Government

Smoke and Mirrors

I know that I tackled this one 16 years ago, but after eighteen years of running this blog, there are very few topics that I haven’t mentioned. The left loves to claim that Clinton ran a budget surplus when he was President. That is false. The national debt actually went up every single year that he was President. The reason that they can claim this, is the money was moved from one account to the other.

Let me explain:

Let’s say that your wife is angry that you are spending all of your money on guns and booze, and is afraid that you are maxing out the credit cards. You show her the bank statements from the checking account, and low and behold, your balance is larger now than it was a year ago: “See?” you say, “We have a positive cash flow.”

But what you didn’t show your wife was that the only reason your checking account is larger is that you borrowed the money from the kids’ college fund. It’s cool, your kids are only 8 and 6 years old. You have more than a decade to pay yourself back. It will be fine. It doesn’t count as debt, because you owe it to yourself.

That’s going to cost you later, because your wife is going to be pissed when she gets ready to send the crotch critters off to college, but that’s a problem for future you to deal with.

Well, that is exactly what the government did. They took the money from the Social Security Trust fund and used that money to cover the deficit. Every administration since 1983 has used Social Security surpluses to mask deficits elsewhere.

Politicians love the unified budget because it lets them:

  • Spend more
  • Claim fiscal discipline
  • Avoid raising taxes
  • Increase total debt hidden inside trust fund obligations

Gen Z keeps bitching about how “Boomers” are making life hard on them because housing costs or something. This is not how the previous generations really screwed them. The Silent Generation (those born between 1928-1945- my parents’ generation) were young adults when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act in 1935, establishing it as part of the New Deal to help workers and the elderly during the Great Depression. The architects of this deal were the Greatest Generation (born 1901-1927), led by FDR.

What Social Security was, was a plan for the Silent generation to be made whole because the Greatest generation screwed up the nation’s economy. In order to prevent the silent generation from stringing people up from lampposts, the Social Security Ponzi scheme was invented. This permitted the Silent generation to be taken care of in their older years, despite the fact that the Greatest generation had wiped out everyone’s retirement nest eggs.

At the same time this was being done, FDR also eliminated the domestic gold standard. In 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt:

  • Prohibited the private ownership of gold bullion
  • Stopped redeeming dollars for gold inside the U.S.
  • Devalued the dollar

But at this time:

  • The Greatest Generation (born ~1901–1927) were young adults
  • The Silent Generation (born 1928–1945) were children
  • Baby Boomers had not yet been born

So this step did NOT involve Boomers.

The greatest generation had spent all of the silent generation’s money on booze, coke, and hookers, so the silent generation was reimbursed by stealing the future earnings of their children, the baby boomers. Like all Ponzi schemes, the people who got in early made the most money, and those who got in late are paying the bills. The older generations got way more than they paid in, but have ignored how badly they shafted their descendants.

In 1971, Richard Nixon permanently ended the ability of foreign governments to convert U.S. dollars into gold and this is what truly created our modern fiat currency system. This is the event almost everyone refers to when they ask about “who eliminated the gold standard.” Who were the key players?

  • Richard Nixon (born 1913) → Greatest Generation
  • His advisors (Shultz, Connally, Burns) → Greatest & Silent Generations
  • Baby Boomers (born 1946–1964) were young adults, entering the workforce, or still teenagers.

Although Boomers didn’t decide the change, the fiat-dollar economy that followed became the system they lived their entire adult lives under, and which they defended politically as they took leadership roles in the 1980s–2000s. To understand how bad of an idea Social Security really is, let’s look at the math:

Let’s say that a person put $4100 per year into a retirement account that is earning 8% per year. This would simulate a person making $33,000 per year and the 12.4% Social Security tax is invested instead of being given to the government, who will quite literally spend it on booze and hookers. We will compare that to Social Security.

After working for 47 years, the person turns 65 and decides to retire. They have contributed a total of $192,700 into their account. If that money had gone to Social Security, their monthly benefit would be $2800. If they had instead invested that money as above, the balance on the account would be $1,856,890. It would earn $12,379 per month in interest. We have all been screwed out of our money.

So now generations that comprise the Millennials and GenZ are likely not going to get anything near what they are paying in, because all of it is gone. It’s been spent. That fund is nothing but a file cabinet full of several trillion dollars in IOU’s, but there is no money in there.

That is why the younger generations should be angry- they were robbed of their future earnings nearly 100 years before they were even born. They were born into a life of slavery. It wasn’t the Boomers who did it- it was the Greatest generation and the Silent generation- if you are GenZ, you were robbed by your great-great grandparents.

The system is insolvent. There isn’t enough money in the world to cover the debts created by that system. Currently, Social Security owes everyone about $75 trillion more than we have to pay- an amount that is double what our national debt already is- in other words our national debt isn’t $34 trillion, it’s more like $107 trillion. If you total all of the money in the world: every nation, every currency, every ounce of gold, it comes up to $134 trillion.

In other words, we are on the cusp of owing more money than actually exists. Even the official national debt of $34 trillion wouldn’t be eliminated if the government confiscated every 401k, IRA, 457 plan, and all other retirement accounts. The retirement accounts of US citizens are only worth about $31 trillion.

We are about to see a collapse of the US economy, and with it, the world economy. It’s inevitable.

By Divemedic, ago

Heretics

The left is angry (aren’t they always?) because Oklahoma University has suspended one of its professors. Why was he suspended? He gave an assignment to his class on transgenderism. The assignment was a 650-word essay reacting to an article about how people are perceived based on societal expectations of gender.

In her essay, Samantha Fulnecky argued that traditional gender roles should not be considered stereotypes. She cited the Bible to support her stance that eliminating gender in society would be “detrimental” because that would put people “farther from God’s original plan for humans.”

She received a zero on the assignment, not because she didn’t conform to the rubric, but because she didn’t conform to the professor’s opinion. The assignment doesn’t even require the students to be on topic or to apply anything they’re learning from the curriculum to the topic, but rather just to have read and reacted to the article. The grading standard for the assignment was 25 points, based upon the following criteria:

  • The paper shows a clear tie in to the assigned article (10 points)
  • The paper shows a thoughtful reaction to the article, rather than just a summary of what it said (10 points)
  • That the paper was clearly written(5 points)

Here is the paper:

In my opinion, the student DID have a clear tie in, so 10 points there. I would have given probably 7 points on the thoughtful reaction, and perhaps a 2 out of 5 for the last point, because the paper was poorly organized and had some errors in punctuation and format, not to mention that she apparently doesn’t know what a paragraph is. Still, that would have been 19/25, or a 76%, which is solid C.

Ms. Fulnecky responded to the zero she received by filing a complaint for religious discrimination. The professor was suspended and the student’s grade was restored. As it should have been. She did the assignment, and should not be penalized for having an opinion that differed from the professor’s.

The professor gave her a low grade, but he was the one who made an error. I was a teacher for a few years, and I would occasionally give writing assignments just like this one. I would grade the papers based upon their use of logic, writing skill, and proper use of source material. I didn’t care which side of the issue the paper took, as long as it was well written. My mantra was that teachers are here to teach you HOW to think, but not to teach you WHAT to think. This professor isn’t doing that.

Look, the professor asked for a paper on students’ opinions. An opinion piece is just that- an opinion that isn’t based in facts. Some things just aren’t meant to be based upon facts. Some arguments are intractable – issues of personal taste or the subjective importance of certain values cannot be resolved empirically. In an argument like that, once both sides have expressed themselves as clearly as possible, if there is still no agreement then there is nothing left to do but acknowledge there is a disagreement, and leave it at that.

If I am holding a flamethrower and you are holding a lit match, it is true that we can both start fires, but pretending that we can just “agree to disagree” about which is better suited to the task of lighting a candle is nonsense. Had this student made such an argument, she would have been wrong, and deserved the grade she received.

In this case, you are asking students to argue about whether or not we should eliminate the position that a person born with DNA and genitals of a particular sex can be whatever sex or gender that they choose, not just forever, but changing on a day to day basis based upon that person’s feelings on that particular moment. Then you are asking them to apply logic to this, but only the logic of which you personally approve.

This professor deserves what they are getting.

By Divemedic, ago

Gifted

As a child, they measured my IQ at 154 before placing me in a gifted program. This meant that, once per day, I was pulled out of class and placed in a class with other gifted students, where we received separate instruction. I hated it, and fought to keep my children out of the program when the school wanted to place them in it. Not because I disagreed with the program, its aims, or how children are selected. No, I opposed it because of how teachers treated me. There were a couple of teachers who constantly pulled me up in front of the class to make fun of me- saying things like “He is supposed to be gifted, but he isn’t very smart.”

That teacher was black.

She hated me because I symbolized intelligence, while very few black children are above the median intelligence. In order to make themselves feel better, blacks have to convince themselves that gifted programs, and the intelligence tests used to screen for them, are racist constructs of the white race. That’s the premise behind this story in the New York Times.

I maxed out every aptitude test I was given. When I was in the Fifth grade, I was reading at the same level as a fourth year college student. My reading speed was over 300 words per minute with 80% comprehension. Even today it’s still high. My reading speed was recently measured at over 250 words per minute with 84% comprehension. When I took the GRE, I scored in the 96th percentile. I’m just good at tests, I guess.

To listen to those who oppose intelligence testing, they would claim that it’s because these tests are biased in favor of whites. Of course, that ignores the fact that Asians frequently outscore whites. The real issue here is that blacks are the third rail of political discourse. There is incontrovertible evidence that blacks are less intelligent, more prone to violence, and better in athletics than are other demographics, yet the only difference we are permitted to recognize is athleticism. Any result that reflects this- low credit scores, high homicide rates, poverty, or other negative outcomes are simply hand waved away as being evidence that whites are simply prejudiced.

They point out that children in poor households don’t do as well when taking intelligence tests, and then point out that blacks are poor, therefore the tests are prejudiced. Bullshit. Intelligence is hereditary. Since affluence is related to intelligence, we can conclude that rich parents tend to be more affluent, and tend to have smart, affluent children.

Now name the ten most violent neighborhoods in America. What do they all have in common? The most dangerous neighborhood in the US is in Los Angeles and is contained within E. 5th St., S. Los Angeles St., Boyd St., and S. San Pedro St.. That nine block area has 347 violent crimes for every 1,000 residents. In other words, if you live in this area, you have roughly a 35% chance of being the victim of a violent crime. In these few blocks, 55% of the households in this neighborhood earned less than 99.8% of all U.S. neighborhoods. The median household income of this area is around $9,175 per year. 83% of the residents were male, and about 80% of the population aged 16+ were not in the labor force—which is higher than 99% of U.S. block groups. The overwhelming population is black.

This plays out over and over again.

We have programs for “special” children, but we used to call those kids “retarded.” That moniker has fallen from favor, as accurate as it was. However, there is a movement to eliminate programs for “gifted” children, because not enough black kids are smart enough to be considered so.

It’s time to scrap public education. The entire system has failed.

By Divemedic, ago

Illegals

There is a lot of outrage over this video of a Colorado health inspector pouring bleach into a “street vendor’s” food.

The video is a lie. The truth is this: It wasn’t just over a fee. This so-called street vendor is a business being operated by an illegal immigrant, a man by the name of Isidro Garcia Barrientos. He is operating this business without licenses, and after having received more than a dozen health code violations for unsanitary conditions and improper storage of food. Each time, the workers simply move the popup to a different location and resume selling. So far, he has been seen operating in several counties and cities, and has been dodging the law for months.

In this case, the health worker showed up, and the workers again started boxing up the food to relocate, placing it into a locked truck and refusing to obey the law. To prevent this, the health inspector poured bleach in the food. The inspector was doing her job and isn’t being charged with any crimes.

Source for the story is here.

By Divemedic, ago

It’s a Game, People

It’s long been my opinion that sports need to be eliminated from school. They are little more than a distraction from the school’s mission- education. At worst, they are a profiteering money grab. Now we have high school students signing multimillion dollar deals to go to certain colleges.

Bryce Underwood, a high school quarterback from Belleville, Michigan, has reportedly received the largest high school NIL offer, with figures suggesting a four-year package worth up to $12 million. A high school kid, making $3 million a year to play football. With all of this money flying around, students and parents have forgotten about education and sportsmanship. It’s all about the money.

It’s no wonder that high school sport recruiting has become a big business. I know of schools that are buying students and their families houses in their district, so the student can attend. That’s right- if your kid is good at one of the big money sports, you get a free house in a rich neighborhood, at least until he graduates.

Students who are good at sports don’t have to worry about such mundane things like following school rules, dress codes, or even school work. Nope, they are going places, and no one will stop them. Back during the time when I was teaching high school, the Principal approached me and asked that I change a previous student’s grade from the year before, because the ‘F’ he had earned in my class was making him ineligible to play football. Student athletes get a pass when breaking rules. We can’t have them getting in trouble and winding up suspended- there is a big game this week, haven’t you heard?

That’s why it comes as no surprise that a Pennsylvania football coach resigned after he and his family received threats from parents for benching two players that had been acting in an unsportsmanlike like manner. They were only suspended for the first half of a game. When those players sat longer than they had initially been told for that game, school administrators sided with parents and suspended the coach as well as his father, who served as the team’s defensive coordinator, for two games.

Our tax dollars are paying for that shit. That’s one of the many reasons why, when I hear people complain that cutting property taxes will hurt schools, that I just don’t get excited. Here is what your tax dollars pay for:

  • Buford, GA has a $62 million football stadium for its high school
  • McKinley Senior High School in Canton, OH cost $175 million
  • In fact, Texas has 8 of the ten most expensive high school football facilities, and to make the top 10, your school district’s taxpayers have to shell out at least $56 million.

In many places, the high school football coach is the highest paid member of the staff, making more than the principal. I just don’t think that sports should be paid for with taxpayer dollars. If you want your kid to play a sport, pay for it yourself. Many parents pay for things like gymnastics, dance, and even weekend soccer. One of my grandkids plays hockey, but his dad is paying for it. Why should I be forced to pay for your kid to play a game, under penalty of losing my home if I refuse?

By Divemedic, ago

Rigging the Vote

SCOTUS heard arguments this week in favor of creating Congressional districts that are predisposed to get specified, predetermined results in elections. Those aren’t my words, they are actually the words (paraphrased) of Justice Sotomayor. She pressed the need to districts that are purposely designed to have a majority of black voters, because in her words: “white voters won’t vote for black candidates.”

Nevermind that white voters elected a black President. No, what she is saying is that democratic processes must be rigged so that the results favor one particular political minority (in the democratic, not racial sense). The Democrats are simply illustrating that they are NOT in favor of Democracy. They are in favor of power, and they know blacks overwhelmingly vote for Democrats.

There are 26 congressional districts where blacks are the majority, and a further 14 districts where they are the plurality. That is, they are the largest demographic, even though they are not the majority.

GA-02 — 49.3% Black (Rep. Sanford Bishop).

NY-09 — 48.9% Black (Rep. Yvette Clarke).

AL-02 — 48.7% Black (Rep. Shomari Figures).

IL-02 — 48.4% Black (Rep. Robin Kelly).

NY-08 — 48.2% Black (Rep. Hakeem Jeffries).

NY-05 — 47.2% Black (Rep. Gregory Meeks).

SC-06 — 46.9% Black (Rep. Jim Clyburn).

MI-13 — 46.9% Black (Rep. Shri Thanedar).

MO-01 — 45.4% Black (Rep. Wesley Bell).

VA-03 — 45.4% Black (Rep. Bobby Scott).

IL-07 — 43.0% Black (Rep. Danny Davis).

FL-24 — 42.2% Black (Rep. Frederica Wilson).

TX-30 — 41.9% Black (Rep. Jasmine Crockett).

TX-09 — 38.6% Black (Rep. Al Green).

Assuming that Sotomayor is correct, blacks are guaranteed 40 congressional seats, making skin color the single most important factor in electing representatives.

How many other demographics get that privilege? The fact is that she is admitting blacks only vote on skin color and not for the candidate that best represents their interests. What Sotomayor is saying is elections are only valid if the electorate votes the way that they want you to. How about this- we go back to the original ratios from the nation’s founding? It’s time to get rid of the artificial limit of 435 Representatives that dilutes the power of the people.

Each state gets at least one Representative. No single Representative can represent more than 100,000 people. That would mean 3,380 representatives, give or take. I would even say Washington DC and other territories should have voting representatives under this plan. If it’s done like this, the number of representatives would range from 394 for California. Texas would get 313, Florida 234, Georgia 112, New York 199, and so on.

The lesser populated states would see similar numbers- Hawaii would have 15. Alaska 8, Wyoming 6, Vermont would have 7, Maine would get 14.

We could even allow representation for territories- Puerto Rico would get 32, Guam would get 2, the US Virgin Islands would get 1, Samoa 1, the Mariana Islands 1, Washington, DC gets 8.

It would be much more difficult to arrange factions to game the system, and each representative would be more likely to actually represent the interests of their constituents instead of party leadership. That’s a feature and not a bug. Congress can meet in a domed stadium. We can build them for concerts and sporting events, we can surely do the same for a legislative body.

Of course this creates a large amount of power in the most populous states. That’s why the Senate exists- to represent the states. Each state (not territory or DC) gets 2 Senators, just as they always have.

By Divemedic, ago

Insurrection

Los Angeles County has declared a state of emergency over ICE’s immigration raids. The vote allows county supervisors to mobilize resources, request state and federal financial assistance to respond to the impacts of the raids and expedite contracting to address the crisis. So LA can be a so-called “sanctuary city” by claiming to stand athwart Federal law, then expects to receive funds from that same Federal government to help further their lawbreaking?

How about, let’s find a US city that will allow everyone in town to own a machine gun, then apply for Federal disaster aid to buy everyone new dogs after the ATF comes visiting?

Or would it be easier and cheaper for Trump to finally give them the declaration of insurrection and the civil war that they are obviously trying to provoke?

By Divemedic, ago

Neighbor Glows

I was at my rental property, getting some work done, since its vacant. One of the neighbors approached me. I have hardly spoken to the guy. All I know is that he is some kind of golf instructor. He does have Trump stickers all over his pickup truck.

He says to me that he has heard that I do some hobby machine work on guns. Then asks if I am willing to convert his AR or at least teach him how to convert his AR into full auto.

I told him that he was misinformed. I don’t do anything like that and don’t know how.

This is the third time someone has asked me to do something like that.

By Divemedic, ago