Really Right – Page 79 – Religion, Politics, and Culture: Explained and Defined

What The Government Shutdown Should Teach About Personal Finance

The infamous government shutdown has come and gone and in a rare blog, I’m not going to get or be political at all. I want to focus on personal finance and how close most Americans are to financial ruin. Hopefully you will learn something, if not go study Socialism 101 and hopefully Alexandria Ocasio Cortez wins in 2020.

For the rest of us, the core of our financial problem in American is called a “paycheck.” You know, one bestowed upon any hard-working person; received once, twice, weekly, or bi-weekly every month. “A day’s work for a day’s pay”, or as some would call it, “money received for services rendered.” However, we as Americans have overestimated the paycheck. We take it for granted. We no longer see it as wages earned, but as money to spend; or in some cases, as alluded to earlier in a separate blog, money needed to pay past debts.

Really, in most respects we never learned our lesson from the bank/real estate/credit crisis starting in 2006. People lost homes, cars, jobs, and other material investments. Your 401k became a 104k, and we as a country swore, we would learn our lesson. Truth is we never did.

The year is 2019 and we experienced a government shutdown. Federal employees were forced to work without pay or told to stay home and you would not be paid. Additionally, in the case of TSA workers, they staged sick outs to avoid the punishment of actually having to show up to work. The workers rebelled because they were no longer receiving a paycheck. (FYI once it was over, they were all paid retroactively to the beginning of the shutdown.)

Changing our lifestyle is a lesson we should have learned a decade ago. Companies had mass layoffs, banks and investment firms went bankrupt, the government bailed out Wall Street. We never learned our lesson. How many stories, articles, interviews etc. did you see featuring government workers forced to go to a local soup kitchen or fill out food stamp applications, workers claiming they were about to be thrown out of their apartments, houses? They never learned their lesson. While my heart breaks for these workers I find it very hard to believe they spend their entire paycheck on just housing and food, and if they do, we are in way bigger trouble as a country then I have ever imagined.

The truth is, these people are liars. They have 2 car payments, possibly a boat/rec vehicle payment, credit card debts, and likely spend far too much on entertainment or dining. However, that doesn’t make for a great narrative so we must focus on the single mom of three who is being evicted and somehow that is my fault because I’m undertaxed?

Poor financial choices have been harming Americans for decades. We are fiscally illiterate people. The biggest problem is we have stopped seeing the paycheck as a means of income. Instead, we now see it as a way to pay-off last month’s debts.

Madison Avenue marketing in all its forms, encourages us to swipe a piece of plastic because we won’t see the bill for 30 days and can afford the minimum payment… buy now, pay later anyone?

The truth is, if we actually had to reach into our wallets and pull-out cash every time that we made a purchase, we would behave in a much different manner. But because our money is just so many pixels on a computer or cellphone screen, there is a lack of restraint on our behavior. Our paycheck is not “real.” Its is an ethereal, untouchable, intangible thing.

The crux of the shutdown matter is this: “Does the Government work for us or do we work for the government?” Once that question is answered we will be able to chart our future. If you are a federal, state, county, city, union, etc. employee take heed of my words; you are 100% at the mercy of the taxpayer base. We have a tendency to vote with our feet, and at some point, we may get transportation out of said country. You have just received an early warning, next time you may not be so lucky. The day of reckoning is coming; unfunded mandates are not easily curable by simply raising taxes or increasing the employee contribution for new hires. As a famous person once said, “socialism is great until you run out of other people’s money” …I doubt that person was Alexandra Ocasio -Cortez.

While this should be a kick in the pants for all workers, especially the previously untouchable federal workers, it won’t be. The shutdown is over…crisis averted…I guess? Actually, this is temporary, the next one may be very protracted. We as workers must come to grips with a very stark conclusion, we are beholden 100% to our employer. If you work in the private sector—we all know our paychecks are tied to ebbs and flows in company profits, if you work for the government—your wages are tied to union agreements. In either case, it’s a scary place.

My advice is to get your financial house in order ASAP, not next week, not tomorrow, ASAP. Immediately get all debt under control and limit spending based on needs, not wants.

Limit pleasure trips and forgo trading in your car for a brand new one, equipped with a higher payment.
Use your cell phone until its obsolete, resist the urge to spend over $1,000 on a new one.
Cable is awesome, when you watch it…. consider cutting the cord, you may be amazed how little you miss it.
Stop looking at ads in the mail/paper/or in store, they are designed to make you become an impulse buyer, your freezer is full, your pantry is overflowing, you don’t need another flat screen, let it go.
That gym membership you signed up for but keep waiting until next week to actually use…. cancel it.

Once you start following these pieces of advice you will find yourself with extra money at the end of each month, resist the urge. This money is not your next payment, it’s found money to save. Extinguish debt, or invest in retirement; however, I prefer starting savings, make a goal of 10% of each paycheck.

Get that savings up to 6-10 months of expenses, now you are your own boss. Something unexpected happens at work, you can take a job you want, as opposed to taking a job for the paycheck to once again, pay off debts. Invest in yourself, learn new skills, and become adaptable, your future you will thank you. Just FYI, calling out sick when you aren’t sick gets you fired in the real world. The fact you drive a basic car, not the latest C class Mercedes will pay off in the future. Have a plan, don’t be the 80-year-old guy or girl working at Home Depot or Walmart because you have too.

Eugenics in America

Given: Leftists believe that Evolution is true; therefore, the world is governed by “survival of the fittest.”
Corollary: Some humans are superior to others.

Thus, those that think they are fit (Leftist Elites) have the right to decide what is best for everyone else.

Three news stories in the last week indicate the stronghold that Eugenics has in the United States.

Before getting into the stories, it would be worthwhile to define eugenics for those of you with public school or inferior private school educations.

Eugenics is “The science of improving a population by controlled breeding to increase the occurrence of desirable heritable characteristics.”

Given Darwin’s belief is almost universally accepted as true—except for those of us that are Orthodox Christians—it should be no surprise that folks believe that some men are superior to others. The sad part is that people that should know better have fallen for this anti-biblical lie from hell. This has been a purposeful deception.

Topic #1 Black Folks Support Genocide Of Their Own Race

A new Barna Group poll commissioned by the pro-life movie “Unplanned” found that blacks support tax subsidies for abortion giant Planned Parenthood more than any other group.
The irony, the survey sponsor said, is that Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger was an advocate of eugenics and promoted birth control among black communities.
Overall, 41 percent favored tax subsidies, and 39 percent oppose them. But among blacks, 53 percent favor the subsidies, and only 20 percent oppose them.

The history of Sanger and her advocacy for birth control in black communities is well-documented.
HUD Secretary Dr. Ben Carson has charged Sanger “was trying to eliminate black people. … That was the whole purpose of it.”
Arina Grossu of the Center for Human Dignity in Washington, said Sanger “shaped the eugenics movement in America and beyond in the 1930s and 1940s.”
“Her views and those of her peers in the movement contributed to compulsory sterilization laws in 30 U.S. states that resulted in more than 60,000 sterilizations of vulnerable people, including people she considered ‘feeble-minded,’ ‘idiots’ and ‘morons,’” Grossu found.
“She even presented at a Ku Klux Klan rally in 1926 in Silver Lake, N.J. She recounted this event in her autobiography: ‘I accepted an invitation to talk to the women’s branch of the Ku Klux Klan. … I saw through the door dim figures parading with banners and illuminated crosses. … I was escorted to the platform, was introduced, and began to speak. … In the end, through simple illustrations I believed I had accomplished my purpose.’”
Sanger once said, “The main objects of the Population Congress would be to apply a stern and rigid policy of sterilization and segregation to that grade of population whose progeny is tainted, or whose inheritance is such that objectionable traits may be transmitted to offspring[;] to give certain dysgenic groups in our population their choice of segregation or sterilization.”
Grossu noted that even now, nearly 80 percent of Planned Parenthood’s surgical abortion facilities are located within walking distance of black or Hispanic communities.
And she pointed to figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2007 to 2010 showing that more than one third of all abortions destroyed unborn black babies. That’s even though black Americans make up only 13 percent of the population.

Poll stunner! Blacks like taxpayer funding for abortionists

In early January 2018, along some of the main thoroughfares in Greater Cleveland, billboards that espoused the “benefits” of abortion began popping up. The signs, placed by Ohio’s largest abortion business, Preterm, carried messages such as “Abortion is sacred,” “Abortion is a family value,” “Abortion is safer than childbirth” and “Abortion is a blessing.” It was all part of the group’s “Abortion is” campaign to reduce abortion stigma.
The billboards stood in some of Cleveland’s poorest neighborhoods, their bold and ironic claims plainly contradicting Scriptural teaching about the inherent value of human beings made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27; Psalm 139:13-15).
These billboards caught the attention of Franklin Graham. He posted on Facebook, Jan. 4, 2018: “God says, ‘Woe to those who call evil good and good evil.’ That’s exactly what an abortion business in Ohio is doing. … These are all lies. Here’s a billboard for them—‘Abortion is evil, because it’s murder.’ Pray that America will wake up to the tragedy of children being killed through abortion every day in this nation.”
Long before the campaign launched, black pro-life groups and civil rights leaders had been exposing the chilling aspect of such morbid propaganda efforts: The abortion industry disproportionately targets African-Americans. In fact, many black pro-life leaders have a bold term for it: black genocide.

Nationally, some 36 percent of abortions are performed on African-American women, CDC figures show, while the female population is only 13 percent black. In New York City, the abortion rate is 3.7 times higher among black mothers than white mothers.
Bomberger’s first billboard campaign featured 60 signs in the Atlanta area in 2012 bearing the message “Black Children Are an Endangered Species.” He says he told a New York Times reporter who questioned use of the term genocide, that by United Nations definitions, the practice of abortion in the black community meets four of the U.N.’s five conditions for genocide.
Those conditions are: “Killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; [and] forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.”
Of those, only the last isn’t applicable, Bomberger says.
“I don’t know how else to describe it,” he says. “How do you describe it when in New York City, more black babies are aborted than are born?”

https://billygraham.org/decision-magazine/february-2019/targeting-black-america-abortion-industry-with-roots-eugenics-disproportionately-preys-on-african-american-women-their-babies/

Topic #2 New York Makes Abortion Legal Until Moment of Birth

What I believe with little empirical doubt is that the New York Legislature has just legalized conscious fetal murder on a potentially very large scale, WITHOUT competent medical supervision. The latter point strongly suggests that they don’t want to hear the truth from highly qualified MD’s.
This is no longer a theoretical debate.
This is legalized genocide.

Biomedical scientist calls New York’s abortion law ‘de facto genocide’

The measure, which Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo quickly signed into law Tuesday night, was pushed through by Democrats who now control both legislative houses. The Senate passed it 38-24. In the Assembly, it passed by a 92-47 margin.
In the face of calls at the federal level to weaken abortion rights, the bill maintains abortions as legal within 24 weeks of the start of a pregnancy – “or at any time when necessary to protect a woman’s life or health.’’ Late-term abortions had previously been authorized under state law if they meant saving the life of a woman.

Long-stalled abortion bill passes New York Legislature

Please note the weasel word “health” in this quote: “or at any time when necessary to protect a woman’s life or health.’’

Per US Supreme Court case Doe v Bolton, health of mother was defined as mental health which has been interpreted as convenience. If mother doesn’t want baby then she doesn’t have to give birth to the child because this could cause undue mental and/or physical strain on her. This case was released same day as Roe v Wade in 1973 and was coupled with Roe to allow abortion on demand.

The New York bill expands abortion availability.

Physician assistants will be permitted to also carry out surgical abortions and licensed midwives and nurse practitioners can do nonsurgical procedures using medications if they are “acting within his or her lawful scope of practice,” according to the legislation.

Topic #3 Infanticide Is What We Want Now

Virginia Democrat Kathy Tran’s bill would allow abortion even when mother is about to give birth for mental health reasons.

Todd Gilbert, the Republican House majority leader, questioned Tran about the bill during a hearing Monday. He asked Tran if a woman who has physical signs she is about to give birth could request an abortion if a physician said it could impair her “mental health.”
“Where it’s obvious that a woman is about to give birth. She has physical signs that she is about to give birth. Would that still be a point at which she could request an abortion if she was so-certified — she’s dilating,” he asked.
“Mr. Chairman, that would be … a decision that the doctor, the physician and the woman would make at that point,” Tran replied.
“I understand that,” Gilbert replied. “I’m asking if your bill allows that.”
Tran replied: “My bill would allow that, yes.”

Outrage as video shows Virginia abortion bill sponsor saying plan would allow termination up until birth

Going ever further, Virginia Governor, Ralph Northam, while defending Tran’s bill, advocated killing the baby even after birth.

“So in this particular example if a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen,” he said. “The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother.”

Governor slams infanticide charge in abortion bill uproar; Schumer wants intervention on Trump

Those familiar with so called bioethicist, Peter Singer, would not be surprised at such comments. For decades, Singer has advocated subjecting newborn children to a battery of tests to decide if a child should be declared “human’ otherwise they can be killed up to age two years without any repercussions.

Conclusion

Eugenics is an integral part of the ideology of the Democrat Party. Sadly, many that are the targets of extermination are happy to support those that want to exterminate them. Democrats act on the basis of your skin color not the content of your character. This is the reason they use identity politics. They want to limit and control people. Their promise of security in exchange for yielding liberty is false.

In case you needed a reminder that Jesus isn’t welcome in the Democrat Party besides the fact they want to eliminate God from the oath how is abortion compatible with His words:

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”
Matthew 25:40

Woman Lied About Trump to “Save my life”

Photo of Anastasia Vashukevich self-proclaimed sex spy

This headline says it all: Escort says she made up Trump dirt story to help win release from Thai jai

A Belarusian model, who said she had proof that President Trump’s campaign colluded with the Kremlin during the 2016 presidential election, has now backtracked and says she made up the claims.
Anastasia Vashukevich, who spent months in a Thai jail last year for organizing sex training seminars, grabbed headlines after saying she has evidence that Russia worked with Trump’s campaign.
She asked the U.S. government to secure her freedom from the Thai lockup and grant her political asylum in exchange for recordings in which she said Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska is heard talking about interfering in the U.S. presidential elections. She reportedly worked as an escort, with Deripaska being one of her clients.

But the model now claims her story was just an effort to attract media attention and save her life while she was detained in Thailand.
“I think it saved my life, how can I regret it? If journalists had not come at that time and that story had not come to the newspapers, maybe I would die [be dead by] now,” she told CNN.

This sounds like she heard about Hillary’s fake “Steel Dossier” and just piled-on to save her skin. Is it any surprise that CNN gets mentioned in this story?

Does anybody wonder why this babe was in Thailand? And what is the meaning of “organizing sex training seminars?” Last I heard, Thailand was a prosperous place for human trafficking and prostitution without any help from her. What does this babe with an Instagram account think she has to contribute to “the oldest profession?” How crazy did she have to get to be arrested in Thailand?

Frankly, I think she has the right temperament to be a member of the House of Representatives from the great state of New York. She would have a bright future in the Democrat Party, when the going gets tough blame Trump and Russia. Yeah, she would fit right in.

My SOTU Prediction

I was asked to make my predictions for the upcoming State of the Union address by President Trump, and here is what you can expect to hear:

The speech will heavily feature the border wall
The bully pulpit will be used heavily
The shutdown will be a central issue

If you think Trump caved on the wall, you are sadly mistaken and likely still believe Russians intervened in the 2016 election. Trump wants to give the State of the Union because, just like Reagan, he knows what to do when the little red light on the camera is red. He is going to light into the Democrats so bad on this issue, Pelosi’s Botox filled head may explode.

Yep I just said it, he is going to twist the few remaining neurons in her brain into a pretzel and then bake it on live television until done. This will be a spectacle for the entire country to see. He is going to invite every family who had a member killed by an illegal immigrant come to the speech, sit in the gallery and clap in unison every time he mentions the need for a border wall.

MS-13 the poster children for unfettered and open borders

Even better those invited will see first-hand the “lawmakers” who claim to be working for their best interests. Get ready, he is going to quote sitting Democrats who supported the wall in days past, and compare and contrast their statements today. Fasten on your chin straps folks, this game promises to be rougher than the Tom Brady show.

Regarding the bully pulpit, you guys haven’t seen nothing yet. Trump is going to obliterate those even in his own Party. I’ll call this gang the “America Caucus.” This caucus tends to form when a critical mass of vertebrate challenged Republicans are elected. The members of this group tend to be the squishiest we have to offer. Think Graham, Collins, Murkowski, and to replace the departing Flake (no pun intended) Mitt Romney is set to join.

The spirit of John McCain still haunts the hallowed Senate Chambers

Trump is going to go hard after them, he wants his border wall and he wants healthcare done, and he isn’t going to take the embarrassment of his last attempt sitting down. No holds will be barred, and this has the potential to look more like the OK Corral than a traditional State of the Union.

The shutdown will be addressed, but I guarantee the threat of another one is on the table. Trump is going to remind the nation that he made a good faith offer to the Democrats and that his offer was rebuked. He will then remind the country that he isn’t a politician, he is a negotiator and when the Democrats won’t work with him, he will call them out. Sound familiar? The GOP tried this type of obstruction under Obama, it failed. The Democrats will fail here as well. This concept of being against everything Trump is fine on paper, but the voters want more.

The Democrat’s –like the GOP congress before them—have offered no alternative. The shutdown being the best example. The Democrats kept telling Trump to re-open the government without addressing the wall. They missed a key chance to win an issue. What if: Schumer and Pelosi ok $5 billion for the wall, but in exchange asked for $20 billion for infrastructure? Trump likely goes for it, he touted his union support during the 2016 elections. Following such a deal, they both could have gone on the TV circuit and basically said they schooled “the Donald” and got a better deal. Yes a small border wall, but you averted a government shutdown crisis, and got lots of good union jobs coming to towns near you! Democrat leaders might even have thrown the issue at Republicans who voted for the budget saying Trump and the GOP are causing record spending due to their reckless wall demand. Don’t kid yourself, $5 billion isn’t building much of a wall. In contrast they showed the American Public they have no ideas and don’t care to negotiate.

Final word: Trump is going to mutilate your Party by using of the State of the Union and the bully pulpit made available to him. He has found his footing and is going full bore after you now. No one will be spared from his wrath. You will see quite a few Reagan like traits from Trump. I am even willing to bet some Democrats or all walk out in unison as a protest.

Also does Trump even like being President? I ask for this reason; he seems to enjoy campaigning and giving speeches more than his work, and I think that is due to him being a former CEO. He wants to do it his way, not concede a bunch and hope he can claim victory in the end.

Tune in for the SOTU speech, I doubt you will be disappointed.

If Howard Schultz is the Answer, What is the Question?

Since former Starbucks Corp founder Howard Schultz gave a 60 Minutes interview that he was exploring running for president as a centrist independent, the left has been buzzing. Quite a few of my liberal friends agree as they feel this gives their nominee a better chance to defeat tyrannical dictator Donald Trump in 2020. They could not be further from the truth, and I’m going to explain why.

Howard Schultz is not very centrist, he definitely lines up with the left more than the right, especially if you look at the policies put into place by Starbucks during his reign as chair and CEO. But I am not going to discuss his politics, I’m going to take his run at face value and assume he will have moderate tendencies.

First and foremost let’s discuss where Schultz will play best on the ballot: Washington, Oregon, California, New York, New Jersey, likely a handful of New England Area states, maybe the upper Midwest, and possibly Florida. On one hand, yes, Schultz would not have a big effect in quite a few stronghold states for the Democrats: CA, IL, MD, and VT and OR.

However, look a little closer at some other states and if you are a Democrat there is major cause for concern: MI, MN, PA, and WI were barely won by Trump (MI, PA, WI) or barely a Hillary state (MN) if you assume Schultz gets 5% of the vote, Trump wins all 4 easily. VA, NV, ME and NH went to Hillary as well, under my formula, Trump would win them all. A couple other states like CO, Trump would barely lose. I think the Left Coast could get real interesting, a poor or wounded Democrat candidate could see Schultz score bigger percentages, leading to a closer call for Clinton winning. How does this help the Democrat cause at all? Now they have to attack Trump on one flank, while attacking Schultz on the other. It does not help their cause that Schultz is a billionaire like Trump and can self-fund his campaign with loads of cash.

Here is the issue, Schultz guarantees Trump wins re-election. The Left would go bonkers, and it would be all due to Howard Schultz. Please run Howard, do it for your country. People forget what H. Ross Perot did for Republican Presidential prospects; Democrats, now it’s your turn. Heck get Mark “#MeToo” Cuban to run on a separate ticket too, the time is now.

H. Ross Perot–Reform Party candidate. Known as a man that’s all ears.

By the way, here is how Schultz became the head of Starbucks….i guess the right to file suit for anything like ADA violations will continue to run rampant under a Schultz White House if elected, and I thought Trump was the bully with all the nasty lawyers?

“When he was running the coffee house Il Giorna, the owner of Starbucks (which then had only six locations in the Seattle area) approached Schultz to buy the six stores for $3.8 million. Schultz, while trying to raise the money, told his Il Giorna investors about the opportunity. One of those investors, who remains nameless to this day, contacted Starbucks and tried to buy out the coffeehouse without any involvement from Schultz. Schultz met with prominent attorney Bill Gates Sr. (yes, the father of you know who), and told him what had happened. Gates Sr. famously stormed into the office of the attempted buyer and told him that he would make his life hell by providing free legal representation to anyone injured on that man’s premises for the rest of his life, and the unnamed Il Giorna investor backed off.”

Bottom line……the only Schultz less qualified to run for President is Charles Schultz.

Why You Won’t Get a Tax Refund This Year

The bad news is you won’t get a tax refund from the IRS this year. The worse news is you will be writing Uncle Sam a large check.

But why? Didn’t we get a tax cut this year?

I will get to that in a moment but first let’s talk about a financial planner’s view of tax withholding.

Zero Due—In Theory

If you always get a tax refund, you are not having the correct amount withheld from your paycheck each month. Really you are making an interest free loan to the government in order to get a large refund.

On the other hand, if you always write a check on April 15th then you are not setting aside enough throughout the year for your taxes.

A financial planner would advise you to try to owe zero each year; not too much either way. Like you, I tended to ignore this advice and enjoyed a large refund. Sadly, those days are gone.

Trump Tax Cut

Trump did two things that will rock your fiscal world.

First, he reduced the amount withheld for Federal Taxes each month. This resulted in you having more take-home pay in 2018. Tax rates were cut; in addition, however, some deductions were also limited or abolished. This leads to the second point.

Second, a cap was placed on the deductibility of local taxes. This cap is $10,000. If you live in states that voted for Hillary, then you are likely in trouble. If you live on either Coast: California, Oregon, Washington, New York, New Jersey, etc. then buckle-up. If you are employed and own a home, you will hit the $10K limit. Here’s how it works.

Line 5a	Supposed you had $6,500 withheld from your wages for California Payroll Tax and State Disability
Line 5b	You paid $4,578 in property taxes on your house in 2018
Line 5c	Remember the portion of your DMV bill that is deductible?
Line 5d	Congratulations, you are above the $10K limit

You now owe Federal Income Taxes on anything above the $10K limit. In the past all this was deductible. This was viewed as a subsidy to people living in high tax states. Why? Because the state could tax the snot out of you and the Feds allowed this taxation to be deductible. Thus, it awarded high local taxation.

The only other items on the Schedule A are Mortgage Interest and Charitable Giving. Unless these two are more than $14,000, you and the wife will get the standard deduction of $24K.

Also missing from the new Schedule A is Unreimbursed employee expenses—job travel, union dues, job education.

Also gone from the Form 1040 is the Individual Deduction.

If you are married, you can claim the Standard Deduction $24K plus a tax credit of $2K per child and that’s about it.

Impact

Last year between itemized and the individual deductions, a client was able to deduct $42K off their gross income. This year for the same client deductions total only $26K ( Standard Deduction plus one child). The one-year difference on the Schedule A is $18K. The net result of all tax changes is that their taxable income increase $22K over last year. Thus on April 15th, their refund is gone, and instead they get to write a large check to Uncle Sam.

Sample above was created using **TurboTax**–some numbers rounded for simplification

In 2018, you did enjoy more take home pay with the new and lower tax withholding. Under the new tax tables, the couple in the example above got about $250 more in their paychecks each month; but clearly, they need to visit their HR department and have more withheld in 2019 if they don’t want to write another large check next year.

Did Trump Really Hit the Wall

Did Trump fail? I’m not so sure. He gets to do the State of the Union speech and once again make his case. He also has the emergency option that he can play. However, I don’t think any of this was his first choice.

Everyone thinks Trump can’t keep anything to himself and he just reacts and throws tantrums on Twitter, but I think that is not the case. I think there is more in play than appears at first glance.

First, he is not being public with the fact that his real problem is the Republicans in the Senate. I think the usual suspects (Lindsey Graham, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, etc.) were ready to unilaterally surrender to the Democrats. This forced Trump to do a midcourse correction. He can’t throw them under the bus because he needs them to get judicial appointments confirmed.

Second, I think the ball is in Pelosi’s court and if she doesn’t make a counteroffer in the next few weeks, many Democrats will be peeled away to join Republicans and make a deal.

I expect Trump’s SOTU speech will be a Reagan-like address to ask people to call Congress and pressure their representatives to fix the border/immigration issue. I also think we will hear about his extensive list of accomplishments during his first two years. I also expect to hear about rebuilding infrastructure and other campaign promises; expect many proposals that should appeal to people in both parties.

Trump meant what he said when campaigning and the fact that he meant to say it and really believes it mystifies the crap out of the political class because they can’t imagine anybody that is honest with voters ever being elected. Politicians operate by telling voters at home what is they want to hear and then behaving as they will in Washington without ever being accountable for their actions.

Trump wants to unite us, but Washington is ruled by division and that is usually the purpose of the media coverage because controversy—ever if it is contrived— increases viewership and generates more advertising revenue.

Trump is still testing and prodding the new Congress to see what it takes to break the gridlock that everyone assumes will exist for the new two years. He didn’t run for office to preside over a “do nothing” Congress. He has experience working with Democrats in New York City and will eventually be able to work with some in the Congress to further his agenda.

Trump is playing the long game not just taking it one day at a time. What if Trump is playing chess with the Democrats and they are expecting him to play Republican checkers? They may greatly underestimate Trump to their detriment. I really hope so, it would be nice to see us turn this country away from the socialist iceberg.

Conversations with the Naïve

Greetings fellow readers, we have a new series here starring Johnnie Does, he will be passing on conversations he has with naïve people regarding real life issues in our society. There should be no shortage of content since well…the naïve and hypocritical are everywhere. Let’s start things off with 2 conversations over the past week.

First off “90-Day Calendar Guy”

90-Day Calendar Guy happens to own a small business. Recently, he and I went out to lunch at a burger joint right near my office.

Let me back up. William and I talk about the 90-day calendar quite a bit, but as a refresher, it relates to the stock market and companies being required to report their quarterly results every 90 days. After said results are reported, the company will fire/raise prices/lower quality so next quarter’s numbers are better, innovation goes out the window in exchange for continued short-term gain. I call this local business owner “90-Day Calendar Guy” because he consumes at least 6 hours of CNBC, Fox Business, or Wall Street Journal daily! If anyone knows about earnings, the market etc. it’s him.

Now back to my lunch story…To set the scene, this restaurant is a quick service place, so you order at the counter, the menu is limited and your food comes out in about 10 minutes to your table. This place has 1 person work the till, 1 person to get the food to the table, and about 3 cooks in the kitchen. Our visit was during the lunch hour and there was a substantial line forming; we were about 7th in line. The line moved at a glacial pace. My colleague lost his cool, he started calling out to have the cooks come out and take orders….something they may not know/be able to do with our arcane food preparation laws. He proceeded to complain to the manager, because, well even though he owns the business and lunch hour could be extended at his whim, that wasn’t good enough for him. Our food came out later, we ate and headed back to the office. The entire time he could not believe what he just saw, saying they need to hire more staff or get a competent manager, I disagreed.

He could not believe my opposition to his ideas, so I hit him with knowledge that essentially ended it. I told him this is the 90-day calendar my friend and welcome to the real world. You love it when the numbers are good and when the numbers are bad you cheer cost cuts/layoffs, you cannot have it both ways!

Commentary

Here is the problem. You have a guy who feels he is more important than everyone else in the room. He must be under the impression that this small business operates similar to a Wal-Mart where you open another aisle if more than 2 carts are in line.

As far as his comments about getting the cook out of the kitchen, you obviously know very little about food safety laws, or maybe you just don’t care? Read some of the laws regarding handling ready to eat food, then touching a cash till or handling customer’s money, your head will spin. The fines are insane, and shutting down your restaurant on both a permanent or temporary basis are very much in play if you violate these laws. Don’t believe me, go to a Subway or any sandwich shop, you will see different people making sandwiches with a designated person working the register. As far as hiring more workers, he should know better, especially since “every penny counts during earnings!” When it comes to hiring staff, you must staff for the entire day, you simply cannot tell a worker to check in at 11:30 leave at 1:30, then see you back here at 4:30 and stick around till 7:00, this is not viable…maybe he thinks it is? Sure sounds like it. Good luck finding someone willing to work that schedule. Staffing is done, knowing full well between lunch and dinner hour that things will be backed up more than usual but he will be adequately staffed for the non-peak hours.

Simply put he doesn’t practice what he preaches or maybe just lacks any ability to understand basic economies of scale? Bottom line? He just flat lacks common sense. Oh by the way, later in the work day he remarked about a company in which he invested because they didn’t make their quarterly numbers and he wanted to see layoffs as the answer……you can’t make this up folks.

Next up: “Punish Them, Don’t Punish Me” guy

One of my customers–I’m an insurance agent–happened to be the unfortunate victim of a rear end accident causing about $1,500 damage to his car; no injuries, accident not at fault, no harm to rates. Keep in mind he was not out of pocket $1 as the other company accepted liability and paid the damages. Then he basically turned psychotic, and I mean that in the most honest way possible, he went off on me saying we needed to take her license away, keep in mind we weren’t the insurance company to pay out on this. Not satisfied with his answer he went all the way up to the office of the president, still not getting his desired outcome. Who does this guy think he is? By the way, he is not a member of law enforcement, or any branch of government who could demand action, this guy pushes paper at the lowest level for the state! This should scare almost anyone reading this.

To make matters far more interesting, he was involved in another accident 2 months later, him being at fault, in an accident causing injuries to another party. By the time it is settled, this accident will cost more than $20k when it’s all said and done.

When you think everyone else is the bad driver

Funny thing is he came in worried about his future rates. I said it won’t be as bad as he thought, but I said thankfully we have a policy of not revoking people’s drivers licenses over just 1 accident. He looked at me dumbfounded, then bestowed some of his “wisdom” on me yet again. Saying he shouldn’t lose his license because it was merely an accident….sounds similar to the person who hit him, am I right? He went on to say it would be a violation of his basic human rights…where is that in the constitution? Then he said, “I work for the State therefore I cannot lose my driver’s license.” I guess a class C License is required to push paper now? This guy really was something else to interact with.

Commentary

What did this guy really think he was trying to do? If you have an IQ north of room temperature, you have to know that an insurance company has no power to take away your driver’s license, we can cancel a policy, but we have to let the State know what that criteria is far before any action is taken. In addition, if you did take someone’s driver’s license away what makes you think they would obey that order? It is a common occurrence in Elk Grove to read the crime blotter and hear about someone being arrested for driving on a suspended/revoked license! The reality is people need a way to get to their work/school etc. now you want to take this away over 1 small transgression viewed as a civil matter? Again notice I said civil not criminal! Not to be outdone, when you committed the same infraction, you wanted to be exempt from your own consequences? How rich is that? Then he pulls the card that he works for the state? Like that somehow makes him someone who is above the law? DAFUQ?????

Final Thoughts:

Both of these gentlemen are over 50 years old, which makes them old enough to know better. These conversations while possibly funny, are downright disturbing. Both of these guys claim my generation, I’m 33, are destroying this country….funny thing is I can only think of a handful of Congressmen and maybe a few local elected officials that are my age, most are over the age of 50, even more are 60 plus.

Truth is, these are two of the worst offenders. One wants to hire more workers, pay them benefits, and play God in regards to their schedules when it suits management, yet terminate their employment when it effects the bottom line? The other says punish people by revoking their driver’s license, yet when he commits the same offense he is somehow pardoned?
I’m sorry I thought this was America? I guess this is just the land of the controlled and home of the Whopper? Worse yet, both of these men claim to be Republicans, and both claim they voted for Trump, yet I guess they have beliefs that are selectively applied? Both used to tell me the most dangerous place in America is between Sen Chuck Schumer and a camera, I disagree, I think it’s when these two morons are allowed to speak their supposed “beliefs.”

They claim to care about our country’s future, yet by their actions it is clear that they could care less. They have no problem knowing that their present lifestyle is subsidized by future generations; such selfishness by the “Baby Boom” generation is a frightening legacy. Sadly both have reproduced so we will be subjected to many more people who have similar inclinations of entitlement in the future.

Trump’s State of the Union Address

Since being locked out of the House by Nancy Pelosi, President Trump has searched far and wide for a new venue for this critical speech. Trump spokesman, Sarah Sanders said this is the first time that Trump has been locked out of the House since Melina learned about Stormy Daniels.

Using his Twitter account, Trump described Nancy Pelosi as a classic three bagger and deeply regrets ever inviting her into the White House. He says this was a moment of weakness on his part.

In response to a reporter question on Twitter, Trump said the Democrats really had to hit below the belt to dredge-up a Speaker that would make him miss John Bonheur.

Donald Trump–the first Twitter President

At the behest of Republican political consultants and select CNN viewers, Trump has chosen a Taos, New Mexico, On The Border Restaurant, as the new site of this important annual address to the American people.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, (D-N.Y) is angry that she can’t attend the speech to protest president Trump’s policies. Apparently, due to the government shutdown, she can’t get her passport renewed in time to enter New Mexico.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez–the future of the Democrat Party

MSNBC is threatening not to carry the speech because Trump has arranged private funding to fly to New Mexico. In this case, the issue is not the funding itself but the fact that principle sponsors are Rent-A-Fence and Tostitos.

Rent-A-Fence–official Trump SOTU sponsor

Review: They Shall Not Grow Old

Appreciating a miracle—large or small—is something that we frequently don’t do. Truthfully, we take many for granted or try to explain them away. Likewise, a professional makes their craft look easy and effortless. Sometimes the line between miracle and marvelous is blurry. In our world of Photoshop, CGI, and visual manipulation, we have become skeptical of what is real. The old advertisement of “Is it live or is it Memorex?” in some ways rings even more true today.

The miracle of restoration. wait until you see the before sample of this segment.

A proper merging of new and old is the wonderful work done by Peter Jackson in restoring over 90 hours of film footage from World War I. Jackson did this for a museum in England and then took selected footage and made a wonderful documentary about soldiers of “The Great War”.

The film has an introduction by Jackson which I missed because I was standing in the popcorn line. When I made it into the theater, England was entering the war and men—actually young boys trying to be men—were going to their local recruiting stations and signing up in droves. The film tells the story of average soldiers from enlistment to the trenches of France to home again and what they experienced. Jackson’s grandfather was one such soldier.

The feature at the end of the film is Jackson explaining the restoration process and the amount of effort that went into the many years needed to restore the raw film. He also discusses choosing the various shots and audio used to create the film which you just viewed. The film’s narration is all done by voiceovers from veterans of the war—mostly recorded later in their lives by the BBC.

The restoration of the film is great in black and white but after a short time, the film morphs into full color.

Following the documentary itself, Jackson shows before, during, and after samples; some of which didn’t make it into the film but which are remarkable on their own. He explains that the original film was shot with hand-cranked movie cameras with no sound. He employed not only lip readers to figure out what was being said, but then using the uniforms of the men speaking, hired voice actors from the districts where the men lived to sync the dialogue. What little music is used in the film is authentic to the period.

Peter Jackson at work in film production

After seeing the film and hearing Jackson describe what happened behind the screens makes you want to watch it again.

While you don’t have to see the 3-D version of the film to appreciate it, seeing it in that format lets you enjoy a lifelike quality of the people but see the limitations of the slow framerate of the original film. Jackson modernized the source material but also showed great respect in doing so.

I highly recommend that you see this film. You will get a glimpse of life 100 years ago and get a feel for the futility of trench warfare and magnitude of “The Great War”. Please be warned that there are some graphic scenes (in full color) of wounded, dead, and dismembered men. Knowing that you aren’t seeing special effects can be disturbing to some viewers.