Stop Pulling the Wagon

Listening to the radio the other day while I was working, I heard a purported spokesperson for California Government claim that the “Administration” came to the conclusion that our recent Proposition 13 (proposed property tax increase) Bill failed in our Primary Election last month because California voters figured that since the State had a balanced budget, even a budget surplus, the voters felt no further tax increase was needed to assist the States Schools.

Balanced budget? Surplus? California plays a “Shell Game” with tax revenues. Read on.

Choking back a “gag reflex” I remembered all the enraged voters of both parties who felt totally betrayed by previous Gasoline Tax Increases (California has the highest gasoline taxes in the nation) which had been presented by our State Government as a tax that was promised to be used only to repair our roads and not for any other purpose. “Pinky Swear Promise”.

” Now that Gov. Jerry Brown has signed into law billions of dollars in higher fuel taxes and vehicle fees, the state will have an estimated $52 billion more money to help cover the state’s transportation needs for the next decade.” Sacramento Bee April 28, 2017

According to published reports California consumes about 43,835,616 gallons of gasoline a day and each gallon is taxed by the State of California at a rate of 46.7 cents a gallon. Using a calculator this would give California a daily gasoline tax income of $20,471,232. That’s over twenty million dollars each and every day, over six hundred million dollars a month in gas tax income. source: Sacramento Bee and multiple online federal and state agency reports.

It did not take California long to play the old “Hide the Pea in the Shell Con Game” before they “redirected” (stole) much/most of the tax increase to other “pet projects” like Climate Change research. In the meantime our roads are among the poorest in the nation with potholes shaking our cars to pieces.

To say that California has a Balanced Budget with a substantial Budget Surplus is a lie of the worst sort concocted out of “smoke and mirrors” accounting. Or if you prefer: Creative Accounting 101.

California has a 1.5 Trillion Dollar State and local debt, …..much of it in UNFUNDED (my emphasis) Pension Liability. January 2019 California Policy Center.org

Private employers are required by Federal Law – ERISA (the Employee Retirement Income Security Act) – to have fully funded (money in the bank) employee retirement programs.

The State of California, like the Social Security Administration, uses the Ponzi Scheme method of depending on future revenues – use hoped for future suckers money to pay the previous suckers “ala Bernie Madoff” plan – to cover the previously collected (and spent) “trust account” money through Shell Game tax increases and “reallocation” from other programs.

Regular readers of my columns, and those that note my brief biographical data in the right margin will remember that: I am against racism in any of its forms, oppose violence, abhor hypocrisy and especially despise being lied to.

Government please stop the “Pea Shell Shuffling” and quit lying to us.

Bob Bandy – March 2020

Ladies and Gentlemen. Forgive me but I cannot see this commercial without thinking of it as a preview of a Joe Biden Presidency.

Right now it seems more likely than not that he will win the nomination of his party to run in the upcoming Presidential election as, once again the Party has maneuvered Bernie Sanders out of the home stretch lap.

It also leaves me with several thoughts and questions.

For one thing, who would be his Vice President? This is a real and very important question. Our friend Joe could be no more than a figurehead stand-in considering his rapidly declining mental acumen. It seems there is little likelihood of him serving out a full term before he is sequestered in a White House basement dressed in his Pinocchio Jammies with a cup of warm cocoa laced with his medicine.

Whoever his Vice President is will have to be someone satisfied with being the stand-in puppet for the real powers that be in the party.

“Old Joe”, as he is frequently called by his friends and supporters, seems to be slipping away from us rapidly. He often cannot remember what state he is in, what office he is running for, tell the difference between his wife and his sister, etc. etc. One can’t help but wonder if his mind and memory have perhaps exceeded their “best if used by date”.

In addition, his recollection of history is often confused. Listening to him he seems to have been a major player in so many pieces of history. Was he really with Teddy Roosevelt at the Battle of San Juan Hill? How about his driving of the Golden Spike at Promontory Point, Utah for the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad? He has so many memories of historic events in which he was a major player that it is really hard to remember them all.

Another question. Who would really be “pulling the strings” of a Biden Puppet Presidency. I suspect the Democratic Party has already lined up a consortium. Probably headed by the Clinton Crime Syndicate and the Obama Legacy Foundation coupled with other “Power Brokers” within the “Deep State”. Maybe his old nemesis “Corn Pop” could serve on the advisory team. Are you scared yet?

Do the names George Soros, Tom Steyer and Mike Bloomberg with all their power, wealth and governmental influence ring a bell? I am sure they would be glad to help finance a Biden campaign to elect “Old Joe” and then serve on the “Puppet Master” team. Now are you scared?

Now that I have planted this seed, your challenge is to watch these Geico Pinocchio commercials in the future without seeing Joe Biden’s face on Pinocchio. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to dare to share this bit of humor with your family, friends and neighbors.

Just for fun!

Bob Bandy – March 2020

End of the Pelosi Era?

Forget whether you are a Democrat or a Republican (I am neither). This is not about political parties.

This is about common sense.

Love her or hate her, Nancy Pelosi has a well deserved reputation for being both tough and politically smart.

So why would someone with her history of being politically savvy and smart hitch her wagon and waning Speaker of the House career to these two losers – Congressman Jerry Nadler and Congressman Adam Schiff? In my mind I think of them as “Fric n Frac”, two sides of the same dishonest political coin. In their public statements and actions neither have demonstrated to me any qualities that I admire, like personal integrity or honorable intent. I would not trust either one of them with the proceeds of a front yard lemonade stand.

Jerry Nadler is considered little more than a buffoon and party line drone with a reputation for being both a hypocrite and less than honest with facts.

Adam Schiff has a history of being a serial liar, and not a very good one at that. He just makes stuff up – stuff that is easily shown to be lies. Like a third grade cookie thief that can’t keep his hands out of the forbidden cookie jar and hasn’t developed the skill to get away with it.

Nancy Pelosi had to know that these two could not be counted on to put together a coherent legal case that would stand up to scrutiny by even a first year law student.

She had to know it, yet she put these two in charge of an Impeachment case with nothing but hearsay and rumor evidence from non-fact “witnesses” with an agenda. “Testimony” that could not stand up to cross examination in any court of law. That is why Adam Schiff only sought their “testimony” in a basement “kangaroo” courtroom without allowing any Defense Legal Counsel questioning.

So why would someone of her experience and political acumen let this happen?

The only answer that I have heard that makes any sense is that she was being driven by the Progressive wing of her party that has grown increasingly powerful in the last two years. And…. that Progressive wing demanded Impeachment no matter what…. period.

This is not a Republican vs Democrat issue. More like a Circular Firing Squad within her own party.

This flawed and faulty Impeachment attempt will do lasting damage to her long career in the House of Representatives and likely see her damaged reputation leave her mostly impotent politically.

Instead of getting rid of a President she despises, she seems more a victim of her own poor decisions and choices. Many of her “Impeachment Trial Post Mortem” statements seem weak, even pathetic.

Whether you are a Democrat or Republican, it is sad to see someone do self inflicted damage to their own career. A reputation and career earned over many years.

Bob Bandy – February 2020

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DEAR DIARY

A New Year – Time for Reflection and Anticipation

I often joke that the only New Years Resolution I ever kept was the year I made a resolution not to make any resolutions.

I am older now and my “Looking Back” is no longer at the immediate year past but a panorama of decades past. Some changes in the years past were giant leaps forward, like Landing on the Moon, while other changes, like the development of Social Media, which may have appeared almost as a passing “fad”, have had a profound impact on the fabric of our society.

Not everything that has changed can clearly be labeled as “good” or “bad”. In many cases the full effects will not be known for generations. “The jury is still out.” When the “Great Society” and Welfare State was first introduced in the 1960’s I was excited and happy that we were going to eliminate poverty permanently, however, poverty is in many ways a bigger problem today than when we began the program some 50 years and 20 Trillion Dollars ago, and, the unintended consequences produced great harm to the family structure in millions of households.

The author, Thomas Wolfe, wrote the great novel “You Can’t Go Home Again” and what he had to say can certainly apply to the world we grew up in and is gone forever.

To perhaps most of my generation, we now find that many of the values we were taught, grew up with and have cherished have seemingly been lost forever or are in the process of being destroyed.

Some Examples:

Personal Integrity seems to be on an “Endangered Species” list in too many areas of daily life. I grew up with “Your Word Is Your Bond” and it meant more than any written document. My own father taught me when I was a youth that “You can’t be just a little bit dishonest any more than you can be a little bit pregnant”. Today it seems we live in a world of “weasel words” and “escape clauses”.

Credibility is becoming a rare and precious commodity. Many of our political leaders are habitual liars and are on my “Lie to me once, lie to me twice” list and I no longer believe anything they say. I do not trust most of what I hear and read in the media. They have become little more than a propaganda machine for the “Ruling Class”. The same can be applied to many advertisers of popular products.

Freedom of Speech – a Constitutionally Guaranteed Right. We have devolved into a culture of “victims” where spoken or written words, no matter how innocent in intent and nature, are twisted into “hate speech” or various “phobic” attitudes where none was intended. One lives in fear of being labeled a “hater” from a misunderstood word or phrase. Add to this list the “Indoctrination Centers”, our Schools, Universities and Colleges, that we used to think of as “Citadels of Higher Leaning” and where freedom of thought and speech is often no longer encouraged or allowed.

Respect for the Sanctity of Life – all lives matter. Our modern society seems to value the immediate desire of the individual over the life of another living being, no matter how innocent or defenseless. “Me” becomes the focal point of life rather than right to life itself for the unwanted. In too many cases overlooked is the part “me” can play in the greater good of family, community and the future of all.

Political Correctness. A toxic brew that has poisoned our society and taken away the precious Constitutional Right of Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the press. Politicians, Ministers, Business Owners, virtually everyone who must deal with the “public” must monitor every word for fear of alienating some “protected” minority or politically powerful group who can destroy their life, livelihood or career with catastrophic media destruction and/or litigation and financial destruction.

A Personal Moral Code. Usually founded on, or associated with some kind of discipline or religious belief or training. The Ten Commandments are one of the best known examples and one I try to live by. Some things are always right or wrong. Doing good is always “right”. Killing, lying and stealing are always “wrong”.

There is more. I believe we all should think about it and not just sit on the sidelines and let our culture and society degenerate into some kind of “Mad Max” future.

So what does this New Year and New Decade bring? Where are we headed and what am I going to do with it?

Bob Bandy – January 2020

“Mad Max” -1979 – Mel Gibson – Australia – Kennedy Miller Production

Britains Labour Party suffered a huge defeat in their recent elections.

Paul Embery is a Firefighter, trade union activist, pro-Brexit campaigner and ‘Blue Labour’ thinker. Following the defeat of Labour at the polls he wrote an article titled “Is this the end for Labour?” which is printed on the UnHerd website. For the complete article go to: https://unherd.com/2019/12/is-this-the-end-for-labour/

The article is several pages and much of it is directed at a British audience but it contains a great deal of common sense that should apply to our own Political Parties here in America and I am sharing excerpts from his text below. As you read these excerpts, wherever you see the word “Britain” substitute “United States” in your reading and where you see “Labour” substitute “Democrats or Republicans” (your choice). Similarly, you should substitute “Washington D.C.” for “London”. His words are intelligent, articulate and right on target!

Excerpts from: “Paul Embery – Is This The End For Labour”

“So there we have it. It turns out that the British working-class was not, in the end, willing to throw its weight behind a London-centric, youth-obsessed, middle-class party that preached the gospels of liberal cosmopolitanism and class war. Who’d have thought it?”

“Labour’s meltdown in these places will come as no surprise to anyone who was paying attention and wasn’t blinded by ideology or fanaticism. Some of us had long warned that working-class voters across post-industrial and small-town Britain were becoming increasingly alienated from the party.”

“But the woke liberals and Toytown revolutionaries who now dominate the party didn’t listen to us.”

“They believed that constantly hammering on about economic inequality would be enough to get Labour over the line. In doing so, they made a major miscalculation: they failed to grasp that working-class voters desire something more than just economic security; they want cultural security too.”

“They want politicians to respect their way of life, and their sense of place and belonging; to elevate real-world concepts such as work, family and community over nebulous constructs like ‘diversity’, ‘equality’ and ‘inclusivity’. By immersing itself in the destructive creed of identity politics and championing policies such as open borders, Labour placed itself on a completely different wavelength to millions across provincial Britain without whose support it simply could not win power. In the end, Labour was losing a cultural war that it didn’t even realise it was fighting.”

“Labour must stop treating the traditional working-class as though they were some kind of embarrassing elderly relative. It must learn to respect those who, for example, voted for Brexit, oppose large-scale immigration, want to see a tough and effective justice system, feel proud to be British, support the reassertion of the role of the family at the centre of society, prefer a welfare system to be based around reciprocity – something for something – rather than universal entitlement, believe in the nation state, and do not obsess about multiculturalism or trans rights.”

“Such people were once welcomed by the Labour party and felt entirely comfortable voting for it; but now so many of the party’s activists look upon these voters as if they were a different species altogether.”

“Cliché though it is, Labour stands today at a crossroads.”

“We are witnessing the beginnings of a fundamental realignment in British politics. The old tribalisms are crashing down around us. How Labour responds to this will determine whether it remains a serious political force or is instead destined to become a party of permanent protest.”

End of Excerpts:

If you agree, as I do, with Paul Embery’s words and conclusions as they would apply to the United States at this time, please share (forward, pass on, Tweet, Facebook, or PDF copy) this post with your own elected Representatives as well as your neighbors and friends. I find his logic to be flawless when I compare it with many things happening in our own political climate.

Bob Bandy – December 2019

Sacramento’s $22.5 Million plan for homelessness:

500 new shelter beds to open in 2020

Sacramento Bee – December 4, 2019

“After years of struggling to combat the city’s growing homeless population, the Sacramento City Council has a plan to get hundreds of people off the street in 2020.

The Council on Tuesday took a step toward spending $22.5 Million in expected private and state money to open 500 shelter beds in large semi-permanent tents, cabins, converted motels and scattered existing apartments. While the council did not take a formal vote on the spending plan, it directed city housing officials to move forward with the funding and a timeline for opening the facilities.

“I just insist following tonight that we follow through with urgency, with passion and with speed,” Mayor Darrell Steinberg said. “Not just raise the money, not just pass resolutions, but actually get more people indoors.”

The city’s 100-bed Meadowview shelter with on-site services, originally set to open in February for women and children, will now open in April for women only, officials said. A 100-bed shelter for adult men and women with services is set to open in May under the W/X freeway in North Oak Park.

The council previously approved roughly $20 Million to open the two shelters and plans to spend about an additional $6.4 Million to operate them for two years.

In the meantime, the city may be able to open a parking lot where homeless can safely sleep in their vehicles. Officials said that facility could open as early as January.

Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency officials estimate the safe parking lot would cost $1.1 million per year to operate, serving about 60 people at a time.

Councilman Rick Jennings sent staff from his office to visit several other cities in the state that operate safe parking lots for the homeless. He is searching for a site in his district, which includes Pocket, Greenhaven and Valley Hi, said Dennis Rogers, his chief of staff.

Rogers said it would be less expensive if guests can use bathrooms in an existing building on the site. “

complete article at the Sacramento Bee website: https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article237980199.html

Like most everyone else, I would love to get these poor, struggling people off the streets and into warm dry environments, housing, shelter etc…. but I have a question….. Do any of these officials and decision makers own a CALCULATOR?

Just for the exercise, try getting your calculator out and do the math to get an idea of the cost per individual helped with the Sacramento City plan.

Using the City’s numbers provided in the Sacramento Bee, it appears they plan/hope to help about 750 to 760 homeless people at a cost of $22.5 Million. On my calculator that works out to a cost of $29,605 per person helped. Am I wrong?

Can any of these City Administrators spell MAGNET?

Bob Bandy – December 2019