It wasn’t/isn’t that difficult, why the modern disasters tick me off and so does this country

 

You read in the news the historically low lake levels in the west or the flooding in the Midwest as we head into hurricane season. Maybe we get lucky this year and El nino floods the west’s lakes and lessens the impact of hurricanes. Can we count on it?

No. You cannot count on anything with nature so you should always be contingency planning and that is without even thinking about climate change. Yet the short sightedness of our current political system is actually destroying us. And I am not talking generally about a two party system, but our current duopoly. And I do not care if you think I am beating the same ole drum because until you wake up and hear it I will continue to pound. And because it is this same duopoly that is destroying this country.

And all the people who still call themselves Republicans and Democrats will say no it is the other party. Which is one of the biggest aspects of the problem. The intense partisanship hate, finger pointing, yet even more important the lack of either side to actually figure out solutions to problems. So instead of finger pointing, stop for a moment and realize what has my party actually done. If you are honest with yourself, and I know this is a stretch because being honest with yourself is difficult, I struggle with it too, then you will see how little is done for you. Yet right now let’s talk about the country as a whole.

Starting 15-16 years ago I started writing ideas to alleviate what is exactly happening to this country today. Forget climate change, just think about things like an El Nino or other catastrophic climate events that happen without climate change. And if you realize climate change is a possibility then why weren’t you working hastily on alleviating some of the projected problems. No, instead you sat around with your nose in the air and told us the sky was falling and never created an umbrella. Complete silence on solutions or as what I did, offer ideas to combat the disasters befalling us. Everyone said quit pumping CO2 in the air and all will be well while watching the planet continue to consume fossil fuels like it is candy. You needed more and sat there and complained about the greed of the fossil fuel industry, which is undeniably a problem, but never ever said until this stops what are we going to do about potential disasters that existed even before potential climate change.

And others spoke of similar solutions, yet like me screaming into a partisan divide so large that our voices couldn’t even reach the canyon walls to even echo loud enough for the vast majority of the country to hear.

If you are a diehard Democrat or Republican you are part of the problem and not the solution no matter what you continue to say to yourself. We need new ideas, and at this point the ideas aren’t even new, they aren’t heard.

So if you are one of the people that thinks Trump can fix everything or one of the people who stick their nose up at the vast majority of the country and lectures us like a jaded community college professor; you are the problem. You have done more damage than you can imagine. And the vast majority who get stuck believing in either party because they dominate the political system get screwed by your ineptitude for public policy and general ability to think.

So again and again I say this we need new parties, or people in each party, I really don’t care, I just don’t see it in the duopoly to start thinking. And not just thinking outside the box, just thinking.

Again starting fifteen or sixteen years ago, I started proposing solutions with how to pay for it without just taxing us to death, yet it fell upon death ears. And again others have offered similar solutions, even those with greater credentials than me, yet the political earwax has clogged up the system so bad no one hears. And if you are reading this on Tumblr, Wordpress or Substack, the original blog is on blogspot or blogger. I started using the other platforms over time so go find the original and it is in plain black and white on your computer screen.

I feel for the vast majority of our country living with the flooding or concern for lack of water or the high price of electricity and I most emphatically put the blame on the duopoly lying to the people of this country just to hold onto a false sense of power. Absolutely abominable what they are doing to this country.

We can still rectify the problems if we can get past the partisan madness being shoved down our throats.

Does the MAGA rank and file know Trump is anti free markets? And the democrats are going to lose the 2026 midterms if they keep whining about Trump.

 

So let’s start with the first question. Trump is anti free market. It is plain and simple. And it is not when he says buy a certain computer or product and doesn’t promote everything. That is just Trump being Trump or possibly being unethical, a question for another day.

When Trump supports industries in general over other industries or when he uses the power of the government to have negative affects on an industry that is anti free market. Any time a new industry sprouts up or new ideas are created the markets are to determine if it is going to be successful. The government should play no part and specifically the President creating obstacles for that industry or idea to succeed is anti free market.

New industries and ideas are what made our economic engine explode for the last 150 years. The government or any person in power in the government has no business to stifle innovation. This causes loss of thousands of jobs and millions maybe billions in today’s world in investments lost to the economy.  Trump should have no say in what we invest in, what we develop so the consumer has more choices which drives down prices. Also new businesses help more wealth creation for more people instead of supporting only established industries and consolidating wealth. If a new business is not successful, so be it, but the President shouldn’t be deciding what businesses we can invest in or products to buy.

 

And one reason Trump beat Harris was because he kept saying he had answers. Sure it was just him talking, no real substance to anything he promised, yet he said he was going to do something. People want to hear positive, not whining. So much of the secondary news podcasts and other avenues are just whining about Trump and saying you need to vote democrat, yet offering no solutions to the current issues facing everyday Americans. And I am not hearing anything of substance from the democratic party.  They are going to crash and burn again just like in 2024 if they don’t start changing their tune and offering something people feel offers them an opportunity or hope things will get better. Their messaging needs to change because Trump isn’t on the ballot and most people are ticked off at Congress whether Republican or Democrat. If they want to win, they need to be positive, hopeful, strong and offer solutions. And secondarily realize whether they like it or not, most everyday Americans lean center to center right. And yes democrats they really do land in the center, no matter how much you scream democratic socialism is the answer. That won’t fly far with most of us. Again whether you like it or not you need to center your tune.

 

Cheers

I am going to say it, I told you so.

 

Today on CNN online there are two articles, well one is a video. The first headline is for a poll that says: “Majority of voters want to unseat most of Congress”

The second appears to be a follow up to the first poll stating American voters are hungry for a change.

Well, yes they are because the duopoly failed us. I just wish they had woken up to this reality sooner. I spent decades telling people the duopoly fails us and now we are in a political abyss. It is too late in most races to get qualified independents or a new major party going, yet hopefully this frustration carries over so people start preparing for 2028.

In a weird way Trump was the first sign voters were tired of the status quo. He was elected in 2016 saying he would drain the swamp. Of course he was all talk and no action, but it was what people wanted to hear.

Now he is part of the problem because the Republicans are worthless. Yet neither party has any new plans. Well the so called democratic socialists say they are new, yet actually they are ultra liberal democrats trying to wrap themselves up in new shiny paper. They are not new. They are not change, they talk a good game, yet the reality on the ground is we need political leadership that can make hard decisions and get really creative in public policy.

We have major problems, fixable yes, but major so we need people that can stand up to the lobbyists, the current duopoly, the billionaires, the extremists and settle us down with some very specific budget planning, resetting priorities, getting us out of this totally insane Iran war situation, rebuilding trust with our trading partners and allies and more.

If you read through previous posts over the years there are multiple ideas written and rehashed, hopefully to improve, and more. If I can think beyond the crap the duopoly dumped on us, I’m sure there are other ideas too that can be utilized to improve our current needs such as improving social security, healthcare (I know many want universal healthcare and honestly I am not a fan, but if someone can come up with an AFFORDABLE option, I am all ears), improving education, changing the tax code so it favors small and medium size businesses along with the working and middle class.

There is more and if you reread the above litany of issues, you will say isn’t that what the Democrats and Republicans promised they were going to do. And yes that is why you are frustrated because they haven’t done it. Over and over again we heard the same promises election cycle after election cycle and nothing changed because the duopoly only cared about re-election, not you.

So the polling shows what I warned you about starting in the 1980’s, people made fun of me. Yet the truth was showing as far back as then and after four decades of being lied to, we have a horrible Congress, a Supreme Court that cannot apply the Constitution to anything Trump does and a President destroying our country from the inside. 

Yes you want better and I am glad, just what are we going to do about it.

And what is scary, the first issue to work on is our budget because we need to get handle on that to know what we can do going forward. It may take a few years to level off the disaster the duopoly is leaving us.

Secondarily, we need to invest heavily in renewable energy because oil and it’s by products are poison to the human body. And it always remains a geopolitical nightmare and the current quagmire is more proof that oil is our enemy no matter what Trump and the oil industry tells you. We may never get completely off it, but over a decade ago I started writing ideas to transition us off oil that would make the economic change work.

Problems can be solved, who do we elect to solve them is the first step, yet right now it is not the Democrats and Republicans creating answers.

Here’s a strange thought

 

Donald Trump keeps telling everyone he is the only one that can fix everything.

If you know anything about Judeo-Christian teaching there is the obvious flaw. Only God can fix anything and everything especially completely. So what would God think about Donald Trump saying this?

God is forgiving so maybe he laughs whole heartedly at Trump and since he sees Trump so lost he shows Trump the truth and Trump listens and changes his ways. It is kind of what we all want, some saving redemption at whatever level we believe.

Or God invited Trump to Heaven and Trump went so rogue that when it comes time for the four last things for Trump that the fourth is staring down hard on Trump. Who knows?

 

 

 

 

And for those of you who don’t know, the four last things are death, judgment, heaven and hell.

 

And if you ask what about purgatory, well it is part of the heaven route. Purgatory just cleanses our soul to go to Heaven so that is why there are only four last things.

The irony of Republicans, Social Security and AI

 

We all know Social Security needs major overhaul to be a valid resource for retired Americans going forward. It is an ongoing headline in the news.

Republicans tend to suggest one solution or part of the solution is to raise the retirement age.

Nowadays people worry about job reductions overall in society due to AI replacing so many workers.

So shouldn’t we look at lowering the retirement age.

Why?

This allows gainful employment for workers in the prime years and protects the job market from being over saturated with the reduction in the labor force due to AI.

 

And how? And this how is just another reason our societal mindset needs to change. This isn’t socialism or just tax the rich to tax the rich, but to level out the long term playing field and allow people who create jobs etc to continue to do so, while allowing our society to continue to prosper overall and have even just a basic quality of life.

First and it is just a reality corporations and businesses need to accept. Wages need to increase. If people are making billions on top of billions the workers wages can increase. It is just common sense for a better society.

Second the social security top tax limits need to be eliminated and all tax brackets need to have social security contributions. You can say after a certain level you start reducing the rate or percentage being used. For example raise the full taxable limit to $250,000 or $300,000. ( and depending on a few factors we may not increase the employer’s responsibility past a certain amount or eliminate it entirely for small and mid size businesses, but then you are getting into how do you determine small and mid size companies,  something to be worked out in the details) I stole some of this idea from a letter to an editor and that person said regressive tax. I am not sure if that is the right definition yet generally you lower the percentage withdrawn up to a certain income level. So by let’s say $750,000 or $1,000,000 the percentage withdrawn is 1 or 2% and then is zero above that. Again the exact figures get worked out in the details.

Third you lower the potential age you can start taking social security. If people have done well and they want to do something different in life or even start their own business they would be young enough say 60 to start receiving benefits. You could keep the benefit amount on a similar sliding scale where you start at 60 with a percentage of full benefits then at a later age you receive your full benefits. And we even lower this to 65 maybe. And possibly if more are paying in, benefits might increase also. Again this is worked out in the details.

The biggest issue that needs addressing is most people that rely on social security are in service industry jobs or similar which historically have been on the low end of the totem pole. This is why the overall corporate pay rate needs to increase. More people paid higher allows them to save more, allows them to have more flexibility in their retirement and both the higher wage earners and corporations contribute to the overall health of society by allowing lower wage workers a basic decent end of their life opportunity. This is not socialism. This is society overall respecting the dignity of life.

The goal is not to say we cannot have rich people or AI, but to shift some of the responsibility of protecting their workers onto them and not just on the government protecting a workforce that is stretched to their limits under paid with no quality of life. Even rich people like going out to eat or whatever. They just need to respect the people that are there serving them and not treat them as serfs.

Or the people with excessive billions can be hated and eventually pitchfork economics come into play and that doesn’t do anyone any good.

 

And yes this is I don’t know how many ideas or variations of a theme (including my last post) I have to actually make social security work now and in the future.

Cheers

Creativity is good even in public policy

 

As you know I complain much about the fact Republicans and Democrats never really have any answers and no longer solve our nation’s problems. And if you read this blog regularly you know occasionally I make stabs at trying to come up with new ideas for public policy.

And today I read an article that is a letter to the Editor of the Los Angeles Times that is an idea to help Social Security long term.

This to me shows that people do care and are thinking more than our Congress. And improving Social Security should be a priority for our Congress. Social Security is a monstrosity when it comes to projecting out numbers, yet the idea in the article is creative and looks implementable. It is not a stretch to understand. The real trick would be to apply it going forward in some mock ups and if viable it should be considered by Congress.

And if it doesn’t completely address the revenue problem but is close we should then look at other options to enhance.  All in all there are answers out there, it is just a shame the people who are paid to represent us, cannot even begin to solve the problems facing our country.

And for your benefit here is a quick recap. The author of the letter called it a regressive tax, personally I am not sure the verbiage works, but here goes.

The author suggests instead of eliminating the cap on taxing wages for social security, create the regressive tax where the first $200,000 is taxed at 6% (currently at 6.2 for first 184,000) then drop to 5% for 200k to 300k, 4 for the next hundred thousand until you get to $600,000 and is one percent for everyone above this threshold. Again this is a quick recap so I hope I spelled it out correctly. The author states this could be palatable politically and I tend to agree and I guess obviously since I am posting it. 😊

I always say center right ideas work the best and probably are the best answers politically. I hope this spurs some creativity or an open mind on your part to think of bettering this idea if needed or for other issues facing our country.

And let’s thank the author for thinking of rational solutions to our country’s issues. Unfortunately our current government isn’t doing it.

So again I say we need new parties and new leadership and answers like this show why.

 

Cheers

The reflecting pool is now the mirror of how bad things are to come

 

I have posted previously on this topic, yet as time marches on the disaster waiting is getting worse.

We all know it, it is staring even his supporters in the face, yet what happens after Trump passes away is potentially getting uglier by the day. Months ago I suggested the Republicans start planning for a Trump world. Then later on I was a bit more direct of what the Republicans will be facing once Trump is gone. Now it is beyond the planning phase time frame and what is looming for this country is flat out insane.

The power play after Trump will wreck havoc on this country. We have all heard the phrase power does not exist in a vacuum or something to that nature. Also today I was overhearing a podcast from a historian named Heather Richardson I think talking about there is a power shuffle or loose power structure going on in the administration right now. Not exactly sure since I was overhearing and not paying complete attention. Yet her point seemed to be that behind the scenes people are starting to position themselves for what happens after Trump. Some names she mentioned that might be jockeying around were JD Vance and maybe Tucker Carlson, but she also mentioned Carlson may be backing Vance.

The real issue is most of his cabinet and sycophants rely on Trump for power. They need him more for their future than their own careers will allow them to be successful. And there isn’t much cohesiveness amongst the group either. If and when Vance becomes President, how much of Trump’s cabinet and staff will he keep. And what happens when the infighting begins as they desperately cling to power.

Also Trump’s supporters will allow people to tell them it isn’t Trump that was a failure, but all these cabinet and staff members that let him down which will include Vance. People like Andrew Vought and Steven Miller may be the first to go, but also the most dangerous as the go out. Especially Vought because he probably has the most cohesive plan working, yet needs Trump to continue it. Well, honestly I am going to leave that sentence out there, but I do not know if Vance and Vought are on the same page. Vance may keep him since he does have a working plan. Miller not so much and offers no real advantage to Vance and whatever he may want to do once he becomes President. Personally though I would love to see both go since for different reasons, they are both dangerous to our democracy.

There are a plethora of cabinet members though that need to go and how attached to any of them is Vance. I don’t think much, yet they may do some crazy things (not that they aren’t already) on the way out the door. Most of Trump’s cabinet since there for loyalty reasons to Trump won’t offer much for Vance and easily are a hindrance if not an outright disaster ongoing for him.

Vance becomes President by default if Trump passes away before 2028. Yet every problem that Trump created will fall onto Vance’s lap. It could end up being the worst thing that could happen to any one person. And the problems are only getting worse even if oil and gas prices come down a bit in the short term. Iran already thinks he is a joke and will probably shut the Strait of Hormuz down or slap ridiculously high tolls on certain countries daring him to do something about it. Trump’s tariffs still cause headaches for our trade partners and they won’t want to jump on board to save him. He will have to repair NATO and trade alliances with people who will not trust him one bit, nor respect him.

So Vance will become impotent from day one, he will have cabinet members trying to hold onto their jobs either with outlandish actions or accusations, and a country that never wanted him in the first place. Why this isn’t major fodder for the talking heads world astounds me.

The post Trump world is going to be a nightmare and now that there are temporarily some Senators acting tough may not be enough to settle the power structure down in D. C.

Add the rise of socialist democrats in very democratic cities, you can see major jockeying of partisan madness as both sides get dirtier and dirtier with their hate and finger pointing. I know these same socialist democrats think they have tons of momentum going their way, but it will hit a major wall outside their specific regions. They think their ideas will take hold because of how bad Trump has been, yet to this day they do not see the fact that people wanted Trump to succeed because of what he says were his policies. Those policy wishes do not change just because Trump passes away. And of course there is the far right that is more emboldened and just hates everybody (including themselves) so they aren’t going away. The possibility of political outbreaks throughout the country exists if someone doesn’t grab the national attention quickly and offers some policy that tampers down inflation and more importantly the political rhetoric. It won’t all go away, but if we get lucky and someone can grab the middle’s attention and support, it might be less of a rocky ride.

Yet there is no one currently in any spotlight that offers us a chance to settle down the partisan hate without the ugly happening first. Our country as a whole can look much worse than a green reflecting pool very fast. The good news is and I think Ms. Richardson also brought this up is that most people in this country still like our country and what we represent. What we need is for a very dynamic person to rise to the top with practical ideas that people see as possible. Sounds fairy tale like, but we are almost to that point. Most people ignore the far right so they very rarely gain much traction with the body politic of this country, yet the far left does garner some waves of momentum occasionally and that is more dangerous than the middle realizes. Right now too much socialism is not the answer even though to rebuild our way of life some socialistic type ideas will need some attention. A delicate balance to say the least but yo yoing from one extreme (Trump’s right wing bigotry and authoritarianism) to the other extreme is not the answer no matter how often the left is going to cheer it on since people like Mamdani are capturing some major attention with some success in New York. Yet what works for New York isn’t going to fly in quite a few other cities and states. Just the nature of the political beast in a large and diverse, in more ways than one, country.

This large and beautiful country with the infamous melting pot we so love to tout works best when there is local politicians having some control over their respective areas, along with a national government that tries to create basic baselines of federal oversight and balance that gives equal benefit throughout the country. With the rise of the one percent, that hasn’t been the case in decades and people do feel it. We just hope that the center line is strengthened going forward and the wealth divide crumbles in a positive way so the majority have the opportunity we always say we have.

Yet to even get there we will face the ugly algae of Trump’ reflecting pool running rampant throughout D. C. for possibly years. A sad and true reality we face.

I was going to stop, yet I remembered one hope is that we get a new Speaker of the House that people respect asap and is open to busting open some of Trump’s political wins to bring back some leverage for the middle class.