in any other scenario, is good. However, the fact that they have to make things up as they go to get it there doesn't tell the whole story.
Supporting my statement above, this is from Gallup's Daily snapshot taken just yesterday morning:
For example, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) does not count a person who desires work as unemployed if he or she is not working and has stopped looking for work over the past four weeks. Similarly, the BLS does not count someone as unemployed if he or she is, for instance, an out-of-work engineer, construction worker or retail manager who performs a minimum of one hour of work a week and receives at least $20 in compensation.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/187589/bls-unemployment-seasonally-adjusted.aspx
So if you want to work but have given up looking through frustration, you're employed.
If you work for just one $20 hour per week, you're employed.
Real wages are down significantly. The number of under-employed, those people with strong training and skills who cannot find work in their field, is huge: 14%.
'Good jobs', those defined as regular work for thirty-plus hours per week, are at 44.7%, down from 45.3% in December and 44.9% in November. This data is also available from the link above.
The Fed is already manipulating the stock market. They are already determining our growth by trying zero interest rates to make our debt burden a bit less intolerable, but that's not working. Investment still hasn't moved because who wants to invest and get no return? Now they're talking, seriously, about negative interest rates.
Instead of putting your money into an account or a fund and getting a return, you get to park your money there and pay for the privilege. This is one reason the government is pushing us away from a cash trade system.
If we no longer have cash, if everything is done by electronic transfer through debit and credit cards and cash transactions go the way of the dinosaur, they will have us by the economic short-ones and can pull as long and as hard as they like. If your money, your labor as represented by money, is in their hands who has control of it? Take a 401k as an example.
If you're in a 401k you're already paying an administrative fee. You put the money in but you cannot touch it until you reach age 59.5. If you do before then, you're penalized except in certain situations and in those you have to repay that money within a set time period.
In the past few years there have been serious steps taken in government designed to take your 401k funds so they can be passed out to people who haven't saved. The 401k annuity program is a first step.
They say you're guaranteed a return but the plan is to turn that into a redistribution of your wealth.
http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2012/12/how-government-is-coming-after-your-ira.html
The linked article is from 2012 and is darker than the more recent articles because the Fed and the Department of Labor have already instituted this scheme. Ultimately, they are planning to reduce your annuity payment to somewhere in the range of 3% per year. That means that for every $1,000 you have saved, you would get an annual payout of just $30, or a whopping $2.50 per month. The rest would be distributed to people who didn't save. How do you like that idea? Your money, the money you worked hard to earn and save, wouldn't be yours anymore. It would belong to someone else because government says so.
That's one of the reasons government wants to do away with cash transactions. You can put your credit card away in a safe or under a mattress, but that's only a representation of your buying power. If your money is kept in digits on a computer someplace, the government can take it, just by the push of a button.
Nine years ago I projected that by 2017 the standard of living in the United States of America will look like Senegal on a good day. We're just about there, the window might be a little bigger than I said back then, but I do think the timbers under this massive mess are starting to crack and shift. It's just a matter of time until it all collapses around our ears.
What's really pathetic are the paper-gold investors. Those people who have invested in gold 'funds' and think they have some sort of security because they 'own' gold. In fact, all they own is a piece of paper.
Going back to my analogy of a tree (gold) and sawdust, you cannot parse a single ounce of gold ten thousand people each think they own into ten thousand ounces of gold. It is just one ounce divided by ten thousand. And that is precisely what investors in EFT gold funds are: the equivalent of sawdust. When the spit hits the fan and those people run to their broker demanding settlement, it isn't going to be there. They will be offered paper currency in exchange, and that is going to be worthless in the scenario I see coming.
But, no worries. The way Pyong Yang is going, and the US is doing nothing to stop, we'll have a nuclear weapon detonating somewhere over US territory in another year or so and that'll solve some problems. Not the currencies and economics, but it will certainly draw our attention away from the fact that no one is working, we're all freezing and starving and the money we have in our pockets is more useful for keeping warm than it is for buying things.
Best~
Philippa
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