The Democratic Platform: ‘deja vu’ all over again!

Did you have favorite television programs while growing up? I sure did. In my time, I enjoyed Bonanza and Gunsmoke as westerns. I really enjoyed The Man from Uncle and I Spy for spy shows. And, I could not get enough of the Carol Burnett Shows for comedy. Luckily, practically all of these shows are now available on networks that specialize in reruns. But here is the problem. After watching the original shows and then watching each show as a rerun two or three times, I lose interest. After all, how many times can you watch the same show over and over and over again without losing interest?

Now I need to time travel from the past to the present and as to what is happening on the political scene. Other than the negative mass media coverage of Donald Trump’s tweets, the next most media consuming event is the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. To say that there are a plethora of candidates would be an understatement. To say that there are a platoon of candidates would be more accurate. There are so many candidates, that I have lost count! I thought there were 22 or 23, but I see the upcoming debates are only for 20 candidates. Did some candidates drop out or were they hired to join the Mueller investigation posse? No doubt with Mueller’s concern about Russian influence in our last presidential election, he will now want to focus on what the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton election team had going with the Russkies! (Okay, I am dreaming. That would never happen with the team of Clintonites he had on his staff.)

Here is where I segue my last paragraph with my opening paragraph about reruns of television programs. After watching a television show three times, I would lose interest and quit watching that program. After watching part of the Democratic debates, I lost interest and quit watching. Why? Because the Democrats have not come up with an original thought and it is a rerun of the garbage they have been spewing for way too many years.!

Free health care for everyone! And with a unanimous show of hands, the candidates all agreed that that would also include ‘illegal aliens.’ Or, in the parlance of the political correct, ‘undocumented immigrants.’ (If an illegal alien can be an undocumented immigrant, does that mean a dope pusher is an undocumented pharmacist? Does that make a bank robber just performing an undocumented withdrawal?) Free college education for everyone! Free this! Free that! Free! Free! Free!

Is there a word in the English language (or press two for Spanish) that could possibly be more liberal with other people’s money than the word socialist? Just how would all of these ‘free’ entitlements be paid. Well, that is an easy question for Bernie Sanders. Because for Bernie, there are words in America that are naughtier that the four letter words we heard as kids. The word profit, is a naughty word. If you follow Bernie’s logic, which is in line with the other candidates, a corporation or business should be ashamed, and punished for making a profit! That punishment would come in the form of higher and higher taxes. And, we will need more government regulation and intervention to control those greedy profit makers! Did you notice how many times the words ‘large corporations’ came up in the debate. Oh yeah, those large corporations are what is wrong with America. Have we heard this drivel in the past?

The other source of funding, and another place to punish is the talk about the ‘upper 1%.’ Of course, this refers to the top 1% of those with wealth in our country. Hereto, these people need to ‘pay their fair share.’ Bernie goes on to attack Trump by saying that he passed tax reform that unjustly helped the top 1% over all other taxpayers and wage earners.

I am becoming comatose listening to the same reheated, rehashed garbage coming from the liberal left, just as I have lost interest in multiple reruns, because their platform is a rerun on a continuous loop. And….don’t let reality cloud a faulty accusation.

The liberals have need to take a fact check into reality and, just as important, into economics. Firstly, only a small portion of the total federal government tax revenues come for businesses and corporations. That number has fluctuated over the years, but for 2018, corporate income taxes accounted for only 6% of the federal tax income! Personal income taxes accounted for 51% of the federal tax income. Payroll taxes accounted for 35% of the federal tax income, with miscellaneous taxes accounting for the last 8%. Bernie wants to do a WWF style smack-down on those corporations that only contribute 6% of the federal taxes to support all of his socialistic programs. What would be the result of that economic taxation maneuver? Hate Trump if you want, but his economic policies have stimulated the economy to the point of experiencing the lowest unemployment rate in 50+ years! Like Ronald Reagan said, “The best welfare program is a job.” And gosh darn it, by eliminating government regulations and intervention, and by lowering the corporate tax rate, that 6% (corporations and businesses) have created many more people contributing in the form of personal taxes. If the socialist left-wing dingbat democrats have their way, this trend would reverse. Corporations would again relocate manufacturing and corporate headquarters outside of the US. Higher unemployment would follow, just like during the 10+% unemployment during the Obama years.

Another democrat mantra….”the 1% need to pay their fair share of taxes.” Really? In 2016, The top 1% of the wealthiest people in America paid 37.3% of all federal income taxes. The bottom 90% of wage earners paid just 30.5% of all federal income taxes. Another statistic? The top 50% of all wage earners paid 97% of all the taxes. So you think the IRS codes are skewed unjustly to benefit the top 1%, as asserted by the liberal left? Well, in 2016, the top 5% paid an average of 23.5% in taxes. The top 1% paid 22.9%. (Better accountants?) But the bottom 80% paid a tax rate of 15.6%. So….what part of this is unfair? Wouldn’t fairness, in this age of political correctness and equality, mean that everyone pay the same tax rate? What would those rates be if all those socialistic programs were put into effect? 40%? (If we were lucky!) 50%? (Probably not enough!) 80%? (Probably!)

So, dear readers, here is a summation of my observations of the Democratic presidential candidates and of the democratic platform:

  1. Like before, the democrats are fomenting the belief that in America, it is ‘us versus them.’ They foment this belief by unscrupulously advancing the belief that the 1% are entitled, and the rest of you are being screwed. Trump is responsible…so he needs to be impeached.
  2. Corporations and businesses are your enemy, especially those that have the audacity to make a profit. Never mind that they provide jobs, expand the economy and raise the standard of living for their employees. If they make a profit…Trump is responsible…so he needs to to impeached.
  3. Trump needs to be impeached. (Heard this before?) I have never heard one reason or charge that would warrant this….but Trump needs to be impeached.
  4. Trump is guilty of treason. (See number 3 above.)
  5. Have you ever heard one solution advanced by any of these candidates that would address some of the more serious problems facing America? Me neither. All I have heard so far is free this, free that…yada, yada, yada. Never mind China, illegal immigration, Iran, etc.
  6. Speaking about illegal immigration. I find it interesting that practically every Democratic candidate is a lawyer and does not know the definition of the word, ‘illegal’, as in illegal alien. How do you uphold and defend the constitution of our great country, and not know the difference between legal and illegal. Just sayin’.
  7. Another democratic mantra…’if at first you don’t succeed, begin labeling and name calling.’ Trump is a racist. Trump is a sexist. Trump is this, Trump is that, and anyone who votes for him is ‘deplorable and incorrigible.’ Enough name calling! Advance something that would be good for our country without putting our grandchildren in indebted servitude.
  8. Speaking of servitude…have you picked up that the government (meaning you and me) should pay blacks for slavery reparations? Have you met any blacks lately, or within the last 150 years that were slaves? Trolling for votes. A desperate, stupid move that divides this country further, but yet they blame Trump for dividing the country.

In an odd way, I find the liberal platform sort of creepy. It reminds me of my parents lecturing me when I was young about not taking candy from strangers. These liberals are trolling for votes by offering candy in the form of all kinds of unaffordable freebies. The question becomes, ‘are you smart enough to not take the candy?’

So like too many reruns of the same episodes of the same show, I will probably tune out most of the Democratic presidential debates until they get down to less than a platoon of candidates. It’s boring and it is certainly repetitive. Like Yogi Berra said, “it’s deja vu all over again.” That is the political correct way of saying….same crap, different day.

PS. If you would like to learn why we have a platoon of Democratic candidates, please read my blog entitled: P + P = M The New Political Formula

Lessons Learned from the Mueller Report



Popularity in Politics is Fleeting




Where the hell do these lawyers go to school?



The Loonies are in Charge of the Asylum




The best defense is a good offense





Conclusions and speculations


P + P = M The New Political Formula





Campaign contributions



Net Worth




Influence Peddling

Who made this statement?





The Mueller Investigation


Here’s another quote. Who said this:





Do you ever have those moments when you just don’t want a good thing to end? A birthday party? A graduation? A marriage? Well, I feel the same way about the Mueller investigation. After all, if it ended today, what would we do with all those unemployed liberal lawyers on the Mueller investigation team? They would just go out and, like teenagers without anything to do, just get into trouble elsewhere. And, let’s face it. They are effective. What other band of merry men could send 26 agents with 17 vehicles and with guns drawn, to arrest Roger Stone in a pre-dawn raid? Luckily, a CNN camera crew happened to be cruising Stone’s neighborhood at just that same time and captured the elderly, apparently dangerous Roger Stone arrested on camera. What a stroke of luck! Now that is what I call efficiency!

Now I must make an assumption. I will assume that in the near future, the Mueller investigation team will be wrapping up its investigation into how the Russians influenced our 2016 presidential election. Surely, as efficient as they are, they must have found some stuffed ballot boxes with borscht stained ballots. Of course, these ballots would all be for Trump. Thereby, we must investigate anything and anyone that has ever been in contact with Donald Trump. Trump attorneys, Trump accountants, Trump bathroom attendants, and now it appears Donald Trump, Junior, will now all be subpoenaed by the Mueller investigation team. Now that is what I call progress! And…it has only cost the American taxpayer about $40 million for this team to accomplish all it has done in the last 19 months.

But alas. All of this will soon come to an end, and then what will we be able to watch on the 24/7 news channels? Maybe another supreme court justice nominee roast? Possibly another Corey Booker ‘Spartacus moment?’ Do we have a new Attorney General? Boo hoo. What will we do?

Never fear dear readers, for I, Grandpa T, have a proposal for two new items that the Mueller investigation team can investigate. I am confident that they will investigate these items with the efficiency and alacrity for which they have shown the Russian collusion investigation. And…to make it more interesting, these two items also relate to the 2016 presidential election. Robert and the boys will need a new copier to print up all the subpoenas they will need for my two proposals. (I am on a personal mission to assure that the 24/7 news channels do not run out of material. Or, like Mueller’s liberal attorneys, those reporters will be out raising hell elsewhere!)

As I have mentioned in previous blogs, I attended a midwestern university and was a member of ROTC. There were about 320 cadets in the four ROTC classes. The school graduated about 80 future Army officers each year. I graduated in 1971. That year was the year that the Vietnam Conflict began winding down. But in my old age, my thoughts always return to the Army ROTC graduating class of 1968 at our university. I knew many of these guys well. They were young. They were patriotic. They all volunteered to do what they thought was right for America. They persevered to graduate from college and become Army officers. And, because of the luck of drawing a short straw, they were all commissioned at the time of the most intense fighting in Vietnam. About one-fourth of that graduating class was killed in Vietnam. Some of the best people I have ever known were struck down before experiencing marriage, children, grandchildren….all of those things that make life worth living. Gone. These guys were brave. These guys were patriotic. These guys sacrificed their lives for what they believed was right for America.

So here is my challenge to Robert Mueller and his investigators. In light of what I have just related, I need to add that at the most, these fine soldiers got to determine their fates by being able to vote only once; in the 1968 presidential election, before being killed in the defense of America. And, in light of the fact that the Robert Mueller investigation is purportedly about Russian collusion, I want the Robert Mueller investigation team to investigate the number of non-American citizens that voted in the 2016 presidential election. I want to know how many. I want to know how they were allowed to vote. I want to see subpoenas and punishment for those officials that allowed non-citizens to influence and participate in our election. Because, in my eyes, anyone that allows a non-American to vote in our elections has ‘stolen the valor’ from those who made the ultimate sacrifice to defend this country. This valor has been stolen not only for my Vietnam compatriots, but also from those that have served in all of our wars and conflicts. In effect, American citizenship has been cheapened and sold wholesale. I am positive that there will be millions of votes found that are fraudulent and in numbers that the Russians could ever imagine to influence. Go get’um Robert!

Here is my second proposal for the Robert Mueller investigation team. In my last blog, I presented statistics indicating that there are ten states with legalized recreational marijuana in the United States. Of those ten states, seven of them consider themselves ‘sanctuary states, sanctuary counties or sanctuary cities.’ The sanctuary counties and cities are the largest in each state, if the state, as a whole is not considered a sanctuary. Coincidentally, these sanctuary areas are controlled by liberal politicians. So let me be clearer: we have seven sanctuary areas, controlled by liberal politicians, that have legalized marijuana. Coupled with the fact that these liberal politicians are diligently fighting against a southern border wall with Mexico, I want to know the following: How much illegal drug money and marijuana money is being poured into our elections and who is getting it?

Let me give the Mueller investigation team some guidelines. What we need to know is how are the drug cartels benefiting from our current situation. Do they benefit with no wall? Yes. Are they able to move money, drugs, and their compatriots across our border easier without the wall? Yes. Do they use civilians illegally crossing the border as their ‘drug mules?’ Yes. Are some of the people illegally crossing the border going to become customers for the drug cartel? Probably.

But I save the biggie for last. Are drug money profits being used to influence our politicians? Before answering this, I need to point out that recently, one of ‘El Chapo’ Guzman’s lieutenants said that the former president of Mexico, received a $100 million bribe to allow El Chapo to run his drug business unmolested in Mexico. Supposedly, this was the amount settled on after the former president requested $250 million! That revelation came and went from the media faster than a speeding bullet. Why? Because if true, it would indicate that politicians could be influenced by drug money. Who knew? But if you think that bribe is fictitious, then we need to discuss the non-fictitious Clinton Foundation.

The Clinton Foundation was never sanctioned as a charitable organization, as less than 3% of their ‘contributions’ were used for charitable purposes. With the Foundation being located in Canada to protect its ‘contributor’ identities, the entire foundation was a money machine for Clinton wealth attainment and for financing Hillary’s 2016 presidential campaign. One contribution of $147 million was made after the completion of the Uranium One deal while Hillary was Secretary of State. How convenient. More amazingly, that contribution came from Russia!

So with the Clinton Foundation and the purported pay-off to the former president of Mexico, now do you think it possible for illegal drug money to be influencing our elections? I certainly do. I believe our politicians may be accepting illegal drug money contributions either knowingly or unknowingly. After all, the drug cartels are not stupid. They would be making contributions through nobly named organizations, such as, ‘Progressive Hispanic Voters of America,’ or some such names.

Does this whole thing make more ‘common sense’ when you wrap up illegal drug monies, with sanctuary areas, with liberal politicians fighting border security with marijuana legalization? Then to complicate this, throw in the votes cast by non-citizens in the last presidential election from these same ‘sanctuary’ areas. Does any of this make for a better America?

So here you go, Mr. Mueller. Rather than you and your investigating team blowing smoke out your asses about Russian collusion in our last election, you need to get busy investigating real voter fraud and nefarious campaign contributions prevalent in our last election. I guarantee you will get better results and much more interesting findings than your current investigation. (If you find that boring, you could always investigate the Clinton Foundation!)

Go! Robert! Go!

Stop Playing ‘Patty Cake’ Politics. Build the Wall!

As I am writing this blog, the year 2018 is coming to an end. And in true ‘political fashion’, our government is experiencing a partial government shut-down. What the hell is a ‘partial’ government shut-down? When I go to my local Publix to get an apple fritter, they are either open for business or closed. Now I have to admit that I am not entirely negative about a government shutdown. Federal employees are temporarily laid off, but generally receive back pay for not working once called back to work. This may be a temporary inconvenience for them, but because of the holidays, what a great time to be awarded what will eventually become a paid vacation. (Paid for not working during the holidays. What a win for taxpayers!) Visitors to Washington, D.C., may be inconvenienced because many of the popular attractions are closed.

Amazingly, I find after all my years, that I am actually a socialist! My late mother, a lifelong Democrat concerned about my conservative leanings, would be proud! Why? Because I agree with the newly elected socialist representative from New York, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She has stated that when the country experiences a federal shut down, legislators should not be paid!  Three cheers for the commie! How many hard working American taxpayers disagree with that? My guess? Not many.

The cause for this shut down is because of another game of ‘political patty cake.’ The POTUS says he wants $5 billion to continue work on the wall. The democratic members of congress do not want to give Trump a win on one of his campaign promises. Never mind what is good for America. Never mind that $5 billion is a drop in the bucket of a very large federal budget. Never mind that this is what the majority of Americans want! (Admittedly, I am perturbed that the Republicans could not address this issue when they had control of both houses of Congress. But when you hate Trump personally, you do everything possible to make him look bad, regardless of political party.)

In my two previous blogs, I mentioned our visit to the Great Wall of China. The Chinese built their wall for four reasons. Firstly, they wanted to protect their country from foreign invasion. Check. They wanted to control immigration and emigration. Check. Check. They wanted to tax commerce taking place because of the silk road. Check. I would like to add one more reason for the wall; inhibiting the entrance of illegal drugs.

Admittedly, I find all kinds of ironies as to why the U.S. has not built the wall. Do you know what the first thing the government does to the popular attractions in Washington, D.C. during a government shut-down? They put barricades and high fences around the attraction! Yup. They build walls.

Is the United States a safe place to live? 50 years ago, we never locked our houses. For convenience, we left our keys in our unlocked cars. Would you do that today? How many of our legislators, the legislators that do not want the wall, live in gated communities or live in homes with walls or fences? How many have security systems? I actually attempted to research this, but it appears most legislators do not want us to know where they live. Imagine that.

We keep hearing the argument that our country is a ‘nation of immigrants.’ I cannot argue with that, but the previous immigrants were much different than the immigrants trying to enter our country illegally. Firstly, they came legally. They did not jump fences. Most came through Ellis Island. Secondly, most had a trade. Many were miners, lumberjacks and farmers and immediately began contributing to the economy of the United States. Thirdly, they did not cost the country an estimated $116 billion a year like the illegals in our country today. Earlier immigrants got jobs and began paying taxes. They wanted to be Americans and they wanted to assimilate. Many of those first generation immigrants ended up fighting in our world wars. There wasn’t any press 2 for German or press 3 for Norwegian. If they became voting citizens, all of the ballots were printed in English. I remember Polish being spoken at my grandparent’s home, but only English was spoken in public. Let me sum up how immigrants from Europe are different from immigrants from Central America: they were better educated, and they were largely self-sufficient. They brought lefse, corned beef with cabbage and bratwursts. They did not bring illegal drugs. There were no children entering the country without parents. Many of the new immigrants are here to milk the cow of American benevolence and to take advantage of our ‘political correctness.’ Other than possibly Canada, no other country allows this! This needs to be addressed by our politicians.

I know that most of us have driven on crowded freeways or congested city traffic. I know that oftentimes, I am shocked that more people are not killed in vehicular traffic accidents. Well, in 2016, 37,000 people were killed in vehicular accidents. That number is shocking. Do you know how many people died in 2017 from drug overdose? That number is a shocking 72,000! Yes, almost twice as many as killed in vehicular accidents. Do you think we should get more serious about eradicating the entrance of illegal drugs across our borders? Do you think the border wall would help?

I did some research which you will find interesting. Do you know that 10 states now have legalized recreational marijuana? Those states are: California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Michigan, Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Alaska. Now follow my reasoning in this, do you know how many of these states are sanctuary states or have the majority of their populated counties as sanctuary counties? All but three. Those states are Maine, Alaska and Michigan. Seven of the ten states with legalized recreational marijuana are in full or in part; sanctuary states. Now I took my research one step further. Of the ten states, how many of the total of 20 possible U.S. senators are Democrat? Let me preface this by saying that in the ten states, two states have elected two senators that claim to be independent. One is Bernie (the socialist) Sanders from Vermont and the other is Angus King from Maine. If these two senators are considered liberal enough to be Democrats, then a total of 16 of the possible 20 U.S. senators from these 10 states are Democrat!

Let me sum this up. Those ten states represent 20% of the states in the United States. The senators representing these ten states represent 34% of all the Democrats in the U.S. senate! Ten states with legal recreational marijuana of which seven are all or part sanctuary states, all with a preponderance of Democrat U.S. senators that are against funding the wall, thus causing the shut-down. (The state of New York is considering legalizing marijuana. That would be two more Democrat senators.)

I need to ask the question. With all the deaths from drug overdose, would it not be advantageous for the benefit of their electorate that these states and their politicians would want to stem the flow of illegal drugs? Is it coincidental that the majority of legal marijuana states are also the largest sanctuary states?

I know many would want to believe that marijuana is not a ‘gateway drug.’ I beg to differ. It has been proven that over 50% of Colorado residents that were once ‘occasional’ users before legalization, are now daily users. Holy smoke! Holy marijuana smoke! Common sense tells me that once a high becomes blah, a higher high will be attempted. That higher high may be a product coming illegally across our border.

I am tired of ‘patty cake’ politics being played at the expense of the average American. It is time for the government to do its job and begin doing what is right for America. Build the damn wall! Stem the flow of illegal, uneducated, untrained immigrants and unaccompanied minors. Come up with a plan for the ‘dreamers.’ Author a citizenship procedure built on merit. Stop the flow of illegal drugs into this country! Whether you egotists want to believe it or not…your inaction is killing people in this country! THAT is what we cannot afford.