Tag: national debt

We’ll Get Your Taxes Down, Don’t Worry About It

On By Norbert HauptIn TrumpLeave a comment

Trump, at New York City’s exclusive 21 Club tells diners: “We’ll get your taxes down, don’t worry about it.” There is really nothing new here. He campaigned on this. My question is, how is the going to pay for tax cuts for everyone, and still boost military and infrastructure spending? His tax cuts for the rich are enormous.

I predicted this when Trump first ran for office. He is in this for himself and the very wealthy. Do we really believe that a man who has spent 70 years looking out for number one, conning everyone he got his hands on, is all of a sudden interested in rural Americans and their plight?

Who are we kidding?

The Trump tax cuts for the rich will make the Bush tax cuts look puny in comparison. And let’s remember this: Clinton built up a surplus over his eight years, which Bush couldn’t wait to spend. And he did, and after eight years the economy nearly collapsed. It took Obama eight years to get us out of that mess. In the process, he ended up doubling our debt. And the Republicans blame Obama for that debt.

During the campaign, Trump said this:

We’re gonna be lowering your taxes very substantially. We’re gonna be simplifying the whole deal. You won’t H&R Block anymore, believe me. You’re not gonna need ’em. Middle income people, the taxes are coming way down, they’re coming way down. And many people that are not earning enough money, but they’re out there really trying, they have no tax to pay, and it’s gonna be a very, very simplified procedure.

Let’s record what the national debt is today on November 16, 2017:

$19,820,509,238,591

Let’s watch what Trump will do with this number as he lines his own pockets and those of his cronies. I’ll keep pulling this out from time to time for a tally.

The Craze of Defunding Planned Parenthood

On By Norbert HauptIn Commentaries, Political, WarLeave a comment

The “defunding” word is all over the news these days, with the Republican field trying to outdo each other to get the attention of the national media.

I found this article about Craig Conner, a pastor at First Baptist Church in Panama City, Florida, who lamented about the government taking away money from his paycheck and sending it to Planned Parenthood, this evil organization. He says if we just stopped sending Planned Parenthood money, we’d wipe out the national debt instantly.

Hmmm. Planned Parenthood received about $540 million in government grants in 2013. The national debt is about $18 trillion. It would take about 33,333 years at 540 million, if the debt didn’t grow and there was no interest on it, to pay off the national debt from what we didn’t issue in grants to Planned Parenthood. I wonder how much credibility a pastor has that can’t add simple numbers and present them so they make sense.

In comparison, our country will spend almost $1 trillion on defense and related expenses in 2015. Is Craig Conner not worried about his paychecks being raided to send killer robots to the Middle East and Africa to hunt terrorists and send rockets indiscriminately into civilian neighborhoods, not just killing embryos, but real-life women, children, grandparents, along with all the terrorists? If he was, his argument would even hold water. We could wipe out the national debt in 18 years by defunding defense.

In the case of Planned Parenthood, $540 million is about 45% of the organization’s budget, and none of the government grants are used to fund abortions. Yet, the organization is vilified for its work and its role in preventative female health care and human reproductive rights.

I want the politicians to stay out of our health care, out of our reproductive decisions and, please, out of our bedrooms. Fortunately, I think, our country has come around this bend, and the more the candidates salivate over this stuff, the less electable they all become.