RANT: A tax on the poor

Friday, October 18, 2024

https://nypost.com/2024/10/08/us-news/mega-millions-ticket-price-more-than-doubling-to-5/

Mega Millions ticket price more than doubling to $5 — with promise of bigger jackpots and higher odds
By Allie Griffin 
Published Oct. 8, 2024, 2:50 a.m. ET

*** begin quote ***

Mega Millions tickets will more than double in cost next April from $2 to $5 a pop, lottery officials announced Monday, adding that the new price tag will come with higher cash prizes.

The price increase will come with greater odds of scoring bigger jackpots as part of a “mega overhaul” of the lottery launching in April 2025, Mega Millions said. 

*** end quote ***

Sorry, but this is just a tax on people’s hopes and dreams.  And the tax collector is the biggest winner.

I’d like to see the Gooferment make some regulations to bring back “fair play”.  

  • No taxes on winnings.
  • No repayment of welfare benefits on any “small” winnings.
  • No unclaimed prizes should go the Gooferment; throw it in the next pot for drawing,
  • Strict regulation on “employee compensation”.
  • Strict privacy for big winners.
  • And all numbers from 0 to 99.

Then, maybe it would be “fair”.

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RANT: Stolen license plate reported on Nextdoor

Sunday, October 13, 2024

Some poor soul had his front plate stolen.  While it might have been an (old) prank, it’s more likely a prelude to criminal acts.

The consensus was that the following actions should be taken immediately:

STOLEN PLATE REACTION

  1. Police — make a report & get a copy
  2. DMV — get some documentation & new plates
  3. Insurance — make a report and change plate number
  4. Ezpass — make a report & if you’re an expats holder change plate number 

I, for one, will start checking my plates every day.

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RANT: Stephen A. Smith is right; Guess MLB doesn’t see all the gambling sites they advertise

Wednesday, October 9, 2024

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/mlb/article-13913071/pete-rose-mlb-ban-blasted-stephen-smith.html

Stephen A. Smith issues scathing verdict on Pete Rose’s MLB ban after baseball icon’s death aged 83

  •     Pete Rose is considered a baseball legend but is not in the Hall of Fame 

By Jake Nisse and Oliver Salt
Published: 16:01 EDT, 1 October 2024 | Updated: 07:15 EDT, 2 October 2024

*** begin quote ***

Stephen A. Smith has blasted Pete Rose’s MLB ban following the baseball icon’s death at the age of 83, saying that ‘murderers have been let off quicker’ than he has.

Rose, MLB’s all-time hits leader, was handed a lifetime ban in 1989 after he was found to have bet on the Cincinnati Reds as both a player and manager of the team.

That meant that the baseball icon was never inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame before his death, and ESPN’s Smith raged against the treatment Rose was shown on Tuesday morning. 

*** end quote ***

MLB is a bunch of hypocrites.

All sports are now advertising gambling sites.

“Lifetime” is a long time.  This was the sports equivalent of a death sentence,

I’m sure no MLB executive ever gambles on baseball.

“I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!” Captain Renault in Casablanca

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RANT: Funny how DOJ selects targets for its “rage”?

Saturday, September 28, 2024
Biden’s Gestapo DOJ Sues Alabama for Removing Noncitizens on the Voter Rolls

*** begin quote ***

The Biden Administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) has launched yet another blatant attack on state sovereignty and election integrity, this time setting its sights on Alabama.

In an outrageous move, the DOJ has filed a lawsuit against Alabama for daring to clean up its voter rolls by removing illegal noncitizens from the system ahead of the upcoming general election.

This lawsuit, spearheaded by Biden’s weaponized DOJ, accuses the state of violating the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA), citing so-called “Quiet Period” provisions meant to prevent last-minute adjustments to voter registration lists.

*** end quote ***

Jumped right on anything that removes illegal voters!

Interesting how they chose their targets.

Like the prosecution of NYC Mayor Adams, when he complained about the illegals getting dumped in his city.

Argh!

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RANT: Social Security Insurance is just a racist inter-generational Ponzi scheme that has zero chance of “success”

Wednesday, September 18, 2024

Just saw you 8/11 reply to my “no tax on sosec” comment

*** begin quote ***

It’s a solid plan if they increase the current security tax on high earners, otherwise it’s an untenable solution. Seems to be some support to raise SS tax on earners above the $165k threshold and again at $250 which would keep SS solvent for a few more decades

*** end quote ***

Raising taxes on “high earners” is just giving the Gooferment more money to waste.  

Recognizing that Social Security “Insurance” is just a racist inter-generational Ponzi scheme that has zero chance of “success” like any Ponzi scheme.  

Note that FDR chose the word “insurance” very carefully because at that time “insurance” was highly regarded as “safe”.  He knew full well that this was a fraud because there was nothing “saved” to pay benefits.  It should have been obvious to the rubes when the first (white) woman “retired” after making one tax payment into “social security insurance”.

I recently read an analysis of one case where the fellow paid in X$ (I can’t find the gripe) and received back about ½X$. That’s nominal dollars with no adjustment for inflation. He ran a simulation if the original X was invested in 50/50 Tbills and S&P500.  That portfolio would be valued at about 6X at his retirement.  He compared his Z$ monthly benefit with the 4Z$ monthly annuity he should have had.

I have also read many times that Social Security has a negative ROI of between 12 and 40+%.  

It’s a national disaster.  And, BTW it’s has about 70T$ in unfunded liabilities.  No amount of tinkering will save it.

Argh!

# – # – # – # – # 

Wish I could find all the things I have read about Social Security.

One time, on a bored commute into NYC for work, I computed that I’d have to live to 132 in order to “steal” back what was “stolen” from me in SSI payroll taxes.  And that was on a “nominal basis” with no adjustment for inflation.

Argh!

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RANT: Where was the predicted “heavy fog” this morning?

Friday, September 13, 2024

Where was the predicted “heavy fog” this morning? I am always amazed that “they” can’t predict weather 12 hours ahead, but “climate change, global warming, global cooling” will wipe humanity out in five, ten, twenty, fifty years! Argh!

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RANT: EVs make no sense

Monday, September 9, 2024

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2024/09/the_cold_hard_kamala_repelling_truth_about_electric_vehicles.html

americanthinker.com
The Cold, Hard, Kamala-Repelling Truth about Electric Vehicles
By Warren Beatty

*** begin quote ***

Bottom line: over the entire life cycle of an E.V., from raw materials to final disposal, driving an E.V. or plug-in E.V. produces more pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions than a comparable hybrid E.V. We truly live in a Bizarro World, where Kamala’s ideology overrides reality.

*** end quote ***

Over and above the practicality of EVs (i.e., limited range, recharge time, battery fires, accident damage), the “costs” of mining cobalt, and other “rare earth” minerals, in terms of the “dirt” and the human working conditions is inhumane.  Anyone else seen the pictures of children mining cobalt to subsist?  As a fat old white guy retired injineer, I’m not adverse to “progress”.  I am adverse to stupidity and responding to a politically induced “global warming global cooling climate change” “the sky is falling” “let’s give the Gooferment more money to solve a problem” panic.  (If the seas are “rising”, then why are all the rich people buying waterfront property?  Are they stupid? Or do they just know the truth?). In any event, why isn’t the Gooferment allowing diesel and tiny foreign cars and truck into the country?  We know that the politicians and bureaucrats are being bribed by all the Big Industries.  If we can just have a free market, the the Gooferment could shrink to just being a referee.  Argh!  

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RANT: Why is Surprise City Attorney being paid 266,000?

Thursday, September 5, 2024

https://nypost.com/2024/08/30/us-news/bananas-republic-arizona-mom-arrested-for-violating-law-against-criticizing-city-officials-at-public-meetings/

Arizona mom arrested for criticizing officials at public meeting sues for rights violation

By Natalie O’Neill 

Published Aug. 30, 2024, 5:02 p.m. ET

*** begin quote ***

Eat your heart out, North Korea.

An Arizona mom was arrested for violating a bizarre authoritarian-style city law that forbids anyone from criticizing city officials at public meetings — outraging a free speech group that now plans to sue, officials told The Post.

Rebekah Massie, 32, was speaking out against a proposed $12,000 raise for Surprise City Attorney Robert Wingo — who reportedly already earns $266,000 annually — at a city council meeting on Aug. 20, when she was cut off by Mayor Skip Hall.

*** and ***

It wasn’t immediately clear how Massie could be arrested for trespassing at a meeting that was open to the public.

Surprise Police Chief Benny Pina and Mayor Skip Hall didn’t return calls from The Post Friday.

Sgt. Richard Hernandez, a public information officer for the city, told The Post a person may be charged with trespassing if they are asked by a “police officer or the owner of a property” to leave and refuse.

He said the police chief had not asked Massie to leave the meeting — but declined to elaborate on how the law applies to the incident, considering Mayor Hall doesn’t own Surprise City Hall, where the meeting took place.

*** end quote ***

Governor of Arizona Katie Hobbs. $95,000.

Attorney General of Arizona Kris Mayes. $90,000.

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes. $70,000.

So why is Surprise City Attorney being paid 266,000?  That’s more than the top THREE state officials. 

And, no now seems to understand that the First Amendment applies to the States under the current Supreme Court concept of “incorporation”!

I’ve often thought that Gooferment salaries were out of line and this just proves it.

If I was an Arizona citizen, then I’d insist that no one can be paid MORE than the Governor.  Just like no one should be paid more than the President of the United States. 

Argh!

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RANT: Civil forfeiture needs to be abolished; only if people are convicted of a crime can their assets be taken

Wednesday, August 28, 2024

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/08/18/civil-asset-forfeiture-explained/74802279007/

Old legal quirk lets police take your money with little reason, critics say
Jeanine Santucci USA TODAY
Published 5:08 a.m. ET Aug. 18, 2024 Updated 11:46 a.m. ET Aug. 18, 2024

*** begin quote ***

Law enforcement was able to take the money through a controversial practice called civil asset forfeiture. Advocates against the practice say it amounts to legalized government theft, at times from ordinary, innocent Americans. 

*** and ***

Civil forfeiture has been effectively eliminated in only North Carolina, Nebraska, New Mexico and Maine, according to the Institute for Justice. But dozens of other states have tried reforming their laws. Some have elevated the standard for burden of proof that law enforcement has to have to seize property. Others have improved the transparency of their procedures, Rulli said.

A federal loophole makes it easier for law enforcement agencies across the country to evade state reforms. The federal government isn’t beholden to state laws, Rulli said, so law enforcement agencies can call federal authorities in, which will seize property and split the profits with the local agencies.

*** end quote ***

This is unConstitutional trickery that the Gooferment at all levels pulls on “We, The Sheeple”.

I find the Gooferment’s conduct immoral, ineffective, and inefficient. As well as untrustworthy.

Hopefully you do too!

Argh!

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RANT: Any jurisdiction that does not honor a “detainer” with “no bail” should immediately lose all federal funding

Thursday, August 22, 2024

https://palexander.substack.com/p/5-five-illegal-immigrants-charged?publication_id=579356&post_id=147792523&isFreemail=false&r=onvra&triedRedirect=true

5 (five) illegal immigrants charged with kidnapping Indiana teen; US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has issued a detainer for the five men; Five illegal immigrants were arrested in Missouri early early Monday for allegedly kidnapping a teen girl in Indiana. All five men in the car were arrested and booked into the Macon County Jail.
Dr. Paul Alexander
Aug 16, 2024

*** begin quote ***

All five came into the country illegally and were being held without bail on kidnapping charges.

*** end quote ***

Hopefully they will stay locked up util they are deported.

John Oliver said that illegal alien crime was “overstated”.  Stories like this seem to prove him wrong.

Any jurisdiction that does not honor a “detainer” with “no bail” should immediately lose all federal funding.  Ditto for State funding, but that is up to the State Gooferment.

Argh!

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