Beltway Kabuki

Ringing in the New Year …

… and ringing out the old. So long 2022 – It’s been — weird.

But not all was bad in 2022 — we’re in good health and have been this year save for a major scare when Damsel got a mass report on this year’s mammogram — fortunately, the results of a biopsy (not fun) was benign calcification. My checkups with the urologist, the ophthalmologist, the nephrologist and dermatologist were business as usual with no complications.

Over the last few weeks, we did a first cut at the 2022 taxes and no surprises. It looks like we’ll be getting a small refund. We also calculated the 2023 Required Minimum distribution for the IRA — the new RMD will be down due to dramatic market loss in the IRA in 2022. That, and the Social Security cost of living adjustment is far less than might be necessary to offset Biden’s disastrous economy. It will be tight, but we’re going to be OK.

Over the last two years, we have seen relentless attacks on our God-given rights as guaranteed by the 2nd Amendment. New gun control has been enacted thanks to the Marxist Democrats and a few spineless RINOs. The NYSRPA v Bruen decision by the Supreme Court of the US is a help but states and courts are still ignoring it – be ready to fight in ’23.

So that’s it for our New Year’s message. We’re wishing you good health and providence from The Almighty in the coming year. God Bless!

9/11 – 20 Years Later

Biden - Worse than Carter, Clinton or Obama

There are plenty of pictorial tributes to the WTC, Pentagon and Flight 93 that depict the tragedies of 9/11/2001 out in cyberspace, but I wanted to point out on this 20th anniversary that at this point in time, America is seen abroad as being a weak and patronizing nation. This 2012 Ramirez cartoon posted during the Obamination administration is even more apropos today in the wake of the cowardice shown by Biden and the Joint Chiefs in the Afghanistan debacle. Joe Biden – Worse than Carter, Clinton or Obama.

We’re still firmly in the “NEVER FORGET” column of thought regarding the 9/11 attacks, but are also firmly in anticipation of more to come now that the enemies of America have been shown that there will be no significant reaction on behalf of America and her allies. God only knows when and where more violence will be perpetrated on our soil. And the Biden Puppeteers are bringing unvetted “refugees” to the country as fast as they can while letting our stranded citizens languish under the Taliban.

Join us as we pray for The United States of America to regain her stature among nations and for the safety of our countrymen from enemies both Foreign and Domestic.

Census 2020

Census 2020Well, the Census is behind us now, unless the .gov decides that our submitted inputs were deficient or something. We got our snail mail a couple of days ago inviting us to respond on-line with a twelve-character code that identifies our address. Once signed in, we answered the questions with a minimal amount of personal information disclosure.

Just for the purposes of how this census compares with the past, I examined an old photocopy of the 1910 census taken in Los Angeles. Back then, government workers conducted the census door to door.

Even back in 1910, the questions asked exceeded the original intent of the census which was to get a head count. There were personal information questions not necessarily pertinent to the original census intent. The headings below were on the 1910 census form:

  • Location (House No., etc.)
  • Name
  • Relationship to head of household
  • Personal Description
    1. Sex
    2. Race
    3. Age
    4. Marital Status
  • Place of birth
  • Father’s place of birth
  • Mother’s place of birth
  • Citizenship (immigrants and whether naturalized)
  • Language spoken
  • Occupation
    1. Trade (job title)
    2. Nature of business
    3. Employee or employer status
    4. Tenure
  • Education level
  • Owner or renter at residence

The one glaring item in the 1910 census omitted from the 2020 census was that of citizenship. Does this mean that NON-citizens who answer the census are included in the head count for determination of congressional districts and number of representatives in government? If so, THAT IS A VERY BAD THING, and not what the founders intended!

The following link is to an image of the referenced 1910 census for a portion of a precinct of Los Angeles, CA. I intentionally left it as a very large image which you will need to scroll about to see the various entries. 1910 LA Census

Wind, Solar, Fail As Renewable Power

nukewind.jpgIt has long been our opinion (based on facts) that neither wind nor solar power can compete with the efficiency and cost of nuclear power generation. Hyped-up belief and major taxpayer-funded subsidies have taken the wind and solar efforts as far as they have come today. Hyped-up fear and misinformation have been applied to public opinion that nuclear power generation is both dangerous and evil.

Mark Perry, a professor of economics and finance, penned a very interesting piece today that points out that the clean energy movement is missing their best bet for green power.

From Investors Business Daily:

Wind and solar power, once viewed as our best hope for abundant supplies of zero-carbon energy, are distracting us from what might be the real solution: nuclear power.

The time has come for states to reconsider their mandates requiring that a share of electricity come from renewable energy sources, and instead consider a more direct and sensible policy in support of nuclear power.

Currently 30 states have renewable power standards designed to promote the use of wind and solar power, which are carbon-free, non-polluting sources of energy. Among the most ambitious, California’s standard mandates that the state generate one-third of its electricity from renewables by 2020.

But the hype over wind and solar power as clean and renewable is undermined by their fatal flaw — intermittency.

Read the whole thing.

The Tip of the Iceberg

The Tip of the Iceberg

Just wait until Obamacare funding kicks in. Here’s an excerpt from Townhall Article, “The VA Health Scandal Is about Government Incompetence, not Inadequate Funding.”

VA funding has more than kept up with both medical inflation and increased patient loads. An analysis of budget and cost data, as well as data on the total number of VA patients and the number of acute inpatients treated, shows that the VA’s budget has grown much faster than its workload. Even when you take medical inflation into account, the VA budget still grew faster than its patient base since 2000. …The VA has a whole bunch of problems, but a lack of funding ain’t one.

I imagine the Unaffordable Care Act will show up with it’s poor services, death panels and all that about which we were warned. Gird your loins, America.