‘Nuff Said

https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5101370/user-clip-hood-speaking-ms-crockett

Are You a Citizen? Really?

As directed by the Constitution, a presidential candidate must be a natural born citizen of the United States, a resident for 14 years, and 35 years of age or older.

If you meet those requirements then you too can run for President or Vice President of the U.S.A.

To be a natural born citizen of the United States all you have to do is be born in the U.S.A.

Can you name the first President to qualify under those Constitutional conditions?

That would be President #8: Martin Van Buren! Does that make the first 7 frauds?

However On Thursday past, after Kamala Harris was selected by Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden to serve as his running mate, President Donald Trump once again gave credence to and elevated a new Republican conspiracy theory while speaking to reporters from the White House podium.

The new claim is that Ms. Harris is ineligible to serve as vice president or president because her mother is from India and her father is from Jamaica. Trump said he “heard” the California senator doesn’t meet the requirements, adding, “I have no idea if that’s right.”

Wow! The President of the United States has no idea what the requirements for being POTUS are? (I think that should be a requirement!)

Kamala Harris was born in Oakland, California on October 20th, 1964. And there is no dispute about that. That makes her a 55 year old natural born citizen and resident of the United States for the past 55 years and 9+ months…check…check…and check.

Doesn’t our president know that it matters not where her parents were born?

After all The President’s son’s mother was born in Slovenia and didn’t become a U.S. citizen until 2006, the same year in which she gave birth to their son Barron. He was born in March of 2006 and she became a citizen during that same year…although for some reason the exact date of her citizenship ceremony cannot be found on google.

Does that even matter? Do you care? But shouldn’t it at least be a date to celebrate and not hide? Maybe it’s just temporarily lost? Anyway, I digress.

Because when President Trump was asked directly about the social media posts claiming Ms. Harris is not eligible to run for VP he replied: “I heard it today that she doesn’t meet the requirements. And, by the way, the lawyer that wrote that piece is a very qualified, very talented lawyer.”

But which constitutional requirement does that “very talented” and “very qualified” lawyer say that she, Ms. Harris,  doesn’t meet?

So if she is not eligible, even though born in the U.S.A., simply because her parents were immigrants, then that  would of course mean that our president does not even believe that his own son is eligible to run for President or Vice President of the U.S. someday either… since he too has an immigrant mother!

Did you have anyone in your family who was born of immigrant parents? Like you or your parents or grand parents? Then if they were not natural born citizens they were giving birth to other non citizens and so on and so forth… that would lead to you and me and all of us eventually being non citizens too!

Gee, it’s getting so that being born in the U.S.A. doesn’t mean anything these days!

 

 

Beware the Payroll Tax Break!

In a recent interview, President Donald Trump said he won’t approve another COVID-19 stimulus package if it doesn’t include a payroll tax cut for workers…but what does this mean? Simply put, a suspension of payroll taxes would halt money being taken out of worker’s paychecks to pay for government programs like Social Security and Medicare.

However, the payroll “tax cut” would also put more money in the pockets of wealthier people, do absolutely nothing for the 37 million people who have lost their jobs in the last few weeks, and cut Social Security’s dedicated revenue.

Generally speaking, payroll taxes are split by the employer and the employee, with each paying 7.65 percent of the worker’s compensation for a total of 15.3 percent. In theory, this means that employers and employees would benefit from a payroll tax cut since both would enjoy similar savings.

But Self-employed people would benefit the most because they pay 12.4 percent of their pay toward Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare…and while many small businesses and self-employed workers are struggling right now, a payroll tax cut for all self-employed workers could largely benefit people who may not even need any financial help because Payroll taxes phase out for people after only $137,700 in personal income in 2020, so the potential savings for self-employed workers who may not even need it could be enormous.

And Businesses would also save money on payroll taxes whether they need the savings or not and a payroll tax cut for businesses across a company’s total workforce could lead to huge savings that would grow the bigger they are…for example Amazon pays over 2.4 billion dollars in payroll taxes. A payroll tax cut would result in tremendous savings for employers like Amazon.

It’s also likely that successful businesses would just pocket the savings and use the money to boost profits versus using the funds to hire more workers or grow their operations – especially if there is no demand for their products or they simply don’t need more workers. Why would a company hire someone if they don’t need the work due to no demand?

Unemployed workers (23% of the workforce since Covid-19 hit) don’t stand to gain anything from a payroll tax cut. Without employment, they aren’t currently paying payroll taxes anyway. Plus, those who’ve retired, stay at home, or are disabled, won’t get any benefits from this proposal either.

And while those “essential workers” who are still working do stand to benefit from a payroll tax cut, it won’t amount to very much money. If you are a worker earning $15 per hour and working 40 hours per week right now, a payroll tax cut would give you back 7.65 percent of your income. This only works out to around $46 per week or a little over $180 per month.

But most importantly Social Security and Medicare are the biggest losers in this scheme and stopping payments into each program only stands to exacerbate their ability to survive. Social Security is already expected to have to decrease payments to beneficiaries by 2035…when,  According to a  the most recent report on the status of Social Security and Medicare, only around 76 percent of promised benefits will be able to be paid out.

And If payroll taxes come to a halt this year and most likely beyond should the President get re-elected, (which he has promised BTW) it’s not hard to imagine how quickly the Social Security system and Medicare will… collapse completely

And just so you know: Today (August 13th) the unemployment rate in the U.S. is about 10.2% with over 16 million Americans filing for benefits…meanwhile the Dow Jones Industrial Average is again approaching 28,000 and has almost fully recovered from the Corona-virus downturn that began in March. Have you?

Our economic health basically has nothing to do with workers or people who are not wealthy. A new study released in late November by The Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program found that 44% of U.S. workers between the ages of 18 and 64 are in jobs that pay only median annual wages of $18,000… and The study noted that 53 million of these low-wage jobs were people in prime working-age of 25 to 54, not just recent high school or college graduates.

So cutting the Payroll tax means cutting Social Security and Medicare for all of these workers…forever! Make no mistake about it. You can’t save money for your retirement if you don’t save money for your retirement… and especially so if your employers are no longer matching  the amount that you are/were saving.

But that is not all of it!…Basically, the Social Security Administration is loaning money to the federal government, (currently 2.9 trillion dollars) which, in turn, pays interest to the Social Security program each year. (2.2%interest) For the federal government, this arrangement is incredibly beneficial because it means not having to rely on foreign countries to buy even more debt….and did I mention at ONLY 2.2% INTEREST!!!

Wait stop! We (working for wages people) get 2.2% interest on a 2.9 trillion dollar loan to the U.S. government?!!!! What if this were a college loan? We’d get 8%!!!! and the government could never legally renege on the loan. What if we were your average billionaire (Let’s say president Trump?) We’d get over 8% interest on an investment like that!!! Why? Because we’d be in control of our own investments and not being taken advantage of by a government of millionaires and billionaires who…wait for it…WORK FOR US!!!!

So Social Security is headed for insolvency because it is mis-managed… not because it doesn’t work. What about the Social Security Board of Trustees who oversee our program? Why don’t they put a stop to this government borrowing at ridiculous interest rates?

Well…There are six Trustees, four of whom serve by virtue of their positions in the Federal Government: the Secretary of the Treasury, (Steve Mnuchin: net worth 400 million) the Secretary of Labor, (Patrick Pizzella: net worth 5 million) the Secretary of Health and Human Services, (Alex Azar: net worth 15 million) and the Commissioner of Social Security (Andrew Saul: net worth 2 million)

The other two Trustees are public representatives (that’s good isn’t it?) appointed by the President, subject to confirmation by the Senate. And…wait for it… The two Public Trustee positions have been vacant since July 2015. (net worth?: 0)

Our country’s debt currently stands at 26.6 trillion dollars! (with a bullet upwards) It was 19.9 trillion dollars when President Obama left office less than 4 years ago. What will happen to our debt when the SS piggy bank is gone? And the Federal Government continues to borrow at a rate of at least 1.7+ trillion dollars more than it has per year?

Without the 2.9 trillion dollars that it practically steals from SS now and the 1.7 trillion that it doesn’t have to pay its bills to begin with, that would make for a 4.6 trillion dollar short fall every year!… Glorioski! Mr Money Bags!… I mean Daddy Public Bucks!

So let’s cut the payroll tax! Great idea huh? Sounds like the kind of idea a financial wizard would come up with to pay one’s debts, doesn’t it? Or rather maybe someone who has declared 6 business bankruptcies during the course of his life time?

So Beware the Payroll Tax Cut! It’s a con job! A payday loan! A scam!

And If you work for a living…rest assured…in the end, You’re really gonna get it!

Let’s Summer in Europe!

Nope! Sorry…we can’t.

The European Union is excluding us from their list of 15 safe countries whose citizens will be allowed to travel there.

I guess we’ve just become too darned great and full of ourselves for being like, well… better than everybody else. Just look at that graph up there. We’re off the charts! When it comes to Coronavirus cases that is… as in… we’re doing so well we’re contagious!

New confirmed daily cases in the EU peaked around mid-March and are now on a clear downward trend, with cases below 10,000 for more than a month. In the US however, new cases are on a steep upward trajectory and have now topped over 40,000 per day!

That’s good isn’t it? Aren’t we winning? Data for the US shows that new cases in at least 36 states are trending upwards compared to the previous week. State and local leaders have said the rise in cases is in part driven by gatherings at homes and in meeting places such as bars.

Of course we Americans are gathering! We’re celebrating because we are free and great! And it’s about time…Now where’s my drink? I’m feeling a bit thirsty and warm.

Did you know that The U.S. has recorded  more Covid-19  cases and deaths than anywhere in the world? (What’s a Covid anyway? And what in the world is the 19 for?!) At almost 2.6 million cases and more than 126,000 deaths, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University, that puts us in the big leagues with teams like Brazil, Russia and India!: The three nations with the highest numbers of cases after…US!

Whoo-Hoo! How great can we get? We’re in the top division!

Apparently The EU’s decision is based on whether a country has a similar or better epidemiological situation than Europe, as well as comparable hygiene and containment measures…sounds like a lot of crap doesn’t it? I bet they’re just jealous.

But!…The EU has recommended that member states offer entry to China, where the virus originated for crise sakes!…on the condition of reciprocal arrangements. What the ???  That sounds like a bribe or payoff doesn’t it?… Figures!

The other 14 countries that are allowed to visit Europe this summer are: Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, Uruguay. What a bunch of lightweights. Do any of them even play football? You know, the real kind!

Oh well. We’ll just have to stay home this summer wrapped in our warm, humble hubris and gloat. It’s good to be great and free and unencumbered by the suffering of others who are poor, and old and or without the proper health coverage that they should have bought for themselves from… wherever…just don’t get me started.

It’s good to be great…again! Now let’s party!

All hail our fearless, wondrous and most beloved leader!

And take that mask off when you do…you wimp!

Fat Bastard Has a Plan

Former New Jersey Governor, Chris Christie has spoken and here is what he thinks about the Covid-19 Pandemic and what America now needs to do.  The U.S. should push ahead with reopening its economy during the Covid 19 Pandemic because “there are going to be deaths no matter what.” 

And he added:

“The American people have gone through significant death before. We’ve gone through it in World War I, we’ve gone through it in World War II. We have gone through it and we’ve survived it. We sacrificed those lives.”

And he continued…

“We decided to make that sacrifice because what we were standing up for was the American way of life,” he said. “In the very same way now, we have to stand up for the American way of life.”

So you’ve heard him America. We’ve got to get out there and risk sacrificing our lives in order to save our American way of life! 

Because you certainly know that he won’t!

There are more important things than living!

I didn’t say that.

The Governor of Texas, Dan Patrick said that.

Here is what he told Tucker Carlson on Fox TV earlier this week:

“Every life is valuable, but 500 people out of 29 million and we’re locked down, and we’re crushing the average worker. We’re crushing small business. We’re crushing the markets. We’re crushing this country…There are more important things than living. And that’s saving this country for my children, and my grandchildren and saving this country for all of us…And I don’t want to die, nobody wants to die, but man, we got to take some risks and get back in the game, and get this country back up and running.”

So what do you think? Would you jump in the volcano to save your country’s finances?

What is more important than living?

I’d like to hear your thoughts in the comments section…please.

Thanks!

HAWAA

I have a new slogan for the 2020 presidential campaign. And I offer it freely to anyone who wants to run with it or stitch it onto a hat and make a fortune! (just kidding. If you actually do that based upon reading this blog, I want a piece of the action!)

So, is anyone else out there having difficulty finding toilet paper? Where did it all go? And who has it? And what are they planning to do with it all now that they have it? I mean, of all things, is this what most worries Americans in a time of crisis? How will I wipe my ass as the world goes to shit?

Is it the first thing that you worry about during a disaster? Oh no! It’s a blizzard! An earthquake! A tsunami! The electrical grid has failed! There’s an oil embargo! The stock market, housing market, job market have all collapsed! It’s an invasion from outer space!

Quick where’s my ass? What if it has to poop?!

Is this what Americans really worry about?

Anyway, If you are running for public office this year feel free to use this slogan:

HAWAA! Help Americans Wipe Asses Again! 

And promise to ramp up toilet paper production all across America so that America will never become a 2nd world country again, like we are now… and teetering on the edge of 3rd worldness should we have to poop outdoors come the warmer weather… like they do in those “shithole” countries.

After all aren’t we building that wall to help prevent outdoor poopers from moving here? What if we Americans all start doing our business outdoors? Then the wall building is all for naught! So keep America strong I say! Build the factories! Ramp up the production! Roll out the toilet paper! We need to guarantee our American right to not only poop with paper but to poop with paper that is soft and plush and more than 2 ply!

Never again should Americans have to face a crisis, war, pandemic, toilet or Halloween without enough toilet paper for every red blooded American man, woman and child!

HAWAA! HAWAA! HAWAA! HAWAA! HAWAA!

Nature vs. Prayer vs. Politics

On Wednesday night President Trump told America that Tuesday night’s Democratic presidential primary debate had caused a stock market crash that happened on Monday and Tuesday mornings.

Apparently stock traders had traveled ahead in time, watched a debate that had not yet occurred and then traveled back to their own time in order to freak out in a massive stock trading selloff.

Because what is more disturbing than a world wide outbreak of Corona-virus? Democrats! Of course!

Then the President boasted about how he is preparing America ‘s Corona-virus defense by working with some of the greatest experts in public health in the world…and then he announced that he was putting  Vice President Pence, a man who does not really believe in science, in charge of coordinating the administration’s response to the Corona-virus’ potential (but probably not?) outbreak in the U.S.

Hopefully the Vice President is organizing a national prayer shield to fend off the virus (or the Democrats?) as I write this… Soon we shall see if it is nature or prayer (or politics) that carries the day!

However,  judging by Thursday’s continued and massive stock market selloff and a record 1,191 point drop in the Dow Jones Index, the largest one day drop in history, Wall Street traders have once again ridden their time machine back into the future and already know the outcome.

But what did they see?

More Virus?!

More Democrats?!

Stay tuned!

And let us pray?

I’m Going to Kansas City…Or Am I?

The Kansas City Chiefs just won the Super Bowl! And they’re going to…Kansas?

Well, no…but that’s where the President of the United States thinks they’re from, as you can see from his congratulatory tweet following the big game and the Chief’s victory.

He has since deleted the tweet because even though there is a Kansas City in Kansas, that’s not the Kansas City where the Kansas City Chiefs play. They play in the Kansas City that is in Missouri. And as you can imagine he took a lot of criticism for not knowing the difference.

But that’s an honest mistake isn’t it? After all, did you know where Kansas City was? Or that there were 2 Kansas City(s)…one in Missouri and the other in Kansas? And that the Missouri Kansas City was the BIG Kansas City where the sports teams play?

Well, maybe if you’re a child and didn’t pay attention in school or don’t pay attention to sports or geography or you just aren’t curious about such things but what if you’re a grown adult in your 70’s and… PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES???

Hey, anybody can make a mistake. Right? President Trump has since deleted his tweet and replaced it with an accurate one that congratulates Missouri and even though he looked silly and took a lot of flack for being so uninformed a lot of folks came to his defense like Fox and Friends who said that mixing up the 2 Kansas Citys was like congratulating New Jersey when The New York Giants win and even the Kansas House read his tweet aloud in their chambers and applauded his official and Presidential congratulations to Kansas, for as the Governor of Kansas (a Democrat) said, “We root for the Chiefs too!”

And Matt Schlapp, the chairman of the American Conservative Union had this to say when he tweeted:

@mschlapp

Dear East coast establishment: Kansas City, Kansas is in Kansas.

9:15 AM · Feb 3, 2020

2.1K

Retweets

12.3K

Likes

But what bothers me is that now I’m supposedly part of the “East Coast Establishment”,

because I dare to know things…and at times correct others who don’t…and verifiable

facts are important to me. And here in the 21st century that makes me an elitist, liberal,

who do I think I am, know it all.

So be it.

But what bothers me most is that our President is a man who says that he does know it

all. He is someone who likes to point out everyone’s flaws and he mocks them for having

them. He condemns those he disagrees with. He publicly speculates on whose souls he

believes rot in hell or are exalted in heaven. He defends himself by ordering others to

proclaim that he is right even when he knows that they know that he is wrong…

and those are all things that all of us were taught…once upon a time…were wrong. I believe they still are.

In conclusion, here is a video from the Super Bowl party attended by President Trump during the playing of our country’s National Anthem. The Anthem about which our President proclaimed every American “should stand proudly for” when played, otherwise they should forever be branded a “son-of-a-bitch” unworthy of employment in any respectable American enterprise.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article239918518.html

So I propose that in the future should you decide that you have a grievance or complaint or injustice that you would like to protest during the playing of our National Anthem don’t kneel or sit or even remain silent. Rather I propose that you simply do the right thing and act as respectfully as our POTUS acts during this most solemn of anthems.

Wave your arms wildly and grandly in the air as any amateur conductor would. Then point to your friends (or foes) with your finger guns to emphasize that you are here and proud and should be paid attention to. Then shuffle about as though you have ants in your pants and can’t be stilled because there are more important things to be worried about besides anthems.

You know…shake your sillies out…and simply act…Presidential!

That should get you some attention for your cause…without having to upset people by being all establishment and East Coast elitist like.

Yes, It’s always good to be the king! So maybe we should just start emulating him whenever we need to get our point across to his adoring subjects?

 

Mine Eyes Have Seen My Shadow!

 

In honor of Groundhog Day I went outside and saw my own shadow…and it was shivering!… So I went back inside. This told me that it is still winter! And I’m sure that’s what the poor marmot in Pennsylvania is thinking every time those silly Punxsutawnians take him out of his home and hold him in the light of a freezing day.

We have some strange and weird commemorative days in our calendar and I just had to look this one up.  The 2nd of February was once (and I’m sure still is) a Christian holiday traditionally known as Candlemas. It is also known as the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin, and the Meeting of the Lord.

According to the gospel of Luke, Mary and Joseph took the baby Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem forty days  after his birth to complete Mary’s ritual purification after childbirth, and to perform the redemption of the firstborn, in obedience to the Law of Moses. When they got to the temple the Gospel also records that they encountered Simeon who had been promised by the holy spirit that “he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ”

So once upon a time 40 days after Christmas Simeon saw the baby Jesus… and today, 2 thousand and some odd years later, a groundhog sees his shadow and then Spring comes!…eventually…like it always does.

Really the whole thing was and is about the celebration of light and it’s return. The days are getting longer and that’s always a good thing especially in times when electricity hadn’t been encountered yet. And metaphorically speaking Jesus is also known as the “light of the world” and his birth is often viewed as the shedding of light upon the human soul and condition…So let’s celebrate!

I have no idea why all of these religious icons and ideas have all been replaced by cute animals, parties and jolly old elves etc…but isn’t it curious that many pagan celebrations and festivals which began with the worship of earthly places and deities in the pre-Christian era morphed into religious holidays and the celebration of personal icons during the advent of Christianity and now thousands of years later have morphed again into celebrations of cartoon-like characters, who seemingly have nothing to teach us except that we should have a party and buy things.

Speaking of which, we now celebrate the Superbowl at this same time of year, a truly pagan festival  which commemorates the end of the barbaric football season and the thankful return of the light of baseball, a truly civilized sport of Spring, warm weather and safely returning home.

So…Happy Imbolc, Candlemas, Groundhog Day and Superbowl Sunday!

Some things just never change…even though they always do.