By the time you read this, we will be celebrating or will have just celebrated a pivotal holiday in America. It’s a day to remember the sacrifices of so many to make our country a better place. I’m speaking, of course, of the start of college football.
Oh, and there’s also Labor Day.
Labor Day was established to celebrate the contributions of working Americans, and as you might expect, Leftists are quick to champion those working Americans. Or do they?
working Americans
What the Left thinks it means – the backbone of this country, people who constantly get fucked over by the corrupt rich and corporations
What it really means – a wide swath of Americans who constantly get fucked over by the corrupt Left
If you listen to Leftists (and I wouldn’t recommend it unless you have a stiff drink or five), the only ones fighting for the working men and women are Leftists. They work so hard to get middle class tax cuts, only to be thwarted at every turn by those evil Republicans who are in the back pockets of the greedy rich. It’s all they can do for the people we rely on so much to make the country run as smoothly as possible.
Which is complete bullshit.
Oh, I know there are hard-working Americans out there because I am one. But the Left’s fawning over folks like us is phonier than a Karine Jean-Pierre excuse for why the country is on proverbial fire right now. Leftists have a healthy contempt for working folks, and no matter how many flannel shirts, blue jeans, and hard hats they wear, they can’t escape their attitudes or looking like a member of the Village People.
As frequent readers know or have figured out on their own, the Left hates anyone who isn’t them. Meaning, rich white Leftists. Everyone else is treated like pawns to be moved across the political chessboard as the elites see fit. Granted, the Right does this as well, but not to the extent and levels of deception the Left does. And when it comes to the game, the Left is Garry Kasparov.
The way Leftists deceive…I mean persuade people of their pro-worker stance is by playing into their emotions, namely greed and jealousy. After all, if working people are struggling, it has to be because someone is stealing from them and living the high life. It can’t possibly be any other reason!
Wellllll…except that it can, and a lot of times it’s because of what the Left proposes to “help” people. More on that later.
By playing into our natural negative emotions and setting up a nameless, faceless villain, the Left sets itself up to be our white knights. And although they profess to be fighting for all of us, they actually don’t. They like working folks who belong to labor unions and consistently vote for Leftists, even if it winds up shooting themselves in the foot with a Gatling gun.
Personally, I’ve seen this contempt for working Americans for a couple of decades, but it’s only recently that the contempt has been more overt, provided you know what to look for. And there is no better textbook on this than Thomas Frank’s What’s the Matter with Kansas? Fortunately, I read it so you don’t have to because, dammit, I care! (Actually, it was because I was curious to see what Frank had to say about conservatives in the Midwest, but I still care.)
I can summarize Frank’s entire book in one sentence: Conservatives have conned working people, and only Leftists can save them.
There. I saved you time, money, and emergency room visits for blunt head trauma from hitting your head against a wall repeatedly.
Frank’s attitude towards people living in the state he came from, merely for voting for Republicans, drips off each and every page. Although he does blame Democrats for sounding and acting fiscally conservative in order to win elections, he saves the bulk of his venom for conservatives who he felt corrupted politics in the state to work against the best interests of the voters.
The reason Frank’s screed…I mean book is a great example of the Left’s hatred of working Americans is because it exposes the rift between what the Left knows about working Americans and what working Americans actually are. What Frank attributes to conservatives convincing people to ignore their best interests is actually conservatives listening to working people and proposing ideas that they might actually like.
And judging from how well the Left has been dealing with the election of Donald Trump in 2016, they still haven’t figured it out. While the Trump Administration wasn’t exactly the best and brightest, they did get quite a few things right, including cutting taxes for working Americans. And contrary to what Leftists want us to believe, those tax cuts weren’t just for the wealthy. According to the IRS, middle class and working class people benefited the most from Trump’s tax cuts.
Then, Joe Biden rolled into town and undid all of that. Yay?
Of course, the Administration had answers for just about every concern we had about rising costs and how to address them. A lot of them involved, surprise surprise, initiatives the Biden Administration and Leftists want. Worried about rising gas prices? Get an electric car! And if you’re still concerned, just laugh! Having trouble paying for groceries? It’s Russia’s fault! Supply chain problems? Spend more on infrastructure! Unemployed? Support green energy!
I haven’t seen anyone this tone deaf since William Hung, and we’re being run by several of these assclowns. But, hey, no mean tweets, amirite?
Yet, for all of the answers the Left seem to have, few of them actually apply to working Americans. The only thing preventing Republicans from getting more working class voters is they’re incompetent when it comes to closing the sale. For all of his faults, Donald Trump at least made an attempt, which is more than a previous Republican Presidential candidate and rich guy, Mitt Romney, did in 2012. Guess what? It fucking worked!
Right now the door is wide open for Republicans and conservatives to make the sale they might be better for working Americans than the Left is. The Left is too busy focusing on social issues that turn off many Americans and finding new ways to fuck up the country to bother with Joe Sixpack’s problems. Trump gave the GOP a blueprint, much to the chagrin of people like Romney, whose version of a Republican President is as exciting as mayonnaise.
While Republicans try to figure out how to attract working Americans and Leftist try to find new ways to screw them, the working class are left with financial problems, rising costs, and more broken promises than a treaty with Native Americans in the 1800s. And the only way that changes is if working Americans are open to change their thinking. Many of them are locked into voting for Democrats because it’s what they and their families have always done. It’s like a rite of passage, only with more bureaucracy. As Donald Trump said in 2016 when asked why working people should vote for him, “What have you got to lose?”
Given how expensive things are now, we can’t do any worse.
Category: Economics
Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week
The big news this week involved President Joe Biden finally making good on a campaign promise to forgive at least some student loan debt. Many Leftists were overjoyed (mainly because I’m sure a number of them would be the beneficiaries of the President’s generosity), but there are more than a few people who are expressing concern about whether the student loan forgiveness initiative would be as effective and as expensive as promised.
Regardless of the boondoggle…I mean efforts to address student loan debt, there are a lot of questions to be asked. And I’m just the killjoy asshole to ask them.
student loan forgiveness
What the Left thinks it means – a compassionate move that will help college students and the economy at the same time
What it really means – the start of a lot of economic, Constitutional, and legal chaos with the stroke of a pen
On paper, student loan forgiveness sounds good. By forgiving up to $10,000 of loan debt, debtors and former debtors would have more money at their disposal, which could then be recirculated into the economy in all sorts of ways. And 10 grand will buy a lot of Starbucks and avocado toast!
Which some of these students complaining about the amount of loan debt they have to pay off are already buying in the first place, but we’re not supposed to know that…
Although the thought of more money going towards iPhones and gaming consoles is tantalizing to the capitalist in me, the long term implications are scarier than having Bill Clinton show up at your doorstep to pick up your daughter for a date. (Hey, at least it’s not Charlie Sheen!) And knowing how our friends on the Left aren’t known for planning any further out than the length of a TikTok video, you can bet few, if any, of the loudest proponents have given much thought to what I’m about to lay out for you.
Then again, it might be because I’m a weirdo. Either way, here goes!
– The Constitution may not grant the President the powers necessary to make this happen. President Biden’s actions came to pass because of an Executive Order, which is pretty much the President saying, “Do this because, fuck you, I’m the President.” Well, the Executive Order isn’t exactly a one-and-done situation because it can be challenged Constitutionally. And that brings us to Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, which authorizes Congress “to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States…” Now, last time I checked, President Biden was no longer in Congress, even though he spent most of my life in it. That means unless Congress signs off on it, it ain’t happening for long before the Supreme Court gets involved. And with the current makeup of the High Court, you can bet Biden’s Executive Order will get smacked down harder than Mike Tyson beating up Richard Simmons.
– It has the potential to fuck up contract law. A loan is a contact between a lender and a borrower. With student loans, the lender is often the government. And, we all know how fiscally responsible it is, amirite? Anyway, forgiving even a portion of the debt affects the existing contract. Even though the government is one of the particulars of the loan in this case, it has the potential to set precedent once a court gets involved. Get the right judge in the right court to rule in a certain way and before you can say “habeas corpus” the government has the authority to alter any contract it wants, possibly even if it’s not a party to the original agreement. Welcome to Legal Chaos Land, population…well, us.
– The economic impact isn’t as cut and dried as we’ve been told. It seems intuitive that if you give people more money they will spend it. That’s been borne out with tax cuts and credit cards for decades, although the Left still isn’t convinced of the former. Now, add in a little thing called inflation, which all of us are enduring right now. If you have to take out a third mortgage to get groceries, no amount of money from the forgiving of existing student debt will help for very long.
– It doesn’t fix the underlying problems. There are a few reasons why student loan debt is so high. Part of it is the rising tuition costs. Since 1980, average tuition costs have risen by 1200%. And, no, that’s not a typo. And since tuitions have gotten higher than Willie Nelson on 4/20, the federal government has had to lend more money to students. And that includes interest with rates and conditions that make payday loan sharks look legit. Of course, once colleges and universities know the government will keep forking over the money, they will find reasons to keep raising tuition, and the cycle begins anew. And there is no incentive for either party to change that dynamic after some of the loans are forgiven. The college/university still gets its money, and the government gets to look like it cares about people. They don’t, of course…
– Once you get a bite of the apple, you’ll want more. By nature, humans tend to be greedy, self-serving, and always looking to push the limits to see what they can get away with. Right now, it’s only $10,000 that will get forgiven, but does it end there? Judging from recent government boondoggles…I mean programs like TARP and PPP, it’s likely there will be more demands for other and more financial assistance. Next, it will be $20,000, then $50,000, then it will be because free range artesian goat cheese costs have gone up, and before you know it, just about every whim will come with a federal grant. You know, like the National Endowment for the Arts?
There are others drawbacks, but I think you get the idea. Now, if you could explain it to the Left, we might be getting somewhere.
Right now, the Left is counting on the compassion card to get us not to think about the nagging questions of the wisdom of student loan forgiveness. For most of the population, it works. We don’t want to see people suffer, but there are also limits. If people suffer as a result of dumb decisions, our compassion tends to go the way of David Duke Appreciation Night at the Apollo. It’s the old “hand up, not hand out” mentality, and it still works today. I’m all for giving people a chance to apply themselves and earn some scratch from the sweat of their brows. Being allowed to have a chunk of your student loan that you’ve accumulated by studying Post Modern Albino Inuit Gender-Queer Photography in 16th Century Burma without even chipping a nail? Not so much.
And it’s not because I want college students to suffer under excessive debt. It’s because I want them to understand the feeling of earning something instead of just being granted it. Yes, not everybody will win a trophy under this mindset, but it will mean more when you do because you learn what you’re made of and what you’re worth. Platitudes and payoffs don’t teach you anything but how to whine until you get your way. That doesn’t make you anything but an asshole with the potential to be a Karen when you grow up.
And God knows we have enough of those as it stands.
The Taiwan Conundrum
While a lot of conservative commentators are focusing on domestic issues, there’s a foreign policy matter that deserves much more attention than it’s been getting. And would you believe we have Nancy Pelosi to thank for it?
I’m referring to the situation with Taiwan, mainly because Paul Pelosi’s drinking and driving isn’t an international incident…yet. When the Speaker of the House visited Taiwan recently (for reasons that escape me, unless she was setting up some primo deals that would earn her more money…I think I just figured it out!), it added Everclear to an already tense situation between Taiwan and China. See, China believes Taiwan is still a part of China and Taiwan disagrees, preferring to be independent from China. And given how China is a repressive totalitarian state whose leader looks like Winnie the Pooh, I can see why.
Where America comes into the picture is we are stuck between the two opposing sides of this conflict by our own actions stemming from a long time ago, or ancient history in TikTok terms.
We set the Wayback Machine to 1949, when Chinese communists defeated Chinese nationalists and took over mainland China. Since the nationalists weren’t too keen on reading Mao’s Little Red Book, they fled the country and set up shop in what is now Taiwan. Back in the days of the Cold War, America would vocally support Taiwan’s right to independence and try to get China to lay off, wouldya?
Then two Bushes and the Commander in Briefs happened.
The first Bush in question is George H. W. Bush, who was President during a time when Chinese students were protesting for government reform and freedom, culminating in a stand-off in Tienanmen Square. And by “stand-off,” I mean one student literally stood in front of a tank line, creating one of the most iconic moments of the 20th Century, if not of all time. Bush, to his credit, called for China to address its human rights violations (good thing China didn’t respond by saying “You first, dickweeds.”) and promised harsh sanctions if the Chinese government didn’t change its ways.
Annnnnnnd then Bush promptly backed down faster than an Internet tough guy whose bluff gets called. No human rights violations address, no sanctions, not even the ultimate of geopolitical smackdowns, a tersely-worded memo from the UN giving China 1248 more chances to shape up before another memo gets sent. The horror!
And if that assfucking wasn’t bad enough, Bill Clinton not only overlooked China’s human rights violations, but gave them Most Favored Nation status without China having to fix anything! For those of you playing along at home, Most Favored Nation status is basically the US saying they want to do a lot of business with a country because we think it would be in both countries’ best interests. Good thing that turned out so well or we’d be totally fucked right now…oh, wait.
And to complete this shit sandwich, George W. Bush decided it would be a good idea to sell a significant portion of our national debt to China in exchange for…well, nothing really. Now, I’m no Paul Krugman (which is actually a boon in this case since it means I know a thing or two about economics), but I believe that would give China significant leverage over us. Whether they would use it to fuck us over is a matter of some debate, but the fact we have this Sword of Damocles hanging over our heads in the first place isn’t a good thing. Even if China is buying our stuff.
Yeah, about that. Turns out China is on the good end of a trade deficit with us. The figures from just this year show we are importing far more goods from China than they are importing from us. And it’s a trend that’s been going on for quite a while. In fact, we have to go all the way back to 1985 to find an annual trade deficit where the two sides are even remotely close. And the last time we posted a positive trade deficit with China? April 1986.
In the interest of fairness, we haven’t exactly been wowing Taiwan with our goods, either. Even so, when you compare the deficits with China to the deficits with Taiwan, it’s clear we’ve been more willing to work with the dictators than the people we allege to support.
Then, there’s the whole One China policy. To put it simply, China believes it is the only legitimate government for China and Taiwan, and the rest of the world…agrees. In spite of our chest-thumping about supporting freedom worldwide (see the established squawking points re: Ukraine), America fucking sucks when it comes to walking the walk. We can’t even have political figures say whether Taiwan is a country without there being controversy.
Hey, Taiwan. Ask Israel for advice on how to deal with America’s fickle foreign policy. They might be able to give you some pointers and a discount on industrial drum-sized containers of KY Jelly.
It’s this kind of duplicitous dumbfuckery that makes it hard for anyone else around the world to take us seriously. Granted, Joe Biden already gave us the fast track on that long before he was President, but this is well beyond even Biden’s ability to fuck things up. This was a team effort.
Although it’s easy for me to sit behind a keyboard and bitch about the matters at hand, I understand the predicament America put itself in through bad economic planning, worse political gamesmanship, and an apathetic public wanting more faster and cheaper than we’re willing to wait to be produced ourselves. With China having both an impressive potential economic market and a pretty sizable bargaining chip, we have a built-in incentive not to piss them off under any circumstances. This puts Taiwan in a rough spot. Not only is one of the world’s largest military machines breathing down its neck like Joe Biden at an elementary school photo op, but the largest and most technically advanced military on the planet can’t be bothered to show up because we need cheap electronics.
With friends like us, who needs enemas? Or enemies, for that matter.
While Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan made for interesting news, it exposed a fundamental weakness in our foreign policy with Taiwan and China and reiterated an oft-repeated doubt among other countries when it pertains to the way we claim to support freedom, but only when it suits our interests. If there is a silver lining to Pelosi’s visit, it’s the fact even she couldn’t fuck up our foreign policy any worse than it already is.
Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week
There’s a word Leftists don’t want to use right now, and for once it has nothing to do with Donald Trump. They’ve spent the better part of a year downplaying it, pretending it isn’t a thing, talking up how good the economy really is, and gaslighting anyone who doesn’t buy the happy talk or the memory-holing of this one little word.
Recession.
The Left may not want to talk about it, but we’re living it right now, so we need to be brave enough to tackle it head on.
recession
What the Left thinks it means – an economic downturn caused by Republican/conservative economic policies
What it really means – the direct result of shitty federal financial decisions
You know a situation is bad when the Left has to try to redefine a term it’s been using for decades to attack conservative Presidents. Right now, the Left has been running interference, saying the actual definition of a recession is much more nuanced and complex. In fact, it’s so nuanced and complex that not even Leftists can define it yet, but they know enough to tell us we’re not in one.
Meanwhile in the real world, there is a pretty simple definition. I’ve provided a link to a more detailed explanation, but the short version is two straight quarters (or six months, if you’d prefer) of economic downturn. And no matter how many Leftist fact rejecters…I mean checkers say otherwise, we are hip deep in an economic downturn. How do I know?
New York Times pundit and resident laughingstock in economist circles Paul Krugman.
See, Krugman says we should ignore the definition of a recession that’s been used for, oh, decades and use one that doesn’t make the Biden Administration look like dumbasses. And, remember, kids, this asshat is a Nobel Prize winner, as every Leftist looking to appeal to authority on economic issues will tell you.
But, the thing to remember is he’s wrong. A lot. I’m talking more than the world’s worst TV weatherman. He’s even had to admit he got a lot wrong about the current situation because no one could have predicted everything that’s happened recently, like Russia invading Ukraine and supply chain issues.
You know, shit economists are supposed to account for when making projections?
The easiest rule to apply to Krugman and most Leftists pontificating about economics is to listen to what they say, do the exact opposite, and rake in the cash. And in this world where almost nothing is a sure bet, this is the exception.
Of course, there is a political angle to denying the economic reality. With the economy diving more than Jacques Cousteau, voters are looking for answers, or at the very least somebody to blame. And who has been in power since things have gone south? Why, it’s Democrats and Leftists! Typically midterm elections aren’t good for the party in power, but add in a recession, inflation, and supply chain issues, and Democrats will be lucky just to walk away from the 2022 elections holding onto even some semblance of political power higher than It Takes a Village Idiot.
Therefore, the Left has a vested interest in muddying the waters and telling us we’re stupid if we don’t listen to them. If they can make enough voters believe the economic hellscape we’re living in right now a) isn’t happening, b) is happening, but is Republicans’ faults, or c) you’re a racist, Leftists can preserve their power for a little while longer. If they can come out of the midterm elections with a respectable showing (i.e. not being tarred and feathered), they can use that as momentum going into 2024 where they will have to defend 4 years of moronic decisions made by a man best suited to be retired, not President.
Good luck with that.
The downside to this approach is our pocketbooks have more of an impact on our voting decisions than some high-minded rhetoric by lowlife politicians. If we’re having trouble making ends meet as a direct result of the bad decisions of our elected officials (like, you know, not paying attention when their decisions wind up hurting voters’ pocketbooks), it tends to turn off a lot of potential voters. However, sales of torches and pitchforks may skyrocket. Invest wisely, my friends.
While our elected officials on the Left tell us the economy is fine, it’s important to remember they don’t know what they’re talking about because a) they can’t feel their way to a strong economy, and b) they really don’t know/care about the struggles John Q. Public face since they’re getting rich by doing next to nothing. All they care about is maintaining their cushy lifestyles by any means necessary. And if they have to roll up their tinted limousine windows to avoid looking at it, they will.
At least until it’s time to lobby for votes.
Ignorance can be excused to a point. (Exceptions may apply. I’m looking at you, Socialist Socialite!) Callousness cannot. Right now, it’s hard to tell which one is driving the Left’s obsession with not facing the economic reality facing us right now, but neither one makes them look very good.
If there are any Republican candidates reading this, let me give you an idea for a campaign ad. Just point to the high gas prices, high grocery costs, and low-IQ responses to them and say, “If you’re sick of this, vote for me and I will work to undo it all.” If you don’t win by at least 50 points, it will be a surprise.
Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week
It’s April, and it’s time for one of the Left’s favorite activities to resume. Is it the start of Major League Baseball? Nope. Is it the NBA playoffs? No. Is it whining and complaining about the rich not paying their “fair share” in taxes?
Bingo.
The “fair share” drumbeats started up again like a Neil Peart drum solo recently when President Joe “I Helped My Son Get a Sweet Gig in Russia and All I Got Was 10%” Biden proposed a new minimum tax for billionaires (or more precisely hundred millionaires) of at least 20% on their actual income and any assets that have gained value but haven’t been sold yet. Sorry for the long sentence, folks, but to fully express the proposal, I had to be a little long-winded. Meanwhile back in the main topic, Leftists are happy with this proposal because they say it will help with the deficit. But, as you might expect, there’s a bit more to their love of taxes.
taxation
What the Left thinks it means – a means to pay for the services the government provides
What it really means – a way to punish people more successful than Leftists will ever be
Leftists thrive on negative emotions, but the coin of their realm is jealousy. Well, that and killing babies in the womb, but it’s hard to pay for massive government spending in baby parts. Besides, Planned Parenthood needs the money to buy exotic cars!
Where jealousy comes into play in regards to taxation is two-fold. First, the Left needs us to believe people like Elon Musk are gaming the system and, thus, taking advantage of the workers of America. Second, the Left blames any lack of progress in addressing societal ills on not getting enough money from the government. And as we’ve seen in recent decades, both facets work really well to get people to support higher taxes for the evil rich.
And I don’t just mean higher tax payments, either. The Left thinks the tax brackets are too low for the wealthy, so they are always looking for ways to jack up the tax rate to stick it to The Man. If you doubt this, ask a Leftist why they don’t support a flat tax, which would mean everybody would pay the same tax rate. Their answers range from “because everybody paying the same tax rate wouldn’t be fair” to “keep licking the fascist boots of the corporate overlords, you idiot.” But, really, it boils down to this.
Leftists use taxation as a purely punitive measure.
Remember the Left’s belief in a zero-sum game as it pertains to economics? If not, it’s the notion that there is a finite amount of wealth, so any time a rich person makes money it’s at the expense of a poor person. If so, it’s the same concept, but I’m far more apologetic for repeating myself. In either case, it’s based on a faulty premise: that there’s a finite amount of money. Anyone who has followed the expansion of the national debt can see the flaws in the zero-sum game idea.
But a little thing like being divorced from reality like they were Liz Taylor or Mickey Rooney won’t stop Leftists from pushing class hatred in the name of spending other people’s money. All they have to do is make the poor and middle class hate the rich and the lack of reality won’t matter. Needless to say, but necessary to type, this has worked well and continues to work.
Beyond income taxes, the Left has ways to punish the lower and middle classes through taxation. Yes, I’m talking about gax taxes. Contrary to popular Leftist belief, oil companies aren’t gouging people at the pump by jacking up prices. Based on current calculations, those evil greedy oil companies are making…pennies on the dollar with every gallon sold. That’s not a clever turn of a phrase, mind you. I’m talking literal pennies on the dollar (and unlike the kids of today, I do mean literally in the literal sense). And when you consider the costs oil companies incur to refine oil into usable fuel, it’s a wonder they even want to keep drilling.
On the other side of the equation, there’s an entity that rakes in far more money with each gallon of gas sold and incurs none of the risks and costs to get it. If you guessed the state and federal governments, you get a gold star! And these taxes affect the working class more than the upper class. You’re more likely to see Rosie O’Donnell successfully going through Weight Watchers than to see Bill Gates topping off his tank at the local Gas and Sip.
And you’re even less likely to see Leftists support suspending gas taxes right now. After all, it’s free money, and it’s a way to punish us for continuing to use the internal combustion engine instead of being able to fork over several thousand dollars to get an electric car or a hybrid…that would also use fossil fuels like gasoline to get from point A to pointless B. There’s that word “punish” again, kids!
Now, if you’re like me and not keen on paying more taxes than owed, the Left will try to guilt you into paying more by invoking patriotism. In fact, President Pudding Cup once said paying taxes was our “patriotic duty.” Who wants to be seen as not patriotic, right? Of course, this argument might be more persuasive if a) tax dollars were being spent on the country instead of pork programs with no practical application, b) we wouldn’t get in trouble with the IRS for non-payment, c) the government typically doesn’t get rid of old taxes because free money, d) around half of the American population pay little-to-no taxes in the first place, and e) the Left didn’t hate America so much. To be fair, I’m surprised Leftists don’t scream out in pain like vampires taking a holy water shower when they wrap themselves with the American flag.
Even if I grumble at paying taxes out of fear of the IRS giving me an anal cavity search without so much as dinner and a drink, I understand the need for taxation. There are some things we need to pay for, like national defense and infrastructure, because they’re in the Constitution and make sense to spend money on. (Try beating back the Chinese Army with pool noodles, oddly enough made in China.) Having said that, we need to start drawing a few lines before we’re taxed after we die…oh, wait.
Taxes are a necessary pseudo-evil. Like with fire or Auto Tune, they are tools whose use determines whether the results are good or bad. And when they’re used for the purposes of fostering hatred and jealousy, as they are with the President’s billionaire’s tax, there can be no good outcomes.
Except, of course, if you’re sitting on a few empty Swiss bank accounts.
Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week
Unless you’ve been living under a rock this week (and given the housing situation in California, it might not be a bad housing choice), the big news of the past week was Russia attacking Ukraine. Come to think of it, maybe living under a rock wouldn’t be a bad alternative to what we’re seeing now. As reports come in from the area, the world is shocked at Vladimir “I Am Former KGB and All I Got Was This Lousy Country” Putin’s actions and are urging Russia to stop its aggressive actions against Ukraine.
You know, seeing all these Leftist embrace freedom from tyranny is great, but that’s a post for another time. Instead, let’s turn our attentions to our on-again, off-again frienemy, Russia.
Russia
What the Left thinks it means – a foreign power with whom we have a complicated relationship
What it really means – a foreign power whose leadership wants to restart the Cold War and win it this time
It seems weird that within many of our lifetimes we were on the brink of nuclear war. At any moment, Russia or the US could launch missiles at each other and blow us all to hell. (On the plus side, it would have increased property values in New Jersey.) Those fears were dashed when Ronald Reagan, Patron Saint of Preventing America from Becoming USSR West, ended the Cold War by…and this is a radical strategy…treating the Soviets as the bad guys instead of treating them like an annoying brother-in-law who is staying with us until he can find a job even though it’s been 4 years and he’s been fired 43 times from the International House of Food Poisoning and he’s dumber than a bag of shi….
Sorry. Got a little too close to home there.
Anyway, as you might expect, there were some Russians who weren’t too keen on America winning the Cold War, one of them being Putin. And as a former member of the KGB, he had a vested interest in bringing back the Soviet Union. Then, he became President of Russia twice with a Putin puppet in office in between so he could keep tabs on the country (oh, and to exert his power to get what he wanted). And he didn’t even have to become a lobbyist to do it!
It’s safe to say he hasn’t gotten over his desire to bring about Soviet Union II: Electric Boogaloo, and his latest excursion into Ukraine is the latest move in that direction. Of course, the Left, who has been treating Russia in a manner that would make Sybil look stable, has been utterly mystified by Putin’s actions to date. Good thing we have President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on the case or we’d be really fucked! Remember when the President used his foreign policy expertise to make the country better and safer?
Neither can I.
Considering President Biden was at the helm when the Afghanistan withdrawal shitshow happened, let’s just say I have more faith Joy Behar says something sensible than I have in Biden’s diplomatic prowess. This was only strengthened after listening to the speech he gave last week announcing what NATO (i.e. our military) would be doing or not doing and the approval of economic sanctions, including freezing Russian assets in America. In other words, CNN and MSNBC might be in financial trouble soon.
Seriously, these steps make sense, but only if you apply a Cold War mentality to the modern world. Sanctions only work if they cause actual economic pain for the ones being sanctioned. Freezing Russian assets and going after their banks only goes so far, thanks to the advent of cryptocurrency. For any of the Congresscritters reading this, let me break it down for you. Cryptocurrency can circumvent the sanctions because a) the transfer of currency doesn’t go through banks, thus rendering the sanctions against the Russian banks meaningless, b) the Russians have a decided technological advantage over America, which translates to real power in the real world, and c) I’m pretty sure I’ve lost you by this point and I don’t have the patience, crayons, or hand puppets to explain it. Let’s just say it doesn’t end well.
Then, there’s the oil. Russia is sitting on a sizeable oil reserve, possibly enough to impact global oil prices. And if I remember correctly, oil is pretty useful in America. OPEC tolerates us, as long as we keep buying their oil at whatever price they set. On the other side of the equation, we have oil reserves and the ability to drill for it, but we lack the will, or more precisely the current Administration lacks the will. It’s not all Joe Biden’s fault, but the Left has some ‘splainin’ to do on the oil front.
There’s a third element not many people I’ve heard talk on the subject so far has broached: China. Over the past decade or so, Russia and China have started getting chummy again. For those familiar with history and, thus, doomed to watch it be repeated, that’s a bad thing. With the current situation, China stands to make some serious geopolitical bank the longer the situation in Ukraine goes. China needs oil to keep building its global stature while still being allowed to pollute the world because of their status as a developing country in the eyes of the global climate change cult. And who might just have a surplus of oil they might be willing to sell to China? That’s right, kids. It’s Russia. Sanctions or no sanctions, Russia and China will figure out a way to keep the oil flowing in a favorable direction.
On top of that, China holds a significant chunk of our national debt. Although “experts” tell us China wouldn’t use this as a weapon in this situation, the fact is we can’t completely rule it out. (Then again, these same “experts” were caught by surprise by Putin invading Ukraine in spite of the obvious red flags, so we might be able to take their expertise with a Mount Everest sized grain of salt.) It’s not that far-fetched to think China would sell or even trade some of our national debt to Russia for oil or cryptocurrency because they share the same basic opinion of America.
They hate us.
Outside of the economic sanctions, which appear to be as meaningful as Bill Clinton’s wedding vows, there’s the kinda-sorta-maybe-but-not-really threat of military action if Putin doesn’t straighten up and fly right. Of course, we as in America won’t be going to war. Oh, no! It’s going to be NATO…which means America will be going to war, but under the NATO flag. So…what are we hoping to accomplish here?
To hear the Left talk about it, it’s to deter Russia militarily. After all, who would want to go to war with America and its allies? Well…Russia and China might. And with the rest of NATO aside from us being more cheerleaders than military leaders, it’s pretty much us as in the US against them, and I’m not liking our chances. Sure, we have the tools and the talent, but we still need oil and our political leaders were stupid enough to sell national debt to China, creating a perfect storm of dumbfuckery second only to Twitter.
This idea is strengthened by how our NATO allies have stepped up to the plate. And by stepped up, I mean ran the other way by and large. And, yes, I’m looking at you, Germany. Seriously, finally coming through with helmets for Ukrainians, but expecting them to go get them? I long for the days of the quiet competence of Jimmy Carter’s handling of the Iran hostage crisis after seeing the parade of idiocy at work here.
And all because the EU wants Russia’s oil.
Maybe it’s my Gen X cynicism talking here, but I don’t exactly trust Russia and Putin here. Years of living under threat of a nuclear winter that would make Ice Station Zebra look like Rio will do that to you. And with Putin wanting to get the band back together again to do a Cold War reunion tour, I think we need a lot more of my cynicism when looking at the Ukraine situation here and abroad.
Look at the number of Leftists coming out in support of Ukraine. To listen to them (and, really, I wouldn’t recommend it for long), Ukraine has a right to exist and their citizens need to be armed to protect themselves and fight for their freedom against the evil big bully Russia. President Biden himself even said America stands up to bullies! Yet, these same Leftists don’t apply the same sentiments to, oh I don’t know…gun owners, the Freedom Convoy, conservative speakers on college campuses, Israel, and so on. These Leftists are the very definition of sunshine patriots, who will stand up for our principles and freedoms at times like this, only to abandon them when they get in the way of their goals. And when you consider these same Leftists accused Russia of interfering in our elections for 4+ years with evidence so flimsy Scooby and the gang would figure out the mystery before the opening credits finished, I’m not willing to let them wrap themselves in the Ukrainian flag and lead the freedom parade.
Since the fall of the Soviet Union, I have maintained the idea that Russia is a fair weather ally that needs to be scrutinized at regular intervals before taking them at their word. As Saint Ronald said, “Trust, but verify.” He was right then, and he’s right now.
Look, I know I’ve thrown a lot of information at you with this one, but it’s important to understand the various moving parts in this ever-changing situation. We can only hope our political and military leaders take the time to see the whole field and extrapolate viable strategies to mitigate loss.
So, we’re fucked.
Time to queue up “Two Tribes” by Frankie Goes to Hollywood.
Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week
Over the past two weeks, the world’s eyes have been focused at least in part to our neighbors to the north, Canada, due to a trucker convoy so long C.W. McCall is considering making a comeback. Thanks to Canadian Prime Minister Justin “Justine” Trudeau’s mask mandates, truckers across the Great White North joined in a caravan to protest in what is being called the Freedom Convoy. In response, the Left has openly supported the truckers for uniting and standing up for their rights as workers.
Just kidding. They hate the Freedom Convoy.
But the Left’s ire isn’t just about people standing up to them and their mandate demands. It goes a lot deeper, as we’re about to find out.
Freedom Caravan
What the Left thinks it means – a far right wing movement connected to white supremacy designed to undermine the societal good of masking
What it really means – a movement being slimed by authoritarian asshats
I have a rule of thumb when it comes to political movements: the more unhinged and unfounded the accusations are against it, the closer it is to a sensible position. It doesn’t always work, but it works well enough to use as a baseline.
And thanks to the Prime Minister, the Freedom Caravan is utterly sensible using my rule of thumb. Since the truckers started making their way towards him, Trudeau went from calling them a “fringe minority” to racist, sexist, homophobic, Islamophobic, and flavor-of-the-month-phobic among other insults. If you believe the Prime Minister, you would think the Freedom Caravan was only a couple steps away from Hitler (and still six degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon…or would it be Kevin Backbacon in this case?), so let’s take a look at what they’ve actually done.
No deaths. One alleged act of violence against someone possibly connected with Antifa for trying to make the truckers look bad. But worst of all…they honked. Honked, for the love of all that is holy! I don’t know for certain, but we could be dealing with Geneva Convention violations here. I’m sure we’re 943 tersely-worded UN memos away from them doing something really serious.
In the meantime, the larger issue at hand isn’t what the truckers are doing to make the Left lose their shit, but what they’re doing to dismiss the concerns they’re bringing to the table and what implications may be around the corner. Spoiler Alert: there’s a chance some shrugging will occur, if you know what i mean.
The Left loves to think they’re smarter than everyone else (just ask them), even when they’re not even as smart as the coat rack. In this case, the coat rack may be way smarter than they are. As much as the “Follow the Science” crowd crows with confidence at their scientific knowledge, they’re letting their egos prevent them from actually, you know, following the science. As recent studies have shown, lockdowns haven’t helped, cloth masks are ineffective, and the vaccinated are spreading COVID-19 as much as the non-vaccinated are alleged to be spreading it. So, instead of admitting they fucked up, they doubled down more than KFC bringing back the greatest sandwich in the history of fast food.
Which leads to them looking like authoritarian assholes when they continue to force their stupidity on others. Of course, they are authoritarian assholes so it all works out.
What may not be working out in the near future are the attempts to dismiss the Freedom Caravan as fringe actors. Judging from the reactions we’ve seen and heard from Canadians on the tundra, the truckers represent far more people than the Prime Minister and his sycophants want us to believe. I don’t have hard numbers on this, but I get the sense more Canadians support the truckers over the Trudeau.
And here’s the thing that make the Leftists very nervous: American truckers are thinking of doing a Freedom Caravan here. Something tells me it’s going to be as big and as maligned as the Canadian version. Hoo boy!
What the Left isn’t thinking about, among other things, is what impact the Freedom Caravan will have on an existing issue, that being supply line delays. Whether you believe President Joe Biden’s ineptitude caused the empty shelves peppering the country or you believe in whatever bullshit the Left wants us to believe is the cause of the problem this week, the scarcity is starting to get noticed, which causes an immediate political headache for Biden and the Left.
Oh, and did I mention there are elections this year that could affect what the President can get done legislatively?
Anything that keeps the shelves from being stocked is another nail in the Biden agenda’s coffin. That includes…oh, I don’t know…pissing off truckers who can get goods from the ports to the stores. Knowing Joe Biden like I do, he will consult with experts, weigh their advice to devise the best possible outcomes, and support the worst idea with all the passion of a true believer. Doubt me? Guess who came up with the three-state solution in Iraq, an idea worse than letting David Duke host the NAACP Image Awards.
Come to think of it, it wasn’t that bad. It was worse than giving David Duke an NAACP Image Award.
This leads me to believe the President will follow the Prime Minister’s lead and insult any trucker who decides to be part of the American version of the Freedom Caravan. If he does, the Left will cheer him on…until they realize the truckers aren’t bringing goods to the stores they frequent. Wait until their Whole Foods is half stocked.
Then, they might start to feel a shrug of the Atlas variety. Serves them right for discounting Ayn Rand as often as they have, even though her observations are as salient today as they were when she first penned them.
Although the Freedom Caravan has experienced some setbacks in the form of Leftist pressure/coercion from GoFundMe, they are winning where it counts: in the hearts and minds of freedom-loving people around the world. The longer the Caravan exists and gets, the more pressure it puts on the Left to figure out an exit strategy.
It can’t go any worse than Biden’s Afghanistan exit strategy, right?
Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week
As those who read my work on a regular basis know (and if you do read me regularly, I’m sorry), there are some politicians who are always good for a Leftist Lexicon topic. One such politician is Senator Elizabeth Warren. Now, I won’t call her Pocahontas or Fauxcahontas as others have because I want to respect her heritage while giving her all due respect. Hence, I call her Chief Running Mouth.
Anyway, Senator Warren took to Twitter to complain about gas prices rising in spite of President Joe Biden releasing 50 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Oil Reserve in an attempt to lower gas prices. Now, what did CRM blame for the rise? OPEC nations playing hardball? China and Russia conspiring? Donald Trump? Nope! She blamed…corporate greed.
When discussing economics, corporate greed is the Left’s favorite boogeyman, and it seems to catch on every time it gets used. To understand why, we have to take a closer look at the phrase and analyze the parts. That, and to help pad out this edition of the Leftist Lexicon.
corporate greed
What the Left thinks it means – one of the major road blocks to progress and economic justice
What it really means – proof the Left doesn’t understand basic economics
Economics can seem pretty complicated, but there are some core concepts that anyone who has been to a garage sale, like, ever can understand. Which means Leftists will struggle with said concepts, but I’ll try to keep it simple so they have a chance to catch up.
Contrary to popular Leftist belief, the reason for a company or corporation to exist isn’t to pay taxes, provide jobs, and ensure every employee gets paid a living wage with full benefits, maternity leave, and any other benefit. It’s…now brace yourselves…to make money. After all, if a corporation doesn’t make money, it’s either a scam, kept afloat with taxpayer funds, or defunct. Or in the case of green energy companies during the Obama Administration, all three. And without money, companies/corporations can’t provide the laundry list of what Leftists think employees should get since that money helps keep the doors open. So, it’s in a company’s best interests to be greedy.
Where the Left gets things twisted is in thinking (if you can call it that) that greed is bad. There are aspects of greed that inspire more positive aspects of the corporate world. And there’s one that Leftists are absolutely in love with that proves this point: COVID-19 vaccines. Now, Leftists will argue Johnson & Johnson, Pfiser, and Moderna went to great lengths to get the vaccines out to people who needed it out of pure altruism, but the truth is they did it so they could make money. And when Uncle Sam is willing to push your goods without you having to spend a penny to advertise it? You would have to be an idiot to decline an unlimited source of money, most of it being pure profit.
Or a certain Senator from Massachusetts, but I repeat myself.
While Leftists complain about corporate greed on Twitter using their iPhones, they are blissfully unaware of how the capitalist sausage is made and how they’ve already bought into it by virtue of the little decisions they make. Namely, what they buy. Granted, we’re subject to the same buying decisions, but remember we’re not the ones railing against corporate greed. We bought into it, while they’re selling out to it.
And here’s the kicker: Leftists really don’t oppose corporate greed when it furthers their personal goals. Take Chief Running Mouth, for example. While she attacks oil companies for allegedly gouging customers at the gas pumps and pushes for laws prohibiting Congresscritters from direct stock purchases, she and her husband have made a tidy sum on annuities, which according to the Boston Globe includes stocks and bonds. Even though they’re indirectly stockholders, they’re still stockholders, and their fortune, at least in part, is reliant upon the very corporate greed she says she opposes. Amazing how that works, isn’t it?
Oh, but it gets better! She also got campaign contributions from Apple, Google, and other big-name companies, including the ones she rails against for…wait for it…corporate greed.
And, as you might have guessed, this is by design. By creating a faceless beast in corporate America, the Left has ginned up fear and hatred of any big company who wants to make a profit. Granted, some companies abuse this notion (I’m looking right at you, Wells Fargo), but Leftists never come out and tell us how much they feel companies should be willing to give up to keep the doors open. I know they don’t have an exact figure, but I guarantee whatever it is they calculate, it will never be enough because Leftists think all money is finite. If someone gets rich off building a better mousetrap (personally, I prefer napalm, but that’s just me), they think that wealth comes at the expense of someone else, and they want people to feel they’re the ones getting screwed. Then, people like Chief Running Mouth come along and say they want to take on corporate greed and win one for the little guy.
As of this writing, that hasn’t happened yet, but the promises to do something keep mounting and getting louder. But they need to keep the con going, so they find new ways to lambast “greedy” corporations so you feel green with envy while they continue to feel green in their back pockets from all the donations they get from the companies they attack for being greedy.
So, what happens when you realize someone else getting rich doesn’t affect you? Aside from feeling a sense of relief, it ruins the Left’s con and helps you see the Left’s ignorance in economics. No, there isn’t a greedy corporation taking money that doesn’t belong to them so they can have golden toilets, but there are a ton of greedy politicians who love to be generous with your money to ensure they get golden parachutes, and Elizabeth Warren is no different. If/when she leaves the public sector, she will have done so being as bad, if not worse, than the corporate greed she rails against.
I take that back. She will definitely be worse. After all, greedy corporations at least understand how to make a buck.
Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week
At long last, the details of one of the proposed infrastructure bills became public knowledge thanks to the New York Times. Although the details of the expenditures aren’t known yet, some of the details came out with a particular focus on fighting climate change. And a big focus on fighting climate change involves fossil fuels.
No matter where you go, the same people who keep telling us the planet is doomed tell us the way to prevent the inevitable is to do away with fossil fuels and convert to renewable energy. Although I haven’t seen any of the main proponents of renewable energy travel via solar vehicle, it’s worth exploring what the Left thinks of fossil fuels and why they’re so keen on making them as obsolete as the career of Yahoo Serious.
fossil fuels
What the Left thinks it means – sources of energy that are killing the planet with diminishing returns
What it really means – the only energy came in town for now, and possibly ever
The self-professed “Party of Science” has been after fossil fuels for a while now, but it wasn’t always the case. Back in the heady days of the 70s, some climate scientists suggested adding more pollution to the atmosphere to ward of global cooling. As we’ve since figured out, they were wrong, and as a result, the Left doesn’t take those dire predictions seriously or as valid. Instead, they have their own dire predictions to push, namely global warming/climate change/climate catastrophes/whatever they’re calling it this millisecond to generate fear.
And the scientists the Left are relying on for their proof? Turns out they’re wrong, too. Funny how that works out, isn’t it?
Undeterred by the lack of global catastrophes directly linked to fossil fuels, the Left has made it their aim to get us to move away from fossil fuels in the name of protecting the environment. And they’ll fly all over the world and drive in long lines of cars to go to events in large venues using more electricity than Las Vegas during Christmas telling us about the dangers that await us if we don’t stop using fossil fuels.
As you might have guessed, I have more faith in convenience store sushi than the Left’s commitment to fighting climate change.
Aside from the blatant hypocrisy even Ray Charles can see (and he’s dead), the “Party of Science” hasn’t figured out why fossil fuels are still in use today. Not surprisingly, it’s dirt simple: fossil fuels work. No matter how many solar panels you put up, no matter how many Priuses there are on the road, no matter how many windmills you erect, fossil fuels tend to work better than alternative fuels, at least for now. And I say that as someone who has driven through typical Iowa winter conditions with a gas-guzzling SUV passing hybrids stuck in the snow. To be fair, though, the hybrids were traveling up a 0.000000000001 degree incline, so they were really at a disadvantage.
Seriously, though, nobody has been able to figure out a viable alternative to oil, coal, and gas yet. What people have done is build upon the existing framework fossil fuels have built, in some cases literally. Even with these alternatives, fossil fuels are more effective and in some cases better for the environment. (See ethanol for an example of this.)
Put simply, we can’t do away with fossil fuels yet because so much of our economy still runs on it. I’m not just talking about fuel here, kids. Fossil fuels are used to generate electricity, because we kinda like to power our devices and, oh, not freeze ourselves to death in the winter or boil ourselves to death in the summer. Then, there are some of the byproducts of fossil fuels, namely plastics, that would be the metaphorical rochabeau to our economy if the Left gets their wish.
But no one ever accused the Left of knowing anything about economics.
There is one alternate fuel source out there that has shown to work well independent of fossil fuels, but the Left doesn’t like it, so it doesn’t get mentioned. And that alternate fuel is…nuclear power. Granted, the Left’s opinions on nuclear power haven’t changed since Three Mile Island, but it’s important to note two things. One, nuclear power is currently being used in some parts of the world without there being meltdowns on a regular basis. And, two, the main reason the Left doesn’t like nuclear power isn’t because of their commitment to safety, but rather their commitment to sowing fear and providing seemingly the only answers to “solve” the climate problem.
I call this the Oprah Effect. Back in her heyday, Oprah Winfrey seemed to thrive on the idea she could see all the problems we (i.e. suburban white women) face and come up with a ready-made solution that not-so-coincidentally helped her pocketbook and ego. The Left uses the Oprah Effect to great success on climate issues for the same reason Oprah was so successful in peddling her brand of problem-solving.
Most people are uninformed, gullible, and lazy. (But not you, faithful readers.)
Since the advent of the Industrial Revolution, people have sought ways to work smarter, not harder, and have utilized whatever means available to do so. The only problem with that approach is eventually we think we run out of ways to make things better, so we rest on our laurels, which America has done for, oh, seven decades or so. As a result, our interest in thinking has waned like the interest in people watching Hannah Gadsby do “comedy.” After all, thinking is hard, dammit! So why not leave it to the experts?
Five decades of wrong predictions on climate change should be a clue.
And to be honest, none of the people pushing for the elimination of fossil fuels are experts, either. I still think alternatives to fossil fuels are possible, but until they can become viable alternatives, they are just possibilities. We need to work with what we have, and the eeeeeevilllll fossil fuel companies are finding new ways to extend the life of the industry and minimize damage to the environment. You know what the anti-fossil fuel side has done?
Talked a lot.
Oh, and stoked a lot of fear of an ecological disaster coming in the near future without anything like they predict ever happening.
With this kind of uninformed resistance, I think fossil fuels will be around for a while longer.
Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week
The past couple of weeks has been difficult for the Biden Administration. Aside from its usual level of tone-deaf incompetence, its signature infrastructure bill, Build Back Better, has been getting criticized more than Dave Chappelle’s recent Netflix special. But unlike the aforementioned special, the Build Back Better agenda isn’t intentionally funny.
The more that comes out about Build Back Better, the less it seems to get people’s support. Of course, it doesn’t help matters any that information about it comes out in dribs and drabs, all while being promoted as costing nothing. As you might expect, I’m a little skeptical.
And by a little, I mean a lot.
This week, let’s look at the agenda and try to piece together what it is.
Build Back Better
What the Left thinks it means – an important approach to rebuilding our infrastructure, create jobs, and achieve more energy independence
What it really means – a laundry list of programs and expenditures that will do little-to-nothing towards infrastructure
Back in my youth, I loved this time of year because that meant all the national chain department stores would send out their Christmas-themed catalogs. There you could see all sorts of cool toys and gadgets to make children’s Christmas lists a lot easier to make, but more expensive to fulfill. These days, the best we can hope for is a list of things we’re going to be paying for on the federal credit card. With Build Back Better, we are hoping in one hand and shitting in the other and seeing which hand fills up first.
Let’s just say you might want to hold off giving high fives for a while.
Build Back Better is shrouded in mystery, mainly because the Left doesn’t want us to know what’s in it to avoid having to answer questions. Don’t get me wrong, there is some infrastructure in Build Back Better, but so far not a lot of what we know about it would qualify. Instead, much of it is recycled Leftist ideas that didn’t go over well the first time, including what I would call a soft reboot of the Green New Deal (complete with money going to the Socialist Socialite because reasons). And, surprise surprise, there are people out there who want more details before we spend $3.5 trillion.
Like Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema.
Well, the Left hasn’t taken this too well, considering they’re all-in on harassing the Senators and calling for them to be recalled, removed, or otherwise defeated in the next primary. To date, neither Manchin nor Sinema has changed their minds and it’s unclear whether pinning the Left’s failure to make an argument in favor of Build Back Better on them is going to work. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say…it’s not.
In a rare moment of self-awareness, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi admitted Democrats haven’t done a good job in selling the benefits of Build Back Better. Granted, there may not be much there to sell, but I have to give the Speaker credit for acknowledging the lack of persuasion. And for staying sober long enough to do it. Combine this with the “ram it through at all costs” approach used on Sens. Manchin and Sinema, and you have an image problem worse that Jon Gruden right now.
This begs the question of why there’s a problem getting people to support Build Back Better outside of the party faithful. A lot of it goes back a few months to the Left’s “X is infrastructure” approach. Child care, health care, living wages, and so on were thrown into the same bucket and people started to wonder why, including your humble correspondent. It created a lot of jokes outside of the Leftist hivemind, but the fact anything under the sun could be considered infrastructure if you wanted it to be undercut the validity of any infrastructure proposal by cheapening the idea of infrastructure. (And that is how you fit one word into a sentence multiple times without looking like you’re just trying to pad out a weekly blog post about words the Left uses…okay, let’s move on.)
Let’s not overlook the lack of transparency in this situation. Yes, it’s called Build Back Better, but what does that consist of and how is better being determined? Even the Biden Administration can’t come up with concrete answers, and it’s their fucking plan! When the people who came up with the thing can’t tell you what it’s about, you know it’s either horrible or they’re incompetent.
Insert “Why Not Both?” meme here.
Seriously, though, Build Back Better proponents can’t seem to get out of their own ways and level with us. Instead, we’re hearing how it will cost nothing (which it won’t, but try telling Leftists that offsets of costs don’t mean there weren’t any costs in the first place) and how it will make the wealthy pay their fair share (except the top 1% pays around 40% of the federal tax burden as of this missive). These are red-meat issues for Leftists, but they don’t play that well on Main Street. Most people today care about paying their own bills and ignore politics because it’s pointless. Except for a select few of us, that is, who pay attention to the minute details of every soundbite, campaign promise, or proposed spending.
Geez, we desperately need hobbies!
As long as Build Back Better is more high concept and less brass tacks (and more high tax), it’s going to be a hard pass from me. However, in the spirit of bipartisanship, I’ve come up with a new name for it, and the Biden Administration won’t even have to change the abbreviation. I call it Biden’s Big Boondoggle. Catchy, isn’t it?