Here are a few of my observations on the news.
ABOUT THOSE SPECIAL ELECTIONS – Amid most of the media reports painting the special elections in Kansas and Georgia as a referendum on President Trump, it was gratifying to read, “Everyone needs to calm down about these special elections already,” in the Washington Examiner. You may recall my “Don’t Get Excited” post on April 19.
“Reports of the electoral death of the GOP continue to be greatly exaggerated,” wrote Jeremy Carl in NationalReview.com, “Ossoff and his big-money backers failed to secure the repudiation of Trump they so badly desired.”
Only Democrats can spin the inability of their candidate Jon Ossoff to achieve the required 50 per cent to claim outright win in Georgia’s Sixth District as a victory. Not so fast.
“The good people of San Francisco want Jon Ossoff to represent you in Congress,” wrote Spencer Lawton Jr. of Savannah, Georgia in a Wall Street Journal letter to the editor directed to the people of the Sixth District. “What do you want? He’s raised over $8 million for election in a district that hasn’t got three quarters of a million souls in it, and he doesn’t even live there.”
Lawton reminds readers that it is the Democrat Party that objects to money in politics – “corruption smothering the voice of the people” – but maybe that’s only the Koch brothers’ money.
MOST PEOPLE IN FLYOVER COUNTRY ARE UNAWARE of what President Trump is really up against when he vows to “drain the swamp.” He’s truly facing an uphill battle.
“The average federal employee makes $84,000, about 50 percent more than the average private-sector worker,” the Washington Examiner reports, “Sweet benefits such as health insurance for life make the game even wider.”
These aren’t only residents of the District of Columbia; two of the richest counties in America, and five of the seven richest, are in commuting distance to the capitol.
“A couple of mid-level managers living in Annandale, Virginia and working at the Department of Housing and Urban Development can earn $200,000 and enjoy free parking, according to the Examiner, “But the real money comes when those bureaucrats cash out of government and pass through the revolving door into the private sector as consultants or lobbyists (often still drawing a federal pension) monetizing their public- sector experience to help clients win subsidies and game regulations.”
Home values have doubled in the area around the District since 2000 compared to a 35 percent increase in flyover cities like Milwaukee and St. Louis. Per-pupil spending in DC schools is nearly $30,000 per student, and the District receives more than twice as much federal money overall per-capita as the next highest state.
Some may not recognize that more federal spending, more regulation and a more complex tax code and higher tax rates would mean more wealth for the area. I think most of us know that the president has already cut a number of onerous regulations and he has promised lower tax rates.
HERE’S AN IDEA WORTH CONSIDERING – Democrats are out to get Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn (Ret.) for alleged collusion with the Russians. As we all know, Flynn, who was the president’s pick to be his national security advisor, resigned under pressure when it was determined that he had mislead the vice president regarding his contacts with Russia.
Hillary Clinton’s use of a personal server for her e-mails, her mishandling of classified information, her alleged pay-to-play access using contributions to the Clinton Foundation, and her failure to protect Americans in Benghazi have quietly and conveniently been set aside in the Justice Department following her loss to Donald Trump.
Since Democrats are into quid pro quo arrangements, I suggest the Senate Intelligence Committee and the House Oversight Committee propose a deal. They will not seek to prosecute Hillary if the Dems will drop the baseless Russian inquiry, so we can go about the business of the American people.
Ridiculous? Outlandish? So was the trade of five Guantanamo terrorists for the traitor Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.
