dallasareaopinion

[dallasareaopinion]

Conspiracy theorists amaze me

I am a bit perplexed even though I understand the technicalities behind it as to why so many conspiracy theorists on social media make so much money. Sure advertisers will pay them to be on their sites since they have so many followers, but really. Whose at fault here?  And what gives? Corporations will market to what they think is their target audience, but are corporations relying on the gullibility of people or are they just going where are the numbers.

And complaining about corporations is not why I started this post. It amazes me how a conspiracy gets started and subsequently gains traction. I have not researched it, yet I feel confident there is an enormous amount of reading material on this subject so maybe the answer is there or partially there, but in some ways I doubt it fully comprehends how bad it is on social media. Yes I do get on social media mainly to follow a couple of topics, but there is so much madness in the way of my browsing. I am not sure what I did to cause the algorithms to target me with some of this madness, but the little I do receive is beyond the pale. And in curiosity I read some of it and all I can say is wow. People believe this madness?

And some of you may ask, am I jealous of what they make and I don’t. To a degree yes, but I started this blog years ago knowing I would not obtain massive amounts of followers. It was more to allow myself to write what I wanted and since my topics have a limited audience I knew I would be extremely fortunate to gather a following. I started because I was mad at the world around what happened in 2008 and 2009. Eventually I decided I needed to do something to make me feel better so I started this blog to complain about how bad public policy was for the market crash and recession that happened at that time. And I tried to offer other ideas that I thought were better. So instead of just complaining I tried to make it a positive. And trying to write better public policy in the United States has never been a game changer when it comes to attracting an audience. And to this day I still try to offer alternative or variations of a theme ideas different from what the duopoly of Republicans and Democrats offer. And add in, I spout my personal opinion about a variety of topics so I knew I would never rival the Kardashians in a following.

And I know conspiracy theorists have always had an audience throughout our history, but the degree to which they are taking advantage of social media amazes me. Are there that many people who cannot fathom what these people are saying? What drives them to this madness? And again there is much written about this topic, but deep down what are they so afraid of that they need this sense of community to be apart of that they will believe the most unsubstantiated nonsense. And of course to them it is not nonsense, or at least on the surface of their brain.

And how much do the actual writers of these theories believe themselves? Or are they just laughing all the way to the bank? Who knows, some might, but really how deep do they go in their own brains to promulgate this charade?

One of my favorites is the new world order and all its variants. How does anyone think whatever billion people on this earth is going to let themselves be ruled by one government. It seems ironical that conspiracy theorists postulate this idea yet they prove themselves incorrect by telling their audience to question any hint of a NWO, so if people don’t believe in a new world order then how could one come to fruition. And then throw in all the different types of cultures, religions, governments, heck even terrorists, and the capability of a NWO seems far fetched at the least. Yet these types of conspiracies run rampant and people spend money listening to all these people explaining how they are saving them.

So here we are in 2024 with so many real problems that need to be overcome, so many people actually doing good work in a variety of endeavors not getting half the attention needed nor the recognition and nut jobs making a fortune telling us only they can save the world. Oh yeah, then there is Truth Social. Smh

Have a better day

#conspiracy theories #front porch ramblings

[dallasareaopinion]

Stop, there will be a Tuesday

Time flies when you are stressing out.

So tomorrow is the big eclipse day. Some will get to see it some wont’ yet it is a pretty big deal.  I have a love/hate relationship with all the people saying there are signs of the end times happening including the eclipse, earthquakes, lightning striking the Statue of Liberty and so on. First well they are calling themselves Christians in most incidences, so that is good, but do they even know what is Christianity.

One of the biggest prophecies is the second coming of Christ, yet what did Christ say about it all. You ain’t going to know when. Okay maybe not like that, but generally there is no earthly designated time. And for all those that rely on signs such as the above, well we have always had the same signs.  So what is new. Honestly the end could be tomorrow, but not because of the signs, but because this was the time God had planned all along. So generally get your special glasses, head outside, pray for a break in the clouds if they are forecasted in your area and enjoy a down to earth astronomical wonder.

It is a wonderful sunny day here in North Texas, but high clouds are starting to drift in. I am hoping that we do get a break or very thin clouds so I can enjoy the moment. Life is too short to miss out on the wonders of the universe. 

Whether you believe in God or not, you do have to accept you know not the time you will pass, but have faith that if you do well you can live a remarkable or wonderful life. And for those that believe, have faith that God has this, whatever this may be.

Cheers

#eclipse

[dallasareaopinion]

Unhoused versus homeless, words do matter and secondly a completely different topic on life.

This combination post shouldn’t go together, but both thoughts filled my brain this morning.

First I do not like the word unhoused. It sugar coats a major problem in this country in there are way too many homeless. Homeless may sound stark to some people, but the problem is stark. It needs to slap people in the face. People do not like feeling uncomfortable, yet we need to make people feel uncomfortable so they know the reality facing homeless people. So many times we allow ourselves to let homeless people be out of sight so they are out of our minds. This needs to change.

Do I have some magic answer? No and as part of my ongoing platform efforts I will try and add some ideas. I have posted about the homeless before even touching on some public policy. We need something. And homeless like Latinos are a much larger variety of a group of people than the labels suggest. People are homeless for a variety of reasons so there is no one solution to homelessness. Which means there are no easy solutions to address this problem.  

Yet for now I wanted to state words do matter and saying unhoused is just too woke. I certainly understand wanting to give people dignity and it is especially important to give dignity to those who are struggling, yet saying unhoused instead of homeless to me just doesn’t accomplish this goal. Recognizing them as people first and foremost and going to meet them in their situation to so they can tell you what they need shows much more dignity to them than changing descriptive words. We need to see them for who they are, not hide behind pleasantries.

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And strange but true in thinking about life, I made one of those so profound to me, but probably everybody else has thought of it too thoughts. Yes life should be fun.

I have made tons of mistakes, either I or my family has had to crawl out of self inflicted wounds or sometimes the wounds came from other sources. No matter the reason or cause somehow or another we have survived and throughout it all I have to say I and my family have had tons of fun. I stress, I worry, I fret, I have no idea what to do, but at some point we found a way to just have fun no matter how bad we thought we were having it.

Also it shouldn’t matter if you believe in a creator or other higher power or you are just secular. You need to make sure you have fun in life. Because no matter which way you believe, life is too short as the saying goes. And fun can be different for different people, but whatever it is, make sure you enjoy it as much as possible. Some days may be all work, but that is okay because when you can relax and let your hair down it makes it all the more enjoyable.

I struggle with people who work all the time or think they must suffer. There is enough suffering, stress and things you have to do not to enjoy as much time as possible. And if their only goal is to work for money, that is sad.

There is so much to do. Anywhere from the proverbial gone fishing to the highly charged adventure life. I fall somewhere in between overall, yet many times fun has just been laughing with the better half and the kids maybe driving somewhere or eating out or all of us just sitting at the dinner table long after we finished eating. All the kids played sports at various levels and had other school competitions and those were fun also. I do not know how many Saturday mornings were spent on a field, gym auditorium, cafeteria or somewhere else yelling and screaming or trying to be quiet for the academic events, yet we all enjoyed cheering each other on. Or the Sundays we spent teaching faith formation and the kids either having to go and giving us grief since they went to parochial school or finding ways to get out of taking a class that year. Weekends were always extremely busy as the kids grew up, but would never change a moment. Sure our garage was never the cleanest, can’t say house since the better half may read, lol, but did it really matter. Actually cleaning the house was a family project and everyone had their weekly or alternating daily chores. Most of the time it got done so why worry when it didn’t. People take some things too seriously.

And yes summers were just as busy even though school was out. The kids had their activities or played or were running around with friends while the two so called adults worked. One of the grandparents always stayed with us during the summer to be home while we worked which added to the things to do. Grandparents always need to be running errands or needing special things of their own which means Mom or Dad is driving around until 8 or 9 at night. Yet nothing slowed us down when it came to enjoying the day. Or taking the grandparent along for the infamous family vacation always added to madness that we laugh about until this day. And with any family sometimes you can say three words and everyone laughs, but the one who stuck their foot in their mouth at the moment. Somethings are just etched into the family dynamic.

Find something you enjoy and make it a hobby or a treat. Do not waste this life beating yourself up that things aren’t getting done or you haven’t accomplished what you want in life. I am much older now and am at least still trying to knock some things out. That is all you can do and while you are doing it, go fishing or climb a mountain or plant a garden or scuba or snorkel or ski or paint or write or have a mimosa at 9am on a random Tuesday, but don’t sit around bemoaning how bad things are because as you well know shit happens.

So I thank God I finally learned I have had a good life young enough to go out and enjoy it more even if I am walking a little slower.

And like I mentioned sometimes you are too busy and today I didn’t get the beer I was promised, yet Cheers anyway

#front porch ramblings

[dallasareaopinion]

I’m mad at Hotels.com hence Expedia, and other corporate gripes

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, hope you are having a wonderful spring day. A bit chilly here in North Texas.

Not sure what other corporate gripes are going to come to mind, but for now a general gripe since it seems we are stuck with them and their madness.

For Hotels.com it is more specific. They use to have a pretty straightforward rewards program, but lately it is pretty puny. And why does this matter. I can go to any number of hotel brands and join and have a rewards program which is true. Yet that means choosing a brand and sticking with it.

The reason I like Hotels is because I could have choices. I wasn’t restricted to one brand. And that is important to me for a variety of reasons.

Sometimes we travel from point a to b and it takes more than one day so we have to stay the night somewhere on the way. And since the midpoint location tends to be a moving target it allows us to be able to look at reviews of different hotels for the city or town we end up staying. So many times one brand will have good reviews in one city and not so strong in another city. By having a choice we can price and quality compare. This gives me strength as a consumer, or at least in my mind. If I pick one brand to gain reward points I may be stuck with an inferior product in one town compared to another brand.

Another reason is because of the end destination. Many times with Hotels we can choose a local hotel instead of a corporate hotel. And this has worked out well for us. We have enjoyed staying in some unique hotels over the years and this adds value to any vacation or trip. There have been many wonderful memories created by having this option. And with Hotels we would still get the reward points that were equivalent with any other hotel we stayed.

And this last point leads me to the corporate gripe in general. If you like a rewards program to help save you money then many small hotel chains or individual properties are hurt by Hotels’ reward program being so weak. And if these individual properties etc lose business then this only increases the wealth gap in this country even further. When there is more competition in business, more choices then people have to work harder for your business. If a few corporations can hook you into their rewards program then you are more likely to stay there. Yes this can be good in some circumstances such as familiarity, comfort level, certain perks, but you lose out on corporations competing for your business more dynamically. And like I mentioned small chains and individual properties lose business. The corporations already control too much of the market and for them to swallow up Mom and Pop businesses, then this hurts our economy in ways not often considered in most economic or business articles including increasing the wealth gap. Many small businesses created wealth for people, maybe not billions, but individual wealth. With small businesses being eaten up, more and more people are relying on a few billionaires to provide products and services. And of course they manage their businesses to achieve more profits not provide better customer service.

You may say their rewards program gives me customer service, but in the long run, those rewards and apps benefit the corporate bottom line more than you as a customer. It takes a bit of study and comparisons to realize this, but the bones they throw you are a small cost to the amount of real work they would have to do if there were more competition. And you lose out on originality, value for the dollar spent, meeting and interacting with locals who thrive and can tell you more about the city than some person hired working at barely above minimum wage just getting through a shift. Yes people who own their own business tend to care more about the customer experience than corporations.

And this watered down program from Hotels shows what happens when corporations have all the power, they can take away something from you if they expect you will still be their customer. Again Hotels.com has one advantage and that is choice of brand so they still offer some value, yet in a value conscious world that value is watered down with the loss of monetary reward such as a free night.

I have been a customer of theirs for years so this hurt when Expedia came out with this watered down program. I am struggling with how far I want to redefine where I stay. Again we have enjoyed some wonderful experiences in independent hotels. I hate losing that because if you like to travel it is the experience you are wanting. There was so much more discovered by either what the hotel offered or the information the people provided about where to go or best routes to take when sightseeing or just generally experiencing the town. Nothing like knowing the best restaurants to go in a small town instead of eating at another chain for breakfast or lunch. Small businesses need all the help they can receive nowadays, and the more business the better.

This is a sad state of affairs that for this one industry. One of the perks independent properties had was that Hotels.com gave them business and now if people like me feel the rewards aren’t worth the effort what else can they do. So for now we still us them, but I hate to think what the future brings. I am cheap so I like my free nights and struggling with a budget in today’s world that unfortunately matters.

No cheers for this madness

#corporate greed

[dallasareaopinion]

Cabrini: some thoughts and I have a critique of Father Mike Schmitz’s one critique

If you have not seen the movie Cabrini, go see it even if you are not Catholic or Christian or any religion. It is a well made movie and it is great. Yes, it is about a Catholic Saint, but there is much more to it than a pious film about a Saint, which leads me to my critique of Father Schmidt’s critique.

But first if you haven’t seen it, stop, see it then come back to this post. I am about to describe some of the scenes in the movie and I don’t want to be the spoiler guy.

Father Schmitz overall is right on target with his thoughts on this movie. He describes it well and presents an excellent discussion. His review is on youtube so you can see for yourself. He states his one critique with the movie is God or Christ is not emphasized enough. He then states this is not a Church film, this is a main stream film. Yet this is not the point I want to make. And my point is God is in the movie, it is the quiet part not said. The better half put it well, this is a movie about a Saint in action.

And that is one part of what is Christ in the movie. We revere God, Christ, yet we do not always have to say it. One of the primary teachings of the Church is to live our life as Christ lived his. Mother Cabrini does this and it is in the film. Her actions, her acts of love made in the face of all her adversaries and adversities show something that she has, faith. I too came out of the movie and wanted it said somewhere in the movie that it was her faith that gave her the strength to do what she did. Like Father Schmidt wanting more emphasis on God in her life, I wanted some recognition of her faith emphasized. Yet as I now critique Father Schmitz I realize the strength of the movie. It is the unspoken faith, the unspoken devotion to following God’s will that gives the movie more power.

Sure some people who do not want the Church to succeed or want to criticize the Church are saying this movie is more about a strong woman and will not concede what is behind her strength. Yet the movie is so well made a person has to ask themselves what gives her this strength, what helps her persevere when no one is behind her. You have to ask yourself how does a woman in the late 1800’s go to an all male world and conquer them and obtain what some will say what she wants. We know in reality it is God’s will that marches her on. Who says to people I want to create an empire of hope? Where does this come from?

And when you see that her actions have a foundation of love, it becomes obvious that there is more than just one determined woman involved. For people who may not believe for whatever reason though this movie can open them up to asking themselves these questions. Her life, her work, her love for the children and the sick are all what Christ asks us as Christians to do. For a person who has not been brought up on Christian teaching the movie can inspire them to think, reflect and ponder what drove this woman to such efforts. This is where God or more specifically the Holy Spirit comes in. Once a person starts asking questions, once their heart opens a tad, once they think, what is behind all this, then they will look for answers. We, as Christians, know the answers, yet if we try to force them it does not always work.

We are to evangelize, and in this case and all cases the we is spelled with a capital “I”. It is our responsibility to bring souls to Christ. Yet telling people about Christ so they know he exists is one approach, yet a true conversion a true understanding of the need for repentance doesn’t come with the vocal word, it is when a heart opens and lets the Holy Spirit touch on the longing we all have to what can truly bring us joy. This movie shows a Saint in action and gives the fence sitters, the non believers, the atheist, the agnostic food for thought.

I do not want to compare myself to any Saint, and I say this to illustrate a point. The greatest compliment anyone has ever given me was when I left one of my employments the person in charge said you could see Christ in me in my work and what I did. I never went around telling people they needed to convert to save their soul. I never preached, but this recognition that I do try to treat all people with real respect and it was noticed in the little things I do every day is a compliment like no other.  By no means at all was I like Mother Cabrini, but it was the notice of the simple things I did for others each day and recognizing it was one of the best moments of my working life and it left me speechless. Again it is us living as Christ that shows the world Christ. Mother Cabrini does this so well and the movie gives us this in all Christ’s glory without ever having to say Christ.

So Father Mike Schmitz, you know so much more than I. And I know this because I do listen to your work and teachings, yet I truly think you missed this very important nuance. I ask you to remember the final scene of where she is drowning and then comes a man that sees her and reaches down to her and you see her looking up to see the help she needs and then he rescues her. This scene comes at the point in the movie when she received the strength she needs to overcome the final obstacles to get what she needs to start the success of her mission. Just because no one says God or emphasizes God, you see God, not in the individual man, but in the help, him pulling her up to live so she can become the Saint we now admire. The example she gives us to emulate. Many of us may never become Saints like her, but if us who are already Christians become inspired to be more Christ like similar to her or those who have not yet seen Christ in their lives open their hearts and begin to ask the questions then the emphasis of God is seen and hence is there.

YBIC

Cheers!.

#Cabrini

[dallasareaopinion]

I am supposed to call someone dumb or stupid or whatever or worse

Yet YOU are not dumb or stupid or whatever or worse. It is not that I feel I have to insult someone, it is just society seems to relish in it. And that is not correct. It is not society that wants me to insult someone or some thing, but rather I wonder have we just devolved to that point. And I think not. So what gives?

Is it social media? Is it the media? Maybe.

I would love to have tons of likes on “X” what use to be Twitter. Why can’t it just be twitter? People change things for reasons that make no sense or it gives them a sense of power. I affected your life by my action. Yet is that true? I still say the same thing I would have no matter the medium. Maybe some people are affected. There seems to be even more hate on Twitter I mean “X” than before. Is it because the name changed? Or because the owner changed? Or because we are just going further down the crazed rabbit hole no matter what you call it or who owns it?

People are obsessed with being accepted by their side. And I am not sure what that even means anymore. Politically we have two sides and everything is geared for those two sides to control our lives. I personally have railed against this for decades and in print for over a decade now. Yet what do the great unwashed masses think is their side. Certainly not the political sides, but are they accepting that the two sides as their only choice or have they gotten to the point where they don’t even care anymore. Of course that presumes that at some point the great unwashed masses cared.

Polls say the majority of this country does not want a Biden v. Trump rematch, yet we are staring at it in the face. We got it no matter what we wanted. So what gives?

Did Ms. Haley make a valiant effort? Or was it just a waste of media space all along? I am perturbed she dropped out. I wasn’t going to vote for her, but I was routing for her.

Yet as a person that posts on some type of social media, do I fail because I do not have a thousand likes and is it because I do not play the hate game? Do I succumb to insulting the other side to make a bigger name for myself? Yet I am against both sides. I do say both sides have failed this country, but I do something “weak” and attack them on points, try to come up with something better, argue for policy changes, patter for new ideas, but it falls on deaf ears or unresponsive ears. Why? Do I need to say horrible things to get noticed?

Some people might call me a Mike Milquetoast, someone who acquiesces or lets others run over them because I do not attack, yet those same people do not define on what hill I should die on. That is for me to choose. I feel no matter what age you are, whether you are 33, 43, 53, 63, 73, 83 acting like the 13 year old mean girl is not the answer. And just because I do not act like the 13 year old mean girl does not mean I am not ready to fight. Again I choose what hill I die on. And quite frankly like 99.999999… percent of humanity I am not ready to die on a hill, any hill. I may have an inkling of what that may be, but like most everyone except the Saints I am not that strong, yet it is mine to choose. And it is definitely not joining the crowd and spewing vindictives against some imaginary enemy to make me feel good.

Yet here we are staring as a country at something we say we do not want. The hate, the candidates, the public ridicule some people are suffering through for no reason are some of the current madness we say we don’t want, but open your local social media outlet and what do you have.

Invite someone to a barbecue, a back yard cook out, a dinner party, and we can talk about everything, but what it is we don’t want. Sports, books, movies, recipes, how to build a better deck for the backyard, cars, makeup, the list goes on, and we might even disagree about some aspects of it like what is the best sauce for barbecue, but what is staring us in the face right now we cannot bring up. People who normally like each other have been set on fire with angst about someone being on the other side. There is no compromise because it has become sacrilegious to say lets get something accomplished. I am willing to concede a point to do something better is criminal behavior. You have failed your side. And quite frankly we are all on the same side just looking differently at the answers. Does our side’s answers make us feel better? What gives?

I will continue to offer my version of sanity. Some type of idea that normalcy, what ever that may be, still exists. I will not create more hate just to get a name, yet I still want some success. How does a person create space for themselves in this environment by trying to jolt people awake to something better? What can give?

I hope to find out, but for now have a good evening.

#front porch ramblings

[dallasareaopinion]

The independent platform part 4: taxation

I think I want to keep this simple. I have written proposals before and as time goes on it becomes  more apparent to me that we do not much hubris in the tax code, we just need something everyone can understand.

If you think we should have a flat tax I disagree and have spelled out the specifics in an earlier post, however the headline is flat tax rate is significantly primarily detrimental to the working and middle class.

Yet if you want something simple like a flat tax and want to stick with the concept of a graduated income tax, here goes. The numerical examples are totally for illustration. They can be adjusted to what works best, however this illustration should give you an idea of a simple graduated income tax code. They are going to be a couple of differences that will be spelled out below the example. Otherwise this should be the code. Just keep it real simple for all.

Income                                              tax rate

$0-25,000.00                                    0%

$25,000.01-150,000.00                  5%

$150,000.01-500,000.00                10%

$500,000.00-2,500,000.00            15%

$2,500,000.01-5,000,000.00         25%

$5,000,000.01 and greater           35%

This tax schedule applies to individuals, small businesses, corporations etc. and encompasses all types of income such as earned, passive, short term capital gains, dividends for example.

A couple of caveats:

No social security income is taxed.

Long term capital gains would be moved to 24 months and for people up to $150,000 in income there would be no taxes. For people with income $150,000 to 2,500,000, it would be 10% and then 20% for income over the 2.5 million.

Hedge funds, investment banks etc would be taxed 90% on short term trading, algorithm trading and probably need to go a bit deeper in how this is addressed or define some specific parameters, but basically it has to hurt to manipulate the market for immediate gain.

I am open to some slight changes in the actual numbers once they are plugged into they system, but the general principle would apply.

And if you want a flat tax rate and do not like this instead then you are just a very wealthy individual who doesn’t care about the vast majority of this country.

More platform ideas to come.

Cheers

#2024 election #politics

[dallasareaopinion]

Does the national nightmare prove we are not who we say we are

I am tired of this crap. Let’s get this over with. Time to find out if the national nightmare is over or is it coming to fruition.

Will we find out if the Supreme Court is a plaything for the rich, a ruse to us the people like Citizen’s United suggests? Or will we finally learn we are a nation of laws and all men are created (and treated) as equals?

The delays are allowed to give everyone a legal chance to prove their innocence, however we need to know before we vote. Why should we have to wait? All appeals on the secondary claims to be heard post haste. Everyone lover or hater needs to know what is the answer. Guilty or innocent it matters and doesn’t matter anymore.

No matter which way your wind blows you should want this done. We need to know if our rights are important and matter, that justice is blind and not given to those who have versus those who have not. Or know so we can make decisions on where we want to live. If the wealthy have all the rights then state it. No more lies. Either stand up and render justice or stand down and leave us to figure out what we want next. Yet either way get out of the way, stop the delays and rule. Give us an answer a truthful answer now. And if the truth is that the rich have it all then face those consequences because we, the people do not think so. Yet, state your position so we can decide. Are we a nation or are we serfs?

Can we live as free men? Can we send the MTGs and Jim Jordans to the Federal Assembly? And either the State Duma or Federation Council will do. They and their ilk’s desire to be beholden to tyranny is their desire not ours so let them go. For those of us who desire to speak of what we care about and fight for what we believe, we do not need their subjugation to cults of personality.

You can fight for stronger immigration laws, please do. Write them, champion them, proselytize them with fervor, but do it as an act of policy, do not subject us to the madness of a demagogue. Stand up for your beliefs, yet remember it is your beliefs that makes us great, not one individual. Do you not read the document you swear by? And this goes for any and all policy you prefer. Just remember you are not the only one who sits on this land.

So let’s find out. End the delays, send it to the jury so we can know once and for all. Does it matter that we care for this country? Or is this all a joke perpetuated on us for the benefit of a few individuals so they can inflate their bank accounts while we fight each other in regards to the national nightmare? Are we ignorantly blind or willfully blind? Either way time to remove the blinders and face the truth. Is the nightmare a reality, and we will never be allowed to thrive or can we once and for all become the country our forefathers promised us in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution?

No cheers tonight

And I will get back to the platform, just sometimes you have to ask yourself if it is worth the effort.

It is and we need new parties.

#2024 election #politics #front porch ramblings

[dallasareaopinion]

Two old guys, yet one Party is luckier than the other

First of all I must be missing something. I know most people are accepting that Biden and Trump will be the respective nominees of their Party. And I know it has been discussed here and there that both are old and what might happen if one of them were to pass away. Yet I haven’t seen this dominate any political landscape and the major issues it might cause one party if their presumptive nominee passes away.

I cannot believe that there isn’t a significant hum in the background noise about this happening. Everyone complains about the other candidate being too old. Their cognitive capabilities aside either one of them could pass away at any given moment. And yes I realize that people in worse health than either one has lived well into their eighties. Yet the possibility that one if not both could actually pass away between now and November is real.

Which brings me to this thought. Everyone in the Republican Party that is high on Trump wants Ms. Haley to concede and drop out of the race. Much to their chagrin that is the last thing they want. Here is the strangest rub. The reality is that some that support Trump probably won’t go out and vote for Ms. Haley. That is actually not that much of a problem. Most moderate Trump supporters will vote for her because they don’t want Biden. She will only lose that most radicalized of the Trump supporters. She will more than make up those votes with non Trump Republicans and independents. The Republicans need her to stay in the race as a back up plan. At this point and this is just opinion, but I don’t think Ron DeSantis can come back and garner enough support to become the nominee. If he tries and forces a floor fight at the convention, he splits the party and guarantees the Democrats win even if the candidate is Kamala Harris.

Which leads me to the Democrats problem. Kamala Harris will lose to either Trump or Haley. Independents are not getting excited about Harris so would stay home even if Trump is the candidate. She does not have enough time to make a name for herself. Yes die hard Democrats will support her, but that will not be enough to overcome her lack of headlines now. The closer we get to November, the worse and worse things get for the Democrats if Biden were to pass away. Even though Kamala Harris is Vice President, too many people do not know enough about her to go out and vote for her.

And if the Democrats try to nominate someone else they split the Party and lay one big egg in November.

The Republicans by Haley staying in the race have a built in back up plan as long as Ron doesn’t poop the party at the Convention. And will be in a much better place to win than the Democrats. Haley will have huge name recognition for having stood up to Donald to the very end. This will be attractive to independents which hands her the race.

Again many people live well into their eighties so this scenario may never play out, but if I was a Republican donor or operative who wasn’t cultistly tied to Trump, I would quietly encourage her to stay in the race.

Yet for people like me, who see both parties as having failed this country, and not that I want anyone to pass away, it would be quite fun to see two explosive floor fights at both conventions with both parties so damaged that an independent could win enough to create the most interesting election in the history of the country. What happens if no one gets to 270 electoral votes and we have tied House, okay one vote majority, and Senate which might happen. And yes the House could go really crazy with all the factions that might be created, the hard right, the freedom caucus, moderate Republicans and Democrats, the far left and leave us with one wild ride of uncertainty that would make last year’s 15 votes for Speaker seem mundane.

Historically this seems absolutely absurd that something like this would happen. Currently I am more than surprised that this isn’t on more radars publicly. Next week is March and by the end of the month all the presumptions will be in concrete. And then the headlines say….now I lay me down to sleep I pray the Lord my soul to keep, if I should die before I wake I pray the Lord my soul to take.

Life can be quite interesting some days. Cheers

#2024 election #politics

[dallasareaopinion]

The independent platform part 3

Good afternoon all, just thought I would throw that in since I am in a weird place at the moment. Yet, we need to be productive on occasion so I thought I would try such behavior at the moment.

This next topic I do not have solutions. When I originally started this blog I put in the introduction or description that I wanted to not complain, but offer solutions, but here we are. I do not think this is just complaining though. There is this problem/issue that needs to be addressed so I am going to address it and then work forward on trying to obtain ideas on how best to deal with the topic.

I think I have brought this up throughout the years, but I now think we should take this head on to hopefully come up with some ideas.

And I am not the only one that is all up in arms about this topic either. I think my libertarian side is coming through, but most Americans do not have to be so inclined to want some solutions. We are losing way too much of our lives to corporations and the government. They demand so much from us and give so little back. Have you tried to enroll in Social Security, sign up at IRS. Gov? If so you have probably run across something called IDME. If you can avoid it, do.

And this is just a tip of the iceberg of the problem. Today in the news AT&T was down and so what happens when some corporation is down. Were they hacked? Some news reports say no, but this was today. More info will be needed. And if hacked we all know we are at the mercy of the hackers. And it is not just data breaches that drive this issue. It is across the board. We give up inordinate amounts of our information and privacy so the government and large corporations/tech giants can “make our lives more convenient”. They have no control of anything, but they have all the information.

Today I read a story about the size of the Chinese hacking operations and it stated many vulnerabilities were in systems designed by IBM and Google. Yet it is our lives that are affected and in quite numerous ways. First to repair any damages to the actual corporation has costs and as we know all businesses pass on costs, no matter what they say. Then we are directly vulnerable to anywhere from outright theft of our assets to untold amounts of propaganda being sent our way. We must presume that at any given moment someone knows more about us than ourselves as individuals.

Is convenience worth it? Sometimes it is easy to say yes. Most of the time many of us have no idea our data has been compromised. And possibly because so much data has been compromised that the so called evil doers haven’t had time to sort through it all. Yet this should not mitigate our outrage.

Maybe we don’t need too many bells and whistles in our lives right now. Maybe we don’t need social media coming at us at 100 miles per hour each minute. Maybe we need time to go to the store and the people in the store try to earn our business. Why are apps the required method of doing business right now. The little bit in discounts I may earn do nothing to the amount of marketing, cost saving, preferred choices, products that the corporations steer me to for their benefit. Apps are for the corporation, do not let yourself be fooled. They can work less to earn your business, employ less people to help you whether in store or worse in a call center, spend less, but in no way shape or form are they lowering product costs to match their savings and are constantly reporting their profits to the kings of Wall Street to satisfy the .01 of one percent who rake in all our hard earned money to buy off the government so they can exploit us even more. And yet this post is about privacy.

And that is the problem, we keep giving up more and more yet are less protected from corporate greed, corporate malfeasance, government intrusions, corporate intrusion and there are no safeguards. If all hades breaks lose we are the cannon fodder of the disaster. Our government was established to be for the people, yet the people have become a very small group of individuals who have more to say about our lives that is imaginable. 

I know I am complaining and I promised I wouldn’t. Yet, the solutions we have in front of us are pretty demanding and a hard fight. The first policy is to reduce the impact lobbyists have on Congress. And by reduce probably need to remove. The second is to have two Supreme Court cases either reviewed under new light for change of law or create laws that change their effect. The first is the older ruling that corporations are people. The second is the Citizen United’s decision that pretty much says money trumps free speech, individual rights and disenfranchises votes.

This means new blood in Congress. I always say we need new parties and this is one of those situations where the Democrats and Republicans are the root cause of the problem. The fact that we are held hostage by such a microscopic minority of uber wealthy individuals shows our representative form of government has been hijacked. The form of government is not the problem. The problem was ourselves for letting what has happened. So it is up to us to take it back. The good news is we still have a functional ballot box, Trump be damned, so we must use it.

The current political party leadership though needs to go. They have become to beholden to this uber group to effect any change at all for the general population on any issue.

So after two pages of complaining, one paragraph of potential action, we come down to the platform starting with supporting major changes to how people become elected or essentially make it just as easy for an independent or third party candidate to be on the ballot as the major parties. Drastic changes to funding political campaigns and serious campaign finance reform which includes limiting all contributions to the candidate, no PACs, no groups, and all must be identified so no hidden money. And to get this we need to get in office. A catch 22? Not necessarily, but one uphill battle. Also we need to include legislation that changes the two Supreme Court cases mentioned above. Also legislation that shuts down or severely impacts lobbying. I once encountered an argument that some lobbying is needed and previously have thought maybe lobbying based on information provided to Congress by request from industry groups could be beneficial, yet even that would need serious vetting when writing that legislation.

All in all, until we make serious changes to how our Congress is held accountable to us, the people, our information, our rights, our privacy will be at the mercy of those who want to exploit our data for their gain, yet cannot guarantee it’s safety. Maybe we should add serious consequences for data breaches and some might think how much data do they really need. I am definitely a believer in businesses need to earn my business and trust and Government should act in a way that keeps my trust not my information.

Cheers

And on a complete side note that just proves to me the elitist left is clueless and pretentious I saw a headline from the LA Times written by Jackie Calmes that says” I watched a Trump rally so you don’t have to, but you need to know what he is saying.” Are you friggin’ kidding me? I am so opposed to Trump, but for one person to think their political lens is more important than mine for me to dictate my own opinion is the absolute epitome of elitism. Their view point matters more than mine. I know not. This is why we need new blood in Congress and in the national conversation.

#2024 election #politics

[dallasareaopinion]

Platform still coming, however a Mavs break

I am a bit perturbed by the national media’s reflection on the Dallas Mavericks’ trades. Many are not grading the trades well. I certainly understand they may not be an “A” grade, but there marks are way off the mark.

First in a strange way the first advantage is Luka can play five minutes or less per game if Gafford just gets 8 or more rebounds a game. And this can be with Luka on the court or on the bench. The more rebounds we get means the opposing team is getting less offensive rebounds which means less opportunities for them. This allows Luka to rest since teams will have less opportunity to make runs at any leads we have created. Kidd will not feel forced to put Luka back in too early in second and fourth quarters just to stop runs.

Second the depth at center improved mightily.  Even though we love Powell in Dallas, he is not your best option night in and night out to play major minutes as a center. Powell now becomes the third or even fourth option at the five. This is way overdue. Even Maxi can play some minutes at five in a small ball lineup better than Powell. Again I know he is a fan favorite in Dallas and has been showing a high basketball IQ this year along with always working hard, it is time for him to finish out his contract and retire. Maybe become part of the post game show or something, but he really needs to retire soon.

The draft capital was a bit much to give up, but half our team is young now and if they play well we should be contending strongly for four or more yeas so our first round picks would be pretty far down the line anyway. And soon Powell, Hardaway and Kleber’s contracts will have completed so we will have money to get up and coming free agents to go along with who we have now.

I wish Curry had stayed since THJ can be very streaky, but we have some good balance now for non Luka and Kyrie scoring with adding Washington to the mix. Basically we now have Washington, Green, Hardaway, Hardy, who have the potential to get 20 plus points on a given night and the others scoring in double figures gives us a well rounded attack. You add in either one of Exum, DJJ, Kleber also touching double figures regularly and things look really good.

Which leads to the next point, we have a deep rotation that could be used in tough 7 game series which again allows Luka not to have to play 45 minutes per game. I know rotations shorten in the playoffs normally, but when you have 8-10 players like what we have will help, even if some just play a few minutes. Keeping people fresh so come game 7 Luka and Kyrie have it in them to play 40 plus is an added bonus.

“X” feeds have quite a few depth charts now and even some people saying we may get Spencer Dinwiddie back which would be really interesting and means we are definitely ten deep in the playoffs, can work through minor injuries, and still run basically the same offense with all ten players in the rotation to having some serious flexibility as needed. IE Maxi playing small ball center to having two bigs to play the Timberwolves or the Nuggets if needed. We have not had that flexibility before and playing against some teams that will be a definite benefit. I don’t think Lively and Gafford will play together, but one of those with Maxi may not scare teams, but it will allow us to match up better than before. Yes not perfect, but much better than Powell being out there by himself which is what we have had to do too many times. Of course Maxi’s health has to improve, but still him stretching out and bringing a big out to guard him since he can hit threes will really open up spacing. Throw in Washington, Green or even Spencer at the three that can create on their own and things can get real fun.

We can play with pace with Kyrie and Hardy at times or even Luka some, or slow the game down to a crawl with Luka working the clock looking to score or see where the defense breaks down for the open shot. This makes the Mavericks are harder team to prepare for and in a 7 game series this matters.

Imagine being able to successfully have 3-4 different starting line up options and you can still play the same sets to start a game until you see how it develops.

You can have Luka, Kyrie, Green, Washington and Lively.

Luka Kyrie, Hardaway, Washington and Lively

Luka Kyrie, Green, DJJ and Lively

Luka Kyrie, Exum, Green and Lively

Luka, Kyria, Hardaway, Green and Lively,

You get the point, basically small nuances in who starts to either match up with specific teams or maybe just the healthiest players for the evening. Gafford could play in all of the above groups.

Then your bench rotations are based on how the other team is reacting, need to pick up the pace throw in Hardy, get bigger you go Lively, Kleber and Washington or even Morris if needed.

Luka may get less triple doubles but he still gets his points and averages more assists since Kidd can play the hottest hands that night throughout the game and not play anyone not shooting well that evening. Kidd can rest Luka longer and still keep two ball handlers on the floor at all times especially if we get Spencer which helps Hardy develop and play more freely and hopefully Exum gets healthy soon.

Imagine a five guard rotation line up of Luka, Kyrie, Hardy, Exum and possibly Spencer who all can create for others or make their own shot. You have three pick and roll centers in Lively, Gafford and Powell. You can stretch the floor with Washington, Green, Hardaway and a bit with Kleber. You can run or play small ball with Kyrie, Hardy, Exum, Green, Washington and Lively or Kleber. And when you need to get a stop in the last minute you have Lively or Gafford, Green, Washington, Exum, DJJ, Morris and depending on the situation Luka or Kyrie or Kleber or Spencer.

Not sure why the national press or media doesn’t think the Mavs did well. They may seem minor additions, but we didn’t need to kill depth to get a superstar we just needed to find the right players to complement our superstars. Adding the depth at center allows the other players to play more their roles and strengths. And Washington just has to be more consistent than Grant Williams and play with desire and the difference grows even more.

And everyone on the team should be playing hungry now for that championship. There is a window opening. This team just needs to find itself, play together and let the intangibles of the game come to them.

Looking to say Cheers with meaning.

#DallasMavericks

[dallasareaopinion]

The one thousandth post

It has been over twelve years since I first started this blog. And I knew the 1,000 post was coming up, so I wanted to write something so profound the universe would stop, you know the pride thing going on. Well…I can’t think of a thing.

And between spending three weeks in Washington D. C. moving, being tired, and uninspired I haven’t gotten around to this post. Yes we are in a new place and are settling in so do I have all the good excuses not to be Mt. Tibet inspired to save you all from your daily drudgery?

I was thinking this morning just in general not for this blog and thought the more I travel the more I realize how little I know. And that just sounded so familiar that I internet searched. Yep there are quite a few similar quotes running around about traveling and realizing how little you know.  Yet I do feel quite strongly about that thought. And I think I have blogged about something similar before because one of my favorite quotes is from St. Augustine “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” And as always he hits the nail on the head. And my thinking is quite a few problems we face could be eventually solved if more people had a better idea of everything going on beyond their scope of life. And besides traveling is quite fun.

So the above is not quite the earth shattering post I wanted to make, however, it does incorporate one of my favorite topics and pastimes, traveling. I love to travel and see new and even familiar places. Right now though I am sitting on my couch trying to figure out what to post.

And since I have not reached the peak of thought for mankind I decided I just needed to make my post and move on. I still owe you the rest of my independent or fictional third party platform for 2024’s election. It isn’t like our government is racing to solve all our problems right now and with Tucker in Russia committing treason, Trump crying don’t do anything so I can win, the Democrats caught between the games the Republicans play and their inability to push through them, the left and right wing media all geared up to tell us how bad is the other side, and absolutely no legislation of any kind about to be passed we, the people as usual are screwed. And quite frankly the Republicans now saying we shouldn’t do anything until the people decide with the next election along with them saying it was a rigged election if they lose, we can now guarantee nothing will be achieved for years.

And yet for some reason, as little as I don’t like government it would help if it actually did address some issues. And yes I know the Democrats are trying to do something and there was a bi partisan attempt at the border issue, but hey Trump passed gas so the Republican righteous jumped at the prescribed height and so no border bill.

And for the vast majority of us, we are stuck paying too much for everything, mainly now for corporate greed because hey, Wall Street prescribes the height they are to jump to, and no help from the people who we pay through tax dollars to protect us from enemies within and outside of our borders.

I will continue my tirades just so when the deal goes down there is something in writing that says I tried to tell you so. Maybe some future alien civilization will come across the remnants of our planet and dig through all the terabytes of information left behind and go, hey at least someone knew things weren’t working. Ah to be so redeemed.

Anyway if you are reading this on Tumblr or Wordpress you may go I do not see 1,000 posts and that is because I originally started this on blogger or blogspot or whatever and then somewhere along the line I started this same blog on the other two platforms and just copy and paste the same post to all three sites. My thinking is I need to try and reach more people. Who knows if that is succeeding. So if you want to catch up you have to go to blogger or blogspot and read from the beginning. I also changed my original description of this blog. At first it was a couple of paragraphs long, now it is a simple sentence that really doesn’t describe the blog, yet is more of my feeling about the whole sha bang.

Eventually I do want to do a podcast tied to this blog while still posting in the written word. I have a microphone someone gave me, however in all the moves we have made in less than a year I cannot find it. Once I do, be forewarned. My plan is for some of the podcasts to compliment my written posts and some to be on separate topics. And then there is the quote the best laid plans of mice and men and if you want to read something profound maybe read Steinbeck. And according to all the modern world thinking, I also need to create a brand so people can understand who am I. That is simple: crotchety old man who thinks he knows it all, who is frustrated that the people who say they know it all keep screwing it up. How about that for a brand?

Folks, we all need something better than the current leadership we have in this country and elsewhere on this planet, and honestly I hope we find it because I want to travel to where you live and enjoy life with you.

Cheers!

And before I forget, Go Mavs, Stars, FC Dallas, Rangers and then Cowboys (sheesh). Wish Dallas had received the World Cup Championship, but we did receive 9 games so it will be fun around here in 2026.

And yes there is quite a bit of news right now, but everyone else is commenting on all the craziness so another time maybe.

#front porch ramblings #blogging

[dallasareaopinion]

The we need third party/independent platform 2024 part 2

This is a new topic for me and it is a single issue post. I am struggling with how to address this problem because it involves two dynamic forces colliding. And maybe not the best description, but I hold fast to this is a dynamic collision in how do you address the best policy.

And this is the housing situation in America. More and more you read that corporate America is buying up homes. The obvious problem is where does this leave individuals and families when it comes to owning a home. Do we let the market dictate everything? And allow those with the assets to have free reign on the market? Or is the opportunity to own your own home at a reasonable price something that allows for government interference in the housing market?

This is a dynamic collision in America. Does one side have an inherent priority over the other? And if we say the government should get involved what exactly does that look like?

And it can become a major political fight if anyone wakes up and realizes how fast corporate ownership of houses is growing. For now, investors have been buying houses for years and some people feel that is one of the problems that caused the 2008-2009 recession. There were too many house flippers buying houses borrowing too much money to do such. Well things are a bit different now. We are looking at full corporations buying into the housing market. They bring a much stronger financial balance sheet than the house flippers so their ability to gain larger market share is real and depending on your outlook potentially dangerous.

Historically owning a home is one of the ways young couples in the working and middle class could start to build wealth or have something to pass on to their children. If the housing market consolidates too much then the wealth gap only increases. And if you are a regular reader you know that I feel the wealth gap is a danger to this country and democracy/our republic in general. I am of the camp that believes a strong middle class is the backbone of a strong democracy. Yet as a conservative I do not want too much government overreach into our lives and this includes the economy. So where does this land us with trying to balance these two competing dynamics?

A strong purpose of an elected government is to defend or protect the public in general, whether it be from external forces or internal issues. You can make the case that at times the government should get involved when the general welfare of its people is negatively affected by an issue. I think this is one of those cases. And since our government is founded on certain ideals such as life liberty and the pursuit of happiness, the government can at times look to balance competing interests to help the general welfare of the populace. And owning an affordable home is beneficial to the general populace. Now you also have to realize that owning a home is not a “right” nor is it a privilege,  but being able to afford where you live should be considered a necessity in modern times. And having the opportunity to thrive is an opportunity that should be open to all.

So how do we keep the door open for home ownership to many while not interfering with businesses well, doing business?

This is a interesting question and I do not think it has been addressed enough with ideas. It is talked about in the press somewhat, but there is not a plethora of competing arguments, policy, or platforms that addresses the pros on either side, much less discussions in general that weigh the two competing sides. I will make the joke/statement this is ripe for some dissertational work. I say this knowing we need some immediate action or policy to this before housing does get out of reach for most Americans.

And since I have not seen too much in regards to public policy initiatives and maybe I have missed them and I feel the Democrats and Republicans are just too weak to step up and address this problem I will step into whatever mess is lying on the floor and put forth some thoughts.

And if you read through many of the immediate platform posts you may start to notice a theme so I will state it now. And some will not like it. Since I fear the wealth gap growing some policy proposals will have considerations to tax activities that drive the wealth gap larger. And since I have already stated I feel this is happening with corporations buying home large swaths of the housing market or will have in the near future one approach is to tax at very high rates profits on transactions that remove properties from the open markets or corporations owning too much of the housing market. Does this interfere with business opportunities? Yes, yet something needs to be done to allow anyone and especially young people a fighting chance to create a worthwhile dynamic for themselves for those that choose to want a home. Some people do not want a home and so we are not going to force everyone into that mindset, but for those that do, they should not be priced out of the market.

So what does taxing at a higher proportional rate for business activities in the housing market look like? And that is difficult because corporations owning the housing market is a change from what was considered the norm for the last fifty plus years. I have seen articles that state corporations may own forty percent of the market by 2030. Honestly is that too much and if you support the business models of life you may think not. Yet if you support the wealth gap problem, you would feel way too much.

And if corporations can change the mentality and find a way to make their ownership just a way to make money as a conduit to more people owning a home, you wouldn’t need to tax at a proposed higher rate. For example since the real estate market is changing with the amount of commission real estate agents may be charging in the future, what if the corporations buy the house then sell it at a six percent mark up which was the previous real estate commission rate. That would not be affecting the market in a negative way. Yet if the corporations buy up houses and then start creating their own market for rental pricing then they are taking away wealth from the general populace. One way to determine if rental prices are too high would be relative to past inflation, current inflation and if rental prices are adding to inflation and not being affected by inflation. Quite a few parameters in that scenario, but that could be a start to determine if rent prices should be taxed at higher rates than regular income tax or corporate tax rates. So instead of starting with the formula to determine if it is excessive you force the business  prove their income is not excessive. So the rates start higher and I mean higher so hopefully to discourage corporations trying to raise rates just for profit motives.  To lower their tax rate they would have to prove their income is not driving housing costs up either through buying and selling or rental income. You may say this is quite a bit to prove. And yes that is the point. We are trying to discourage corporations for over owning housing in America so you have to make it difficult for corporations to take advantage of a monopoly in the housing market. Would it be better for them to keep housing prices in line or would the cost of managing many homes for little profit keep them out of this business? If they are doing so only for their bottom line, then they are negatively affecting the market and the higher tax rates are implemental. If they are trying to generate a new way for Americans to obtain housing at affordable housing and this is a new business model, then their profits should be reasonable and taxed at current corporate rates.

Yes we are walking some thin lines here, but we have to start talking about this issue with more emphasis on maintaining affordable housing and this can be either ownership or rents. The housing market is changing fast and my idea may not be the most ideal. So my goal is to force the issue and bring it to the forefront of political discussion requiring politicians to make decisions on policy to protect the American public from runaway housing costs. Better ideas are always welcome. Until then I am sticking with my general theme that the government can take action to protect the general welfare of its populace as best as it can without completely stifling free market competition. Again a very thin line to walk, but one that is needed always and specifically with housing. Otherwise our illustrious two major parties will sit on this until it is too late since neither has any backbone to really help the American people.

Cheers

#politics #2024 election #housing

[dallasareaopinion]

The we need third party/independent’s 2024 platform, part 1

So it is time to give you a different perspective than what you will see from the two major parties. I have done this before so some of this may sound familiar to regular readers. And I think that is good. Hopefully my ideas are consistent. Some changes may be made here and there, yet that is because the times change every four years and some of my ideas getting furthered developed as time goes on. As I mentioned in a post last month I will be presenting the platform in multiple posts. And I am starting with one topic I have discussed many times previously. This should be shorter than future posts since I hope to more or less consolidate what I have expressed previously.

Part one is about social security and ideas to help it survive and even thrive. Social Security is something that I think most Americans agree needs to not only be kept, but improved so that it is available for all working Americans now and in the future. One point I recently mentioned was I am glad Ms. Haley is talking about it, but her main point of extending the retirement age until 70 should not be considered. You can choose to work as long as you want, but you should always be able to choose to have your own life after working 40 or more years. I know this is not a “right”, yet if the company you work for won’t take care of you when you retire and we have a system to help you in place then we should make it as strong as possible.

So to keep social security viable we really need to have a multi prong approach. Trying to keep social security solvent beyond next decade is too difficult for a one solution fix, so I propose these ideas to keep it funded and to build up the future.

The first step is to change some of the current income tax policy. Currently the worker and the employer each contribute an equal share into the coffers of the Trust Fund. And more on the Trust fund later. You could say just raise the amounts that are contributed which would be helpful for social security, yet would be difficult for both the employer and worker. You are taking more out of the pocket of the employer and worker at a time when many workers are struggling with high inflation and high cost of rent or mortgage. And the housing situation is another platform idea that will be addressed in a future post.  

A better approach is to lower the income tax bracket of the working and middle class by a certain percentage and use some of that tax reduction and move it into social security. And yes this does mean that the worker contributes more than the employer, but this helps many small businesses by not raising how much they have to contribute to social security. You can create an inordinate amount of mathematical examples, yet to keep it simple I will say, cut the tax rate for the first few tax brackets by ten percent. Verbiage here is important, I am not saying cut the tax rate by ten percent so we are not moving the fifteen percent bracket to a five percent bracket. No I am saying cut the fifteen percent bracket by ten percent so a worker’s income is now taxed at 13.5 percent. And then of that 1.5 percent reduction half stays in the worker’s pocket and the other half, .75 percent, goes to social security. Honestly we would need to cut more than ten percent, but the math is going to be much more involved as to how much we can cut into the fifteen percent and other brackets once the numbers are looked at in depth. I just use the ten percent example so you can see how the cut can be hypothetically applied. This also means there will be changes to the overall tax code to make this work and that will be discussed in a future post. I will say for now that corporations and people with large incomes will see a shift upward, however for corporations if they apply certain other aspects of the taxes to their employees their tax increase can be mitigated, but not removed.

The second idea is to increase earnings in the Trust fund.  To some people this sounds like we need to have Wall Street manage the Trust fund. I am one hundred percent against Wall Street or any facsimile of private enterprise taking over this amount of money. I along with you fear the potential for abuse of people with this much at their disposal. What kind of havoc would be unleashed on the financial system by people trying to cook up earnings for social security so they could get paid? I know some people will say they would just manage it according to whatever protocol Congress sets up, but as you know the same people managing money have an extensive lobbying apparatus set up in Washington. It would not take them long to change whatever laws set in place to keep them in check were drastically changed. And I am saying this with complete confidence that this would be a horrible mistake. No I am talking about a more measured approach. And yes I realize some experienced money managers would need to be hired to run the amount of money in the Trust fund, however, you keep it out of the Wall Street economy by only allowing investments in public/private partnerships in infrastructure. Another words social security is invested in municipal projects such as water treatment plants where revenue bonds are normally issued. Or public school districts needing to build new schools. I also have some development projects that will be discussed in an economic platform post where to solve problems private enterprise entities that might benefit from the development will be required to invest their own money and not totally rely on tax payer funds for the specified project.  This way the project is developed for the general good, but any type of industry or business that benefits has skin in the game for their own rewards. A Social Security public/private partnership projects allows some public money to be invested in larger projects to help reduce the burden on local governments and entities so taxpayers are not funding someone else’s profits. Businesses develop as the project is built while the public benefits in general from the project itself. This is a quick example, but try thinking about toll roads being partially funded by the company that profits from running the toll road. In Texas we have companies making significant profits from roads that are built by tax payers so there needs to be a balance to building the road, and if we have to pay tolls then then the money should go back somehow to the general populace who pays for it. Or some of the tolls collected go back to the social security trust. Rates can be set by local government also so the tolls do not become overly burdensome. End result is a road is built by the public/private partnership, less, not none state and local tax money is used, some private enterprise money is used to help lower this taxpayer cost and then the company receives a portion of the profits and they can make a reasonable profit, and some is used to pay social security back for their investment with a competitive, but maybe a half point to point lower interest rate than on the open market for bonds. Not all the money comes from social security so the overall markets are not left out of infrastructure development. It allows for multiple partners on public projects to benefit.

The third idea is a small addition. Social Security is taken from all paid wages. Basically there is no cap on income. Some may say corporations will find away around this to pay their higher wage earners and this means some creativity will need to be created in the tax code to discourage this behavior. And there will be a future post on taxes. Now a strange difference though is that high wage earners can take a cash payout of their social security when they retire. I heard and I forget who said this, yet it made sense to me. The person was reputedly a billionaire and he was complaining what the heck am I suppose to do with this monthly check. I sure do not need it. Or something to that affect. And I agree with him.  It is possibly a burden to keep track of this check in his income and tax planning, there is no need for this check, and he understood paying into the system for him to receive this money was to him a waste. I still think a person should pay into the system because until you reach a certain point financially it might be good to have social security available until you reach said certain point financially. Yet at that point it does become a potential hindrance. So to avoid social security having to pay out over a person’s life time they can elect to receive back what they have contributed.  Now the question becomes is a rate of return calculated so they receive their contributions plus? Maybe something similar to an annuity cash out where you end up with less than if you took the lifetime payout, but more than you contributed. I think you could work something out where the person who does not need social security still receives a small investment return while the majority of the people who need it can receive the lifetime payout amounts. Making this available to all might be dangerous because this is suppose to be their lifetime support. So creating a buyout option would need to have some serious caveats, but I think should be offered if we up the requirement that all wages are included in social security. If people want to invest their own money in retirement they still can through work place and IRA savings accounts. I would make using social security to try and increase their earnings difficult since there are no guarantees in the investment world. And that does go back to corporations saving some on their taxes by offering more to employees as touched on above.

These are just a few ideas and I am open to others. The goal is to find ways to strengthen and improve social security so it is viable for our grandchildren’s grandchildren without putting the burden on workers to work so long they never receive anything in social security. Hence working until 70 as a solution only means every few years we just keep adding to the retirement age until we work until our death and receive none of our contributions. This may be what the corporate world wants from us, or the short sighted, but I am of the mind set that social security is a healthy option for so many people that it needs to be preserved.

Happy New Year and Cheers

#politics #2024 election #social security

[dallasareaopinion]

Merry third day of Christmas

And Merry Christmas. We have been so busy, yet that is no excuse that I also need to focus on what is important.

I hope you had a great Christmas, got what you wanted and found a moment to find joy in your heart. And for those of you that normal life overwhelmed your Christmas and holidays, I hope you too can find a moment to quietly enjoy the season.

Merry Christmas and Peace on Earth. 

[dallasareaopinion]

So, it is about that election year time again

First I will eventually, hopefully write a Christmas post. Right now the hectic, crazy, unsettling moments of the holidays are driving me bonkers. I know everyone wants peace on earth right now and yours truly is no exception. Which in some says brings me to what I have planned for the first of the year. If you are a regular reader you know every four years I offer a potential platform of a party not named democrat or republican. The current morass in my head not withstanding I will be putting this together for next year.

And the current morass and maybe even molasses in my head is preventing me from thinking clearly this wonderful holiday season. I cannot even write two sentences before I sidetrack myself no end. I have already forgotten more thoughts in the last two minutes than I can conceive. And another reason I am trying to write something today. I plan on including in this post an outline of what the platform may encompass once I finally get around to it after the year starts.

Some other quick thoughts. First the Cowboys have no business being in the playoffs if they cannot win two competitive games in a row.  They beat the Eagles then lay an egg against the Bills. They have to be ready to beat teams that are desperate this time of year because all teams will be or at least should be desperate for the playoffs. And I had no intention of saying anything about the Cowboys when I sat down, but my brain is on synopsis overload and nothing is firing in any kind of order. The Mavericks are still interesting at this point, but who knows where they really are as a team since they can’t get Luka and Kyrie together consistently yet. And I don’t blame Kyrie for anything, that was a freak injury situation. I just hope they let him fully heal so sometime in January we have a real idea of what this team can do. And yes Lively II is a wonderful and needed surprise along with and I am going to avoid saying role players because teams have stars and players. Some players have a specific role, but the term role player is way over used in pro basketball. For some people to say Exum or Jones are role players takes away from the great job they are doing as players on the Mavericks. The press, and this includes Barkley ad Shaq, needs to go back and focus on saying players on teams. Oh boy I am way off track.

Any way shape or fashion, it is the holidays, we need more of them, and even though I celebrate Christmas I am somewhat glad we say holidays for this time of year. Whether I like it or not, many people around the world are celebrating right now and of course for all the Western world it is followed by the new year parties, events and thinking. Now I will say Merry Christmas come next weekend and say it with complete joy, meaning and giving, yet it is nice to realize the world is round and we need to celebrate all of us. Yet by no means do I feel woke about all of this, just truthful.

And then back to reality. I do plan on sitting down and creating a somewhat comprehensive platform and topics will include economic, tax structure, social security, healthcare, education, world peace (foreign policy), and even wokeness. This is where it is headed for now. Things could change in a couple of weeks, heck in a couple of seconds. For now I do want to address these topics and thoughts are already creating plaque in those synopsis, but hopefully I can find enough electric impulses to push through the debris field that is my mind.

I had all sorts of thoughts when I first sat down and I wanted to talk more about what is happening on the other side of this keyboard, yet to say something now would be just too confusing. I will say right now I wish I was sitting on a beach with a very high dollar and fine glass of wine or stiff drink staring at the ocean doing nothing. Or even a coffee drink because I need to stop drinking coffee and right now in the middle of the afternoon I have a hankering to go make another pot of coffee. I am fighting the urge as I type, yet realistically I would even settle for that glass of wine even a “table” wine right now while I type. The better half and I just cannot get a moment to feel like we are living in the holidays.

And there was so much I wanted to say when I sat down that I have totally forgetten. Shoot I just got up for three minutes and have already lost track of upteen thoughts.

So I am going to end with this thought for you to digest with your eggnog. I know what heaven smells like. And if I shared the smell with anyone they would immediately get angry, scream at the top of their lungs that I have no idea what I am talking about. Heaven would never smell that way, and it is not an unpleasant order, definitely not. It is not flowery or has a bouquet smell or sweet or wispy or any other adjective that might create a sense of that is so beautiful it must be heaven. They would call me grinch for my smell because it creates no image of what people think what is heaven and here is the catch…. What heaven may smell like because….they do not realize we will not have our earthly senses in heaven. People want to project what they know upon the unknown. There is nothing inherently wrong with trying to do that, yet it can leave us gasping at a reality that does not exist. We have no idea what is heaven so my smell is just as viable as any other, and since we won’t have earthly senses in heaven and yes I know we may rise body and soul into heaven or at least some thought patterns suggest as much, we do not know at all. Everything that we interpret is a complete guess and yes I do believe in Christmas and everything it stands for including the knowledge the sole purpose of Christmas is Easter. I am not trying to burst any bubbles, or ruin your Christmas, but again just trying to get you to realize we are not as smart as we think we are and we need to sit back and smell the roses while we are alive. And that brings me back to one of my original thoughts when I sat down and why I try to write a better platform for our country than the garbage we will received from the democrats and republicans, mankind should have better. I avoided saying deserves or a right to something better, yet mankind can have better. It is up to us. I always pray and hope that all of us, from the Atlantic to the Pacific and everything in between and outside of those boundaries have a terrific Christmas and a life where they are treated with respect and can enjoy much of what our given earthly senses has to offer, whether it be a beautiful blue sky or ocean, a breeze blowing through leaves, a nice glass of wine or even ice tea, a rose placed on your breakfast table, a kiss from a loved one tender on your cheek, the feel of warm cotton against your skin, a drive down a wide open highway, or a horse ride across a field, or maybe just standing out in the middle of the desert feeling the warmth of the sun penetrating your being, so whatever it may be, all of us should be able to enjoy this wonderful planet we have been given with all our senses, and the ugliness of what we do to each other be washed away in a strong rain.

Cheers and Happy Holidays

#politics #front porch ramblings #holidays

[dallasareaopinion]

Not that it really matters, but it is too late to worry about it

Okay okay, I am not young anymore so out of a moment of trying to act responsibly for my age, I caved. Yep gave in to rational thinking, did what I was supposed to do, behaved, and so forth and so on.

I regretted it from the moment I sat down.

We went to Braum’s. If you do not know Braum’s it is a pretty unique environment. It is simple, but has quite a bit going on. It is a fast food restaurant or a comparable step above, it is an ice cream store and carries groceries.  So you can go get a burger and then some ice cream. Simple but wonderful stop to enjoy.

I always and I do mean always get a double dip hot fudge sundae. Today though for some ill conceived notion I thought I should get a single since I was already a bit full and you know that age thing.

I sat down and looked at the puny ass serving and am still regretting not getting the double dip and it has been well over a hour since we got home.

Never again will I make that mistake, overly stuffed or whatever. Shoot at my age I should go ahead and get what I want, too late to worry about it now.

Cheers

#gluttony