Dear those of you who think you’re engaged in the political process just because you’re a stupid, angry, idiot:
I have a long history of loathing elitism. Elitism, defined simply as the belief that some of us are better than others, mainly because of our education, creed, color, accomplishments, etc. is a despicable attitude that should be reserved exclusively for Communists. Elitists believe that only the qualified should be given privileges such as, for example, the right to vote.
With that said, I can’t take much more of your Elitism. This idea and attitude that you are mad as hell and you aren’t going to take it anymore is nothing more than a form of reverse elitism and it is based in a fervent ignorance that in a fair, though not free, world, would disqualify you from not only commenting but also voting (which I don’t believe you will in the end, anyway, since you never do). This idea that you’re suddenly ready and willing to take your country back is nothing more than a temper tantrum and it’s time for your nap.
Whether you support Donald Trump or Bernie Sanders, and honestly believe that they have a chance at becoming our next President and/or that their policies would make this country better, you are, in the words of Trump, a Dummy. And more importantly, you need to stop claiming that you have any sort of facts, logic, reason, or history on your side. Just be honest and accept, embrace, and proclaim that you’ve decided, for now, to approach the future presidency of the United States as people approach religion; you’ve chosen your prophet and you have faith. Other than that faith, all factual common sense is against you, but you believe. At least if you said that, some of us could take you somewhat seriously. For now, you are an abject joke, and a very dangerous one.
Donald Trump’s tax plan is a Ponzi scheme on top of a lie of smoke and mirrors that does nothing to help the middle class and everything to help one-percenters like me. Under Trump’s plan, I would pocket and additional $50,000 per year while a married couple making $48,000 per year combined would pocket no additional cash. They already pay no effective tax, despite claims to the contrary. Look it up, and stop sending me your stories about the taxes you pay; you’re either lying, fundamentally misunderstand the definitions of taxes versus other withholdings, or you have the world’s worst version of Turbo Tax. Creating a zero percent tax bracket for those who don’t actually pay income taxes is like saying “we cured swine flu, even though it was never a threat of any kind to America.” Stop it…just blanking stop it.
You can scream, moan, cry, and send in your personal stories all you want but facts are facts. No one in America who makes less than $30,000 individually or $60,000 as a couple is actually paying any sort of effective or real income tax. If you don’t or can’t understand that, it doesn’t make it any less true. Forgiving all income up to $50,000 and then only taxing the next $25,000 at a rate of 10% is a good start, but it’s one that will effect so few people it’s a rounding error. Why do you think he picked the numbers he did? The answer, of course, is a flat, fair or consumption tax, three things Trump used to say he was in favor of. Now he’s just in favor of being loud. And he’s going to lose badly.
Additionally, Trump is in favor of Universal Health Care and abolishing Free Trade, two things that would make him more qualified to run as the Democratic Nominee. Trump has also made it clear that he wants to create a tariff and trade war with China by “taxing their goods,” never acknowledging that the translation of that is Americans pay more for EVERYTHING. Grow up.
Bernie Sanders is an avowed Socialist, and I appreciate his honesty. His naivety is nauseating, but let’s give him credit for saying he wants America to look more like Scandinavian countries, even though in practice, it would never work. Socialism has its appeals in nations of less than 5 million people but throughout the rest of Europe, as we’ve witnessed first-hand over the last many decades, it is a failure of epically slow and monumental proportions. As one former British Citizen said last week on TV, if America wants to embrace true socialism as most of Europe has it will suffer the same fate; it will fade ever so slowly from being the leader of the world and the lone super power to becoming mostly irrelevant over the course of many decades. The decline will be like watching a loved one die of cancer.
Socialism doesn’t work because you run out of other peoples’ money, period.
The lack of taxation on the rich is not America’s problem as the top 1% pay 40% of all taxes and the top 10% pay 70% of all taxes. The successful in America are contributing mightily to the cause, it’s the cause that is flawed. We are a corrupt system which will not be cured by taking away more money from small business owners, or families earning $100,000 per year yet barely getting by in California, Hawaii and New York. The problem won’t even be caused by taking away 90% of the fortunes of the super-rich. Taking their money is irrelevant if you’re just going to piss it away on failed programs and systems. In the last 30 years, the United States of America has spent more money education than every other nation on Earth combined, yet our students do not rank in the top 20 on any subject. How’s that working out for us? Socialism isn’t the answer, sense is.
Common sense.
While I fervently and ardently believe that I have never seen an America so infantile, I also believe the tipping point has not been reached en masse and that once again, the adults in the room will take over as they always do.
The problem, of course, is that the adults don’t always have the best choices and they’re forced to do the best they can with what they have, which is how we got stuck with Bush versus Gore. And Bush versus Kerry. And Obama versus McCain. And Obama versus Romney. Good God.
The Democrats had a huge trick played on them this cycle; they were essentially forced to clear the field for a failed candidate name Hillary, who, if she wins the nomination, has no chance of winning the general election. There is a lot of young talent the Democrats could have rolled out but now they’re stuck with Hillary or Biden and that’s okay because America almost always changes the White House Party after a two term president.
Which is one of the many reasons Trump has no chance; he’s simply a louder extension of many of the same policies we already have, most notably Universal Healthcare, taxation policies that only actually benefit the rich, a threatened war on trade, and promises elsewhere that he’ll never be able to keep no matter how much he yells “build a wall and make Mexico pay.” Sound familiar? It should, you used to hear such well thought out things on the playground in Elementary school.
So, sorry, ignoramuses of the country, but your time is up. This is a serious time for serious people and we’ve got this. We’ll get you a couple folks to vote for come November and you’ll stay home as you always do and you’ll bitch a little louder and cry a little harder while you watch your country either fade further away or begin the long slow turn around. Either way, you won’t be happy, you won’t understand any of it, you’ll scream the loudest, you’ll go to a few rallies and you’ll have absolutely nothing else to do with the outcome of the nation other than giving the rest of us a freaking headache. Save this column and don’t be surprised when it’s Rubio versus Biden come November, or maybe even Christie versus Hillary, or Cruz versus Biden. And if it happens to be Bush versus Clinton or, somehow, someway, Trump versus Sanders (which it won’t) remember that in the end an electorate gets the leaders it deserves, and we will simply know then that the true tipping point has been reached and it’s time to abandon ship.
