For those of you like me who didn’t watch the SOTU address last night the POTUS (and TOTUS) decided to take a pot shot at the Supreme Court. I suspect he figured he’d score easy points with his democratic party base and decorum prevents any of the Justices from retaliating, so it was a win/win for him. Looking at his poll numbers, he needs any victory he can get right now, even if this one rings a bit hollow.
Claiming that foreign money will NOW be spent to influence our elections was humorous at best. I seem to remember a small little scandal involving the Clinton administration and Chinese money. Also, the decision allows Unions to funnel large amounts of money into Democratic coffers just as it allows corporations to dump lots of money. Corporations aren’t stupid and do tend to give to both parties to varying degrees. No, I suspect what the sitting politicians are really worried about is that one of the barriers of entry into the oligarchy that runs our fair country has now been lowered significantly.
Which leads me to the topic of this post. Financial columnist Malcolm Berko responded (UPDATE: Big H/T to Mike in the comments for the link) this week to a letter from a 21 year old Obama voter in Troy Michigan. This young idealist is surprised that Obama has failed to keep his campaign promises and is looking to raise taxes. Berko responds,
Like most Americans who vote with their hearts rather than common sense…you have to learn the hard way. A politician’s campaign promises aren’t worth a tin penny, a rusty nail or yesterday’s spit.
Campaigns are kabuki theater. They are stylized drama, elaborate makeup, song and dance. Maybe you go home feeling moved, but the next day your life goes on pretty much as it did the day before. Political kabuki reflects our concerns and fears, but doesn’t touch them.
Berko continues,
Your disappointment with President Obama for failing to hold his campaign promises is a textbook example of Americans’ naivete about the political process.
What the hell are all those civics classes for in high school if almost no one pays attention. Now a dumbed down, uneducated populace is pretty much what Berko is addressing here. Politics is messy, corrupt, and dirty. One has to be an the right combination of narcissist/sociopath to be successful on the national political stage.
Voters must understand that there are eight core problems that are impossible to fix: education, immigration, health care, political corruption, discrimination, welfare, the tax system and poverty.
The reason these are impossible to fix is because government either created the problem or made these problems worse by regulation and the creation of programs to solve said problems. The government is nothing but a behemoth serving itself.
The following are some of the new revenue sources Congress is considering: A tax each time an investor buys or sells a stock; a discount on pre-paid or state taxes; an increase in the federal gas tax of 5 cents per gallon; a new luxury tax on automobiles, boats, jewelry and other expensive toys; a tax on annual accumulation of assets in your IRA, 403(b), 401(k), profit sharing plan, etc. (the tax would be a credit against your future tax liability when you withdraw the funds upon retirement); a tax on the accumulation in your annuities; and a tax on the growing cash value of your life insurance, which will be credited to your future tax liability when you withdraw the funds.
The tax now/credit later bills seems especially pernicious to me. Those tax dollars now are worth way more than those credits we’ll be getting in the future. Makes me think they expect the value of the dollar to be destroyed by their parasitic games and overspending.
This post was originally inspired by a comment from the Devil’s Advocate about delusional liars and the delusional fools who believe them. The politicians and bankers are the delusional liars. The citizens of these United States are delusional fools. Face it, we have the best government that money can buy. We are sold the illusion that our vote actually means something for the direction of this country. We are sold the illusion that our ruling oligarchy understands and cares about the problems of our lives. Unfortunately the majority of the population prefers the illusions to the stark reality.
