Republicans in the US Congress

Republicans in the US Congress have abandoned their oath of office and loyalty to the US Constitution in support of a clearly corrupt, Republican, US President.

The Republicans in congress are complicit, accessories after the fact, in helping cover up Russian meddling in the 2016 elections; publicly encouraged by, then candidate, Donald Trump. Attention to Russian election activity is being distracted with conspiracy, disproved, nonsense about Ukrainian meddling in said elections.

45 is, by pushing the false Ukrainian conspiracy, clearing the way for the Russians to interfere with the US elections of 2020. By supporting the president in this false narrative, and helping the Russians be in a position to do it again, the Republicans in the US Congress are aiding and abetting treason.

Moscow Mitch McConnell has held up legislation passed by the US House of Representatives, including bills that would help secure the elections in 2020, and is therefore complicit in treason, above and beyond the treason being committed by the other Republicans in the US House and Senate.

Democrats and the economy

If you are voting for your own economic self interest, you are voting for the Democrats. This point is highlighted by two magazines not known for supporting a Democrat's perspective. They also reinforce the main assertion (Democrats are better for our economy) of the book: Bulls, Bears and the Ballot Box: How the Performance of Our Presidents Has Impacted Your Wallet; by Bob Deitrick and Lew Goldfarb.

www.forbes.com/sites/adamhartung/2012/10/10/want-a-better-economy-history-says-vote-democrat/?fbclid=IwAR0i8nzXekYwplu8dYBqvf1604bN7K0MS4cFXIDWcYmvz9Yrqq7Do9nMCPM#735d9a4dcb44

https://www.wsj.com/graphics/red-economy-blue-economy/?mod=e2fb&fbclid=IwAR0Bc0fWIf_vlvP8oW7QIjn9kJyqJcyegC82wDStywM1w0o-x30cC2akGjw

These are the facts! You don't need to believe 'em, because they're facts.

Facts need not be believed, and beliefs require no facts.

Why run Mr. Bloomberg?

Michael Bloomberg, a multi-billionaire, is back in the race for President because the plutocrats he represents, multi-millionaires and billionaires (less than 1% of the nation's population), are scared out of their bank books by Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.

No matter what Warren and Sanders represent, or do, these plutocrats (aristocrat wannabes) will still be fantastically wealthy. The plutocrats are terrified of being asked to maintain (possibly improve) the great nation that allowed them to build, or keep (inherited), wealth. The country that they were all born into... The USA that was built by all of our parents, grand parents, great grand parents, etc...

Health care information

Health care info... Comparing costs and results around the world. Spoiler: the USA has the highest, by far, costs and is well down the list of good results in every category.

https://www.pgpf.org/blog/2019/07/how-does-the-us-healthcare-system-compare-to-other-countries

People who argue against Single Payer/Medicare for All are those folks who are going to lose some of their profit margins and salaries... They'll still make lots of money, just not as much as they do now.

Carbon Taxes Explained

Carbon Taxes made simple, if not easy.


Atmospheric carbon comes largely from using carbon based chemistry extracted from where it had been sequestered in the Earth; oil and gas extraction mostly.  Sufficient fuel taxes, paid when fuel, or other hydrocarbon based product (e.g., plastic), is purchased (wholesale and/or retail), is the carbon tax; discourages excessive consumption.  


In addition, agriculture can deplete or restore carbon to the soil.  Industrial agriculture largely depletes carbon in the soil, whereas regenerative agriculture (sustainable methodologies) restores carbon to the soil.  Core samples of soil, in areas where agriculture is practiced, can determine which is happening in any given location.  Depletion results in a carbon consumption tax, restoration a credit/payment.


Some things are not as complex as we've been led to believe...

Homelessness in the USA

Many people are complaining about folks who are homeless; living directly on the street or in tents pitched in public spaces. The reasons for the homelessness and the solutions are also complained about, if discussed at all.

The cost of living indoors started to skyrocket in the 1980s, and that problem will only be addressed by providing sufficient quantities of seriously affordable housing. The cost and vulnerability of home loans can only be mitigated by re-instituting, and enforcing, fair and equitable regulations for mortgages.

There have always been homeless folks, a few who refuse housing assistance because they believe they are living the life they prefer, The current increase in homelessness started in the 1980s when most of the regulatory environment for home mortgages, that was the Glass-Steagall Act, was repealed. Another reason for an increase in homeless folks was the abandonment of the government housing for folks with debilitating disabilities; many of the institutions involved were found to be seriously deficient and were closed rather than improved.

The business of home loans was taken from the reliable, boring domain of the Savings and Loan financial institutions and given to the financial services industries that are, "Wall Street." That was the key to a meteoric rise in the cost of living indoors; maximized profits replaced affordable home ownership as the primary goal of home loans (mortgages).

The situation was made ready for worse gaming/gambling with home loans when the last of Glass-Steagall was repealed in 1999; made the, "Great Recession," almost inevitable. The, "banksters," originating and trading in mortgages began to include those whose financial institutions specialized in investments that promised greater returns; involved greater, much greater, risk. These riskier, gaming/gambling, investment instruments had not previously been allowed to be mingled with consumer loans; primarily mortgages.

Elizabeth Warren, one of the architects of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, has (once again) proposed solutions. You can try to place the blame on a state's governor, but that's not where the problem originates, nor is it where the problem will be resolved.

See also: United Way ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed).

US Election Security

The security of all of our US elections is available right now.

The answer is being stopped by the Republican Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell (Mr. Turtle). Mr. Turtle had used the Senate majority leader's position to stop election security bills from getting a vote during the Obama administration as well.

Open source code is available now to:

Draw the smallest possible districts (for all elected offices) with the correct population; no partisan considerations involved.

Create voting machines that use an electronic ballot and a printed ballot (both can be reviewed by the voter before submitting a vote). A printed ballot is scanned into a collection, lock box while being double checked against the electronically submitted votes; instant auditing. An audit trail of voting is possible with printed ballots to be count later, as needed.

All this open sourced software can be checked for function and security, by multiple technical experts, before being installed on, “air gapped,” (not connected to any network, therefore not connected to an insecure network: Internet) device: voting machines.

The whole process could be completed before the 2020 elections if Mr. Turtle can be publicly, legally, held responsible for any voting problems encountered in any and all future elections.