The Independent View: November election
A fellow left leaning contributing columnist has stated we should pay our taxes without complaint. Finally something we can agree on. However we differ by a wide margin on how the funds should be spent.
The national debt is now 10 times the yearly tax income. Because of low interest rates the payments are only 12 percent of the income. The total tax income for 2021 was just more than $3 trillion.
That means $360 billion could have been spent on something else. If you have debt you now how this can affect your life. House/auto/credit cards are reducing you discretionary income. Every time someone asks for advice on retirement, I tell them to eliminate any debt first and keep it that way.
Politicians from Alexandria Ocasio-cortez to Dick Cheney are united in their agreement deficits don’t matter. Of course, that’s exactly what a politician would say. Politicians score points by spending other people’s money, so naturally, they don’t want to hear anything about how prudence suggests it might be a good idea to not spend that extra $800 billion they don’t have.
Another point we agree on is political contributions. The politicians are dependent on contributions to stay in office. Those political ads aren’t free. The Republicans receive large sums of money from wealthy individuals and corporations. What he didn’t tell you is the Democrats also receive large sums of money. Most of these funds come from labor unions. The labor unions own the Democrats. That’s why solving the Railroad Strike was difficult for the current administration. Granted there were some serious safety issues, but they didn’t make a big deal on the 27 percent pay raises and additional bonuses of $1,000 a year. All told, the back pay and earlier bonuses will give Railroad union members an average of an $11,000 payment per person once the deal is ratified. You will feel this in your household once the Railroads feel the crunch and pass it on to the consumer.
In the 60s and early 70s I voted Democratic. The Johnson administration was indirectly responsible for the near collapse of the Air Traffic
Control system. Controllers were subject to mandatory overtime. Large facilities on the East Coast were under extreme stress. Necessary equipment upgrades and hiring were canceled due to the cost of the Vietnam War. Several midair collisions and hundreds of near misses was a direct result of this mismanagement of resources. I turned Republican. Keep in mind I vote for the party that best represents my values. Sometimes this results in electing someone or several someones I don’t like. Enter Donald Trump! Trump turned me into an Independent. It wasn’t the New York attitude, the lies or the mean tweets. It was his refusal to listen to his experts’ advice that moved me most. So I chose between a known crook who sacrificed some of our military men and women and a New York crook who cared less about who he offends.
So now I vote for which ever party will, in my opinion help this country prosper.
November elections are coming. The choices are confusing. Don’t let ads and so called experts fool you. The current administration is back tracking on several issues to attract your vote. Several changes in policy will come to make you think they’re dealing with inflation, energy, and border security. Newsom is stating he’s not interested in the Presidency. Don’t be fooled. He’s doing everything he can to attract national attention.
If you’re in favor of higher inflation vote Democratic. If you want your children force fed Gender Bending, Critical Race Theory, with less emphasis on the three Rs vote Democratic. If you want your paycheck to cover less because the cost of energy and household goods are rising, vote Democratic. If you like what the Sierra Club and other liberal groups have done to our forests, vote Democratic.if you want to make sure the Bears and Salmon survive while the Human Race is without water and food, Vote Democratic.
Remember my father in-law’s advice. Always vote for the one you think is a crook and you will never be disappointed!.