Dumb politicians Series #19

Reader Contributing Staff 

Yeah, right, dumbass...

Now that’s dumb!
Be glad you don’t live in Florida where Frankenstein-looking nutjob Rep. Matt Gaetz has been claiming idiot Trump won the debate. What planet does he live on? What is going on in Florida that makes this weirdo electable? 

Handcuffing the environment 
“...there are many executive tools a courageous conservative President can use to handcuff the bureaucracy...” This statement is from Project 2025 which is the Republican plan to return our country to the “good old days” of the 1870s. A major goal of this truly stupid and destructive plan is to abolish or neuter the “unelected bureaucrats” in the “administrative state,” otherwise known as the executive branch of our federal government. The Environmental Protection Agency is one of the targets of Project 2025.

This isn’t liberal paranoia. Project 2025 is a real, written plan that anti-government extremists   will implement if Trump wins the election. They plan to gut the EPA and, in their own words, “defang and defund the woke culture warriors who have infiltrated every last institution in America.” 
Project 2025 has many pages of detailed, specific changes to be made to the EPA and all of them will not be good for people or the environment. These radical Republicans consider keeping our water and air clean “environmental extremism.”  
There is nothing extreme about insisting greedy corporations conduct business without destroying the earth’s health, diversity and sustainability. It is simply stupid to continue contaminating the earth we depend on for life.

The huckster in chief
Donald Trump is noted for breaking the norms of accepted political behavior. Now he is setting new lows for presidential venality and tackiness.
According to a recent Washington Post article, “No presidential candidate has ever so closely linked his election with personal for-profit enterprises, selling a staggering array of merchandise that includes signed Bibles... pricey sneakers, gold necklaces, cryptocurrency cards, pens, books, licensing fees on overseas properties and more.” 

In the latest embarrassment Trump is now hawking digital trading cards for $99 each. In the ad for this crap he says, “Fifty all new stunning digital trading cards – it’s really something! These cards show me dancing and even holding some bitcoins.” If you buy 15 or more digital cards you get a single physical trading card, and as a special bonus, “An authentic piece of my suit that I wore for the presidential debate.” 

Really? A scrap of the “chosen one’s” clothing? How stupid can it get? 
Fools and their money are soon parted. Unfortunately for the rest of us, these fools will be voting for the huckster.

Inflation stupidity 
Inflation is usually considered to be bad for the economy. But it can be good or bad depending on who you are and your situation. Most people are pretty schizophrenic about inflation and how it affects them  
Inflation is simply price increases over time. The increase can be in the price of a commodity, multiple commodities or across the whole economy. Most people complain when the price of basic commodities goes up (food, gasoline, medicine, etc.). But they love getting a pay raise (an increase in the price of labor). People get angry over tax increases but hardly notice an increase in the price of entertainment or luxury items (booze, streaming services, dining out, etc.). And contrary to smart economic behavior they won’t buy less or stop buying those items to lower the price. 

Irrationally there are some commodities that must always increase in price. An increase in the price of stocks and bonds is considered a sign of a good economy. Life is good when the DOW goes up (at least for the investor class). Similarly property values going up is a “strong housing market.” The fact that this hurts new home buyers, young people and the poor is ignored.

Our economic schizophrenia is most on display with the price of housing. The “value,” or price, of your home must increase every year. This is called “appreciation,” and it is the major source of wealth building for the middle class. But when the value of your house goes up so does your property taxes. So you can’t bitch about taxes and applaud housing inflation (especially if you bought an expensive McMansion). When the price of whiskey goes up no one notices. When property taxes go up to pay for a new school people start voting Republican. Duh! 

A truly “good” economy would be stable and fair. All people should earn enough to live decently. Interest rates should be low enough to be affordable for consumers but still give savers a decent return and be predictable for businesses. Housing, food and health care should be affordable. Income inequality should be reasonable and no one should be a billionaire. But these sensible economic goals are rejected by both Republican and most Democratic politicians in favor of greed.