Massie stops precisely nothing. He votes ‘no,’ but he is like a hollow gong...out of tune with the new Trumpians. And the Funny Money Express just keeps picking up speed.
Indeed, why bother with Congress? With no guardrails on political contributions, the lobbyists and their spin doctors control the political candidates and media willing to shill for them, enabled by a public unable to think for itself. Yet Massie and Rand Paul have value as examples of what could/should be: individuals who have the courage to think and act at least somewhat independently.
Not sure it is the one we deserve. With all the misinformation and media campaign chicanery, a large segment of the American population is just not educated enough to know what they are voting for and the has been the design of the dumocratic party who own American education at all levels.
I’m foolish, resignedly optimistic, and now resigned period. Some time ago I concluded that the only votes that mattered were local ones. Even that attempt to put good people in congress has waned. The Greek gods guffaw as their fickle interference rains down confusion and chaos. In congress, one voice crying in the wilderness, is shouted down by the baleful wailing of the mob. Even if Massie wins, it won’t prove anything.
Lets suppose Trump spends a Republican fortune and Massie wins: Does that mean that now Trump will fail in the future to get his way? Or if Massie loses does that mean Trump will get his way on every idea he comes up with? My guess is "it won't prove anything". It appears to me that America wants the changes Trump is implementing while less war certainly seems desired at the same time. But maybe the Iran war is smart, it does seem to increase China's costs and reduce it's free energy (at cost). Like Bill stated a few comments ago Trump has done some good things. Many great things in my mind and reduced the obvious socialistic support in this country and the world which the world desperately needs to be realistic about when it comes to socialism. Socialism sounds wonderful to those who have not lived within their means or those who have taken on too much debt. Pretty much those who've been convinced by socialism that they should everything that the rich have.
My view is that society needs some experience with the reality of hard times from too much debt. That includes the elite getting a dose of less free money. Maybe dealing with some hard times would be good for American society. Maybe society would be more skeptical of politician's promises. Maybe society would get greater insight. In my experience hard times gave me a chance to think and plan for a better and more realistic future.
You’re right. Lone voices like Massie’s, Rand Paul’s and others “crying in the wilderness” - including yours and mine - are drowned out. C’est la vie, je m’en fous!
This is why I’m totally against omnibus or including the kitchen toilet in bills. Mentally questionable “public officials?” will add their little gotcha favorites to legitimate and helpful bills and thinking people will get lambasted for voting no. I vote - lonely and bewildered - for single issue bills. Even that is hard, clever lawyers will suck out a word to claim a second issue and trash the bill that piques their “sensibilities.”
Any problems with his opponent? The dude left the Republican party when Trump was nominated in 2016.
Any problem with Gallrein receiving millions in contributions from outside of Kentucky? You might not like Maddie but it appears that his opponent is a shape-changing opportunist.
If you are against Medicare fraud you might want to consider abandoning the Republican Party and joining my "Vote for Nobody" campaign. Just do a little research and you will see that Donnie has pardoned several Medicare fraudsters.
And Repug Senator Rick Scott is no angel. Rick Scott was never personally charged with or convicted of a crime, but the hospital conglomerate he co-founded and ran as CEO, Columbia/HCA, systemically defrauded Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal programs.
Doubting Thomas? Just go to Trump's buddy Elon's Grok and ask for a list of Medicare fraudsters pardoned by Donnie. You are a great example of Mark Twain's - It's easier to fool somebody than to convince them they've been fooled. Hold on tight to your beliefs in a guy who appointed Soros protege Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary and just took WEF chairman Larry Fink on his trip to China.
Well today's missive, unlike yesterday's missive, is not a filler. I do not fault Trump in his quest to remove Massie, as Massie detracts from the Trump agenda and Americans voted 2xs (possibly 3xs) for Trump and his agenda. Having said that it would be interesting to compare the 9000% increase in national debt compared to other industrialized countries. If Bill were to do this he would similar increases in national debt. So, what does that mean? Bill would you like to run a comparative study? It would be interesting to compare and contrast and determine if there are similar world conditions causing such anomalous increases that are not endemic to Trump and which Massie does not understand.
Tom, Your remark implies that you find acceptable our current president's profligacy.
And why is a "comparative study" of other nations' spending relevant?
Surely one already exists? If you locate it, share your findings.
For example, I have long supposed that of the one hundred plus nations of this planet, most of their government debt is not much more than their annual or biennial tax receipts.
I didn't mean to imply that I am in agreement with the big spending. I was trying to say that there are worldwide economic conditions that are similar, if not the same, for many industrialized countries that require inflationary economies. An example is a Great Brtion and Brazil and Mexico to a lesser extent. Inflationary economies are a staple of not having a stable commodity to which currencies are tied. It is not just a Trump-American problem, rather it is an international issue that will continue until there is a reset which may well be in our lifetime.
You pose a provocative question; that is, is an inflationary economy necessary for improving everyone's well being faster than an economy whose currency is based on a commodity the value of which is constant?
The UK and the US both went off the gold standard roughly the same time. One of these days, I hope to understand why an inflating currency is preferable to one that doesn't.
I do not think inflation is necessary. It is about as necessary as coveting another's wife, it is not necessary, it is an unfortunate part of the human condition. We desire what we can't have. We desire a war and can't afford it, well then print. We are a pleasure-seeking spices with little discipline.
While the massiveness of other nations’ debt does provide a measure of “misery loves company” solace, as Jimm notes, that’s not a reason to embrace profligate spending here.
Bill has never been elected to anything. He runs a FAMILY BUSINESS (and Tax Dodge Empire) and makes a ton of money scamming people on his financial newsletters...MILLIONS. Tom and Dan put up good stuff but not Bill..he blathers and bloviates and OPINIONATES AND DEFICATES AND DEFAMES. His idea of fun and laughter (really...he has admitted it OPENLY many many times) and sO I roll my eyes and move along...he gets SOME Macro stuff right....and I SAY SO. I AM FAIR. But Bill is a LIBERTARIAN and ISOLATIONIST. NOT A CONSERVATIVE. HE IS ALSO A PURIST AND PURISTS DONT DO WELL IN REALITY OR LEAD T EXTREMISTS FROM FAR LEFT OR FAR RIGHT...and then YOU GET DIcTATORS.
Democracy is MESSY. SAUSAGE MAKING. We have to tolerate it. THE BEAUTY OF OUR CONSTITUTION ARE AMENDMENTS 1-5....CORE RIGHTS FOR WE THE PEOPLE. BUT WHEN WE VOTE WE OWN IT. AND sadly we have a lot...maybe 70 MILLION STUPID PEOPLE WHO VOTE. FOR CARTER CLINTON OBAMA BIDEN LBJ AND TRUMAN AND FDR AND WOODROW WILSON AND SO FORTH.
I am a TEDDY ROOSEVELT MAN. Then A bit of Coolidge and then TomDewey and Ike, despite his SERIOUS PROBLEMS INCLUDING BEING BAD BIPOLAR, and JFK WAs GOOD but got whacked for TRYING To WHACK CASTRO and GETTING DIEM OUT OF SAIGON. And so forth. And Nixon did some GOOD but also some bad....EPA WAS DECENT IDEA AND CLEANED UP THE GREAT LAKES AND MANY RIVERS AND SO FORTH AND GOT RID OF DUMPING CHEMICALS MOSTLY AND LIMITED DEFORESTING AT WILL AND SO FORTH...but it also got taken over by LEFTISTS AND GOT OUT OF HAND. I voted Trump THREE TIMES, NO ALTERNATIVE And TRUMP IS WRONG OFTEN AND I TELL HIM SO through back channels. DIRECTLY.
Yes, Bonner has never been elected. Why is that important to you? A person's judgement or opinions are not, ipso facto, superior just because they are elected.
Moreover, you are under no obligation to read much less to opine on Bonner's perspectives of our life and times.
Jimmy, as a reminder to YOU, the CONSTITUTION is set up SPECIFICALLY for OPINIONS and was WRITTEN WITH THAT IN MIND. Thomas Paine etc. Its a messy process. BUT the FIRST AMENDMENT is there for a reason. And DEFENDED BY THE SECOND. YES I OWN GUNS. And on through the FIFTH Amendment as the primary CIVIL LIBERTIES. SO NO SIR. I WONT SHUT UP OR GO AWAY.
I opine because BILL NEEDS TO HEAR IT AND NOT BE A BOARD FOR CHEERLEADERS. MY TWO CENTS.
All governments are bankrupt. The question that needs answering, which will go bust first. It s true Trump was better than the other two disasters unfortunately he never delivered on his promise. What was that old saying? " it aint official until its officially denied."
It appears that since 2000 only two countries have run up more debt -relative to GDP - than the US: Japan and Singapore. The UK is fourth. Assuming Grok, Perplexity, Claude etc know what they're talking about.
The last jubilee I am aware of was the Jewish shmita in 2015.
They predicted beforehand and correctly during this period "something" big was going to occur affecting the Jewish peoples.
And behold, it did!
Angela Merkel chose to forgo thousands of years of fighting off Muslim encroachment by allowing Muslim immigrants to freely enter the EU by the hoards...
Fresh off his boondoggle latest TAX DODGE idea.....raising cattle in remote Paraguay since his cattle raising in Argentina is a failure, no feed and no water...well DUH.....Bill is in Salta the last city for CIVILIZATION in NW Argentina....I am sure its lovely there and unique. BUT.....
THERE YOU GO AGAIN BILL. TRASHING AND THRASHING TRUMP. Bill has these meds that dont work you all understand. NO CURE for TDS. Its a JOHNNY ONE NOTE DISEASE. BROKEN RECORD. Nobody listens (or cares.) Sigh.
While I SHARE Bill's concern over SoVEREIGN DEBR and the root cause was a combination of GOING OFF GOLD STANDARD (Nixon got HORRIBLE ADVICE FROM BURNS) to pay for the debts of LBJ War in Vietnam that NIxon ended with BOMBING HANOI on Christmas Day 1972..a BRILLIANT MOVE THAT WORKED...and the Ike Military Industrial Complex that IKE HELPED BUILD BTW including some ill fated capers in Latin and South America, and other countries...ahem, HUNGARY....and Ike PLANNED THE DISASTER OF BAY OF PIGS AND JFK JUST FOLLOWED THE PLAN except he withdrew AIR COVER....bad idea. And so here we are. TRUMP BEING THE ONE HOLDING THE HOSE THE LAST GETS ALL THE BLAME. SAD.
But Massie is a FAILURE and BLOWHARD AND NOT A GOOD CONSERVATIVE...he VOTES WITH SCUMOCRATS 100% OF THE TIME.....and HOPEFULLY WILL BE SENT PACKING WITH SEN BILL Cassidy....GOOD RIDDANCE. WASHDC IS HARDBALL BOYS AND GIRLS. WANT A FRIEND? GET A DOG. OTHERWISE STAY AWAY. NOT A CHILDRENS GAME OF HOPSCOTCH IN SCHOOL YARD.
OR A GAME FOR ELITIST ACADEMICS AND ECCENTRIC TAX DODGE EXPERTS (Not saying he is doing it illegally...just that his investments are LOSERS and his expenses WRITTEN Off).
MY SOLUTION IS RETURN TO GOLD STANDARD. CUT BACK ON WELFARE STATE LIKE CLINTON DID and then OBAMA REINSTATED TO GET US IN REAL TROUBLE (as well as give Iran 150 BILLION IN CASH IN PALLETS FLOWN OVER THERE which IRAN USED TO BUILD NUKES AND CREATE AND FOMENT TERROR IN ISRAEL AND AGAINST US)
Bill is as wedded to his THEMES AND THESIS AND BIAS as the Holy Father in Rome. GO FIGURE.
Its a half baked history....intentionally leaving out the TERROR and COMMUNISM AND SO FORTH.
Bill touches down a few days, writes off the TRAVEL and writes off the LOSSES as he can say, "HE IS ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN THE BUSINESS." OH WELL.
Sometimes I am more inclined to STAY HOME..>STAYCATIONS...that is STAY IN THE USA. We have everything you want. BEAUTIFUL BEACHES OF ALL KINDS MAINE, MASSACHUSETTS, RHODE ISLAND, DELAWARE NEW JERSEY MARYLAND, VIRGINIA, NORTH CAROLINA, SOUTH CAROLINA (my PERSONAL FAVE) and GEORGIA FLORIDA ALABAMA MISSISSIPPI LOUSIIANA TEXAS CALIFORNIA OREGON AND WASHINGTON STATE (also a fave...lovely just a bit nippy and not a swimming beach...too cold and surf too high...but the beaches and dunes are legendary and John Wayne (my mother met him strolling the beach in extreme privacy dealing with his return cancer fight...he was MOST gracious...they chatted and snapped a quickpic and she went about her way and left him alone). We have TROPICAL ISLANDS . WE have EASY access to Bermuda Prince Edward Island and Bahamas and Caribbean and Hawaii or GUAM. NO NEED TO LEAVE THE USA. English spoken HERE and USDOLLAR is taken here. We have CELL SERVICE AND WIFI AND ATMS AND GOOD INEXPENSIVE RESTAURANTS. WHY SPEND CRAZY MONEY TO GO TO EU OR MED OR SEYCHELLES OR CANARY ISLANDS OR AZORES OR TAHITI? SAVE MONEY AND STAY HOME.>>>THE USA. GOT IT?
Do I like Foreigners? NOT PARTICULARLY. INDIVIDUALS I LIKE BUT AS A GROUP? NO. Buh bye.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome once again to the Trump Administration Rodeo, where Congress exists mainly as decorative upholstery for the Executive Branch. 🇺🇸🎪
You got this poor bastard Massie standing there voting “no” like an Amish smoke alarm while the federal debt balloons from seventeen trillion to thirty-nine trillion dollars.
That’s not opposition.
That’s a man politely waving a pool noodle at a freight train made of cocaine and defense contracts.
And everybody keeps saying: “Massie is ineffective.” OF COURSE HE’S INEFFECTIVE. That’s what happens when one guy shows up to a Roman orgy carrying a pamphlet about fiscal restraint. Nobody in Washington wants solutions. Solutions interrupt fundraising dinners. The whole thing reads exactly like a mafia movie written by defense lobbyists. “You got a stone in my shoe.” Yeah, because modern politics isn’t ideological anymore. It’s emotional support authoritarianism.
This whole thing is incredible because everybody’s pretending the issue is “party unity.”
No. The issue is obedience. Massie’s real crime isn’t being wrong. It’s being annoying. That’s unforgivable in modern politics. You can bankrupt the country. You can vaporize entire regions overseas. You can lie for thirty consecutive years wearing a flag pin the size of a dinner plate.
But if you publicly inconvenience the Supreme Leader? Now suddenly fourteen million dollars appears out of thin air like cocaine in an eighties nightclub.
And can we talk about campaign spending?
Fourteen million dollars to remove ONE congressman who allegedly has no influence whatsoever.
That’s the funniest part.
Massie accomplishes nothing! HE MUST BE DESTROYED IMMEDIATELY.
That’s not democracy.
That’s a cartel member whacking a guy for looking at his girl.
The language they use kills me though, “Stand shoulder to shoulder with Trump.” That sounds less like governance and more like the final scene of an action movie where everybody falls into the abyss.
Nobody even pretends Congress matters anymore. At this point Congress is basically Yelp for presidents. (Two stars. Border wall took too long. Military spending excellent.)
I liked the part where they called Massie a “stone in the shoe.” That sounds uncomfortable. Though I gotta say… if one congressman voting “no” causes this much panic… maybe the shoe has larger problems.
They say Massie is completely powerless…yet simultaneously such a threat that everybody in Washington has to hunt him like the shark from Jaws.
That’s a fascinating employee review
“Tom contributes nothing, deploy the full apparatus immediately.”
You know what this reminds me of?
Old mafia movies.
Not because of corruption necessarily, mostly because everybody talks like they’re discussing honor while obviously threatening each other.
“It would be unfortunate if someone challenged your primary”
Thirty-nine trillion dollars!?!
At that point the numbers stop meaning anything, could be jellybeans.
But I like Massie promising not to think independently. Very refreshing honesty. Most politicians spend decades hiding that part. This fellow just walks right in: No thoughts whatsoever. I’ll be more of a decorative congressman.
Honestly, that may test well with voters now.
“So Why bother having Congress at all?” That’s harsh, though I suppose if your job description becomes:
“Stand behind the president clapping like a malfunctioning seal,” you start wondering yourself.
"There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." Once the illusion that we can figure out the way to life by ourselves spreads widely enough, those mesmerized by the illusion and their communities are toast. George Carlin, despite his bad case of oral diarrhea, spotlights the problem: (slightly edited excerpt of a transcript of Carlin's "Why I don't vote" routine:
Now there’s one thing you might have noticed i don’t complain about: politicians. everybody complains about politicians. Everybody says they suck. Well where do people think these politicians come from? They don’t fall out of the sky. They don’t pass through a membrane from “another reality”. They come from American parents, and American families, American homes, American schools, American churches, American businesses, and American universities. And they’re elected by American citizens. This is the best we can do folks. This is what we have to offer. It’s what our system produces: Garbage in. Garbage out. If you have selfish ignorant citizens… you’re going to get selfish ignorant leaders. And term-limits ain’t going to do you any good. You’re just going to wind up with a brand new bunch of selfish, ignorant Americans. So maybe… maybe… MAYBE, it’s not the politicians who suck. Maybe something else sucks around here like: “THE PUBLIC”. Yeah the public sucks. There’s a nice campaign slogan for somebody: “the public sucks, Because if it’s really just the fault of these politicians, then where are all the other bright people of conscience? Where are all the bright, honest, intelligent Americans ready to step in and save the nation and lead the way? We don’t have people like that in this country.
A good one, Bill, I believe it is both scenarios, trump and his jews are pulling a mafia hit job on Massie and showing the republinuts who is jefe. However, they may be cutting off their nose to spite their face and getting a Demnuts elected.
Indeed, why bother with Congress? With no guardrails on political contributions, the lobbyists and their spin doctors control the political candidates and media willing to shill for them, enabled by a public unable to think for itself. Yet Massie and Rand Paul have value as examples of what could/should be: individuals who have the courage to think and act at least somewhat independently.
YOU GET THE GOVERNMENT YOU DESERVE AND PAY FOR. McCAIN tried and FAILED to stop LOBBYING the REAL ROOT CAUSE.
Not sure it is the one we deserve. With all the misinformation and media campaign chicanery, a large segment of the American population is just not educated enough to know what they are voting for and the has been the design of the dumocratic party who own American education at all levels.
I’m foolish, resignedly optimistic, and now resigned period. Some time ago I concluded that the only votes that mattered were local ones. Even that attempt to put good people in congress has waned. The Greek gods guffaw as their fickle interference rains down confusion and chaos. In congress, one voice crying in the wilderness, is shouted down by the baleful wailing of the mob. Even if Massie wins, it won’t prove anything.
Lets suppose Trump spends a Republican fortune and Massie wins: Does that mean that now Trump will fail in the future to get his way? Or if Massie loses does that mean Trump will get his way on every idea he comes up with? My guess is "it won't prove anything". It appears to me that America wants the changes Trump is implementing while less war certainly seems desired at the same time. But maybe the Iran war is smart, it does seem to increase China's costs and reduce it's free energy (at cost). Like Bill stated a few comments ago Trump has done some good things. Many great things in my mind and reduced the obvious socialistic support in this country and the world which the world desperately needs to be realistic about when it comes to socialism. Socialism sounds wonderful to those who have not lived within their means or those who have taken on too much debt. Pretty much those who've been convinced by socialism that they should everything that the rich have.
My view is that society needs some experience with the reality of hard times from too much debt. That includes the elite getting a dose of less free money. Maybe dealing with some hard times would be good for American society. Maybe society would be more skeptical of politician's promises. Maybe society would get greater insight. In my experience hard times gave me a chance to think and plan for a better and more realistic future.
You’re right. Lone voices like Massie’s, Rand Paul’s and others “crying in the wilderness” - including yours and mine - are drowned out. C’est la vie, je m’en fous!
I dont like Massie. He voted NO on GOOD THINGS. EVERY TIME.
This is why I’m totally against omnibus or including the kitchen toilet in bills. Mentally questionable “public officials?” will add their little gotcha favorites to legitimate and helpful bills and thinking people will get lambasted for voting no. I vote - lonely and bewildered - for single issue bills. Even that is hard, clever lawyers will suck out a word to claim a second issue and trash the bill that piques their “sensibilities.”
Any problems with his opponent? The dude left the Republican party when Trump was nominated in 2016.
Any problem with Gallrein receiving millions in contributions from outside of Kentucky? You might not like Maddie but it appears that his opponent is a shape-changing opportunist.
Very few at that level of politics are not shape-changers.
Then why get involved with either team when you know they are all bullshit artists?
Cartero, you don't have to get involved to be involved; we live here and as such we are all affected, like it or not.
Well Im not in Kentucky Not voting there I send 0 dollars to ANY pol
So I know nothing
About opponents in primary just that we need to be careful And spending is complicated needs refinement Not omnibus trash I support DHzd snd sll
Law enforcement snd militsry My view Not jandouts or medicare fraud from
Scumocrats
If you are against Medicare fraud you might want to consider abandoning the Republican Party and joining my "Vote for Nobody" campaign. Just do a little research and you will see that Donnie has pardoned several Medicare fraudsters.
And Repug Senator Rick Scott is no angel. Rick Scott was never personally charged with or convicted of a crime, but the hospital conglomerate he co-founded and ran as CEO, Columbia/HCA, systemically defrauded Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal programs.
Source on that ? NyTimes? Cnn? Msnbc ? DNC?
Doubting Thomas? Just go to Trump's buddy Elon's Grok and ask for a list of Medicare fraudsters pardoned by Donnie. You are a great example of Mark Twain's - It's easier to fool somebody than to convince them they've been fooled. Hold on tight to your beliefs in a guy who appointed Soros protege Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary and just took WEF chairman Larry Fink on his trip to China.
I see Massie as David fighting the giant. In this case, unless God intervenes, David is toast.
Jim Marshall
Well today's missive, unlike yesterday's missive, is not a filler. I do not fault Trump in his quest to remove Massie, as Massie detracts from the Trump agenda and Americans voted 2xs (possibly 3xs) for Trump and his agenda. Having said that it would be interesting to compare the 9000% increase in national debt compared to other industrialized countries. If Bill were to do this he would similar increases in national debt. So, what does that mean? Bill would you like to run a comparative study? It would be interesting to compare and contrast and determine if there are similar world conditions causing such anomalous increases that are not endemic to Trump and which Massie does not understand.
Tom, Your remark implies that you find acceptable our current president's profligacy.
And why is a "comparative study" of other nations' spending relevant?
Surely one already exists? If you locate it, share your findings.
For example, I have long supposed that of the one hundred plus nations of this planet, most of their government debt is not much more than their annual or biennial tax receipts.
I didn't mean to imply that I am in agreement with the big spending. I was trying to say that there are worldwide economic conditions that are similar, if not the same, for many industrialized countries that require inflationary economies. An example is a Great Brtion and Brazil and Mexico to a lesser extent. Inflationary economies are a staple of not having a stable commodity to which currencies are tied. It is not just a Trump-American problem, rather it is an international issue that will continue until there is a reset which may well be in our lifetime.
You pose a provocative question; that is, is an inflationary economy necessary for improving everyone's well being faster than an economy whose currency is based on a commodity the value of which is constant?
The UK and the US both went off the gold standard roughly the same time. One of these days, I hope to understand why an inflating currency is preferable to one that doesn't.
I do not think inflation is necessary. It is about as necessary as coveting another's wife, it is not necessary, it is an unfortunate part of the human condition. We desire what we can't have. We desire a war and can't afford it, well then print. We are a pleasure-seeking spices with little discipline.
While the massiveness of other nations’ debt does provide a measure of “misery loves company” solace, as Jimm notes, that’s not a reason to embrace profligate spending here.
I don't think it is a choice, rather it is an unfortunate mandate.
The U.S. debt is only 11% of the global debt.
U.S. consumption is 25% of global resources...
And 5% of the population.
Measured by percentages, the problem seems to manifest with other countries...
Bill has never been elected to anything. He runs a FAMILY BUSINESS (and Tax Dodge Empire) and makes a ton of money scamming people on his financial newsletters...MILLIONS. Tom and Dan put up good stuff but not Bill..he blathers and bloviates and OPINIONATES AND DEFICATES AND DEFAMES. His idea of fun and laughter (really...he has admitted it OPENLY many many times) and sO I roll my eyes and move along...he gets SOME Macro stuff right....and I SAY SO. I AM FAIR. But Bill is a LIBERTARIAN and ISOLATIONIST. NOT A CONSERVATIVE. HE IS ALSO A PURIST AND PURISTS DONT DO WELL IN REALITY OR LEAD T EXTREMISTS FROM FAR LEFT OR FAR RIGHT...and then YOU GET DIcTATORS.
Democracy is MESSY. SAUSAGE MAKING. We have to tolerate it. THE BEAUTY OF OUR CONSTITUTION ARE AMENDMENTS 1-5....CORE RIGHTS FOR WE THE PEOPLE. BUT WHEN WE VOTE WE OWN IT. AND sadly we have a lot...maybe 70 MILLION STUPID PEOPLE WHO VOTE. FOR CARTER CLINTON OBAMA BIDEN LBJ AND TRUMAN AND FDR AND WOODROW WILSON AND SO FORTH.
I am a TEDDY ROOSEVELT MAN. Then A bit of Coolidge and then TomDewey and Ike, despite his SERIOUS PROBLEMS INCLUDING BEING BAD BIPOLAR, and JFK WAs GOOD but got whacked for TRYING To WHACK CASTRO and GETTING DIEM OUT OF SAIGON. And so forth. And Nixon did some GOOD but also some bad....EPA WAS DECENT IDEA AND CLEANED UP THE GREAT LAKES AND MANY RIVERS AND SO FORTH AND GOT RID OF DUMPING CHEMICALS MOSTLY AND LIMITED DEFORESTING AT WILL AND SO FORTH...but it also got taken over by LEFTISTS AND GOT OUT OF HAND. I voted Trump THREE TIMES, NO ALTERNATIVE And TRUMP IS WRONG OFTEN AND I TELL HIM SO through back channels. DIRECTLY.
Patrick,
Couple of rejoinders for your consideration:
Yes, Bonner has never been elected. Why is that important to you? A person's judgement or opinions are not, ipso facto, superior just because they are elected.
Moreover, you are under no obligation to read much less to opine on Bonner's perspectives of our life and times.
Consider writing your own newsletter.
Jimmy, as a reminder to YOU, the CONSTITUTION is set up SPECIFICALLY for OPINIONS and was WRITTEN WITH THAT IN MIND. Thomas Paine etc. Its a messy process. BUT the FIRST AMENDMENT is there for a reason. And DEFENDED BY THE SECOND. YES I OWN GUNS. And on through the FIFTH Amendment as the primary CIVIL LIBERTIES. SO NO SIR. I WONT SHUT UP OR GO AWAY.
I opine because BILL NEEDS TO HEAR IT AND NOT BE A BOARD FOR CHEERLEADERS. MY TWO CENTS.
Many of us enjoy reading Patrick's stuff in this forum as it is interesting and informative yet a bit too loquacious from time to time IMO.
All governments are bankrupt. The question that needs answering, which will go bust first. It s true Trump was better than the other two disasters unfortunately he never delivered on his promise. What was that old saying? " it aint official until its officially denied."
It appears that since 2000 only two countries have run up more debt -relative to GDP - than the US: Japan and Singapore. The UK is fourth. Assuming Grok, Perplexity, Claude etc know what they're talking about.
BPR makes it look bad... look at it in %:
Global debt = $353 T
U.S. debt = 11% of global debt
U.S. consumption = 25% of the globe
U.S. population = 5% of the globe.
So it's an achievement for 5% of the world's population to consume 25% of the resources, is it?
Interesting perspective. Perhaps we will experience a jubilee, where all debts are forgiven. That evidently worked somehow back in Old Testament days…
The last jubilee I am aware of was the Jewish shmita in 2015.
They predicted beforehand and correctly during this period "something" big was going to occur affecting the Jewish peoples.
And behold, it did!
Angela Merkel chose to forgo thousands of years of fighting off Muslim encroachment by allowing Muslim immigrants to freely enter the EU by the hoards...
That hasn’t worked out too well for Western Europe.
Fresh off his boondoggle latest TAX DODGE idea.....raising cattle in remote Paraguay since his cattle raising in Argentina is a failure, no feed and no water...well DUH.....Bill is in Salta the last city for CIVILIZATION in NW Argentina....I am sure its lovely there and unique. BUT.....
THERE YOU GO AGAIN BILL. TRASHING AND THRASHING TRUMP. Bill has these meds that dont work you all understand. NO CURE for TDS. Its a JOHNNY ONE NOTE DISEASE. BROKEN RECORD. Nobody listens (or cares.) Sigh.
While I SHARE Bill's concern over SoVEREIGN DEBR and the root cause was a combination of GOING OFF GOLD STANDARD (Nixon got HORRIBLE ADVICE FROM BURNS) to pay for the debts of LBJ War in Vietnam that NIxon ended with BOMBING HANOI on Christmas Day 1972..a BRILLIANT MOVE THAT WORKED...and the Ike Military Industrial Complex that IKE HELPED BUILD BTW including some ill fated capers in Latin and South America, and other countries...ahem, HUNGARY....and Ike PLANNED THE DISASTER OF BAY OF PIGS AND JFK JUST FOLLOWED THE PLAN except he withdrew AIR COVER....bad idea. And so here we are. TRUMP BEING THE ONE HOLDING THE HOSE THE LAST GETS ALL THE BLAME. SAD.
But Massie is a FAILURE and BLOWHARD AND NOT A GOOD CONSERVATIVE...he VOTES WITH SCUMOCRATS 100% OF THE TIME.....and HOPEFULLY WILL BE SENT PACKING WITH SEN BILL Cassidy....GOOD RIDDANCE. WASHDC IS HARDBALL BOYS AND GIRLS. WANT A FRIEND? GET A DOG. OTHERWISE STAY AWAY. NOT A CHILDRENS GAME OF HOPSCOTCH IN SCHOOL YARD.
OR A GAME FOR ELITIST ACADEMICS AND ECCENTRIC TAX DODGE EXPERTS (Not saying he is doing it illegally...just that his investments are LOSERS and his expenses WRITTEN Off).
MY SOLUTION IS RETURN TO GOLD STANDARD. CUT BACK ON WELFARE STATE LIKE CLINTON DID and then OBAMA REINSTATED TO GET US IN REAL TROUBLE (as well as give Iran 150 BILLION IN CASH IN PALLETS FLOWN OVER THERE which IRAN USED TO BUILD NUKES AND CREATE AND FOMENT TERROR IN ISRAEL AND AGAINST US)
Bill is as wedded to his THEMES AND THESIS AND BIAS as the Holy Father in Rome. GO FIGURE.
Its a half baked history....intentionally leaving out the TERROR and COMMUNISM AND SO FORTH.
Bill touches down a few days, writes off the TRAVEL and writes off the LOSSES as he can say, "HE IS ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN THE BUSINESS." OH WELL.
Sometimes I am more inclined to STAY HOME..>STAYCATIONS...that is STAY IN THE USA. We have everything you want. BEAUTIFUL BEACHES OF ALL KINDS MAINE, MASSACHUSETTS, RHODE ISLAND, DELAWARE NEW JERSEY MARYLAND, VIRGINIA, NORTH CAROLINA, SOUTH CAROLINA (my PERSONAL FAVE) and GEORGIA FLORIDA ALABAMA MISSISSIPPI LOUSIIANA TEXAS CALIFORNIA OREGON AND WASHINGTON STATE (also a fave...lovely just a bit nippy and not a swimming beach...too cold and surf too high...but the beaches and dunes are legendary and John Wayne (my mother met him strolling the beach in extreme privacy dealing with his return cancer fight...he was MOST gracious...they chatted and snapped a quickpic and she went about her way and left him alone). We have TROPICAL ISLANDS . WE have EASY access to Bermuda Prince Edward Island and Bahamas and Caribbean and Hawaii or GUAM. NO NEED TO LEAVE THE USA. English spoken HERE and USDOLLAR is taken here. We have CELL SERVICE AND WIFI AND ATMS AND GOOD INEXPENSIVE RESTAURANTS. WHY SPEND CRAZY MONEY TO GO TO EU OR MED OR SEYCHELLES OR CANARY ISLANDS OR AZORES OR TAHITI? SAVE MONEY AND STAY HOME.>>>THE USA. GOT IT?
Do I like Foreigners? NOT PARTICULARLY. INDIVIDUALS I LIKE BUT AS A GROUP? NO. Buh bye.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome once again to the Trump Administration Rodeo, where Congress exists mainly as decorative upholstery for the Executive Branch. 🇺🇸🎪
You got this poor bastard Massie standing there voting “no” like an Amish smoke alarm while the federal debt balloons from seventeen trillion to thirty-nine trillion dollars.
That’s not opposition.
That’s a man politely waving a pool noodle at a freight train made of cocaine and defense contracts.
And everybody keeps saying: “Massie is ineffective.” OF COURSE HE’S INEFFECTIVE. That’s what happens when one guy shows up to a Roman orgy carrying a pamphlet about fiscal restraint. Nobody in Washington wants solutions. Solutions interrupt fundraising dinners. The whole thing reads exactly like a mafia movie written by defense lobbyists. “You got a stone in my shoe.” Yeah, because modern politics isn’t ideological anymore. It’s emotional support authoritarianism.
This whole thing is incredible because everybody’s pretending the issue is “party unity.”
No. The issue is obedience. Massie’s real crime isn’t being wrong. It’s being annoying. That’s unforgivable in modern politics. You can bankrupt the country. You can vaporize entire regions overseas. You can lie for thirty consecutive years wearing a flag pin the size of a dinner plate.
But if you publicly inconvenience the Supreme Leader? Now suddenly fourteen million dollars appears out of thin air like cocaine in an eighties nightclub.
And can we talk about campaign spending?
Fourteen million dollars to remove ONE congressman who allegedly has no influence whatsoever.
That’s the funniest part.
Massie accomplishes nothing! HE MUST BE DESTROYED IMMEDIATELY.
That’s not democracy.
That’s a cartel member whacking a guy for looking at his girl.
The language they use kills me though, “Stand shoulder to shoulder with Trump.” That sounds less like governance and more like the final scene of an action movie where everybody falls into the abyss.
Nobody even pretends Congress matters anymore. At this point Congress is basically Yelp for presidents. (Two stars. Border wall took too long. Military spending excellent.)
I liked the part where they called Massie a “stone in the shoe.” That sounds uncomfortable. Though I gotta say… if one congressman voting “no” causes this much panic… maybe the shoe has larger problems.
They say Massie is completely powerless…yet simultaneously such a threat that everybody in Washington has to hunt him like the shark from Jaws.
That’s a fascinating employee review
“Tom contributes nothing, deploy the full apparatus immediately.”
You know what this reminds me of?
Old mafia movies.
Not because of corruption necessarily, mostly because everybody talks like they’re discussing honor while obviously threatening each other.
“It would be unfortunate if someone challenged your primary”
Thirty-nine trillion dollars!?!
At that point the numbers stop meaning anything, could be jellybeans.
But I like Massie promising not to think independently. Very refreshing honesty. Most politicians spend decades hiding that part. This fellow just walks right in: No thoughts whatsoever. I’ll be more of a decorative congressman.
Honestly, that may test well with voters now.
“So Why bother having Congress at all?” That’s harsh, though I suppose if your job description becomes:
“Stand behind the president clapping like a malfunctioning seal,” you start wondering yourself.
It's fitting that the vile Trump is at the helm as the USS Amerika slips beneath the waves. But hey, we only have our soft apathetic selves to blame.
For further reading: https://radbodslament.substack.com/p/deep-trump-the-conman-who-saved-america
"There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." Once the illusion that we can figure out the way to life by ourselves spreads widely enough, those mesmerized by the illusion and their communities are toast. George Carlin, despite his bad case of oral diarrhea, spotlights the problem: (slightly edited excerpt of a transcript of Carlin's "Why I don't vote" routine:
Now there’s one thing you might have noticed i don’t complain about: politicians. everybody complains about politicians. Everybody says they suck. Well where do people think these politicians come from? They don’t fall out of the sky. They don’t pass through a membrane from “another reality”. They come from American parents, and American families, American homes, American schools, American churches, American businesses, and American universities. And they’re elected by American citizens. This is the best we can do folks. This is what we have to offer. It’s what our system produces: Garbage in. Garbage out. If you have selfish ignorant citizens… you’re going to get selfish ignorant leaders. And term-limits ain’t going to do you any good. You’re just going to wind up with a brand new bunch of selfish, ignorant Americans. So maybe… maybe… MAYBE, it’s not the politicians who suck. Maybe something else sucks around here like: “THE PUBLIC”. Yeah the public sucks. There’s a nice campaign slogan for somebody: “the public sucks, Because if it’s really just the fault of these politicians, then where are all the other bright people of conscience? Where are all the bright, honest, intelligent Americans ready to step in and save the nation and lead the way? We don’t have people like that in this country.
A good one, Bill, I believe it is both scenarios, trump and his jews are pulling a mafia hit job on Massie and showing the republinuts who is jefe. However, they may be cutting off their nose to spite their face and getting a Demnuts elected.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-04-14/bessent-says-bank-citizenship-verification-order-is-in-process