Before we get to the book…
I am continuing to read analysis from both sides on the Trump indictments. The most recent indictments are nothing short of scurrilous. It is important for people who get their news from TV or political videos to understand that what is in the indictments and what Jack Smith announced when he unsealed them are two different things.
In his big, dramatic announcement, Jack spoke of the 1/6 mini riot (maybe 50 or 60 people being violent - if that many) and said that is what he was addressing with the indictments. But the indictments don’t address that. And mention of the mini riot includes doctored quotes trying to paint Trump as rousing the rabble, which certainly DID NOT do.
But the real problem with the Jack Smith fairy tale is the requirement that the prosecutor must prove to a jury, beyond a reasonable doubt that - 1. he is a flawless mind reader - and 2. that no laws existed for an election to be challenged right up to the very second of certification.
On the first, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Smith is not clairvoyant. He cannot possibly KNOW what was in Trump’s mind around 1/6/21. I could be wrong. But I think mind-reading ranks up there with Scientology and mail-order X-ray specs.
On the second point, of course those laws existed and arguments went back and forth inside the White House for weeks about how seek redress through those laws.
It was not unprecedented. In 1960 Hawaii empaneled an alternate slate of electors. In 2000 Al Gore had an alternate slate ready to go but ended up conceding before the challenge took place. I’m glad he stepped aside. He might have won his challenge. Knowing what we know now about the man, a Gore presidency would be unthinkable.
And that is what Trump was trying to establish, an alternate slate from states HE BELIEVED had run corrupt elections. And history tells us it is clear that in places like Philadelphia, the counting process was filthy.
But no one called Hawaii’s alternate slate “fake electors” or accused Hawaii of fraud. No one called Gore’s slate “fake electors” and he was not charged with fraud. He should be charged with pump and dump fraud with now-defunct energy companies, but that’s a different issue.
In Trump’s case, his actions were so “illegal” legislators clamored to change the laws his challenge was based on so it would be harder for candidates to so seek redress. And people claim that’s a good thing?
In a 2020 Reuters article titled 'Dueling' electors, 'hanging chads': a history of contested U.S. elections, Brad Heath outlined the history of disputed elections, with particular attention paid to the Hayes vs Tilden. The electoral process was so messy, laws were established to allow for challenges to elections.
Here’s the applicable paragraph:
A decade later, Congress enacted the Electoral Count Act that was meant to establish a roadmap for resolving disputed elections in the future, though exactly how it would work remains unclear because of ambiguities in the language, election scholars say. The law has never been tested or intepreted by the courts.
Soooo… Where’s the fraud? Where is the crime? Losing an argument isn’t illegal. Soliciting legal advice isn’t illegal. But when you are dealing with a morally vapid political machine like the DC Democratic party, it’s show them the man and they’ll find the crime. In this case they’ll make crimes up out of whole cloth.
Trump took the fight down to the wire. He lost his fight and left peacefully on 20 January, like every president before him. And for the record, on January 6th of that year, he called for people to make their voices heard “peacefully and patriotically”. Funny how the order of his statements that day are constantly run in reverse and the peacefully and patriotically phrase keeps accidentally falling out of the videos you’re shown.
Grow up, America. So many don’t like DJT. I get it. I’m pulling for Ramaswamy vs Kennedy matchup. That would be a humdinger! But you DO NOT want to live in a country that uses the courts as political stepping stools. Any judge or prosecutor more dignified than a urinal cake should be screaming about the shit show our DOJ has become. Sadly, many of them don’t think of themselves as more dignified than a urinal cake.
Let us now revisit our tome of enlightenment.
Chapter 12, later in the episode is once again timely since I recently saw BJ Bill’s wife and a few other knuckleheads screaming about the issue on Twitter/X.
Street Politics: It Ain’t Your Daddy’s GOP Anymore!
Matt Jordan
Copyright © 2015 Matt Jordan
Formerly 16 20 24: A Path to Consistent Conservative Victory
All rights reserved.
10 Obamacare and other medical fantasies
Seven hundred and sixteen billion dollars, funneled out of Medicare by President Obama. An obligation we have to our parents and grandparents is being sacrificed, all to pay for a new entitlement we didn't even ask for. The greatest threat to Medicare is Obamacare, and we're going to stop it.
– Paul Ryan
It’s too bloody bad Ryan and the other Three Morons spent the last four years standing in the way of that quoted objective above.
This should be a runaway success for Republicans. But keeping in mind my earlier complaint about message and guts, watch a typical loser candidate handle the issue. He will say it is bad policy and bad for our people. If asked what he would do, he’ll say the Republican legislators take very seriously their responsibility to see that the American people get the healthcare they need.
No, No, NO! This has been the consistent Alan-Shepard-prayer approach to the issue. This is worse than lame because it uses the kind of empty political rhetoric we have already decided to dispense with FOREVER. More importantly, it repeatedly misses the golden opportunity for real conservatives to pound away at the opponent and the program.
Say what you are thinking at this point.
Obamacare has nothing, nothing, to do with healthcare. It is a statist scam to take over a sixth of the economy and reward politically friendly insurance companies with the keys to the system. They will bilk it in exchange for acting as government administrators. It has failed in every conceivable measure. (Repeat that whole paragraph for effect. )
We are going to completely eliminate Obamacare from the federal register.
The insurance industry will issue real insurance policies.
We will cap medical damages. They were not invented to destroy caregivers.
We will permit insurance companies to sell insurance nationally, across state borders. This will increase competition.
We will let them offer the coverage they are willing to offer in exchange for what the consumer is willing to pay.
We will encourage businesses to delink your insurance from your job. There is no logical connection there anyway. Keep it “portable” as people now like to say.
Time to teach. We’ll assume you are giving a speech on Obamacare or the subject has come up in front of an audience. If you are smart you have your board and easel ready. If you know how to use electronic graphics and still be interesting, go for it.
Write “Ins. Co” on one side of the board and “YOU” on the other. Using basic scribbles, demonstrate the following:
Insurance is a bet. All insurance policies are bets. Your homeowners insurance company is betting that your house will not sustain a serious calamity and you are betting that it will. If your house burns down, you win and you get a lot of money to rebuild. Your life insurance is a bet. If you die within a predetermined time, you win. They all work that way and were designed to do so.
Medical insurance used to be that. Each month, based on the risk the insurance company was willing to take, you would ante up with your monthly bet payment. If you stayed healthy the money stayed there. And as designed, if you got catastrophically ill or injured, the company would pay out your winnings; sometimes to you, sometimes to your medical provider.
The bet started to change some years back. People would get a cold and not be able to pay their physician. Such things weren’t covered by insurance because number one, they are not by nature catastrophic and two because it is not a bet. There is a 100% chance that you will get colds from time to time. The same it true for rashes. The same is true for your kids getting stitches. People started going to the press and the government saying that they were put behind on their bills because their kids got stitches or the flu or whatever. Oh, how sad! There ought to be a law!
Remember Henry Limpet! Wishes Do Come True!
Well, the government provided laws, lots of them, to force insurance companies to provide for everything. The more minutiae that got piled into policies, the more expensive the policies became. Medical savings accounts are a great idea, but with increasing premiums along with all the money the government takes from us every month, who’s got a few hundred dollars to open one of those? Also, since the insurance companies were forced to try to control rates and at the same time pay out on so many sure-winner bets, they became increasingly strict on what they would and would not pay on. Co-pays and deductibles went up.
Obamacare only exacerbates the problems and the costs. We were told we would save money because of Obamacare. But that was a lie from the very first. The system is, by design, more costly to the end user and was known to be so even while Barry was promising savings.
Now, my darling constituents, how would you like to have plummeting insurance AND medical costs concurrently? How would you like to have the opportunity to stash some of what you would save in an account to pay for incidental medical bills keeping cost low? How about fewer increases on your insurance premiums?
By going back to the days when medical insurance was for major injuries and illness, by allowing more competition, by letting people shop their medical dollar to any physician, by not encouraging defensive medicine[i], we will see our medical costs fall into the basement.
But what about the poor and the elderly, who will take care of them?
Here’s the best part of all. Without even changing eligibility requirements (more on that later) we can save billions by radically streamlining forms and compliance, and changing the way we pay out for Medicare and Medicaid.
Presently, Medicare and Medicaid, two of the four most scammed government entitlements are run by massive bureaucracies. Money comes in, the government takes its cut for doing nothing else but handling the money and creating mountains of needless paperwork, and then it gets paid out to states for distribution, which also costs money.
To save on all this, we need first, to do better means testing. Punish fraud with gargantuan penalties. Scamming critical assistance programs should rank up there with murder and violent crime in terms of penalty. If we need help in nailing the vile pieces of shit that try it, we can call on many of the suddenly out-of-work IRS agents[ii] to sniff them out.
Next, we convert to a voucher system. All those enrolled get a card. This card works nowhere but at point of service medical offices and pharmacies. It can only purchase prescription drugs and non-elective procedures. The cards carry a fixed value per week, month, year…the time frame can be anything that works best. If you shop your card against best price and practice, it lasts longer. Dollar amounts roll over. So as you accrue money in the card you are more prepared for catastrophe. At that critical moment, if you’ve been on the system for a while and have not abused it, the government needs to spend less of this year’s dollars to protect you and top off our card.
Again, this is not an ATM card. You can’t use it for anything but medical care. Payment comes through a closed system and is made to the caregiver. It would be no more complicated to set up than a credit card arrangement at JC Penny.
Separate Medicare/Medicaid dollars from the general fund. It never should have become part of that to begin with. If you ever want to really know the motivation behind these programs, along with Social Security, Obamacare, etc., just remember it was made part of the general fund. The idea was to fatten government coffers first! The government knew it would have to tax its way to paying out on this money later. So delink this and other welfare programs from all other spending.
Finally, compliance requirements would be radically streamlined. Once a patient is enrolled and has a physician, medical records and administration should be living documents, added to as needed and simple by design. Multiple billions would be wrung from the system every year with just this change alone.
We will always have fraud. These programs are always going to be with us. But they can cost multiple tens, even hundreds of billions less each year by simply administering them efficiently, and more challenging, honestly. An honest Republican, and certainly a conservative, should have no hand in growing these programs by one more penny. To do so would help no one and hurt everyone.
11 ENERGY POLICY (Micro)
BUILD THE KEYSTONE FRIGGIN’ PIPELINE!
12 MINIMUM WAGE = MINIMUM THINKING
I was going to pass this one up as a phony issue, much like the Chicken Little global warming routine. But, like GW/CC, the consequences of pursuing the progressive agenda on minimum wage will have harmful results; especially for the people progressives are pretending to help. This is how I approached the subject in a blog post on www.streetpolitics.us.
Perhaps in the follow-on book to be out during the general election, I’ll pick apart opposing articles line by line. No great challenge. Better still, I might consider a short e-book devoted to the subject.
George Will once posited this question, that if by some miracle everyone’s net worth and income measured against purchasing power were to triple overnight, would the howling about income disparity suddenly go away? The answer is, of course not. The reason is because pundits and politicians favored by the non-thinking class would point out the lower third on the income ladder are still the lower third, and therefore cannot afford the four bedroom, three bathroom lake house the middle third now can. And that isn't fair. One should fold one's arms and stomp a foot when uttering that last sentence. Assume I've done that for you.
Fortunately, the free market system does not address what is "fair" in terms of how big your bank account is, how much I get paid, how shiny and fast his car is. That is up to you, your upbringing and your decision-making. In the free market, and I would contend, in a truly civilized society, the citizens have the sense and the strength of character to live their lives without complaining about the possessions and success of another. All this may be aside from a compliment on the qualities of whatever it is that other person has garnered. The compliment would be a simple pleasantry. The rest is none of our business. Further, we meddle with opportunities, and the methods of success of others, at our own peril.
This is axiomatic in the thinking of truly successful people; people who made their own way in the world without resorting to the insulting of, or interference in, the lives of others. Wow, the heads of Occupy Wall Street fans are exploding all over the country right now. Most, despite the fact that many are members of the 1% they pretend to despise and privileged with a college education. Yet they don't understand the first sentence of this paragraph. And those that do, know it's true. But they also know they'll never be able to apply their global warming degrees with such dangerous ideas still lurking in the minds of thinking people.
How does this apply to the minimum wage? Let's go back to the politicians I’ve been insulting since chapter 1. They know that a large majority of people thinks it's okay to raise the minimum wage. They also know, but wouldn't dare mention, that few people actually have to work for what is presently the federal minimum wage. They also know a few more things.
I’ve got it! We help the poor by taxing the poor!
First, the sector of the economy for which this wage was introduced (never having a lasting impact on those it was intended to help) is the unskilled, entry level or supplementary income sector. Wait staff in mid to low quality restaurants, gas station attendants, unskilled construction labor (we used to call them go-fers), janitorial staff, etc. Because of the simplicity and often the flexibility of working in these sectors, these jobs were typically offered to teenagers to give them entree into the working world and teach them a work ethic. For others it was supplemental income. None of the jobs the minimum wage laws are aimed at were ever intended to be a livelihood and were not designed economically to be so. The fact that middle-aged people have crowded out entry-level kids at Wal-Mart is neither our, nor Wal-Mart’s, fault.
These same pandering pols also know that the electorate is shamefully uninformed. The average voter is asked, "Do you think people at the bottom of the income ladder should have more money?" And the average voter says "Sure, why not?" If asked, "Should the government mandate what a person's wages should be?" You'd get a sneer, at best. The correct answer is, of course, what an employer and an employee agree on, in the exchange of time for money, is absolutely none of the government's business. And the legislation to meddle in such arrangements is a waste of time and money. But there are politicians in need of cover from real issues, so here we are again.
Will raised another great point in a Fox News appearance last year. Who will pay for this rise in the minimum wage? Well, by huge disproportion it will be the poor, of course. Who does the most business with those earning minimum wage? It isn't politicians. It's not the guy who drives a Jaguar. It's people who eat and shop as inexpensively as possible. They will finance the lion's share of this stupid idea. And only a mouth-breathing idiot really believes that hours and jobs won't be lost and prices increased at those very establishments to completely offset, the new wage.
As a side note, both McDonalds and Wal-Mart already pay above the prevailing minimum wage in most cases. Not all their stores, of course, pay the proposed minimum wage to new employees. But most employees presently move past that $10 figure rather quickly.
Here's a cool result of coming up with the magic number of $10.00/hr. to solve the woes of the downtrodden. The downtrodden get to remain so a bit longer, as employers will be less generous with promotions and raises for established employees. And another! This will incentivize some restaurants to finally employ technology that's been out there for years. Automated ordering. Wawa stores are kicking ass with it. In fact they have been able to hire more people to cover the growth in business, so automation might just be a wash in extremely well run businesses. It won't matter though. Occupy Sissy Street-types will put on their $250 shabby chic outfits and urinate in front of any restaurant that tries it.
This latest iteration of pretending to care about poor people is the brainchild, as it always is, of politicians who find themselves in a hole and in need of some handy misdirection. The present administration has been an abysmal failure on absolutely every front. Between blatant failure, to corruption, to deaths by the administration's ineptitude (Benghazi) or design (Fast and Furious), this is a White House in constant need of Occupy Wall Street-esque distractions. Follow any news stream from the beginning and you will find programs trumpeted, programs failed, then the "rich" attacked and/or the "poor" pandered to. It is so naked it is embarrassing to watch.
The CBO reports that the new wage mandate will cost a few million jobs; although there's a negligible chance no jobs would be lost. This is good news according to the White House. They say that a few million isn't too many people to worry about and it MIGHT be none! Last week they were saying that the 2.5 million jobs estimated to be destroyed by OBAMACARE will be an excellent opportunity for some of us to relax and get out of those jobs we're trapped in.[iii]
Trumka Gets His Cut.
Unions love the minimum wage also. As soon as it goes into effect, mark my words, they will point to union employees and say, "Look at poor Charlie over there", doing a job he never chose to grow out of. "Poor fella is only making $2.00/hr. over minimum wage! That's a disgrace! He needs a raise. " The effect this has on the bank accounts of the pure-of-heart (mobbed up) union "leadership" will only be a happy coincidence.
More and more (but not nearly enough yet) people are realizing that the government is a standing insult in many ways, this being one of them. Whenever politicians/unions claim to be "helping the little guy", know with crystal clarity that the only people being helped are the governing class and their own incumbency and personal gain.
Those who we are told will benefit directly from an increase in the minimum wage will see their gains eaten away rather quickly as the entire economy floats to a corresponding position with respect to their big pay raise.
I know, I know. I say all these things because I am a hater. All fiscal conservatives are, right? If I had the wisdom to be found in a drum circle or Justin Beiber pajama party, I'd be totally on board with this minimum-thinking idea.
Remember, government that assumes it can decide your minimum wage can also decide your maximum wage. It's been tried. Read up on Nixon.
2023 update: The popular cry for a raise in the minimum wage is now $15/hour. And Union payrolls, therefore dues, therefore mob boss, er…uh, I mean, union leadership paychecks are tied directly to percentages above prevailing minimum wage.
This article in Forbes is worth reading.
[i] The three biggest reasons for high healthcare costs are defensive medicine and fear of lawsuits, compliance costs foisted on the industry by bloated government, and the knowledge that the medical profession knows that the government/insurance company MUST provide payment. This last point is important. If a doctor is in the stable of several insurance companies, and possibly Medicare and Medicaid, they know the money is coming. So they will charge up to the maximum limit for everything. They don’t have to compete for that dollar.
[ii] We will discuss this in my chapter on taxes.
Ch. 12
[iii] White House: It's A Good Thing That Obamacare Will Drive 2. 5 Million Americans Out Of The Workforce, Avik Roy, Forbes.com, 2 Feb 2014
Joe Biden and His Supreme Soviet