BEWILDERED

When Jimmy Carter was President of the United States, you could buy a very nice new car for $5,500. That was up from $3,500 in 1972, four years before he won the election.

Going into 2022, the price of an average new car is about $45,000. Let’s make this simple for those of us who are thinking in terms of multiples--$4,500 to $45,000…10 times.

Meanwhile back in 1977-1981, the highest taxes for my clients who were high income, like physicians, was 70%. Interest rates hit 21% or more, inflation was even more than it is today, Americans were held hostage in Iraq, farmers were going broke (Willie Nelson started Farm Aid in 1985) and Jimmy Carter was bewildered. No idea what to do to make things better. 

That has, until now, earned him the title of worst American president.

An opinion on this stuff is like belly buttons, everyone has one, but think of the world to come—an average car will cost 10 times as much, say $450,000? Interest rates are low, so the inflation damage hurts retirees, those on fixed income and people with cash investments disproportionately. Instead of $10,000 an acre, Nebraska farm land will sell for $100,000 per acre. Our good friend Butch Shadbolt said that he never bought a piece of land that would “pencil out,” you had to believe in inflation.

Make your own conclusions about residential real estate and the stock market, not going there.

The real kicker is that with all the similarities to the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, the current president and his administration are bewildered. No clue what to do about 2 million illegal immigrants into South Texas. Maybe call them “undocumented” and that will help? No idea what to do about lawlessness in San Francisco (the DA will not prosecute for looting and shop lifting, so people grab a TV and run), Portland, Chicago, Baltimore…and so on.

My guess is that Jimmy Carter’s title of worst president is in jeopardy.

BARTLETT, NEBRASKA

My dad, Wally, would scoot his chair back and light up either a cigarette or a cigar, depending, to officially call an end to supper. It was after milking, so maybe 7:30 or 8:00. Time for a story.

He enjoyed telling stories that amused him which would, in turn, amuse me as the youngest member of the family. One of my favorites, first heard perhaps 70 years ago, was about a trip that ended safely at home on the farm, but had a stop in Bartlett, Nebraska, a small village of about 100+ residents on the edge of the Sandhills. Cattle country.

Wally and a couple of friends had been to the cattle sale barn in Burwell. They were on the hunt for steers to fill out their lots, had done well and were on their way home in the evening when they decided to stop at the bar in Bartlett to grab a few beers and maybe a cigar or two.

Bartlett was off the highway and as I remember did not have a paved main street. They headed west, the bar proved to be on the south side of the street, and without really considering alternatives, Wally turned across the street in the middle of the block and diagonally parked in front of the bar. Upon getting out of the car, they were greeted by an old pickup with a flashing red light and out of it got a Santa Claus-shaped lawman wearing a cowboy hat, bib overalls with a star pinned to the bib. He seemed upset.

“What you boys doin’?”

“We just stopped to get some beer and cigars.”

“You know you made an illegal turn to park?”

“Well, I didn’t think there was any harm and it was the quickest way.”

“Sure, the quickest way, but illegal. Where the hell you think you are, OUT IN THE COUNTRY?”

Every time he told that story, he would repeat the punch line, “…Out in the country?” in grand amusement.

Somehow, he escaped a ticket, but gained a favorite story. If you have a chance, visit Bartlett and see if they have paved main street and whether it really isn’t “Out in the country”.

BATTERIES FOR ELECTRIC CARS

 A new meme claims that there is as much CO2 released making one battery for an electric car as a gas-powered car emits in 8 years of driving.

The libs scream "False." Apparently, it is only equal to 2 years of emissions. That is like saying he is "mostly dead."

Do they realize the damage to the environment from the mining of lithium? 

When you are self-righteous, it doesn't matter, I guess.

SAULE OMAROVA

 

BIDEN’S NOMINEE TO HEAD OFFICE OF COMPTROLLER OF THE CURRENCY

President Biden has nominated Saule Omarova, a graduate of Moscow State University in Russia, author of her thesis on Marxism to be the top regulator of the US banks and financial system.

She is an avowed opponent of big banks and wants to destroy “banking as we know it” to be replaced by a federal system.

She refuses to hand over her writings, as required by the Senate committee for all other nominees, complaining that she is an “easy target” because she is female and a minority.

Biden’s Pick For Top Banking Regulator Refuses To Hand Over Thesis On Marxism | The Daily Caller

Can you believe it?

US DEATH RATE

 

COVID is a serious illness, it should have and continues to require serious responses on the part of individuals and governments.

However, please keep things in perspective: the “Age-adjusted death rate per 100,000 people” in 2020 rose over 15% to 828.7 versus 715.2 in 2019. The same statistic in 2000 was 872.0, then touted as a “record low.”

WE ARE STILL FIVE PERCENT BELOW THE RECORD LOW OF 2000.

I have been a broken record in saying that there are a lot of people in the US who are alive today due to the wonderful health care system that we enjoy. I am one. My grandfather died at age 50 from a condition that sounded very much like my hypercardiomyopathy (HCM). The diagnosis was never made, if it had, they could not have done anything about it anyway because open-heart surgery had not been invented in the 1920’s. Years ago, when people got sick, they died. Now, our lives have been prolonged (and the quality improved for many) by our doctors.

Think about that when you are confronted with critics of the system.

Well, that trajectory of improved longevity was interrupted by the virus. Yet we see headlines on the Internet daily using inflammatory descriptions: “[deaths] at a monstrous scale” (The Economist). The CDC isn’t sure whether it will be safe for us to get together with family for Christmas. Question: how about football games?

On the other hand, the news is misleading in other ways: a paper in Australia reported that the deaths from the vaccine exceed deaths from COVID in Australia this year. Read the article, that means there were two deaths from the vaccine and one death from COVID. Oh, BTW, when we are talking about that monstrous scale of carnage, in Australia that means 915 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic. In a country of 25 million.

Meanwhile, the economy that was perking along at a record pace two years ago has been seriously harmed by a President who, to be fair, does not issue mean tweets. Right now, there is a real food shortage and inflation is nearing the rate of the Jimmy Carter days. Remember those? Obama was right, we should never underestimate the ability of Joe Biden to mess things up.

I’ll let someone else determine why all the hype, but it makes you suspicious, doesn’t it?

TAXES

Here is the url:

Residents in AOC's district say how much they think the rich pay in taxes (msn.com)

As you might expect, those voters have been brainwashed by people such as AOC and Bernie telling them that they should support socialism because they are victims.

Also, as you might expect, their opinions about taxes are FAR wrong. Read to the end of the article.

If fact checkers are checking facts, shouldn't they fact check Ol' Joe and his minions who want to "tax the rich?"

Yup.

 Joe Biden finished 75th out of his law school class of 85 at Syracuse University. That law school ranks 102nd or 64th out of 180 depending on who you talk to. Pretty mediocre, whatever.

Joe flunked a class for plagiarism. He keeps lying and cheating to this day.

Forrest Gump would say, "He is not a smart man."

A chronic liar.

But he does not send mean tweets. Thank goodness.

What an embarrassment.

But he has become a very, very rich man through his 46 years in office.