“WE HAVE MET THE ENEMY AND HE IS US”

POGO

SOMETIMES it is fun to revisit something I wrote a number of years ago.  The following piece is from January 2011, some two years into the first Obama Administration when we were “only” 14 Trillion Dollars in debt as a nation.

Point of reference, from 1776 to 2009 we, as a country, went from no debt to 10 Trillion dollars in debt.  We went from approximately 10 Trillion Dollars in debt when Mr. Obama took office to 20 Trillion Dollars in debt when he left office 8 years later in 2017. 

Now, less than six years after that we are 30 – racing to 31 Trillion Dollars in debt and sort of paying the Visa with the Mastercard.  I think I see a pattern developing here. 

There is no way to even pay the interest on this debt without a lot of smoke and mirrors, like inflation.

Truly, the enemy is us and we simply lack the discipline to fix this.  Sad.

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BARBARIANS AT THE GATE

I have always had a special place in my heart for the 1971 Pogo Cartoon strip by Walt Kelly (1913-1973) in which our little hero returns from a kind of scouting mission to announce what he discovered about possible invaders. (I think I have that right –  its been a while).   Although Pogo (and Walt Kelly’s ) web site makes a point of not wanting Pogos famous observation to promote any one group or cause, I am sure he would have no problem with the observation that the enemy we most encounter is, as Pogo so astutely observes, ourselves.  I would very much  put myself at, or near, the top of any list I might compose.

I believe that we, as a nation are at a tipping point, or crossroads if  you prefer.  One of our nations  founders wrote (and I paraphrase)  that our democracy would last until the people discovered that they could vote themselves money from the public treasury.  A sort of  “Day of Reckoning”.

Maybe the question we should be asking ourselves it whether we as individuals, and as a nation, can again return to our nations roots and  practice self discipline, financial discipline and the willingness to postpone gratification of desires until we can pay for them.  Or, do we continue to demand instant everything and let our credit cards  and  Uncle Sugar (the government)  pay for it with borrowed money.

I am old enough that I can remember when Lyndon Johnson was President and promised us that we could afford both “Guns and Butter”.  In other words we could afford to fight and pay for the Vietnam War and at the same time launch a massive “War on Poverty” transferring our nations wealth to those in need.  I was thrilled at the time thinking that poverty would be eradicated,  there would be no more poor people and we would all live in a land of plenty.  President Johnson was wrong and I was wrong.  What we did was to acquire several Trillion (that’s Trillion with a T)  Dollars in debt while seriously damaging the family structure for millions of people. All with the best of intentions.  In the process we also created a whole sub-culture who became entitlement “junkies”.

As a nation we are now 14 Trillion Dollars in debt and that total is growing at the rate of more than a Trillion Dollars a year.  We are rapidly reaching the point where just paying the interest on the debt will consume an ever increasing portion of the nations annual tax revenue.  Do we have the remaining discipline as a people to make the hard choices and practice self denial  to halt and reverse this process?  I am beginning to doubt this.

On its present course this government wagon is one  I do not want to help pull.   I think I will work on a way to not participate!

January 29, 2011

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Something to think about.

Bob Bandy – June 2022

photo – eBay

WHAT IS AN ASSAULT WEAPON?

CALIFORNIA has declared war on legal gun owners.  Criminals and “gang bangers” get a pass.  Governor Newsome and his Merry Band of Gun Control Advocates would like nothing more than to seize all legally owned guns within the state.  Illegal guns owned by criminals would still be in circulation as the legal system in California turns even habitual criminals back out on the streets as fast as possible and they know where to get the guns they want.  The “Bad Guys” love gun control laws and unarmed citizens.

Two bills in the Senate and Assembly are ready for the Governors anxious signature.  Among other things these bills will make gun owners (except criminals), legal gun sellers and gun manufacturers liable for the misuse of any gun and especially what is popularly miss-labeled in the media as “Assault Rifles”.

California Senate Bill – SB1327 (Hertzberg) would allow private citizens to sue gun manufacturers, distributors and traders for dealing assault weapons, .50 BMG rifles or ghost guns. The bill is sponsored by Governor Newsom.

California Assembly Bill – AB 1594 Ting Firearms Civil Suits: Allows basically anyone to sue a manufacturer, wholesaler or dealer whenever a firearm is used to commit a crime.

The State’s real agenda is to bankrupt gun owners, sellers and manufacturer’s, not protect citizens.

What drives me nuts as a military veteran is the labeling of rifles such as the civilian version of the AR-15 as an “Assault Rifle”.  Fact is, it may look more fearsome than other semi-automatic rifles,  but just like its more modest looking relatives it fires one, and only one cartridge each time you pull the trigger.  Same is true for a double action revolver pistol.  One trigger pull, one bullet.  Any military person, or others familiar with weapons knows that a true “Assault Rifle” is fully automatic and it is illegal for civilians to own a fully automatic rifle, pistol or machine gun.

To repeat…. The civilian version of the AR-15 is semi-automatic just like many other rifles and pistols of the same type.  The term “assault weapon” is a term used for political reasons by gun haters.

Having stated the above, any number of items can be miss-used to commit crimes of mass killings.  Every year more people are killed with knives than murdered with hand guns or rifles.

For your consideration, it is possible, and there are recent incidents of folks using a vehicle perhaps similar to the Ford Pickup pictured above, to run through a crowd killing and injuring large numbers of innocents.  So, using the Governor’s logic should it be possible to sue the seller of the truck and Ford Motor Company for manufacturing the vehicle?

How about if I use a Stanley Hammer to kill multiple individuals? Can you sue the hardware store who sold it to me and Stanley Tools for manufacturing same?

If someone uses a couple of gallons of Prestone Antifreeze to poison a family group should you be able to sue the auto parts store for selling it and the manufacturer for its misuse?

If I use two gallons of Chevron gasoline and burn down my neighbors house, can my neighbor sue Chevron Oil Company?

THE SUPREME COURT HAS PREVIOUSLY RULED THAT YOU CANNOT HOLD LIABLE THE MANUFACTURER OR SELLER OF A LEGAL PRODUCT FOR THE ILLEGAL USE OF THAT PRODUCT.

A gun is not just for hunting or killing.  It is for home protection and self defense as well as sport and competition shooting.  And, of most importance:

THE RIGHT OF INDIVIDUAL PRIVATE OWNERSHIP OF GUNS BY FREE CITIZENS IS THE FINAL BASTION AND LAST DEFENSE AGAINST TOTALITARIAN GOVERNMENTS AND SLAVERY AND THE REASON THE FOUNDERS CREATED THE SECOND AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION.

California has gone soft on crime and our streets and neighborhoods are becoming more and more dangerous.

Picture this.  You and your family are watching television.  You hear a banging on your front door and loud voices of armed men demanding entrance as they are breaking their way in.  Every second counts.  If you can call 911,  law enforcement is 5-15 minutes away.  The State of California has taken all your guns away.  What do you do?

Maybe you would like to support Governor Newsome and put a “GUN FREE ZONE” or “NO GUNS HERE” sign in your front yard see how that works for you.

Remember, criminals love unarmed citizens and gun control laws.

Think about it.

California is truly in the hands of a “Cereal Gang” of fruits, flakes and nuts.  Coddle criminals and disarm law abiding citizens.  At the state level they make these laws up based on “feelings” and emotions and not on common sense.  As Bugs Bunny used to say “What a bunch of Maroons”.

Bob Bandy – June 2022

“Lord, they have killed Your prophets…”

I Kings 19:2

I am no prophet and in all candor do not want to be one.  I am only an observer and, in my small way, a reporter of what I observe to some unknown number of thousands who read my writings.

For some reason I have in recent days and weeks been seemingly flooded with comments on an article I wrote some two years ago.  A copy of the article follows this introduction.

It seems self serving to say that I find myself drawn into conversations about the unfolding disaster that is happening in our nation and either my wife, a friend or I will comment that I wrote on this subject either recently, a few months or even several years ago.

That does not, repeat does not make me a prophet and as I stated above, I do not want to be one.  We know what they do to prophets who tell them what they do not want to hear. I so wish that much of what I observed as “unfolding” had not , and would not now be taking place. 

This is not prophecy so much as it is observation of Natural (I call them God’s) Laws and uncontested facts.  Math and gravity are facts and you can’t change them because you don’t like them, or, as I read long ago, you cannot get 10 pounds of potatoes from a 5 pound sack.

Fact:  Our government has become corrupted, probably past repair, because of a political lust for power and spending of money it does not have which has resulted in a national debt that cannot be repaid in todays dollars. 

Fact: Mathematics takes over.  When the rate of inflation is greater than the amount you can pay in interest on the debt you get spiraling out of control inflation.  At some point your life savings for your retirement won’t buy a jar of peanut butter.   

Looked at another way,  10% interest on 30 Trillion Dollars of debt is 3 Trillion Dollars a year and that exceeds all of the tax revenue the government has in a year and leaves nothing for all the cost of government and the programs it supports.  This means they have to print more paper money which is worth less and less.

Being a Republican or Democrat makes no difference. Math and gravity don’t care.

So, what to do.  As a financial pundit commented on a news program the other day:  “A hurricane is coming”.  It is coming whether we want it to or not and will catch many unprepared.  You can’t stop it by “killing the prophets”. 

Fact: Debt is like gravity.  It has no soul.  It will “suck in” all available resources till there is nothing left but a “black hole”.

When governments become drowned in debt they become more and more Totalitarian and must disarm the “unwashed masses” to keep them from building Guillotines.  Post World War I Germany experienced Hyper-Inflation and became a breeding ground for the Nazi movement of Adolph Hitler.

An individual who gets swallowed up in debt can file Bankruptcy and start over. Governments cannot file Bankruptcy but they can print more and more paper money which becomes worth less and less and less…….

Best “Batten Down the Hatches”. 

Bob Bandy – June 2022

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GO TO YOUR ROOM AND STAY THERE!

from May 2020

The Only Thing Necessary for the Triumph of Evil is that Good Men do Nothing.

quote credited to Edmund Burke

I have a growing fear of being enslaved by a corrupt ruling class of demigods driven by ambition and a thirst for power.  

In addition we are seeing negation of  our Constitutional rights through massive government overreach in the supposed cause of protecting the public health.  Governors, Mayors and Federal Agencies are acting with Dictatorial edicts which we are not even supposed to question.

We have also learned of abuse of power and corruption that occurred at the highest levels of the FBI, the Justice Department,  the Central Intelligence Agency and other related government agencies.  The “Deep State” at its worst.

Too many elected politicians, and often un-elected “public servants”,   demonstrate they are little more than Clowns, Criminals or Lunatics.

These folks, who consider themselves superior, have also made themselves immune from prosecution for actions they would put us in jail for if we acted in the same way.    

There are good people in government but I no longer have any faith or trust in most agencies because of the “bad apples”, too often “at the top”of the political food chain, who have politicized everything because of their political parties ambitions.   

I would not even consider answering questions from the FBI without a good lawyer present and duct tape firmly in place over my mouth.

The mainstream “Tabloid” Media cannot be trusted.  They have become no more than Propaganda Lemmings for the political agenda of their chosen party.  You can get more accurate reporting from “The Enquirer” and other “Supermarket Tabloids”.    

Elected officials in places of power that are willing to bankrupt, even destroy our country if it will achieve their desired goal of turning the United States into Cuba, Venezuela or some other Socialist “Paradise”.

Too many politicians who have come to view this Coronavirus Covid-19 not as a Pandemic threatening the lives of all us but as an opportunity to pursue their own political agenda. “Never let a crisis go to waste”.

Sad to say,  I have lost faith in our government.  I wish it were not so.  Lie to me once, shame on you.  Lie to me twice, shame on me.  

Bob Bandy – May 2020 

Janet Yellen

photo iO.wp.com

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in Senate Testimony before Senator Tim Scott (R – South Carolina) stated that she believes free access to abortion is good for the economy.  Her message being that unwanted babies are a drain on economic resources and can add to inflationary pressures.

Fighting back sorrow and anger my thoughts turn to her logic.  If terminating unwanted babies because their care is a potential burden to society, where else might she look for savings?

• Consider the hopelessly drug and alcohol addicted living in filth on the streets and by-ways of our major cities.  The cost of public funds for maintaining them causes inflation and a heavy burden on society.  Should we “terminate” them?

• Able bodied working age adults who refuse to work and instead live on various government programs paid for by working taxpayers.  Their care and feeding no doubt is inflationary and offer further opportunity for Ms. Yellen.

• There is an element in the “Progressive” movement that considers our senior citizens a burden to society because of their healthcare and other needs.  According to one New York Congresswoman it would be better if they would just die off and relieve society of the cost of keeping them alive.  That should help with inflation.

• The State of New York does not allow the death penalty, except in the case of a near term, fully healthy, viable fetus in the womb of a healthy “mother to be” who decides the coming infant is unwanted and “inconvenient”, in which case it could be considered “good for the economy” if we terminate it’s life through abortion.

• In the same State of New York,  if a young man who is a racist and murderer kills 10 innocent people,  the most punishment for his crime he can receive is life in prison. There the taxpayers will support him for maybe 50-60 years at a cost  of perhaps 80-100 Thousand Dollars per year.  The cost of his incarceration no doubt contributes to inflation.  How about if we just do a “post natal” abortion on him?  There seems no  logic in keeping this killer alive but terminating the life of the near born infant.

Excuse me, but what the hell are we doing to ourselves?  Where are our values?  I seem to remember a Commandment that says “Thou Shalt Not Kill”. 

Consider the richness and joy the very young and the elderly bring to our lives.  Should we consider their lives expendable if they become inconvenient, a burden or no longer wanted? 

Are we as a people just careening down the road to our own destruction as a nation and society?

If we pursue Ms. Yellen’s train of logic, we must consider where this kind of thinking has led nations in the past.

History from 1941 brings to mind a regime that sought a “Final Solution” to an unwanted population whom they considered harmful and costly to their society.  Does the name Heinrich Himmler ring a bell?  During the Holocaust the German economy seemed to “boom” for a couple of years. 

I do not suggest and do not believe Gas Chambers and mass Crematoriums are in her thoughts, so perhaps Ms. Yellen would instead lead us down the Soylent Green path where unwanted citizens can receive a kind of “Post Natal” Abortion and be turned into Soylent Green Protein to feed the drones of what is left of society.

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“Let Them Die And Decrease The Surplus Population”

        Ebenezer Scrooge – Charles Dickens’ – A Christmas Carol

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Think about it.

Bob Bandy – May 2022

Saul Alinsky

The following is reprinted from the Herald – Whig

I would suggest you study the 8 items on the list in the following article and find any one of them not currently being pursued by the “Progressive Left” in America today.  We are well along the road to Socialism as I write this.  You might want to print this out and post it where you will see it as a constant reminder.  Also share this with your friends and family.  

Bob

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Tuesday, May 17, 2022

Rules to create social state alive and well today

Dr. Anthony Fauci is the Director and head of the National Institute of Health.  He is also the highest paid employee in the government.  his salary (2019) is $417,608.

The following are excerpts from The Epoch Times article

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Democrats Silent as Republicans Rip Into Secret Royalty Checks to Fauci, Hundreds of NIH Scientists

Epoch Times – May 11, 2022

Mark Tapscott – Congressional Correspondent

Top Democratic leaders with oversight of the National Institutes for Health (NIH) are keeping quiet about the $350 million in secret payments to agency leaders like Dr. Anthony Fauci and hundreds of its scientists.

The Epoch Times received no responses from multiple requests to Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) for comment on a report by a non-profit government watchdog estimating that Fauci, former NIH director Francis Collins, and hundreds of NIH scientists got as much as $350 million in undisclosed royalty payments from pharmaceutical and other private firms between 2010 and 2020.

The revelations from Open the Books, which were first reported on May 9 by The Epoch Times, are based on thousands of pages of documents the group obtained from NIH in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit in federal court. The suit was filed by Judicial Watch on behalf of Open the Books.

Open the Books is a Chicago-based nonprofit government watchdog that uses the federal and state freedom of information laws to obtain and then post on the internet trillions of dollars in spending at all levels of government.

Because NIH hands out $32 billion in research grants to medical institutions and researchers annually the undisclosed royalty payments, which are usually for work on a new drug, may indicate the presence of massive and widespread conflicts of interest or the appearance of such conflicts, both of which violate federal ethics laws and regulations.

Fauci is the longtime head of NIH’s National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), as well as chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden.

Fauci received 23 royalty payments during the period, while Collins was paid 14. Clifford Lane, Fauci’s deputy, got eight payments, according to Open the Books.

Similarly, Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) called for an investigation, noting that, “Of course it’s a direct conflict of interest for scientists like Anthony Fauci to rake in $350 million in royalties from third-parties who benefit from federal taxpayer-funded grants.

“Anthony Fauci is a millionaire that has gotten rich off taxpayer dollars. He is a prime example of the bloated federal bureaucracy. This royalty system should be examined to ensure it isn’t making matters worse.”

“Fauci and the NIH have repeatedly abused the trust of the American people.

“From lying about gain of function research to walking back claims about COVID-19, this latest allegation is just another nail in the coffin of the integrity of our public health system.

complete article available online

The Epoch Times – May 11, 2022
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What is the lyrics from the old song?  I Can See Clearly Now?

The  “Good Doctor Fauci” and his merry band of cohorts transfer large amounts of research money to the Wuhan Laboratory in China for study and development of virus’s. The product of this research somehow “escapes” from the Lab and finds it’s way to America where it infects and kills American Citizens.

The “Good Doctor Fauci” who is a recipient of millions of dollars in “Royalty Payments” then works with his benefactors in the Pharmaceutical Industry – can you spell Pfizer, etc. – to develop a “magic” “snake oil” vaccine to treat the virus.

Good citizen “Bob” takes the “Government Mandated” two injections of the anti-Covid elixir and gets a bad case of the Covid anyway and following a recovery, thanks to God and his wife, is told by the NIH and State of California that “Booster” shots will be necessary about every six months “forever”.

Big Pharma who has made billions of dollars from the vaccine, laughs all the way to the bank and is no doubt in the process of more “Royalty” checks to the “Good Doctor” and his crew so perhaps more money can flow to the Chinese Government laboratory for the development of new virus’s which may somehow “mysteriously” find their way to our shores and repeat the process.  Coincidence, Conspiracy theory or logical reasoning? (hint: “Follow the Money”)

And the “Beat Goes On”. 

Unfortunately this kind of “behind the scenes” process takes place throughout our government. From military arms manufacturers to “Deep State” Bureaucracies to Government Contractors ad nauseum. In addition most, if not all, Federal Agencies have been politicized.

There was a time in my life when I held the FBI in a kind of awe and near reverence.  No longer.  The Obama administration kind of finished the job of politicizing the Justice Department and the FBI.  Once I would have considered it an honor to co-operate and freely answer any questions to help them in an investigation.  No longer.  Now if questioned by them in even the most trivial of cases I would not answer a single question without my lawyer being present and even then I would do my Hillary Clinton impression of “I can’t re-call”.  It seems to work for her.  Neither of the Clinton Crime Family members have ever done so much as a single day in jail despite a laundry list of corruption (the Clinton Foundation and Global Initiative), facilitating the sale of U.S. Uranium to Russia so “Vlad” could build his 6,000 Nuclear Warheads he now threatens us with, lying to the American People, Congress etc..  They are in good company.  There is a host of other elected and non-elected Government “folks” who lie for a living and get by with it.

Take a pencil and paper and write down the number of Government Agencies you trust, are cost effective and efficiently run, corruption free and  non-Political.  Bet you will only need a small piece of paper.  What! You say there are none.

Bob Bandy – May 2022