Vote for Performance
.org
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Anarchist |
Left Wing |
Liberal |
Centrist |
Conservative |
Right Wing |
Authoritarian |
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2019
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Pelosi
Wins
01/2419 |
Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic Party have just gotten
Trump to sign legislation to open the government and
pay 800,000 government workers for the next 3 weeks.
Many Democrats believe this is a defeat for Trump.
Fact & Opinion:
Is this a
defeat for Trump? (I've given it some thought
after watching the Sunday morning political shows.)
I suspect that Trump will just call for an Emergency
at the end of 3 weeks and issue an Executive Order to fund the wall.
Pelosi has
absolutely refused to negotiate any kind of deal with
the President if it includes funding for any type of wall. In short, after 3 weeks, Trump
issues an executive order and he gets his
wall. The Democrats get nothing and the Democrats
look like they are against
just about any type of border security, especially for
the next election. The Democrats could have
actually done some good by throwing in an extension of
DACA but it looks like they may squander this
opportunity.
(a day
later) I've given this situation a little more
thought and there may be a good chance that the courts
will block Trumps emergency action. In this case
every citizen loses as DACA still isn't passed and no
border security gets enhanced. Oops, the
undocumented immigrants win as their kid get a free
education, healthcare, food, and subsidized housing
and you get to pay for it.
(fact source:
General Media)
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2019
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Trump is a
Russian
Agent
01/1419 |
The
New York Times broke a story that in 2017, the FBI
investigated Trump as potentially being a secret agent of Russia.
The investigation has now been turned over to Mueller.
Fact & Opinion:
OMG.
As I'm writing this, I'm watching Chris Mathews on
Hard Ball who has pretty much already convicted Trump. He's
not really in to due process and facts. However, I do have a few questions:
- If the FBI had evidence that Trump was a
Russian agent, what is taking them so long to act.
- Trump has currently placed sanctions on a
dozen Russian Oligarchs close to Putin.
- Trump has supplied Ukraine with the necessary
military equipment to protect themselves from Russia.
- Trump has confronted Russia directly in Syria.
What Trump
hasn't done is:
- Sell 20% of US uranium reserves to a Canadian
company owned by Russian Oligarchs.
- Tell Putin on an open mike that he would have
more flexibility after the election. Oops.
(No investigation.)
- Not respond militarily to Russia's annexation
of Crimea.
- Not provide military help to Ukraine so
they could protect themselves.
I don't
understand. The facts just don't support the
Democrats position. Trump is the most
investigated president that I have ever witnessed.
If something isn't absolutely definitive in the
results of the Mueller investigation later this year, we will have
witnessed the largest Democrat dry hump in history.
(fact source:
General Media)
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2018
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Immigrant
Population
in U.S.
12/0218 |
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Tom Steyer
5 Rights
11/2518 |
Steyer believes the 5
Rights represent essential freedoms that should be"
1) "the right to an equal vote"
2) "the right to clean air and water"
3) "the right to learn,"
4) "the right to a living wage"
5) "the right to health." |
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California
Wild Fires
11/1918 |
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California
Population
11/1418 |
The
population of California may have exceeded 40 million
sometime last summer growing
240
M per year.
Fact & Opinion:
I read a
lot of information about the population of California
so I thought I'd put a few numbers together:
Total births per year:
+ 571 M
Total deaths per year:
- 246 M
Leave state per year:
- 143 M
Sub total:
+ 82 M
Unspecified immigration:
158 M
(fact source:
General
Media)
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Liberal
Elite
11/03/18 |
"I
just can't live in New York anymore. Everything I
hated about L.A. I'm beginning to crave. L.A. is
a place where you live behind a gate, you get in a
car, your interaction with the public is minimal ..."
Alec Baldwin.
Fact & Opinion:
The above
is a direct quote from Alec Baldwin. If you ever
questioned whether the "liberal elite" even existed,
this is your evidence. It is a state of mind so
really hard to pin down. So here is a guy that
mocks Trump on SNL and really, deep down, doesn't want
anything to do with the public. In the meantime,
Trump is mixing with the public on a daily basis at
his rallies. It is disconcerting that Baldwin has an
oversized influence on the politics influencing
regular people and their lives and really wants
nothing to do with them. Ironic. In my
mind, this is the definition of liberal elite.
(fact source:
O.C. Register)
4 |
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Paid
Protesters
10/07/18 |
5 Harsh realities of Being a Paid Protester.
(Google it.)
Fact & Opinion:
I was
always suspicious of protesters, but the recent
nomination process of Judge Kavanaugh gave me the
motivation to do a little research. I was kind
of stunned when I heard a paid protester on a news
show explain how she has a full time protester for a
social justice organization. She did not get
into who funded the organization. What concerns
me is that if you are a legitimate protester
exercising your constitution rights, you don't really
know if the protester next to you shares your ideals
and concerns or is a paid protester from an
organization with an agenda that may be different than
your own.
To me,
this just doesn't pass the sniff test. Now, when
I look at a group of protesters in the street, I don't
know who is a legitimate protester and those who are
being paid to advance some unknown social agenda.
This just seems to be an affront to real Democracy and
really cheapens the authenticity of real protests.
It's like being paid to vote which I believe subverts
democracy.
(fact source:
Google Search and Interview with Paid Protester on
News Show)
4 |
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2018
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FBI
No Video
08/10/18 |
Your word against ours: How the FBI's 'No Electronic
Recording" Policy Rigs the Game ... and Destroys its
credibility. (podcast)
Fact & Opinion:
Unbelievable. I had to look it up when I heard
this. How does FBI testimony stand up in any
court of law when there is no audio or video evidence,
just the interviewer's notes, especially when it has
recently been discovered that many FBI persons are
potentially biased. How can they convict
anyone?
(fact source:
Heard on Radio and confirmed after numerous Google
searches
4 |
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Tesla
Model 3
08/01/18 |
People sure like to beat up on Tesla.
Fact & Opinion:
The chart
below kind of shows a different view.
(fact source:
Borrowed from Forbes)

4 |
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Crimea
Facts
07/22/18 |
It
seems that a majority of American citizens and
politicians believe that Trump's meeting with Putin
in
Helsinki was a "disaster".
Fact & Opinion:
I really
don't know if the meeting was a disaster or not and I
don't even know what it was discussed, but if it was
about Crimea, I looked up a few facts to ponder:
"According
to the census result the population of the Crimean Federal District is
2.2844 million people. The ethnic composition is as follows: Russians: 1.49
million
(65.3%),
Ukrainians: 0.35
million (15.1%),
Crimean Tatars: 0.28
million (12.0%)."
My own
recollection is that Crimea was handed over to Ukraine
in the 1980's with the breakup of the Soviet Union,
but remained Russia's only naval base with access to
the Mediterranean. Ironically, it was, and still
is, a primary vacation destination for Russians.
Having listened to Crimean and Southern Ukrainians
discuss Crimea lately, the only real issue seems to be
with Americans and Europeans (who have been quite
successful whipping up discontent among Americans) and
then doing their own major trade deals with Russia.
(fact source:
Google)
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U.S.
Population
Trends
06/22/18 |

Check out the "legal" migrant (net) column.
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Medicare
for All
06/02/18 |
Do
the politicians really understand what "Medicare for
all" actually means?
Fact & Opinion:
I
personally started collecting Medicare a couple years
ago at age 65. What's funny is that many
politicians want Medicare for everyone. I don't
know if they understand that myself and my employer
have sunk hundreds of thousands dollars into Medicare
over the last 42 years for me, personally. Since I still
work, my employer and I are still funding Medicare in
addition to the $800+ dollars per month that I pay
personally for my wife and myself to cover
the Part B penalty for working, plus Supplemental &
Prescription insurance. This can be more
expensive than a individual policy.
If the
politicians REALLY mean "Medicare for All", it's
fantastic that everyone would have to pay so much to
get into Medicare and then pay the high cost of being
on Medicare while employed. There would be more
money in Medicare than the government would know what
to do with.
Oh, wait a
minute, those politicians just want everyone to
receive the benefits of Medicare without paying into
it before and during the time they receive Medicare
benefits. I don't think they understand that this
isn't Medicare. It's MEDICAID. What's the
difference? The choice of doctors, hospitals,
and medical care is much more comprehensive under
Medicare. That's why it's much more expensive
for participants. If everyone were allowed on
Medicare, it would simply go bankrupt and all those
workers that paid into the program for all their
working life would be left without medical care of any
kind. Thanks Bernie.
(fact source:
Political advertising on TV) |
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Greedy
Corps.
05/27/18 |
With the upcoming mid-term elections, I'm getting
barraged with ads on TV about greedy corporations.
Fact & Opinion:
First,
corporations aren't greedy, people are greedy.
Yes, there are CEO's of corporations who seem to bleed
their company financially but this is less often the
case. It's mostly hedge funds that "extract value"
from weak corporations. I divide CEOs in to two
types, those that created the company and are
responsible for its success, and those that seem to be
in the right place at the right time, and then become
CEO though no fault of their own. This group
seems to undeservedly benefit greatly from the success
of their predecessor.
Second,
I would like to remind democrat politicians, that
non- profits don't pay income taxes so they are not
offering any financial support for state services,
pensions, or public assistance. Hartford
Connecticut is the latest example of where half the
businesses in the city were non- profits and didn't
pay taxes. No wonder the city went bankrupt.
Universities, churches, museums, social services, and
non profits are necessary but don't contribute
financially to the well being of a city or community.
Oh, don't think that the management of non-profit
organizations don't pay themselves some very healthy
bonuses. That would be very naive.
Finally, it's no revelation that a successful,
first-world economy relies on the success of its
private sector which is the primary "input" for
supporting the public sector. The problem is
that the U.S. may getting very close to the tipping
point where the demands of the public sector out-strip
the financial contribution of the private sector.
(fact source:
General Media) |
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Fire &
Fury
01/0718 |
Fire and Fury:
Inside the Trump White House by Michael
Wolff is
a book which details the behavior of U.S.
President Donald
Trump and
staff of his 2016
presidential campaign and White
House.
(Wikipedia)
Fact & Opinion:
In short,
the book (what I've heard about it) is as close to a
"hit piece" as there is. Wolff fails to
appreciate that 60 million American voted for him.
Rex Tillerson may have or have not called Trump a
"moron" but that pretty much sums up my feelings about
Trump.
However,
there is one critically important thing that no one is
saying, that regardless of his style, Trump is usually
on the right side of most major issues. It's
uncanny. For example, Trump has been on the
right side of:
Cheer-leading the business community to create jobs.
Reducing bureaucratic and duplicitous regulations that
stifle business unnecessarily.
Getting people off welfare and pre-retirement
disability and into the job force.
Encouraging energy development in the U.S. without
taking sides, That is what capitalism is for.
Immigration and efforts to reduce the importation of
drugs and lower wage unskilled labor.
Pushing more policy decisions to the state level.
Attacking ISIS without hesitation and showing strong
leadership in the Middle East.
Wolf is
very misleading, especially about his motivations.
He won't admit that he is political, but I do believe
his main intent is to sell books at the expense of the
President. Yes, it is exploitation and very
ugly. Trump being impeached would be icing on
the cake for which I believe Wolff would take full
credit.
In
contrast, Obama was very intellectual, confident,
compassionate, and presidential. What could go
wrong? For his first term, Obama wielded a
steady hand and stabilized the U.S. economy from a
Republican induced financial crises.
Unfortunately, this strategy did not work in his 2nd
term which needed a leader, not an academic community
organizer. It needed someone who had the best
interests of the American worker in mind who had
suffered greatly during the recession. It seems
most Democrats still don't get this.
This is
where this discussion gets complicated. 90% of
press coverage is negative on Trump regardless of his
actions whether they are good or bad. They are
basing their criticism on what he says, not what he
does. In fact, the hysteria created by MSNBC,
Colbert, and others is very hard to digest. In
fact, it makes many Americans run the other way.
Personally, I didn't vote for Trump, but based on his
current successes and the idiotic blow back from the
progressive left, I may have to vote for him in 2020.
(fact source:
General media) |
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2017
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U.S Total
Dept
12/24/17 |
The CBO has scored the new Trump/GOP tax cut plan as
adding $1.4 trillion over 10 years to the national
debt on a static basis.
Fact & Opinion:
The
national debt is likely to stand at $20.1 trillion at
the end of 2017. Trump has been in office for 1 year
and is just now getting his economic plan together
which will begin to go into affect starting in 2018.
Since it wont be fully in effect till 2019, that's
when I'll start attributing any change in national
debt to the current administration. Isn't this
fun.
Just a
little history using the 2 years data offset that I
just described above: (See
debt calculations.)
Obama: National debt increased
$ 7.5 trillion or 55.1%.
Bush:
National debt increased $ 7.4 trillion or 119.4%.
Clinton: National debt
increased $ 1.5 trillion or 31.9%.
H. W.
National debt increased $ 1.5 trillion or 30.6%.
Reagan National debt increased
$ 2.1 trillion or 190.9%.
Just an
observation, both Reagan and Bush cut taxes during a
healthy and growing economy and both wracked up record
deficits.
(fact source:
U.S. Dept. of Treasury) |
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Alt Min
Tax
12/17/17 |
In 2015, almost 60% of taxpayers making between
$200,000 and $500,000 per year paid the AMT.
Fact & Opinion:
Right now,
all of the discussion about the GOP tax cut is about
the "brackets". What is left out is the AMT.
The tax brackets mean nothing to 60% of Americans in
the category above. I really would like to
calculate my taxes under the tax cut plan but I'll
have to wait till more information is available on the
AMT. I'm guessing that there will be a lot of
pissed off working professionals if the AMT isn't
revised favorably. I hope I'm wrong.
(fact source:
Table 1.4, Statistics of Income, IRS) |
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Tax
Cuts
11/09/17 |
John Harwood interviewed Gary Cohn about the latest House and Senate versions of the tax
reform legislation. Mr. Harwood calculated that individuals
would benefit by $200
billion and corporations by $1 trillion over the
next 10 years. There are currently over 4 times more tax
cuts for corporations than for individuals.
Fact & Opinion:
Have you noticed in the latest tax cut negotiations
that individuals lose many of their deductions, yet corporations lose
very few loopholes and receive the
lion's share of the tax rate reduction. I
don't know about you, but when I hear the term "tax reform",
I'm
thinking about companies that don't pay their proper
share of corporate
income taxes in the U.S. and wealthy individuals that
pay almost no personal income tax, not taking
deductions away from individuals. Why
aren't they part of tax reform!
The
average blue collar worker will save $1,182 per
year at first. What Cohn didn't say was that the
new CPI indexing will cause that benefit to almost go
away entirely in the next 10 years. However, the
benefits to corporations will not. It makes me
not want to trust any republican.
While the
increase in deficit is estimated at $1.5 trillion over
the next 10 years, some analysis calculate it at over $4 trillion
by 2040. How
do you solve that problem?
Cohn admitted that the resulting deficit will
make it easier to reform (go after) Medicare and Social
Security. Separately, Paul Ryan, the House
Speaker, was
enthusiastic about future Social Security and Medicare
entitlement reform. (Note: Social Security is not an
entitlement since every worker pays for it every month
in their paycheck.) This is the first time in
my life that I've actually thought that the future of
Social Security may be in jeopardy. Thank you
Republicans. (facetious comment)
The
Republican strategy has been to grow the economy through
"trickle-down" economics to help middle class workers.
We've already tried this under President Reagan and
President Bush. All it did was massively
increase the federal deficit and trash the economy
after a few years of growth. Don't Republicans
ever learn!
As
presented, both the House plan and the Senate plan
seem to be contradictory towards each other and
reconciliation will be complicated. (Hopefully that's
a good thing.) No offense, but it looks like the
House and the Senate are just throwing crap at the
wall to see what sticks. It's so convoluted. There doesn't seem to
be any coherent strategy.
This may
become the most vile and hostile piece of legislation to
ever come out of the U.S. Congress. Full
disclosure, I'm a professional middle class worker in
a blue state and will lose a lot of deductions. I do have a dog in this
fight. John Harwood is my hero for asking the
proper questions and bringing this issue to light.
(fact source: NBR John
Harwood interview of Gary Cohn - National Economic
Council Director)
Updates:
(11/19/17)
1) The
Joint Committee on Taxation, after reviewing the
original GOP Senate Tax Plan, has calculated that the
tax cut for the average household, earning between
$50,000 and $75,000 per year, will be $688. The
average millionaire will receive a tax cut of $58,000.
2)
New York Times:
"... President Trump could cut his tax
bills by more than $1.1 billion
...".
3)
Jackie Speier on Face the Nation: "... And I think for
all of those members who basically have handed their
constituents a $10,000 tax increase, that's what we're
talking about ..."
4) The
U.S. worker tax burden is already quite
competitive compared to countries in the OECD.
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Tax Cuts
Big Picture
10/15/17 |
Trump and the Republicans have floated a tax rate cut
plan that reduces the corporate tax rate on American
corporations but eliminates individual deductions for
state income taxes and property taxes.
Fact & Opinion:
The plan has not been finalized yet but will have to
be revenue neutral in order to pass with only a
majority vote in the House and Senate.
Basically, someone will have to give up something to
pay for the corporate tax cuts and I don't believe it
will be the top 0.1%.
In addition to the
state income tax and property tax deductions, there is
a whole plethora of other deductions that you could
lose. See
Tax Reform Economics (pdf).
There are over 15
separate categories, most of which would wreck your
year. If a whole category isn't eliminated,
limits may be placed on it like a maximum deduction
for employee paid health care. Notice that
existing loopholes like carried interest, and numerous
corporate tax avoidance strategies, developed by teams
of specialized lawyers, aren't affected.
I know there is an
overwhelming number of political issues sucking the
oxygen out of the room, but this one really matters.
I don't trust either the Republicans or the Democrats
to do the right thing and this is really going to
hurt. Do your own research and make your opinion known
to your elected representative.
(fact source: General
Media & Forbes) |
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Russian
Propaganda
on
Facebook
09/10/17 |
Facebook announced Wednesday that a Russian propaganda
organization used the social media platform to
purchase $100,000 of political advertising.
Fact & Opinion:
I love it. "Facebook
found 470 inauthentic accounts associated
with approximately 3,000 political ads from June 2015
to May 2017. The ad purchases and accounts are
affiliated with a Russian “troll farm,” dubbed the
Internet Research Agency, which spreads pro-Russian
propaganda and false information across the World Wide
Web".
Zuckerberg is one of Trump's most outspoken critics
and it turns out that FACEBOOK may have actually
helped turn the election for Trump. It turns out
that a better case could be made for Zuckerberg
colluding with the Russians than Trump. I'm
still waiting (and waiting) for the evidence that
Trump colluded with the Russians.
A much bigger and
more important issue that doesn't get much press
attention is the use of FACEBOOK by ISIS, the Taliban,
and other radical groups to promote their own
ideologies which ends up in the deaths of many
Americans!
Update:
This is now old news
and Zuckerberg has agreed to hand over everything it
has on the issue. I just like the irony of the
most successful business leaders of our country and
his self-righteous attitude about half the population
of the U.S.
(fact source: PBS) |
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Trump Care
07/07/17 |
It doesn't look like that there will be any resolution
to the healthcare "insurance" crises anytime soon,
especially "repeal and replace" as promised by
Republicans to their voters in the last election.
Fact & Opinion:
It is kind of
embarrassing that the Republicans, after bitching for
6 years, didn't even have a replacement plan ready.
Now, the House can't agree with the Senate. Elected
Republican officials can't agree with their
constituencies. No one can agree with Trump.
Even the Democrats are fighting between themselves.
No one agrees with the CBO. In fact, no
one can even agree on any facts. It doesn't get
any better than this.
Now comes the hard
part. Is healthcare a "right" to be administered
by the federal government? Not literally
according to the Constitution. Then the question
becomes can a wealthy, successful capitalistic society
find a way to provide basic health care for everyone.
In my opinion, the answer is yes. Notice that I
said "basic".
The pursuit of
extraordinary cancer cures and and other extremely
sophisticated medical procedures are commendable but
seem to be bringing our health care system to its
financial knees. No one will have decent health care
if this happens. Unfortunately, it's going to be
tough to resolve this problem and I don't think
we have anyone in Washington DC that can figure this
out. Basic healthcare, especially for
communicable diseases and emergencies, should be a
right for the protection of all Americans but
extraordinary care should not. I have no clue
where to draw the the line but it is going to be
drawn.
(fact source: General
News) |
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Paris
Climate
Accord
06/01/17 |
President
Trump announced that the U.S. would withdraw from the
Paris Agreement on Climate change.
Fact & Opinion:
Ugh.
This will suck all the oxygen out of the room
(politically). Maybe that is what Trump wanted
in order to divert attention from other issues.
In reality, this was not unexpected as this is what he
promised his base during the presidential election.
Remember, neither the Democrats of the establishment
Republicans wanted him for President. It was his
base that put him in office.
The
Paris Accord was a non-binding agreement which allowed
the U.S. to take a leadership position on world
opinion on global warming (if the U.S. was smart about
it). While it prescribed CO2 reductions for nations of
the world, in reality, it was about the money. I
wish Trump would have just said that. Maybe he did.
The U.S. has reduced its CO2 emissions 18% since 2002
while China and India don't have to start reducing
theirs till 2030.
Trump's major objection was that the agreement
requires the U.S. to pay the majority share of an
annual $100
billion climate fund which allocates money
to poorer nations including China to help them meet
their CO2 reduction goals. Trump believed that would
be unfair to the American worker/taxpayer who would actually
be footing the bill. He is not all wrong about
that.
As a conservative, I
have already installed solar panels, LED lighting,
drive a high mileage automobile, and planted a couple
dozen trees. My guess is that most of the
climate zealots have not done that so why do I also
have to pay for them. Furthermore, CO2 is
heavier than air and the CO2 produced on the ground is
utilized by trees and shrubs to produce oxygen (and
acidize the ocean), and the CO2 emitted from private
jets at 30,000 feet from proponents of climate change
flying to climate conferences, remains in the
atmosphere and actually does cause global warming. It
seems that hypocrisy is running rampant these days.
Succinctly, reducing
all pollution is a fantastic idea. The good
news is that as you reduce criteria air pollutants (H2S,
NOX, SOX), CO2 pollution is also reduced, and after
Germany, the U.S. is a leader in this area. It's
just good business to reduce air pollution and companies
and states will be financially motivated to continue
to do so. All Trump did was remove the "command
and control" mandate.
Update: Did Trump
really withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate
Accord? He could have reneged on the agreement
and gotten the U.S. out now, but he didn't. He
announced that the U.S. was withdrawing under the
termination process written in the agreement.
That process takes at least 4 years before even
beginning. Perhaps Trump just wanted a little
time for some renegotiation. Some European
countries have refused to consider renegotiation but
at least they have 4 years to think about it.
The general news media doesn't quite get it right
again.
(fact source: General
News) |
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Bill
O'Reilly
Fired
04/22/17 |
After 50 advertisers
withdrew and Fox News paid out over $13 million in
settlements, Bill O'Reilly was fired from the O'Reilly
Factor.
Fact & Opinion:
I
knew O'Reilly could be a pompous A-xxxx and there is
video of him in the studio blowing his cool but it is
the sexual harassment allegations that got him fired.
My problem is that they are only allegations but there
certainly are a lot of them. I'm sure many of
the people that do not like O'Reilly would have
preferred to get rid of Trump, but O'Reilly was the
next best thing. If O'Reilly actually did
overtly sexually harassment these women, then he
should have been fired long ago, but so far, even from the
accusations, I have not seen anything that rose to
that level. (Punishment yes, firing no.) I wish
some of these cases would go to trial so we can find
out what really happened and update my opinion with
some facts.
Obviously, it took a well organized effort to convince
the advertisers to withdraw their support of the
O'Reilly Factor. I have no facts on who was behind the
effort, if anyone. For the advertisers, this was
a business decision. I do have doubts that the
people behind the effort ever watched the program. I
work for a company in an industry that is constantly
getting sued because people don't like our product
(gasoline). We are a small company and we settle
just about every case because it costs us more to
fight in court than to just settle. We are not
guilty of anything but we still get sued. I
wonder if a little of this happened to the Fox
network.
I was a little slow
in responding to this event until I realized that Bill
was one of the few moderate forces on the Fox network
and I no longer have the opportunity to watch his
show. The people who hated O'Reilly, although they
never watched him, have now removed my ability and
opportunity to watch his show. Congratulations,
you won. Somehow, in the long run, I feel the
people of America lost.
I have a hard time
watching many shows on Fox because of their right wing
ideology, e.g. Hannity, but the firing of O'Reilly has
left the viewing public with a potentially even more
right wing network.
(fact source: General
News) |
|
|
|
UAL
Unfriendly
Skies
04/12/17 |
Social media exposed a passenger (who
refused to exit an United Airlines flight) being
dragged down the center isle after refusing to give up
his seat when asked by UAL employees. Four passengers
were randomly selected and paid $800 to take a later
flight. One doctor refused since he had
appointments he needed to make the following morning.
Fact & Opinion:
Huh.
This is intriguing on many different levels and brings
up a bunch of legal issues:
1) How did he
get on the plane in the first place. UAL should
have never allowed passengers to get on the plane if
they
didn't have enough space to begin with. This is
just bad policy and procedure.
2) Actually
the flight was not over-booked, UIAL just needed seats
to accommodate other UAL employees. Oops.
Over-booking rules may not apply. This is just
plain old assault.
3) UAL only
offered $800 when they could have legally offered
$1,350. Again, questionable UAL policy.
4) The
security personnel weren't really authorized police
but employees from a private security firm. Do I
hear Kidnap?
5) UAL ran for
cover under over-booking regulations even though UAL helped write
(or at least lobbied) the regulations.
6) The fine
print of the UAL ticket removes many legal rights from
the customer. I have never believed this to be
fair
and the faster fine print like this gets to the
Supreme Court, the better.
The following day,
the CEO of UAL libeled the customer by bringing up his
character and past history which had nothing to do
with the specific situation of being dragged down the
center aisle of the jet. KaChing !!!!!
(fact source: General
News) |
|
|
|
Sunday
Morning
Political
Shows
04/02/17 |
The Sunday morning political shows spent more time
covering the Russians spreading fake news than any
other issue.
Fact & Opinion:
Congratulations traditional media. You just
wasted another Sunday morning NOT talking about issues
that actually
affect
American citizens. Nice dodge. Also, you
are so concerned that the Russians are trying to
undermine
our
democracy. I didn't realize our democracy was so
weak. You don't have much confidence in America,
do you?
(fact source: Sunday
morning political shows) |
|
|
|
Fake News
vs.
Phony News
03/26/17 |
During the 2016 Presidential Election, approximately
50% of news could have been "fake" news. 60
Minutes even interviewed an attorney who was
financially successful posting news that he believed
to be true but was not based on any facts or truths.
People just ate it up.
Fact & Opinion:
I don't
understand, but apparently there still is a large
demand for fake news. My theory is that when I
watch traditional news (CBS, NBC, ABC, and FOX), there
are so many incorrect facts, missing facts, and biased
facts that it is not a large leap from this
traditional phony news to fake news. It is
actually the fault of traditional media that this
phenomena is occurring. Traditional media has
become increasingly liberal in the last decade,
probably because of Bush, to the point that a lot of
what they report simply isn't credible anymore.
Hence, the wide acceptance of fake news.
(fact source: CBS 60
Minutes) |
|
|
|
Meryl
Streep
01/08/17 |
"Hollywood is crawling with outsiders
and foreigners, and if you kick us all out, you’ll
have nothing to watch except for football and mixed
martial arts, which are not arts,"
Fact & Opinion:
This quote just makes me angry.
It looks like I really am a "deplorable" and, all of a sudden, proud of it.
I sense
the Meryl Streep's hierocracy as Trump is married to a
lady from Slovenia and all people of all races,
religious, and sexual preferences are welcome at his
hotels. He also employs thousands of people from
all walks of life. Does Meryl do that or does
she just talk about. I think I just read that
93% of all directors in Hollywood are male.
A little
reality, that night the NFL playoff game garnered 2.5
times more viewers than the Golden Globes.
(fact source: Golden
Globes Awards) |
|
|
|
Senator
Feinstein
01/15/17 |
Feinstein announced that she believes that the
election results would have been different if the DNC
had not been hacked by the Russians.
Fact & Opinion:
-
Trump won 3,084 counties, Clinton won 57. News flash,
the US consists of more than just California and New
York.
-
Comey and the prospect of a 3rd "Obama term" did more
damage to Hillary than Putin could have done.
-
The Clintons left the White House broke and are now
worth $111 million. And democrats are worried
about Trump!
-
The Clinton Foundation received $144 million in 2013
and $287 million in 2016 while Hillary ran for
president. Hmmm.
-
So far, none of the emails appear to have been
modified. (The Clinton Foundation was a "profit
center" for many).
-
I am stunned that anyone would think that Russia
wasn't trying to not hack into the elections.
-
If my password was "Password", to gain access to the
database at the company I work for, I would have been
fired.
-
Hillary didn't get a lot of votes from disappointed
Sanders fans who just didn't show up on election day.
(How ironic, Hillary may have lost the
election because of another Democrat.)
In
short, I held my nose and voted for Hillary (I live in
a blue state). Based on the recent Democrat
reaction, if the election were held again today, I
would definitely vote for Trump without any
reservation.
(fact source: Meet the
Press) |
|
|
|
Meryl
Antoinette
01/09/17 |
Marie
Antoinette enjoyed an over-the-top lavish life style
at the expense of the French people prior to the
French Revolution in 1792.
For some reason, Meryl Streep reminded me of Marie
Antoinette in her acceptance speech at the Golden
Globes Awards.
Fact & Opinion:
I
was stunned by all the
glitz, glamour, gold, champagne, and caviar on
display at the Golden Globes Awards and the Hollywood
A-lists that were in attendance. The decadence was
really disturbing in light of what the majority of
Americans are still struggling economically. Her acceptance speech
thoroughly denigrated Americans who work, pay their taxes,
obey the laws, and are the foundation of this country. (Ironically,
some of these people pay to see her movies and are
responsible for her success and wealth.)
Both Marie and Meryl had no clue as to the extent of
their hypocrisy.
(fact source: General
Media) |
|
|
|
Russian Hacking
01/05/17 |
17 U.S. Intelligence Agencies are in consensus that
Russia hacked the DNC with the intent of affecting the
outcome of the 2016 presidential election.
Fact & Opinion:
Really? Since when is consensus proof of anything?
The U.S. is still licking its wounds from a consensus
that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction.
5,000 soldiers dead. 15,000 crippled for life.
750,000 other dead in the M.E. $3 trillion drained
from the U.S. Treasury. I don't remember hearing
an apology from the Intelligence Agencies on that
fiasco.
The
Russians trying to hack the US? I thought just about
every country in the world was trying to hack the U.S.
government and American companies. I thought the
Chinese recently hacked all the personnel records of
the federal government. Haven't they been
hacking American companies for decades. Who knew!
"Password"? That was Podesta's password that led
to the hack of the DNC. Why does Podesta still
have a job!
McCain and other Republicans think that the act of
hacking rises to the level of war. What's his
end game, dropping bombs on Russia. This guy is truly
dangerous. By his logic, should Israel and Germany
declare war on the U.S. after we hacked them and tried
to affect their elections.
Update: 01/06/17. Clapper (head of US
intelligence) has just announced that Russia was
behind the hacking. Clapper has presented no proof to
the American public. Julian Assange (Wikileaks)
says it wasn't. The intelligence community unanimously
does not believe Assange yet it was Clapper last year
who proclaimed that the CIA was not data-mining the
American people, yet it turned out that he was.
Let's also not forget about the Benghazi fiasco where
the American people were told that the attack was
because of a video. Who am I supposed to
believe, an alleged traitor or an American official
with a track record of not telling the truth?
The
good news is that it turned out that none of Hillary's
email were proven to be doctored or manipulated.
What Wikipedia published were her genuine emails.
Trump was absolutely correct when he tweeted that the
U.S. Intelligence agencies need a change of
leadership.
(fact source: General
Media) |
|
|
2016
|
DNC
Hacking
or
Hillary
12/11/16 |
The DNC was
deliberately hacked by Russia to help Trump win the
U.S. election.
Fact & OPINION:
Ugh.
I don't know about Russia but I do know that James
Comey, Director of the FBI, threw Hillary under the
bus right before the election be stating that the FBI
may have found thousands more emails on Hillary's
email server. Nice. Who needs enemies when
you have friends like that.
Yes,
the RNC servers were not hacked. Either the
Russians didn't target the RNC or maybe the RNC just
simply had better administration and electronic of
their servers. Remember, who was violating
federal government email policy? Hasn't Obama
had 7 years to protect the "homeland" from hacking and
viruses generated outside the U.S. Isn't that
what Homeland Security is supposed to be doing!
In
short, the election was Hillary's to lose.
Hillary had many opportunities to win but chose to
focus her campaign on the "Coasts" instead the rest of
the country. Wisconsin was a blue state that
guaranteed Hillary 10 delegates but she never even
campaigned in the state, and as a result, lost the
state to Trump. Even a recount ended up giving
Trump 160 more votes.
The fact that President Obama
refused to admit that there was Islamic Terrorism in
the world, recognize that tons of Heroin was flowing
in from our southern border, and recognize that
manufacturing jobs were rapidly moving to Mexico from
the Mid-West, was also part of the problem. In
retrospect, it seems pretty simple.
(fact source: Meet the
Press and General Media) |
|
|
|
Fidel Castro
Deceased
11/27/16 |
Castro is deceased and we first learned about him
while watching our 12" B&W TVs over 50 years ago.
Fact & OPINION:
This is too good to pass up. In Cuba, the
citizens are still getting their government news, if
at all, on 12" B&W TVs while Americans get theirs on
65", UHD, 4K, backlit LCD TV's. Even poor Americans
are watching their own 32" LCD TVs. Isn't this a
metaphor on the economic difference between Communism
and Capitalism. Castro literally took a tropical
paradise and turned it into one of the poorest, per
capita, countries in the world. (There were some
issues with the Mafia but that could have been
resolved with police action, not a dictatorship.)
Castro was successful at equalizing all Cuban
citizens, unfortunately to the lowest common
denominator. Average wage? $20 per month.
Castro's own net worth? $900 million. (But he
was for the people!)
(fact source: Meet the
Press and General Media) |
|
|
|
Clinton
Net Worth
11/20/16 |
Democrat pundits are concerned that Trump will use the
Presidency to increase his own wealth.
Fact & OPINION:
On first thought, this is not an unreasonable opinion.
However, I sense a degree of hypocrisy on the part of
the pundits promoting this idea. Bill and Hillary
Clinton left the White House with little wealth and
managed to accumulate $111 million
in wealth since then. Nice. They also created
the Clinton Foundation which receives substantial
contributions annually from financial institutions and
foreign governments. (In 2012- $51.4 million, 2013 -
$144.3, 2015 - $291) Wow. The Clintons
don't receive a salary from the Foundation but its
seems that the foundation pays a lot of someone's expenses.
I do fear that Trump will use his position to reduce
his income tax to an extent that it actually
jeopardizes the financial integrity of the U.S.
economy just like what happened during the last Bush
administration. Famous quote, it's
Déjà vu all
over again.
(fact source: Meet the
Press and General Media) |
|
|
2016
|
Trump, SS, and Old
White Men
10/2916 |
On a static basis,
Trump's tax reduction plan will reduce income taxes by
$5.9 trillion (down from $10 trillion).
Fact & OPINION:
Please note that this does not include a reduction in
corporate taxes, capital gains, an increase in
deductions, and the privatization of hundreds of
billions of infrastructure assets already paid for by
the citizenry.
How does this affect old white men? Old white
men get the lion's share of Social Security payouts
and where do you think the money to try to balance the
budget is going to come from! You got it.
Social Security provides a "huge" cash flow to the
federal government and Congress will be forced to dip
into it to shore up the US balance sheet. Hello
"needs testing". And who needs it the least, old
white men.
"Hasta la vista, baby."
(fact source: General
Media) |
|
|
|
Obama
made
Trump
10/1516 |
Had Obama not acted so casual or indifferent about
very important issues affecting the middle class,
the Republican candidate might have been a different
person.
Fact & OPINION:
It's not
the facts or principles, but the feeling that Obama is
just not capable of acting in the average working
citizen's best interests:
Stop being professorial and explaining issues and
start acting like a leader, make decisions, and take
action.
Yes, you can call the bad guys in the Middle East
"Islamist Terrorists".
I live in an area where 60% of the people don't speak
English. This includes Hispanics, Asians,
Pacific Islanders,
and multitudes of other immigrants. It's hard to
believe that anything is being done about immigration,
legal or not.
Explain to me why my health insurance cost has more
than doubled in the last 8 years under the Affordable
Care Act.
I know your predecessor was responsible for
destabilizing the Middle East but can't you act more
military-like.
(fact source: General
discussion) |
|
|
|
Mike Pence
10/05/16 |
Mike Pence and Tim Kaine debated each other in the VP
debate.
Fact & OPINION:
I may have
to give Senator Pence the edge in style in the VP
debate. He certainly had the larger challenge.
However,
there are certain things about Pence that scare the
hell out of me:
Pence is a supporter of the Tea Party movement that
shut down the US Government a few years ago.
Pence wants to privatize Social Security.
Pence wants to voucherize Medicare.
Pence does not believe in evolution.
Pence held up HIV Research Legislation in order to add
a provision to promote "conversion" therapy.
Pence defends Trump when he said we're going to punish
women for having abortions.
Pence challenged Putin (that guy's a bully) in the VP
debate which is
never a smart thing to do.
I realize
that many of the points made above are exactly what
many Republicans are looking for in a candidate.
(fact source: General
media) |
|
|
|
Trump is
Really Good
10/28/16 |
Many
polls now have Donald Trump leading Hillary Clinton.
Fact & OPINION:
I know there are a lot of people who literally hate
Hillary Clinton but I can't believe that they would
vote for a guy that has:
Gone bankrupt
4 times (great businessman),
Has thousands of lawsuits against him,
Hasn't paid even more thousands of workers,
Has 5 deferments (supports the military),
Has never given a shit about the little guy (and won't
if elected president),
Licenses his name to developers to sell overpriced
condos to unwitting individuals, (who lose all
their money)
Trump University,
Has had 3 marriages (for you evangelicals),
Pays no income tax (he's worth billions), and
Will more than likely use the office of the presidency
to further enhance his own wealth. (as will Hillary)
This guy
is really good. If you can vote for a person with this
pedigree, you are a better person than I am.
(fact source: General
media) |
|
|
|
Gun
Rights
06/1816 |
60
Minutes recently aired an episode discussing the US
government trying to gradually take away our gun
rights. They also discussed the potential issue
with smart guns and how allowing them would eventually
take away the right to own a gun without "smart"
technology.
Fact & OPINION:
I do own a
410 over/under which I keep in storage and use when I
go hunting. I do not keep a gun at home for fear
of someone in our family accidentally shooting
themselves or someone else. It happens about
12,000 times per year in the US. I began to get upset
when I realized that while the NRA and ardent gun
owners are protecting their own rights, they have no
problem making sure that I don't have the right to own
a smart gun. This actually pisses me off.
(fact source: CBS -
June 2016) |
|
|
|
Orlando
Shooting
06/1616 |
"How
many mistakes can we make?"
'It was a mistake to invade Iraq.'
'It was a mistake to abandon Iraq.'
'It is a mistake to allow so many, improperly vetted
Middle Eastern males into the US.'
'It is a mistake to allow terrorist groups to use
social media (or at least not allow the FBI to monitor it).'
'It is a mistake to underestimate the power of Shania
and the separation of church and state.'
'It is a mistake to allow people on the "no fly list"
to legally purchase guns in the US.'
Fact & OPINION:
Enough
said.
(fact source: KFI Radio
- June 2016) |
|
|
|
Who to
Vote for
04/0316 |
In case
you missed it, the presidential nomination process
hasn't been a cakewalk for the establishment in either
party. I don't have time to bore you with the details but have
an observation on how I might vote.
Fact & OPINION:
"I would
rather vote for a good person with whom I disagree
than a bad person with whom I agree." (In the
primary.) What is a bad person? One
definition, for this purpose, is a person who is
deceptive and willingly lies or leaves out the truth
for his own personal gain. Chances
are that the bad person, once elected, will change
their mind anyway and you will no longer be in agreement.
I want your vote so I can take it away. It
happens.
(fact source: General
Media - April 2016) |
|
|
|
Social
Security
Cola
02/2716 |
Fact:
Social
Security COLA is tied to the Consumer Price Index and
SS recipients will receive no increase in 2016.
OPINION:
Really? I
know the price of gasoline and the stock market have
gone down but that's the only thing I can think of.
My healthcare premium, deductible, and cost of service
went up at least 8% in the past year. My
property taxes were up 2%, insurance on my house and
vehicles 3%, the general real estate market up 11%,
and food at least 10%.
(fact source: General
Media - February, 2016) |
|
|
2015
(Idea of the year:
The more ideological your are, the less democratic you are
!) |
Trump
Muslim
Quote
12/0815 |
Fact:
" ...
total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the
United States until our country's representatives can
figure out what is going on."
OPINION:
Whoa,
Trump is being denounced by both the Democrats and
Republicans. Once you get past all the miss-quotes, we
can try to understand what he was really saying or at
least what I think he was clumsily trying to say.
-
If you don't read the entire quote, it appears that
Trump doesn't want any Muslims entering the US...
incomprehensible.
-
If you read the entire quote, Trump wants to limit
Muslims entering the country until we improve our
vetting process.
A little
background:
The
Immigration Reform & Control Act (IRCA) of 1986
permanently changed the requirements for persons
seeking legal status in the US. Before it's
passing, immigrants were vetted on their background
and potential contribution to American society.
After the passing, immigrants were vetted on their
family connections in the US and any negative
documented records. Vetting emphasis was changed
from proving your worth to lack of a documented
negative record. Since many immigrants from 3rd
world countries have few records, the US has simply
been unable to vet most of the immigrants now arriving
in the US and, as a result, has allowed them to
immigrate. Our representatives really don't know
what is going on.
I don't
know the true motivation of Trump's supporters, but I,
myself, feel that the government, especially after
some of Obama's speeches on the subject, really
doesn't have my, or any other American's, best
interest at heart. This is not a good thing but
it is only a gut feel.
NEWS
FLASH: President Carter banned all Iranians
from coming to the US during the hostage crises.
(fact source: General
Media - December 08, 2015) |
|
|
|
Benghazi
Hearings
10/23/15 |
Fact:
An
additional hearing was completed with Hillary Clinton
testifying for 11 hours.
The goal was to figure out what happened when 4
Americans were killed in a terrorist attack in
Benghazi, Libya.
OPINION:
I don't
remember any hearings on the war in Iraq after 5,000
American soldiers were killed in Active duty, another
2,500 killed not in active combat, 15,000 crippled for
life, hundreds of thousands suffering mental disorders
for life, and at least another 150,000 Iraqis killed.
Gee, I wander why the average American doesn't
consider the Benghazi terror attack very important.
Don't forget another 3,500 people killed in the World
Trade Center attack. How about a little
perspective.
(fact source: General
Media - October 2015)
|
|
|
|
American
People
10/22/15 |
Fact:
Whenever a politician explains a position for which
they have questionable popular or logical support,
they invoke the name of the "American people" as the
support for their position.
OPINION:
This is
typically done by Republican politicians who often
times do not have my support for particular issue.
I have a problem being lumped in with the "American
people" as support for their often erroneous position.
It's been happening a lot lately.
(fact source: Meet the
Press - October 22, 2015)
|
|
|
|
Republican
Freedom
Caucus
10/11/15 |
Fact:
Republican Freedom Caucus.
OPINION:
I don't
know how to respond but here is a group of 30-40
republicans that are willing to shut down the U.S.
Government if they don't get their way, 100% of the
time. I
don't think any of America's enemies could do a a more
efficient job of this. Ironically, the "Freedom"
Caucus is effectively about taking away the American
people's freedoms including freedom of choice and
availability of contraception. Their "my-way or the
highway" positions also take away the freedoms of
other elected politicians to operate in the
legislative process. (Cronyism should not be part of
the legislative process.) Finally, I have a
serious problem with Freedom Caucus members invoking
the name of the American People as the base of their
support. I believe they are hallucinating if
they think they have the majority support of the
American people and will inevitably help lose the next
presidential election.
(fact source: Meet the
Press - October 11, 2015)
|
|
|
|
Jamie
Dimon
09/20/15 |
Fact:
Jamie Dimon, CEO of
Chase, quoted that shutting down the government is
"just bad management".
OPINION:
Jamie went on to say
that the problem with the current US government is
that the citizens keep electing politicians who refuse
to compromise or negotiate and are willing to shut
down the government in order to get their way (my
words). Jamie nailed it. I now look at the
candidates on their ability to manage rather than
dictate their will at the expense of the electorate.
I do not elect a politician to inflict their will on
the other elected officials but to run the government
for the betterment of the citizens. Of course,
my chosen candidates seldom win, e.g. Mitt Romney.
What a missed opportunity!
(fact source: Meet the
Press - September 20, 2015)
|
|
|
|
Pottery
Barn
Rule
09/06/15 |
Fact:
The Pottery Barn
Rule was created by a news commentator in reference to
the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. In short, you
break it, you bought it.
OPINION:
Many of the Republican
candidates are espousing that in retrospect, given the
current evidence, they would not have invaded Iraq.
That's BS! Hans Blix, U.N. International Nuclear
Energy Agency, inspected all of Iraq in 2002,
including temples, and concluded that Saddam had no
nuclear weapons of any type. Period. My
conclusion, these Republicans chose to believe the
wrong evidence and would most likely do it again
today. Some people just know how to make the
correct decisions and these Republicans aren't any of
them.
(fact source: General
News - September, 2015)
|
|
|
|
Speaking
Fees
08/01/15 |
Fact:
Hillary Clinton
received over $1.5 million from UBS for speaking fees
and then discussed some critical issues with UBS on
Swiss bank secrecy.
OPINION:
Dummy me. All
along I thought speaking fees were for speaking.
What a great way to donate over $2,700 to a public
and/or political figure without violating any election
laws. You and me, our donations are strictly
limited. Big corporations and wealthy
individuals, donate mullions and just call it a
speaking fee. I now understand that the term speaking
fee is just "code" for legal-illegal donations for
access to power. Nice.
(fact source: General
News - August, 2015)
|
|
|
|
Export
Import
Bank
08/01/15 |
Fact:
Ted Cruz is
relentlessly attacking Senate Leader McConnell for
supporting reauthorizing the Export Import Bank.
OPINION:
We already know that US
Trade agreements disadvantage American manufacturers.
Now Cruz wants to disable the one institution that
helps large American manufacturers compete with other
counties who unfairly support their own domestic
manufacturing industries. Nice going
Republicans.
(fact source:
McLaughlin- August, 2015)
|
|
|
|
Rand
Paul
07/22/15 |
Fact:
Rand Paul attaches
provision to defund Planned Parenthood to HR22, the
Federal Highway Bill.
OPINION:
What the frell do
women's rights issues have to do with the Federal
Highway Bill. It is this kind of "extortive"
logic that drives me crazy. I can't, in good
conscience, vote for someone with these kinds of
thoughts. It is potentially destructive to
American democracy.
(fact source:
McLaughlin- July, 2015)
|
|
|
2015 |
Electric
Cars
07/01/15 |
Fact:
Are electric
automobiles really that bad?
OPINION:
A gasoline fueled vehicle that gets 30 MPG, at $2.00
/gal gasoline costs $.066 per mile to operate. An
electric car that gets 3.7 miles per kWh (Nissan
Leaf), at $.10 per KWh electricity, costs $.027 per
mile to operate. $.027 per mile is a lot less than
$.066 per mile.
(fact source: General
Media - June, 2015)
|
|
|
|
06/07/15 |
Fact:
A position on any one
of the "single" political issues below could cost a
candidate the presidency in order of public awareness:
OPINION:
1) Women's choice. (Mike Huckabee
would not rule out US troops to shut down abortion
clinics.)
2) Troops on the ground in the Middle East.
3) Marijuana legalization.
4) Gun Control.
5) Flat tax - most of the electorate doesn't know and
doesn't care.
6) Common Core.
7) Healthcare - (Jeb Bush also advised that he would
phase out Medicare.)
(Ted Cruz was successful shutting down the US
Government over Obamacare.)
(fact source: General
Media - June, 2015)
|
|
|
|
Wall Street
Wrong Doing
05/19/15 |
Fact:
A recent survey of Wall Street revealed that
employees sign employment documents that they will not
report wrong doing to law enforcement.
OPINION:
All the rules in the
world will not solve Wall Street's unethical behavior.
However, making the employees themselves personally
responsible instead of the company and the stock
holder, definitely would.
(fact source: General
Media - May, 2015)
|
|
|
|
Hans
Blix
05/16/15 |
Fact:
Jeb:
I would not have invaded Iraq "Knowing what we know
now."
OPINION:
That's BS, not only by
Jeb, but by Hillary and all the other members of
Congress who voted for invading Iraq. We (I)
knew in 2003 that Sadam did not have any weapons of
mass destruction. Our government, and most
Americans, just chose to ignore the UN intelligence of
Hans Blix (IAEA) because he wasn't an American.
In fact, the CIA tried to totally discredit him even
though he personally conducted a thorough
on-the-ground search for WMDs in Iraq and found no
evidence of any. (BTW, can you imagine the fate
of any of Saddam's generals if they told him that the
Iraq military didn't have any WMDs.)
(fact source: General
Media - May, 2015)
|
|
|
|
Obamacare Sign-ups
05/07/15 |
Fact:
Newly insured:
22.8 million
Lost insurance:
5.9
Net gain:
16.9
|
Employer sponsored:
9.6
Medicaid:
6.5
Marketplace:
4.1
Individual:
1.2
Other:
1.5 |
OPINION:
No comment.
(fact source: Rand
Corporation - May, 2015)
|
|
|
|
Clinton
Foundation
05/06/15 |
Fact:
Fox News has reported that the Clinton Foundation
spends less than 10% of its revenue on actual grants.
The Clintons have denied this accusation. It is
merely political.
OPINION:
Look for yourself.
(link) In fact, it looks more like 5.9% if
you divide grants by total received.
Unbelievable, and imagine nearly $30 million spent on
salaries and benefits. I have no clue what $45
million of other expenses are for and neither does the
IRS.
(fact source: Fox News
- May, 2015)
|
|
|
|
Harry
Reid
04/12/15 |
Fact:
Harry Reid won't apologize for knowingly espousing
that Mitt Romney hadn't paid taxes in 10 years, when
he knew it was an untrue statement, and would
not apologize because Romney lost the presidential
election.
OPINION:
Wow, Harry Reid,
democratic leader of the Senate, has absolutely no
remorse on his knowingly untrue statement. While
I bailed as a member of the Republican party over 10
years ago because of the radical right wing, at least
the "tea-party" has principles. Harry Reid has neither
principles nor ethics. I am stunned by the lack of
blow-back from other members of the Democratic party.
I don't think that it is unreasonable to think that a
particular leader of a group represents the mind-set
of their followers. What am I
supposed to think about the rest of the Democrats that
are willing to throw away ethics and principles for
the sake of winning. I know its not fare to many
honest and ethical Democrats, but I have growing
distrust of all Democrats and their real motivations
based on the current event.
(fact source: General
Media - March, 2015)
|
|
|
|
9.6% of
Income for
health Care
04/05/15 |
Fact:
Employees share of medical expenses including premiums
and deductibles in 2013 stood at 9.6%. This is
up from 5.3% in 2003.
OPINION:
This amounts to 4.3% of
employees income that can no longer be used for
discretionary purchases. There is no doubt that
employers have taken the opportunity of the recession
to slide additional financial responsibilities to its
employees but I suspect the majority of the cost is
based on increased premiums by health insurers as a
result of Obamacare. This is the first data that I
have seen on the affects of an expanded health
bureaucracy. (BTW, my daughter just got back
from a visit to the local Urgent Care, paid on the way
out, and had nothing to do with Obamacare.)
(fact source: Money
Magazine - March, 2015)
|
|
|
|
Obama's
Patriotism
02/22/15 |
Fact:
Rudy Juliana claims that Obama doesn't love his
county.
OPINION:
Wow, after some
introspection, I remember when I totally opposed invading Iraq in
2003 because it would cause problems in the Middle
East that we couldn't even fathom, I guess you could
say that I didn't love my country either. Move
forward to the present, it looks like my belief was
totally correct and everyone else who supported the
invasion was totally wrong. So there! What
a frelling mess.
(fact source: General
Media - February, 2015)
|
|
|
|
Islamic
Terrorism
02/22/15 |
Fact:
Obama refuses to use the term "Islamic Terrorism"
because he believes the issue with ISIS is sectarian,
not religious.
OPINION:
I can understand the
belief that by using the term Islamic Terrorism, you
are legitimizing ISIS as a religious force. However,
this assumes that ISIS is a unique and separate
ideology. Unfortunately, this simply isn't true.
The Islamic ideology permeates the entire Middle East.
For example, the Mullahs are the real power center in
Iran. The Muslim Brotherhood has been a major
source of insecurity in Egypt and other parts of the
Middle East for decades. The Sunni and Shia have
been battling each other for centuries (e.g. ISIS,
al-Qaeda, Boco Haram, and AQAP. I'm sure
there are other examples but the point is that these
are "religious" issues, and if not recognized for what
it really is by Obama, there will be no effective
strategy to resolve the problem.
(fact source: General
Media - February, 2015)
|
|
|
2014 |
Twice in
Six years
11/08/14 |
Fact:
Yes, twice in 6 years, that's how many times President
Obama has met with Speaker of the House Boehner in the
last 6 years.
OPINION:
Maybe that's why the
mid term elections ended up being a referendum on
President Obama's policies. What the hell has he
been doing. Since the future of the United States has
been at risk in the last 10 years, in the 2016
elections, let's elect a president who wants to solve
some problems more than he wants to play golf and take
vacations.
(fact source: General
Media - November, 2014)
|
|
|
|
Republican
Mandate
11/04/14 |
Fact:
Republicans just won at least 52 seats in the Senate,
9 more seats in the House, and several more
governorships. Republican pundits claim that the
people of the US have given the country a new
direction.
OPINION:
Be careful Republicans,
very careful. The real reason the Republicans
won is because the Democrats were so disgusted with
their current Democrat leadership that they didn't
show up to vote. Depending on how things go over
the next 2 years, if they do show up in the 2016
election, the Republicans are doomed.
Republicans please don't do something stupid that
could cause a bunch of uninformed and
entitlement seeking voters to vote against you in the
next election.
(fact source: General
Media - November, 2014)
|
|
|
|
Minimum
Wage
10/25/14 |
Fact:
Setting a minimum wage of over $10 per hour is a major
source of derision in our electorate and government.
OPINION:
First, this issue may
best be left to the states and some municipalities.
That's my conservative coming out. Second, this topic
generally pits individuals against business. Not
good. In reality, the minimum wage needs to be set at
an amount that benefits the state (or country) the
most. Too much and business suffers, leads to
layoffs, and the GDP suffers. Too little and
individuals don't have the buying power and must
increasing depend on the government social-net and the
GDP suffers. So what should the minimum wage be? I
would start by recommending that we go back to 1990
and add the inflation rate on an annual basis.
(fact source: General
Media - October, 2014)
|
|
|
|
First Names
10/16/14 |
Fact:
Ebola, Benghazi, ISIS, fast-and-furious.
OPINION:
What do all these words
have in common? Just like popular entertainers
that can be readily identified by their first name,
each of the above words is an identifier for some
botched action that has been made by the current
administration. For people that are politically
aware (liberal or conservative), you don't even have
to mention anything more than the name and most
politically knowledgeable people know what you are
talking about. Now that's politics.
(fact source: General
Media - October, 2014)
|
|
|
|
Ebola
10/16/14 |
Fact:
President Obama and much of the press believe that
Ebola is not really a major problem in the US due to
our health care system.
OPINION:
First a couple facts.
The Ebola virus will survive on a flat surface for a
couple hours. Second, the Ebola virus will last
in fluid for a couple days. Think about it!
If someone with the Ebola virus sneezes on you, you
will get Ebola. Why is that not being newscast?
AIDS is rampant around the world but it takes blood to
blood contact in order to get it. That is much
more difficult than a "sneeze".
The really scary part
about Ebola, is that you have a 70% chance of dying
within a month if someone with the virus sneezes on
you. At least with AIDS, with medication, you
have a reasonable chance of leading a productive life.
Now do you understand why Ebola is a much more serious
issue than we are being led to believe.
Finally, wouldn't the
US be better off banning passengers with West African
passports from entry into the US. By eliminating
Ebola in the US, more effort can be placed on
attacking the virus in Africa. Once an outbreak
occurs in the US, the US will focus on the US and
efforts in Africa will be greatly reduced. This
is not a good strategy.
(fact source: General
Media - October, 2014)
|
|
|
|
Syria
09/21/14 |
Fact:
Most Americans, the media, and the pentagon believe
Assad in Syria is the real problem in the Middle East
and are determined to remove him from power.
OPINION:
Yes, Assad
is a strong man and has done some very bad things to
remain in power. However, can you name a single
Muslim country that isn't ruled by a strong man
(dictator, military, or King) that has done a lot of
bad things. Every country with a dictator that
the US has helped or allowed to be brought down, e.g.
Egypt, Libya, Iraq, has turned into a disaster area.
Any form of democracy simple doesn't work in the
Middle East, never has, never will. Even back in
the 1950's, the Muslim brotherhood was trying to
enforce it's radical interpretation of the Koran on
the people of Egypt until a dictator, and the
military, came to power to put things back in order.
Today, the
Muslim Brotherhood is still incubating mostly out of
sight and assumes the many different names including
Alcaida and ISIL. They represent an ideology
that will never go away. It's kind of like
fighting the war on drugs but even more dangerous.
The US should rethink its position on Assad as he
understands how to maintain control over most of a
Middle East country although it isn't democratic or
very nice. That's just how it works in the
Middle East. Just ask Russia and Iran who, being
neighbors in the Middle East, understand how the
Middle East works. The US definitely does not.
(fact source: General
Media - September, 2014)
|
|
|
|
Roger
Goodell
09/14/14 |
Fact:
In the last couple weeks, many people are calling for
Roger Goodell's resignation due to the Ray Rice
spousal abuse issue.
OPINION:
Regardless
of what people think of Roger Goodell, I would like to
point out that it was Ray Rice that hit girl friend
not Roger Goodell. These people are more
outraged that Roger Goodell didn't resign more than
Ray Rice abused his then girlfriend. Second,
isn't this a police issue. Since when is Roger
Goodell a member of law enforcement. I don't
think he or even the Raven's management has the legal
authority to arrest anybody. Third, if an
employee of a company is suspected of abuse, does his
employer have any legal authority to fire the employee
or just report it to law enforcement. Why would
it be any different for the Raven's management.
Finally, NFL management has the responsibility to run
the NFL as the management of any corporation would run
its business. They also have a responsibility to
cooperate with law enforcement as they have done.
Unfortunately, the Ray Rice issue has simply turned
into an opportunity for those who dislike Roger
Goodell to express their outrage and divert the
attention from the abuse issue to that of firing Roger
Goodell.
(fact source: General
Media - September, 2014)
|
|
|
|
Iraq
08/12/14 |
Fact:
ISUS terrorists are using tunnels outside Bagdad to
launch launch attacks against the Iraqis.
OPINION:
Wow, these
same tunnels were used by Saddam Hussein. We
also learned a couple weeks ago that ISUS had captured
a Sarin Gas manufacturing plant and there was actually
some Sarin Gas left over in the plant. We also
found out even earlier that the terrorists had grabbed
much of the arms and munitions left by the US when
leaving Iraq. My god, what the hell did we do in
Iraq. Even now, ISUS is grabbing and using the
US weapons left by the Iraqi arm as they were running
away.
(fact source: General
Media - August, 2014)
|
|
|
|
Fund Raisers
07/24/14 |
Fact:
President Obama has attended 395 fundraisers since
becoming president.
OPINION:
The
President has really amped up his attendance at fund
raisers in order to raise money to limit the number of
Senate seats the Republicans could gain in the
November, mid-term elections. The problem, is
that he appears not to be paying attention to a number
of major geopolitical and economic issues affecting
the US. We learned in the 2012 elections from
the Republicans, that no amount of money can overcome
a political leader not doing his job adequately.
(fact source: General
Media - July 24, 2014)
|
|
|
|
Obamacare
04/18/14 |
Fact:
President Obama takes a victory lap on 8 million
signups for Obamacare.
OPINION:
Without
getting into an argument over the actual number of new
insured's, wait till the insured's have to pay their
office co-pays, deductibles, out of network costs, and
non-covered medical treatment costs. They'll
wonder why they even have insurance.
(fact source: General
Media - April 18, 2014)
|
|
|
|
Global
Warming
04/06/14 |
Fact:
Lots of books and movies being released on Global
Warming.
OPINION:
Don't
these people ever learn. I realize they are
dialing for some of the $50 billion given away by
governments every year for global warming causes.
GLOBAL WARMING IS THE SIDE AFFECT OF POLLUTION AND
OVER POPULATION. If you reduce pollution and control
the world's population, carbon emissions will reduce
themselves. With all the focus in recent years
on global warming, we've taken our eyes off ocean
pollution. Over fishing and ocean pollution is
going to hurt mankind on the planet a lot sooner than
global warming will.
(fact source: General
Media - April 6, 2014)
|
|
|
|
Malaysia
Flight 370
03/17/14 |
Fact:
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 departed Kuala Lumpur
Airport on March 7, ascended to 35,000 feet, and all
communications ceased except for a random operations
ping every hour from its engines.
OPINION:
Ok, there
are a lot of theories on what happened to the flight
and these are well covered in other media.
However, the US spends over $600 billion per year in
Homeland Security and we don't know where a 777
currently is located ! This is a long range
aircraft and could potentially make it to US
territories. You'd have thought after 9/11 that
our Defense Department would know were every large
commercial jet is located in the world at all times
based on the devastation that can be caused by
hijacked jet. It makes me upset that our primary
response to 9/11 was to create TSA t pat down babies
in diapers and old women wearing Depends.
(sarcasm but true)
(fact source: General
Media - March 17, 2014)
|
|
|
|
Ted
Cruz
01/25/14 |
Fact:
Senator Ted Cruz was born in Canada of American
parents and believes that it was the Democrats who
shut down the US Government last year and that
President Obama is solely responsible for
current unemployment rate.
OPINION:
While
President Obama may not be the greatest "operating"
President and I disagree with many of his policies,
Cruz's statements damn near make my head explode.
First, Cruz is not eligible to be president dui to his
birth place. Period. We learned that from the
"birthers" in 2012. (It's their rule.)
Second, the majority of Americans believe that it was
the Republicans that shut down the government.
Let's face it, the Republicans are equally responsible
for the over-spending by the federal government and
now they want to renege on payment. Nice.
Second, much of the current unemployment is due to
manufacturing moving overseas due to international
trade agreements that lay bare the American worker to
unfair foreign competition. Another brilliant move by
the Republicans. Finally, it was Republican sponsored
legislation to overturn Glass Steagall in 1999 that
led to unregulated trading and risk taking by the
banks that resulted in the financial crises in 2008.
Basically, the Republicans broke it and the Democrats
aren't fixing it fast enough.
(fact source: CBS Jan.26, 2014)
|
|
|
|
NFL
Non profit
01/23/14 |
Fact:
The NFL is a 501-C non-profit where the commissioner
makes $29.5 million per year and the NFL donates $2.3
million to charity, 2.1 million of which is to the
Hall of Fame.
OPINION:
No wander the US is running a budget deficit.
The commissioner should be allowed to make all he
wants, just not as a non profit. It's the owners
of the teams that should be concerned. How many more
non profits like this are hiding out there.
(fact source: General
Media Jan.23, 2014)
|
|
|
|
George
Washington
Bridge
01/12/14 |
Fact:
Chris Christie denies he knew about a 2-lane shut
down of the George Washington bridge in retribution of
a New Jersey Mayor that refused to endorse Christie in
the prior elections.
OPINION:
I don't know the facts yet but Christie did cancel the
Trans Hudson Express Tunnel in 2010, an
$18 billion project to construct 2 transportation rail
lines under the Hudson River to relieve traffic
congestion in NYC. .
(fact source: General
Media Jan.12, 2014)
|
|
|
2013 |
Affordable
Care Act
Tax
12/22/13 |
Fact:
Just got notice from my health insurance company that
the Affordable Care Act requires that they collect another 4%
in taxes from me.
OPINION:
Does anyone else notice the irony. My health
insurance rate went up 9% for 2014 and now I'm being
advised that I will have to pay another 4%.
Really?. How about calling it the "Unaffordable
Care Act.. Add to that that I'm in my early 60's
and already pay about $1,300 per month for a policy
(includes wife) with a $,7500 deductible. My
insurance company has literally paid out $.18 (that's
18 cents) in benefits in the last 4 years. What
a disaster. We needed insurance reform, not
health care reform.
(fact source: US Mail
Dec. 22, 2013)
|
|
|
|
Obamacare
Transfer of Wealth
12/01/13 |
Fact:
Under Obamacare, $250 billion per year will be
transferred from Medicare and an increase
in taxes on
the professional middle class in order to pay for
expanded Medicaid and Obamacare subsidies.
OPINION:
Wow, I have never heard paying for Obamacare explained and
articulated so succinctly. I don't know the precise
numbers but I do know that a whole lot of people are
going to get healthcare insurance when they really
need healthcare. Obamacare simply places an
additional layer of profit margin between the
individual needing healthcare and the payer.
Also, I can't imagine the 10s of millions of people
who don't even turn in an annual tax return so how are
they going to be fined for not having healthcare to
help pay for the program. It kind of makes my
head spin..
(fact source: Fox News
Sunday Dec. 1, 2013)
|
|
|
|
Republicans
Obamacare
11/19/13 |
Fact:
Republicans continue to rail against Obamacare and are
pretty confident that this will give them and
advantage in the 2014 election cycle.
OPINION:
What the Republicans don't understand is that although
you didn't lay the caca, if you step in caca, you're
going to smell like caca. In short, just get out of
the way and let Obamacare self destruct on its own.
If the Republicans keep interfering, the democrats are
preparing to blame the failure of Obamacare on the
Republicans in 2014 and it might just work.
(fact source: General
Media Nov. 19, 2013)
|
|
|
|
Republican
Party
Irony
10/28/13 |
Fact:
Republicans in the House have constantly tried to
defund Obamacare and now they are demanding a delay in
the individual mandate.
OPINION:
What are they trying to do, destroy the health
insurance industry. Imagine those Insurance
Company CEO's thinking that only sick people with
pre-existing conditions are going to sign up for
Obamacare. Healthy individuals won't have to
sign up until enforcement of the mandate begins a year
later. This is another shot across the bow of
business by Republicans. The Democratic
strategists would be well advised to point this out
when soliciting donations from business in the next
elections.
(fact source: General
Media Oct. 28, 2013)
|
|
|
|
Tea Party
Irony
10/18/13 |
Fact:
About 30 Tea Party congressmen made it clear that they
oppose Obamacare under all circumstances including
defaulting on the country's debt. (They believe
that there is already enough money to pay the debt
obligation even if in means under funding other
government obligations.) There primary principal
is to reduce government spending.
OPINION:
This is where the irony begins. As a result of
their position, the US GDP has been reduced by
approximately .3% +, 400,000 employees were furloughed
and will be double compensated after collecting
unemployment, thousands of contractors will not be
compensated and many will go out of business,
thousands of small indirectly related businesses will
will go out of business, world opinion of the US will
be undermined, and reduction in US credit worthiness
will cost the US untold billions in increased
borrowing costs. Nice going Tea Party. As
the saying goes, with friends like you, who needs
enemies.
(fact
source: General Media
Oct. 18, 2013)
|
|
|
|
Obamacare &
Sequestration
10/14/13 |
Fact:
The
Republicans are refusing to sign a bill funding the US
Government unless Obamacare is defunded.
Yesterday, the Democrats countered with reducing
Sequestration.
OPINION:
I can't believe the Republicans didn't see this
coming. By demanding that Obamacare be changed,
the Republicans opened themselves up to changes in
Sequestration. What a bunch of amateurs.
Special bonus: The Republicans now want to open up
Social Security as a compromise to Obamacare. I
don't know about you but the Federal Government has
been removing 15% from my (and my employer's)
compensation for almost 40 years and now the
Republicans want to take some of the benefit away.
Nice, and they expect me to vote for them in the 2014
elections!
(fact
source: General Media
Oct. 14, 2013)
|
|
|
|
S&P US
Downgrade
10/03/13 |
Fact:
In 2011, S&P downgraded the US sovereign credit
rating to AA+ from AAA.
OPINION:
At the time I was pretty upset about the downgrade.
In fact, S&P was the only downgrade and maintains that
downgrade till today. The US Justice Department
is even suing S&P on the downgrade. Let's move
forward to today. The Republican House and the
Democrat Senate are locked in a ideological battle to
partially shut down the government and were banging up
against the debt sealing. We have a president who
doesn't like to negotiate and after 6 years, hasn't
even met most of the members of the House and Senate.
I now cant believe the US is still at AA+. Ask
some of those government employees who have been
furloughed what they think. It almost makes you
reconsider ownership of treasury bills. These
are no longer fail safe. I actually see the
other governments of the world placing additional
emphases on finding an alternate currency.
(fact source: General
Media Oct. 5, 2013)
|
|
|
|
Obamacare
09/30/13 |
Fact:
Tomorrow,
October 1, is the day that the Obamacare health
insurance exchanges go into affect.
OPINION:
Obamacare has already been funded and the irony is
that whether or not the Republican House shuts down
the economy, it won't affect the implementation of
Obamacare. Additionally, if Obamacare is
successful, the Democrats will get the credit and if
it fails, the Republicans will be blamed. By not
hooking Obamacare to funding the US government, the
Republicans have missed a fantastic opportunity of
letting Obamacare collapse under it's own weight and
Democrats taking the hit. Nice strategy.
(sarcasm)
(fact
source: General Media
Sept. 30, 2013)
|
|
|
|
Snowden
Asylum
07/13/13 |
Fact:
Snowden
has been offered asylum by Venezuela, Bolivia,
Ecuador, Nicaragua, .
OPINION:
I had mistakenly thought that relations between the US
and Latin American countries had gotten better during
the last 40 years. I went to a Catholic high
school in the late sixties near San Francisco that was
attended by many students from Latin American
countries. It was a very small school and all
the students were quality individuals. However,
on a political basis, some of my friends from
Latin America explained that the US was not liked by a
majority of their country men. During the last
decade, I had thought things were getting better die
to increasing prosperity. Sadly, based of the
offers of asylum from some Latin American counties, it
looks like I was really wrong.
(fact
source: General Media
July 13, 2013)
|
|
|
|
Egypt
Overthrow
07/07/13 |
Fact:
Senator
John McCain speaks out against the overthrow of a
democratically elected president of Egypt.
OPINION:
Guess who was democratically elected to president of
Germany in 1932? Don't you wish he had been
overthrown? Doesn't McCain ever learn anything
from history. Even today, how about those
democratically elected presidents of Venezuela and
Iran. Dictators often use the democratic process
to implant themselves in power and then figure out how
to stay in power till they pass away.
(fact
source: General Media
July 7, 2013)
|
|
|
|
Tax
Rates
06/05/13 |
Fact:
The 400 top U.S. taxpayers in the US paid an effective
federal income tax rate of 17% in 2007 which is 30%
lower than in 1995. The top 1% or 1.4 million
tax payers paid 23% in 2008 down 29%.
OPINION:
Please note that the 1% (working professionals) paid a
higher tax rate than the richest 400. Guess who
has more access to the president, legislatures, and
lobbyists!
(fact
source: General Media
June 5, 2013)
|
|
|
|
Unpaid
Taxes
03/19/13 |
Fact:
Small businesses in the US fail to pay to $450 billion
per year in taxes.
OPINION:
All cultures try to avoid taxes but as the US
gravitates to a larger percentage of small, cash &
carry businesses, expect a lot less in taxes to be
paid. The underground economy is about $2
trillion per year and growing rapidly.
(fact
source: General Media
April 3, 2013)
|
|
|
|
Assault
Weapons
03/19/13 |
Fact:
Assault weapon ban stripped from Senator Feinstein's
gun bill.
OPINION:
Even Mayor Bloomberg repeated on national TV last week
that of the 32,000 + Americans killed in 2012 by guns,
400 were by assault weapons, 12,000 murders by hand
guns, and 20,000 suicides by hand guns.
(fact
source: General Media
March. 19, 2013)
|
|
|
|
Payday
for Lobbyists
01/06/13 |
Fact:
President Obama signed into law a $9.7 billion bill to
be used to pay some flood insurance claims from
Hurricane Sandy.
OPINION:
Let me get this straight. If you purchased flood
insurance from the government, and your home was
damaged by a flood, you may not get paid until
Congress approves the payment. So basically, if
you comply with the written insurance contract by
making your monthly payments, the government has a
choice on whether or not to pay you for your flood
damage. In fact, the Republicans tried to block
payment to the flood insurance claimants. You've
got to be kidding!
(fact
source: General Media
Jan. 6, 2013)
|
|
|
|
Payday
for Lobbyists
01/03/13 |
Fact:
Congress just passed the Fiscal Cliff deal limiting
tax increases to couples earning more than $450,000
per year.
OPINION:
America is the land of opportunity. Lobbyists
were able to sneak in $72 billion worth of pork.
Imagine, a $2 billion investment in lobbying producing
$72 billion in payout. Folks, this is better
than Las Vegas.
Update: The expected additional tax revenue in 2013 is
$60 billion which is $12 billion less (deficit) than
the pork that will be handed out.
(fact
source: General Media
Jan. 3, 2013)
|
|
|
2012 |
NRA /
Video Games
12/23/12 |
Fact:
The NRA
blames violence in movies and video games on the
malevolent use of guns in the US.
OPINION:
I grew up in the 50's and 60's when many of the movies
were about cops & robbers shooting it out, cowboys &
Indians shooting it out, and US military and Nazi's
shooting it out. I simply don't believe that this had
any affect on the homicide rate.
(fact
source: Face the Nation
plus General Media Dec. 23, 2012)
|
|
|
|
Republicans /
Tax Rate
12/09/12 |
Fact:
The
Republican party continues to hold its position that
the top 2% of individuals not face an increase in the
top federal tax rate to 39.6%. This would be
devastating to small business and future employment.
OPINION:
First, your local small business doesn't net
$250,000 per year. He'll find enough additional costs
to solve that issue. The top 2% mostly consists
of doctors, lawyers, entertainers, sports athletes,
and corporate management whose accountants form
business structures for their accountants to reduce
these tax burdens.
Second,
while the Republicans are focusing solely on the "tax
rate", they are not defending a major increase in the
dividend tax (which retired persons depend on in
retirement), and they are offering up reductions in
deductions including the middle class mortgage
deduction and state tax deduction. With friends
like this, who needs enemies.
(fact
source: Face the Nation
plus General Media Dec. 9, 2012)
|
|
|
|
4 Dead in
Bengasi
11/18/12 |
Fact:
While the
US Ambassador and 3 others were killed in a terrorist
attack Bengasi, over 30 American soldiers have been
killed in Afghanistan.
OPINION:
Think about it for a moment. 3,353
soldiers have been killed in combat in Iraq since 2003
. This does not include soldiers killed not in combat
and private security personnel killed in combat or not
in combat. It does not include 100,000 soldiers
and backup personnel injured for life. Last time
I checked, we are still paying $20 billion per year
for soldiers injured in the Viet Nam war.
(fact
source: Face the Nation
plus General Media Nov. 2012)
|
|
|
|
CA Refinery
Status
10/26/12 |
Fact:
BP -
Intended sale to Tesoro, FTC reviewing based on
resulting market share issue.
CHEVRON -
Richmond Refinery cancelled $5 billion upgrade due to
pressure from environmentalists.
EXXMOB -
Sold off all retail and trucking in 2012.
SHELL -
previously sold half of retail in SoCal.
Expanding ethanol capability of =Carson terminal.
TESORO -
Rumor that will shut down Wilmington plant within 4
years.
VALERO -
Both CA refineries placed up for sale in October 2012.
ALON -
Edgington plant shut down, difficult business plan
with Paramount and Bakersfield facilities.
OPINION:
Way to go CARB.
(fact
source: General New
Oct. 26, 2012)
|
|
|
|
Chaves
Wins
10/09/12 |
Fact:
Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez wins a new six-year term.
OPINION:
Chavez provides subsidized oil to Cuba and other
political allies and cut exports to paying customers
like the United States. As a result, crude production
has fallen 30 pct, the debt has ballooned to $50
billion from $3 billion, and a big chunk of production
is now committed to China and Japan to repay loans.
Many energy companies have left Venezuela after Chavez
nationalized their assets.
(fact
source: General New
Oct. 09, 2012)
|
|
|
|
Voting
I.D.
10/02/12 |
Fact:
There are
currently numerous Voter ID legal challenges in a
number of states across the U.S.
OPINION:
I don't understand how
someone can go through life without some sort of photo
ID. In short, they’ve never bought cigarettes, never
bought an alcoholic beverage, never driven a car,
never got married, never registered a child for
school, never ridden on an airplane, never held a job,
never signed up for Medicare or Social Security or any
other government benefit. I’ve
always had to show my Photo ID whenever I’ve done any
of the above,
(fact
source: General New
Oct. 02, 2012)
|
|
|
|
Wages
as % of Econ.
08/22/12 |
Fact:
Analysis
of graph:
In 2000, wages represented 49% of GDP.
In 2008, wages represented 45% of GDP.
In 2012, wages represented 44% of GDP.
OPINION:
So much
for trickle down economics. However, the graph
may not have been corrected for benefits
including reduced pension costs and increasing
healthcare costs.
(fact
source: Henry Blodget
June 22, 2012)
|
|
|
|
Voter
Fraud
08/22/12 |
Fact:
Bill Maher
(and the Democrat party) has stated that since 2000,
there have only been 10 cases of voter fraud out of
146 million voters.
OPINION:
I'm
confused. According to PEW:
Nearly 2 million deceased individuals are listed as
active voters.
Approximately 2.75 million people have active
registrations in more than one state.
There is a
simple solution, just stamp indelible purple ink on a
persons hand after they vote like they do in most 3rd
world countries. It's simple and it works.
(fact
source: Bill Maher
August 18, 2012 / PEW February 14 2012)
|
|
|
|
Disability
Insurance
07/23/12 |
Fact:
Over 8.7
million workers are now on disability in the US. The
system ran a deficit of $8.5 billion in 2009 and has
risen to $25.3 billion in 2011.
OPINION:
Congress
enacted legislation in 1956 to add federal disability
insurance to the Social Security system. It is
funded by a 1.8% payroll tax that is split between
employee and employer. Obviously, this is
a major operational failure. Doesn't anyone know
how to run anything anymore?
(fact
source: CNSNews
July 23 2012)
|
|
|
|
Theater
Tragedy
07/22/12 |
Fact:
In the
past 3 years, guns have become allowed in the National
Parks, on Amtrak trains, and in some states, bars.
Even Mexico is complaining about the 2,000 weapons/day crossing
the US Southern border into
Mexico.
OPINION:
Where was
Homeland Security? Last week a 92 year old lady
at an airport complained about a TSA agent forcing her
to remove her diaper. In the meantime, someone
is buying 6,000 rounds of assault weapon munitions
without any red flags being raised by anyone.
(fact
source: general Media
July 22 2012)
|
|
|
|
Obamacare
Mandate
07/97/12 |
Fact:
The
Supreme Court ruled that the Obamacare healthcare
insurance mandate is Constitutional regardless of what
you call it.
OPINION:
What am I
missing. Since I have a job, I'm forced to
purchase retirement insurance (Social Security), I'm
forced to buy retired persons healthcare insurance
(Medicare), I'm forced to buy disability insurance,
unemployment insurance, and the list goes on.
Since I pay a lot for healthcare insurance, I'm very
happy that others will also be required to purchase
healthcare insurance so I don't have to pay for their
healthcare costs when they become ill.
(fact
source: Business Week
Article July 9 2012)
|
|
|
|
Grover Norquist
Tax Pledge
07/06/12 |
Fact:
95%
of all Republican Congressmen and Gov. Romney have
signed Grover Norquist's "Taxpayer Protection Pledge"
which opposes any increases in the marginal tax rate
for individuals and businesses,
as well as net reductions or
eliminations of deductions and credits without a
matching reduced tax rate
OPINION:
Very
interesting how these politicians place their
political responsibilities ahead of their
"Constitutional" responsibilities.
Let's take
a closer look at what they're really doing. They
won't raise taxes but have no problem raising "fees"
on just about every government service, cutting
education so parents are straddled with increasing
costs, reducing highway spending so the only way I can
get to work is on a toll road, and cutting dozens of
other government programs that have made America what
it is. (I'm not talking about unpaid for
entitlements.) They complain about the destruction of
the American way of life. Congratulations, you
have done a great job of helping destroy it.
(fact
source: General News
Media
June28, 2012)
|
|
|
|
2,000 Guns
per day
06/28/12 |
Fact:
The
Republican-led House of Representatives voted to find
Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of
Congress for withholding documents in a botched
gun-running sting operation (2,000 guns) on the
U.S.-Mexico border.
OPINION:
While
these hearings were proceeding, over 2,000 weapons
per day are heading south over the border into
Mexico. In fact, under current US laws, there is
no way to stop the continuing flow over the border.
Nice.
(fact
source: Reuters
June28, 2012)
|
|
|
|
IRAs
Drop 25%
06/18/12 |
Fact:
New Census
Bureau data shows that median household net worth,
excluding home equity, fell by 25% between 2005 and
2010. That decline was mainly due to plummeting
individual portfolios and retirement accounts. The
median home equity value dropped 28%. The current
recession has wiped out nearly 30 years of net worth
gains for the typical household.
OPINION:
So much
for the middle class. The top 5% will begin to
feel the affect of this over the next few years and
reduced tax revenue will further affect entitlements.
(fact
source: CNN
June18, 2012)
|
|
|
|
Oil Prices &
Traders
02/24/12 |
Fact:
Banks,
investors, and hedge funds (not oil companies) account
for 2/3rds of all futures trading on the NYMEX.
.
OPINION:
The oil
industry keeps taking hits from misinformation being
circulated by the news media including cable news.
The crude producers are also major beneficiaries of
the higher prices caused by the bank traders.
However, the refining and marketing segments of the
petroleum industry get financially slaughtered during
periods of high gasoline prices.
(fact
source: CBS Nightly
News,
February 24, 2012)
|
|
|
|
Cayman
Islands
02/15/12 |
Fact:
An
increasing number of wealthy Americans are moving
money offshore.
OPINION:
The common
belief is that wealthy Americans move money offshore
to avoid taxation. According to Smart Money,
wealthy Americans pay US taxes based on their
worldwide earnings. The reason they move money
offshore is to protect their assets from lawsuits and
insurance against the US Government leveling
additional levies on their wealth.
(fact
source: Smart Money
February 15, 2012)
|
|
|
|
BAC
10% of all Trades
02/14/12 |
Fact:
It was
just announced that Bank of America traded 10% of all
stock trades made on the NYSE last month.
OPINION:
I see
nothing has really changed. Imagine that the
trading goes south, and then the government (tax
payer) has to bail them out again because they are now
really too big to fail. Whatever happened to
acting like a real bank.
(fact
source: general news,
February 13, 2012)
|
|
|
|
5 Big banks
$25 Billion
02/14/12 |
Fact:
49 States
just settled with the 5 largest banks in the US to
provide $5 billion in home loan rebates and $20
billion in reduced principle.
OPINION:
I just
learned that the 5 larges banks only hold 10% of all
home loans in the US except they service a lot more.
Freddie Mac, Fannie May, FHA, and VA hold 85% of the
loans in the US. However, they are exempted from
the settlement. Wow, again, it's the government
that is at fault after blaming the banks (who are not
without guilt).
(fact
source: general news,
February 12, 2012)
|
|
|
|
Freddie Mac
$ Billions
01/30/12 |
Fact:
Freddie
Mac (taken over by the US government) bet billions
against homeowners refinancing their homes.
OPINION:
Politics
aside, the biggest problem with our federal government
is its inability to manage. President Obama
announced in his State-of-the-Union address that the
federal government wants to enable homeowners to
refinance their homes. A few days later, Freddie
Mac, with 50% of the US mortgage market, is caught
making investments in securities that appreciate if
homeowners fail to refinance. Of course, Freddie
Mac just instituted guidelines for homeowners making
it more difficult for them to refinance. Isn't
this a major conflict of interest. Who the hell
is minding the store!
(fact
source: general news,
January 31, 2012)
|
|
|
|
Offshore Tax
Avoidance
01/22/12 |
Fact:
The
Congressional Research Service presented a paper in
September 2010 stating that the annual cost of
offshore tax avoidance is about $100 billion.
OPINION:
This paper
is over a year old and I don't know the exact
definition of tax abuse but due to the high estimate,
I would think someone experienced in these issues
would put together a fair and accurate presentation of
what is going on. Mitt Romney may potentially
lose the Republican Party Nomination due to his
inability to define and present, in understandable
terms, his offshore holdings.
(fact
source: Congressional Research Service,
September 3, 2010)
|
|
|
|
Social Security
Privatization
01/15/12 |
Fact:
It appears
that all of the Republican Presidential candidates are
in favor of partial or complete privatization of
Social Security.
OPINION:
Think
about this for more than a second. If you get
rid of Social Security right now, instead of 55
million Americans on Social Security that paid into
the system their entire working life, you would have
approximately 50 million Americans collecting welfare
checks and unemployment checks because they didn't
save enough for retirement. GREAT! Wait
till you see the budget deficit after this happens.
(fact
source: General Media,
January 15, 2012)
|
|
|
2011 |
IRAQ
WAR ENDS
12/15/11 |
Fact:
Effective
Thursday, December 15, US participation in the war in
Iraq officially ends.
OPINION:
Or did it?
The US Embassy in Iraq started at $750 million and is
now estimated ultimately to cost $7 billion and employ
as many as 17,000 contractors. Contractors are a
lot more expensive than troops.
(fact
source: General Media,
December 15, 2011)
|
|
|
|
PAYROLL
TAX
12/10/11 |
Fact:
Chris
Wallace announces that Congress is about to raise
taxes, e.g. the Payroll Tax.
OPINION:
Unbelievable! Congress is about to let the
temporary cut in collections for the Federal INSURANCE
Contributions Act (FICA) expire and the Republicans
claim this is a tax increase. I get it. By
not collecting the insurance premiums for Social
Security, they can help insure its financial collapse.
The fact that Democrats also want to undermine the
collection of premiums for Social Security is mind
boggling.
(fact
source: Fox News Sunday
and other general media,
December 10, 2011)
|
|
|
|
CO2
+39%
11/22/11 |
Fact:
The UN
Weather Agency announced that CO2 concentrations in
the upper atmosphere are 389 PPM, up 39% from 280 PPM
25 years ago. The latest tests show an increase of 2.3
PPM per year, up from 1.5 PPM a decade ago.
OPINION:
I don't
know if the measurements are accurate and if they are
consistent. However, it does appear that the
weather conditions in SoCal are warmer today than they
were 50 years ago. I doubt that this warming is
caused by man but I am sure that crippling economies
is not the solution.
(fact
source: General media,
November 22, 2011)
|
|
|
|
900 Bases
130 Countries
11/20/1 |
Fact:
According
to Ron Paul, the US maintains 900 military bases in
130 countries.
OPINION:
It's
difficult to substantiate these numbers because the
military uses different definitions for military
bases. However, Politifact believes Ron Paul's
numbers are mostly true. Hey, we just added
Australia to the list, another base, another country.
No wonder we have a budget deficit. Last week,
the US successfully tested a flying bomb that can hit
any point in the world in less than 1 hour.
Let's build a lot of these flying bombs and scratch
half the military bases. Think of how much money we
could save.
(fact
source: General media,
November, 2011)
|
|
|
|
Wall Street
Bonuses
10/12/11 |
Fact:
"Amid hard
times, Wall Streeters expect higher bonuses"
OPINION:
Now are
you beginning to understand why thousands of people
are occupying Wall Street! (They don't know why,
they just know something is wrong although they can't
articulate their position.) Let me recap. After
a major bailout, most financial institutions profits
have vanished, their stock prices have collapsed,
millions of Americans are out of work due to the
financial collapse, and most worker's 401Ks sustained
50% hits. Realistically, according to other
sources, bonuses will probably be down about 10%.
(fact
source: New York
Business.com, October 12, 2011)
|
|
|
|
Columbus
Day
10/12/11 |
Fact:
After 3
hours of programming on a progressive, nationally
syndicated talk show on AM radio, not one single
"call-in" had anything nice to say about Columbus.
OPINION:
OK, I can
understand why some people might quibble with Columbus
"discovering" America since it was already occupied
and we've recently learned that other civilizations
had previously explored potions of America, but
Columbus was the first explorer to document his
exploration which eventually benefited all of mankind.
I look at the bigger picture and come to the
conclusion that Columbus represents mankind's interest
in exploring the unknown. Of course, those who
minimize Columbus's discovery of America are also
probably against our manned space exploration program
which is now about to expire. Go progressives!
(fact
source: Thom Hogan
Radio Show- October 12, 2011)
|
|
|
|
Middle Class
Tax Break
(09/24/11) |
Fact:
One of the
main talking points of President Obama is a $1,500 tax
break for the middle class is the form of a reduction
in the "payroll tax".
OPINION:
Really!
Let's just go ahead and undermine the Social Security
program further. Last time I checked, FICA stood for
Federal Insurance Contributions Act. Basically,
it's a hugely successful insurance program (needs some
tweaking). Not collecting money to support the
program is no different than not paying the premiums
on your insurance. Sooner or later, it gets
cancelled.
(fact
source: General Media-
September 2011)
|
|
|
|
Warren
Buffet
(09/23/11) |
Fact:
Warren
Buffet keeps saying this his secretary pays a higher
tax rate than he does.
OPINION:
First, she
must be making way over $50,000 per year because 47%
of Americans don't pay income taxes. But let's
give this a little more thought. Buffet receives
only dividends from his company which are taxed at
15%. Since he doesn't take a salary, the total
employee cost for his company are equally lower, which
results in his company paying a higher income tax at
an initial rate of 35%. Buffet then gets his
dividend after his company pays its taxes, and then he pays another 15%. The net benefit
to the federal government is a total 50%although
Buffet only personally pays 15% of the total. Oops, I
forgot, Buffet's companies are now being sued by the
IRS for $billions of unpaid taxes. Go figure.
(fact
source: General Media-
September 2011)
|
|
|
|
1:10
Tax Cut
(08/11/11) |
Fact:
In the
2011 pre-Iowa straw poll debate, all 8 Republican
candidates said they would refuse to accept a budget
deal with a 10-to-1 ratio of spending cuts to tax
increases.
OPINION:
No wonder
the equities markets are down. With this kind of
no-compromise position, President Obama is sure to be
reelected. (Why doesn't anyone differentiate between
raising tax rates and closing loopholes. You can
raise the tax rates all you want and it won't make any
difference if you don't close the loopholes.)
(fact
source: General Media-
Aug 11, 2011)
|
|
|
|
Cafe
Standards
(07/3011) |
Fact:
On
December 19, 2007, President George Bush signed into
law the
Energy
Independence and Security Act
which will improve the gas mileage of passenger
vehicles to 35 MPG by 2020.
OPINION:
I don't
understand, Why weren't the CAFE standards
increased when Al Gore was VP? Wasn't George
Bush supposed to be the bane of environmentalists?
To democrats, it seems like what you say is more
important than what you do.
(fact
source: Wikipedia -
July 30, 2011)
|
|
|
|
Obamacare
Tax
(07/2811) |
Fact:
Beginning
in 2013, couples earning wages of over $250,000 per
year will pay an additional 0.9% Medicare tax for a
total 2.35%. Investment income (capital
gains, dividends, interest, annuities, royalties and
rent) will be
taxed at
3.8%.
OPINION:
Just
thought I would remind the readers. 3.8% is a
significant tax on the wealthy and the not-so-wealthy
that have saved for retirement.
(fact
source: General News -
July 28, 2011)
|
|
|
|
Debt
Ceiling
(07/19/11) |
Fact:
|
|
|
Times
Raised |
Approx
Trillion |
Reagan |
1980
- 1988 |
17 |
$ 1 |
Bush |
1989 - 1992 |
8 |
$ 2 |
Clinton |
1993 - 2000 |
4 |
$ 1.5 |
GW Bush |
2001 - 2009 |
7 |
$ 4 |
Obama |
2009 -
|
3 |
$ 4+ |
|
|
OPINION:
Nothing
like a few facts.
(fact
source: Orange County
Register - July 19, 2011)
|
|
|
|
60% of
Budget
Deficit
(0717/11) |
Fact:
60% of the
current US budget deficit
is a direct result of the Bush Tax Cuts, Medicare Part
D, and the 2 wars in the Middle East.
OPINION:
The
percent sounds reasonable although it may be off by a
few percent. While the US economy is rapidly becoming
Obama's economy, as repeatedly pointed out by many
Republicans, It would be difficult for any
President to mitigate these massive increases in
expenditures. We're talking trillions of
dollars.
(fact
source: general new
articles - July 17, 2011)
|
|
|
|
US / China
Defense
Budgets
(07/11/11) |
Fact:
The US
military
budget is over $650 billion
per year.
China has the second highest in the world at $95
billion.
OPINION:
I guess if
you want to be the world's policeman and nation
builder, having a military budget 6 times larger than
the next highest is reasonable. My only issue is
that those people that support the budget don't want
to pay for it. Go figure.
(fact
source: general new
articles )
|
|
|
|
Social
Security
Increases
Facts
(06/06/11) |
Fact:
It's
nearing election season and Republicans (I'm a
conservative) are gearing up to go after Social
Security again. Yes, Social Security will
run a relatively small deficit this year, especially
because of weak revenue from a weak economy and the
payroll tax holiday.
OPINION:
However,
there are a number of mechanisms built into Social
Security that are correcting its path:
1) The age to collect full Social Security benefits is
increasing every year. This needs to continue.
2) Up to 85% of SS is taxed. Wealthier
individuals already pay more tax and receive less
benefit.
3) Medicare is deducted from SS and these premiums
will increase.
4) The payroll tax is based on a higher a amount of
taxable wages every year and should continue.
It's
important to remember that most retirees that receive
SS, earned it. This appears to be a program that
is working. It is not an entitlement for most
since they paid for it their entire working life!
(fact
source: general new
articles - June 06, 2011)
|
|
|
|
Economic
Condition
Facts
(06/03/11) |
Fact:
With
unemployment rising in May, housing prices falling,
and industrial production registering small declines,
the economy is looking a little bleak.
OPINION:
While I agree that
Washington is not taking the actions I would have
taken to bolster the economy (like reviewing
trade policy with individual violator countries, and
adding a VAT tax while reducing US corporate and
individual income taxes), based on actual stock market
indications, there has been some progress:
|
Jan. 7, 2009 |
June 3, 2011 |
|
DJIA |
8,769 |
12,151 |
Up
38.6% |
Nasdaq |
1,599 |
2,737 |
Up
71.2% |
S&P |
906 |
1,300 |
Up
43.5% |
The math
is pretty basic. I know my retirement savings
are a lot better off today than a few years ago.
Just the facts!
(fact
source: general new
articles - June 03, 2011)
|
|
|
|
Speculators
6% Margin
(04/13/11) |
Fact:
When a
trader speculates in the stock market, they are
typically required to deposit 50% of the full value of
the security with their broker. However, when that
same trader speculates in oil futures the margin
requirement is only around
6% of the
value of the contract.
OPINION:
Many misinformed
Americans still blame the oil companies for high oil
prices. The fact is that Wall Street speculators
are responsible for a very large portion of the price
increase. Oil companies must buy crude and sell
products based on the fluctuations of the petroleum
exchanges.
(fact
source: general new
articles - April 13, 2011)
|
|
|
|
Senator Kyl
Planned parenthood
(04/13/11) |
Fact:
Sen. Jon
Kyl (R-AZ) claims on the Senate floor that 90% of what
Planned Parenthood does is abortion. The facts are
that it's closer to 3%, When CNN contacted Kyl's
office, the response was: “His remark was not intended
to be a factual statement, but rather to illustrate
that Planned Parenthood, an organization that receives
millions of taxpayer dollars, does subsidize
abortions.”
OPINION:
When someone quotes a
fact, I generally take them at their word. My
opinions are based on fact so it is very important
that the facts be true. When someone
purposefully states a fact that they know not to be true in
order to support a closely held principle, it tells me
2 things. First, I can no longer trust what they
say and second, their principles are not supported by
facts. In short, you're wasting your time
listening or talking to that person. If that
person happens to be a Senator, and it was, the US is
in big
trouble.
(fact
source: general new
articles - April 13, 2011)
|
|
|
|
Corporate taxes
CAMT
(04/09/11) |
Fact:
A lot of attention
has been paid lately to Corporations not paying their
fair amount of taxes, especially since the US is
running some very significant budget deficits.
OPINION:
The best solution to
this problem is the simplest. Just add a
Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax (CAMT) to all
corporations with operations and business in the US.
You'll never change the existing tax code. Just
lay the CAMT on top of the existing tax code. If
the AMT is good enough for workers in the US,
the CAMT should be good enough for corporations.
By the way, make it 15% so that the US is not
uncompetitive with other countries.
(fact
source: general new
articles - April 9, 2011)
|
|
|
|
US Govt.
Shut Down
(04/08/11) |
Fact:
Republicans and
Democrats cannot agree on 2010 budget cuts so the
federal government will be shut down. The
Republicans want to cut a few extra billion dollars
from the 2010 budget, completely defunding Planned
Parenthood but won't admit this to the general public.
OPINION:
While the abortion
issue is a complicated issue and much more should be
done to encourage adoption, there is no excuse for
Republicans constantly lying about their true
intentions. In short, they're holding the
Democrats hostage over funding Planned Parenthood.
Those Republicans will find out in the next election
(to their detriment) that 53% of Americans believe in
Women's Rights.
(fact
source:
Rep. Peter Roskam
(R0Il)
on O'Reilly factor - April 8, 2011)
|
|
|
|
US Budget
Deficit
(03/21/11) |
Fact:
Why do Republicans
keep going after Social Security in order to solve the
budget deficit! Social Security has literally
financed the government since President began raiding
it in the early 80s. Besides, insurance is a
very conservative idea.
OPINION:
Social Security will
represent 4.7% of the budget deficit in 2010
Medicare will represent 14.4% and defense over 80% of
the deficit.
See link. Let's go after the 80%.
(fact
source: General
Observation - March 21, 2011)
|
|
|
|
Medicare
Funding
(01/21/11) |
Fact:
Current funding
sources for Medicare:
- Payroll taxes:
37%
- Premiums:
13%
- General Fund
43%
- Misc.
7%
100%
OPINION:
Medicare
really is an entitlement (unlike Social Security) in
the sense that the recipients really haven't paid for
their benefits.
(fact
source: Yahoo Finance
Jan 21, 2011)
|
|
|
|
Tax Deduction
Reform
(01/17/11) |
Fact:
Congress has a
banquet of options in front of it to raise revenue by
reducing deductions:
- Employer paid health insurance premiums:
131 ($ billion)
- 401K tax deductions:
118
- Mortgage Interest deduction:
88
- State & Local tax deductions.
78
- Charitable tax deductions:
47
- Lower tax rates on investment income:
24
486
OPINION:
Uh Oh. In
case you hadn't noticed, your tax rate has not been
increased in years but many of the tax deductions for
the middle class have secretly disappeared.
(fact
source: Business Week
- Reform is in the Eye of the Beholder)
|
|
|
|
Social
Security
Solvency
(01/07/11) |
Fact:
A same average-wage earner couple will
receive $555,000 in Social Security benefits after
paying $614,000 into the system during their working
years. That’s about 90% of their total
contribution not including interest. (Note: the
differential for Medicare is 211%)
OPINION:
Looks like
Social Security is a successful financial program for
the Federal Government. I often wander why some
republicans want to destroy the program and I'm a
conservative. (However, Medicare is a disaster.)
(fact
source:
Steuerle and Rennane)
|
|
|
|
Sierra Madre
Float
(01/01/11) |
Fact:
While
watching the Rose Parade on TV (from my home in Orange
which is just southeast of Pasadena) the float from
Sierra Madre won the Governors Award for the "best
depiction of life in California". Of course is
was broken down and being towed for the balance of the
parade.
OPINION:
How
ironic! Happy New
Year.
(fact
source: Rose Parade)
|
|
|
2010 |
Tea Party
Earmarks
(12/04/10) |
Fact:
Tea Party
Caucus members have already requested over $1 billion
in earmarks.
OPINION:
This is
too easy. After Republicans voted down
eliminating earmarks last week, did you really think
they were interested in deficit reduction.
Earmarks are the currency for extracting votes for
troubled legislation by the leaders of Congress.
At the end of the day, the 2010 mid term elections
will amount to nothing more than hot air. (As an
aside, for those who dislike Fox News, they were the
ones that broke the story!)
(fact
source: Fox News)
|
|
|
|
Bonus
Compensation
(12/02/10) |
Fact:
US
companies have paid out over $1 trillion in
executive bonus compensation in the last decade.
OPINION:
I had
recently heard that just about all increase if value
of the S&P 500 over the last decade had been handed
out as executive bonus compensation. If this is
the true, no wander there was zero increase in stock
value of the S&P 500 in the last decade.
(fact
source: Nassim Taleb - CNBC)
|
|
|
|
Wiki Leaks
(11/30/10) |
Fact:
In the
recent document release, no names of American citizens
in sensitive positions were revealed. (I just
found out that not a single leaked document was
classified as "top secret".
OPINION:
I didn't
know that. I actually thought that many US
operatives might be in jeopardy. The only real
confidential information revealed was that our State Department is run
by "amateurs" but I should have already known that.
(fact
source: John Stossel - O'Reilly Factor)
|
|
|
|
One Billion
Classified Documents
(11/30/10) |
Fact:
The US
Federal Government classified over one billion
documents as secret.
OPINION:
One of the
foundations of of a true democracy is transparency.
It's stunning how much information the Government
feels it has to hide from the American people.
It's equally amazing how many Americans believe this
secrecy is OK.
(fact
source: John Stossel - O'Reilly Factor)
|
|
|
|
Saving American Jobs
(11/29/10) |
Fact:
You'll
hear a lot from Republicans about saving American
jobs.
OPINION:
I find it
ironic that one of the main reasons for the current
unemployment rate is FREE TRADE. I see a lot of
manufactured, high tech products including automobile,
arriving on American shores but not much leaving.
Last week, the president of South Korea refused to
sign a free trade agreement with President Obama
because he couldn't understand why South Koreans would
buy American cars although American imports of Korean
cars is sky rocketing. It's not only economic, it's
cultural. I have never understood how our
political leaders don't understand that foreign
countries operate in their own best interests.
(fact
source: General Media Quote)
|
|
|
|
Homeland
Security
Web Sites
(11/26/10) |
Fact:
The
Department of Homeland Security has seized at least 12
domains in a major crackdown on websites enabling
copyright infringement and selling counterfeits of
trademarked goods.
OPINION:
Copyright
infringement and counterfeit goods are a serious
problem but I generally think of Homeland Security as
protecting American citizens from terrorists attacks.
What ever happened to the FCC and FTC? What
other agencies does Homeland Security have enforcement
jurisdiction over?
(fact
source: General News)
|
|
|
|
Wikileaks
Info Dump
(11/29/10) |
Fact:
New
reports indicate that Wikileaks will produce an
information dump of highly secret US government
material.
OPINION:
This is
dangerous and could lead to the deaths of some
Americans. This is horrible. However,
There is a silver lining! Is our federal
government upset about the leak or that the American
public is going to find out just how much secret
information is being leaked to foreign governments on
a regular basis. I often wondered how China
could so quickly develop a missile that could shoot
down satellites in outer space.
(fact
source: General Media Quote)
|
|
|
|
Al Gore
1st Generation
Ethanol
(11/24/10) |
Quote:
"It is no
a good policy to have these massive subsidies for
first generation ethanol." said Al Gore
OPINION:
As the US
petroleum industry has been significantly negatively
affected by mandated ethanol blending, this is a
horrific admission. It has always been my opinion that
corn based ethanol is extremely inefficient and that
the agricultural acreage used for fuel production will
significantly replace acreage for food production,
resulting in the starvation of 10s of millions of
humans around the world. Furthermore, once
advanced biofuels are developed, the future of the
rain forests, especially Brazil, are highly imperiled
as their acreage will be converted to sugarcane
production. As a tree person, I consider this a
disaster.
(Please
note that I manage a petroleum products marketing and
distribution facility in California and am responsible
for blending biofuels.) I've been told I'm an
idiot on many occasions.
(fact
source: General Media Quote)
|
|
|
|
California
(11/23/10) |
Fact
/ Opinion:
The draft
recommendation of the President's commission of
deficit reduction state that its recommendations would
drive tax collections up to 21% of GDP from the
historical norm of 18.5%.
(fact
source: Yahoo Finance Article)
|
|
|
|
Taxes
% GDP
(11/22/10) |
Fact
/ Opinion:
-
In 2010, CA received $.50 of every venture capital
dollar invested in US, up from $.42 in the 90s.
-
Did Apple Inc, Google, Twitter, Facebook move
out of state?
-
State
& local taxes about 9.7% of the annual state economy -
rest of the country averaged 10.5%.
-
In 2005, Californians bailed out rest of America to
the tune of about $50 billion & continue to do so.
-
State debt costs are $6 billion a year — total budget
$90 billion.
-
The non-partisan Legislative Analysts' Office in
Sacramento estimates there's a $136 billion gap in the
state pension and benefits system. Size of the state
economy? Oh, $2 trillion a year. That's 14 times the
size of this gigantic pension-fund gap.
OPINION:
You don't
hear about this kind of stuff from people that don't
live in California.
(fact
source: Yahoo Finance Article)
|
|
|
|
Scanning
Cargo Boxes
(11/08/10) |
Fact
/ Opinion:
"Fewer than 1 percent of the 14.5
million cargo boxes reaching the U.S. by water are
scanned abroad for terrorist threats."
OPINION:
Also this
week, TSA revealed new techniques for personnel on how
to slide their hands around passenger's bodies in
order to detect potential explosives.
(fact
source: Business Week Nov 8 issue)
|
|
|
|
Commodity
Speculation
(10/26/10) |
Fact
/ Opinion:
"Because there is already much more
capital available in the world than hard commodities,
speculators can increase the price of consumable
commodities, like foodstuffs or energy, much higher
than traditional consumers and producers can react. "
OPINION:
I think we
saw this with the oil markets a few years ago.
Plan on a lot more of this action in future years,
especially with corn, sugar cane, and other biofuel
crops. Is this insane or what?
(fact
source: Hedge Fund manager Mike Masters)
|
|
|
|
Undocumented
Deportation
(10/04/10) |
Fact:
Since the
beginning of 2010, the Department of Homeland Security
has deported over 400,000 criminal illegal aliens,
half of which had created crimes in the U.S.
OPINION:
This is
way more deportation that what occurred during the
Bush administration. Until Congress passes some
sort of immigration reform, focusing on deporting
undocumented workers that have committed crimes in the
U.S. or other countries seems like the logical and
humanitarian thing to do.
(fact
source: O'Reilly Factor with Janet Napolitano)
|
|
|
|
Payroll Tax
Holiday
(09/04/10) |
Fact:
I'm
hearing a lot of talk about a "payroll tax holiday"
coming from a broad range of politicians in
Washington.
OPINION:
Isn't a
"payroll tax holiday" just another way to undermine
Social Security. Democrats want the voters to
believe they are doing something about the recession
and Republicans believe this to be an opportunity to
place a final blow on this program. We already
know that the net flows into Social Security this year
will be slightly negative due to the recession and now
politicians are trying to reduce the program's
solvency even further.
Politicians forget that Social Security was originally
intended as an insurance program to insure a minimum
level of living standard during retirement, not a true
tax. The more you put in, the more you get out.
Many Republicans seem "hell bent" on taking the
"security" out of Social Security. That's really
not very conservative.
(fact
source: Fox News Sunday Morning)
|
|
|
|
Payroll Tax
Holiday
(09/04/10) |
Fact:
I'm
hearing a lot of talk about a "payroll tax holiday"
coming from a broad range of politicians in
Washington.
OPINION:
Isn't a
"payroll tax holiday" just another way to undermine
Social Security. Democrats want the voters to
believe they are doing something about the recession
and Republicans believe this to be an opportunity to
place a final blow on this program. We already
know that the net flows into Social Security this year
will be slightly negative due to the recession and now
politicians are trying to reduce the program's
solvency even further.
Politicians forget that Social Security was originally
intended as an insurance program to insure a minimum
level of living standard during retirement, not a true
tax. The more you put in, the more you get out.
Many Republicans seem "hell bent" on taking the
"security" out of Social Security. That's really
not very conservative.
(fact
source: Fox News Sunday Morning)
|
|
|
|
Ground Zero
Mosque
(08/25/10) |
Fact:
77% of the
American general public does not favor the
construction of a Islamic Mosque 3 blocks away from
Ground Zero. (Even though they have that right
under the US Constitution.)
OPINION:
History
and the current situation in the Middles East cast
doubt about the real intentions of the Imam proposing
to construct the Mosque. Many Middle East
countries:
1)
Do not believe in the separation of church and state.
2)
Are not tolerant of other religions.
3)
Do not believe in equal rights for women.
4)
Are increasingly bound with Sharia law.
Of course
I could be wrong with the above but I'm hard pressed
to find contradictory examples. I have to empathize
with the 77% of Americans that simply don't believe in
the values outlined above. There is no doubt
that they are contrary to the core beliefs of most
Americans and the foundation on which this country was
established. At the extreme, construction of the
Mosque could be interpreted by jihadists as a symbol
of victory over America.
In fact, the Mosque
may actually be used to shelter members of
the Islamic religion from assimilation in American
society and ultimately becoming productive members of
American society. This is getting too frustrating.
(There are already over 100 mosques in NY City.)
(fact
source: Rasmussen Poll)
|
|
|
|
Wage
Increases
(08/17/10) |
Fact:
Compensation Increase from 2000-2009
|
Percent: |
Military Personnel: |
+ 84% |
Federal Civilian personnel: |
+ 37% |
Private Sector worker: |
+ 9% |
OPINION:
Joining
the military is becoming a viable real career option
for young men and women, especially as the US the
position of the world's policeman. Working for the
federal government is also desirable. Forget the
private sector; the best jobs have already been
exported. Congratulations to the federal
government for sticking up for the American worker
through open trade agreements. Not!
(fact
source: USA Today
|
|
|
|
Lobbyists in
Washington
(08/10/10) |
Fact:
During the
Reagan administration, there were approximately 400
lobbyists operating in Washington DC. Today,
there are over 30,000.
OPINION:
I don't
know of any lobbyist organization that represents the
"American people". They all represent special
interest groups that often times are at odds with
what's best for the American people. And you
wonder why the Congress has a 13% approval rating!
(fact
source: Thom Hartman - AM 1150
|
|
|
|
Anchor
Babies
(08/08/10) |
Fact:
There has
been a 53% increase since 2000 in the number of babies
born in the US to non citizens.
OPINION:
If I were
from an impoverished country, I would also want to
come to the US. One of the best ways of staying
in the US is to have an "anchor" baby as your new
family will be potentially entitled to housing (thru
HUD), food stamps, grade school and high school
education, and health care at little or no cost.
Sign me up!
(fact
source: Face the Nation)
|
|
|
|
Mexican
Drug War
(08/01/10) |
Fact:
Since
2006, 24,000 Mexicans have been killed in the war
against drugs in Mexico.
OPINION:
Wow.
I have a friend in Arizona that used to live south of
Phoenix. I recently leaned that he had to sell
his property due to nearby Mexican drug and smuggling
violence. It seems like the federal government
has no clue what is going on along the border.
I'm also beginning to think that the war along the
border places America at a lot more risk than the war
in Afghanistan.
(fact
source: General News)
|
|
|
|
American
Worker
(07/30/10) |
Fact:
President
Obama, as in previous speeches praised the "American
worker" and how important he is in creating new jobs.
.
OPINION:
The
American worker who is educated, skilled, and
competent is critical to a successful American
economy. However, the source of new jobs is not
the American worker but entrepreneurs and individuals
with ideas and the dream of providing a product or
service.
(fact
source: General News)
|
|
|
|
Al
Franken
(07/22/10) |
Fact:
Watched a
speech by Senator Al Franken regarding the need to
reduce Corporate control over the American Public.
OPINION:
He is
absolutely correct that Corporations have gained
additional control, especially since the Supreme Court
ruled that Corporations have an equal voice with
citizens. This is a serious problem.
However, the government has also increased its control
over the American public with unnecessary and freedom
reducing regulations. The poor American public
is getting whacked from both directions except we
don't have anyone representing the public's interests.
The only people losing this battle is the American
Public.
(fact
source: Fox News)
|
|
|
|
General
McChrystal
(07/04/10) |
Fact:
General
McChrystal retires after "bad mouthing" US civilian
leadership.
OPINION:
The fact
that US civilian leadership has absolute control over
its military forces is one of the things that makes
America great. Many countries such as Iran,
Venezuela, North Korea, and Cuba are controlled by
their military which ultimately leads to the loss of
human rights and freedom.
(fact
source: General news)
|
|
|
|
New Tax
Calculation
(05/15/10) |
Fact:
What will
taxes be like based on current legislation for a
family making $200,000 / year.
(Does not
include 401K tax credit.)
OPINION:
Federal Tax |
39.6% |
After Bush tax cuts expire. |
CA State Tax |
9.8% |
|
OC County Tax |
na |
|
FICA |
6.2% |
The employer pays another 6.2%! |
Medicare |
3.8% |
After new healthcare tax kicks in. |
CA Sales Tax |
8.75% |
|
Property Tax |
3.0% |
Assume $600,000 @ 1% residence = $6,000 |
Total Tax: |
71.15% |
Most deductions are going away at this income
level. |
(fact
source: General news)
The average professional middle class
person in California really pays 56.6%. This
includes the Federal AMT of 28% + CA State 9.8%,
employee FICA 6.2%, employer FICA 6.2% (if not self
employed), employee Medicare 1.45%, employer
Medicare 1.45%, new Medicare supplement 3.5%, and
numerous other smaller taxes not including property
tax and sales tax.
For
those actually earning considerably more than
$200/year, your total taxes actually go up to 63.6%
if your federal is 35%.
Add in
property of 3% and sales taxes 8.75% and you
approach 75.35%.
Remember, you will also have to pay full price for
all medical services and your children will never
qualify for economic grants for college which could
add hundreds of thousands of dollars to your cost of
living. This cost shifiting is a whole different
layer of costs quietly piled on to the professional
middle class.
|
|
|
|
Reciprocal
Citizenship
(05/15/10) |
Fact:
The United
States welcomes over 1 million immigrants per year
with citizenship.
OPINION:
I don't
believe there is any other county in the world that
welcomes as many new citizens. Perhaps we should
require countries like Mexico to allow equal
citizenship for Americans. Then Americans could
own property in Mexico. I suspect the economic
landscape (and politics) in Mexico would change
significantly and rapidly.
(fact
source: Google Search)
|
|
|
|
Nuclear
Disarmament
(04/09/10) |
Fact:
Republican
pundits and media are going nuts over president Obama
agreeing with Russia to further reduce each nation's
nuclear weapons.
OPINION:
Consider
the following:
1987 - President Reagan and Gorbachev agree to
Strategic Arms reduction Talks (START 1)
1993 - president Bush and Yeltsin signed START 2
1997 - Clinton agrees to further reductions in nuclear
arsenal.
2001 - President George Bush and Putin agree to reduce
warheads to 2/3 of START 2 level.
2010 - President Obama agrees to further reductions in
nuclear weapons.
Another
case of don't let the facts get in the way of your
opinion!
(fact
source: General Media)
|
|
|
|
Jerry Brown
(03/17/10) |
Fact:
Jerry
Brown is running for Governor of California. The
good news is that we know how he would act as Governor
as he already has had 8 years experience in this
position
OPINION:
Consider
the following:
- Brown actively campaigned against Prop 13
(limited property taxes to 1.06% of a houses value).
- Brown allowed public sector unionization.
- Brown cancelled many freeway infrastructure
projects.
- Brown cancelled many water supply
infrastructure projects.
- Brown cancelled may power infrastructure
projects.
(fact
source: General
Knowledge)
|
|
|
|
Lobbyists
(03/08/10) |
Fact:
Spending
by lobbyists on Capital Hill increased 5% in 2009 to
$3.47 billion dollars.
OPINION:
Add this
spending to the recent Supreme Court ruling that
Corporations, Unions, and other organizations have the
same right as individual citizens and it's easy to see
why the US is not only in "economic" trouble but
potentially in "social" trouble. Of course, no
one is talking about this last potential problem.
(fact
source: Center for Responsive Politics)
|
|
|
|
Supreme Court
1st Amendment
(01/21/10) |
Fact:
The
Supreme
Court ruled that the government may not ban political
spending by corporations in candidate elections.
OPINION:
I give up!
No, wait a minute, this may become a great opportunity
for the citizens of the US to rise up and ban all
contributions to political campaigns except by the
"people" of the United States. Let's wait and
see if our elected officials have the canjones to
enact legislations. Unfortunately, I'm betting
against them.
(fact
source: Center for Responsive Politics)
|
|
|
|
Northrop
Grumman
(01/05/10) |
Fact:
Northrop
Grumman Corp. announces it is moving it's corporate
headquarters from Los Angeles to Washington DC to
better service its major customer, the US government.
OPINION:
Obviously,
the real priority is the money in Washington DC.
Northrop no longer prioritizes building the most
innovative products. Why should they? The
US aerospace industry is an oligopoly.
(fact
source: general industry news)
|
|
|
|
Pat
Buchanan
(01/04/10) |
Fact:
Do an
internet search on "A decade of Self Delusion" by Pat
Buchanan
OPINION:
This is a
great read and many of the facts and claims are "spot
on" See below for a few quotes:
1.
According to the International Monetary Fund, the
United States began the century producing 32 percent
of the world's gross domestic product. We ended the
decade producing 24 percent.
2. The
United States began the century with a budget surplus.
We ended with a deficit of 10 percent of gross
domestic product...
3. Where
the economy was at full employment in 2000, 10 percent
of the labor force is out of work today and another 7
percent is underemployed or has given up looking for a
job.
4.
Between one-fourth and one-third of all U.S.
manufacturing jobs have disappeared in 10 years...
5.
While the median income of American families was
stagnant, the national debt doubled.
6.
The George W. Bush Republicans ran up the deficit with
tax cuts, two wars and a splurge in social spending to
rival the guns-and-butter of the Great Society.
7.
We have a government that cannot balance its books,
defend its borders or win its wars.
(fact
source: Human Events.com)
|
|
|
2009 |
Lobbyist
Donations
(10/07/09) |
Fact:
In
2008, lobbyists and their represented organizations
donated $2.55 billion to elected representatives in
Washington DC.
(Keep in
mind that 2008 was an election year.)
OPINION:
Can it get
any worse than this! The US Congress will have
great difficulty passing legislation that purely
benefits the American people with this amount of money
influencing legislation.
Perhaps
Congress should pass lobbyist reform before trying to
pass highly flawed Health Care and Carbon Reduction
legislation.
(fact
source: Quick Google search)
|
|
|
|
Credit Card
Int. Rates
(09/17/09) |
Fact:
The
Federal Government passed new credit card regulations
to protect consumers and require CC companies to give
their customers 45 notice when the interest rate will
be increased.
OPINION:
On the
surface, a great idea, but hidden in the law is an
exemption for variable rate credit cards. Guess
what? I just got my notices from American
Express that my fixed rate credit card (13.9%) was
becoming a variable rate credit card and the new
effective interest rate will be prime plus 14% or
15.9%. THANK YOU CONGRESS.
This is a
perfect example of how well intentioned, but "well
paid off" legislatures can do great harm to the
American people. Is no wonder that so many
Americans do not trust any new health reform.
(fact
source: American Express Credit Card Statement -
September 2009)
|
|
|
|
Obama
Birth Cert.
(07/31/09) |
Fact:
42% of
conservatives do believe Barrack Obama was born in the
US.
OPINION:
I doubt
this stated fact is accurate but my experience tells
me that there are still a lot of Americans that
believe Barrack is not an American citizen. A
quick Google search unearthed a copy of Barrack's
birth certificate although some believe it is fake.
I found an personal in a Honolulu newspaper announcing
Barrack's birth at the appropriate time and date of
his birth. Finally, I found an article
advising that if Barrack's birth had occurred in a
foreign country, wouldn't his mothers passport contain
a Visa for a visit to that country. The State
Department states that such a Visa doesn't exist.
I'm sorry, this is adequate information for me to
believe that Barrack is an American born citizen.
The fact
that some individuals still believe that Barrack
was not born in the US, casts serious doubt about
those person's ability to use common sense. With
such a large portion of the population not able to
reason, the US may be in serious trouble.
(fact
source: Bill Maher 09/31/09
|
|
|
|
Health Ins.
Med. Loss Ratio
(07/10/09) |
Fact:
Health
insurance companies pay out less than 80% of their
revenue for reimbursement of health services
performed (medical loss ratio). Under the Clinton administration the
ratio was about 95%. The lower the ratio the
more profitable the health insurance company.
OPINION:
Congratulations to the health insurance industry for
literally hijacking Congress on health care issues.
This is systemic political corruption at its finest.
Lets stop complaining about political corruption in
other countries and start focusing on political
corruption in our own county.
(fact
source: Bill Moyer episode on health care)
|
|
|
|
Iran
Siemens/Nokia
(06/22/09) |
Fact:
Congratulations to a Siemens/Nokia joint venture to
supply Iran's government with telecommunications
equipment to filter and block internet access in Iran
thus influencing the outcome of the recent political
elections.
OPINION:
I don't
hear any Washington outcry. Am I the only one
that thinks this is a criminal act on the part of
these European companies.
(fact
source: Wall Street Journal)
|
|
|
|
Iraq
Real Cost
(06/23/09) |
Fact:
Since the
beginning of the Iraq war, 3,500 American soldiers
have died in combat, 4,300 if you also count non
combat deaths, approximately 15,000 American soldiers
are missing limbs (not verified), 100,000 Iraqi
civilians have been killed, and 2.2 million Iraqis
have fled the country.
OPINION:
Just a
little perspective. I have noticed that the most
ardent supporters of the war, (in general) do not have
military experience. I love Irony.
(fact
source: Wikipedia)
|
|
|
|
$5 Billion
Influence
(04/18/09) |
Fact:
In the
last 10 years, "Financial Interests" have spent over
$5 billion gaining political influence in Washington.
OPINION:
I don't
know how true the above statement is but if it's only
partially true, it explains the reversal of all of the
regulations implemented resulting from the Great
Depression. This is not a Republican or Democratic
issue but a result of the need for all elected
officials to generate large sums of money for their
election and re-election campaigns. It's bad but
explainable.
(fact
source: Senator Bernie Sanders)
|
|
|
|
The Rich
(04/05/09) |
Fact:
The last
time the top 1% in the US accounted for 22% of income
was in 1929.
OPINION:
It's
amazing how many Republicans believe that taxes should
be reduced further for the top 1%. I do not
believe that government should just take money away
from the wealthy but this fact illustrates a symptom
of a more serious problem, the destruction of the
middle class. In the long term, we will all
lose.
(fact
source: CBS Morning News - NBC news)
|
|
|
|
Unemployment
(04/04/09) |
Fact:
4.5
million Americans have recently become unemployed or
8.5%. Add to that another 9 million Americans
that have also become unemployed but are taking part
time jobs to make ends meet, and the total adjusted
sort-of unemployed stands at 15%.
OPINION:
Another
fine quality job of your elected government officials
misinterpretation of economic data.
(fact
source: Meet the Press - NBC news)
|
|
|
|
Intelligent
Design
(02/16/09) |
Poll:
Regarding the Theory of Evolution - Darwin
Believe:
39%
Do not believe: 25%
No opinion:
36%.
OPINION:
With 61%
of the American public not really scientifically
oriented, is it no wonder that the American standard
of living is being eroded.
(fact
source: Gallup Pole, Sunday Morning CBS)
|
|
|
|
Only One in Five
(02/15/09) |
Heard:
Only
one in five Americans believe their children will live
better than them (parents)..
OPINION:
Isn't this
the opposite of the "American Dream".
(fact
source: Chris Mathews Show)
|
|
|
|
|
2008 |
Commodity Futures Modernization Act
(10/28/08) |
Fact:
The
Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 provided
that financial products offered by banking
institutions not be regulated as futures contracts and
is often referred to as the "Enron loophole," The
"loophole" was drafted by lobbyists for Enron working
with senator Phil Gramm seeking a deregulated
atmosphere.
OPINION:
This bill is now partially credited for the financial
melt down of 2008 as $50 trillion of credit default
swaps have caused a world wide credit squeeze and the
collapse of stock markets and personal retirement
accounts. Congratulation to President Clinton,
Phil Gramm, and Alan Greenspan are in order!
(fact
source: General business news)
|
|
|
|
Bonuses
Cut in Half
(12/08/08) |
Fact:
Several
failed financial firms have agreed to cut their
bonuses in half.
OPINION:
If my
company failed and had to be bailed out by the federal
government, I would be fired on the spot. The
frustration is that the executives of failed financial
companies believe they are entitled to a bonus.
Unbelievable, and the American public (and Congress)
allow this to continue..
(fact
source: general new media)
|
|
|
|
Glass-Steagall Act - 1933
(10/28/08) |
Fact:
The Glass-Steagall Act of 1933
established the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
(FDIC) in the United States and included banking
reforms, some of which were designed to control
speculation.
Provisions
that prohibit a bank holding company from owning other
financial companies were repealed on November 12,
1999, by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act,
OPINION:
Sometimes
our elected representative really do good work and
then sometimes they undo that good work.
(fact
source: WIKIPEDIA)
|
|
|
|
Home Price to
Income Ratio
(10/05/08) |
Something to File Away:
The World
Bank considers a ratio of "home price to household
income" of 5:1 to be healthy.
A
Little Research:
In 2000, the average house in the US sold for
$200,300, the average income was $55,714 (3.6:1).
In 2006, the average house in the US sold for
$301,800, the average income was $49,580 (6.1:1).
(fact
source: Business Week (World Bank) 10/13/08 issue)
|
|
|
|
Style
vs. Substance
(10/05/08) |
Fact:
No fact ,
just a reminder, that when viewing the debates and
listening to campaign speeches, try to separate the
style from the substance.
OPINION:
Unfortunately, it's really not that simple. A leader
with great substance may not be effective without some
style. A leader with style, though, could do a
lot of damage to the country without some sort of
substance.
(fact
source: General Info 10/05/08)
|
|
|
|
Bailout Bill
Crap
(10/03/08) |
Fact:
The first
house vote on the $700 billion bailout bill failed as
2/3rds (133-65) of republican house members voted
against it. McCain suspended his campaign and
rushed to Washington to help round up the republicans.
After adding $140 billon of "crap" to the bill and
passage in the Senate, the bill was passed in the
House with help from the republicans.
OPINION:
If you
don't think our political system in Washington is
seriously in trouble, I have a bridge to sell you.
(fact
source: General Info 10/03/08)
|
|
|
|
Army
vs. Citizens
(09/25/08) |
Fact:
Beginning
October 2008, the Army plans to station the 3rd
Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team inside the
United States (first time in history) to serve as
on-call federal response for civil unrest and crowd
control.
OPINION:
America,
any time a central government can use its military
against its citizenry, you are bound to lose your
liberty.
(fact
source: Democracy Now / Army Times 09/23/08)
|
|
|
|
SEC
Leverage
(09/24/08) |
Fact:
The events
of the past year are the results of a SEC decision in
2004 to allow Goldman, Merrill,
Lehman, Bear Stearns, and Morgan
Stanley to legally violate existing net capital rules
from 12:1 to 40:1.
OPINION:
Excess
leverage has resulted in the vast majority of
recessions in the US ion the last 140 years. Way
to go SEC.
(fact
source: The Big Picture 09/18/08)
|
|
|
|
Bill
Clinton
(09/14/08) |
QUOTE:
"When
people are insecure, they'd rather have somebody who
is strong and wrong than someone who's weak and
right,"
OPINION:
Apparently, things don't change.
(fact
source: Real Clear Politics 01/15/07)
|
|
|
|
US Health Care
16% of GDP
(08/20/08) |
Fact:
Health
care cost in the US averages 16% of GDP and are
forecast to reach 20% of GDP by 2015.
OPINION:
Almost 50
million Americans are not insured, a hundred million
more are under insured and the US health care cost as
a percent of GDP is twice as much as any other country
in the developed world. Congratulations elected
officials on a job well done. I don't hear either
presidential candidate talking about this issue.
(fact
source: Business Week 09/19/08 pg. 72)
|
|
|
|
Bill
Clinton
(08/27/08) |
QUOTE:
"People
the world over have always been more impressed by the
power of our example than by the example of our
power.."
OPINION:
This is a
very strong statement and should be one the
cornerstone principles of real conservatives.
And it came from a Democrat? Now I'm really
confused. Are any Republicans paying attention!
(fact
source: Democratic National Convention)
|
|
|
|
Social
Security
(08/26/08) |
FACT:
The Social
Security contribution limit increases each year
indexed to the national average wage index. For
earnings in 2008, this base is $102,000.
OPINION:
Most
elected representatives fail to disclose that the base
increases every year. Social Security
automatically indexes itself to inflation thus greatly
reducing the need to "fix" it.
(fact
source: Google Search)
|
|
|
|
Real GDP
(per person)
(08/20/08) |
OBSERVATION:
The Gross
Domestic Product of the United States has been growing
at between 1% and 4% during the past several years.
But, how much has it been growing per person?
OPINION:
I suspect
the GDP per person is a lot less especially if you
deduct the 1% to 2% population growth, deduct an
inflation rate of 2% to 3.5%, deduct optimistic
government statistical adjustment factors, and deduct
an uneven trend towards improved income for the top
10%. Regardless which percentage rates you use
to calculate the GDP per person, it's looking
particularly negative for the bottom 90% of wage
earners.
(fact
source: N/A)
|
|
|
|
Energy
Speculation
(07/25/08) |
FACT:
The
energy stalemate between Democrats and Republicans
continues on Capitol Hill. Senate Democrats
failed today to advance a measure to rein in oil
market speculators, and rejected Republican calls to
expand offshore oil production.
OPINION:
Oil
companies no longer purchase crude and petroleum
products on a fixed bases but on a discount/premium to
the price the equivalent commodity on an exchange such
as the NYMEX. Anyone can purchase or sell
these products in the form of a paper contract.
Thus, the recent run-up in prices of petroleum
commodities is more the result of a shortage of
contracts (representing real product) encouraged by
huge long positions by financial institutions and
hedge funds than an actual shortage of product.
(Of course, speculation isn't the only factor causing
the run-up in prices.)
PRINCIPLE: The fact that Republicans blocked
a vote to limit some forms of speculation and
potentially reduce the price of petroleum commodities
is very discouraging and indicative of their lack of
interest in representing the American people. As
a conservative, I find this very disappointing and am
finding it more difficult to vote for Republican
candidates.
(fact
source: General News- 07/25/08)
|
|
|
|
Facts vs Policy
(07/11/08) |
QUOTE:
"Government exists to
protect us from each other, not to protect us from
ourselves " - President Reagan
OPINION:
What a
great statement. It sums up the "conservative"
ideology in one short sentence. I interpret this
statement to also include protecting our government
officials from lobbyists whose interests do not not
reside with the interests of the American people
(protecting us from each other).
This is where the so-called Republicans have gone
wrong in the last 7 years. The growing strength
of lobbyists in Washington should more accurately
classified as legalized corruption
(fact
source: Bill Moyer's Journal - 07/11/08)
|
|
|
|
Obama
Public Funds
(06/23/08) |
FACT:
Barack
Obama has announced that he will not accept public
funds in the upcoming US presidential election even
though he recently advised that he would.
OPINION:
No one
disputes the facts but the Republicans are crying
"flip flop". Good for Obama! Millions of
Americans have donated small amounts to his campaign
so why shouldn't he change his mind.
PRINCIPLE: The term "flip flop" is now being
used by both parties to denounce the other. I would
much rather vote for a candidate that is capable of
changing their view when the facts change. This
is possibly President Bush's greatest failure.
Based on my own principles, I am not a proponent of
receiving government funds. McCain may believe
accepting government funds a Republican principle but
it is definitely bot a "conservative" principle.
(fact
source: general new- 06/23/08) |
|
|
|
1 MPG =
350 MBPD
(06/14/08) |
FACT:
Reduction
of 1 MPG in the US fleet would result in reduced US
crude demand of 350,000 BPD.
OPINION:
This is a
cool fact if it is true. Imagine, a 10 MPG
increase would represent a reduction of 3.5 million
bbls per day. The US currently consumes 20
million barrels per day.
APPLICABILITY: This number is actually
achievable in the relative short term. This
would also be the least disruptive action to reducing
the cost of transportation in the US.
(fact
source: CNN - Out of Gas- 06/14/08) |
|
|
|
Military Bases
in Iraq
(06/13/08) |
FACT:
The fate
of American troops in Iraq and their scope of power
hang in the balance of a security deal between U.S.
and Iraq, which according to remarks made by Iraq's
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, has reached a "dead
end." The U.S. is demanding to remain in full control
of security and Iraq is firmly resisting.
OPINION:
I'm
totally confused. 65% of Americans want to
withdraw and now Iraq doesn't want any permanent
American bases in their country.
APPLICABILITY: Historians will point to the
US leaving Europe too quickly after WW1 but I think
this is a totally different situation.
(fact
source: Wall Street Journal - 06/13/08) |
|
|
|
CAFE Standard
(06/01/08) |
FACT:
From 1985
to 2007, there has been no increase in the U.S.
mileage standard.
OPINION:
Great
short term thinking on the part of our elected
representatives.
APPLICABILITY: In the 60's and 70's, a
shortage of gasoline resulted in a doubling of the
mileage standard and the collapse of crude prices.
(fact
source: KLCS - New Ideas and Technologies for
Transportation ) |
|
|
|
Facts vs Policy
(06/01/08) |
QUOTE:
"When the facts change, I
change my mind. What do you do?" - John Maynard Keynes
OPINION:
This quote
stands on its own. I wish some of our elected
officials would also abide by this advice.
|
|
|
|
Carlyle
Capital
(03/22/08) |
FACT:
Carlyle
had $600 million in capital and borrowed $22 billion.
OPINION:
Why can't
I borrow 36 times the equity in my house?
APPLICABILITY: Why do financial institutions
and hedge funds have special privileges afforded them
by the federal government. If I run into
financial trouble, I get to file bankruptcy. If
a financial institution experiences financial
problems, they get bailed out by the Federal Reserve
Board and the management gets bonuses.
(fact
source: Meet the Press - Marie Bartiromo ) |
|
|
|
Financial
Leverage
(03/17/08) |
FACT:
Bear
Stearns was leveraged 240 times its capital value.
OPINION:
Wow, you
and I can get a loan for 80% of the value of our home.
If you have an investment account you can borrow 40%
on margin.
APPLICABILITY: Your elected representative
have allowed investment houses and hedge funds to
borrow 240 times their value. If they go
bankrupt, the federal government rescues them with
your tax dollars. If you go bankrupt, too bad.
Oh, don't forget you still have to pay off your credit
card debt. Regulations after the Great
Depression resolved this issue but financial
institutions seem to have found a way around these
regulations in the last several years.
(fact
source: CNBC ) |
|
|
|
Bear
Stearns
(03/14/08) |
FACT:
Bear
Stearns gets emergency loan from Federal Reserve due
to heavy exposure to sub prime securities.
OPINION:
For the
last several years, Bear Stearns profited greatly from
trading in these knowingly worthless securities.
APPLICABILITY: Why aren't the Bear Stearns
executives in jail. This situation is not a lot
different than Enron and now all of the rest of
us who are legitimate and honest have to suffer under
the Sarbanes Oxley burden. This is a perfect
example how increased regulations only disadvantage
honest companies while the dishonest still get away
with fleecing the American taxpayer.
(general
news ) |
|
|
|
Homeowner Equity
(03/06/08) |
FACT:
Americans
percentage of equity in their homes fell to less than
50% for the first time since 1945 when records were
first kept.
OPINION:
Homeowners
borrowing from the equity in their home to finance
day-to-day living is going to make the sub-prime
problem look like a minor economic hiccup.
APPLICABILITY: Financial institutions have
had free reign in the last decade disassembling margin
regulations, loan regulations, and credit card
regulations to the disadvantage of the average
American. The previously successful financial
regulations were developed from decades of experience
and economic mistakes. The irony is that the
financial institutions responsible for destruction of
these regulations are now requesting that the
government save them from their disassembly.
(fact
source: AP ) |
|
|
|
Commander & Chief
(02/23/08) |
FACT:
The
President of the United States is "Commander and
Chief".
OPINION:
The
President is not only Commander and Chief but also
"Educator".
APPLICABILITY: The great Presidents of the
US have all been effective communicators and
educators. Being a great educator requires that the
person doing the educating have extensive knowledge
of the facts and an understanding of the subject
matter, something that is currently woefully lacking
from many politicians in Washington DC.
(fact
source: General News) |
|
|
|
Drug
Manufacturing
(02/20/08) |
FACT:
Prescription drugs in the US are manufactures from
active components of which 80% are imported.
OPINION:
The price
of the statin drug that I take has tripled in the last
several years and is significantly higher than in any
other country in the world.
APPLICABILITY: The current administration
has done a great job of protecting the drug
manufacturers, even though most of their products
aren't even made in the US. Good lobbyists have
been very successful in the US in the last 5 or 6
years.
(fact
source: Channel 7 Evening News) |
|
|
|
Stimulus
Package
(02/08/08) |
FACT:
The US
Government is planning on distributing $150 billion,
the majority to individual American citizens, in the
form of checks amounting to between $300 and $600 in
order to stimulate the American economy.
OPINION:
The sub-prime mortgage crises,
financial companies arbitrarily raising interest rate
on credit cards, unregulated hedge funds, an
erroneous fed fund policy, and unfair lobbyist
influence from corporations, unions, and little known
international entities, are the reasons for the latest
economic problems.
APPLICABILITY: This is why we need a new
President (and Congress) that can identify the real
problem and solve the real problem. So why is
the President giving temporary handout! Why
don't your elected officials address the real
problems, not just pander to the public for votes.
(fact
source: General news) |
|
|
|
Federal
Budget
(02/04/08) |
FACT:
President
Bush announced that the 2008 federal budget would
exceed $3.1 trillion. It does not include $195 billion
for the war in Iraq.
OPINION:
Can it get
any worse.
APPLICABILITY: This budget is going to make
it very difficult for the next president of the United
States. It will also have a negative effect on
the American economy and the viability of the US as a
"super power" in the long run.
(fact
source: General news) |
|
|
|
Reagan
Legacy
(01/30/08) |
FACT:
In every
Republican debate, Reagan's name gets mentioned.
I love the phrase "What would Reagan do?"
OPINION:
So I did a
quick search of Reagan's legacy to find out what he
actually did:
-
Reagan's stance toward the Savings and Loan industry
lead to the "Savings and Loan Crisis".
-
Reagan's economic policies influenced the "Stock
Market Crash of 1987".
-
Reagan's "trickle-down economics" spurred tax policies
that benefited the wealthy but not the poor.
-
The US budget deficit rose from $700 billion to $3
trillion during the Reagan administration.
APPLICABILITY: Are you sure we really want
another Reagan-like president?
(fact
source: WIKIPEDIA) |
|
|
|
Since
1960
(01/19/08) |
FACT:
Since
1960, America's divorce rate has doubled, the teenage
suicide rate tripled, the violent crime rate doubled,
and the prison population quintupled.
OPINION:
I think the US as a country needs to begin focusing on
domestic issues once again and stop trying to change
the rest of the world.
APPLICABILITY: The war in Iraq has been a
tremendous diversion from confronting our own domestic
problems, especially in Washington.
Whether you believe in the war or not, our elected
representative have really ignored some incredibly
important domestic issues such as financial industry
lending practices, the sub prime melt won, and
economic health the of the middle class.
(fact
source:
The
Economist) |
|
|
2007 |
Yuan
up
7%
(12/31/07) |
FACT:
The yuan
is set to end 2007 up nearly 7% against the dollar --
twice the amount it appreciated against the U.S.
currency in 2006.
OPINION:
Almost every consumer item I buy is "made in China".
Now it too will be going up in price.
APPLICABILITY: Unfortunately, manufacturing
of consumer items is not going to come back to the US;
it will just move to the next cheapest labor country.
Our elected officials have been putting political
pressure on China to increase the exchange rate of the
yuan which will only cause greater inflation in the US
among items we purchase every day. Thanks again
to the federal government for looking after American
consumers.
(fact
source:
Wall
Street Journal) |
|
|
|
US
Military
Bases
(12/22/07) |
FACT:
The US
operates 700 military bases in 130 foreign countries
around the world.
OPINION:
Wow, do we really need that many foreign bases? Is
this true?
APPLICABILITY: It is common knowledge that
the US operates bases in countries where we really
don't need bases anymore. I remember President
Clinton shuttling down both foreign and domestic
bases in order to balance the federal budget.
Isn't this what the Republicans are suppose to be
doing.
(fact
source:
Ron Paul -
Meet the Press) |
|
|
|
Sub Prime
(12/16/07) |
FACT:
US
sub-prime loans amount to $800 billion with
undocumented loans representing another $800 billion.
To date, financial institutions have only written off
$200 billion.
OPINION:
How did our elected representatives let this one get
by.
APPLICABILITY: Deregulation or over
regulation are equally dangerous. In recent
years, the balance has swung towards deregulation of
the financial institutions and the sub prime issue is
the result. Didn't our politicians learn
anything after the Savings and Loan crises last
decade?.
(fact
source:
Alan
Greenspan ABC News) |
|
|
|
France nuclear plants China
(11/26/07) |
FACT:
France's
Areva sold two nuclear reactors to China for US$11.9
billion.
OPINION:
I thought the US was the world's technological leader.
Our politicians think so.
APPLICABILITY: Lack of political foresight,
lack of technological focus by our politicians, and
misdirection of national resources has led to the US
becoming an also ran in confronting the future.
(fact
source:
RTTNews) |
|
|
|
France nuclear plants China
(11/26/07) |
FACT:
France's
Areva sold two nuclear reactors to China for US$11.9
billion.
OPINION:
I thought the US was the world's technological leader.
Our politicians think so.
APPLICABILITY: Lack of political foresight,
lack of technological focus by our politicians, and
misdirection of national resources has led to the US
becoming an also ran in confronting the future.
(fact
source:
RTTNews) |
|
|
|
Syrian Nuclear Bomb Plant
(12/02/07) |
FACT:
Israel's
top-secret air raid on Syria in September destroyed a
bomb factory assembling warheads fuelled by North
Korean plutonium.
OPINION:
I don't remember hearing about this from any American
politicians.
APPLICABILITY: While the US is verbally
attacking other countries, the Israelis are taking
care of real threats.
(fact
source: NY Times |
|
|
|
Republican
Debate -
Spending
10/21/07) |
FACT:
All republican candidates claim that the Democrats
will raise taxes and increase spending but the
spending by the President and Congress in the last 6
years has been a disaster.
OPINION:
President Bush and the Republican Congress from 2000
to 2004 promised to reduce spending yet spending
skyrocketed.
APPLICABILITY: Just as in the prior two
elections, the best defense is an offense. The
Republicans are very good at spinning their own
performance failures as attributes to attack their
opponents.
(fact
source: Republican Debate of Fox news channel.) |
|
|
|
Consumer
Bankruptcy
Policy
10/20/07) |
FACT:
Foreclosures are soaring while bankruptcies are
running at half the rate in 2003.
OPINION:
In
2005, your elected representative in Congress voted a
new bankruptcy law which makes it nearly impossible to
get out of credit card debt for any reason if you file
bankruptcy. It's a lot easier to hand your house
back to your lender.
APPLICABILITY: My 20 something child earns
minimum wage and receives no less than 3 credit card
applications per week. The credit card companies
know that once they can get him to sign up, they can
over charge him on interest, late payments, and excess
limits. Perhaps Congress should pass a law
making credit card companies partially responsible for
issuing credit cards to consumers they know will have
difficulty making their payments.
(fact source:
Business Week 10/29/07 - Bankruptcy Reform Bites Back) |
|
|
|
US
Medical
Policy
08/15/07) |
FACT:
Major changes to the American medical system have
occurred in the last 4 years:
-
It is now illegal to purchase your prescription drugs
from Canada or Mexico,
-
If you place your medical bills on your credit card
and you eventually file for bankruptcy, you're
stuck paying those bills forever (and you're probably
unemployed).
-
If your health insurance provider decides to underpay
a medical bill, you as the individual are responsible
for the balance with little recourse since you already
signed your legal rights away.
OPINION:
The
facts are what they are.
APPLICABILITY: Thank you current
administration including Congress.
(fact source:
general news) |
|
|
|
US
Healthcare Cost - $2 trillion
07/11/07) |
FACT:
Americans pay $2 trillian per year in health care
costs.
OPINION:
There is momentum building to make sure all Americans
have health care insurance. The insurance industry
must be getting ready to party as federal and state
governments will end up paying the cost to insure an
additional 47million Americans. No wonder the
stocks of health insurance providers is skyrocketing.
Unfortunately, a lot of politicians don't understand
the connection.
APPLICABILITY: Finding elected
representatives that understand the health care
situation is rare. A medical procedure for an
uninsured person with money that costs $10,000, costs
an insurance company $6,000, and Medicare $3,000.
This is only an estimate of relative payments but it
becomes quite obvious that Medicare is being
subsidized off the back of uninsured Americans that
are able to pay, even at great difficulty. The
federal government has absolutely no incentive to
change the system as they are getting the best deal.
It's a cost problem, not an insurance problem,
although insurance administration costs are a rapidly
growing part of the equation.
(secondary fact source:
On The Money) |
|
|
|
68%
of
Republicans
07/04/07) |
FACT:
68% of Republicans do not believe in evolution.
OPINION:
I
have a hard time believing that this is an accurate
statistic. But even if is half true, the future
of the US will be limited. I grew up with a strong
science background including biology and geology.
The issue of the validity of creationism is probably
the only issue that I would not debate with a believer
in creationism.
APPLICABILITY: It is already evident that
politicians cater to the believers of creationism.
That's why the rights of women are being questioned
and the government financing of stem cell research is
stalled. Even NASA funding is under attack.
Unfortunately, (or fortunately), government
intervention in minimizing the sciences will some day
provide other countries the opportunity to pick up the
slack and lead mankind into the future.
(fact source:
Gallup Survey) |
|
|
|
25
Lobbyists
Washington DC
06/23/07) |
FACT:
There are now 25 lobbyists for every member of
Congress, which haws doubled since 2004.
OPINION:
Did you really think your vote actually counted!
APPLICABILITY: It's really unbelievable that
the pharmaceutical lobby wrote the recent drug program
but it now appears that lobbyists have become a
permanent and structural part of the Washington scene.
Who do think you elected representative will listen
to?
(fact source:
Bill Moyer) |
|
|
|
Ryan Crocker
Amb. Iraq
06/17/07) |
FACT:
Ryan Crocker was confirmed as Ambassador to Iraq on
March 7, 2007. (Not an elected official but appointed
by an elected official.)
OPINION:
Heard this Ambassador give an update on the conditions
in Iraq on Meet the Press. The first question
you have to ask yourself is what are his
qualifications. I did a quick internet search
and it turns out he has a very impressive resume
concerning the Middle East. However, I'm not
sure he speaks a word of Farsi and it is no secret
that the Middle East has suffered more than its fair
share of issues for more than decade.
APPLICABILITY: It seems like our elected
officials keep appointing, well credentialed, but less
than successful individuals to really important
positions. No wonder there never appears to be any
success, and I'm saying this nicely.
(fact source:
Meet the press) |
|
|
|
Support the Troops
$3.18
06/06/07) |
FACT:
Congress and the president just passed a $100 billion
bill to support the troops when, in fact, only $22.6
billion will be going to the troops.
OPINION:
Why doesn't that surprise me! Granted a
considerable amount will go to private security firms
that are now replacing the tradition security function
but $18 billion has nothing to do with the war in
Iraq.
APPLICABILITY: The democrats really missed
this opportunity to politically attack Bush but they
were too busy dipping into the $18, billion along with
the Republicans.
(fact source:
Tom Hartman) |
|
Gasoline
$3.18
06/03/07) |
FACT:
The national average price of gasoline is $3.18 per
gallon.
OPINION:
Demand for gasoline continues to rise. There are
basically 2 ways to reduce consumption, increasing
CAFE standards or drastically increasing prices.
APPLICABILITY: GM and Ford have long fought
increasing CAFE standards and your elected
representatives in Congress have been successfully
lobbied to cooperate. The irony is that the Detroit
auto makers would be in much better shape, carbon
emissions greatly reduced, and gasoline prices much
lower had CAFE standards been gradually and orderly
increased in the 80s and 90s.
(fact source:
general news) |
|
|
|
TSA and
92
Year Olds
05/31/07) |
FACT:
Prior to boarding a flight to Denver from Burbank with
my 92 year old dad and 2 other 90+ year old men were
being padded down by TSA security personnel.
OPINION:
I
wish I was brave enough to take a picture. It
would have been a classic. My day had no clue what was
going on, he is simply too old to understand.
APPLICABILITY: It's getting more difficult
to believe that our federal government can implement
any type of legislated program.
(fact source:
personal experience) |
|
|
|
Iraq
Withdrawal
05/28/07) |
FACT:
President Bush insinuated that the US would withdraw
from Iraq if the government of Iraq asked us to. (The
government of Iraq currently had planned on a 3 month
vacation, but that's a different and troubling issue.)
OPINION:
The
bipartisan battles in Washington are distracting from
the development of a long term plan to consolidate our
troops in strategic locations in order to stabilize
the Middle East. That's what Congress should be
debating, not just when to withdraw.
APPLICABILITY: Each party has fronted
numerous candidates for the presidential primaries
next year and it remains to be seen if any of these
candidates has enough understanding of the situation
in Iraq to propose a successful and strategic plan to
contain the chaos in Iraq and stabilize the
Middle East.
(fact source:
general news) |
|
|
|
Sallie Mae
Privatization
05/08/07) |
FACT:
Word circulated in the press than Sallie Mae might go
private.
OPINION:
My first thought is who will be the lucky, well
connected insiders, that will get this money making
franchise on the cheap.
APPLICABILITY: Sallie Mae was suppose to be
a quasi government agency to supply government
guaranteed, below market loans to students.
Instead, during the last 6 years, it has become a
predatory loan program with not so low interest rates
supported with financial kick backs from the schools
that promote its loans. And now our current
administration will allow it to go private!
Where is the press in all this unethical mess.
(fact source:
general news) |
|
|
|
Payday
Advance
390% interest
03/08/07) |
FACT:
Middle class Americans looking for a quick loan till
payday pay up to 390% interest if the loan is
continuously rolled for an entire year.
OPINION:
I can imagine all of the reasons that your elected
officials did away with the usury laws once legislated
by our forefathers.
APPLICABILITY: This is another case where
previous legislation on usury laws was totally over
turned instead of being modified and updated to more
accurately reflect new financial realities.
(fact source:
Jim Cramer 03/08/07) |
|
|
|
President
Regan
Democrat ?
02/24/07) |
FACT:
President Regan worked well with democrats, raised
taxes while in office, and signed a liberal abortion
law.
OPINION:
Modern day republicans ardently support President
Reagan while vehemently rejecting those principals for
which President Reagan stood. I'm seriously confused.
APPLICABILITY: Governor Schwarzenegger of
California has fallen out of favor with the Republican
Party even though he may have a lot in common with
President Reagan.
(fact source:
Economist Magazine 02/24/07) |
|
|
|
Iraq
Refugees
3.8 million
02/14/07) |
FACT:
3.8 million Iraqis have fled Iraq to neighboring
countries in the Middle East.
OPINION:
I've read where it is really only 700,000 but this
situation really illustrates the severity of the
problem in Iraq.
APPLICABILITY: Get ready for a massive
migration of Iraqis into the United States. This
happened at the end of the Korean War and the Viet Nam
War and I see no reason why it wouldn't happen after
this war. This will make the fight against
terrorism almost impossible. Remember how Rome
was destroyed ... from within!
(fact source:
Ed Shultz Show- 02/14/07) |
|
|
|
U.S. Troop
Surge
20,000
02/11/07) |
FACT:
(Part 2) President Bush is planning to increase the
U.S. military presence in Iraq by over 20,000 troops
in early to mid 2007. Current military staffing is
approximately 134,000.
OPINION:
I
believe I've heard several military generals advise
that a troop surge is the wrong strategy, I've heard
the leader of Iraq advise that he is against the troop
surge but needs more equipment and supplies. The
troop surge during the summer of 2006 was not
successful.
APPLICABILITY: It would be nice if the
American people could elect representative that
carefully reviewed the facts first, without
manipulation and cherry picking, and then let the
qualified persons in government set the strategy.
This would b a refreshing change.
(fact source:
Various - Meet the Press - 02/11/07) |
|
|
|
Mr.
Milkshake
02/09/07) |
FACT:
Mr. Milkshake shuts down Boston.
OPINION:
I'm
sorry, you've got to see the humor in this. The
Cartoon Network placed neon signs in 13 different
cities across the U.S. and Boston responded as if it
were an act of terrorism. No other cities
responded in this manner.
APPLICABILITY: I remember back in the 50's
when Americans believed that there was a Communist
behind every bush. This is for real. It's
amazing at how things remain the same.
(fact source:
Various news media - 02/07/07) |
|
|
|
Personal
Tax Rate
02/078/07) |
FACT:
The U.S. economy excels when the average tax rate for
all Americans is 18% or less.
OPINION:
Interesting number. I don't know what the
current average tax rate is but I'll keep this number
in mind as the average personal tax rate is adjusted
by Congress in the next few years.
APPLICABILITY: It may be that exceeding this
rate in the next few years could do major damage to
the U.S. economy.
(fact source:
Mitt Romney on O'Reilly Factor - 02/07/07) |
|
|
|
U.S. Troop
Surge
01/28/07) |
FACT:
(Part 1) President Bush is planning to increase the U.S.
military presence in Iraq by over 20,000 troops in
early to mid 2007. Current military staffing is
approximately 134,000.
OPINION:
During the spring of 2006, the U.S. troop count was
150,000 and during the beginning of 2006 it was
160,000. Someone explain to me that adding
20,000 troops to a reduced current count of 134,000 is
considered a military surge. Don't forget about
the additional 25,000 private security personnel
performing functions previously performed by by U.S.
troops in other wars.
APPLICABILITY: Again, American citizens are
not being told the real facts of the war.
(fact source:
General Media - 01/28/07) |
|
|
|
U.S.
Health Care
01/27/07) |
FACT:
The U.S. spends 16% of its GDP on health care.
OPINION:
This is twice as much as other advanced industrialized
countries. The 47 million
uninsured Americans let the rest of us without
employer based insurance pay their medical costs.
The US health care system is a prime example of "cost shifting"
and the federal government promoting an unbalanced and
uncompetitive health care industry.
APPLICABILITY: The U.S. needs to overhaul
its current health care system where everyone pays
their own fair share, health care providers are
subjected to cost transparency, litigation is capped,
and some economic consideration is used in determining
the extent of medical treatment.
(fact source:
Economist - 01/13/07) |
|
|
|
Iraqi
Civil War
01/21/07) |
FACT:
Chuck Hagel, and most other politicians, are calling
the war in Iraq a "secular" civil war.
OPINION:
This is not a "secular civil war" in the political sense; it
is a "religious civil war". You have 2
different groups of the same religion duking it out
with each for the past several hundred years. Under this scenario,
there isn't much chance that any outside
force can influence a favorable outcome.
APPLICABILITY: The White House and its
supporters have continually mischaracterized the war
since its beginning and continue to implement the
wrong strategies and tactics as a result of the
mischaracterization.
(fact source:
Face the Nation - 01/21/07) |
|
|
|
Iraqi
Guns
01/18/07) |
FACT:
Iraqi President Maliki criticized the White House for
not supplying sufficient equipment to supply Iraqi
forces.
OPINION:
We still haven't completely met the needs and
requirements of our own military in Iraq.
APPLICABILITY: There is a total breakdown in
communication and implementation between the White
House, the US military, and supply operations. If a
corporation acted in this manner, it would no longer
be in business.
(fact source:
Lou Dobbs 01/21/07) |
|
|
|
China
Anti Satellite
01/17/07) |
FACT:
China shot down one of its own satellites with its own
missile.
OPINION:
Why?.
APPLICABILITY: US intelligence didn't know
anything about this. In fact they were involved
in an intelligence meeting in Washington at the same
time and didn't even mention it.
(fact source:
Lou Dobbs 01/21/07) |
|
|
|
Budget
Deficit
01/14/07) |
FACT:
2005 was the hottest year in recorded history.
OPINION:
Wasn't Al Gore Vice President of the United States for
8 years? (facetious comment).
APPLICABILITY: VP Gore and President Clinton
were in a position for 8 years to take action on
global warming. Why do they wait till they are
out of office before they do something about it!
(source:
Al Gore - An Inconvenient Truth) |
|
|
2006 |
Budget
Deficit
12/07/06) |
FACT:
The U.S. Federal government will pay out over $1
billion dollars per day in 2006 to cover interest
costs.
OPINION:
Wow, only 6 years ago the budget was surplus and
interest costs were decreasing.
APPLICABILITY: Congratulations are in order
to the republican dominated Congress for a fine job of
squandering America's resources.
(source:
Heritage Foundation) |
|
|
|
Training
Iraqis
11/15/06) |
FACT:
Of the 158,000 American troops in Iraq, 4,000 are
being used for training Iraqi military and police.
OPINION:
After 3.5 years of military operations in Iraqi whose
primary goal is to help the Iraqis learn how to govern
and protect themselves, 4,000 trainers just doesn't
seem like very much.
APPLICABILITY: With so little focus on
training, how will the US ever be able to withdraw
without leaving the country in chaos.
(source:
Public Radio) |
|
|
|
Earmarks
11/05/06) |
FACT:
The number of federal earmarks has increased from
4,000 to 30,000 per year in the last 12 years.
OPINION:
I
thought republican domination of the executive office
and congress would have reduced frivolous and wasteful
earmarks.
APPLICABILITY: So many republicans who call
them conservatives, do not act in a conservative
manner at all. Many republicans repeatedly blame
not republicans for their liberal spending attitude.
(source:
60 Minutes- Nov. 05, 2006) |
|
|
|
Social
Security
10/15/06) |
FACT:
The current Republican administration has borrowed
$925 billion from the Social Security Trust Fund in
the past 6 years.
OPINION:
The
Trust Fund was originally set up as the primary source
of funding for retired persons.
APPLICABILITY: The current Republican
administration would like to change the Social
Security because it cannot financially support the
retirement of the baby boomer generation.
(source:
Meet the Press - Oct. 15, 2006) |
|
|
|
Petting
Zoo
09/27/06) |
FACT:
The Department
of Homeland Security announced in May that it would
cut security grants to New York and Washington by 40
percent. However, the department’s database of
vulnerable critical infrastructure included the Old
MacDonald's Petting Zoo near Huntsville, Alabama.
OPINION:
This is why real conservatives believe that a smaller
federal government is better than a large one
APPLICABILITY: Unfortunately, in the last
few years, the U.S. federal government, especially the
Department of Homeland Security, has grown much faster
than the GDP.
(source:
MSNBC News - July 12, 2006) |
|
|
|
Oil
Gap
09/24/06) |
FACT:
The U.S consumes 25% of the world's oil production
although it contains only 5% of the world's
population.
OPINION:
Economic supply siders believe that future shortages
and resultant higher prices will reduce the demand for
oil. While from a macro view this is absolutely
correct, on a micro level, it will cause great
personal economic difficulty and potential political
turmoil.
APPLICABILITY: Our elected representatives
have consistently failed to enact legislation that
would reduce demand and increase energy production
which would have minimal negative economic affect. As
a bonus, pollution from burning hydrocarbons and
carbon emissions would also be reduced.
(source:
Multiple sources including (What if: the Oil Runs Out
- documentary) |
|
|
|
Wealth
Gap
08/30/06) |
FACT:
The top 5th of American households claimed 50.4% of
all income in the US in 2005, the largest gap since
the Census Bureau began tracking data in 1967.
OPINION:
A strong middle class has been the traditional
backbone of the United States. However, this
number is most likely skewed by increasing immigration
in the last few years.
APPLICABILITY: There is a continuous stream
of proposed legislation, especially in Congress, which
would allow the gap to become even wider.
(source:
Census Bureau as reported in Wall Street Journal) |
|
|
|
Boeing
C17
08/18/06) |
FACT:
Boeing announced that it would discontinue C17
production in Long Beach, CA by mid 2009.
OPINION:
Military spending on major military equipment always
seems to be boom or bust. In the process,
manufacturing plants are ramped up and closed down,
employees are hired and laid off, and communities are
built and destroyed.
APPLICABILITY: Why can't the budget
committees in Washington that make the decisions on
weapons programs figure out a way to maintain these
programs on a limited, rational, long term basis.
(source:
Boeing press release) |
|
|
|
Index
Funds
08/11/06) |
FACT:
Goldman Sachs announced that after the October roll on
gasoline futures, it would no longer hold a position
in RFG futures. Gasoline fell $.1833 per gallon.
OPINION:
Didn't someone just announce that index funds and
hedge funds really don't affect the market?
APPLICABILITY: Really doesn't seem like your
elected official has the little guy's best interests
in mind.
(source:
as reported in Opisalerts 08/11/06 - Tom Kloza) |
|
|
|
Corn
Economy
08/10/06) |
FACT:
Of the 45,000 items in an American grocery store, over
1/4 of them contain corn. Few other plants can
produce as much organic matter with the same quantity
of sunlight as corn. However, the large quantity of
synthetic nitrogen fertilizer that is required to grow
corn is running off into rivers and affecting the Gulf
of Mexico and Eastern seaboard.
OPINION:
I always thought some kind of pest could jeopardize
the corm monoculture.
APPLICABILITY: The US legislature has passed
legislation mandating the use of ethanol which is
primarily produced form corn in the United States.
How about higher CAFE standards instead?
(source:
Smithsonian. - Michael Pollan, What's Eating America
July 2006) |
|
|
|
Oil
Investment
08/09/06) |
FACT:
Between 1995 and 2005, the 20 largest oil producers in
North America earned $366 billion dollars.
During that same period, they invested $550 billion in
oil & gas development and distribution.
OPINION:
This fact certainly contradicts with what we hear from
the news media and some government representatives.
APPLICABILITY: Many bills to further tax oil
production have been introduced in the past few
months. Will a tax on crude provide a solution?
How about higher CAFE standards instead?
(source:
Kudlow & Co. - Charles Swanson, Ernst & Young study) |
|
|
|
Prudhoe
Bay
08/07/06) |
FACT:
BP announced that it will shut down its 400,000 barrel
per day Prudhoe Bay pipeline due to a 5 barrel leak
and discovered corrosion.
OPINION:
Inste | |