Stop Pulling the Wagon

One of my biggest gripes with Government (Federal and State) is that they make a habit of telling us lies.  They treat us like we are stupid.  Unfortunately, there is a sad percentage of the voters that swallow the lies and give Government good reason to believe they are right in their assumption.

Example: Our governments tell us they are going to pay for all their “programs”  by “taxing the rich” and by taxing “wealthy corporations”.

FACT:  It is true right now that some 90% of all Income Taxes are paid by a very small percentage of upper wage earners and the “rich”.  Approximately 50% of voters pay no Income Tax at all.  It is also a fact that if the government were to tax all the “rich” at 100% of their income it would not fund government for more than a couple of months.  After that Government could not go “back for more” because government already took it all (100%).  Folks who make that kind of money are not going to continue doing so if you take it all in taxes.  They aren’t stupid.

FACT:  Corporations don’t pay taxes.  Their customers do.  If you raise taxes on corporations, they pass the tax increase on to the customer in higher prices.  They have to or else go out of business.  Lots of folks like to cry out against high corporate management salaries but they are a very small percentage of the corporate overhead and if you want to succeed as a corporation you must attract the best management talent. I am often amused that the same folks who scream about corporate management salaries do not scream equally loudly about multi-million dollar salaries paid to athletes and entertainers.

Back in February of 2019 I wrote an article titled Little Red Hen Oil Company. (You can read the article – just type Little Red Hen in the article Search box and click “enter”).

In this article I documented that at the time of writing the Federal Government was taxing the consumer at 18.4 cents on every gallon of gasoline purchased and California State Government was taxing the consumer at 58.3 cents a gallon.  Oil company profits averaged about 7 cents a gallon, and that 7 cents a gallon profit was subject to Corporate Taxes by the Federal and State Government.  Keep in mind working taxpayers, including the working poor are the ones who pay these gasoline taxes.   I will let you decide who is the greedy party here.

For purposes of todays article I will use the following example.

Example:  Proctor & Gamble manufactures many products used in our homes.  Proctor & Gamble wholesales their products to their customer, Walmart.  Both of these companies are Corporations.  When Government raises taxes on these Corporations, in this example Proctor & Gamble, the companies wholesale price goes up and the price increase is passed on to Walmart.  Since Walmart is a corporation they also must pay an increased Corporate tax and must raise prices on products they sell to their customers.  A lot of Walmart’s customers are average working folks, including the working poor.  So, these folks end up paying the “hidden” corporate tax instituted by the government to punish the “greedy” Corporations.  Think about that for a minute.  Government just taxed you by proxy.

We consumers get upset with Walmart or Safeway or Shell Oil because the products they provide and we need go up in price and we think they are greedy and should be punished when they are really only acting as Tax Collectors for Government.

All this would be more palatable if Government was a good Steward of all this Tax Revenue created but they are not.  A very large percentage of this money ends up in the pockets of corrupt officials or their friends and relatives on padded Government payrolls.

It is just another way that Governments uses hidden taxes on “Joe Six-pack” and the “Working Poor” who are struggling to pay the bills and feed families.

This two-faced charade is repeated throughout our economy as Governments at all levels squeezes companies, individuals and business for taxes, fees, licenses, permits and all manner of “protection money”.  All the while these self-serving politicians, many of whom have never worked at a real job a day in their lives or tried to make a payroll, blame Job Creators and Corporations for being “greedy”.

Remember the Politicians Creed

“If God had not wanted them shorn, He would not have made them sheep.”          Bandit Calvera – The Magnificent Seven – 1960

Bob Bandy – March 2021

Washington D.C.

“YOU WILL NEVER FIND A MORE WRETCHED HIVE OF SCUM AND VILLAINY”

Obi-Wan Kenobi at Mos Eisley Spaceport

(1977 Star Wars IV)

Watching Star Wars IV with my wife the other night for the umpteenth time, I was again amused at Obi-Wan Kenobi’s comment to Luke Skywalker on their arrival at the Mos Eisley Spaceport.  Obviously Obi-Wan never visited Washington D.C..

Sometimes it is better to find humor and satire than it is to become despondent.

At this time our Nations Capitol is surrounded by a metal fence topped with razor wire and several thousand armed troops.

This leads to the question:  Are the troops there to keep the residents in or to keep we citizens out?

If it is to keep the residents confined in, then I applaud the action and would suggest we even add to this population inmates now occupying other jails and prison facilities from around the country.  I am sure all these folks would feel right at home and extend “Professional Courtesy” to one another since they share the same moral standards. The thieves, perjurers, scoundrels, snitches and riff-raff from the nations jails should find comfort and acceptance with the assortment of clowns, criminals, lunatics and riff-raff  who inhabit Congress.  A sort of mutual admiration society and win-win situation.

If the goal of the fencing and the troops is to keep “us” out,  one would have to wonder why?  Is there something they don’t want us to see?

Remember the Cantina scene in Star Wars IV?

Could this be our Congress at work?

Could that be Nancy Pelosi center stage behind the podium?

Just think of the opportunity of having the whole “Washington Cartel” of corrupt and morally bankrupt politicians “corralled” behind wire and troops in one place with the exits sealed.  Add to that the joy of them rubbing elbows with their “own kind” from jails and prisons around the country.  Something to dream about.

On a more serious note.

Right now, today, Congress seems bent on taking away rights guaranteed by the constitution – Free Speech for example. 

At this time, today, we still have the Right Guaranteed in the First and Fourteenth Amendment to Freedom of Association.

There are two types of freedom of association: the right to expressive association and the right to intimate association.

Additionally, the First Amendment protects a right to associate and a right not to associate together.

In “Country Boy English” this means I have the right to associate with those individuals, groups, businesses and organizations I want to associate with and equally important I have the right  to Not associate with individuals, groups, businesses and organizations I choose not to associate with for any reason I choose.

I look for Congress and various groups to try to reduce or eliminate this Right of Association but am hopeful any such effort by them might be one that would be hard to police and enforce.  For myself, I am prepared to take a stand on this Right of Association no matter the cost.

In the process of living in the current hostile environment coming out of our Nations Capitol, and sadly many States Capitols, I am encouraged by the lessons taught in that Classic Film:  Fiddler on the Roof.  The goal is to keep your faith and endure, all the while enjoying life to the fullest extent possible in a challenging environment.

Bob Bandy – March 2021

I have squandered my resistance for a pocketful of mumbles, such are promises,  all lies and jest, still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.                Paul Simon – The Boxer 1969

No Adults….No Rules….No Mercy

Lord of the Flies – William Golding 1954

For so many years I have been a current events and political “junkie”.

As I reflect on the fact that statistically I am in my “late” years I have come more and more to ponder on what I really want to do with what time is left to me.

Recently I have become more and more troubled by the obvious “Lord of the Flies” game going on in our nations Capitol.  No Adults….No Rules….No Mercy

In so many ways our government has become no more than a poorly run criminal enterprise.  Don’t you think if you had the ability to steal (by way of taxation) at every level from every person in the country you could at least figure out a way to “break even”.  This bunch can’t even do that.  Our children and grandchildren are inheriting a 27 Trillion Dollars (and growing) debt.  A debt that eventually can only be paid off through massive and crushing inflation and misery.  Hello Venezuela.

If the above is not enough to bring one to apoplexy, I live in California, a state lying in financial ruins due to mismanagement, fraud, waste and corruption.  The latest example being that California has recently discovered that it paid out 31 Billion (or more) dollars in fraudulent unemployment claims to prisoners and other criminals.  The money is gone, “poof”.  Money that could have provided homes for the states exploding homeless population or paving for its statewide crumbling highways or….?  Instead California is going “hat in hand” to a “bankrupt” Federal Government to bail the state out.

Many days I have become so angry at what is happening that I have let it steal the happiness and joys that remain to me.

One day my beloved daughter challenged me to just not listen to or watch the media news for a week.  She said all it does is make you mad and you can’t “fix it”. I took her up on the challenge and found myself in a better mood and frame of mind.  Now as I work at my computer (or whatever) I listen to the music I love instead of the 24/7 news cycle.

Being a slow learner it has taken some time but I have come to realize that I am much happier when I focus on the really important “stuff” in my life.  Faith, Family (my beautiful wife and daughter) and Friends;  all are the things that really matter to me.

There is an old story about a wise old Native American talking to his grandson.  He tells him that each of us have two wolves at war inside of us trying to devour us.  One wolf is named Hate and one wolf is named Love.  When his grandson asks him which wolf wins, the old man tells the boy simply….  “The one you feed”.

I must say that I am still saddened by what is being done to the country I love and grew up in because of the antics of the Clowns, Criminals and Lunatics that seem hell bent on destroying our values and bankrupting the country in the process.  But, the reality is that I can’t fix it, no matter how much I truly want to.  Even the sacred ballot box seems to have been terminally corrupted.

I have reached a crossroads where I can either spend the rest of my life p*ss*d off most of the time or try to spread a little goodwill, assistance, love and cheer wherever I can.

Like I said, I am a slow learner.  God give me the wisdom to focus my efforts where I might still do some good.

Bob Bandy  February 2021

With full credit to the author and to the Babylon Bee.  I love it.

Author Frank T Rutherford hits the nail on the head with this piece.

Op-Ed: Today’s Youth Simply Don’t Have The Work Ethic To Build The Gulags Needed For Their Communist Ideals

When I was young, there wasn’t nothing scarier than the Commies. They were out there, waiting to destroy all freedom and destroy all the world in a nuclear holocaust. You know, a real problem — not like everyone worrying about it getting a couple degrees hotter because of some so-called global warming.

Now, we thought we ended Communism in the ’80s, thought we strangled the last of them for their bad economic ideas, but we were wrong. Because we raised our kids wrong (part of letting everyone go hatless), they’ve started to embrace Communism. Suddenly we got Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in government — full of Commie evil — and the red menace is back.

Initially, I was excited. After Communism, we didn’t really have a good enemy. No one thought them Islamic terrorists were going to actually take over the world. Communists are a real enemy — worthy of America — but then all my hopes were dashed when I took a good look at these new Commies.

They suck.

They’re all just a bunch of lazy, whiny morons. I mean, the Commies of old were stupid and evil, but they at least knew enough to be a threat, like how to build a gulag. I doubt these Commies could build a desk from IKEA without having their mom help them. And they ain’t building no nuclear bombs, because they haven’t read any books on nuclear physics. I doubt they’ve even actually read Marx — ‘cause it ain’t got no wizarding school in it. All these Commies want to do is whine about how they have to pay rent.

Could you imagine Rambo going after these Commies? They’d just be running for their safe spaces. They ain’t going to take over the world; I doubt that Ocasio-Cortez could tie her own shoes without making a mess of it. And they ain’t going to execute dissidents — they’re just going to get you kicked off Twitter then order themselves some avocado toast and call it a day. They are a disgrace to the Commies from the good old days — whom I hated but have respect for.

What those Commies need to do is stop shouting about Russia and Trump and go talk to Putin and ask him nicely how to be big, good, scary Commies. They need to put down their phones and stop their tick-tocking and learn how to be proper, evil Commies — the threat America deserves. And then they need to come back here and try to destroy this country and its freedoms properly — Red Dawn style — so we can have the big war against Commies this country needs.

They need some self-respect. And then I’ll finally strangle them. For being Commies.

Susan Rice – Domestic Policy Adviser to President Joe Biden

photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Domestic policy adviser Susan Rice detailed Tuesday (1-26-2021), President Joe Biden’s attempt to fight systemic racism by highlighting “equity” policies advanced by the administration.

She began her speech with the following statement: “For too many American families, systemic racism and inequality in our economy, laws, and institutions still put the American dream far out of reach,” Rice said at the White House press briefing.

I both listened to her speech and read it several times.  If you would like to read it for yourself it is available at: https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/01/26/susan-rice-trumpets-equity-policies-under-joe-biden-fight-systemic-racism/

My reaction to what she had to say was in general wanting to agree with her on the goals she outlined.  I think virtually all of us want to see equity in our system to offer opportunity to every citizen regardless of race, gender, religious beliefs, etc. etc. etc.

“Advancing equity is everybody’s job,” she said, noting that each federal government agency needed to place equity at the “core of their public engagement.”  Ms. Rice said in her statement.

Excuse me, but I believe Federal, as well as State and other public agencies already have this mandate in place.

One area I have questions on in her speech is when she speaks of equity: how is she defining it?  I did some research and see various definitions.  Some definitions found relative parity between equality and equity.  I am in full agreement with that definition.  However,  in one place I found the following definition:

As the New Discourses site points out, “Where equality means that citizen A and citizen B are treated equally, equity means “adjusting shares in order to make citizens A and B equal.”

Let that sink in for a while and think about what is implied here.  I find this definition very troubling because every time government somewhere tries to impose “equity” as defined as “equal outcomes” the results are invariably disastrous for the average worker and citizen.

the following is a little story I shared in an earlier article about a well intentioned professor with a plan to provide equal, guaranteed outcomes to members of the class he was teaching:

“A group of students go to college.  Some students work hard,  study diligently and get all A’s & B’s.  Other students party, skip classes, do not study, attend marches and protests for “causes” and get D’s & F’s.  Their Professor says that in order to be “fair” to all students he has decided to “tax” the hard working students A’s & B’s  and share those grades with the lazy students who got the D’s & F’s.  In this way all students can average out at a “C” grade.    Some of the students are going to love this idea and others will likely hate it.  Can you guess which ones will love it?” 

I believe our Federal, State and Local Laws already require “equity” in opportunity, hiring, salaries and treatment of employees.  In addition we have laws that make it illegal to discriminate in housing etc. etc.

In my experience I have found employers invariably want employees who show up for work on time, are trained, productive, customer oriented, and want to do everything they can to make the employers business successful.  In the process all employees succeed as well.  The employer really does not care what the race, gender etc. of the employee is.

Unstated, but to me implied in Ms. Rice’s statement is an implication that our government may be planning on trying to institute laws for “guaranteed outcomes” for citizens.   Pardon me, but no matter how well intentioned such a goal might be there is simply no way to guarantee outcomes.  If I were to bring any group of five individuals together; you can pick the races, genders or whatever diversity of your choice, and I gave each of them 1 million dollars with the only criteria that they report back to me in one year with what their new found wealth had done for them, does anybody believe they would all have the same story to tell?

Our government should and must guarantee equal opportunity to everyone – it cannot guarantee outcomes.

In our form of Democracy the most we can do, and I want to make sure we do, is to provide equal opportunity to everyone, and I mean everyone without regard to race, gender, background, or who they are related to,  all deserve the same opportunity to succeed.  We cannot, and should not try, to guarantee equal outcomes.

Every time government tries to impose artificial equal outcomes for its citizens the result is always the same.  (1) The super rich (Jeff Bezos, George Soros etc.) who are above the law. (2) An Oligarchy (government by the privileged political ruling class) also above the law.  And  (3) The rest of the citizenry are given “equity”, that is all become equally poor and live in fear of the law (Cuba, Venezuela, the Soviet Union etc.).

Bob Bandy – January 2021

Regular Readers of my columns know that I am neither a Democrat nor a Republican.  Many think I am a Libertarian and there is much that I share with the Libertarian view but I do not identify with them either.

I am old enough that I can say I was a Kennedy Democrat though in truth I don’t think John F. Kennedy would recognize the Democratic Party of today.

Later I became disenchanted with the Democratic Party and became a Reagan Republican for a number of years.

Still later I became disappointed with the spinelessness of most of the Republican Party and became “not affiliated” with any party.

Both Political Parties have their share of a small number of “good” people who sincerely want what is best (in their minds) for the country and a much larger number who only seek power, wealth and some form of immortality in the footnotes of history.

I have many good friends in both parties that I respect and like even though we may strongly disagree on important issues.  This article is not about them.

Within the Republican Party there are many whom I consider politically and morally “Bi-Polar” in that they can’t adhere to their supposed value system if it will make them unpopular with the media or interferes with their personal goals of wealth and power.

Within the Democratic Party there has come to be a more sinister element that seems to have wedded itself to the “Dark Side of the Force” with an agenda of destruction of what this country was originally founded on.

If one looks at any of the Red/Blue Political Maps of the country it seems apparent that the so-called “Red” zones are in area much larger, more sparsely populated with those parts of the country in general more responsibly governed fiscally and contributing a greater share in productivity of goods and services producing a solid foundation of taxes.  For purposes of this essay I will call them “Tax Cows”.

The “Blue” zones are much more focused in large urban areas.  Many, many of these corrupt, inefficient, large, densely populated urban areas are run by so called “Liberal” politicians and have become infested with consumers of what the “Tax Cows” produce.  Often they are overly populated by “non-producers”, either receivers of government handouts or overpaid bureaucrats whose main job is doling out other peoples tax money to non-productive citizens, by which I mean those who could, but do not work at something productive.  Sometimes referred to as those who feed at the government trough.

This “Dark Side” of the so-called Democratic Party has one agenda.  That is to “milk” the “Tax Cows” and ship that “Tax Milk” from the more sparsely voter populated  countryside where it is produced to more heavily voter populated non productive inner cities where much of the Tax Dollars are wasted on sound good, feel good programs that only make the citizens more addicted to the public dole and less able to care for themselves.  The receivers of this “free money” largess seem to believe the lie that the Democratic Party is somehow the “Mama Milk Tax Cow” and vote for the Democrats in misguided loyalty.  If one tries to point out that the tax dollars are not producing the desired result, one is labeled as “not caring”, “heartless” or any number of other punitive adjectives and told that “we” just have not spent enough but with ever more “Tax Milk” it will all work out.  This is how a city like Seattle can spend a “Billion Tax Milk Dollars” on homelessness and only make the problem worse.

At some point this “Tax Milk” transfer produces social collapse with collateral crime, drugs and hopelessness.  The city lies in ruins with lots of finger pointing and no solutions.  Whatever few producers/tax payers are left that have the ability to leave “Beat feet for the tall grass” and look for peace, order and fiscal discipline elsewhere.  As an example this is why California and New York are hemorrhaging citizens relocating to states like Florida and Texas.   The city then ends up with increasing filth and debris as well as sickness and death.  If you doubt me, visit some of the cities this is happening to right now.  New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, Baltimore etc. etc. etc.

Those in charge on the “Dark Side” don’t really care because they are part of the ruling class and protected from the chaos and misery they have helped create.

George Soros and other American haters win and you end up with a “Banana Republic” led by corruption, lies, waste and greed.

Sad to say, the warnings of many of our nations founders seem to have gone unheeded and are coming to pass.

Bob Bandy – January 2021