Here we are. The political hit ads are already starting for 2024. What do we have so far? Exactly what you might expect: Fear politics. That is the only … saying that again … the ONLY way democrats can win. Republicans are going to take away women’s rights. They are going to kill Social Security and Medicare. They are going to take every dog from your home. They are going to make the sun rise in the west, not the east. Get the picture?
Who is leading the attack charge? First, we have Gavin Newsom, presiding over one of the largest declines in California history, on a national tour attacking Republicans as being the very thing he has been for the last several years: a plutocrat (definition: an elite ruling class of people who derives power from wealth and influence). Under Newsom, California has moved into budget deficits, lost major corporations, lost a congressional seat for the first time in history, seen a massive rise in violent crime, seen a power grid under failure, killed most smaller transportation businesses (trucking, a great deal of uber, etc.), had a demographic shift where almost all people leaving the state are among their higher earners, and now he is presiding over an attempt to pay reparations. But he is bringing his “California message of hope” to us all. Seriously? The scariest part: Some of us are going to totally lap it up.
Next, we have the Trump campaign (Make America Great Again) going after Ron DeSantis. Again, it’s about attacking Social Security and Medicare. People really need to read the legislation and why DeSantis voted the way he did when in Washington. You’ll probably find it was a very reasonable move. Also, I would seriously encourage everyone to actually READ the Florida legislation that he has signed. Not the hyperbole and commentator “BS” out there. You may be surprised at what you actually find. For example: Florida HB7, the so-called “No WOKE” bill, isn’t discriminatory at all; quite the opposite, in fact. Here’s a link. For the Black American experience, I would refer you to line 360 on page 15: https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Documents/loaddoc.aspx?FileName=_h0007er.docx&DocumentType=Bill&BillNumber=0007&Session=2022 . Before that section is required education on the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Holocaust, etc. So again, what you are being fed by the media is total crap. LOOK for yourself.
Now for some unpopular commentary:
What about Social Security and Medicare? Biden says the GOP are “coming after it”. Guess what – they are entitlements. They can’t be “come after”. But what can be done to protect them? Simple:
We need to first raise the full retirement age from 67 to 69-70. “Full” just means you can get full SS benefits, not the partial you get if you retire earlier, FYI. And next, we can increase the payroll tax by 0.5% for both SS and Medicare. Pretty drastic? Well, here’s the current problem: Under Biden’s explosive spending, the latest report has SS exhausting its fund by 2033 (now a year earlier than previously thought, due to that spending I just mentioned). It will then exhaust its reserve trusts by 2034. From that point, SS will only be able to pay out a maximum of 80% of what is owed. Unless we change things up right now. Medicare is even worse: It will exhaust its trust reserves totally in 8 years from now: 2031. The tough call needs to be made right now. What about a woman’s right to choose? That’ll be the second major scare tactic. Here’s the next unpopular commentary: I won’t go into early abortion rights (I do have posts on that on Moderate-Majority.com), but I will stand firm that abortions (of a viable, normally developing fetus and no health risk to the mother) after the mid/early 24-week timeframe is absolutely wrong. Sorry, but those are viable infants – I’ve seen it many times – and those rights cannot and should not be taken away by states like Colorado and Illinois that allow abortions up to full gestation. The adults in the room need to find common ground we can all get behind, but we cannot do that in places where we ignorantly elect democrat (or GOP) majorities that will not work with the other side. Democrats will scare people into thinking the other side will “take all the rights away” – but left unchecked, they will do the exact same thing to the unborn child.
Final thoughts I heard from an interview with Cardinal Dolan (NYC) today: “A move back toward faith has historically come with a calamity.” I hope not. But I guess that’s up to us.
There you have it. The thoughts for Good Friday. Enjoy your holiday, everyone –
