Mr. X – Page 4 – Really Right

X and William Proven REALLY RIGHT again

Well that didn’t take long; that hackneyed used car salesman look alike, Joel Osteen, is at it again. William and I predicted this useless piece of human matter would pass around a collection basket to get paid for his “service to the flood victims.” (I’m using services very loosely in this context.) Right on schedule, he did it. He passed around a collection basket after acknowledging people affected by the hurricane were in attendance. Literally, he said hundreds of those in the congregation taking in his service were affected by Harvey.

Link: Joel Osteen’s Megachurch Gives Collection Plates To Congregation Including Hurricane Victims

I haven’t seen self-serving this bad since I left the CRA! Glad you got paid Joel, no one did more for the victims of Harvey then you and your church. Joel, you are to Hurricane Harvey what John Kerry was to the Vietnam War. Just as Kerry displayed his purple hearts you display your Bible, turns out you are both frauds. Kerry met with the enemy, and you Joel, you just aren’t a real, true believer. How dare you try to profit of the backs of those who need help the most!

William and X are both again really right, but this one hurts.

“X”

Quick Thoughts on Hurricane Harvey

As I head for higher ground out here in storm country, I had a few thoughts on Hurricane Harvey. This storm—like anything else in America—brings out the good or the bad in most people; I’m going to provide commentary on those from both sides.

The Good
The federal government and FEMA response; right on point, showing up with buses, helicopters, rescue equipment, rations, you name it, they showed up prepared.

The State of Texas government; again well done great job mobilizing National Guard instantly and getting help to people that needed it most. The governor looks great too, message on point and looking to help anyone trapped by the flooding.

President Donald J Trump, showed up 2 days after Harvey hit, ironically following the same timeline as one President Obama did. He skipped the political rallying and electioneering we were used to under Obama and went right to work, saying the feds would be there every step of the way to coordinate and essentially handed Texas a blank check as far as rebuild goes. He is starting to look more presidential day by day folks.

The hundreds or even—dare I say—thousands of volunteers doing the Lord’s work by carrying out search and rescue missions by boat or staffing the local food bank or clothing dispersal point! My hat is off to all of you.

Houston PD, FD, and any other response group, impeccable job, the number of lives saved between your work and that of the volunteers listed above I’m sure numbers in the thousands.

Religious and charitable groups; opening your place of worship to those in need most, this includes merchants and other businesses such as that mattress store. Even 6-12 mosques in the Houston area have opened their doors and provided care and hospitality, nice job all the way around here for the most part.

The Bad
The Mayor of Houston; seriously you never put out a call to evacuate? Even after being told this storm could drop thirty inches of rain over a couple days? Even when the storm was approaching and the Governor stated that people should leave the area? Oh, that’s right; you were too busy trying to arrest local ministers whose sermons might dare to preach that homosexuality violates the Bible and historic church teachings. Good job, now the entire United States is watching the aftermath in awe. I never thought I’d live to see the day that another big city mayor could make New Orleans former mayor, Ray Negan, look good. The number one complaint so far from your residents was that no one was ordered to leave the area and evacuate! Grow a brain, or maybe even better develop some common sense.

Those who didn’t evacuate. There is no easy way to say this but I seriously question the intelligence of someone who sees a hurricane coming and decides to just hunker down and try to wait it out; especially if you lived in a one story house or a trailer park. Additionally, you put a lot of volunteers and rescuers in danger trying to save you.

Those who decided to evacuate after the torrential rain has fallen for a while and evacuate by car. Not much to say here but if you thought it was a good idea loading up the F-150 and making a break for it in water that was waist high, again I’m going to challenge your intelligence; sadly, so may your next of kin. Remember in the Bible that Noah loaded up an ark when the great rains came, not an F-150. Also on that point, I like my odds a lot better of being rescued on top of a 30 foot house than being in a 7 foot tall car that quickly becomes worthless when inundated with water, but that’s just me. Once again, volunteers and first responders had to endanger their own lives to attempt to save your sorry hide.

Ted Cruz. This carnival barking buffoon went on MSNBC to speak about hurricane relief, only to be immediately shut down by the host, painfully reminding “Lyin’ Ted” that he opposed government funding for Superstorm Sandy back in the Obama Administration. I’m not going to name the host, but I’m sure every CRA member took notice and said to themselves, “Wait ‘til we tar and feather ‘em at the next meetin’. How dare that there host attack a good ole boy like Uncle Ted! He’s one of us.”

However the last person on this list takes the cake by far!

The Ugly
Joel Osteen – multimillionaire televangelist, owner of Lakewood Church in Houston. Osteen is a celebrity pastor who has never actually read a Bible or had any formal biblical schooling. On his show, he looks like a hackneyed used car salesman or a B actor from a straight to DVD movie flop.

Why am I attacking a minister you might say? Because Osteen, he of the “Grow your relationship with God daily” type, decided he didn’t want to open his 16,000 seat megachurch in Houston to those affected by the hurricane. However, Osteen, never one to let a good crisis go to waste, tweeted that “He and his wife (Victoria) were praying for all those affected by Harvey, and to click on an embedded link to donate to the disaster relief efforts.” Problem, the link directed those interested in donating to Harvey relief to his Lakewood church donation site which made no mention of Harvey.

(Hey X, do you think he got this fundraising tip from Karen England? Just wondering—editor)

So Osteen is a crook as well as a hackneyed used car salesman.

But it gets even worse. Osteen closed his church Sunday as Harvey was hitting and was not intending to open it up for any disaster relief! Osteen tweeted out saying the church was flooded and wanted to make sure everyone was safe. Pretty rich coming from a man who owns not one but at least two multi-million dollar mansions in Houston area, a yacht, and other substantial wealth. So Osteen kept the pearly gates of his church closed, and a few citizens near his church began tweeting photos of his church with at least 1 access point free of any flooding! Osteen doubled down, saying the parking garage was full.

Mind you his “church” (and I call it that very loosely) is the former home of the NBA’s Houston Rockets, a 16,000 seat arena. This arena was bought by the Osteen’s from the City of Houston for $7.5 million; literally a steal, compared to what an arena goes for these days! (By comparison, the Sacramento Kings new arena cost north of $500 million.)

So let me get this straight; this Osteen guy refuses to open his megachurch because the parking garage may have water in it, so the men, women, and children who were pulled from the wreckage of Harvey with nothing but the clothing on their backs, aren’t allowed to enter his building due to a parking garage being full? Joel, they don’t give a flying crap about where to park their car you idiot wannabe pastor! They need shelter.

“Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
Matthew 25: 40

Osteen once again trying to save face from not allowing the unwashed masses into his church said they would open the doors once all the other shelters filled up, way to be Johnny-on-the-spot Osteen! By the way, the Mayor, FEMA Director, and emergency personnel were searching for additional places to house victims as the main convention center was 3,000 over capacity. So finally on Tuesday, Osteen opened the gates to his church and allowed emergency personnel and victims in.

Osteen then had the gall to go on CNN and said his church was actually open from the beginning and wanted everyone to know they were actively seeking donations and his church was going to be a distribution center for those affected. The nerve of this guy! Anyone want to take bets that he passes around the collection basket to the victims asking for donations for the food and shelter he provided? Additionally when the disaster relief checks start rolling in, anyone want to bet that he submits a bill for his generosity and stewardship? This guy is such a huckster it’s comical.

My favorite line of his came back in 2008, when Mitt Romney (remember him?) was running for President. After being asked if Mormons were Christians, Osteen said ‘yes’, then afterwards, he walked it back claiming that he never studied their religion. Isn’t that just what you’d expect from a televangelist (or used car salesman)? He tells you what he thinks you want to hear then later when he’s cornered on his previous comment, walks it back claiming he never said it.

I hope everyone in his congregation (and I say that because only Osteen’s family are allowed to be members of his church and on the payroll too, I may add), figures this bozo out because he ain’t no preacher of God’s word. As stated before, I wonder if he has ever read a Bible. Joel, if you start, might I suggest the verse about “itching ears”.

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”
2 Timothy 4: 3 & 4

Maybe William and I should do an intervention and procure a Bible for free from that Moseley Collins guy on TV that says he will send anyone a free Bible? Then again that would require Osteen to actually pick it up and read from it; maybe then he would discover there are 4 gospels, not just the gospel according to Joel Osteen!

I wonder how Joel would answer the question asked by the 1987 Ray Stevens song, “Would Jesus wear a Rolex on his television show?”

Final thought, disasters like Hurricane Harvey are horrible events, but it does give us as citizens a chance to see people’s true identities, hope you learned from this one.

“X”

Human Beer Keg Aaron Park Wrong Again

Everyone knows I can’t stand the CRA, the CAGOP, the Tea Party, and Aaron Park; but these past two weeks Park has outdone himself. I have been watching from afar as the CAGOP has once again commenced the circular firing squad. As you may know Chadwick Mayes (I know his name is Chad, but I call him Chadwick) stepped down as Assembly Minority Leader yesterday.

By the way is anyone offended by the word “minority”? Because the way our country is going that word is going to get stripped from the job title soon.
Back on track now…

Ever since Chadwick and his six minions sold out on cap and trade, or crap and spade as I like to call it, some of the Assembly Caucus wanted to oust him as leader. Being that I don’t live in the state anymore, I have taken to reading my daily emails from Jon “Squishy GOP’er” Fleishmann and reading Aaron Park’s right-on-occasion blogsite. Fleishmann is funny because he talks all big and bold, but I’ll never forget his term as GOP chair, he was about as liberal as the Democrats under the dome in Sacramento. Fleishmann is also a Nevertrumper, so I’m just going to ignore him on this post.

But, human beer keg Aaron Park, (I call him that because of his drinking past and the size of his stomach when I last saw him), couldn’t have been more wrong at every turn.

First Park declared Jay Obernolte would be our new leader. Park is friends with Obernolte, which is a good reason to be glad that he isn’t our next minority leader. Actually as ironic as this sounds, Obernolte never even put his name into consideration; this after Park declared he was told his pal had the votes necessary to win it.

Then Park said there would be six people running for minority leader: Obernolte, Melendez, Fong, Mayes, Dahle, and Bigelow. While this is somewhat true, Melendez, Obernolte, and Bigelow never put their names into consideration. Fong never wanted the job (I know this from inside sources). He was being pushed by the anti-Munger crowd. Chadwick Mayes didn’t run for leader again, he knew his time was up. Mayes was making calls on behalf of Dahle. Dahle, pronounced Dolly, as in when the CRA loses elections they like to play with their dolly, is the new leader. Dahle is from a town called Bieber. Yeah, I cannot take him seriously, he is about as big of a joke as the new CRA or a certain pop music icon.

Assembly Republicans replace Hanging Chad with the Dolly from Bieber and report deck chairs are now in order, sir.

So Park had it wrong on who was running to replace Mayes, but his erroneous prognostication didn’t end there. He was also very wrong on who was the real conservative in the race. Park wrote up and down on his blog, calling Vince Fong a real conservative, when in fact Charles Munger poured hundreds of thousands into his election campaigns. Munger is no friend of the conservative movement but he was on speaking terms with Park last time I checked. In recent years Park has had little use for conservatives except to renounce them—at least until they write him a check. Park also claimed that Dahle was close to Mayes and would vote for his re-election as leader. So by this logic, Dahle voted for Chadwick Mayes, and a majority of the Caucus voted for him? Great logic there Aaron! Interestingly enough a few days after calling Fong “the conservative”, someone influential must have passed Park a bag of cash or Doritos because suddenly Fong was the core of all evil and Dahle became the last man on earth to save conservatism.

Here is the problem, Dahle was in favor of the cap and trade bill, he voted for it. He doesn’t sound like a conservative to me. The more I read about this Dahle character, the more I don’t feel comfortable with him. He seems to have close associations to squishy members of the Assembly. All of the cap and trade voters: Chad Mayes, Devin Mathis, Catherine Baker, Heath Flora, Jordan Cunningham, Rocky Chavez and Mark Steinnorth all voted for Dahle. Kevin Kiley—who Aaron Park seems to be hot and cold toward—also voted for Dahle (Park was ready to early endorse him for re-election last month). The conservatives: Obernolte, Melendez and a few others voted for Fong. Dahle also has a very disturbing pattern; he seems to be from the John Kerry School of Political Reasoning, voting for something and then voting against it to try to prove his conservative credentials or be on the right side of any issue half the time.

Anyways, while I sit back and watch from afar, Republicans in California you have a new leader; Brian Dahle. So now the CRA can go back to debating the good ole days of Ronald Reagan and figuring out how to make Ted Cruz president in 2020, (sadly they remained silent during this entire episode and couldn’t even find the time to issue a timely press release or resolution against the biggest Republican sell-out in California since Arnold signed the cap and trade bill.) Likewise, the Tea Party—if it even still exists—can revert to saying “NO” to everything again, and Aaron can go back to binge eating or drinking. Seriously for someone who claims insider status and is often paid handsomely for his prose, he is really wrong much of the time. Leading me to conclude Aaron Park knows a lot more about snacks then he does politics. But then again, ESPN Radio may have an opening soon for someone with his accuracy rating.

Retraction: ESPN Was Drunk Last Night!

Here at Really Right we strive to always be really right and that is why I am issuing a partial retraction from my commentary last night regarding Robert Lee and ESPN. Our attempt at satire was met with something called truth; a member of ESPN actually was drunk last night, correction this morning at 3:30 AM. That’s right folks, self-righteous and everyone’s favorite “bro” Ryen Rusillo was arrested this morning (Tuesday) at 3:30 AM in Teton County, Wyoming. I would try to explain his criminal trespassing, but here let’s have the police report describe it, (police dept. dispatched to an intoxicated male trespasser)

Two people were asleep in the condo when they heard someone come in. They didn’t know the man and asked him to leave because he was drunk, according to reports. Police arrived a few minutes later.

“Occupants pointed the suspect out who was found in a bedroom,” Jackson Police Lt. Roger Schultz said.

Russillo, of West Hartford, Connecticut, reportedly had bloodshot eyes and slurred speech.

“He couldn’t coherently answer any questions,” Schultz said.

“Officers found the defendant, later identified as Ryen August Russillo, lying on the bed in the south bedroom naked except for his pants around his ankles,” the probable cause affidavit states.

For more on this story see:
• ESPN host arrested for criminal entry

• ESPN Radio Host Ryen Russillo Arrested In Wyoming For Misdemeanor Criminal Entry

• John Dennis Says ESPN’s Ryen Russillo Is A “Stumbling Drunk Alcoholic”

I know at first I thought Aaron Park was binge drinking again.

Ummm… I was very wild in my college, young adult and even later in life days, but never did I get so wasted I tried to sleep in a stranger’s condo’s extra bedroom. Rusillo was lucky to survive the mass layoffs at ESPN earlier in the year; this makes the network look very bad, mostly because he has alcohol abuse in his past. Full disclosure—he was on vacation, but for someone who comes off more righteous than anyone else on his radio show I have a feeling he may be terminated soon. Rusillo is the second most liberal radio host on ESPN, and this could be an opening to show the network isn’t too liberal. Yeah, much like the CRA won’t take Park to court; ESPN aint going to fire Russillo. But I reserve the right to light into both. As far as Mr. Rusillo goes, much like James Comey, everyone knows you are right all the time, a complete know-it-all, leader of the unwashed masses!

So let’s take a look at Mr. Russillo’s identification papers he had on him last night. Per the police report:
• Sex: Not specified (but given his condition he wouldn’t remember anyway).
• Driver’s license class: Unclassified.
Apparently he doubles as James Bond or models his private life after Ted Kennedy.

Folks, Russillo lectures people daily on his radio show to pick a lane and stay in it, apparently he is unable to do that himself.

Hopefully Ryen gets some help, not just for his alcoholism but from his parents, who spells Ryan with an “e”? Also from his employer, Ryen has a very big substance abuse program and he needs help. The good news is, much like the CRA, ESPN supports the ACA remaining the law of the land, so Ryen should be able to find the help he needs.

ESPN, in a statement said “They are looking into this.” Hopefully they don’t blow it, sorry bad pun!
ESPN, sleep with both eyes open because X is always coming for you!

PS, we are awaiting word on suspension due to our retraction, we will keep you posted.

Elon Musk Innovator or Crony Capitalist?

By now you should know X always has his smoking gun aimed at someone. I’ve even been made abreast of the fact that some citizens of this republic are sleeping with both eyes open instead of just one. If you need another reason to be vigilant and join their ranks ponder this next…

I want to train my fire on one Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla. Turn on a finance show, read a paper, or just listen to small talk and you hear people placing this guy in the same category as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Warren Buffett and Larry Ellison. I have never really understood it, Gates, Buffett, Ellison, Jobs were all great innovators and leaders of companies that essentially print money to this day. Hence as William laid out in a different post they are all quite wealthy. Musk on the other hand runs a company (Tesla) that is basically doing what Amazon.com does; they are selling what is essentially their take on the future.

Tesla—if you’re wondering—is behind the electric cars that you see every once in a blue moon on the road. Also they own a network of charging stations, mostly in California. However, Tesla has never managed to be profitable, yet their stock has surged over the last few years. I wondered aloud, why is this?

I must say I am fascinated by Musk in the same way other people are. He speaks eloquently and always talks like a slick sales man selling a promise of prosperity just beyond the horizon. He has some very innovative ideas like trying to make an all-electric car go mainstream. He wants to take cars to space through his SpaceX program, and bought SolarCity—who is the largest solar panel provider in the USA.

Here is where the fascination stops and reality sets in. Musk fancies himself as an Amazon.com style disruptor, truth be told he is anything but. SolarCity is run by his cousins, both of whom just left the company I may add. Also in 10 years of operations, despite being the #1 rooftop solar company, they have yet to turn a profit. Tesla is simply promising a future that is unrealistic at best and the next Enron/Solyndra/Fisker at worst. In a daring and in my mind foolish gambit, Musk rolled all the SolarCity debt into Tesla just to keep his empire afloat.

Allow me to explain my thesis. Musk and his corporations are fully subsidized by you and I; Joe Taxpayer. Why do cities and states keep sending money to Musk, especially since it’s a failing enterprise? Easy answer, Musk is very good at playing the game! He is very close to the Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo. This relationship paid off handsomely; the state gave SolarCity $750 million to build a large factory and only charges SolarCity $1 a year for rent. Seems pretty lucrative for a company that still cannot post a profit. SolarCity and Tesla don’t just play in New York, they have been very active in California, Arizona, and a handful of northwest states. (Of course California is fertile ground with funding sources like AB-32—thanks Arnold) Reno built a battery facility for his Tesla subsidiary that I am sure was at a cost very little to Musk.

In total, Musk and his cronies have received north of 5 billion in subsidies and tax breaks over the past decade, a total that interestingly enough amounts to about half of Musk’s net worth. However that’s not even the most brazen thing Musk has done.

Danny DeVito in poster for 80’s movie Other People’s Money

Now Musk is playing in the political game. He donated over 3 million into a race for public utility commissioner in Arizona. He was the only donor. I’m sure he is getting his people on the commission to advance his SolarCity subsidiary. He can’t afford another fiasco for SolarCity like Nevada. Source: Nevada solar power collapse

My issue: he is doing this lobbying with money taken from the taxpayers. Musk is enriching himself while making the public responsible if he fails. Great gig, where do I sign up?

So why does the stock of Tesla keep going up if it is a Ponzi scheme? Easy answer, right now the words “disrupter” and “green” are buzzwords that are dominating the political and financial scene. Musk as I mentioned earlier is very gifted at promising investors and politicians that success is literally just beyond that corner or just over that horizon. Most all of these political and consultant types eat this stuff up; hence Musk is able to get a factory in Buffalo, New York for free, or a battery plant for next to nothing in Reno. Musk is the current poster child for the Liberal belief that government creates jobs.

Wait until Gavin Newsome gets elected in California, the money spigot may not shut off for 8 years! Chiefly my concern is this, while electric cars may be the rage and solar may be good for the environment, why are we continuing to allow the government pick and choose what type of business succeeds in this country? This is because the liberals are able to successfully convince other politicos in the room to vote their way every so often. The Left in this country have a vision; Obama tried it with Solyndra and Fisker. Liberals would love to see everyone driving a Tesla Model S and have rooftop solar everywhere thus eliminating utilities and pollution emissions. As long as Musk is able to continue buying himself more time and earning more subsidies he will eventually become too big to fail, think that is his end game?

When Enron, MCI, and World Com failed, investors and those affected said they wish they would have known sooner. This was their warning then and mine now, I personally would not touch this company with a 100 foot pole. If you need more proof go to your local Home Depot, watch the SolarCity rep chase customers around the store in a desperate attempt to sign-up new clients. Oh, and if you do sign on the dotted line, don’t forget, Musk gets all those government tax rebates for “going solar”, you just get a bill for the next 30 years to pay your solar lease because he owns the equipment on your roof. It may not save the planet, but it allows Musk to live another day off of taxpayers like you and me.

I’ll be back with another hit piece soon,

My RA is Dead and the CRA says and Knows Nothing

You may remember President Obama—who if you are a CRA member you still approve more so than Donald Trump—loved big government solutions. One of his signature programs was called MyRA. The program was based on the theory that if someone didn’t have access to a private sector retirement account or 401k they could invest through the Treasury Department into MyRA. Contributions were limited so when your balance grew to $15,000 you were forced to move it over to a new investment vehicle outside of the Federal Government like maybe Wells Fargo.

In theory this wasn’t a horrible idea, most Americans have no retirement and this would have given people the ability to save small amounts of money in a safe haven investment. The problem is that not very many people ever opened accounts, just a paltry 20 thousand. Worse yet, only 10 thousand had any money deposited into them! While the ten thousand active accounts did have an average balance of about $1700, the expenses of the program were massive—almost 70 million from its creation in 2014! The total amount of money ever deposited into MyRA accounts is a hotly disputed 34 million. So in typical government fashion, the product was grossly overpriced and we lost millions in taxpayer dollars, let alone new government bureaucrats and the pensions that come with them.

This is why I was glad to vote for Donald Trump! This is exactly what he promised. Trump took a large government bureaucracy laden with waste and outright eliminated it. The CRA didn’t endorse Trump and most likely didn’t vote for him. That’s okay, as I’m sure Hillary Clinton probably would have expanded the program into the government run Ponzi-scheme that would have made the Social Security Administration jealous! The program was set up to help Americans save for retirement, and obviously the better majority had no interest. President Trump acted swiftly to eliminate the program.

Here’s the bottom line, Donald Trump if given time and some bi-partisan support, (since the CRA and Tea Party endorsed Republicans aren’t helping!) he will drastically and dramatically reshape our government for generations. Therein lies the problem, the CRA and other organizations have befriended establishment Republicans and Democrats and have teamed up to stop Trump every single step of the way. Remember I was called out by 2 South Sacramento CRA members demanding my identity and saying I was breaking stories that were not true. As a result the Blog Father and I are offering this space to CRA members wishing to refute anything in the above article.

Oh BTW, while the CRA may call this a federal issue, remember my article from earlier speaking about California’s plan to make a state run retirement program for its citizens? Why is it something tells me it will have the same results, but won’t get the plug pulled like MyRA?

Til next time,

PS nice find Blog Father on Rich Uncle Pennybags Buffett, from my research, his investment vehicle Berkshire Hathaway holds over 500 million shares of Wells Fargo Bank. Truth be told though, he was required by the Fed to divest about 8 million shares. Not because of anything illegal but new rules state no single entity can control more than 10% of the outstanding stock. The reason: so one person cannot have too much influence over the corporation. Swell, maybe Buffett could have called the Board of Directors and said “Stop Ripping off the American People.” But no, I’m sure Mr. Buffett happily collects his dividend check and looks the other way.

What the Hell, CRA!!!!!

I must admit I am beginning to lose what little faith I had left in the CRA, and that’s probably a good thing. From the same group that brought you an endorsement of Ted Cruz long after Donald J Trump had wrapped up the nomination process for President, they have recruited a second Republican to run for Governor. Assemblyman Travis Allen (R-who cares) has been talked into running, thus assuring a run off between two Democrats for the top job in California.

If you are related to Aaron Park, registered to vote at Wal-Mart, or been living under a rock; you might have missed the enactment of the law many years ago that gave California a “top two” election system where the two highest vote getters—regardless of party—advance to a general election run-off in November. (This law was funded and passed by the current majority shareholder of the California GOP, Charlie Munger.) Think the 2016 Senate Election which pitted Comrade Loretta Sanchez against Socialist/Black Lives Matter Kamala Harris—notice no Republican in that group.

My point is this; we already have a Republican running for Governor, John Cox. Cox is very wealthy and has showing a willingness to spend quite a bit of his own money. I don’t know much about Mr. Allen or his finances, except that he is very far to the right of center, and that’s fine but not viable in the Peoples Republic of California.

Several questions need to be raised about this. Why doesn’t Allen run for one of the other statewide offices in California? Like I don’t know any of them since none currently have a Republican seeking the office? Does the CRA believe Gavin Newsome vs Antonio Villaraigosa really offers us the best choices? What the hell, the CRA!

(Editor’s Note: many Republicans in California would rather have an all Democrat gubernatorial race next time because they don’t believe a Republican can win. Many have voiced tentative support for Democrat and former State Treasurer John Chiang.)

Kraft-Heinz is a Disaster Under Warren Buffett

By now you should know that X hates three things: The CRA, Aaron Park (and his idiot brother I’m calling Igor from now on), and Warren Buffett; it’s time to Buffet Buffett again. I’m going to tell the story of Buffett and his Brazilian friends at 3G Capital and how they are destroying American family jobs and lifestyles. Warren Buffett is lauded as the most successful investor ever and 3G Capital is a group famous for cutting expenses to the bone and deleting unnecessary expenses—think zero based budgeting.

(Editors note: this is not the zero based budgeting often proposed in bygone years as a solution to federal spending but taking budget line items to zero for short-term gain of shareholders.)

This particular example of Buffett malfeasance started in February 2013 when Buffett and 3G Capital announced they were buying iconic American ketchup maker Heinz for the price of 23 billion. Like most companies who take over or buy a competitor, there are “synergies” or opportunities to cut jobs etc. to save the acquirer money. These “synergies” started immediately with the laying off of 350 workers in the Pittsburgh headquarters. X doesn’t like layoffs but most of these were likely duplicate jobs or as X likes to call them “so we got rid of the assistant secretary’s secretary?” These jobs were white collar, but X figured innovation or something would save the day. Nope. The maker of ketchup, ORE-IDA, and several other brands did nothing other than “reformulate their mustard.”

Several manufacturing plants were closed, hundreds of workers laid off. But Buffett/3G continued cost cutting with such innovations as:
• No more mini fridges in your office or at your desk.
• No more free products.
• Coupons would be phased out as well as deep discounting of products.
• Copies must be in black ink only, and must print on both sides of each page.

Remember this is good ole, all-American, folksy Warren Buffett folks. Yeah, the guy that causes Democrats to wet themselves with pride and envy every time they hear his proclamations.

This process of downsizing went on for about two and a half years. Through those years, efficiency increased, but layoffs increased as well. There were cuts every year, as well as plant closings. That raise you thought you were getting? Yeah, no.

3G’s President Bernardo Hees—who by the way has no experience in consumer packaged goods—became president and CEO of Heinz. Hees has experience in…..you guessed it railroading. Hees has been quoted numerous times stating employees should have no life outside of work, and need to always work faster and harder. So I guess you can say he no longer railroads with trains, he railroads humans now. Buffett—for what it’s worth—basically insulates himself saying he provided the financing not the daily operations, 3G does.

Herein lies the problem when you cut, cut, cut. Year-over-year revenue at Heinz has declined every year since they were acquired by Buffett and 3G. The reasons? Well there are several:
• Employee morale being bankrupt doesn’t help.
• Consumer tastes changing plays a part.
• No more couponing or discounting.
• Lack of any meaningful innovation.

If the best you can do in 3 years is re-doing your mustard recipe, then maybe you used to run a railroad.

Given the train wreck they made out of Heinz, guess what Buffett and 3G did in 2015? Buy Kraft Foods. Buffett/3G returns Heinz to public stock market and Kraft-Heinz was born. Make no mistake; Buffett got his $$$ back. His vehicle of investment—Berkshire Hathaway—and 3G Capital own 51% of the shares outstanding so what they say and want goes. In addition Buffett financed the deal and is paying himself back with a 10% interest earning note. Again this sounds like a wonderful gig, where do I sign up?

Kraft is a maker of all kinds of iconic brands, and is in nearly every single North American household, so Buffett and 3G were smart and wouldn’t let the same mistakes foil them again right? Nope. First they decided to move Kraft headquarters to Chicago from Northbrook, and downsize 30% of employees. Again the zero based budgeting started and the old company perks were gone.
Free Jello? Gone
Mini fridge? Gone.

Then came massive layoffs and the shutdown of 5 plants. This process was repeated in 2016, and again in 2017. These guys are so ruthless they moved Oscar Mayer out of Madison, Wisconsin and into Chicago. Apparently they think Oscar Mayer is a variation of the Chicago Dog (or soon plan to market Soylent Green). However, innovation has also been slim to none and this company has north of 100 brands. Once again, to this date layoffs at the company have reached nearly 5,000 since, nice guy, folksy Buffett took over.

Not trying to defend Buffett here but the consumer packaged goods scene is not very good right now. American tastes have evolved and they are closely reading label ingredient lists. Also why by a Heinz picnic pack for $7.99 when you know in a week or so they will be on sale 2 for $5. One other factor, Millennials are helping drive changes in tastes. Kraft-Heinz has ignored them, at least until now. Recently Kraft executives have been working to revive and revitalize many of its old products, including; Oscar Mayer, Miracle Whip, mac n’ cheese, Kool-Aid (a favorite drink of the CRA I may add), Jell-O, Lunchables, Kraft Singles, Velveeta, Maxwell House Coffee, and Capri Sun. Despite their efforts, sales still have not improved; actually they have dropped company wide. As I address these issues one at a time, remember Kraft-Heinz owns many iconic brands.

The biggest issue at Kraft-Heinz is perception. Most Millennials and Generation X see their products as terrible for your health; those stereotypes are hard to break. As more baby-boomers die off, it will be harder and harder to replace lost sales and revenue. The all-important demographic females 18 to 34 are moving away from Kraft and Heinz brands.

Here’s some examples of their corporate tone-deafness:
• Oscar Mayer is built on heavily processed mystery meat sold in all sorts of containers, so you removed the preservatives? I think I will still pass.
• Miracle Whip is heavily processed egg based products similar to mayonnaise, once again, strong pass here.
• Kraft Mac N Cheese has the same issue; younger generations remembers it as dust mixed with water to create a gooey cheese sauce for the mac, never trying that again.
• Kool-Aid? Last time I drank that was at a CRA meeting, no seriously it’s a powder that is chocked full of preservatives and other things I cannot pronounce, pass.
• Jell-O, nothing says hospital healthy more than a processed cup of….well maybe we don’t want to know, never buying that stuff.
• Lunchables are another thing of the past for X; in addition to meat that was… well, boiled or something, and the cheese that could be rolled up and bounced like a basketball… yeah not giving this to my grandchildren.
• Kraft Singles, aren’t bad on a burger that’s been grilled, but I’m not putting that processed cheese oil product on anything resembling real food.
• Velveeta is a block of cheese product you can melt down and cook in a skillet to make cheese product. In related news, shares of Tide are down due to a reduction in children having accidents related to the consumption of Velveeta cheese.
• Maxwell House and Capri Sun have the same issues, it’s an old tired product that’s very bland and many better offerings are available at the same price point.

My main goal is not to attack Buffett, but to expose him for who he really is. Buffett says that he wants the masses to pay more taxes—especially the rich; however, he structures his compensation to be mostly dividends and returns of capital which are taxed at far lower rates than regular income taxes. These tax dodges are not available to any but the super wealthy robber barons.

Buffett also calls himself a champion for the middle class, ha! What says middleclass more than 2 iconic American companies he is slashing and burning with thousands of middleclass folks laid off and plant closures in the name of short-term shareholder return? Buffett profits every step of the way and benefits more as each piece of the carcass is liquidated.

Ever been laid off in a job like these factory workers before? Livelihoods are lost, families can be broken apart. It isn’t easy to pack your family up and move from Council Bluffs, Iowa, to Springdale, Arkansas. The ones that can move to find jobs often end-up with the same fate a year or two down the line. The ones who cannot? Usually they find themselves taking a pretty hefty haircut in salary & benefits and find themselves working longer hours for less. Just remember that in every step of these “synergies” people lose benefits, livelihoods and careers, but Buffett and his ilk profit at every single step.

After reading my series on Buffett, hopefully this sheds some life on the so called “oracle of Omaha.”

I’m not through with you yet Buffett, but til next time,

I Spell William R-E-A-L-L-Y R-I-G-H-T

I’ve been a loyal reader and blogger in this space for about 10 months, but who’s counting, except maybe the CRA. I want to just re-hash a few things William has been really right about and clear up some questions about who I really am. First and foremost, William nailed it on healthcare. He has been saying this since late last year folks; do not kid yourself he is no Johnny come lately. He has been pounding the table about Lyin’ Ted having never submitted any piece of legislation let alone an attempt at drafting legislation, during his brief DC tenure. The GOP created a CRA-esque lie about all the legislation that would occur the minute they had control of all levers of DC. This is due in part to the in depth knowledge prior to the 2016 election that the Republicans would keep the House and Senate, and in all likely hood lose the Presidency. Then Donald J Trump won, and the congressional GOP went on full tilt. William and I are willing to wager better than 50% of the GOP members of congress voted for Hillary or 3rd party to keep the “repeal and replace someday” slogan alive.

William also nailed it on CA GOP being relegated to third party also ran status in this state. Truth be told, I have a feeling most of the California GOP has moved to Texas, Arizona, or Nevada already. I look forward to the day when William makes his move and relocates closer to X.

Before I close I want to say this, it has come to my attention that 2 members of a CRA unit in south Sacramento County have been saying my columns are incorrect or full of lies. I say this to both of them, if my analysis or anything is wrong I will happily retract and delete the fallacies. Unfortunately there will be none, because I haven’t shared anything not true. Aaron Park was supposed to be in jail, remember or was I wrong about that? People who the CRA endorsed? Was that incorrect? These two are suffering from a term called Trumpaphobia, a term I’m coining because this is what happens when you wanted Ted Cruz to be nominated, then when that failed voted for Hillary to preserve status quo.

But here I will tell you who I really am; I am a former CRA vice-chair. I am a former unit president. I no longer live in the state of California. I’m not in Jefferson either for the CRA folks who read this. Don’t even get me started on that movement.

Til next time,

ESPN Layoffs Part Deuce

Sorry about the delay, fellow readers I had “flu-like symptoms” most of last week, likely this was caused by excessive liver damage done by ESPN to my body.

Following the “NFL Live” and “Insiders” shows, both of which were duds, on came Outside The Lines (OTL). This show was pretty good, a journalistic type show that does deep dives into scandals or issues of our time in sports. It is only a half hour show and I guess it only airs a new show once a week. This is a mistake, share this show with the world, and do a new recording daily. This is what journalism should look like.

After OTL the “Happy Hour presented by Captain Morgan” began to air. I didn’t find a single watchable show during this two hour block. Pardon the Interruption, Around the Horn, His and Hers (more on this bust later) and Highly Questionable are just that, highly questionable TV. His and Hers, and Highly Questionable was just a bunch of race baiting done by hosts trying to get viewers riled up. Both shows could and should be canceled, neither was. Pardon the interruption and Around the Horn featured sports talk similar to political cross talk you see on MSNBC or Fox now. Mostly screaming, inaudible television, featuring people trying to talk over one another, nothing to see or hear in this hour.
Mercifully “Happy Hour presented by Captain Morgan” was over, again severe damage was done to X’s liver, and ear drums from the loud shouting.

Next on the self proclaimed “World Wide Leader” was SC:6 or Sports Center at 6pm eastern. This was hosted by resident Race Baiters Jemele Hill and Michael Smith, same hosts of His and Hers. This Sports Center—just like the Happy Hour show—was a complete waste of resources, talent and TV time. Perhaps what was even worse was that the shows followed a national news network philosophy where when a new show started the same topics were rehashed. This makes for boring predictable TV. Live sports took over from about 5pm until 9 pm then the madness continued. Sports Center at Night (9pm) with Scott Van Pelt was awesome theatre, highlights, mixed with guest commentary, mixed with analysis and personal opinion, I loved it! Like a throwback to the old sports center where ESPN buttered their bread. So if you’re tuning into ESPN try Sports Center at Night with SVP.

After Sports Center at Night, we were back to strange cross talk again. We had Baseball Tonight, it lasted one hour and was filled with random movie jargon from host Adnan Virk. Honestly it was odd, very little baseball discussion and if I didn’t know better, I would have thought I changed the channel without knowing. 30 for 30 followed next, very good stuff, on par with OTL but instead of current event reporting more of reporting in depth on things that happened in the past, such as the Michigan Fab 5 scandal. Much like OTL this is a once a week or even sometimes bi-monthly show. I would expand on this, great stuff. More Sports Center followed this program, and I decided I needed to hit the sheets as it was dreadful. Sports Center Live from Los Angeles it was called. Hosted by Stan Verrett and Neil Everett, and trust me it was strange television, like creepy stoner television. Had a strange episode discussing hockey called “Barry’s Bistro” with colleague Barry Melrose, like I said bizarre.

It’s very clear the network has far more issues with its declining viewership than just the need to lay off 100 anchors. The liberal bias that William and I have detailed over the months is still present, albeit even after said layoffs occurred, anchor Linda Cohn even admitted it. ESPN made bad bets on the sports of basketball and baseball; they are dying and very unpopular with the younger crowd. Basketball could be an exception, as the younger crowd seems to like the showboating and the fact some teams are considered super teams. Football may be king, but the ratings for Monday Night Football, (rights owned by ESPN) were a disaster. So bad they are throwing the “right a bone” and hiring back Hank Williams Jr. to sing the opening again. Also they announced hiring conservative columnist Will Cain, not really sure why but…okay? Cheap thrills, probably won’t work, in an era where we get football on Thursday night, then all day Sunday, we are footballed out on Monday.

Now into the layoffs, sorry for the rambling column but some really talented folks lost their paychecks last month. The list includes but is not limited too; Ed Werder, John Clayton, Jayson Stark, Andy Katz, Chad Ford, Sarah Walsh (upon returning from maternity leave) and Danny Kannell. Werder and Ford were asked to stick around and cover the NFL and NBA draft respectively, Werder said “no, thanks” can’t blame him. Several names on the list were thought highly of by X, others not so much, these were those let go I will not shed a tear for; Roger Cossack was a know nothing legal analyst that got the Barry Bonds scandal all wrong…bye! Britt McHenry, she was human scum and literal trash, just Google her name. Len Elmore, he is a race baiting clown, please go away. Rest assured more layoffs are going to come in future years; you cannot have poor ratings, race baiting and continue on as a profitable organization.

Now, my solution, I would get rid of all the race-baiting idiots that somehow survived the cut down, I’m looking at you Bomani Jones. I would make Scott Van Pelt and Mike Greenberg the people I would build around. Give them both two hour long programs; for Van Pelt, his commentaries mixed in with highlights are amazing. Greenberg has a news breaking persona, give him a morning show and let him re-hash yesterday’s events and interview a star or two or five. Have OTL and 30 for 30 air more often, they are both great journalistic type shows. You can keep some of the back and forth bantering shows, but I would cut them back, these shows are alienating the older viewers. Have more one sport type shows such as the cancelled “Baseball Tonight” show, but do highlights of all games, and commentary from all games, not just games played in very large markets, again you are alienating people. Have Sports Center air more often, again focus on highlights, and inject breaking news, kinda like a real news show. Lastly get rid of the live sports, mostly all the college football, they show like literally every game, seriously when I watched “Dodgeball” I thought ESPN 8 “The Ocho” was fantasy land, now I wonder if there’s an ESPN 10. Showing games like Oregon State versus Wichita State isn’t moving many needles I don’t think, leave that to regional networks. Finally here’s what I’m most upset about, the definition of luck has been redefined, why ESPN didn’t get rid of this anchor….. I don’t know his name but I always can find him by googling “ESPN Howdy Doody A**BAG with painted on eyebrows!

But seriously, the layoffs were done by phone call lasting just 3 minutes, most of those laid off….spent decades in ESPN. Those in NBA and NHL (Hockey) were let go during the playoffs. Those in NFL let go literally a day before the NFL draft, yeah, ok I guess.

Buffet…..you’re next; I’m coming after your Kraft Heinz subsidiary next week!