Mates, one of the reasons the Captain writes these posts is
to document what is going on in the world and in my life.
With my memory as it is, I’ll need the extra help.
So today’s post will read more like “Headline News” than any
deep commentary.
Although there might be a wee bit of that.
So, let’s cast off, shall we?
Let’s begin with some good news: elections were held last
week in several states and Democrats swept the important ones!
Even some of the less-important ones.
This was a sign of great hope in the midst of an otherwise
hopeless news cycle.
Of course, Trumpf claims the Republican losses were because
he wasn’t on the ballot.
Oh, but Donald, you were on the ballot!
Each and every ballot!
***
In the quiet parts of the news, the U.S. military is building
up an invasion force off the cost of Venezuela.
Now, one might ask, “What did Venezuela ever do to piss off
the United States?”
Yer Captain has no idea.
He also wants to attack Nigeria because someone told him
Muslims are killing Christians there.
The Nigerian president denies such claims.
Are we headed back to the Crusades?
Seriously, Trumpf wants a war.
But it has to be one he can win.
Typical bully.
But at the same time, he is begging – literally begging – to
receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
In the meantime, he’s still blowing up boats in
international waters, claiming they are drug boats headed for the U.S.
He doesn’t know that for sure.
The DOD has shown no proof.
Never mind that it would take numerous fueling stops before
these boats ever reached the U.S.
BOOM!
Dead!
No arrests. No trial. No jury. The evidence lies at the
bottom of the ocean.
He probably ejaculates just a little when he watches the military videos.
The Captain only hopes that somebody is keeping count here
for when the president stands trial.
***
Continuing in his habit of throwing around “Get Out of Jail
Free” cards, this week Trumpf officially pardoned around two hundred people
involved in his effort to overthrow the 2020 election. That includes Chesebro,
Powell, and even Rudy Giuliani.
Remember Rudy? The guy who was mayor of New York on 9-11 and
was hailed as “America’s Mayor” for his response to that crisis?
The same guy who staged a Trumpf Rally in front of the Four
Seasons Total Landscaping in Philadelphia thinking he had booked the Four Seasons
Hotel?
Yep. That’s Rudy. Right there between a crematorium and an adult
novelties shop.
***
This week SCOTUS refused to hear an effort to overturn the
court’s 2015 decision, Obergefell v. Hodges, which protects the right to
same-sex marriage. The former Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis, who claimed
signing a marriage certificate for a same-sex marriage was against her “deeply
held religious beliefs” and now her First Amendment religious rights, is still
beating that drum.
She lost. Again.
CAPTAIN’S NOTE: The Captain doesn’t know what
religion she professes, seeing that she has been divorced three times and
married four.
The Captain also doesn’t understand how someone’s “same-sex marriage”
in any way degrades hetero-sex marriage.
Go figure.
***
Since at least July of this year, Trumpf has been assessing “tariffs”
on anybody and everybody who does business with the U.S. His right to assess
tariffs is currently before the Supreme Court, since such actions are assigned
to Congress, not the president.
Regardless, the European Union is not having any of it.
Italian pasta makers, looking at a cumulative 107% tariff on
their product (tariff plus “dumping” fee), just announced they will no longer
be sending Italian pasta to the U.S.
Since July and the onset of tariffs, rumors have circulated
that the president plans to give a $2,000 bonus check to every American, using
money from the tariffs – which he (wrongly) claims is coming in “by the
Trillions!”
This week he repeated the claim, adding that the rest of the
tariff money would be applied to the National Debt, which has soared to over
$38 trillion!
CAPTAIN’S NOTE: Perhaps they should ask Elon Musk for
a loan? Elon has been approved for a $1 trillion payday if he can meet certain benchmarks
over the next ten years.
Unbelievable!
Shortly after the president’s proclamation, Treasury Secretary
Scott Bessent clarified that the $2,000 might come, not in a check, but in the
form of tax benefits – like the tax breaks already promised in the “One Big
Beautiful Bill” that Congress is still squabbling over.
Others who have done the math have determined there is not
enough money yet received from tariffs to pay off everybody.
And it is possible the Supreme Court will strike down the Trumpf
tariffs, which means some will get their money back.
The Captain advises, “Don’t hold yer breath!”
***
And this week the “genius” president floated the idea of a
50-year mortgage to help home-buyers deal with the high cost of purchasing a
home.
By his thinking, stretching your mortgage payments over 50 years
would bring down the monthly payments!
So, for example, the Captain and First Mate purchased our
first house five years ago for $200,000. We borrowed $150,000.
If we did that today with Trumpf’s plan, over the course of
600 months (50 years) at 5.98% interest, the monthly payments would only be
$1,162.39.
CAPTAIN’S NOTE: Our interest rate was about half that,
so that’s right about where our escrow payment is right now.
Escrow including insurance and taxes too!
Affordable!
But over the course of 50 years – and yer Captain would be
112 – interest payments would amount to $322,434.59 – more than twice what was
borrowed! The total paid on the loan would be $697,434.59 – more than 4 ½ times
what was borrowed.
What a deal!
Affordable? Perhaps.
Stupid? Definitely.
Is it any wonder Trumpf’s had so many bankruptcies?
***
Now for the elephant in the room.
On day 41 of the government shutdown, eight Democrats in the
Senate finally gave in and voted for the Republican’s Continuing Resolution,
thus setting the stage for re-opening the government.
Of course, Trumpf takes credit for re-opening the government!
As a reminder, the Democrats were holding out since money
for the Affordable Care Act was not included in the resolution.
Without those tax credits, it is projected that a couple in
Kentucky earning $85,000 per year would see their insurance costs jump from
$7,225 to an astronomical $30,886 per year.
Not affordable!
On the other side of the aisle, Republicans were withholding
SNAP (emergency food benefits) to some 40 million Americans to force the Democrats’
hand.
Basically the Republicans were saying ‘You can have health care
or food’… a decision no American should have to make.
For the record, Trumpf went to SCOTUS twice to prevent SNAP
benefits from going out, and his administration even ordered the states who
stepped in using their own money to claw back what they had given out.
CAPTAIN’S NOTE: Meanwhile, Congress is still getting
paid, as is I.C.E. (although I.C.E. funding has yet to be approved by Congress); the
military, air traffic controllers, and other government workers have not been
paid for more than a month.
Why do Republicans hate Americans so much?
So why did the eight Dems cave? Among other things, they
were promised a straight vote on the ACA by the second week of December.
They might as well have asked for unicorns and free ice
cream.
The Republicans still control Congress, so the likelihood of
such a vote passing is slim.
AND…
The House of Representatives has not agreed to such a deal.
In fact, the Speaker of the House, Little Johnson, says he
has no plans to hold such a vote.
So, basically, we’re screwed.
Whether you are on the ACA or not, expect your healthcare
costs to rise.
In addition to health care, the shutdown has significantly
affected transportation. Thousands of flights are being canceled because air
traffic controllers are not showing up for work (since they are not being
paid).
On the upside, since the Dems have voted to re-open
government, Little Johnson must now call the House members back to Washington,
which means he now has no excuse for not swearing in Adelita Grijalva, the elected
representative from Arizona.
And Adelita has already said she would be the final
signature on the Epstein discharge petition. We may yet get confirmation that
the president, among other important people, did participate in Epstein’s sick
child-trafficking business.
When the call for the release of the Epstein Files got
heated up, Epstein’s side-kick, Ghislaine Maxwell – serving 20 years for child trafficking
– was moved to a minimum-security prison, where she is being treated like a
queen.
That, mates, is what ye call the sound of silence.
She now wants a presidential pardon like everyone else!
So that’s what’s happening right now.
We must never forget.
Especially next year at the mid-term elections.
But yer Captain isn’t all doom and gloom. Let me end here on
a humorous note.
So…
This week, Dr. Oz, the TV talk-show doctor and now
administrator for Medicare and Medicaid, announced the lowering of prices for prescription
weight-loss drugs.
Apparently food can't fix it.
He expects, through lowering the price of weight-loss drugs, Americans
will lose 135 billion pounds by the mid-terms!
Awesome!That's not the Captain's plan for the coming year, but good for him!
But again, smarter people did the math: 135 billion pounds would require
just under 400 pounds per citizen.
And, presumably, forced injections?
So, cheer up, mates! It can still get worse!
