Everything Right!

 

                                          Everything Right!

06/08/2023

If one needs proof of the mentality of the average Trump supporter, one need look no further than the recent rally out West where He actually stated, “I did everything right.” This has to be, by any definition, the most outrageous and false claim ever made by a United States President. In considering what I would say about it, I was swamped with examples of things that Trump did diametrically wrong which give the lie to his ludicrous statement. Even more ridiculous were the cheers of the people in the building who, knowing no better, (or not caring, since the result is the same) raised their arms and shouted loud huzzahs as their demagogue lied his ass off.

The task of selecting examples of Trump doing it categorically wrong is daunting and one has so many choices. I shall endeavor to only pick some of the blatantly flagrant ones.

 

Let's begin with economics. As we all know Trump was unable to get into grad school at Wharton and his economic policies clearly demonstrate why. When he met Professor Arthur Laffer at a social event, he alluded to having studied Laffer’s supply side economic theory at Wharton, when in fact Laffer hadn’t published yet when Trump was in school. Even so, his tax cut which he ballyhooed as the largest ever, which it wasn’t, was based on the flawed assumption that cutting taxes would increase federal revenues. This, in spite of the fact that, in practice, the theory had failed in both the Reagan and Bush 43 administrations. It continues to fail with the Trump tax cuts in effect. Among the results are three huge budget deficits.

According to a report released last May (2023) by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), extending the Trump tax cuts would add $3.5 trillion to the deficit through 2033.  Isn’t it amazing that the “Freedom Caucus” didn’t mention that while sniffing each other’s butts and howling at the moon over the debt ceiling??

        Also, still on the subject of Economics, we have Trump's insistence that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade treaty and NAFTA were both terribly flawed and needed to be replaced. Anyone interested in what replaced them would be hard pressed to find any differences in them because, after denouncing all the Obama era initiatives that he could, Trump essentially retreaded both treaties and actually weakened trade relations such that American intellectual property is in far greater jeopardy.  CPTPP (the replacement Trump version) is substantially the same as TPP but omits 20 provisions that had been added to TPP at US insistence and that are now no longer binding. These provisions were primarily related to investment, government and intellectual property. Yes, you guessed it, CTTP is worse for the US. Trump did it wrong!

Finally in an economic move that would leave the average high school junior shaking their head, we had Trump claiming that “China will pay the tariffs” on new import duties which he enacted against almost all economic advice. Any high school economics student should understand that tariffs are taxes on imports which are paid by the importer, not by the exporter. In the case of Trump's tariffs, and as predictably occurred, China retaliated by placing a tariff on American soybeans which placed them above the world market price of soybeans produced elsewhere in the world. The result of that has been an increase in agricultural subsidies to American farmers who can now no longer sell their product overseas. Agricultural subsidies have tripled as a result.

Overall, according to the American Association of Manufacturers, the tariff package enacted by Trump is costing every household in America about $850 per year. For the math challenged, that’s about $150 billion!  For added perspective, that is just over 10% of the 2022 federal deficit! Yeah, we're paying the tariff, not China. Prices are higher and supplies are lower. Trump was wrong.

On to policy in general. After dismantling the Obama pandemic preparedness mechanism and ignoring the “How to guide” (you know the “playbook” which Mitch McConnell claimed the Obama administration never prepared, even though his wife had been provided a presentation by the outgoing administration which used and explained it) Trump fiddled while COVID burned its way across America. I have written at length on this issue and for brevity’s sake it can be found here:   https://bubblehead1026.blogspot.com/2020/04/ineptitude-and-obfuscation-by-numbers.html

Compared to much of the developed world, Trump’s response to the pandemic was pathetic. His attitude also fueled the lunatic fringe’s unwillingness to do the right things. As a result, more Americans died as a percentage of population than in many more densely populated nations.

As a military retiree, it troubles me when I read that the President, never in the military, berates the Joint Chiefs in the presence of staffers. This was addressed in John Bolton’s book and is a good part of why he resigned. Again, as a leader, Trump is a pathetic failure. His removal from command of the C.O. of USS Theodore Roosevelt for his actions to protect his crew during a COVID outbreak is exemplary of the way he works. He had the acting SecNav do the job but, per staffers, it was at Trump’s insistence and direction. In like manner, he overrode the decision of a military court martial in the case of SEAL team murderer Senior Chief Eddie Gallagher, whose entire team turned him in for stabbing a 17year old captive and cutting off his head and holding it up while posing for a photo. Trump pardoned Gallagher. Regardless of conditions, the Military must be allowed to handle their own legal issues free from a grandstanding, publicity seeking POTUS.

Trump’s fetish for deregulation and personal poor relationship with banks spurred his attack on the Dodd-Frank legislation which was enacted during the Obama years as a response to the Housing bubble collapse and the earlier gradual GOP sponsored gutting of the Glass-Steagall banking act, which had evolved from the Great Depression to regulate commercial banks in the public interest. At Trump’s insistence Dodd-Frank was weakened, specifically the 2013 Volker Amendment, which provided oversight of how Commercial banks used deposited funds. The result? Banks like Silicon Valley Bank were free to make risky investments which led to bank failure. Trump was wrong.  

 

 These are major policy areas in which Trump has been shown to be in error.

 The list of his casual lies is epic:

“I’ll eliminate the Federal debt (Note: the entire 19 trillion debt, not the annual deficit) in 8 years.” Instead, he grew it by Trillions. Trump was wrong.

 “I won’t have time for golf” Played 3 times as much as Obama in half the time at twenty times the cost.

Numerous claims that COVID was “under control” (It wasn’t) He admitted the lie to Bob Woodward.

He didn’t payoff Stormy Daniels, the porn star he shtupped while his wife was pregnant, (He did) 

He “enacted Veteran’s Choice” (VA allowed use of non-VA doctors if closer) No, Barack Obama did that.

He claimed Biden wanted to end pre-existing condition coverage under the ACA. No, simply blatantly false, a campaign lie.

“Windmills cause cancer.” “I know more about windmills than anybody.” No, just no.

  Great Healthcare plan is “coming in two weeks” Still waiting.

 “My father was born in Germany (or Sweden)”. Fred Trump was born in the Bronx.

Mexico will pay for “The Wall”. No Donald, they won’t.

“I got the most electoral votes of anyone since Reagan.”  No, Bush 43, Clinton, and Obama all got more.  

Too many false claims about the 2000 election to count. Face it, he lost.

Bad character, bad record, miserable leader. Sums it up.  

A Matter of Perspective

 

A Matter of Perspective

(Written while, then president, Donald Trump was urging NFL owners to fire players who dared take a knee in silent protest against social injustice. It contains historical references of which I am sure Trump was, and remains, ignorant)

10/24/2018
        I recently read an excellent piece by a friend, who, as I did, served in the military during the Cold War. The gist of the piece involves the difference between one's "patriotic duties" as a person in uniform and that of a civilian member of a civilly aggrieved minority at a football game. His conclusion was that his responsibility as a man in uniform was different than that of a civilian. He concluded with the observation that, as a white male of the upper middle class, he respects the struggles of those less privileged and supports their right to peaceful protest, compared to say, marching, armed, onto a college campus with bad intent and fomenting physical confrontation, culminating in a death. (can you say Charlottesville?)

        At this juncture, I believe that it bears mentioning that we in the USA, not uniquely, but in a minority worldwide have (largely post WWI)  turned ordinary sporting events into shows of what have become almost mawkish “patriotic” displays. Of course, this is also manipulation by owners and leagues to spur ticket sales. What I find interesting is that the more inappropriate and ill advised the use and deployment of our military becomes, especially over the last 50 years, the more a certain segment foams at the mouth and repeats the totally inaccurate "fighting for our freedom" mantra. What a gross inaccuracy that statement represents!

        No single life wasted on Iraq was "fighting for our freedom." In like manner, as Ken Burns reaffirmed in his PBS Vietnam War series, not one of the 2 million plus (of all combatants) who died in Vietnam was "fighting for our freedom," while the North Vietnamese were fighting for theirs.

 It is critical to distinguish between what those military personnel were told they were there for and why they were actually sent. The abuse aimed at returning vets would have been far better aimed at Washington D.C. Many a brave military member died in a cause for which they had relatively little broad spectrum understanding. Moreover, if they had been well schooled in the history of the region, they might well have thought very differently about being there at all.  It is a massive emotional conflict and strongly against human nature to be confronted with the proof that what one did in good faith was in support of a worthless cause. We can see the results of this moral awakening manifested in the significantly increased number of PTSD cases and suicides among Vietnam and Mid-east overseas adventure conflict participants. 

        I would be the first to admit that I joined the US Navy in 1964 specifically to avoid getting drafted and sent to Vietnam, a war I already, at age 21, felt to be un-justified and ill advised. Why? Unlike many a prospective draftee, I was literate and intellectually curious. Yes, it's just that simple. Having seen racial division spawned and amplified by such scum as Strom Thurmond, and having been raised to know better, I was well aware that being lied to by the national government was a real-world possibility.

         My curiosity re: SE Asia went all the way back to a memory which is as clear today at age 77 as it was at age 8. That recollection is of seeing a newsreel (yeah, they used to show World News before the Saturday double feature westerns, and with a bad serial most times) depicting and commenting on the French army's withdrawal in defeat from "French Indo China." I had no idea what was happening, but, by the age of nineteen or twenty, I had learned much more. Another part of that is the memory of the Army-McCarthy (rabid anti-Communist rhetoric covering for blatant incompetence) hearings on television, the only time(s) I can ever recall my mom doing her ironing in the living room, where the gigantic 23-inch TV lived in its 200-pound console. 

        Vietnam is a difficult subject for my generation in general and could be a bit uncomfortable to teach to high school juniors, many of whom had relatives who had served in Southeast Asia. The reason? A literate and critically thinking person needs little more than objectivity and, to be transparent, some historical perspective, to see that the entire debacle in southeast Asia was avoidable. Had we made the same overtures to Vietnam (not our enemy in WWII) that we made to Japan (definitely our enemy) we could have helped Vietnam build a strong friendly economy in the 1950s and saved (literally) millions of lives, Vietnamese and American. Hell, had we simply allowed the free elections agreed upon by the 1954 Geneva accords the issue would be moot. Dwight Eisenhower himself admitted his belief that, had we done so, Ho Chi Minh would have won 80% of the vote.

           Anti -Communist hysteria, among men who should have known better, precluded any such overtures. Ho Chi Minh's plea to Harry Truman to "not let the French steal his country back" fell on deaf ears, as the Red Scare mentality was prevalent among Republicans who had "suffered" 13 years of FDR and were now saddled with the civil rights supporting Harry S. Truman and willing to do or say almost anything to recapture the White House. Truman, facing the certainty that accepting any overture from Ho was political suicide, was forced to turn a deaf ear.

What is so frustrating about these events is that our actions directly contradicted our own earlier position statements. The Atlantic Charter, agreed to by Churchill and FDR, called for a post war end to colonialism and the self determination of these former colonies. In a similar manner, the United Nations charter does, as well. Ho referred to both of these documents in his February, 1946, telegram to President Harry Truman. Truman didn't answer and the rest, as they say, is history.

        So, before you froth at the mouth and throw about words like "patriotic" duty, try this simple exercise: Consider that the definition is situational, and that loving one's country has little to do with flag or military adventure. Season that with the realization that maybe, just maybe, your flames of "outrage " are being fanned by a malignant narcissist who is, himself, one of the least patriotic men ever to hold the title of POTUS.

         Not all Presidents are bad men. Truman and Eisenhower and Kennedy certainly weren't, yet those three sowed the seeds of the Vietnam war which LBJ liberally watered, and Nixon reaped. Political considerations, not "fighting for our freedom" were the basis for every decision they made in that process, just as Bush 43's insane invasion of Iraq was. We can venerate the actions of those who served, either by draft or voluntarily, while accepting that, sometimes, they are, as are all of us, as much political victim as aggressor.  In truth, all these things were done under the Star-Spangled Banner. In the here and now, racial and in truth social division was, and still is, being fueled by a former President who still is attempting to wrap his white supremacist agenda in the same flag.  The true patriot lives to see his country be better, not worse. "Taking a knee" to acknowledge that concern for the nation's moral well-being is larger than soothing the ego of one orange man with the IQ of low-fat yogurt is a patriotic act in and of itself.    

More Stupid Governor Tricks

 

More Stupid Governor Tricks

        Now that Ron DeSantis has sort of launched a presidential campaign might be a good time to revisit some of the things he has done and/or  wants to do here in Florida. Most of America is aware of the efforts he has made to dumb down and "whiten up" the educational system as well as his anti-everything not white, heterosexual, Anglo-Saxon, and Fundamentalist bias. But wait, there's more...!         

        Our illustrious governor, Ron DeSantis has, according to our local paper, stated his desire to revive and reactivate a World War Two organization, generally called the “State Guard” which was primarily aimed at civil defense and the possibility of resisting attack from a foreign power.

        The article says (and I quote) “Governor Ron DeSantis, citing a ‘yeoman performance’ by the Florida National Guard says the state’s vaunted 12,000-member air and land forces need some backup.” This might make sense, except for the fact that he is referring to, and desires to fund, a state guard of two hundred volunteers who would supplement the state’s quick responses during hurricanes and similar emergencies. So, get this right: he says our 12,000-member guard would benefit from adding two hundred more volunteers. Translating DeSantis speak, this really means “I want to create an organization that cannot be federalized and is under my direct control.”  If that doesn't scare the **** out of you, it should.

         The end of the Cold War saw a significant decrease, in general, of interest in state defense forces. While state defense forces and civil defense organizations had been so closely linked that they were almost one and the same, there was widely seen no “on the ground necessity” for them any longer.  The attacks of September 11th, 2001, did generate some additional interest, even though emergency personnel of highly trained and organized police and fire departments did heroic service, and didn't need to refresh themselves on what was required in an emergency as almost certainly any state defense force would under the circumstances. There is also some general scrutiny from some in the U.S. military who actually question the training and equipment of such units and whether they simply provide an outlet for “warrior wannabes,” who might would not otherwise qualify for service in the armed forces.

        The currently non-existent State Defense Force is a military entity described by the Florida Statutes as a state-authorized militia prepared to assume the state mission of the Florida National Guard in case all of Florida's National Guard units are federally mobilized and authorized by executive order when the situation requires. This implies that the only time activation of such a state guard would be valid when be in the circumstance that all 12,000 members of the Florida National Guard are otherwise occupied on federal orders. Presently only 450 members of the Florida National Guard are deployed or training outside the state. Make sure you understand the implication: our governor believes that although11 and a half thousand National Guardsmen are still within the state we desperately need two hundred more under the governor's control and outside federal regulation.

         A state guard might well have little or no actual military training and probably would see themselves as loyal to the governor, vice the federal government. Consider a recent New York Times report. The Times found that many senior officers of the New York guard had little, or no formal military training yet held, in some cases, the ranks of general. This harks back to the Civil War days when a senator could be a general simply for the asking. One former officer of the New York guard actually told a Times reporter, “If you’re friendly with the governor and you always wanted to be a general, you ask the governor to make you a general and "poof" you’re a Brigadier General."

        Reflecting on today’s political divisions among citizens’ points of view, I find it highly likely that those that volunteered for a state guard would be those who think it is their role to defy the federal government, not support it. Why do I feel that way? Simply because our governor, who wants to form this organization, has already defied government recommendations regarding masks in public, government regulations related to the safety of schoolchildren during the COVID pandemic and has tried to pass a law which while, on paper aimed at quelling violent protest, is so vague as to what constitutes “protest” that Mr. DeSantis could simply order almost any peaceful demonstration quashed.

         Thankfully, the initial appeal of this law found it to be unconstitutional; however if it goes to the Florida Supreme Court, DeSantis has friends there that might actually allow this bad legislation, even though the lower court’s 90 page ruling says, in part, the law is “vague and overbroad” and persons engaged in peaceful protest or innocently in the same area, if the demonstration became violent, could face criminal charges in his death penalties under the law.

        Lest you think even for a moment that no governor would do such a thing as misuse a state guard, consider this: in 1934, Louisiana Senator, Huey Long, actually had his political ally and pawn, the governor of Louisiana, mobilize members of the Louisiana National Guard, armed with submachine guns, to raid establishments in New Orleans that he considered immoral. He gave orders to “shoot without hesitation” if resistance occurred. Gambling equipment was burned, prostitutes were arrested and were actually frisked, nude, in public, and $25,000 which today is equivalent to $376,000 was seized from private individuals and put into government funds at Long's disposal. Authorities in the city had requested no assistance and the Louisiana Attorney General declared Long's actions illegal, but “The Kingfish”, in a very Ron DeSantis type statement, simply said “Nobody asked him for his opinion.”  While it is true that this was misuse of the National Guard, it is a shining example of what a demagogue might do with an even less regulated state guard, and what action they might take undertake against their own constituency without authority.

         And, before you cite the Second Amendment and the words a “well-regulated militia”, you must understand that the founding fathers viewed most militia performances as anything but well-regulated or acceptable. First President and Revolutionary War commander George Washington, himself referred the state militias as a “broken staff.” Additionally, from historical perspective, the Second Amendment was, as were many of the provisions of the Bill of Rights, added by James Madison after the constitution was ratified, generally at the insistence of rabid anti-federalists such as Patrick Henry.

        Following ratification of the constitution, the militia generally underperformed again in the War of 1812 and in the following decades many militias would show up for musters with broom-sticks or cornstalks instead of rifles. This did not happen in the Southern states of which, I remind you, Florida is one, because they needed the militia to enforce slavery. What? a governor mobilizes a state security, force to suppress a portion of the population?  Never say never. And finally, consider that even an ardent believer in Federal power, Alexander Hamilton grudgingly opined that he thought militias were valid entities because, of course, militias would be composed of “individuals the average citizen knows and trusts.”

        Finally, consider this: the legal team for 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse referred to him throughout his trial as a member of “the militia” and a “minuteman” as if he were part of the patriotic forces fighting the British at Lexington in Concord in 1975. This terminology, although archaic, is still far too common in “gun circles” and we have seen more radicals acting as if the U.S. Constitution has somehow deputized them to form unregulated paramilitary groups. What Governor DeSantis proposes is little more than his own private paramilitary group, free to operate completely outside of federal control. 

     Might a “President DeSantis” (God forbid) attempt something similar at the federal level?

If you can think of a worse idea let me know.

Real Numbers

Real Numbers

    Here's a quick (and uncharacteristically brief) follow up on a recent blog page entry regarding the fallacy that a single payer (let’s call it Medicare for all, since that already exists for over 65s) would make hospitals and other facilities fail since "Medicare only pays 90% of the actual charges.”  This quote, in similar form, has come from various sources, all with the commonality that they oppose a single payer system and will shamelessly skew and, in many cases invent “data” to prove it. I thought I had wrapped up all I need to say on this topic, but then I received a letter from Tricare in the afternoon mail. The recent debt ceiling kerfuffle with the attendant Medicare shaming and blaming reminded me of this entry which is germane.     

         Understand (for you civilians) that one of the benefits of being a retired military careerist is that for the retiree and his or her spouse, at age 65 a program called “Tricare for life” becomes a secondary insurer. No, this isn’t “free medical insurance.” Like all Americans at age 65, Medicare becomes the primary insurer, and either Medicare or some form of “Medicare Advantage” plan is the initial payee. Tricare simply covers what might be a co-pay for non-retirees. It is a beautiful thing, true, but all military retirees are still required to pay Medicare part B, exactly like civilian retirees. Tricare sends me a notice every time either Emily or I have a medical bill which is covered by Medicare. It is simply a notice that Medicare paid (whatever) and they (Tricare) paid the rest, if any. 

        Yeah, so what? So, lets return to the fallacious statement that “Medicare only pays 90% of the set fee while other insurance pays the full price.” 

        Yesterday’s notice (not a “bill” since I paid nothing) was for “one eye” of my wife’s cataract surgery (a resounding success!). Now here’s the interesting part.

“Amount billed: $1,500”

Understand this, if nothing else. The only time, if ever, that the facility receives the “billed” amount would be if someone with no insurance and lots of money elected to have this procedure in the facility. A wild guess at how often this occurs for this and other elective procedures would be in the general vicinity of “never.” 

“Other insurance paid: $713”

 This “other” insurance isn’t Medicare, but United Healthcare, a private Medicare Advantage plan. The reasons why we don’t use just Medicare are not germane to this discussion. The “take-away” here is that if Medicare had paid the “90%” which the erroneous claim alludes to, then the provider would have received $1350! In other words, the private payer only paid 47% of the billed fee.

“Tricare allowed: $895” This is exactly the same as what Medicare “allows.”  Understand this: Medicare's  allowable cost share was, in fact, 21% greater  than that paid by the Medicare Advantage carrier

“Tricare paid $181.92”

 Cost share/copay: 0 (That's the good part!)

Read that again. Counter to claims that Medicare is shortchanging providers at 90%, United Healthcare has negotiated a far lower cost share. This is so low that Tricare chipped in an additional $182, bringing the actual percentage of the billed fee actually paid to only 60% of the nominal fee. There was no “cost share” for us. 

So, tell me again how private insurers are “paying more than Medicare?”        

RCI Explained

                 Did You Ever Wonder?

04/30/2023

Why the mothers in the various paper towel commercials never lose it and go postal on the careless urchin.....

 NCIS LA - how the US Navy ever commissioned a 4 ft 10-inch dwarf and placed her in charge of anything

Q-tips, warning labels in general: “Do not insert swab into ear canal. Entering the ear canal could cause injury.” OMG who would do that? (90% of users!)

Why people will believe things they want to believe on little or no evidence, and refuse things they ought to believe with lots of proof.

Why those who seem most likely to espouse the WWJD ideal rarely ever act as Jesus probably would have.

What mental process occurs to make one simultaneously pro-life and pro capital punishment.

New Explanation!

Recto-Cranial Inversion - An old naval term for the condition in which one's head is so far up one's kiester that they can read the newspaper through their navel. It is widely believed that that persons with this condition lose their ability to reason, make sound judgments and think critically. Of course, one may wonder, "How would I know if this (RCI) has happened to me?  What follows, all due homage to Jeff Foxworthy, is a sampling of indicators that you might have undergone an RCI.

1) If you believe Marjorie Taylor Green should have stayed married so she could have more children .... you may have had an RCI.

2) If you honestly believe any of the "Real Housewives of (your town here)" are real housewives..... you may have had an undetected RCI

3) If you believe that any person who physically resembles Linda Hunt runs any para-military unit on the planet ..... you had an RCI. 

4) If you believe that an abused child is better off with their abusive parent(s) or in foster care than with a committed gay couple who want to adopt them....... you have had an RCI (and your name is Santorum)

5)  If you really believe that Twitter is "really important" because we all really need to know when Justin Bieber gets a haircut.....you have suffered an RCI.

6)  If you can't get through a complete English sentence (y'know, subject, predicate, etc) without saying
"like" seven times in totally inappropriate context........ you have suffered an RCI

7) If you believe Matt Gaetz has important life lessons to teach all of us............

8) If you think OJ Simpson was innocent and that Kim Kardashian should be flattered that he claimed to have fathered her...............RCI

9. If you think televangelists are really doing it to serve God, and not for the money.........RCI

10. If your dog has coordinated costumes for most major holidays....................... RCI

11. If you pay to valet park and bitch about the price of gasoline............. RCI

12.   If you smoke because "Well, you gotta die of somethin'” …………definite RCI

13. If you don't believe the warning on a box of q-tips ("never stick them in your ear") is the most ignored warning label in the world.......you've had an RCI

14. If you dress and paint your 6-year-old like a hooker and enter her in pageants because "She just loves them"...... you have a crowded colon.

15. If you really think that we have been visited by aliens who, by sheer coincidence, always happen to land in trailer parks in Arkansas ...........RCI.

16.  If you really believe "right to work" laws protect workers............ RCI

17. If you define and/or limit yourself for life based on something (good or bad) that happened 15 years ago....... you have lived with an RCI, and wasted a lot of living!

18. If you believe Bill's BJ was worse than Trump’s rapes, .............major RCI

19.  If you think the "student" part of the term: "student Athlete" really applies to most NCAA division I basketball or football players .............you have had an RCI

20.  If you think just being here is all the justification you need to expect society to support you without some effort on your part............your head is in a very dark place indeed.

Star Parker, Still Writing, Still Wrong

 

          Star Parker, Still Writing, Still Wrong

05/25/2023

In today’s column, Star Parker, ever the apologist for right wing madness, excoriates the Democratic Party for the current debt ceiling crisis. She also of course, phrases it in such a manner as to imply that the Republican Party is relatively blameless for the size of the current deficit. She does this by simply ignoring the three record deficits of the Trump administration. Of course, she also ignores the fact that one of the drivers of the size of the current deficit is the Trump tax reduction which is costing more money than it generates.

I have previously written page after page on the economics involved and the fiction inherent in the Republican mantra that cutting taxes increases the economy elsewhere. This has been proven false time after time after time as tax decreases have been followed by reduced federal revenue and obviously an increase in the federal deficit.

Of course, we also hear the Republicans griping about what they call “entitlements” such as Medicare Medicaid and Social Security. If you listen to the Republicans you might almost believe that we are increasing Social Security spending simply as a budget item and therefore spending more on Social Security. Statistically, it is obvious why the Social Security share of the federal budget is increasing. More people, by which I mean the baby boomers, are living longer, resulting in the fact that far fewer people are paying into Social Security than are drawing out of it and that number is increasing as the boomers reach seniority. As unpleasant as it may sound, the fact is that the baby boomer generation will eventually move through the system and on to whatever reward they have elsewhere and a lower number of people as a percentage of population will be drawing Social Security. This is guaranteed because of the almost 50% decrease in the birth rate that followed the end of the baby boom generation.

 I have written at length elsewhere about one measure that should have been taken to avoid this crisis. The fix, which should have been applied about 1950, (when it became obvious that average life expectancy had already increased by seven years from 1936) would have been to increase the age for full Social Security retirement by one year every decade for three or four decades (“grandfathering” those in the ten-year clade before the first bump occurred) and reduce the amount of early SS paid to those who take it while increasing the year of early eligibility several years.  Had that been done, we would not have the current issue with Social Security spending that we do, because a significantly lower number of people would enter the system in any given year. However, that ship has sailed and the best we can do is wait it out. That said, considering the more than 17 year current longer lifespan from 1936, when most Americans didn’t even live long enough to be eligible, until the current year, it still might be appropriate to bump up the eligibility age by a couple of years over two decades. What worked in 1936 doesn’t work today simply because we live much longer and can work a couple of years longer also.   

While we’re speaking of average life expectancy, here are two additional significant and sobering pieces of data:            

1) Life expectancy in the U.S. fell by 2.7 years from 2019 to 2021, whereas in peer countries, life expectancies fell by an average of only 0.2 years in this period. In other words, COVID-19 erased two decades of life expectancy growth in the U.S., whereas the average life expectancy for comparable countries has decreased only marginally, to 2018 levels.

2) The US, which we are frequently told by various officials has the “Finest health care system in the world” spends more and provides less than any equivalent economy in the world. Trust me, multiple international studies verify this statement. 

One way to address this, (the “cost” side of the issue) which I have ranted about on many occasions, is to simply re-legislate Medicare Part D to allow Medicare and Medicaid to negotiate drug prices. Many major U.S. pharma companies at present are showing net annual profits in the range of 25 to 30% which is five to six times average corporate profit in the United States.

        While they complain that allowing the negotiation of drugs and their pricing by Medicare and Medicaid would reduce the money they have available for research and development, the truth is they already spend more on advertising than on research and development and about 3/4 of the drugs newly approved by the FDA on the annual basis are the result of basic research funded by the National Institutes of health. I mentioned this only because such a step would reduce Medicare drug spending by hundreds of billions of dollars annually and yet the deficit Hawks of the Right don't want to address this simply because each member of Congress receives about half a million dollars in drug industry lobbying annually.  In 2020, US health care lobbying expenditures totaled $713.6 million! Also, collectively, Pharma companies spent $6.88 billion on direct-to-consumer advertising in 2021. By the way, only New Zealand and the US even allow that sort of advertising.

Reducing Medicare drug spending is a commonsense issue and Big Pharma fights it like hell, even though they bend and spread for every commercial insurer in the US. Your Medicare Advantage Plan and every other health insurer in the US negotiates drug prices, why not Medicare?

All the above is aimed at reducing spending, but the larger issue is Federal revenue. The bigger and more frustrating issue, which Miss Parker completely ignores, is the simple fact that if you spend more you need to collect more. We are at what amounts to an all-time low in income tax rates, yet the same people who scream about taxes are the people screaming about the debt ceiling. The frustrating part is that those whose lifestyle will be least affected by increased taxes are those who scream loudest. It is equally puzzling when a moron like Marjorie Taylor Green opposes tax increases although she is so far from the category of people that would really feel any effects from it that it is simply a contradiction in terms. It is doubtful that more than three people in Marjorie Taylor Green’s Congressional District are high enough earners that they would even feel a tax increase on those that earn more than $400,000 a year which is one of the proposals in terms of where the marginal rate increase might kick in. Additionally, we collect almost a trillion dollars less annually than what is legitimately owed, yet the Congress balks at the hiring of more IRS agents as current employees retire, citing the Left’s intention of “weaponizing” of the IRS.

        In short, (yes, I know, too late) those on the right side of the aisle are prepared to go to the wall to protect the perks and privileges of those who already have far more than they need, and they're willing to do it at the expense of people who are essentially economically defenseless. We speak derisively of the Russian Oligarchs, while our Congress protects our homegrown versions. Meanwhile, underinformed talking heads like Star Parker point the accusatory finger at the current administration while ignoring the sins of previous administrations.

Economically we simply need to come to grips with the fact that trickle-down economics doesn't work and that tax reductions do not increase federal revenue, as has been proven by Reagan, Bush 43 and by Trump. How many more times must we be slapped in the face with reality before we acknowledge it? 

 

Florida Man

 

                 Florida Man, A Brief Respite

In the lamentable absence of anything to really feel good about in the current political environment, I have decided to take a look at one of our state’s nationally known phenomena. That would, of course, be the legendary “Florida Man.”

Florida Man is somewhat of an enigma. He is probably a mouth breather, with the permanent indentation of a snuff can in the frayed fabric of his left rear dirty jeans pocket. He revels in the breeze that goes through his hair and front two-tooth gap while doing donuts on his ATV. His is the spiritual specter watching expectantly whenever someone says, "Hey, hold my beer and watch this shit!" He is Florida, and Florida is him. He is not to be construed as your average male resident of Florida: Florida Man is his, and in some cases, her, own brand.

 The phrase itself has gone into the urban dictionary as just meaning exactly what we think it means - a male resident of the state of Florida who has done something so incredibly stupid and, in many cases even self-destructive, that it becomes nationally newsworthy. Sometimes Florida Man is apparently gender fluid, because, as I implied above, the occasional female will step up with equally inane exhibitions of the genre.

Some of the very worst and darkest of these are even team efforts, such as the father and daughter who, upon seeing a raccoon trapped in a dumpster, decided to throw it an apple loaded with bleach and then burn it alive. This is simply deranged and cruel criminal activity and these people should be disemboweled with rusty salad tongs and left to be devoured by rabid gerbils. Period.

On the other hand, the Florida Man (or persons) of truly legendary status are individuals who are obviously several sandwiches short of a full picnic and whose belts (if any) don't go through all the loops. In some cases, I may just post the headline (In bold italics) which is pretty much self-explanatory, and I may or may not amplify on the case. I don't know yet, so here goes.

“Florida Man Arrested for Calling 911 After His Cat was Denied Entry into Strip Club” At the risk of offending, when did it become illegal to find p***y in a strip club? I sorta thought that was the whole idea, but then I’m not a patron of such entertainments, so I may be wrong.  

“Florida Man Banned from Airline for Wearing a Thong as a Face Mask Compares Himself To Rosa Parks”
In December of last year, a Florida Man who was banned from an airline for wearing a thong as a required mask and refusing to use a real one offered to him, actually had the gall to compare himself to Civil Rights icon, Rosa Parks. Really?

“Florida Man Arrested for Directing Traffic While Also Urinating” (?) It is what it is.

“Florida Man Claims Bags of Cocaine and Meth Wrapped Around His Penis Aren’t His” That same December of 2021, another Son of the Sunshine State, upon being searched at Orlando International airport, attempted to convince authorities that the bags of Cocaine and Meth found wrapped around his penis were, in fact, “not his.” Much to his chagrin, they didn’t believe him.

“Florida Man Punches CVS Employee While Shouting F**k Joe Biden” Several weeks ago, a Florida Man entered a Gainesville CVS store and, for no apparent reason, assaulted a female employee who was getting ice cream from a freezer. After grabbing her and punching her several times in the face, while shouting “Fuck Joe Biden” (??) he was tackled by a customer, who he also punched, and then fled the store. He was later arrested. (This charge will look nice on the wall beside his previous felony conviction for battery on a law enforcement officer.)

“Florida Woman Opera Singer Who Used Powerful Soprano to Scream “F**K” and “C**T” During Capitol Riot Arrested Today By FBI.”  And on a similar note: “Florida Man Arrested for Breaking Into U.S. Capitol, Says He Was “Only There To Use the Bathroom.”

“Florida Man Denies Syringes Found in Rectum Are His” A Pinellas County man said three syringes removed from his rectum during a jail strip search weren’t his, according to an arrest report. Arrested earlier in Pinellas County on an outstanding drug possession warrant, he continued that he had “no idea how they got there.” The mind reels.

 

 

“Miami Lawyer Whose Pants Caught Fire in Court Charged with Cocaine Possession.”  This same Florida Man made headlines four years earlier while defending a client who was accused of setting his car on fire for insurance money. During the March 2017 trial, he was defending his client by claiming that the incident was a result of spontaneous combustion, when his own pants caught fire (liar liar?), apparently attempting to prove that it could happen. When accused of chicanery, he then claimed the fire had coincidentally been ignited during his defense by the battery from his e-cigarette. This prior action didn’t favorably affect the current cocaine charge.

“Florida Man Learns Hard Way He Stole Laxatives, Not Opioids” This poor schlub broke into a house in Pinellas Cunty and stole what he believed to be hydrocodone tablets. The bottle actually contained Equate laxatives meant for “gentle, dependable overnight relief." The thief was caught on video breaking into a “lock box” at the victim’s home and was seen pouring the alleged "opioids" into his hands. He is back in jail.

 “Florida Man Stole Truck, Attempted to Break into Military Base to Warn of Fight Between Aliens and Dragons” (oohkay!) He (an Ocala resident) was driving a truck that he had stolen several days before his failed break-in at Patrick Space Force Base. Following the inevitable arrest and restraint, Police say he shared that, "The President of the United States told him in his head that he needed to take the vehicle." They were unimpressed.

“‘All Hail Donald Trump': Florida Man Goes Berserk Following Hit-and-run Crash on His Wedding Day.” The newlywed individual in question struck a vehicle while driving the wrong way on one way street in Vero Beach. He fled on foot but was arrested a short distance away and police immediately suspected he was under the influence of an unknown substance. He was arraigned and began yelling “All hail Donald Trump” at the jail. He miserably failed field sobriety tests, although his blood alcohol registered 0.0%. Police asked him to provide a urine sample to test for drugs but, he then took off his pants, spread his buttocks and stuck two fingers into his anus. We don’t know (and don’t want to know) what ensued.

Florida Man Sets Apartment Complex on Fire After Manager Told Him to Stop Masturbating in Front of Windows. This Tampa man was probably a “Proud Boy” huh?

And finally (mercifully?)

 Florida Man offers police officer $3 and chicken dinner for sex. A female investigator was undercover and posed as a street level prostitute. During the operation police said one of the suspects, our Florida guy, offered to trade $3 and a chicken dinner for a blow job. There is no mention of what aspect offended the officer the most - the crime or the paltry offer.

Be proud, Floridians. They walk among us!