The Chief – Page 4 – Really Right

My Thoughts on GOP Presidential Debate # 1

My thoughts? I did not watch it.

Yep, that’s right. I decided just like the Blog Father that no one up on that stage is able to beat Trump. DeSantis likely could have had a chance but for some reason he went cuckoo. If I were him, not knowing if Florida has term limits, do another term as governor and run again in 4 years. I say 4 years because it will likely be an open seat for President, either Biden or Trump will be terming out. Run again and keep governing Florida as a conservative. The only real thing that’s an issue in Florida right now is the insurance business and Johnnie Does can blog that one.

Reality is DeSantis is trying to “out Trump” Trump and that will never work. Trump is a candidate who brands himself as being the “common man” and in more cases than not, he speaks directly for the folks who hate the PC/cancel culture we have today. DeSantis while he tries his best, comes off as a cheap knock off. Why drink a Miller Light when you can have a Miller Genuine Draft?

The others? Well, I will run through them quickly.

Nikki Haley, she is a former governor, but she worked for Trump as UN Ambassador for 2 years, that makes it hard for her to attack him. Good story, but it won’t pop.

Tim Scott, I wish he would lean into him being a black Republican. Its odd but I have rarely seen any black Republican do this. Toast.

Asa Hutchinson and Doug Burgram? Governors of Ar-Kansas and North Dakota. No one cares about either of you since quite literally no one lives there. Weird point of note, the owner of the Oakland Athletics Baseball Team is a mega donor to the North Dakota guy. Odd because North Dakota is the exact opposite of Oakland, but I digress.

Chris Christie? I heard they had to roll him onto the stage and roll him off afterwards. He should be next on my 400 lb. life. Dude needs help, and he attacks Trump ruthlessly. He went after Trump so hard he is likely running in the wrong primary. He should be angling to be a VP with Gavin.

Vivek Ramaswamy, he is an interesting dude. A millennial, and basically a libertarian. He has some whacky beliefs (wanting to legalize psychedelics being one, he also wants to unseal the 9/11 docs about who the hijackers really were). But more strangely he has taken Soros money (Soros kid political money) he went to private school and to Harvard. I just don’t know where to place him, but he is an interesting guy. He might make a good VP; he seems to have some attack dog in him from what I read.

Who cares about anyone else running.

I do care about Trump. I think he made a slight mistake going on Tucker Carlson for an interview posted on X (formerly known as Twitter). 12.8 million watched the GOP debate,228 million watched the Tucker/Trump interview. For Tucker many of those may not have been live, they watched later.

He made a mistake for this reason, the debate was televised on Fox News only, I think Trump missed a gigantic opportunity to draw even more viewers. I would have held a rally, maybe in Iowa, or some other fly over state. I would have done this as the media would have gone bonkers. The viewership would have dwarfed 228 million, trust me. Trump is a bakery; he puts buns all over the place. I would have invited all interested media; Fox would have shown up too and aired it later. A chance missed.

Oh well.

To those in the GOP debates, good luck when the donor money dries up; you will die on the vine.

The Chief

NATO Chief of Staff says the Quiet Part Out Loud

The Ukraine-Russia war/conflict/invasion/special operation, choose your description, it sucks. Innocent folks are being killed, towns being leveled, young people being conscripted/sent forcibly into battle. It’s not a fun thing to write about. We here at the blog have an opinion of this war that will anger most who support Ukraine, specifically NATO and the EU continuing to send out supplies, equipment and cash.

Check out this dudelet (RIP Rush Limbaugh…. this was his term to describe news) from the NATO chief of Staff

“I think that a solution could be for Ukraine to give up territory and get NATO membership in return”

The above statement was made by Stian Jenssen. He almost immediately was rebuked by Ukraine leadership and walked back his statement. The reality is he was telling the truth about the war, and neither Ukraine, nor pro-Ukraine people worldwide wanted to hear that.

He said the quiet part out loud. The Chief of Staff, just like most high level NATO employees and outside influencers, know this to be true. Ukraine cannot win this war. Russia has millions of bodies to throw into the fire, they can afford to lose many more troops than Ukraine can. They are emptying jails, likely rounding up homeless, and drafting young men in the rural areas to fight this war. Ukraine doesn’t have that ability. Ukraine is 100% reliant on NATO weaponry, problem is as advanced as our weapons are, they need bodies to operate them, bodies that are piling up daily.

The reality is even if Ukraine came to the table to discuss this with Russia it will not work. Russia views Ukraine as territory stolen from them when the USSR was broken up. Russia really doesn’t have much room for expansion, sure they could take Georgia (the country not the state) they took some territory already, they also occupy an area “Transnistria” that is between Ukraine and Moldova. However, neither of those countries are large enough. Ukraine is the prize.

The meat grinder in this war is rough, Russia is quite literally throwing bodies at Ukraine front lines to expose positions. As Ukrainians cheer the dead Russians, they got killed by rocket/missile launches later. It’s a war of attrition and Russia has far more bodies. Think of it like a real-life game of Risk: The Game of World Domination. I have one country; you have the neighboring one. While you may win a round or two, in the end I win as I have more armies, and more chances to weaken your force. The only reason this thing is not a total blowout in Russia’s favor is NATO is gifting Ukraine all of our outdated equipment. Even with that support, Ukraine is hardly moving the needle in their so called offensive.

This war is lost, it’s a black hole and we are throwing endless gobs of money and equipment at it. Hey, isn’t that the USA doctrine lately? Throw lots of money at something… have the elected’s/powerful/influencers cash in on the grift, double and in some cases triple down and eventually pull out?

The Chief of Staff of NATO said the part we didn’t want to hear or believe, now we know it’s a matter of time before the rank-and-file NATO countries stop giving equipment and money.

That being said, I see a “stale mate” similar to the Korean War happening here. No side declares victory, but we have in essence disputed territory, a large, demilitarized zone, and warning from governments to avoid/don’t travel to the area.

Sorry if I didn’t tell you what you wanted to hear regarding Ukraine, but I think it’s over.

The Chief

Elk Grove City Council Enters the Business of Lending to Business

You may be confused by the title of this blog, and you should be. William pointed out in his most recent writing that most in CA love big government; specifically, being told what to do by government. However, what if they knew the government was guaranteeing loans to business owners who are already successful?

Enter the City of Elk Grove. The City Fathers have decided to pick losers and winners in the local economy using your tax dollars for the wager. The remainder of this blog documents this very socialist behavior in our once very Republican community.

Old Town Elk Grove’s future barbecue restaurant and bar took a large step closer to its completion thanks to the Elk Grove City Council’s recent approval of a $500,000 loan deal.

LowBrau’s Slow and Low Smokehouse, a project of restauranteur Michael Hargis’ Slow and Low, LLC, is currently slated to open at 9700 Railroad St. in the next one and a half to two months, Hargis told the Citizen on June 29.He also owns Sacramento dining establishments such a Beast + Bounty, a Michelin-rated restaurant; and the LowBrau Bierhall.

During their June 28 regular meeting, the Elk Grove City Council unanimously approved an agreement for that loan, which is a commitment from River City Bank to Slow and Low, LLC to fund the costs of final tenant improvements, opening and initial operations of the new restaurant and bar. The vote was unanimous.

Because the loan was contingent upon a third party agreeing to provide a repayment guarantee as security, if Slow and Low, LLC defaults on its loan, the business’s owner, Michael Hargis, asked the city if it would serve as that third party.

Yes, folks, a Michelin Star restaurant is a big deal. Think Gordon Ramsey or Wolfgang Puck… It is one of those places where frog legs cost $125 a plate, and you get 1 leg …I though frogs had 2 legs, but I digress. Low Brau I have been to before, it’s a German sausage/food themed place where you guessed it, the beer flows freely. It is a cool place; I do not have a gripe with either restaurant. Where I have a gripe is why are we, the taxpayers, guaranteeing a loan to a guy who runs not 1 but 2 very successful places to eat? Can’t someone else lend him the cash? Specifically, the Small Business Administration (SBA) or Chamber of Commerce or maybe a bank? I thought when you wanted a business loan that you had to have a business plan, profit/loss projections, costs, and a plan to pay it back? Maybe times have changed?

Slow and Low, LLC is responsible for the loan that must be paid in full within five years.

As a guarantee that the bank would be reimbursed if the business defaulted on its agreement to pay off the loan, the city has pledged a collateral cash deposit in funds that were already deposited by the city at that bank.

Another element of this contract includes the use of a security agreement, in which the city will place a lien on the business’s restaurant equipment, if the loan is not paid in full prior to the deadline to do so.

In a worse-case scenario, a defaulted loan would result in the city losing some or all of its pledged deposit with River City Bank.

However, the city’s potential loss of $500,000 would be less impactful, considering that the restaurant equipment and Hargis’ 7001 Garden Highway, Sacramento property is relatively equal in value, noted Darrell Doan, the city’s economic development director.

“We have that first deed of trust in Mr. Hargis’ personal property (on the Garden Highway), and we also have the lien on the restaurant equipment (for the Railroad Street restaurant project),” he said. “We could foreclose both of those interests – in theory take title to his personal property, take title to the restaurant equipment.”

Although Doan mentioned that he does not foresee the worse-case scenario occurring, he presented that possibility for the purpose of providing full disclosure.

Doan noted that if Hargis is able to pay off the loan, the city will “experience no loss.”

“During that time, (those funds) would have earned the same interest on that deposit as we would have had we not created this security arrangement,” he said.

This Doan fella seems like a real piece of work, but his actions are on point for a government official. Let me make a bet with taxpayer money and if it goes wrong, we will seize the man’s house and the equipment in the bar. If it goes well, I can parade around calling myself an economic growth genius and apply for a job in a bigger City. It’s literally heads I win, tails you lose.

Just to make things clear here, I do not know this Hargis guy who owns the restaurants, nor do I know his finances, or business acumen. But I will make an assumption, he is quite good at his craft, a Michelin Star is not given out like candy on Halloween, they are quite rare. Keeping it is even harder. I have never had a bad meal at Low Brau.

But why is he privatizing the profit, while socializing the loss?

Opinion of blogger:

This deal reeks. Sorry I’ll say it. The idea that the City will have a lien on his house tells me he may be mortgaged to the hilt. His agreement should be between the bank, the landlord of the building he will occupy, and himself. Why is the City involved at all? This smells like Darrell Doan wanted to see a BBQ joint in Elk Grove and talked this guy into starting one and guaranteed his loan. In addition, I think the bank didn’t like his business plan or profit/loss estimates moving forward so they balked at the loan.

Also pay attention to this statement:

Hargis, who has already spent about $750,000 on this restaurant and bar project, told the Citizen that he feels confident that his barbecue business will open on Railroad Street and the loan will be paid in full.

Why is the tenant making all the improvements to the building? Typically, the landlord does this in exchange for higher rent/increases in rent annually. I have not seen many of these arrangements lately. It gives me pause. Especially since the Dust Bowl Brewery that went in directly next to this proposed site made a lot of improvements, then ripped them out and put other ones in. (Note, the buildings are old brick train station type buildings that got a ton of updating).

Continuing my concerns, the location is in Old Town. It’s far away from the city center and is not easy to get to. Think of one lane in each direction street, stop lights/neighborhood homes/very scarce parking. Simply put, not many work in the area, and most who live there work far away so locals likely will not be partaking. The BBQ business is also very fickle, either folks like it or not, and usually the owner finds out his BBQ is not as great as he thinks it is. I watched as “The Rib Shack” near my office bit the dust in a bout a year’s time. The location is also very set back from the road, and visibility will be little as it will be behind the Dust Bowl Brewery and a couple of housing units being built. I would be remiss not to add that the neighborhood directly to the east of this is known for its meth heads and crack cocaine deals. Just ask a local, one told me any Amazon package left on the porch longer than about 30 minutes is stolen.

In closing I will say this is the new America. It used to be you took a chance, and if you hit it, you could hit it big, or even hit it to where you made a good living working in your own business. Now the profit is enjoyed by the owner, and the loss is shared by the citizens. It is sad, but it’s what it has come to. Frankly you would be foolish not to get into it if you can. This town is playing with house money quite literally as we built a casino. One has to wonder if it will decide to have a BBQ joint inside or nearby their casino? The plans are to build a hotel and amphitheater. Most in central or west Elk Grove likely have never heard of Old Town Elk Grove or really care. Quite frankly, if you live in either area its likely quicker and easier to go downtown than to travel to East Elk Grove and deal with the aforementioned parking and logistics issues getting to the area.

We are spending 1.25 million on something that is so far from a sure thing the owner (of 2 restaurants) has to personally put up his house and kitchen equipment as collateral? Huh? Also, the kitchen equipment, may seem like it’s worth a lot, no one buys that stuff second hand. It’s likely useless, and only has scrap value. Also, they say this guy’s house is worth 500k? How can that be possible? They claim he lives on Garden highway, for those of you not familiar Garden Highway (essentially the levee road in most of Sacramento County) which means he has a view/close proximity to water, so his home value is bunk. My small 1700 square foot house in aforementioned East Elk Grove in a tract home neighborhood is worth north of $650k according to Zillow. A lot is not adding up here. I think he does not own his house free and clear; he likely has a large note payable on it via a bank, backed by the house as collateral. No bank is letting the City of Elk Grove foreclose on it if they are owed money.

Again, folks here we are privatizing the profit, socializing the loss.

The Chief

Why the GOP Contenders Can’t Beat Trump

How is it Donald J Trump is at almost 50% in the polling for the GOP primary? He has been indicted at least 3 times, and it sounds like more are coming. He “led” the January 6^th revolt. In additional to many other things folks should find repulsive….so how is he winning by such a large margin?

Disclosure: This blogger supported DeSantis, but he has turned into the incredible shrinking candidate.

Honestly, we believe it is several things that are the reason Donald Trump appears inevitable.

He ran on a platform as being an outsider…. honestly, he still is. His party rank and file hate him. Most donors despise him. Even being a former president, he still feels like an outsider who is not part of the problem in Washington.

His “It’s not fair” platform resonates still. He was indicted multiple times, impeached multiple times as well. Not Joe Biden, and he has done far worse… but both parties are covering for him. Biden/other GOP folks can go on any network and answer softball questions… not so Donald, he isn’t welcome on any platform but Fox and then just barely.

The indictments help him. Ever notice, with each indictment comes a 3-4% jump in the polls. It galvanizes more GOP support for him, as others see a double tiered justice system.

A large field benefits Trump. Folks, be honest with yourselves, Donald is getting 38% as a floor in basically every state in the primary, it’s just a matter of how the 62% breaks between the rest of the field. A large group of candidates makes it so no one can catch him… looks like the 2020 primary, doesn’t it?

The other candidates are not exciting at all. Mike Pence? Blah. Chris Christie? Dude hugged Obama…he’s done. DeSantis really looks out of his league. Tim Scott, Nicki Haley, and Vivek Ramaswamy could be something and I predict one of these will “pop” after the first debate but will not get within striking distance of Donald. Heck, will Trump even show up to the debate? If he doesn’t, who will watch?

How to beat Trump

Knock off trying to “out Trump him.” Donald speaks to people in a way like no other, he makes himself seem like one of them, I would turn him into the person he really is. Focus on his Covid response. Lockdowns were essentially signed off on by him. Fauci told him what to do and he bought it all. We added trillions in debt by having the “extra $600 a week in unemployment added to folk’s paychecks. Essentially making a class of people who didn’t want to return to work.

Focus on his “PPP forgivable loan to trucking company Yellow.” They went bankrupt, the loan will not be paid back. I don’t care so much about the loan, as the amount of covid fraud will never be known…did you know the government made this loan in return for a 30% stake in the company?

Yellow executives said they intend to fully repay a $700 million loan former President Donald Trump’s administration issued to bail out the firm in 2020 under a pandemic relief program. Their success will depend on proceeds from selling Yellow’s properties and roughly 12,000 trucks, according to bankruptcy experts.

Government officials earlier this summer warned that U.S. investments could face losses. In particular, the Treasury Department has a nearly 31% stake in Yellow after accepting 15.9 million company shares as additional security for the loan, according to audit reports and bankruptcy documents. Shareholders are often last to recover their investments.
US trucking firm Yellow files for bankruptcy, blasts Teamsters

Monty Hall — Let’s Make a Deal from 1975

Yup we were playing Shark Tank and Let’s Make a Deal with the taxpayer’s cash. Most would call that nationalization; I call it dumb.

Dr. Oz proves Trump is no Political Wizard

Hammer him for the candidates he supported who lost. I am tying Dr. Mehmet Oz around his neck like the anvil it should be. I want Donald to explain his support for Oz, especially over a challenger who had actual conservative credentials. Ditto with Kari Lake. Sorry but his job should be to grow the party, not advance unelectable folks with very little conservative credentials. Keep in mind Dr. Oz was a puberty blocker for kids guy before it was cool, he also is a citizen of Turkey. Better candidates and we likely have a 58-vote senate majority, and a huge house majority. Also, we likely have Trump for a second term currently, instead we have a senate minority, and slim house majority.

Leave Trump alone. This is the hard part, when you are behind in the polls you feel you have to attack. Don’t. Trump says enough dumb things, like attacking DeSantis for his state leading the nation in covid deaths. Rather than trying to hit Donald back on policy, destroy him, say “how come you moved to Florida? Go back to New York.” Trump has no comeback to that. The indictments from the democrat party help him as well, as I mentioned above his numbers go up with each indictment. He is skipping the debate because he wants attention, he doesn’t want to face questions about his term, he wants to be the outsider he ran on prior.

Contrarian view: If I’m advising Trump.

Don’t debate: There is no point, you are far ahead in the polls, hold a rally instead. There will be a ton of cameras, have it the same day and time as the debate, you will get more viewers. You cannot afford to fall below 45% otherwise you will have what is perceived as weakness. Run against Joe starting now, don’t wait for the general, draw a stark contrast.

The Chief

Newsom Smokes DeSantis

I have to admit I’m stunned, I liked Ron (DeSantis) a lot. I thought he would run away with the nomination. He is a popular Florida Governor, swing state, speaks both English and Spanish. He is now the incredible shrinking candidate. Similar to Scott Walker 8 years ago he will go from favorite to also ran. SAD!

This past week has not been great for Ron. His campaign has laid off staff, this is usually a sign of running out of cash. His largest donor has demanded that DeSantis go far to the left or be cut off financially. He offered to debate Kamala Harris…she turned it down. My question is why would you want to debate her? You are running for President, not VP. Harris knew she would lose so she smartly turned it down. Then he agreed to debate Gavin Newsom.

Big mistake.

First there is nothing for DeSantis to gain from this. Gavin is not a candidate (yet). Furthermore, the debate would be on Fox and moderated by Sean Hannity. It seems odd that Gavin wants the debates to be held in either: North Carolina, Georgia or Nevada…oh wait they are swing states. Still Think Gavin isn’t running?

Better yet, Gavin has a built-in excuse if things to awry…. he is on a “far right network” with a “far right debate moderator.” Essentially, he can play the “its unfair 2 vs 1 card.”

Secondly, look at the rules DeSantis proposed:

DeSantis suggested four dates from between Sept. 19 to Nov. 8, while Newsom proposed two dates in November.
DeSantis wanted a live audience with a 50-50 split, while Newsom said, “no live audience.”
DeSantis does not want opening remarks, while Newsom would like both participants to get four minutes.
DeSantis proposed that they each submit a two-minute-long video that must be approved by Fox News before it is played at the top of the debate.

I will address these one at a time.

I have zero issue with timing of debates, I prefer DeSantis timeframe but if you’re going to debate both sides need to agree to a mutual date.

The live audience thing is wild… I mean is this like Cheers in disguise? Filmed before a live studio audience? I agree with Gavin, I would do no audience, I think the cheering and jeering takes away from a policy debate.

The opening video is also strange, it speaks to wanting a hype video that’s pre-recorded, I prefer Gavin’s idea of a four-minute opening statement. Also, this should set DeSantis up better as it helps frame a Florida vs California policy debate. It would be easy to show a stark contrast.

Again, this just seems bizarre, Ron should be chomping at the bit to face off with Gavin, assuming Gavin is a candidate (more on this later). But the terms are wild.

Gavin as the Blog Father pointed out is a skilled debater; in a sense he doesn’t need facts, he just makes things up as he goes. Worst yet he still believes it to be true. This is what makes Gavin a skilled politician, and again, if Hannity tries to call him out, he can play the “2 vs 1 card.”

In short, DeSantis has no chance of looking good. He can either stumble badly (and sadly his demands paint a picture of him not being a good debater) or he looks good, and Gavin/democrats/state run media play the “right wing network, right wing moderator, of course DeSantis looked good. It’s a lose, lose I would never agree to.

As for Gavin, folks I’ve said it before in this space, he is up to something, either Joe is going to whack Kamala off the ticket (possibly) or the democrat party is going to whack Joe from the ticket entirely. Interestingly enough, the democrats are all in on Feinstein being too old to serve, everyone except Pelosi wants her gone so Gavin can appoint someone to fill the seat. I know he has said it will be a black woman, this is his way to brandish his “woke credentials.” Gavin in our opinion is not electable nationwide without widespread voter fraud on levels even the democrats know they cannot pull off. So, the easiest way is to use Joe again as a conduit. Joe is a likeable guy…I do not like his politics, but he is uncontroversial…the opposite of Trump some may say. Get Joe re-elected, have him have a “health episode” and viola VP Gavin will take over as president going forward. Democrats keep the Senate, re-claim the house and next thing you know the Supreme court has 25 judges, and boom, liberal utopia here we come.

The Chief

PS and yes, I think DeSantis is cooked, Trump is too far ahead in the polls and appears inevitable.

Why I Will Never Own a Rental In CA

It sounds great, doesn’t it? Owning a rental? Someone else pays your mortgage each month, you get the leftover cash. It’s cash flow baby, how can you go wrong? You get income each month, and if they do not pay you tack on a late fee. They still don’t pay? Evict their butt! Raise the rent yearly and voila, you can buy another, and another and another. WRONG!

Let me give you a real-world story. First, a friend of mine rented out his townhouse to a couple college kids. He had since bought a newer, bigger house. It worked fine for a couple years, then when move out time was happening (tenants graduating college) they proceeded to have a massive party, trashing the place to the tune of 40,000 dollars. Yes, 40k. Let’s just say that was equal to the amount of rent paid over the two years they rented from him but it likely was not. I helped with repairs, but they thew a kegger, had a bunch of folks over, and flooring had to be replaced, the bathtub/shower insert was broken, the toilet bowl was missing a chunk out of it. Yikes. All this for a little income? My friend sold the place at a loss, this was circa the housing bust.

If that doesn’t scare you, or you are very naïve now read, on for my personal reasons not to own one (again in CA specifically).

Rent Control Laws: They will keep getting more not less favorable to the tenet. Try making money/keeping up with inflation and property tax hikes when you have strict limits on how much you can raise rent annually.

Property Taxes: Prop 13 is/has been under siege for the longest time, eventually prop 13 property tax protections will go away for commercial buildings, this likely will include rentals someday. Prop 13 for those of you not familiar, limits property tax hikes to a set percentage a year, 2% I reckon. Without prop 13, Katie bar the door.

Tenant Has all the Rights: In CA Landlord = Bad, Tenant = Good. The laws are all on their side. All the time. Stove goes out? They can withhold the rent. AC/Heat goes out? If not fixed quickly…ditto. And withhold means straight up not paying for the month by the way. Trust me, I know this, as my office partner owns a rental, if it wasn’t paid for he would sell.

Eviction is HARD: Again, like the above, the laws are all on the tenant side. First, months upon months of payments must be missed. Then you must file with the court, then have the Sheriff serve the tenant in person, not via email, or snail mail. Then you will need a good lawyer, not a cheap one, because again if the “I”s are not dotted and “t”s not crossed then the process starts over. With your tenant living for free.

“Plandemics”: Yup, it was planned not a pandemic. Fauci came in and made the rules, governors enacted them. We shut down, but worse, you could not evict anyone for non-payment or any reason. Check out that sentence again. So, folks quit paying their rent, actually you would have been stupid to keep paying it. Now good luck collecting that bank rent. Oh by the way, I think CA just finally allowed evictions to start to proceed, literally a year plus after the plandemic was declared over.

Utilities: See above, but the tenant likely wasn’t paying those either, but since it’s your house and you the landlord are the owner…you owe them now or face a shut off. Again, as landlord good luck getting the state to forgive those.

Upkeep: It’s not the tenant’s house so don’t expect much from them. Major wet/dry rot, dead trees, water leaks, uncared for appliances will be the norm. Don’t expect them to make you aware of the cosmetic damage either. A client of mine had a rental with 25k of dry rot on the entire side of his rental. The sprinkler was hitting the side of the house for probably 2 years straight causing major damage. (Also not covered by insurance btw).

Mortgage: Whether the tenant pays rent or not, your mortgage is still due. Just remember that. Just like the property tax, insurance and utilities that are your responsibility. Those entities do not give a rip that your tenant ain’t paying you.

If these have not convinced you to not buy a rental in CA, then by all means go for it. I am sure a lot of you have wonderful stories of great tenants/experiences etc. so the obvious disclaimer, your experience may vary. I just do not see the upside in CA or any blue state for owning a rental property. For me there is too much risk involved. I see way too many negatives, and I do not wish to not sleep at night due to stress or whatnot.

The Chief

Throwing Water on the “Homeless Crisis”

I was reading the latest edition of the Sacramento Bee when I stumbled across an editorial that made my blood boil. Alvie Lindsey is her name, and her article reads like any other article you can find on the inter webs or print… we need to do something. It talks about the Bee doing an investigation (LOL) and asking the hard questions (LOL) then being transparent with the answers given (LOL). Since I didn’t die of laughter, I guess I’ll continue my commentary below.

First of all, Alvie, you work in a dead profession, not dying, dead, so I question your sanity. Journalism died when you guys went all in on left wing politics and policies. Ask yourself this, how can you possibly hold Joe Biden, Gavin Newsom, or any other elected in California/US accountable when you did nothing but pump them up while running for office? You can’t. Sorry, not sorry.

When I was in college 2004-2008 Gavin Newsom (yes that one) was mayor. His reign lasted through 2011. During that same time span, a politician named Kamala Harris (again, that one) was District Attorney, then she elevated to be Attorney General of CA.

My point in naming these two is simple, the Bee and other publications have supported their motives for years, since 2004 to be exact. Never have either of these two done anything to draw the ire of any news organization in CA. In fact, you doubled, and tripled down to support them. But on to the homeless issue to make my point.

California is very rare in that we have a massive state, home to massive corporations, also we have three very different, distinct regions. All three, however, are very progressive, and seem to be racing each other to the bottom.

Through my time in California, I never used to witness much homelessness, even when in high school and I had to volunteer at Loaves and Fishes there were not a “ton” of homeless, more like a few hundred. I went to college in Marin County, and the problem was substantially worse. This was circa 2004-2008. My time there I got introduced to San Francisco/Oakland/Bay Area this was an eye opener. Open air drug markets (Civic Center, SF) tent cities (Oakland) and massive crime (any area with mass transit). Things have gotten progressively worse, in all 3 phases. Now the homeless crisis has taken over our state with Sacramento County claiming to have 10,000 homeless alone.

How did we get here?

Well, it’s a combination of things; there is no sole answer or cause. To understand one needs to realize humanity is not perfect, but it is resourceful. What I mean by that is while homelessness may be avoidable for some, others have chosen homelessness. First and foremost, I would say 75-80% of most folks have zero saved up for an emergency. Thus, when something happens (health, layoff, car/house repair) occurs they have no means to afford it. Thus, some are pushed into homelessness due to circumstances out of their control. I include in these folks evicted/foreclosed on, as they typically have no viable options. Drug/alcohol abuse is also a large cause of homelessness, a friend of mine (RIP) lost his house, due to his alcohol addiction, he was foreclosed on. Abuse leads to loss of employment that turns into loss of residence. Others just want to live underground and avoid paying for things.

Sure, there are some who are down on their luck, lost a job, had major health scare etc., and for them I hope they are able to get into transitional housing and start work again. I really do and I feel this blog’s staff feel the same. California has spent millions on this type of housing, and I see zero results, the problem is actually getting worse. Getting worse due to decisions made by left leaning elected that the news media went in the tank for. Gavin Newsom has raised the minimum wage, built low-income housing (even sued local cities to force them to build), waived most permit and environment rules, decriminalized drugs and low-level crimes, all in the guise of “helping folks out of poverty.” It hurt the problem. Honestly very few of these tiny homes have been built, and when they have been, the units end up trashed, due to you guessed it drugs, alcohol, and more disturbing sex trade. Most of these “camps” are staffed with a medic, security, and social workers… added amenities include showers, toilets, and community areas. Yet somehow these units end up in a state of disrepair. Who knew people who don’t have any purpose in life or have no fear of consequences will trash the place?

Here is my solution: Warning it is not constitutional and will never be allowed but understand my take.

We round up all homeless in each county. Yup, I said it. You have two choices, you want to better yourself, get out of homelessness? You go one way, board a bus and live in a tiny home compound. You have access to social workers, but most importantly you apply for jobs, entry level, who cares, the goal here is you have a safe place to live temporarily, and getting a paycheck coming in. This is the best, easiest and most effective way to get out of homelessness. You have a place to live, a safe one at that, bathrooms and shower facilities, and a schedule. There will be no, drinking, sex, or drugging at this place. PERIOD. The other group of folks who want to drink, drug, and have sex like crazy they get on a different bus, and go to a compound away from society. They can live their lives out over there, away from a civilized society.

I know what folks are thinking, how can I be so cold, low hearted, and call myself a Christian? I do, and I can. I sleep just well at night as well by the way. Recently I morphed into an angry white male, I took a look at the taxes I pay and I’m sick. I’m sick because I see billions being spent on homeless liberal BS and it isn’t working. I see/read stories of tons of trash, destroyed property, and the like, it’s my damn taxpayer money being spent on liberal BS. And by the way the GOP supports it out here as well. San Francisco is a wasteland; a once proud city is destroyed. Downtown Sacramento, near where this blog is headquartered (for now) is trashed. I was there for a Spartan Race (I’m kind of a big deal) K street and L street smelled like piss, and scat, of the human variety. In front of our new basketball arena, which was supposed to turn the area around, they were blasting music at 6am…. yes, to ward of the homeless folks who want to camp out.

It’s time for a new idea, no more liberal BS maybe try my idea?

The Chief

Editor’s Note: In the 1980’s, it was alleged by Mitch Snyder and parroted by a willing media that there were 3 million homeless in the United States. At the time the government (U.S. Census Bureau) claimed about 300,000 homeless. Since the media (including the Sacramento Bee) are always truthful, let’s use their number of 3 million. Why is it that there were no tent cities or poop on sidewalks? In fact, sightings of homeless people were infrequent in many areas. Currently the number of homeless is allegedly 582,462. This is one sixth the number of homeless that liberals claimed existed during the Reagan Administration. Why is the problem now so much worse? Why is homelessness a crisis in areas governed almost exclusively by Democrats?

Donald Trump was a Necessary Evil

Speaking to the 90-day guy today I gave my thoughts on his comments about “Trump being up in the polls vs Biden.” This is nice and wonderful I said, but I have no appetite for a rematch. Make no mistake, I supported Trump after Scott Walker dropped out of the primary and supported him during his entire first term and re-election campaign, but I have tired of him and his act.

Make no mistake about it, Trump was the most conservative president of my lifetime so far, I am 37. Trump did some amazing things; he singlehandedly remade the Supreme Court. Got a tax cut done, albeit temporary (expires in 2024), we also had a thriving economy. Covid hit, and destroyed all of this, even worse, Trump got bad advice from his inner circle and turned into a mad man. In this blogger’s opinion, he self-destructed. Now we have a vegetable in the White House.

Trump however will be seen in a great light by me because he exposed the charlatans and frauds in the party and media. Lindsey Graham found his spine after being a thorn in the side of the Party for years. McConnell got the judges through and confirmed, but Trump laid waste to him and exposed him for being a fake. Ditto for Kevin McCarthy. McConnell and McCarthy are two of the fakest conservatives you will meet. Both love to say one thing on Fox News and vote a different way in DC. However both love to lecture us about how “Democrats are going to destroy our way of life” while voting the opposite. How many times have we raised the debt ceiling? What’s the point of a ceiling if you keep raising it?

Trump loved using the bully pulpit with soft Republicans, he loved whacking the Democrats as well, but what he did against the GOP was a thing of legends. The way he called out “Lyin Ted, Little Marco, Low Energy Jeb” was something no Republican had done before. There are no scared cows with Trump, he is a piece of work, but man could he get deep into the mud. He wouldn’t back down from anyone.

That trait has been sorely lacking from the GOP for decades, maybe for life? The way I see it, the GOP is good for one thing; talking tough. That’s it. They will shut down federal, state or local governments, only to relent and give in a certain time later. Getting nothing by the way! I watched this most of my adult life, the Party would hold out, and then suddenly reverse course and give the Democrats everything they wanted. Trump was having none of it.

Trump has left office he is politically toxic, but he did do some great things as far as I am concerned. Gone are the days of Newt Gingrich, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham leading the party. Fox is no longer viewed as conservative. I would say Trump is the leader in the clubhouse of the Party, it certainly is not McCarthy or McConnell. Ted Cruz got muzzled, Marco Rubio is hardly heard from anymore. Trump gave a playbook on how to win in the media. The Party never acted, thus they never learned from their mistakes. Anyone remember the massive red wave that was supposed to come in 2022? There wasn’t one. It’s a leaderless, rudderless ship right now and I do not see it ending. Looks like the Republican Party has circled back to the only hope for a GOP win at the national level is for a milquetoast moderate to run…. Mittens Romney anybody?

The Chief

Covid Lockdowns: A Democrat and Liberal Republican Wet Dream

Editor’s Note: This was written on the third year anniversary of two weeks to flatten the curve (March 2023) but somehow I missed the submission. Sorry, Chief.

Oops, I just said it. Hate me? I want you to get mad at me! Get mad! But you cannot. You were scared, frightened. Everyone was going to die. We all needed to lock ourselves in our homes and smear Chick-fil-A sauce over the doorway. El Oh El!

Oh, trust me there are/were plenty of Republicans who needed to change their undies too. They finally showed their true colors to me. Hence, I left the Party.

You picked winners and losers, both in business and people. The liquor store and weed dispensary? They needed to stay open. “Essential” were they. Yeah, those are the most unessential businesses going… but hey I gotta buy my booze and weed!

Food places? Close them to dine in! But by golly shucks, let the people gather in the vestibule area to wait for their takeout order! El Oh El!

All the dental offices in my building were closed down…. imagine that every time I used to go to the dentist, the personnel minus the front counter folks were masked up…. Oh, this was long before Covid took place. I guess you could say they masked up before it was cool? El Oh El! Now no one is going to the dentist, in my building they are struggling to hire hygienists and RDA’s.

The local park had the basketball hoop removed….and playground roped off. Thank god… I heard the covid monster was known to frequent that basketball court. No word on the “lawsuit” likely filed by the child molester types, I heard they demanded the playgrounds for children be deemed essential!

The Indian casinos/cardrooms were allowed to be open…. thank god, see weed and liquor stores. As a nation we have our priorities just in line, don’t we?

Workers who wanted to work; i.e.. Waiters/service folks were told stay home and given extra benefits to do so. Yet some of the most vulnerable, including a good friend of mine who works at a grocer were told show up/no time off or consequences would be severe. He works as a senior cashier, while the Subway Sandwich artist lays on the couch at home eating Bon-Bons making more money than my friend. Good luck getting those folks to return to the workforce in any meaningful capacity.

Crime: Boy howdy! Was this ever a thing to watch. You were more than welcome to protest if you’re a BLM sympathizer, it was actually encouraged. So much so that you were in essence given immunity from prosecution. The jails were subsequently emptied of all “non-violent” criminals. Yup, who would have thunk crime would be as bad as it is now? The courts were shut down, and sweet deal plea bargains were handed out like candy on Halloween. I know of 2 people who caused DUI car wrecks which killed people, their sentences? Neither included any jail time.

We pause this blog to allow the Democrats and GOP reading this blog to change your undies.

While person to person contact was discouraged, using a hook up app like Tindr was fine. But of course, going to a strip club was not. Artificial stimulation (weed and booze) was ok, but human touch was frowned upon? Except in the comfort of your own bedroom? El Oh El. I guess I’ve been having sex wrong all these years? Me and my girlfriend of choice were always breathing heavily, heart racing within inches of each other. But I guess your experience may vary? LOL

You allowed folks to not pay rent or their mortgage with no fear of eviction/foreclosure. Smart, you just told a generation, or 2 that personal responsibilities doesn’t matter. To date I do not think the eviction process has completely re-started yet. The foreclosure process? Who cares?

Ditto for telling folks they didn’t have to pay their utility bills. I know of quite a few folks who fit this category. Again, teaching folks they can use a service and not pay…. and thinking this is somehow ok?

But keep telling yourself you believe in limited government, the free market, and small business. The government shut you down, if you even work. Told you where you could and could not gather, and you listened. No spine at all. Churches closed, but hey that’s ok, I’ll just fire up the ole television and watch it. They shut the schools down, and you followed. They weaponized the police to track down folks who disobeyed their order. This went on for years. You obeyed…good for you.

You got multiple shots; what you actually had put into your body you will never really know. But its ok, the President and Governor got the shot on live TV. You are not a conservative, you are a follower, scared of your own shadow. You were finally confronted, and you showed your true colors for all of us to see. Congrats on your Covid card! I am sure you are also the one complaining about how the restaurant is understaffed and out of ingredients!

Congrats! You all did this. Good luck making things right again in the world. But hey you didn’t get Covid. Hope you don’t suffer from the side effects of the shots you got. And if you do? Sorry the drug companies have full immunity. El Oh El. The Joke is on you.

The Chief

My Take on Iraq War 20 Year Anniversary

Editor’s Note: it is my fault this post was delayed, the Chief did his part.

Today, 3/20/2023 is a day of reflection, as it marks the 20-year anniversary of the US invading Iraq. When looking back, I was a high school sophomore at the time. Our nation had gotten attacked on 9/11, our mission was to find those in charge, and eliminate them from earth. In hindsight, what happened on this date set the US back as a world superpower.

I was all for the invasion, you do not dare invade the US and live to tell the tale. We as a people, myself included, were gassed up by George W Bush, Dick Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld saying we had intelligence on who did this. First it was radical Muslims, then jihadists, etc. John Bolton was another one of the cheerleaders for invading Iraq. But the worst was Colin Powell, yep, the “decorated” general who aspired to be President. He went in front of United Nations and gave a speech citing an intelligence document that Iraq had nuclear weapons and was hiding them. We had to move now.

Move we did. Even though Britain and Germany questioned the validity of this document, it didn’t matter. We invoked the article of NATO and had the backing of the largest alliance with us. We invaded Iraq. I was fully in support, at least for a while.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell delivers his address to the UN Security Council February 5, 2003 in New York City.

Then it turned out there were no weapons. None. Powell lied. Even though we rolled through Iraq and killed Saddam Hussein the worst was yet to come. Bush termed out of office and new President Barack Obama was sworn in, Colin Powell ditched the GOP for the Dems and basically kept the same job in the White House. Some liars get promoted or ignored, I still remember the democrats saying Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld were war criminals, somehow Powell escaped that title. Just keep in mind the vote to go to war was 268-161 or something like that. Those in favor included John Kerry, Joe Biden, and Hillary Clinton mind you.

Iraq quickly became a quagmire, who would have thought right? We lost over 5,000 servicemen, and likely thousands of civilian contractors. Untold are the stories of our young people who came back stateside scarred for life from what they saw. Terrorists and those with nothing to lose do not fight fair. Roadside bombs, IED’s, and knife attacks leave a lasting horror story.

We did not free the Iraqi people, we just put different groups in charge of different zones. In essence it is a lawless nation now. Any mission we claim to have won, was pointless. Sure, we rid the world of a horrible man (that we kept in power for many years before turning on him), but is the situation any better? Bottom line is many in Iraq hate the US and all it stands for. We showed our collective rear end to the world. We feel we can just bomb any nation and rebuild it to look like ours. It will never work in this part of the globe. How many lives need to be lost and dollars squandered just to win a pyrrhic victory?

This reminds me so much of the situation of Russia invading Ukraine, even if Russia ultimately succeeds, Ukraine does not want to be occupied by Russia so violence and fighting will always be a thing. Never underestimate a country’s people who do not want to be under another country’s rule. It is for that reason I oppose our “helping” of Ukraine.

The Chief