Taxes and politics – Sanity First!

Trump: Worst President Ever

Donald Trump will surely be seen by future historians as the worst president in our history. Dozens of respected historians are saying that now. The reasons are clear to anyone who follows the news:

He has massively increased the federal budget deficit. The stock market and job market are artificially inflated and the coming downturn cannot be avoided. His tax cuts were a boon for corporations and the wealthy while doing little or nothing for the middle class.
He has severely weakened health care for millions of Americans without providing any viable alternative.
He continually endangers future generations by cancelling environmental protections.
He has made America a laughing stock, literally, within the community of nations.
He has done nothing to stop what he called “this American carnage.” Mass killings continue unabated, while he cozies up to the NRA.
His long-standing barrage of attacks on our most valuable and cherished institutions – the Intelligence agencies, the FBI, the election process, the Free Press – have done harm that cannot be easily repaired.
He has done nothing to improve our crumbling infrastructure.
He shows us daily that he considers being president to be a part-time job. Between his non-stop campaign rallies and his golfing, along with his obvious lack of knowledge about the most basic issues, we know we have a narcissist, not a leader, in the Oval Office.
And worst of all, he has horrifyingly debased the office of the President of the United States. His mean-spirited school-yard bullying, his wide-spread and treasonous conflicts-of-interest, his continual pitting of one segment of America against another, his debasement of women, minorities, immigrants, scientists, professors, journalists, all accompanied by his incessant deluge of daily lies, have all combined to diminish the integrity of, and respect for, the Office.

For all that (and much more) he can never be forgiven. And we must shout that message out tomorrow.

Please vote. Please vote straight Democratic. We need to save America!

Thanks for caring about the truth.

Ken

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Labels, Soros, and Right-Wing Insanity

Libtard. Snowflake. SJW (social justice warrior). Sheep. Sheeple. The folks on the right have an endless stream of put-down labels for those of us on the left. The latest one, which I learned about in a NY Times story, is NPC, which stands for “NonPlayable Character.” The phrase is “borrowed from the world of video games, for a character that is controlled by the computer rather than by a player.” In other words, in the real world an NPC is someone who is incapable of independent thinking. And that’s how millions of conservatives see us. As the article explains, conservatives believe, “Liberals… join the anti-Trump crowd not because they are led by independent thought or conscience to oppose President Trump’s policies, but because they’re brainwashed sheep who have been conditioned to parrot left-wing orthodoxy.” Yes, Fox “News” and social media posts throw those labels around frequently, and always in that context – that we are “brainwashed.”

They “know” that we are sheep led by the nose by Saul Alinsky, George Soros, and Nancy Pelosi. We cannot see the “truth” they see.

How ironic. How stupid.

In their closed minds, they refuse to acknowledge what we see every single day:

· Tax cuts for the rich with little for the middle or lower class

· Stagnant wage growth

· A massively ballooning federal budget deficit (which was what the Tea Party fought against!)

· No healthcare alternative to the ACA

· Dismantling of protections of our air and water

· Crumbling roads and bridges with no plan in sight

· Rampant racism and sexism

· Attacks on our closest allies while cozying up to Putin and other brutal dictators

· The very real march towards fascism

· The daily attacks on the Free Press

· The attacks on the FBI and our Intelligence agencies

· The daily deluge of LIES about everything

· The stunning hypocrisy of the spineless “leaders” in the Republican party

· The huge number of prominent Republicans who have left the party

· Blatant conflicts-of-interest by Trump and his family

· The unraveling of our national moral fiber.

Trump supporters see none of this. They fall back on mindless labels and personal attacks.

The Right’s disconnect from reality is not imaginary. As I posted on Facebook (“Follow” me on Facebook!) on 10/5/18,

“Senator Grassley was asked on Fox News if George Soros was “behind all this…paying these people to get in elevators and get in your face?”

“I tend to believe it,” he said.

And this, a radio interview with Senator David Perdue (R) where he said the people protesting Kavanaugh are “paid activists…This is a George Soros conspiracy.” Plus, incredibly, he says Soros and his group pumped “$32 billion, billion! into this effort.”

That bizarre statement was from a US Senator!

It’s all so demonstrably insane; it’s what your right-leaning neighbors are listening to, all day, every day. And it’s killing our country.

The Right has gone crazy. In their own paranoia, fueled by Fox “News” and other propaganda outlets, they see only what they want to see, hear only what keeps them comfortable. They label us NPCs or snowflakes, while remaining steadfastly blind to reality and to their own best interests. The issues cited above are imaginary to them, while the preposterous idea that Soros tells me what to think is accepted as truth.

It’s bizarro world. It’s frightening. And if you care about America, understand that the only way to resist the madness is via the ballot box. Please support rational thinking! Do whatever you can.

Vote. Contribute. And spread the word.

Thanks for caring about the truth.

Ken

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The Easy Guide to Election 2016

The Easy Guide to Election 2016

It’s not complicated. You’re going to vote for Hillary Clinton because:

You know that climate change is the greatest threat to life on Earth and it is based on scientific observation, and is not a Chinese hoax.
You care about protecting a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body.
You know more than 30,000 Americans are killed by guns every year and you know that reasonable gun control will save some lives.
You know that trickle-down economics — tax cuts for the rich — has never worked.
Since, over the past 30 years the lion’s share of economic gains have gone to the wealthiest Americans, you know it’s time for that group to start paying their fair share of taxes.
You understand that the important work Planned Parenthood does deserves our support, not our scorn.
You want sensible regulations that protect your food, water and air.
And most importantly, you desperately want a smart, rational, experienced adult to lead our military and to possess the power to unleash our nuclear arsenal.

Those are the big issues and Hillary Clinton is on the right side of all of them. Delusional Donald Trump has shown us again and again that he stands firmly on the wrong side of each issue.

Your decision, therefore, is easy, clear and urgent.

Thanks for caring about the truth.

Ken

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Donnie’s Hidden Tax Returns

There are four possible reasons why Donald Trump refuses to do what every other presidential candidate in 40 years has done – release his tax returns.

1 – He earns far less than he wants us to believe. While a couple of years’ worth of tax returns do not by themselves show his net worth, they are decent indicators of the state of his financial affairs.

2 – He gives a ridiculously low amount to charity. We’ve seen the games he’s played with donations to Veterans. Despite a few well-publicized gifts over the years, there are many reasons to believe he’s a tightwad when it comes to sharing his wealth.

3 – The returns reveal embarrassing entanglements with sleazy domestic firms, or worse, with nefarious foreign firms or nations. The rumors are starting to fly, and the evidence is mounting, but since I pride myself on only posting verified information, I’ll say no more. For now.

4 – He pays little or no taxes. Which means, as Elizabeth Warren has said so well in this video, that you have been subsidizing his businesses.

So which of these is the most likely reason for Trump’s stonewalling? My guess is that it’s all four. Seriously. I am in the financial business, I devour news from many sources, and from my perspective the signs are all there that releasing his returns would be devastating.

His explanation that he is being audited and therefore cannot release them, by the way, has been debunked by every expert.

The Clintons, in case you’re curious, have been paying some serious taxes; close to $10 million on their most recent return, for a tax rate near 35.7% of AGI.

So come on Donnie. Prove me wrong. Put up or shut up.

Thanks for caring about the truth.

Ken

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