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Monday, September 17, 2018

Nonsense Is Still Nonsense

There is so much political theater ongoing these days, that it is sometimes hard to remember that most of it is nonsense that is put out there just for political gain.  It is, however, truly important to keep that in mind.

1.  A good example is the "Medicare For All" push by the far left.  This program would cost something like $40 trillion dollars each decade.  That's TRILLION with a T.  That, of course, is just an estimate; the actual number might be higher or lower, but the estimate is a reasonable one.  When people like Bernie Sanders or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez get asked how they would pay for the program, they say things such as that the program would actually save money.  That sounds good, but it is obviously nonsense.  One can analyze the numbers 15 different ways, but all of them show staggeringly high costs.  The Medicare tax would go through the roof.  Instead of 2.3% of payroll, it would go to something like 40% of payroll.  All you really need to remember is that instead of all workers paying into Medicare to provide healthcare for the elderly, we would suddenly have everyone getting healthcare from this fund.  There would need to be enormous taxes to cover that cost.

2.  Another example of political theater just arose yesterday.  It's the detailed accusation of a sexual harassment by Brett Kavanaugh when he was in high school.  The accuser has now been identified, conveniently just a few days before the committee was scheduled to vote.  The Democrats knew of these charges over two months ago, but held them until now in order to get the maximum political usage and delay out of them.  It's disgraceful.  But the charges themselves need to be reviewed.  The accuser says that she doesn't remember where the attack happened or even what year it was.  She supposedly has detailed memories of the event, but can't recall where or when it happened?  Really?  And the other person who she claims was in the room has no memory of it ever happening?  Really?  So all we have is a conveniently timed accusation against a good man with a stellar record, in other words, a political hit job.  Oh, and the accuser just happens to be a left wing activist college professor who shows up with her own lawyer who happens to be another well-known leftist activist.  What a coincidence.  This sure seems like a bogus politically-motivated charge, but the theater will continue.

3.  Then there was Barack Obama's return to the campaign trail.  The media covered it like it was a major event.  Obama, however, drew 750 people to a rally in a building that holds many times that number.  He couldn't even fill the room.  The president who told us for years that the manufacturing jobs were gone and would never come back went on TV to claim that the return of those jobs is his doing, not Trump's.  The president who told us that economic growth would be 2% at most in the new era went on TV to claim the current stellar 4.2% growth rate was his doing, and not that of President Trump.  Obama and the media actually believe that people will see this theater of the absurd and believe it.  Nothing could more clearly be total nonsense.

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