bklynmadman

[bklynmadman]

Why was Trans People in Sports An Issue for Voters? 😑

I know I promised a weekly blog, but that wound up being a 3 Part Series. I couldn't stop writing. It's interesting how the results of the election of 2024 (or as I like to call it America's Reckoning) inspired me to find pen to paper, keystroke to screen. I finally found some inspiration, and it's awesome. Hopefully, it lasts. I also see I picked up some new readers along the way. Thank you all who came to this blog and read. I enjoy your patronage, Conservative or Liberal. Even if you are a Trumptard, I still appreciate your viewership.

This week's post came up during an argument that I was having with my friend, whom I shall name for the purpose of this blog Luka. (IYKYK) Luka isn't an evil person, nor did he vote for the Orange Dickhead. (I hope) However, sometimes Luka falls on the conservative side of the spectrum, and for someone in my life who always seemed to take the liberal side of things, has drawn a line in the sand on the issue I'm writing about today. The discussion/debate we had on this issue actually inspired not only this post, but a movie idea that I shouldn't and will not write due to the fact that I am a Cis-Gender Straight White Male and I couldn't accurately portray the struggle of anyone within the LGBTQI+ community. Some naysayers may say it's PC, (OH SHIT, IT'S THAT WOKE SHIT!!!!! RUN!!!!!!)

However, I would be equally offended if someone had written the struggles of Italian-Americans and they themselves weren't Italian. So, I see their point. That's a subject that may appear in a later blog post. 😉 But for now, let's do what ADHD neurodiverse people do best, STAY ON TOPIC. 😜

Circling back to my friend Luka, he argued that many people in the center were turned off by the Cancel Culture, The Pro-Nouns, and yes specifically The Trans in Sports Issue. Apparently, Trans people in competitive/professional sports was on the ballot this past election. On that, he wasn't wrong. Many in my feed would often raise these issues along with the Cancel Culture and the PC culture, and claim all of it is ruining our youth. Granted, most of those same posts call for the glorifying of violence towards children, and disregard of the feelings of those children. You might hear an older person (A Boomer, or a Gen Xer) say something like I wrote below. Now, Here is a ulta-dramatized example and not to be taken as a generalization that all Boomers and Gen Xers would say something like I wrote below. If they did, PURE COINCIDENCE.

Example: When I was younger, If I walked around the house calling my self "They" or "Them", I would've caught such a beating that I never would've done it again. I think kids today need that to come back so they won't be soft. Hey, I got beaten to a pulp as a kid, and I turned out fine.

I'm going to pause for a moment.

Count to 5 and say "Fuck That" real slow. Like a Whisper. Go ahead. Do it.

Did you do it? You fucking sheep! (JK)

SERIOUSLY KIDDING, (unless you're a trumptard. You are a sheep, and a snowflake.)

Now, Some of you in my generation, the Millennial Generation (not really Gen Z) have or had people in your circle that have said similar things that I have written above, or say these kind of things all the time. It's the new-old "Back in My Day..." type of shit. Usually these things are met with eye-rolls, but I would argue that more attention needs to be paid to sayings of violence towards children. One time I confronted someone in my circle over that issue.

For the sake of argument, let's call him Lee. Lee is in his 60's and a proud Gay Man who has done very well for himself. He's a hairdresser, and takes care of his mother really well. He's very loud, both in personality, volume, and costume. (You can hear him if you know him from two blocks away.) Overall, he's a good person who caught a lot of Trauma in his youth.

Things to know about him, He's an advocate for the Roman Catholic Church, (A Church that considers him a sinner for his homosexulaity.) Last I checked, they don't like Gay Men, and will not recognize Gay Marriage, but will happily support a priest accused of molesting a child. 😳 Funny how that hypocrisy works. (I do enjoy Pope Francis, but I wish all the priests were like him and not the current Catholic administrations like Dolan the NY Archbishop who above all things, commits "Fuckery" at each level. But this post isn't about that.) Lee is also a Larger than life personality, and an Italian-American Brooklynite. He'd be a lot of fun to party with it would seem.

So while Lee would cut my hair, We would square off on politics and religion quite a bit. If you ask him, I'm the "Mindless Brainwashed" liberal, and if you ask me he's the "Staunch, Extreme, Self-Hating" Conservative. Yet, we would get along. We used to have great conversations. I kind of miss those talks for I used to get intel of what the other side was saying. I always thought it was important to at least hear what the other side of your political leaning was saying. I think that is something that is long gone.

One of the many reasons, and my friend Luka was right about this despite being a "dick" about it. Neither side is listening to each other anymore. We've become so inundated in our own bias that we refuse to see what the other side is saying, and vice versa.

Anyway, I remember one particular conversation Lee and I had, and it went something like this.

"Well, Kids today, too fucking soft!" (LEE)

"Umm, How?" (MYSELF)

"They're too Entitled nowadays. The mothers let the kids scream and holler, and give them anything they want. They even put them in front of screens so they don't have to deal with it. I mean, when I was little, I had to learn how to behave myself or I'd get hit." (LEE)

"So, your mom or dad would hit you if you didn't act accordingly?"

"Yep. That's how I learned."

"You'd recommend violence for kids today despite having grown up in violence?"

"Yeah. And some kids need it."

"Yeah, but we've learned what violence does. The kid winds up not feeling safe in their own house. And studies have shown that it creates an environment where the kids tend to wind up sneaking around their parents rather than tell them what's going on. It creates a culture of lying."

"More beatings."

"So you're answer to that is more violence."

"Each time you get caught in lie, you get hit. It's that simple."

Now, Lee is in his late 60's, but I'm surprised how quickly he's forgotten the violence he, himself, had experienced when he was young. Growing up in the 1950's-1960's in Brooklyn NY to a very conservative Italian-American family was definitely NOT OK to be a lot of things but most of all, not ok to be gay, just to give you an small idea.

In his teenage years, Lee started to realize he was gay, and he had a teenage male friend that he used to experiment with in secret. When his father found out about it, the father threatened that family so badly, that family moved out of the neighborhood, and Lee was beaten to a pulp for being gay by his own father. That's enough Trauma to destroy someone, I feel. Not only did he lose a friend he was sexually interested in, and possibly romantically attached too, but was also beaten to a pulp for being what he is, a homosexual. Brooklyn was also a very small neighborhood, so I'm sure that this bit of news traveled fast, and poor Lee had to face the neighborhood he lived in, meeting the harsh judgements of his neighbors for being a Gay Man.

It's really sad what had happened to him. I feel for him immensely, for that is an intense thing to survive. However, I'm not surprised that Lee, having experienced not only the violence at home but the violence waiting for him in his own neighborhood as well, would turn around and advocate violence towards children . I think he forgot what that violence does to you, and I believe his story is systematic of people who reinforce this terrible system of violence against children.

VIOLENCE AND HAZING

Kids were routinely beat up when they got out of line with their parents, and when they become adults, one or two things happen.

1.) They continue the violence themselves or acquiesce to it.

2.) They discontinue it.

The 1st part is the part that explains part of the vicious cycle that is still going on today.

I have to reckon with the fact that many people do not want to think. They want to just do, or just want to move through things without stopping to think about an issue. They surrender thinking, or thinking deeply about anything that doesn't have a simple fix.

They don't think about what the violence brings.

A study from UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) shows that children raised with violence, or threatened with violent outcomes, often develop TRAUMA as a result.

The study demonstrates some of the effects of the Trauma in adults. The effects of the Trauma, well everyone is different so there will be different reactions to the Trauma they develop, but one thing is for cerain, those kids raised with violence develop Trauma.

Trauma is a very powerful item that can adversely effect children well into adulthood.

“There’s no situation that I can imagine where physical punishment is useful or necessary. It doesn’t teach children to behave well. It’s not effective for reducing aggression, or teaching self-control or prosocial behavior, or any of the things parents hope to teach children. It’s not effective in either the short- or the long-term.” (Elizabeth Gershoff)

Gershoff is a professor of Human Development and Families Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin. For the past 20 years, along with collaborators at other universities, she has been a leading researcher documenting the harmful effects of hitting children for “discipline.” ( I know, going to researchers????? How Dare I?)

Hitting causes Children to feel, among other things, unsafe in their own home. Many unhealthy developments come about when a child's safety is compromised, especially in a home environment. It's the worst kind of abuse a child can suffer (I should know. 🙁) As a result, children are likely to develop the following when Hitting occurs in the home.

Poorer moral reasoning

Increased childhood aggression

Increased antisocial behavior

Increased externalizing behavior problems (disruptive or harmful behavior directed at other people or things)

Increased internalizing behavior problems (symptoms of anxiety or depression)

Child mental health problems

Impaired parent-child relationship (How can you ever feel safe when the parent will openly strike you at any moment? Logically, that has to affect the relationship at some point.)

Impaired cognitive ability and impaired academic achievement

Lower self-esteem

More likely to be a victim of physical abuse

Antisocial behavior in adulthood

Mental health problems in adulthood

Alcohol or substance abuse problems in adulthood

Support for physical punishment in adulthood

---(SOURCE: https://www.developmentalscience.com/blog/2022/2/10/hitting-children-leads-to-trauma-not-better-behavior)

Take a good hard look. I think Most of America is here when it comes to how we voted in 2024. Most of this goes unaddressed. In the circle that I grew up with, it was common place to receive a beating at the hands of your parents. However, let it be said that some violence doesn't leave scars we can see. I believe that this applies to not only physical abuse, but also emotional and mental abuse as well.

Back to my friend Lee, he exhibits Poor Moral Reasoning. How could he not? Violence was done to him. He would often, as many often do, repeat this saying "Hey, I got beat up by my folks as a kid, and I turned out ok."

My response to that is "Yeah, but did you????? Also, why would you want/wish that to happen to someone else?"

I think part of the reason is what I call the "Hazing" effect. Hazing, by definition, is any activity that is condition upon recruitment, admission, affiliation, or continued participation in a group that humiliates, degrades, abuses, or endangers someone, regardless of consent or a person's willingness to participate. It's been present in our society for a long time, and it often goes overlooked. The other reason I feel the violence continues is just that. It's an attitude of "It was done to me, so it will be done to you". Adults I feel that continue to perpetuate the violence in their families, often do so for they feel it's "The right way" and I think subconsciously it's a form of Justice. Now, someone else feels their pain. Someone else, not me, gets to cry. Now it's my turn to make someone else cry. It's very sad.

"So when children experience pain from the person who’s supposed to keep them safe, it’s one of the worst kinds of harm they can experience. Their nervous system, designed to keep them safe, begins to get sculpted around the constant threat, creating brain circuitries that are vigilant, reactive, and dysregulated. At the same time, their attachment system needs to keep them in the relationship, so it devises all kinds of excuses: “It’s not that bad;” “I deserved it;” “It made me a better person,” etc. In other words, children dissociate from their feelings of pain and fear." -Elizabeth Gershoff

Violence kids experience in the home results in kids becoming unsure of themselves. Often, those kids don't realize their own pain or fear when confronted with the same stimuli, and rewire their nervous systems to adjust to their environment. It sucks doesn't it.

Apparently, this practice is deep rooted. Throughout the course of history, children were objectified and seen as property of their parents. They sort of were looked at as "Sub-Human" in the sense that they have become routinely disrespected, and their needs disregarded, discipline through Force became the norm, and the way to get them to become adults were through routine "beatings" and sometimes worse things. Sometimes, Conservative Christians believed that beatings were a type of "cleansing" of children and their "sinful" ways.

Where am I going with this? Well, it's relevant to bring up in the sense that many adults walking around lack the moral reasoning, among other things. But some people wonder why these Trumpers are all in for a man who is obviously unqualified to hold office, let alone lead a country. I've read countless articles with headlines "Inside the Mind of a Trump Voter", "What Trump Voters Want", "Why Trump won". It seems to be a bevy of reasons why people voted for Trump, (All of them Horrible.) but if you go with my theory, you might be able to understand it. Much of our population comes from Abuse, or homes where Parents physically discipline their children, and it's considered normal. (It's not) Those effects are long lasting. It's Trauma that has been undiagnosed, and goes untreated, and it holds people back ultimately.

I mean, How else can a reasonable person vote for a man like Donald Trump? A convicted criminal, a Liar, A rapist, a grifter, with no moral compass or principles, who is only out for himself, and doesn't demonstrate any compassion, humility, or empathy to anyone but himself. It's easier for this population to justify Trump's horribleness (just like the first time in 2016) because they don't know another way to go about it. It's familiar abuse, and people tend to choose what is familiar to them. I can't tell you the countless excuses many have made on this horrible excuse for a human behalf. From Politicians, to Aides, to Spokespeople. You can turn on CNN or any news network right now, and find someone spinning his horrible actions or explaining away his rhetoric. Like this one for instance.

"That's Locker Room talk" -A quote from Donald Trump to explain his "Grab them by the Pussy" audio with Billy Bush on access Hollywood.

When that happened, I used to work in a Real Estate Office surrounded by Older Women. (By older, I mean older than I was at the time. I was 31. They were all in their 50's or 60's.) I've worked with these women for a decade, and when this happened. I was outraged, and I thought they would be as well. Turns out, I was wrong.

These women, who knew me for 10 years and more, would tell me that they TRULY BELIEVED that ALL men talked like that and that "Locker Room" talk was a thing.

Upon further reflection, I thought "Isn't that sad???" This is what they think is normal, and no matter what I said back, they wouldn't believe me, despite myself telling them I don't feel that way at all, nor would I ever engage in that type of talk. What's sad is they probably thought I was lying about that too.

This is the behavior they've come accustomed to accepting. That's what Donald truly represents. People that have voted for him are used to being treated like shit, and don't really know the difference. OR, they know the difference but become dejected and think "That's how the world works". It's sad all around.

What else can you reasonably expect when your moral reasoning is out of whack or non-existent, depending on how much you were struck as a child?

Now: Am I saying All People who voted for Trump are Abused Children who never reconciled their trauma? Hell Yeah! It's a theory that definitely holds water. How else can you stand to reason your vote for Trump, or only look at some of his policies that work for you, and not all of them?

These people need to recognize that what they went through as Abuse. And we need to call it like it is. It is abuse, be it mental or physical, emotional or usually a combo of all 3. The more disturbing thing about victims of abuse is that they're more likely to accept this abuse as normal and perpetuate it.

My friend Lee was Emotionally, Mentally, and Physically abused by his family and especially his father, to the point of even supporting institutions that would further attack him if given the opportunity just for identifying as a Homosexual: The nuclear family, and the Roman Catholic Church. What's truly sad is he would easily turn around and do it to his own kids , (if he ever had them) if given the opportunity for he feels "its how the world works".

No amount of explaining it away will convince me otherwise. It's abuse. Abused Adults, who don't know any better, that have chosen to perpetuate the system that brought them around for no other reason as it was done to me.

Basically, I feel, the American people in general are used to being treated like shit because it's all they know. And when they get an abuser like Donald, it feels familiar to them so they accept it not thinking they deserve better or that we'll get anyone better.

Now to lock in the punt. This issue connects with the other issue I'm about to talk about, trust me. Just keep reading.

The Trans Women in Sports Issue

Like I said before, no one told me that this issue was on the ballot this election cycle. I was upset to learn that many in America voted for Trump because of this issue. When I asked a few, the answers I had gotten were

1.) We need to protect women from those "trannies" in sports.

2.) I don't want my niece going to the same bathroom as a dude.

3.) Those pronouns are a turn off to people in middle america.

To this I say, WOW, the Bigotry on display is stunning. But it also shows limited knowledge to an issue that doesn't affect them.

Let's look at the first one. "We need to protect women from those trannies in sports." Right off the back, gender dysmorphia is taking place. It's a refusal to recognize one's chosen identity, and it's done for that very reason. Again, these abused children without the ability to morally reason can't reconcile that someone has chosen to exemplify both male and female gender identities, or identify as a gender they weren't biologically born with. To identify as both sexes, or the non-binary is looked at in certain circles as an abomination, a "Weird Liberal thing", and to certain Christian conservative shit eaters, a sin against God. (As if that fucking matters)

Quick lesson about Binary and Non-Binary. There are many animals that have been found non-binary in nature. This means that the species doesn't ascribe to the binary (A Male or Female Gender). Some of them are listed below. Feel free to Google Challenge me on this. You might learn something.

White-Throated Sparrows, Clownfish (Yeah boys and girls, Marlon should be a woman by now. And by that true nugget of nature, Dory and Marlon should be in a lesbian relationship because all Clownfish are born male and then change to female as they age.) Roundworms, Earthworms, Slugs, Freshwater Pulmonate Snails, Chimera Butterflies, Copperhead Snakes, Intersex Cardinals, Black Sea Bass, Fungi and although not an animal, but has been classified as Non-Binary, the Avocado tree. Just to name a few...

For those saying that it's a choice, or that it is "unnatural". these animals and tree are non-binary. This means they don't exhibit one genitalia or the other their entire lives but rather it changes based on need. For example, the Snails can act as either male to female and vice versa based on needs. All they need to find to reproduce is a suitable mate with the compatible genitalia. I bring this up because if this is already occurring in animals of which we consider ourselves more intelligent and capable, why can't it occur among human beings?

Be it as it may, America, among many other things for this past election cycle has shown that the majority DOES NOT accept the non-binary schema, nor the labels that go with it.

It is their right to do. No one is forcing it down anyone's throats as they claim. I like to think (and I'm pretty sure I'm right) Transient people would like to be treated nicely if nothing else, and to be called/recognized by the gender they identify with. If you couldn't tell, I personally don't see an issue with this (although I admit, keeping up with different sexuality identifications is a bit hard, and I'll occasionally call a trans person by a singular pronoun. It's an old habit that was pounded into me during grade school and beyond, and that is grammar. It just doesn't sound correct to say "They walks in the door") However, I try. It's important not just for the Trans community, but also the LGBTQIA+ community, that people be recognized for what they want to be recognized for as far as identity goes. Wouldn't/Shouldn't we all ascribe to that?

What we have here are people FREAKING THE FUCK OUT, over the possibility of a Trans-Man using the same bathroom as women, and especially children. This is a pure nasty rumor, probably developed by closeted people who are attracted to transient people and one that I will not repeat because it will give credence to the rumor. I will say that this rumor is nothing new.

The older rumor used to be that if you were gay, that meant you were a child molsester. OR you acted as a sort of "Pied Piper" leading children to be indoctrinated in Gayness. (Because that's how it works, right?) Probably invented by the same closeted individuals who can't reconcile their own gayness. We have since learned that it doesn't work that way, but that older generation I'll bet still believes that rumor.

Most of us know that being in the LGBTQIA+ community does not indoctrinate kids to being gay or non-binary or identifying to a sexual identity. A simple matter of a drag queen reading stories to children will not automatically mean all of those kids will wind up identifying LGBTQIA+. (Last I checked, sexuality isn't airborne.) However, we have had the uniformed railing on trans-men competing in woman's sports, Many have voted for Trump because of this issue, and they believe that Trump will fix the problem. (He won't. He'll just make it worse just like everything else he touches.) It makes me want to scream from the rooftop: DON'T WE HAVE BETTER THINGS TO WORRY ABOUT THEN TRANS-MEN COMPETING IN WOMAN'S SPORTS? ''

I didn't want to believe that people could be such bullies or be so intolerant. And Boy did America show me this past election season. I guess an argument could be made that this issue was a long time coming, and it really started to peak over the summer during the Summer Olympics.

If you all can recall this past summer was the Summer Games in Paris, where we saw most of the world compete for a chance at the gold. Many people focused on one event in particular that year, and used it as a rallying point for bigotry, hate, and slander.

Imane Khelif, a 25 year old professional welterweight boxer from Algeria took home the Gold Medal for her country this past summer in Paris during the Olympic Games. She was quoted as saying that it took her 8 years to finally bring home the gold to her country.

Khelif is a biological female. I'll say that again just to emphasize the point. She identifies and is very much a Biological Female. She's not nor has ever identified as trans. She is an Olympic Gold Medalist, and among other things, a freak of nature.

I mean the term "Freak of Nature" in a Good Way. For those of you that don't know the sport of boxing. It requires a lot of speed, much endurance, ability to take punches, and strategically land punches. Some boxers have advantages over others due to height. In this case, Imane is taller than most other women in her division, which gives her a longer "reach" than her opponents. What the means is, Khelif has longer arms and can hit her target from further away than most other boxers can. Khelif can also use her height to keep her opponent away from her in the ring. If you're smaller than your opponent in boxing, that means you have to "get inside" in order to land your punches. "Getting Inside" means getting close to the other boxer so you can land your body and face shots. However, this presents a challenge for your opponent has a long reach and can strike you at a distance without getting too close to you. Khelif can keep her opponents away from her using her reach so that they can't get inside to land their punches.

Other Freaks of Nature: Michael Phelps. Winner of 28 Medals for Swimming, 23 of them being Gold. If you look at Michael Phelps body, he is a freak of nature for his body it seems has been made to swim.

If you look at Khelief's frame, it seems she has a body built for boxing. She's toned, athletic, and if anyone watched her compete, she's really good in the ring. She wanted to do the sport since she was 6, and begged her dad to let her do it. She used to sell bread and scrap metal just to get bus fare to get lessons in boxing. She trained, worked hard for a long time, and finally took home the Gold Medal for her country this past summer in what should've been an amazing, "Cinderella" moment for her. Too bad bigots, and haters had other plans.

A nasty rumor spread about Khelif, that she was trans and was born a man. Most people bought that because they took one look at her, thought she was too ugly to be a woman, so they went with it. I would see some posts making fun or belittling her for being born a man competing in a woman's sport. Donald Fucktard and Elon Pissant pounced on this, and due to their efforts, almost completely robbed her of her moment in the sun.

In Algeria, the laws on the books have no recognition for any transgender individuals nor does it legally recognize a person's changed gender. Algeria is also very Anti-LGBTQIA+ to the point of using outright violence should any "Gay" propaganda or iconography be used or seen in Algeria. Since 2001, there have been many hate crimes committed against individuals who identify in the LGBTQIA+ spectrum. Two men were stoned to death in 2001 for suspected Homosexuality. LGBTQIA+ community organizers are not allowed to campaign for LGBTQIA+ rights as dictated by law, and there aren't friendly establishments for LGBTQIA+ people to go too. (Not even underground Gay Bars/Clubs. The people are too terrified to get caught.)

I have had arguments with people online. They swore up and down that she was born a man, and that she had no business being in a woman's sport. No matter what I said to these people, from her father releasing her birth certificate to the Algerian Press, to the apology she received from her opponent Angela Carini of Italy. They wouldn't believe it. They based their judgement purely on looks, size, and nothing and no one would convince them otherwise. They took a molehill and made a mountain out of it.

I feel really bad for Imane Khaleif. Because this rumor was so vicious, she probably now has to look over both shoulders at home in case a random person tries to attack her for being trans, even though she's not. Is that nice for someone who has trained for so long, who put in the work for 8 years and finally brings home the Gold for Algeria only to be subjected to this type of treatment? On the word of a nasty rumor with no basis in reality whatsoever? I'd be angry too.

It raised the issue, should trans men or trans women be allowed to compete in their chosen gender's sports activities? Detractors say it's an unfair advantage for someone who was born biologically male to compete in women's sports. They don't say it the other way around as much. It became about protecting women from these demon "Trans Men" who have an unfair advantage because they were born Male. They've even gone so far as to say their a danger to women as competitors. These are all uninformed opinions. Let's go to the Science and experts. They say the following...

"If a young person transitions from male to female prior to puberty, as in the case of some transgender people, no accommodation is necessary at all and this student should be treated as any other competitor in girls’ or women’s sports. Additionally, if a transgender student transitions after puberty, medical experts increasingly agree that the effects of taking female hormones negate any strength and muscular advantage that testosterone may have provided and places a male-to-female transgender athlete who has completed her transition in the same general range of strength and performance exhibited by non transgender females who are competing. A female-to-male transgender athlete has no physical advantage before, during or after transition and should be permitted to participate fully on male sports teams." --(Women's Sports Foundation, 2016)

So, the point is basically moot. No one has an advantage. However, we can talk about this until we're blue in the face, and these morons will still believe it, just like there are still ignorant fucks that believe all Gay people molest Children and indoctrinate them.

Still, people point out that Hormone therapy for young kids is dangerous, and what do we do when we don't know enough about something, SURVEY SAYS...

WE BAN IT!

That's right. Let's just ban it before we can understand it further, says most conservatives. I just picture interviews from people walking around on the street saying the following.

"Yeah, Hormones? That there is unnatural. Boys are Boys and Girls are Girls."

"You are what you're born with. That what it says on your Birth Certificate. That's the bathroom you should use."

Here is what these same assholes are failing to recognize. You are now asking the government to target these families who have their children go through hormone therapy, to just stop them. I'll rephrase it in another way.

"Conservatives and the GOP are directing the government to tell parents what they can and can't give their own children."

Whatever happened to freedom? Whatever happened to the good ol' "Mind your own business" attitude? Government should NOT be in the process of what you and your partner have decided to do with your own kids, what they get, and what they can't have.

This will open the door to potentially my neighbor having a say in how I raise my children. Is that what you all want? I don't believe anyone reading this wants that, but the door has been opened and the current GOP seems to be shifting it's message.

It used to be about Small Government, Less Regulation, and more States power. Now, it's still Small Government, but less regulation when it comes to Financial Oversight, Banking Regulations, and FTC oversight on Company mergers. Hmmmmmmmmmm. It doesn't take a doctorate the figure out where this is going, does it?

The point here is this. This issue seemed to bother people so much that they were willing to turn to a hateful, arrogant, clueless, bigoted, misogynistic, entitled, old, cracked fucking moron to fix the issue. When you're dealing with a population of abused children who lack moral reasoning, it makes sense that they would pick on a population that isn't as visible as the other members of the LGBTQIA+ community. I mean, hey, if it was done to them, it should be good for the LGBTQIA+ community in the long run right? They'll turn out fine because of it? Or will they thrive in spite of it?

Thanks for reading. Until next time.

"

[bklynmadman]

Next post: LGBTQ+ lives, trans rights, and the whole trans in sports issue. Stay tuned.

[bklynmadman]

I grew up with Men like this.....PART III

Well, I've noticed I picked up some followers. Thanks to all you 3 people. I love you!

That being said, I'm honored to have readers. It's always nice. I just hope you like my stuff. I tend to write stuff that's somewhat depressing, but I'll try to be a bit more lighthearted despite the circumstances. I do want to stress that this current situation is terrible shit, and this was meant more of a diagnosis than a warning, but it wound up being both.

This is also for you people who thought it was a good idea to vote Donald. To you, I say, You don't realize how fucked you are yet.

Anyway, I hope you read on, and prepare yourselves.

ECONOMY

Let it be known that Donald J. Trump, for all of his time spent in the private sector has ZERO KNOWLEDGE of the Economy or how it works. He has ZERO knowledge of how world markets work, nor does he care to know.

He is also a business failure. How he got the image of being "good at business" is beyond me. It probably has to do with the "Wealth Worshipping" we do in this country. (HAS TO STOP)

He is still very much that spoiled child who likes to torture others simply for the attention, and LOVES more than anything else, having power over people to be able to do so. It's not so much about being in charge for Donald, it's the attention that goes with it. He loves being adored, and wants to be recognized for his lack of business acumen as if he is "Mr. Wall Street". Donald, like other white rich dudes, likes the role of gatekeeper. That's why he says when you ask him something directly "I may do it. I may. We'll soon see." He doesn't know much but he does not how much being publicly indecisive hurts other people's lives, as to whether or not he'll enact a policy that directly threatens a group of people's way of life. He LOVES the fact that he's being talked about right now around the world, doesn't matter if it's good or bad, he's in it for the attention folks and to be gatekeeper to our freedoms well, that is one surefire way to get attention.

Back to his failure of business, I would go into all of his business failures, but I don't have enough room. I will mention them briefly. (Trump Steaks, Trump Airlines, Trump University, Trump Water, Trump Board Game, The Trump Taj Mahal and Casino, Trump Tower Casino, and Trump Marina and Casino of Atlantic City.)

SIDENOTE: HOW THE FUCK DO YOU LOSE MONEY OWNING THREE CASINOS???? Not many can except for the Donny Rapist Man!

He was once quoted in his first term as president (Yuck!) when asked how he will manage the National Debt, he said "“People said I want to go and buy debt and default on debt, and I mean, these people are crazy. This is the United States government. First of all, you never have to default because you print the money, I hate to tell you, OK?” That alone should share the shit out of you for he truly believes if you print more money, you'll manage the debt. A basic understanding of economics would prevent him thinking this way, but then again, Donny fucktard doesn't do thinking!

Anyway, He has promised to apply tariffs across the board on all foreign goods coming into the United States. He promised a universal Tariff on all foreign goods, and a 60% tariff on all Chinese goods. He's proposing this for he wants to get the other nations "in line" that he feels abuse the US market. So he thinks the tariffs will do that. Only, once again, a basic understanding of economics would show that the cost of Tariffs are always passed onto the consumer. That means, All Clothes, Items, Goods, Foods, imported here from other countries will be getting a lot more expensive for everyone. (REMEMBER AMERICA MAGAMORONS, you voted for this. I'll be closing on you in a minute.) If there are any doubters that are reading this, check your current shirt. Let me know where it was made. I'll put odds it was made either in China, Malaysia, India, Bangladesh, or even Vietnam. That's just clothes imported into this country. Let me ask you this? You think GAP INC, or HANES, or a majority of Clothing Companies are going to pay that 60% tariff just because Trump said so?

A LITTLE MATH/BUSINESS LESSON (You can skip this if you aren't interested)

On one pallet, (meaning one shipment of t-shirts) you can fit about 2,160 t-shirts total. In one container, you can fit about 20-22 pallets (which depend on the goods and how they're packed but let's just say this for arguments sake.) That means in one 40 foot container, you can have up to 45,360 T-Shirts. (My memory as a former wine importer is getting jogged as I write this. I stopped doing that business officially in 2016 so I'm sure prices have changed and I know prices are different on clothes.)

Before that pallet gets to America, the cost per shirt is about 50 cents. So the total cost of the entire container before the shirts get here would be $22,680. Once it arrives in customs, that's when customs charges begin. Two charges are levied on containers containing "Textiles" which is the category the T-shirts fall under. Those charges are MPF (Merchandise Processing Fee) and Import Duty  The MPF is calculated as a percentage of the shipment's value, with a minimum and maximum amount. For informal entries (under $2,500), the MPF is a flat fee of $2–$9. For formal entries (over $2,500), the MPF ranges from $30.66–$595.35. So, since the cost of goods (Keep this in mind, these are cheap t-shirts found at WalMart) in that one container is $22,680, the total MPF would be the max, at $595.35. For Duty, which only applies when goods imported are valued above $800. (which this would be) that means a 5.63% tariff would apply, adding $1,276.88 to the cost.

Here is a lesson in Business, as these fees are added on to import your goods, those are costs that you tack onto the product when you sell it, because you have to lay it out to get it into the country, so you MUST make it back or your company will lose money. (Something else the Orange Fuckwad doesn't understand.) So, those incurred costs before it leaves customs would tack on a total of 3 cents to each T-Shirt, making the total cost of each shirt before it gets to your warehouse or store 53 cents. The cost of the truck that will pick up your container, depending on where your warehouse or store is located will vary, but let's go on a average, which would be anywhere from $500-$3000. It varies on distance. For this argument, let's go with $1800. That would add a total of 4 cents to each t-shirt. Now, each t-shirt landed cost is 57 cents. Stores charge anywhere from 30-40% to make a profit. They charge that because usually 100-400% mark up covers your rent (if you have any), bills (Electric, Gas, Water), Employees, Taxes (Payroll, Income, Federal, State, and City Taxes) So, the total cost that is known to the owner of the store is $2.28. They usually mark it up to maybe $5-$8.00 per shirt, and will do deals like buy 2, get one free or buy 4 and get one more. The profit on one shirt sold would be $4.43 per shirt. Remember, the landed cost is 57 cents.

The Trump tariff would charge an extra 60% to your container if it came from china. So, take 45,360 t-shirts in a container, which is valued at $22,680. Tacking on the usual costs

22,680 + $595.35 + 1,276.88 + 1,800 = 26,532.23 x (.60) = 15,919.34

(Total Cost before Customs) (MPF) (DUTY) (Shipping) + (Trump Tariff)

Take that number and add it to the total cost (26,532.23) = 42,451.46 total cost per container now.

Divide that cost by the amount of t-shirts in the container = 0.94 cents per shirt landed. A total added .37 cents onto each shirt.

This may seem like small potatoes but when you're selling t-shirts in bulk, you are not about to lose .37 cents per shirt. That would dip into your profits, and if you have backers or board members, that .37 cents will eat into your profit margins should it not be tacked onto the cost of the product. Backers and Board Members of a corporation don't do charity, and they will want to see that cost reflected into the sales.

Now, I know what many will say (if you got this far, bravo) BIG DEAL! It's small cents. In business, small change adds up A LOT! And this is just bargain Walmart T-shirts. Never mind graphic t-shirts, or designer t-shirts, or other clothes. And apply that to all GOODS.

This will be hurting Americans, not helping them. Donny Moron doesn't understand it, nor does he want too.

BACK TO TARIFFS

Economists have predicted that Trump's Tariffs will cost the average American family an extra $1700 per year for goods. To those MAGA morons who screamed and voted for "Lower Grocery Bills" will see those prices jump slightly higher now. Companies have already began to announce higher prices in retaliation to Trumps' Tariffs. Effectively erasing the work that President Biden has done to lower the effect of inflation. But Donny won't stop there. Oh No! What he's about to do tax wise is what got him donations from Billionaires like Elon Asshole Musk and Miriam Alderson (Widow of Casino Magnate Sheldon Alderson)

TAX CUTS (A BIT, NOT A LOT)

I went over this in some of my previous posts, and if you want to learn more about Tax Cuts and how they work, you can look back in my previous posts from 2015 and see what they are.

Trump is going to give Tax Cuts to the Wealthy and Corporations. He's going to say he's giving Tax Cuts to everyone. But the devil will be in the details. The IRS collects about $2.56 Trillion Dollars in Federal Income Tax alone per year. This money funds government services, and investments. Trump is proposing to lower the Corporate Tax from 21% to 15%, and proposes that those households who make over $400,000 will get a tax cut of about $60,000 roughly a 15% tax cut. So, if you make 1M per year, you'll receive a tax cut of $150,000. on $3M it's $450,000. On 1 Billion Dollars, it's 150M tax cut. A tax cut for those who don't know, are taxes you don't have to pay on your earned income. This is before deductions and Tax Loopholes that the super rich and Corporations have been doing for years. Just to recap, the following corporations paid ZERO in Federal Income Taxes.

Amazon

Google

Coca-Cola

Facebook

Nike

Tesla

3M

and many more. In fact, if they report losses, they take advantage of a Tax Deduction in which they don't have to pay on those, lessening their tax burden.

It will be the time of record profits for Billionaires and Big Corporations, and meanwhile the rest of us will see tax cuts like $500-$1000 that we wouldn't have to pay. The super poor will see none of these benefits, and New Yorkers know that $500 doesn't do much in a month or offer much breathing room. Meanwhile, fat cats like Elon Musk, who's net income is 1.4 Billion last year will see a 210M tax cut. The rest of us will have to pay our taxes however.

That's what this is mostly about. It's about Money, and the Rich, Like Don the fuckwad and his cronies, feel that they should have more control over their tax money and where it goes.

This will add onto the national debt, and the government will not be able to sustain itself for each tax cut given, that's less money going into the government. Less for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other government services.

So, enjoy your tax cuts middle class, the wealthy will be enjoying theirs. And they'll sell it through their usual promise of "Trickle Down" Economics, which is been proven to not work a BILLION TIMES OVER.

Also, don't tell me that bullshit either of Rich People need those tax cuts to create jobs. They dont. Never have. Trump presided over the WORST PERIOD OF JOB CREATION in this country since the Great Depression in the 1930's. THE WORST. So, don't tell me these tax cuts are going to automatically start working and start creating jobs. They haven't since they've been getting them under Trump's first term. And Where did all that money go? Stock Buybacks. Made themselves richer, while at the same time putting it out there that no one wants to work anymore.

UNIONS

The other thing Donny is going to do, of which I will NEVER FORGIVE THE TEAMSTERS UNION.

He's going to attempt to destroy Unions, and get rid of Overtime Pay.

Unions are the only check against large corporations and big businesses. Unions offer Medical Insurance to it's members, and also collective bargain with employers for wages.

The Orange Rapist has said during a live conversation with Elon Dumbfuck Musk on Twitter (I will not call it what he wants me to call it. Fuck him and his money) has praised Elon for firing Tesla workers who voted to Unionize. He has expressed that workers conspiring to unionize should be fired. He also said in that same convo, that he "hated paying workers overtime." and that "He'd never pay it."

What to expect from this conman during a second term...

Trump changed the rules about who qualifies for overtime pay, making more than 8 million workers ineligible and costing them over $1 billion per year in lost wages during his first term as president.

You Trumptards think that in the past 4 years of dodging court dates and indictments, he suddenly found a heart??? If you think that, you are gravely mistaken.

He will repeat his actions with regards to labor again, only this time, go to more extremes to make it stick.

He has talked about replacing overtime, and giving workers Comp Time, which cheats workers over Overtime laws embedded in our Constitution. 1 BILLION in overtime pay in 2019 to be exact.

Hey TEAMSTERS, no more overtime pay for you. He thinks you're not entitled to it. And apparently, so did many of your members. Enjoy that shit when it's enacted under a GOP controlled House and a GOP controlled Senate. Scabs will be taking your jobs if you refuse, and you know what? Shame on you, because your membership wanted to support Donald.

Trump will also do the following.

Trump will continue to PACK the courts with anti-labor judges who have made the entire public sector “right to work for less” in an attempt to financially weaken unions by increasing the number of freeloaders.

Trump will stack the National Labor Relations Board with anti-union appointees who side with employers in contract disputes and support companies who delay and stall union elections, misclassify workers to take away their freedom to join a union, and silence workers.

Trump will make it easier for employers to fire or penalize workers who speak up for better pay and working conditions or exercise the right to strike.

Trump promised to veto the PRO Act and the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act, historic legislation that will reverse decades of legislation meant to crush private sector unions and shift power away from CEOs to workers.

I can't wait when the Teamsters start complaining about "scabs" being allowed to work due to Trump's push of "Right To Work" policy, which effectively emboldens Scabs or picket line crossers to work for companies for less pay than the union would allow them too. Some of these idiots think that wont happen. To that I say....Just wait.

The next time I hear of Teamsters Picketing, they can go fuck themselves as far as I'm concerned for failing to come out to support Kamala Harris, a president that would've protected their Union and advanced Pro-Union Policies. I hope the Teamster Union breaks, and I say that as a UFT member knowing full well that Trump and his merry band of assholes will try to dismantle my Union too. (They already are trying too with Charter Schools. If Governor Hochul had any balls, she'd pull funding from Charter Schools to embolden UFT and pro-union policies. But this is about the Spoiled Boy-King, not NY governor Hochul.)

ABORTION/ IMMIGRATION

On this, Trump will demonstrate his extreme cruelty for he gives neither a fuck for Immigrants (Even though his family was once an immigrant from Germany) nor women (see the 32 Civil Court Cases when 32 different women across this country accuse Donny of Rape and Sexual Assault.) He won this election on getting others to hate Immigrants.

It's a big pet peeve of mine whenever a fellow American Italian hates on the "Hispanics and Mexicans coming over the border." To which I remind them how their family came here, and the adversity that they faced. This convo usually ends with "Well, my family pulled through" but what they don't seem to understand is We're supposed to make things better, not worse for the next guy. It's also what some of my fellow pisans consider retribution. "Well, I came here legally. They can too." Well, they can't. Imagine how desperate they must be to come over illegally. It's not to skirt laws or get away with something.

The thing about Immigrants that many don't understand is the following.

Illegal Immigrants make up for a good portion of our workforce. About 8.3M Illegal Immigrants are currently in the United States Workforce. They are hired by their bosses, who know full well they aren't here legally, and take advantage of that by paying them much lower than they would have to pay an American worker.

Check out the Kitchens of the Restaurants that you frequent. Who is making your food back there?

Also, who is building your houses? Take a good look at the majority of those building private housing. Let me know what you find.

Another thing about Ilegal Immigrants is that they don't mostly Bring Crime, Drugs, and are Rapists. (I always found it funny that a Rapist calling a group of other people Rapists especially when he's a known rapist and pedophile. When Jeffrey Epstein is your best friend...) Ilegal Immigrants make our economy go round!

The Food Industry, the Construction Industry are very very dependent on Illegal Immigrant labor.

Illegal Immigrants are less likely to commit a crime for fear of being deported. So they're mostly law abiding citizens.

Illegal Immigrants pay MORE taxes that Amazon, and Coca-Cola combined. (Yes, they file and pay while freeloaders like Elon and Donny pay nothing.)

Illegal Immigrants make up about 12% of sales for Telecommunication companies (i.e. Cellphone purchases.)

They rent apartments, spend for food, open bank accounts, and California was trying to pass a law that would've made it easier for them to obtain a mortgage regardless of Immigration status.

When he does send ICE and Immigration agents to do a mass deportation, he will be adversely affecting these industries. That is on the way, and I've read one economist suggest that the "mass deportation" that he has promised his fans and fellow racists will total 315 Billion Dollars. Will Donny want to pay that? Sure, why not? The money isn't his, and he'll be dead soon enough so why should he have to worry? Thats a problem for us to figure out later when he's gone.

That's another thing Richers do that Donald likes to do. He loves to spend money when it's not his to spend. Donald is a notorious cheap skate, and has stiffed many people who have done work for him in his hotels and casinos. However, that will go away now that Donald has the United States Purse strings. The next time I hear a Republican preach about Fiscal Conservatism, it will be very hard for me not to deck them in the mouth.

Again, Donny loves being Gatekeeper. He adores it. It doesn't matter if it's cruel, or if he is doing the wrong thing. He is directly responsible for separating 6000 kids from their parents at the border. 6000. And he put them in cages and didn't even bother giving them blankets. He gave them what amounted to aluminum foil for a bedsheet. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME???? WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE???? Every single parent should've been outraged with that regardless of political spectrum.

Also any real Christian should've had an issue with that, and those who don't are not real Christians nor do they deserve to be called one. They deserve to be called what they truly are, CRUEL HYPOCRITES WHO WORSHIP SATAN'S COCK.

I had a convo I had with a Trump sympathizer about this once, and the other person had the balls to say "Well, they shouldn't have been there." Talk about the most Victim Blaming Bullshit I've ever heard. As if they brought about that cruel treatment upon themselves when they got caught on the border.

WARS IN GAZA AND UKRAINE

Trump gives a fuck about one thing and one thing only. He's cited it many times in his first presidency, and it's his biggest motivator.

His image.

Trump is such a textbook classic narcissist that his main drive is simply to protect and project his image. He wants to be that "Suave, Smart, Debonair, Wealthy, Strongman who is beloved by all, and everyone fawns over him and his every word while his enemies retreat in cowardice." Trump's self image, like much of anything he says, is not rooted in reality.

He's a wimp, and like all bullies, once someone stands up to them, they run and hide and tell the teacher on you. Trump would run and hide from anyone formidable and run and tell fox news how "unfairly mistreated" he was.

Keep in mind, Donald is still a Russian Asset. The reason he jocks guys like Putin is because he wants it like that. He wants to make American into the Dictator Image. Absolute Power. Absolute Fascism. We know Donald can't read, but he has probably watched a Hitler Speech or two, and realized how Hitler came to power. His path to power is very similar to Hitlers, in fact almost mirror image.

He couldn't care less about what happens in Israel. He couldn't care less about what happens in the Ukraine. He will do what he is told, which the super wealthy are tired of giving aid and money to these two countries.

Also, Putin will tell his bitch to bend over and let him have Ukraine. Trump will do so. He will claim "He made a great deal" but the deal made will be something along the lines of the following.

1.) No Admission to NATO for Ukraine.

2.) Russia will get to keep most, if not all of their occupied territory.

3.) Ukraine will have to enter a trade agreement with Russia over the oil pipeline and they'll maybe do some share. 10 years Russia will have it and then turn it over to Ukrainian control.

Ukraine will do all of this under Trump duress, or Trump will withhold any and all aid to Ukraine, of which that will stop immediately once Trump takes office. So the good news is, The war will end. The bad news is, the war will benefit Russia grately, and Russia will have an open way to take Europe if it feels like it.

Trump will say "Look how great I did. And Look, I ended the war." But in the real world, Trump will only have given Putin what he asked for, which is the part of Ukraine with the resources as a part of Russia. Also, there will be no NATO presence in Ukraine forever, or at least while Trump is president.

As for GAZA...

Many Gen Z people were upset, and rightfully so, over the mass genocide in GAZA by the Israeli government. If they were upset of Former President Biden's lack of action, then they're really going to hate how Trump handles this situation.

I'm sorry to say, but the Palestinian people's numbers will be greatly REDUCED once Trump is in power, and he will not only continue to do nothing diplomatically. He will also side openly with Netanyahu, and praise his actions. He'll even get a bigger contrat, and sell more bombs, guns, and ammunition there. He'll say "What a great deal for America" but what he means is "What a great deal for Smith& Wesson" "Raytheon", and L3Harris Technologies." because last I checked, the American people in general don't own stock in any of those companies, only a select few do. (Trump is one of them by the way. He owns some stock in Raytheon. Conflict of Interest much? Sure, but we wont be able to talk about that for much longer.)

CONCLUSION

So, this is where this series ends. There will not be a 4th installment. I've pretty much said all I needed/wanted to say. I know many are upset over this tyrant returning to the White House.

There has got to be some hope at the end of this fucked man and his deranged policies. It's almost comical how he's in a "Race for the Worst". To predict what can happen, just picture a worst case scenario for each situation, and that is the baseline that Trump is so thirsty to beat. He will also fuck the environment as well, and turn the planet back on Global Warming, why? In the name of money.

So, fellow trumpers, I hope you enjoy the world while it lasts. I hope there isn't another deadly pandemic waiting in the wings, because Donald will handle that one just as well as he handled the 1st one. The one where he got over 1.8M American's killed, and suggested as a cure to inject bleach into your veins. He was also the guy to Poo Poo Masks, and put doubt into the vaccine, despite himself getting it.

But whatever, RFK will be in charge of our health from now on. You know, because he's qualified and believes in Science. But that's talking way too much.

Brace yourselves everyone. Enjoy this last holiday season of peace. We are in for a reckoning.

(So much for a weekly post. I just blogged 3 times in 4 days. But man, does it feel good to write again.)

[bklynmadman]

I grew up with Men like this....PART II

So, Election 2024 is over, and Donald Trump has been elected as 47th President of these United States. It's a sad day for many, and a scary one as well. This tour is definitely the revenge tour, and one thing to know about this next term of his, is that this term in office will be about retribution, and punishing America. Here is what to expect from Trump's second term. Read on if you want to know. These are my predictions, and I base them on what I know about him, and his previous actions.

You might be suprised to know that Donald is actually honest in the way of laying out what he will do. He has said all of the things I'm about to mention, and has been completely candid and honest in this area only about his intentions as president moving forward. Those involved in Politics know where I am going with this, but for those of you who aren't, you may want to pay attention for we are in for quite a fucking ride!

RECAP

To recap from my previous post, Donald Trump is a selfish, spoiled, child, who can't read. He is completely insecure, cruel, a swindler, fake as his orange tan, and above all, a moron. How this bumbling, stumbling fool won the election is beyond me and my mental capacity. I thought this country was ready to turn the page on Trumpism, but boy was I wrong! Trumpism is here to stay, and people who voted for him don't realize it yet, but they will get hurt the most.

I think most people just love watching train wrecks. However, what I can't ignore is that Trump appealed to the worst in all of us, and that part answered last night as many cast their votes for him across the nation. Many were angry, upset, and dissatisfied with the way government was being run. Many cited the economy as the biggest issue, inflation, and grocery store prices being out of control. Many took that outrage and voted Trump believing he, and he alone, can fix it.

WHY HE RAN

The thing is, Donald Trump is not interested in fixing any of your problems. He's back in the White House now to do 3 things.

Avoid Prison- Remember those many court cases that were happening over Donald breaking the law as President? Well, now that is completely over. With the Power of the Executive Branch, Trump will appoint a lackee to run the United States Justice Department, and the first action that person will take will be to dismiss all the Federal Cases Against Donald Trump. Keep in mind, the charges against him are the following...

A. STOLEN DOCUMENTS- Donald Trump was accused of taking Classified Documents he was not authorized to take with him as he left the White House in 2021. He stifled Federal Authorities in each and every way until an FBI raid was conducted and the documents have been found. He was accused of posessing Stolen Classified Documents that he had no clearance to take. These documents contained our countries secrets, ongoing investigations, and places of CIA agents in the field along with operations the agency was currently carrying.

B- INCITING AN INSURRECTION AGAINST THE UNITED STATES- On January 6th, 2021, Donald Trump gave a speech on the North Lawn of the White House to his supporters, and encouraged them to "Stop the Steal". At the time, Congress was meeting and certifying the results of the 2020 election. Trump egged on his supporters, and for weeks leading up, had his organizers recruit people to come to washington to disrupt the certification process.

Upon his return to the White House, Donald will get rid of the Special Prosecutor Jack Smith, along with Attorney General Merrick Garland, and have his Department of Justice Drop the Federal cases against him. He might even go further and get the Department of Justice to issue him an apology for investigating him. That would be key to him and he'll turn right around and crow that he was "absolved" of all crimes and that the people that brought these charges have been fired. His supporters will see it as a Victory. But make no mistake, it's obstruction of justice....again.

2. Get Revenge

In case you don't know it by now, Donald has very thin skin. He will attack anyone who has anything to say that's less than flattering about him. We saw it in his debates with Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and even Kamala Harris. They bait him successfully again and again simply by pointing out his shortcomings and his fuck ups. He wil lash out at the press, and anyone who says anything. He even went as far as to suggest that John Kelly, his former Chief of Staff, should be executed for things he has said about Trump to the press.

He'll go after the RINO's first. RINO's are Republicans In Name Only. These people, Donald, will want to make a strong example out of if only to send a message to the rest of the party that if you fuck with him, he'll do this back to you. People like Liz Cheney, Adam Rozakis, H.R. McMaster, and even John F. Kelly. The "how" I'm not sure of yet, but he will be going after these people, especially Mike Pence, for the things they've said about him over the years. I suspect he'll use the Justice Department to bring false charges, and somehow imprison them on those charges. He'll slander, bully, and threaten. He'll also make sure he'll put them in front of judges that he knows will convict, i.e. Judge Aileen Canon and judges like her.

Then he may or may not go after anyone in the Democratic Party. If he does, he'll go after Joe Biden. Joe embarrassed him in 2020 by winning the election, or as he puts it "stole the election from me" and he's been whining about it ever since. He will definitely add some charges to Hunter Biden's criminal trial just to fuck with Joe, and he'll do it with a smile on his face. He may even send the justice department or the military after Joe himself in the same way he will sick them on the RINO's.

He may even pass an executive order that threatens anyone who so much as criticizes the president. He'll assert that he or she will be "locked up" and thrown in jail for something ridiculous like 20-50 years or he'll attach a criminal charge with it, most likely treason. He will dispatch the military and order make shift Tribunals of anyone who offends him in this manner. What I mean by Tribunals, are trials conducted by the military. I can see him dispatching soldiers to come and drag you out of your home, without due process, and then putting you in front of this tribunal court. Depending on the offense, how much Donald gets upset over the comment or critique, and may even invite the press to one of these. That person, probably a woman because he does consider them the inferior sex, that woman will suffer a long jail sentence. It will be a complete subversion of our constitution, but his followers will cheer him on anyway and scream things like "Death to the Liberals".

He'll routinely round people up for this just to keep "everyone in line". He's cruel in that sense in that he likes to torture people, especially women. What else can you reasonably expect from a found liable rapist?

3. Get the Rich Richer- Trump was put here by his rich backers in an extreme "Quid Pro Quo" exchange where he agreed to put Tax Cuts that favor them and their businesses. More on that later.

HIS AGENDA

Now, what he will do domestically and internationally, that is pretty much clear if you follow Project 2025. Now, that these fucking right-wingers have the presidency, they'll enforce their will down everyone's throat.

THE BUREAUCRACY WILL BE DISMANTLED

For starters, they will get rid of the bureaucracy as it is, take away civil status protections, and keep everyone working on a case by case basis. They don't want anyone getting too comfortable, or asking any poignant questions. They want these federal workers, who will all be corralled by Trump "Yes" men, to be on the hamster wheel and never come off. The Civil Service status, which protects Federal Workers from among all things like "Being Fired" will disappear. Once that happens, no one will be able to question them or resist their will.

Once that happens, they will further chip away at things like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Payments will go out late, or not at all, rules and qualifications will be changed, and Trump will sell it as a way of "saving the American Tax Payer from government waste". It will be almost impossible to qualify for Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid once Trump implements his new rules. This will be done for the only reason that Trump doesn't want anyone to be comfortable or to "retire". That's a Rich Man's thing, and if their agenda has taught me anything (Project 2025) they want you working and serving them (the richers) until you die.

EDUCATION

Education has always been a problem for the Rich Folk. In the words of George Carlin "They don't want you educated. They're not interested in that. They want OBEDIENT WORKERS. Workers just smart enough to fix and operate the machines, and complacent enough to not ask questions." Trump and his cronies will destroy the Education system as we know it. (Or they'll try really hard to do so.) First, within his purview, Trump will do away with The Federal Department of Education.

In doing so, that does away with funding for all public schools, pell grants, and services related to keeping our schools open. In Project 2025, they plan to do away with all Title I schools, which are schools that serve populations that need critical financial help because of high-poverty rates. Project 2025 plans to eliminate Title I funding entirely. In its place, states will receive no-strings-attached block grants with zero regulations or oversight. Title I schools will disappear from the neighborhoods that need it the most, and force many who live there to seek elsewhere for their education.

They are also going to decide to fund these Block Grants only to those states who teach the agenda that Trump and his merry band of assholes want taught. Doing away with the horrors of slavery, or even the mere acknowledgement that America was built on the backs of slaves will get your funding for school terminated.

Not only will this act effect the Pell Grants (Pell Grants are given to students who demonstrate aptitude and drive to go to college. It's given in lieu of a Student Loan. Student Loans are also funded by the Department of Education. That's one thing I forgot, once that DOE is gone, so are regulations of Student Loans.

Trump will also dismantle Title IX protections, which means those who are minorities, or identify as LGBTQI+ will no longer have discrimination protections within the education system.

A Teacher will be able to refuse to teach a Trans Student if it "Violates their conscious".

A School will be able to close it's doors to Openly Queer students if they disagree with their "life choices".

The big picture here boys and girls is a whole dismantling of education as we know it and giving way that the only way to get educated would be Private Schools, meaning you'll have to pay to educate your kids. Why? Because they don't want to give away free education, nor do they want anyone with intellectual means of questioning their practices or any of their practices while their agenda runs it's course.

That is the ENDGAME for them here. To stop people from being able to see how badly their getting fucked by the upper class. Which leads me to my next point. The Economy. See PART III for details on that. It's a doozy.

To wrap up, it circles back to Rich People feeling entitled, and they truly believe that they are superior to others for their massive amounts of wealth. How could they not? We worship Wealth in this county. Every little dick and fart Elon Fucktard Musk does makes the news. Everyone EATS up whatever Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner do, (They are now Billionaires.) and some try to fashion their weddings and lifestyles on what these assholes do.

Donny is no different. He's very much entitled, and this is only part of what he's going to do.

[bklynmadman]

I grew up with Men like this.....

So, It's been awhile. Inspiration comes and goes, and it's been challenging to do the one thing that I've always loved to do, which is write. It doesn't matter if it's a Screenplay, or a Blog, or a Short Story. I've made it a point to try to get back to this exercise, and start with attempting a "Weekly" blog. Let's see how that goes for now, anyway, it's a topic that I've been thinking about since the Yankees lost the World Series. And that's is this election.

Before we go forward, this will be about Politics, so if you're seeing this and aren't interested, I will not be offended if you turned out or left. Just hit a like button before you move on. Thank you for reading this far, now back to our topic.

This election is probably the most polarizing one yet. On one side, we have Kamala Harris, the Democratic Frontrunner handpicked by President Biden, and Donald J. Trump, the so called "Republican" nominee for President of the United States. I say that in quotes for I no longer recognize this party as the party of Lincoln, as it has strayed further and further into extremism, hatred, and downright cruelty. I am a bit angry that this election is this close when it should be a blowout. But, as History has shown us, when a Demagogue appeals to the worst in all of us, some are bound to answer that call.

The thing is, and when I realized this, it hit home for me, and that was my starting point for the inspiration of this blog post. I had to realize, I GREW UP WITH PEOPLE LIKE TRUMP. As sad as it is to admit, allow me to explain.

I was born to an Middle/Upper Class White American Family, with Italian/Sicilian Heritage in it. I've attended Private School from Kindergarten up until High School as well. I never knew what struggling was like or went without. I did recognize there were others in my circle less fortunate than I was, but I had no idea how to empathize with them or see things from their point of view. I was taught that I was superior to others, including minorities, because of where I was born and what I had. (It didn't take for I've learned it was covert racism and I have since disavowed it) I wouldn't and still don't admit this when people meet me for the first time for I've learned as I aged, many people are quick to judge the moment it's revealed that you grew up with or had access to money. I'd like for people to get to know me before I share that with them on the grounds that no stereotypes or generalizations come towards me.

Staten Island is a small knit community, and does allow certain "Bubbles" to be formed. Staten Island is primed for people to live in isolation or separated from the rest of the city/state/world if people really wish to do so. The geographical layout helps Staten Island in this area for it is separated from the rest of the 5 Boroughs. Even then, it became people only kept to their social circles, or at least I was encouraged to do so, and did for awhile.

Growing up with people who are privileged, and I'm talking about wealthy white privileged people here, there tends to be a disconnect between them and the rest of the world. This may be a gross generalization, but this info is coming from someone who grew up with similar people in that circle, and demographic.

So, what can I say about Wealthy Whitey and the practices of that inner circle? For starters, Growing up wealthy, and privileged, many kids come away from it with pride and arrogance to their situation. Many mimic their parents, and how parents deal/talk with or about other people in their social circle. A lot of us found it normal when our parents would "Karen" out with a worker/waiter/ whomever is not giving them what they want. At the time, we thought "How couldn't it be normal? I saw other dads and moms do it, and I saw my own parents do it as well." The thing is, Wealthy White people aren't usually taught to be humble, or shown to be empathetic towards others. Before there was a word for it, I've watched what is now known as "Karen"ing. (Again, this was the circle I grew up in. Not to generalize) It became a general accepted practice when Rich White folk felt they weren't getting their money's worth. However, watching the other person, it's a degradation exercise like you've never seen.

When I think about some of the "Karen"ing I've seen, in my early years, (I can say that shit now that I've turned 40, so ha!) I've come to think about it a bit further. For instance, I don't know a single person who parts with their money, and when they feel they aren't getting their money's worth, say something or speak up for themselves. However, for Rich Whitey, this is much much much different feeling. In the circles I grew up in , it felt like someone had told the King to fuck off. There were always these invisible rules that service workers had to hit or the screaming/abuse began, but also gave us first hand knowledge of the "power of money".

The long and short of it is that when Wealthy people spend money, they expect a level or service that sings to a much higher standard than normal people. They will get upset/act out if they feel they are being treated like everyone else. Much of that feeling stems from insecurity. For example, If I'm spending let's say $10,000 on a dinner with my family, some would consider it terrible service if their drink had ever reached the bottom of the glass at any point during that dinner. Not even bothering to take into account things like: other tables, or other people waiting for their food, or the amount of staff working that evening. It doesn't matter! The attitude is this: If I'm dropping that kind of money, I want certain concessions. Even if the concessions are outrageous, it doesn't matter. The money being spent gives many the opinion that they are above the usual standard , even if it's a simple matter of being able to spend much more than the average joe, and want the extra/bonus things that type of spending would bring with it. (Again, it's insecurity)

This type of attitude breeds White Wealthy Privilege, and what winds up happening is many of the kids mimic their parents in both action and attitude. When people have a few dollars, they not only think that they should be receiving a better standard of service, but they also believe that most laws/rules do not apply to them either. Society bends over backwards for these big spenders only because of their big spending habits. Anyone who has worked in a high class restaurant as a waiter knows their regulars well, and also know that sometimes these regulars are assholes in attitude.

Why does this continue? Some of these richers I'm talking about are under the belief that their spending habits are putting more food on the table of others, and therefore are entitled to a level of consideration that goes beyond the normal expectations of a waiter/server. Many behave badly or obnoxiously, and it was justifed to me once that because of the amount of money being dropped on a bill, that the act was considered charity work. We've seen it with so called Celebrities such as James Corden, who had a habit of treating servers with ultimate disrespect simply because he was under the belief that it was a privilege to serve him, and anyone should be grateful for the opportunity to do so. That attitude reigned supreme where I grew up, and you can only be that way if you had the bank account to back it up. I would come to find out later, that the ones with the smaller bank accounts would mostly act this way, while the ones with the larger bank accounts were usually a lot nicer and humbler. (Insecurity is such a bitch, isn't it?)

One time when I was younger, I once saw another parent whom we were vacationing with at the time, in a high class hibachi bar raise an attitude and stink because the waiter told his kid they ran out of Coca-Cola. As a result, He completely "Karen"d it, threw a tantrum to the point that after awhile, the General Manager himself came over with a six pack of Coca Cola, and told the waiter to put the rest in a refrigerator for when the kid wants another one. This event, in and of itself, was bad for kids to watch now that I think about it, for us kids at the table watching learned first hand the power of spending a lot of money, and see how people "Hop To It" to get those who spend it what they want, regardless if it's reasonable or not.

Kids of the wealthy learn that money can bring you anything, even if it seems impossible. If nothing else, it brings a sense of power. For the right amount, it teaches kids you can get anyone to do anything for the right number. Some write this off as nothing or just the way the world works, but make no mistake, it's taking advantage of truly desperate people. As a result, what happens is that rich people just come to expect that type of treatment, without the pricetag. And therein lies the "disconnect" I was talking about earlier.

Sometimes when kids come from massive amounts of wealth, many have trouble relating to other people or people not in their economic class. How could they? They haven't experienced any of the issues from the other side, (the non-wealthy side), so how can they relate to anyone not in their economic class? It's all they know. In their world, no one tells them no, and anyone can be bought for the right number. However, what happens is sort of a result of a Pavlovian experiment, where the behavior is reinforced or exemplified, but the means and factors that enable it are removed. Everyone in their world acts like this, so this is their normal.

I won't be naming specific individuals that I spent my youth with, but I've come across many people who have acted, and moved through life like Republican Nominee Donald J. Trump. Let's talk about this GOP nominee for a second. He's a bully, a wanna be tyrant who believes he's a VIP only because of his money and what he/his brand brings when he's out. I don't know Donald, but in a sense I do know Donald. I know that Attitude. The super entitled, rules don't apply to me, bully, narcissist who has delusions of grandeur.

Donald is a product of a wealthy family, and with that comes privileges. He had his pick of the best and learned one trick that continues to work in his life. It's how to bully others to get what he wants. Many richers bully others, or use their wealth or weight to get what they want, and most of the time, it works. People on the receiving end usually don't have time to deal with it properly, don't want too, or the money is so crucial to them so they'll put up with bad behavior. The Richers know this, and continue to do it because of the other person's love/need of the money they get However, in the grand scheme of things, the money usually isn't that much, and this type of relationship only benefits the richer, and not the worker. You'll find that the worker has given much much more in service than he/she has received in compensation. It's exploitation at it's finest.

What made Trump a bully? Well, Bullies usually cover up something about themselves that they don't want others to see. In this case, Trump probably exhibits undiagnosed Dyslexia, meaning he can't read. There are a few reports in the news of people working with him or have worked with him that have admitted that he can't read. Id imagine he's probably ashamed of this, and reacts aggressive when someone calls him out on it. Trump has a lot of these flaws, which is what makes him the most insecure person in the world, and simultaneously, the potentially most dangerous person in the world if he is elected.

So why does Trump have enablers? Well, They're either bullied into it, or given a sum they are made to work for, and despite the sum, Trump expects the sun and the moon for his coin. In a sense, and this is the other ugly side of having a lot of money, when people like this give you a paycheck they think they're entitled to you, as if they bought you and own you like a pair of socks or a car. With that type of ownership, the worker is no longer a human being to the Richer. They aren't supposed to have problems, issues, children, or even issues getting to work on time. The attitude is "I pay your salary. You work for me. You do what I say or I will get someone who will." This attitude is the worst one to have, and the one that often causes anxiety issues or severe depression among the workers who have a supervisor that feels this way.

RECAP: Rich White Men mostly exhibit the following...

1.) Being the Center of Attention due to Status

2.) Knowing Money can make others do anything they wish

3.) A sense of ownership over someone once money is exchanged for someone's services.

So, what you basically have is a person of privilege, who is running for the highest office in the land, who wants the position he once held. Let's circle back to number 2 for a second. We all know money can make people do crazy things, but to those who have a lot more than others, it's a tool to do anything.

We see it in the news all the time, Rich White People usually don't face consequences for their actions. They pay a hefty fine, get a slap on the wrist, and the story disappears from the news just as quickly as it appeared. It's a given, outside of murder and mass fraud (i.e. Bernie Madoff) there are different laws that apply to Rich White Men. Donald is in that category. His entire life, he has learned to bully his way out of charges.

He has been charged, along with his father of discriminatory housing practices when he first started. He has been charged with running a phony university, a phony charity, and even falsified property values to get himself more favorable business loans. That last one he has been found liable for, and is currently banned from doing business in New York State.

He's used his lawyers to bully workers that performed work for him, either in one of his casinos or one of his properties, and refused to pay them what he agreed to pay them. If anyone had listened to the testimony given by his former fixer Michael Cohen, this was a flex for Donald. He was once quoted talking about one worker who completely renovated a few of his suites in one of his hotels for him, "I paid him enough".

He has assaulted multiple women, found liable for sexual assault against E Jean Carroll. He's best friend was Jefferey Epstein, known pedofile and sex trafficker. He also pals around with people like Vince McMahon, Former WWF/WWF owner, who is currently in a lawsuit that accuses him of sexual assault, rape, and sex trafficking. Birds of a Feather much?

After awhile, when you dodge these charges, an attitude develops. Trump has railed against the Judges, and people who have spoken out against him, denied his crimes, and even went so far as to say "Charges should've never been brought." There was even a rumor, that should Donald retake the white house, he will find a way to clear his record of any wrongdoing.

No one stops to think, where does this attitude come from? It comes from being a Spoiled Child who never had to face any consequences for his actions. A cruel one at that who really gets off at putting others down or depriving others of things.

In my circle of youth, We were taught that laws don't really apply to us, and that we could challenge them when we wished. We were encouraged to speak up when things didn't go our way, regardless of a badge or an uniformed officer. I used to hang out with a few "do you know who I yam?" people, and even more embarrassing "Do you know who my father is?" Money was usually spent whenever one of our circle got in trouble with the law. Many DUI, and DWI's covered up with slaps on the wrists, and hefty fines. So, why should the richers care if they can simply buy their way out of it?

The thing is, in Donald's case, he resents that he even has to pay money to get out of a jam. Donald truly believes he is king of the universe, and that different laws apply to him. It's evident in his actions, and his words. He is telling the truth usually about how horrible he is, and I stress to those that don't know, BELIEVE HIM!

This guy is under the impression that everyone is an enemy out to get him. He's constantly fighting with everyone, over anything because he wants to be treated like royalty, for he firmly believes that is what he deserves. He respects no one and nothing, none of his first two wives, and not even his 3rd wife with he has had many overt extramarital affairs, (Stormy Daniels, Karen McDougal, and recently Laura Loomer. I mean, c'mon, sleep overs???? And people bought that?) Lord knows, who else.

How could all of this happen? Well, what do you reasonably expect from a privledged white rich dude, who doesn't have much money as he claims(Remember: Insecurity?) was never made to face consequences for his actions, who has always been able to get out of trouble mostly unscathed? Well, you get Donald Trump.

People seem to forget he only points out his own problems and talks about how he's slighted, how he's oppressed, how he's being treated unfairly. (I would even go so far as to wager that those shooters who tried to take him out were paid for by his campaign to garner sympathy. Check their family members bank accounts and see if there are sudden changes.)

I conclude, we can do better than this. You don't empower someone like this or reward them with power. It will only be spent to further his own gain, and I feel sorry for people that truly believe he'll fix their problems. He never has done anything, nor will he, that didn't benefit him.

[bklynmadman]

“Friends from College” misrepresented from the get go!

The new Netflix TV series, “Friends from College”, was marketed and shown to be a comedy, and if any of you marathoned it over the weekend, probably like I did came away confused and disappointed by the series. It was disappointing series on so many levels, and even more disappointing despite the packed comedic cast, which served to be both a blessing and a hindrance to the show. 

I remembered waking up one morning and turning on Netflix, half asleep, and watched the trailer for the show. The running internet joke for Netflix was that you’d browse for hours, and never be able to find something suitable to watch. Now their “cure” for that incessantly long and boring browsing period of looking for something to watch, is to never give you a dull moment by displaying preview trailers on each and every show you scroll onto. As I watched the trailer for “Friends from College”, all seemed very promising. The show is directed and produced by Nicholas Stoller, of “Five Year Engagement” fame and many other comedic hits to name.

The show had a few things going for it. The premise was decent. In a nutshell, the show surrounds the lives of 5 friends who all met at Harvard University, and are pretty much still heavily involved in each other’s lives after college. The premise is relatable at best, for anyone who’s been to college can think back to their own clique in their college years. Most of us had one, and if you think you didn’t, yes you, you absolutely did, think harder!

 Anyway,  The show also had a very comedic cast, with stars known for being funny.  Ethan Turner, played by Keegan Michael Key, his wife Lisa Turner (Cobie Smulders), move to New York for new opportunities in life. They join their other Harvard friends, Max (Fred Savage), Nick (Nat Faxon), Marianne (Jae Suh Park), and Sam (Anne Parisse). All of these stars have had great success in many different comedic sitcoms and/or movies, and this alone would get any fan of sitcom comedy interested to see what this show could be about. This is where all the things the show had going for it end, and where the crashing and burning begins.

The show was NOT funny. I’ll repeat it for emphasis, the show was simply NOT funny.  Despite appearances by Seth Rogan, and the ONLY funny guy on the show Billy Eichner as Max’s gay doctor boyfriend, the show is simply NOT funny. Instead, it’s a showcase contest with the premise of “Who can be the most horrible person to others and humanity?” There were so many missed opportunities that it begs to wonder if the stars were to blame for this mess. (They aren’t) The producers, the writing, marketers, and direction of the show are the sole culprits of it’s unfunny universe. 

   The show was marketed outright as a sort of “buddy” comedy, surrounded by hijinx of people you used to chill with in college. (At least that’s what the trailers show.) What we wound up receiving was a dull, non-funny, uncomfortable situational show. I don’t know what they were smoking when they marketed this, but the story shown was not that. If you still intend on watching the show, skip the following paragraphs, for they contain spoilers. 

The story from the get go was set up to fail. Within the first 5 minutes of the show, we learn that main character Ethan, who is married to Lisa, is having a 20 year affair with his old college girlfriend Sam. To anyone sane, is there anything funny about that? That type of action would be coming from a very depressing and unfunny place, so why lead off a supposed comedy show with that? Also, deceiving a spouse for more than 2 decades is very UN-COMEDIC! 

If the show’s creators wanted us to hate Ethan, then it was fine, but as the show goes on, we find out, we were expected to actually like Ethan, the adulterer and liar. Here’s a Newsflash: Both qualities in a main character aren’t admirable nor relatable to a mainstream audience. Also, it’s not just the one character, Ethan, that isn’t funny; if you watch you’ll conclude that NONE of the main characters are funny! The situations the characters get into it seems like the writers and producers were going for the most unfunny scenario within each scene and went with it. They even managed to screw up a scene that’s usually comedic gold. In episode 3, Ethan and Max scramble for an idea for a YA series (Young Adult to those unaware) and since their brainstorming session fails, their friend Nick offers some help, by offering drugs. I was hoping for a delivery to the actual comedy, but wound up take the side of Felix (Billy Eichner), when he loudly yelled at them to get out of his place, just because I wanted the scene to be over. Yes! The show manages to botch a scene that would normally be a very funny scenario. 

The shame of it is that the talents of the cast members are completely misused. Every single person in the cast has experience with delivering funny, and yet the show kills it’s own golden goose in that it craps all over the obvious talents of these actors. 

The story just seems convoluted, too intertwined, and since the characters presented are people you would avoid if you knew them, it undercuts the necessary component for an audience to invest themselves in. One example, since Ethan has been cheating on his wife for 20 years with Sam, who is on her second husband already, do we really care why they didn’t wind up together in the first place? Also, since Max screws up his relationship with Felix by leaving him at a Long Island winery for an hour and a half before he realized he was gone, do we really care that Max is sorry? Ironically, Billy Eichner’s character is the most relatable, funniest, and most dynamic and he’s gone after episode 5. The main reason: Felix isn’t an asshole!

If you know television, one of the most widely watched and viewed sitcoms was “Seinfeld”. It’s formulaic in that the characters we see are 2 dimensional, are completely anal, and ridiculous, which makes us laugh again and again. In “Friends from College”, the writers and producers took that Seinfeld formula and tried to substitute the essential ingredients by not only giving us horrible people to stare at, but also putting them in amped up real life situations and react in realistic ways. A sort of “What would you do?”, which basically takes out all the fun, and with a premise “Friends from College”, the question that should’ve been asked to the audience was “What would you do if there were no consequences to your actions?” It definitely would’ve made for funnier material, and kept in line with the premise the show initially offers.

[bklynmadman]

“Friends from College” misrepresented from the get go!

The new Netflix TV series, “Friends from College”, was marketed and shown to be a comedy, and if any of you marathoned it over the weekend, probably like I did came away confused and disappointed by the series. It was disappointing series on so many levels, and even more disappointing despite the packed comedic cast, which served to be both a blessing and a hindrance to the show. 

I remembered waking up one morning and turning on Netflix, half asleep, and watched the trailer for the show. The running internet joke for Netflix was that you’d browse for hours, and never be able to find something suitable to watch. Now their “cure” for that incessantly long and boring browsing period of looking for something to watch, is to never give you a dull moment by displaying preview trailers on each and every show you scroll onto. As I watched the trailer for “Friends from College”, all seemed very promising. The show is directed and produced by Nicholas Stoller, of “Five Year Engagement” fame and many other comedic hits to name.

The show had a few things going for it. The premise was decent. In a nutshell, the show surrounds the lives of 5 friends who all met at Harvard University, and are pretty much still heavily involved in each other’s lives after college. The premise is relatable at best, for anyone who’s been to college can think back to their own clique in their college years. Most of us had one, and if you think you didn’t, yes you, you absolutely did, think harder!

 Anyway,  The show also had a very comedic cast, with stars known for being funny.  Ethan Turner, played by Keegan Michael Key, his wife Lisa Turner (Cobie Smulders), move to New York for new opportunities in life. They join their other Harvard friends, Max (Fred Savage), Nick (Nat Faxon), Marianne (Jae Suh Park), and Sam (Anne Parisse). All of these stars have had great success in many different comedic sitcoms and/or movies, and this alone would get any fan of sitcom comedy interested to see what this show could be about. This is where all the things the show had going for it end, and where the crashing and burning begins.

The show was NOT funny. I’ll repeat it for emphasis, the show was simply NOT funny.  Despite appearances by Seth Rogan, and the ONLY funny guy on the show Billy Eichner as Max’s gay doctor boyfriend, the show is simply NOT funny. Instead, it’s a showcase contest with the premise of “Who can be the most horrible person to others and humanity?” There were so many missed opportunities that it begs to wonder if the stars were to blame for this mess. (They aren’t) The producers, the writing, marketers, and direction of the show are the sole culprits of it’s unfunny universe. 

   The show was marketed outright as a sort of “buddy” comedy, surrounded by hijinx of people you used to chill with in college. (At least that’s what the trailers show.) What we wound up receiving was a dull, non-funny, uncomfortable situational show. I don’t know what they were smoking when they marketed this, but the story shown was not that. If you still intend on watching the show, skip the following paragraphs, for they contain spoilers. 

The story from the get go was set up to fail. Within the first 5 minutes of the show, we learn that main character Ethan, who is married to Lisa, is having a 20 year affair with his old college girlfriend Sam. To anyone sane, is there anything funny about that? That type of action would be coming from a very depressing and unfunny place, so why lead off a supposed comedy show with that? Also, deceiving a spouse for more than 2 decades is very UN-COMEDIC! 

If the show’s creators wanted us to hate Ethan, then it was fine, but as the show goes on, we find out, we were expected to actually like Ethan, the adulterer and liar. Here’s a Newsflash: Both qualities in a main character aren’t admirable nor relatable to a mainstream audience. Also, it’s not just the one character, Ethan, that isn’t funny; if you watch you’ll conclude that NONE of the main characters are funny! The situations the characters get into it seems like the writers and producers were going for the most unfunny scenario within each scene and went with it. They even managed to screw up a scene that’s usually comedic gold. In episode 3, Ethan and Max scramble for an idea for a YA series (Young Adult to those unaware) and since their brainstorming session fails, their friend Nick offers some help, by offering drugs. I was hoping for a delivery to the actual comedy, but wound up take the side of Felix (Billy Eichner), when he loudly yelled at them to get out of his place, just because I wanted the scene to be over. Yes! The show manages to botch a scene that would normally be a very funny scenario. 

The shame of it is that the talents of the cast members are completely misused. Every single person in the cast has experience with delivering funny, and yet the show kills it’s own golden goose in that it craps all over the obvious talents of these actors. 

The story just seems convoluted, too intertwined, and since the characters presented are people you would avoid if you knew them, it undercuts the necessary component for an audience to invest themselves in. One example, since Ethan has been cheating on his wife for 20 years with Sam, who is on her second husband already, do we really care why they didn’t wind up together in the first place? Also, since Max screws up his relationship with Felix by leaving him at a Long Island winery for an hour and a half before he realized he was gone, do we really care that Max is sorry? Ironically, Billy Eichner’s character is the most relatable, funniest, and most dynamic and he’s gone after episode 5. The main reason: Felix isn’t an asshole!

If you know television, one of the most widely watched and viewed sitcoms was “Seinfeld”. It’s formulaic in that the characters we see are 2 dimensional, are completely anal, and ridiculous, which makes us laugh again and again. In “Friends from College”, the writers and producers took that Seinfeld formula and tried to substitute the essential ingredients by not only giving us horrible people to stare at, but also putting them in amped up real life situations and react in realistic ways. A sort of “What would you do?”, which basically takes out all the fun, and with a premise “Friends from College”, the question that should’ve been asked to the audience was “What would you do if there were no consequences to your actions?” It definitely would’ve made for funnier material, and kept in line with the premise the show initially offers.

[bklynmadman]

From the viewpoint of a witness to the attacks in Nice, France

               To start off, from here on out, I will never address the GOP presidential candidate by his real name, but by Drumpf. It truly is amazing just how far he can not only stretch the truth, but also get it wrong so much and yet still has supporters. I have a bone to pick with his plan on combating terror. Like so many of his other “wonderful” ideas, this one truly has got me sick to my stomach.

      When considering the prospect of bombing not only terrorists, but their wives and children, it truly makes my stomach turn. One of the central plans for Donald Drumpf’s campaign called for a unilateral bombing of not just terrorists, but also their wives and children. It’s understandable that many who have been affected by an act of terror, or have fought in Afghanistan and/or Iraq, feel a sense of revenge for their fallen brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, parents, and other relatives. Many have felt a unanimous sense of patriotism and revenge after the towers fell at 9/11, killing many loved ones. It lead us to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, which we are still fighting today. We are at a crossroads in this election for our next president. Both candidates have laid out their plans to combat these terrorists wishing to do us harm. Drumpf went out on Fox and Friends and said the following…

            “Trump criticized President Barack Obama's previous comments that the militants had been contained. Trump said Obama "doesn't know what he's doing," and when the anchors pressed the mogul on his plan for ISIS, he said he "would knock the hell out of them. And the other thing is with the terrorists, you have to take out their families," Trump said. "When you get these terrorists, you have to take out their families. They care about their lives; don't kid yourself. But they say they don't care about their lives. You have to take out their families.”

               Taking out suspected terrorists is one thing, but going after their families is an entirely different story. I’m paraphrasing here for I don’t know who said it, but someone in history has said something along the following lines and it absolutely upholds today.

“History will judge this battle, not just by the outcome, but also by the manner in which it was fought.”

               Granted, the United States is more probable to win this war on terrorism, given the resources and intelligence we have at our disposal. However, people seem to forget that the world is watching. Anytime a war is waged or a conflict arises, the world pays attention not to just who wins, but also how the battles are conducted. How we conduct ourselves through this war is just as important as winning it. The way our country wages this war on terror will either create allies, or could possibly create enemies. If we permit Drumpf to go ahead and condone the killings of families of suspected terrorists, I believe that we will alienate our allies, cause our enemies to multiply, and invite more of what we are seeing now.

               After World War II, our country took part in the Geneva convention, where many different countries had an agreement as to how a country would conduct itself during an International armed conflict, and also during an  Non-International Armed Conflict. Our war on ISIL would no question fall under Article 3, Provision II of the Non-International Armed Conflict Rules.

The reason for that is ISIS is not recognized as a sovereign nation or a signatory nation, but would be classified as a Rebel Force. Now since ISIS “Rebel Force” extends it’s members to many different Sovereign Nations, and due to ISIS’ mission, their actions would no doubt be classified as “having or possessing all of the characteristics of war” If you look up the Geneva Convention, and take a look at Article 3, Provision II, you’ll see that this label does apply here. It also forbids at any time, and in any place whatsoever, the following...

---violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture;

--taking of hostages;

--outrages upon dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment;

---the passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples.

               The United States along with many others have signed these agreements and recognize the Geneva Accords as the protocol for International and Non-International Conflict. It still shapes the way our country engages our enemies on the battlefield. Now, Drumpf supporters will run at this and say that ISIS not only does not recognize the Geneva accords, but violates them. It is because of this they say that we, as a nation, should not conduct ourselves on those conventions we signed back in the 1940s. This way of thinking is reminiscent of a childhood lesson I’m sure many of you readers were told in one way or another, either by your teachers or your parents, Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Right.

               It’s not justifiable that simply because our enemy decides to be a butcher of innocent men, women, and children, that we must stoop to their level and do the same; an Eye for an Eye type of thinking. Even suggesting this prospect can make other world leaders nervous that this policy, should it be enacted by this embarrassment to the country, could be possible should they find themselves in conflict with us.

               As a proud citizen of the greatest nation in the world, the United States of America, I’d like to believe that we are beyond that way of thinking. That we will not stoop to the barbarian level of our enemies, and conduct ourselves as civil during this time of conflict should always be the standard which our country conducts itself.

       I’m sure we all can agree, conservatives and liberals, Democrats and Republicans alike, that we are the best nation in the world. We serve as a beacon to other nations, and set the example for others to follow. I would hope to believe that we, as the United States of America, are truly above this type of thinking.

      I’d like to get personal for a minute, (or a few scrolls depending on your browser) and tell my story about the recent attacks in Nice, France. As all of you on facebook who is in my friend column surely know, My wife and I were honeymooning in Nice at the time of the act of terror on Bastille Day. It was truly, utterly, a horrible experience that I wish never happened. I’ll retell these events and perhaps you’ll understand my rationale.

        At 10pm in Nice time, the Promanade D’Anglais gets crowded with people wishing to watch the fireworks show. Everyone was there to celebrate Bastille Day, which is the equivalent of our Independence Day in America, and many gathered in the street to watch the show. My wife and I had stayed in the Hyatt Regency Nice Palaid de la Mediterranee. If you are familiar with the events in Nice, and wish to google the hotel, you’ll see that my wife and I were right there. I wish I wasn’t anywhere near this attack, but sometimes things happen.

             The fireworks show was one of the best I’ve ever seen. Two boats out in the ocean shot all of the fireworks, and we caught the entire show from our balcony facing the ocean. They played U2, The Rolling Stones, and Prince songs along with the fireworks, and it was truly a breathtaking experience.

              At 10:28pm, I turned to my wife and asked “Do you want to go downstairs and go out?”. She shook her head and said “No, I’m not really big into crowds, and we do have an early morning flight to catch at home.” With that, we turned inside from our terrace and proceeded to get ready for bed.

               At approximately 10:35, I heard what I had thought at the time was more fireworks. I told my wife “Oh, the show isn’t over yet.” With that, I went outside back onto the balcony to see if there were any more. There wasn’t anything. The streets, which were highly populated a mere 10 minutes prior were now empty. I was a little intoxicated so I didn’t think much of it, and I turned back inside. At 12:30pm, my hotel room phone had rang. I picked it up, and it was my younger brother on the other side. The exchange we had, I remember to the TEE.

 “Frank, Are you and Sarah Ok?” he said, tension in his voice

 “What?” I replied

 “Are you and Sarah ok?”

 “Yeah, we were sleeping. What’s up?” 

“There was a terrorist attack in Nice.” 

“What?” 

“There was a terrorist attack in Nice. Are you both ok?” 

“Yeaaaahh, Ok, You’re fucking with me. Very funny!” 

“Turn on the news. You guys are ok though, right?” 

“Yeah, Yeah, we’re both ok.” 

“Ok, Love you guys, talk to you soon.”

               After he hung up, I turned on the television. My heart stopped. Images of our hotel were on the news with the slug: Terrorist Attack in Nice. I woke up wife up, and said, “Honey, look.” 

               We were confronted by video images of our hotel. Right in front of our hotel were images of body bags, police cars, and policemen walking in front of our hotel. The frigate truck that the psycho path used was literally 5 feet from the entrance to our hotel. We both were in complete, total shock. My wife was crying, and afraid. The city had been shut down, and the French Mayor had ordered all residents to stay indoors. The French Defense Minister had warned that car bombs may be used, and the “attack” might not be officially concluded. To be blunt, we were both afraid.

                For some reason, I just had a moment of disbelief. This couldn’t be. I had to see that these images we were seeing were in fact real. I admit now it was dumb, but I just couldn’t help myself. I went back out onto the terrace thinking in the back of my mind, hoping, that this was all just an elaborate sick prank.

                The images on the television were real. I still wish they weren’t. This was the second time in my life were I felt truly helpless, and afraid of what was happening in front of me.

                I stared down into the street, and all I could see were body bags and policemen walking around. There were a few traces of blood on the street that was visible even from 20 feet up above. To be perfectly honest, it wasn’t the adult sized body bags that bothered me. It was the child body bags that made me cry. I counted 5 within my peripheral vision. I wished that somehow I could’ve gone downstairs and breathed life back into those who died, especially the children.

                We held each other after I came back inside the room. That image haunts me, even now as I write this. Those innocent children were lying on the street next to their grieving parents, who would never see them alive again.

                We barely slept that night, and we got word that no flights were cancelled. All we had to do was get to the airport. We couldn’t get a cab to the front of the hotel. We were told we had to walk around the corner to get one. The hotel staff walked us outside, and right outside was the frigate truck he used. It was ridden with bullet holes on the sides of the truck and windshield. Immediately I remembered, those supposed “fireworks” I heard after the Bastille Day show, and I concluded that those weren’t fireworks. Those were the sounds of gunshots, and probably the fatal ones that killed this psychopath.

                There were still body bags in the street, even at 6am in the morning, 8 hours after the attack. There were policemen, armed with machine guns, setting up barricades. They questioned us as we walked past. They were on full alert. There were news crews giving reports at the scene, and some setting up their shots. Other people were roaming the streets like zombies, all in disbelief as to what happened. Some were crying, and some were holding each other as they cried. All we could do was get in the cab, and drive to the airport.

                Now that I’m two weeks removed from this, I had time to process this horror and reflect on it. I wouldn’t wish this type of horror on anyone. No parent should ever have to bury their children, nor should any child suffer from the sins of their parents. They are innocent. Those children who died that night lost their lives because of the things we have done in the past, and what we are currently doing. It doesn’t really matter who started it, or who did what to whom. What matters is the horror that children are now dead, and the call to prevent events like these from ever happening to anyone, ever again.

         These terrorists are so enraged that they are targeting anyone and everyone they possibly can. It begs the question: Did we do anything to cause this type of hatred? Once we understand that, we can maybe see if we can begin a peaceful resolution. After seeing the aftermath of the Nice attacks, I would never wish this on anyone, even to those wishing to do us harm.

      I understand the pain of losing a child, and those parents who lost their children in combat. I’m not going to sit here and tell you how to be. I just want to leave you with a quote from “The Godfather”, where Vito Corleone turns to Don Tatagglia and says “You talk about vengeance. Is vengeance going to bring your son back to you, or my boy back to me?” 

      We need to be better than our enemies. We need to rise above their barbaric tactics, and never put our nose in the mud. What Drumpf is talking about is more killing, and resorting to those same tactics that our enemies are using. It will only cause our enemies to get worse and attack more people. If you think about it, deaths of children can make parents do crazy things, things they never thought possible. If we are capable of it, so are they.  People seem to forget that history will judge us all. If we, as an educated sovereign nation, resort to these tactics, we will lose any credibility we had in the world. It’s our humanity that’s at stake in this war, and how we intend to wage it is just as important as winning. We must take the high road.

     I personally can’t condone or stand by idle while this privileged spoiled brat unveils that we must go after these terrorists’ families, and is ok with the slaughter of children should they happen to be near their terrorists fathers. It’s not the way, and  I hope when November 8 rolls around that you will feel the same way.

[bklynmadman]

Understanding the Angry White Voter

 Hello everyone, it feels good to be back on U.S soil. I’ve gone over and read many sources about this upcoming election for the United States Presidency. Throughout all of the polls, and all of the surveys, it’s pretty clear how Donald has been securing his voter base. He’s appealing to the working class white voters, angry at their situations, and is promising them a return to “prosperity”. 

    While his promises sound excellent and seem like hitting the lottery, as a lifelong New Yorker, I can’t help but think that it’s too good to be true. To be blunt, it absolutely is. If you want to find out why, please read on. If you don’t care or wish to think about it, then by all means, stop reading. If you wish to gain another perspective, by all means, carry on with your inquiry. 

    Now that the ugly disclaimer is out of the way, the title of the article is “Understanding the Angry White Voter”. What is an “Angry white voter”? It’s usually working class caucasian people, either East-Western European descent, Russian, etc. that work here in America. Some are teachers, nurses, para-professionals, policemen, firemen, sanitation workers, etc. They all vary, and come from different situations. I wouldn’t be so arrogant as to loop people into a generalized category, or start a backlash. However, it seems that most people from this category are angry and feel that Donald is their guy. 

WHY THE ANGER? 

    Reading off some of the grievances from people I know, plus statistic studies conducted by realclearpolitics.com, The Huffington Post, and salon.com, it’s clear that the angry white voter clearly exists. If some of my friends facebook political posts, the ones who are supporting trump, mostly display their support with a side of anger and frustration. The grievances they have didn’t just spring up, nor are those people inherently racists or bigots. That media narrative I found to be a bit overreaching and doesn’t adequately address the problem. 

  What are the problems? Here is a list, and hopefully it covers it. 

1.) Not feeling their voice heard in the american government. 

     Most of these people are speaking from a perspective, their perspective, and feel it’s not representative in the government. This is the key reason that Donald has risen to the nomination.  

2.) Feeling marginalized in their own neighborhoods, and laws passed only represent 

    It relates to my first point that those people feel that they aren’t getting their needs addressed or met, and the attention is turning more towards those who get the media coverage, or those with alternate perspectives on life and how things should run. 

 3.) Living from paycheck to paycheck with no relief

  Some working class people, some of whom have big families to support, live off paycheck to paycheck have no relief in sight. Most people in this category will tell you, they don’t make enough, sometimes lean on other family members for support, and have their money they make already spent. 

4)  Feeling under-appreciated at their work, and also underpaid for the responsibilities they have. 

   Much of the work they cover they feel is not noticed or properly rewarded by the higher ups, nor do they feel that the work they do is valued enough. 

5.) Feeling bitter than the next generation will never have it as hard as they did, and feeling this new generation has grown up “soft”. 

    I’ve heard it time and time again, as I’m sure that you have. It usually starts with a cackling or a raspy voice maybe, and a “Back in my day…insert prehistoric shit here” type of deal. Sorry if I’m soft because I like to work in an air conditioned place. 

   I think this about covers the angry part, without going into bigotry, or racism. That will be covered later. The point now is, this is mostly what the “angry white voter” population is angry about. 

  HOW DONALD PANDERED TO THIS ANGRY FEELING

     The logical thought to answer to all of these problems the working white class voter is facing is that there is really no one clear cut answer to how people could wind up in these type of predicaments. All of these things are the result of many different factors. 

It’s one of Donalds bigger lies his campaign has pandered to this voter base.  The cause of all of these problems are because of a very few specific factors, when it’s just not true. You don’t become totally fucked over night, unless you bet your life savings on black at the casino. You gradually become screwed with time, just like anything else in life. For example, you don’t become a diabetic overnight, unless you were born with it. You become a diabetic from the result of years of mis-managed dieting habits and nutrition. There are only so many times you can poke the bear before the bear wakes up and attacks. The metaphor being, only so many times you can gamble, eat poorly, not save, or not refinance, or whatever before it all adds up to being a fucked situation. 

   Donald has made statements and has gotten this very angry base to belief that the sum of their problems is all rooted to a very select few causes, and few problems. It’s a bullshit argument, and it works because our society works on non-accountability. No one wishes to take responsibility for their own actions, or owns up to what they’ve done. The Donald himself, exudes non-accountability or non-responsibility for the problems he causes or the things he says. 

  Donald has placed blame for these angry white voter gripes on the following things. 

1.) Immigrants

2.) Unfair tax policies 

3.) Too much government regulation in business

4.) Too much government handouts

5.) Unfair trading policies that favor other countries and sell out American jobs

     In each and every campaign stop, Donald has placed blame on the job market, the economy, on one or all of these things, directly mostly, or indirectly a fraction of the time. According to him, the angry white voter problems exist ONLY because of these factors, and he’s successfully found a boogie man to pin the problems on. 

WHY IT’S WORKING 

    It works on this class of people for it’s an easy way out. No one wants to admit or look at their own actions as the cause of their problems. Is it easier to admit that you personally fell short of making enough money this year, or point to an outside source and pin the blame on that? The mere offering of the outside source stops most working class people from thinking relatively hard about the causes of their situations or how they got to where they are in life. It also absolves them on any blame of their part for the misfortunes. There’s very little accountability in society today, from politicians on down, and it’s much easier to fault others for our own actions. Either people don’t want to deal with their own failures or misfortunes, or paint themselves as a victim of circumstances around them.

Donald’s campaign has offered an alternative to taking the blame by establishing a narrative to supporters they are being held back from realizing their own earning potential. “It’s Government Regulations that’s killing business” “Our President has single handedly destroyed the free market.” “Corporate Taxes and income taxes are an all time high.” These are just some of the things he’s said while on the campaign trail, and to the downtrodden, they eat it up. He’s successfully scapegoated the reasons I’ve listed above as the reason people are struggling to make ends meet, and made it easy for believers to absolves themselves of any blame while pointing to those reasons I’ve listed as to why the working middle class struggles.

Donald’s campaign has routinely targeted and pandered to the “angry white voter” gripes knowing that income inequality is a “YUGE” issue for this demographic, even though it’s mostly an all inclusive problem but I digress. He’s successfully gotten people to believe, this group in particular, that these things are holding them back. He’s carefully talked about this issue, pandering to the outrage of this demographic, while promising that he knows the solution to these problems. His campaign has painted the narrative that the Donald is synonymous with the American dream, where he “struggled in life” and “overcame adversity”, and from that narrative of success, he’s anointed himself the overseer of what plagues others from achieving what he has. After you listen and hear what he says, some could think “How could he not know what the problems are? He overcame them!” That is another bullshit narrative he’s telling but more on that later on.

In short, if you don’t want to blame yourself for your problems, there are alternative outlets to place your outrage towards. Donald knows this and has successfully pandered to that outrage. The “Angry White Voter” indentifies with Donald for two reasons.

Either they admire the guy for basically being the “American Dream” personified, or they wish to have the lifestyle he has. I mean c’mon, who wouldn’t want to be filthy rich? If you were to poll one thousand people at random, and asked them “If you had one wish, what would it be?” I would be willing to bet that at least 900 of those people would respond “To be rich”. It’s not rocket science. Most people in their day to day lives would wish for more money, or to have their money problems eliminated permanently from their lives. Donald has pandered to this wish for people and has made promises to “Make America Great Again”. He’s alluded to that old conservative base line that America has made a turn for the worst, and that the American Dream is on life support. Donald would have you believe that a vote for him would help restore America, and help you achieve the American dream.  He promises to take care of those pesky immigrants swiping American jobs, to bring jobs back to America, to fix the “broken” government and economy. All of these promises sound excellent. In and of those promises themselves, those things sound great.  How could it not? I love it. However, what I don’t love is the how. It’s the How he plans to achieve these things that are scary, and it’s driven by the rage from the “Angry White Voter” population. The problem we are facing is the anger in and of itself. Anger doesn’t allow any straightforward thinking, or critical thinking for that matter. I don’t know anyone who hasn’t acted out in anger, and not regretted it later. Angry thinking is the same thing as emotional thinking, and it’s dangerous when it comes from a position of power. It’s dangerous not only to ourselves, but our future children, and the world.  

THE RACISM

      Donald’s campaign has indirectly pandered to the racism, by pushing the GOP subliminal narrative propagandized tenants, and leaving the hating of minorities as the only reasonable option. However, I can’t give Donald the full credit for this one. Even before Donald, the GOP has been pushing these narratives upon “Angry White Voters” as if these are the only things keeping them from obtaining the American Dream. It’s a bullshit narrative, and it’s been disproven so many times, but the outrage is still there and the fact checking isn’t getting through unfortunately.

     I’m not here stating that all white people are racists. However, I do believe that some have turned to racism as the only feasible option, which was severely helped those narratives force-fed to us by the GOP.  The GOP has for years pointed to things like “Government handouts”, “Affirmative Action”, and “Illegal Immigration” and has tried to link these things as being the sole contributors to the gripes of the “angry white voters” face. How it works is, they point the finger, and make the assumption that these things are usurping all government resources, and that’s why the government isn’t helping out the middle class, more specifically the “Angry White Voter”. They’ve made the assumption, with a broad stroke, that our government is more concerned with helping minorities through those handouts, (i.e. welfare, Medicaid, etc.) rather than helping white people struggling to make ends meet.

       Granted, it doesn’t help that there are very few recourses for middle class America to make ends meet, and the GOP exploits that to get you angry and outraged. President Obama has tried with a few of his policies, that I’m not really going to get into (Dodd-Frank, Expanded Pell Grants while eliminating private banks for student loans, Credit Card Reform, etc, sorry, I couldn’t help myself.) Many Americans have yet to feel the effects of Obama’s policies, and it’s that outrage that is currently driving them.

         The GOP focuses their arguments so that all you see is the government “handouts” being given. They point from their pulpits and say things like “They get relief”, “They get a handout.” “They don’t even work”, and condition you to resent those recipients. It would enrage anyone who works hard for a living to find out people get a check for doing nothing. Automatically, without investigating, the outrage boils over and automatically people wish to put a stop to the entire practice. From the “Angry White Voter”, the feelings of resentment come out of spite, and anger. Automatically, without thinking, you resent and hate these recipients, unfairly, without looking further as to what is really going in. Thoughts set in for this demographic, “How could this happen?” “I work hard everyday, and I don’t get a handout!”  “Maybe if I was black, I’d get more money.” These are just some of the statements I’ve heard in passing through social circles of mine. It’s saddening, and I wish more time was spent as to what the actual problem is without focusing so much on who’s getting what and where.

                     With this narrative, Donald has helped that growing divide between white Americans, and African Americans by turning on the Hate-O-Rade. He, and the rest of the GOP, have pandered to that feeling of being voiceless within the “Angry White Voter” and gave them an outlet to direct their rage. It isn’t hard to assume that for a demographic that feels like they have no say in their government affairs, while having very little recourse should they see harder times to turn around and hate on those that have resources built in for them. This same type of outrage also extends to Affrimative Action, for many all around feel that this is an unfair practice, but especially for the “Angry White Voter” This isn’t the only thing the Donald has pounced on to divide. He’s also drove a wedge between Americans and illegal immigrants with the same type of demonization. Below is a list of myths concocted by the GOP, and Donald about welfare recipients.

http://groundswell.org/7-lies-about-welfare-that-many-people-believe-are-fact/

Also for a good read, modern statistical studies on public housing conducted by CBPP.

http://www.cbpp.org/research/policy-basics-public-housing

Again, all of these narratives are complete bullshit; all welfare recipients are required to work to receive any benefits, and most of them do. Most of those on welfare, and use Medicaid really need it and actually have no recourse.  The ones that don’t are committing fraud and should be ashamed of themselves for taking resources away from others that truly need them.

Also I say to those who parrot what others say about welfare recipients, that they are just lazy and bilk the government while not working, it’s always better to ask these parrots if they know anyone personally that does that. If they do, (odds are they never set foot in the projects to begin with or know anyone that lives there), and don’t report it, they are personally allowing the “broken” system to continue. Survey says: If you see it and know someone personally that’s doing it, report it. Help the system! Otherwise, shut the fuck up!  

Back to welfare, and Medicaid recipients, most of these people, and I say most because I would not be so arrogant to make a blanket statement, but most of these people actually need that help. They are really struggling. Not that we all aren’t, but it helps to put things in a perspective for a second.

If you ever set foot in a lower income housing complex, or “projects”, the housing is truly terrible. Not just some of the environments that surround and occur in them, but also the living conditions. Hallways are not properly maintained. It takes forever for the government to come by to fix anything. They don’t have access to things like central air, and sometimes no air conditioning at all. They don’t have modern appliances, a lot of the time they are told to get second hand appliances, and space is extremely tight. Suffice to say, it’s not an ideal living situation for anyone to live in. Again, another story for later. Perhaps as a nightmare inducing story for the kiddies.

Sharon Jones, a successful singer, she says “In the last few years, my career has been climbing. NBC News wanted to come and film me in my apartment. I said, “Oh no you’re not!” Not so they could come up in there, in the elevator stepping over urine and feces. I’m not going to bring them up in there so they can see the plaster falling off in my mother’s room and the leaks from the rain. I didn’t want that.”  (http://narrative.ly/life-in-public-housing/)

Yvonne Shields, a sous-chef who works at Broadway Community Inc, had the following to say about Public Housing. “I’ve been there going on nine years now. As a kid, my mother was trying to get us into the projects. But we could never get in there. So years later I found myself homeless and finally got the opportunity. But just to get into the projects, you have to give up all this information about yourself. They want to know if you got a cat. They want to know everything about you. They’re asking what you make, who’s in the apartment, what they make, whether or not you have doctor bills. It’s just so confining to me that it feels like a compound. It feels like a prison. I guess this is how they regulate the poor.” (http://narrative.ly/life-in-public-housing/)

  ANOTHER PRESPECTIVE

               It’s pretty hard to think when that stress ball of a mortgage comes around each month, along with needs of kids, food, utility bills, car payments, etc. It’s tough to get a minute to breathe, any parent will tell you. It’s tough on any marriage, and also just as tough to raise children today as it was in earlier decades. I say this as a common accepted practice for many people I know will agree with this, also studies have been done to show just what I’m talking about. I won’t waste time listing them……Ok, I lied. Here

http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/03/14/modern-parenthood-roles-of-moms-and-dads-converge-as-they-balance-work-and-family/ (PEW RESEARCH CENTER STUDY ON PARENTHOOD IN AMERICA)  

https://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/p20-570.pdf (US CENSUS for 2012 results of Parenting)

               So many of us have our own problems, and so many of us pray and claw for a solution. Some of us don’t have kids, or are saving for a house, etc. We’ve all got our fair share of problems.

               Now most people I find that are falling for the Donald’s lies and bullshit have one similarity among them. They are stretched thin and don’t have a minute to think. In their defense, it’s hard to stop and smell the roses when you are in the trenches of parenthood. However, consider the following before you go off and think illegal immigrants and government handouts are keeping you back. I’ll use an example to demonstrate.

      Person A is married. They have two children, a Jeep, and a modest house in a decent neighborhood. The children are 8 and 6. Let’s say boy and a girl. Person A and his spouse work like dogs. One is a teacher, and the other is a policeman. (Teachers and Policemen don’t get paid enough in NYC, but again, another story.) Between the both of them, they generate $115,000 a year. Let’s say they took a 30 year fixed mortgage for a house that cost half of a million. Their payment would be roughly $2,364 a month, at 28G or so a year. The mortgage will wind up costing them total after the 30, and without a refinance, $850K. So let’s breakdown monthly expenses.

MORTGAGE for the Person A’s: $2,364/monthly

CAR PAYMENT: $350/monthly

UTILITIES: $250/monthly

FOOD: $2,000/monthly

MISCELLANEOUS BUDGET (Clothes, Home improvements, Activities) $1,200 monthly

TOTAL per month: $6,264

               Since both parents are on a fixed income and their salaries are about the same. Each month after taxes, they each pull in about $3,475.00. That’s only $6,950 to play with total, and a difference of $686 extra each month to use. That amount will probably go to annual property taxes for the house anyway. After seeing this number, it’s very easy to assume, that money is extremely tight for Person A. A disaster or an unforeseen fine will make it extremely tough for this family to make ends meet. Most of these types of parents have family to lean on for extra support, while some in fact, don’t.

Now, these problems you have. Let’s go back to that picture I painted of the projects earlier. Imagine working just as hard, and having to live in a place where the following is an everyday occurrence.

1.) Only a 4 room house for your family, a total of 400 sq feet.

2.) Unclean, Broken, and often Unkempt hallways and facilities

3.) No control over simple things as heat or leaks.

4.) Severely regulated, just for asking for help to the point of giving up what would be considered by anyone a violation of privacy, but are essential to being admitted to public housing.

Just to name a few. Now, I’m not an expert on what it’s like to live in Public Housing, but if you read enough up on it, you’ll see it’s not a paradise as the GOP would tell you.

Now, If you were Person A, Would you trade your problems for an opportunity to live in Public Housing?

               The point is, the way we can sometimes call our lives full of problems and headaches, and wish to throw it away, someone less fortunate would gladly rip those problems and headaches out of your hands before it even hits the trashcan. “The Angry White Voter” I feel sometimes doesn’t appreciate what they have, and are often too busy looking around at what others have, and feel slighted as to why they don’t have that item. If you don’t believe me, trade places with someone who lives in public housing, and live there for a month. Let me know if you still think they’re taking advantage of America. The problem is “The Angry White Voter” is just that, angry, and angry blinds us to really thinking about the problem comprehensively. If we stop the anger for a second to think, you’ll see that the GOP is full of it, and so is Donald. Appreciate what you have, and maybe one day we can all fix this and make a better America.

I’ll be following this up with more comments soon. Thanks for listening. 

�6_\�M

[bklynmadman]

Understanding the Angry White Voter

 Hello everyone, it feels good to be back on U.S soil. I’ve gone over and read many sources about this upcoming election for the United States Presidency. Throughout all of the polls, and all of the surveys, it’s pretty clear how Donald has been securing his voter base. He’s appealing to the working class white voters, angry at their situations, and is promising them a return to “prosperity”. 

    While his promises sound excellent and seem like hitting the lottery, as a lifelong New Yorker, I can’t help but think that it’s too good to be true. To be blunt, it absolutely is. If you want to find out why, please read on. If you don’t care or wish to think about it, then by all means, stop reading. If you wish to gain another perspective, by all means, carry on with your inquiry. 

    Now that the ugly disclaimer is out of the way, the title of the article is “Understanding the Angry White Voter”. What is an “Angry white voter”? It’s usually working class caucasian people, either East-Western European descent, Russian, etc. that work here in America. Some are teachers, nurses, para-professionals, policemen, firemen, sanitation workers, etc. They all vary, and come from different situations. I wouldn’t be so arrogant as to loop people into a generalized category, or start a backlash. However, it seems that most people from this category are angry and feel that Donald is their guy. 

WHY THE ANGER? 

    Reading off some of the grievances from people I know, plus statistic studies conducted by realclearpolitics.com, The Huffington Post, and salon.com, it’s clear that the angry white voter clearly exists. If some of my friends facebook political posts, the ones who are supporting trump, mostly display their support with a side of anger and frustration. The grievances they have didn’t just spring up, nor are those people inherently racists or bigots. That media narrative I found to be a bit overreaching and doesn’t adequately address the problem. 

  What are the problems? Here is a list, and hopefully it covers it. 

1.) Not feeling their voice heard in the american government. 

     Most of these people are speaking from a perspective, their perspective, and feel it’s not representative in the government. This is the key reason that Donald has risen to the nomination.  

2.) Feeling marginalized in their own neighborhoods, and laws passed only represent 

    It relates to my first point that those people feel that they aren’t getting their needs addressed or met, and the attention is turning more towards those who get the media coverage, or those with alternate perspectives on life and how things should run. 

 3.) Living from paycheck to paycheck with no relief

  Some working class people, some of whom have big families to support, live off paycheck to paycheck have no relief in sight. Most people in this category will tell you, they don’t make enough, sometimes lean on other family members for support, and have their money they make already spent. 

4)  Feeling under-appreciated at their work, and also underpaid for the responsibilities they have. 

   Much of the work they cover they feel is not noticed or properly rewarded by the higher ups, nor do they feel that the work they do is valued enough. 

5.) Feeling bitter than the next generation will never have it as hard as they did, and feeling this new generation has grown up “soft”. 

    I’ve heard it time and time again, as I’m sure that you have. It usually starts with a cackling or a raspy voice maybe, and a “Back in my day…insert prehistoric shit here” type of deal. Sorry if I’m soft because I like to work in an air conditioned place. 

   I think this about covers the angry part, without going into bigotry, or racism. That will be covered later. The point now is, this is mostly what the “angry white voter” population is angry about. 

  HOW DONALD PANDERED TO THIS ANGRY FEELING

     The logical thought to answer to all of these problems the working white class voter is facing is that there is really no one clear cut answer to how people could wind up in these type of predicaments. All of these things are the result of many different factors. 

It’s one of Donalds bigger lies his campaign has pandered to this voter base.  The cause of all of these problems are because of a very few specific factors, when it’s just not true. You don’t become totally fucked over night, unless you bet your life savings on black at the casino. You gradually become screwed with time, just like anything else in life. For example, you don’t become a diabetic overnight, unless you were born with it. You become a diabetic from the result of years of mis-managed dieting habits and nutrition. There are only so many times you can poke the bear before the bear wakes up and attacks. The metaphor being, only so many times you can gamble, eat poorly, not save, or not refinance, or whatever before it all adds up to being a fucked situation. 

   Donald has made statements and has gotten this very angry base to belief that the sum of their problems is all rooted to a very select few causes, and few problems. It’s a bullshit argument, and it works because our society works on non-accountability. No one wishes to take responsibility for their own actions, or owns up to what they’ve done. The Donald himself, exudes non-accountability or non-responsibility for the problems he causes or the things he says. 

  Donald has placed blame for these angry white voter gripes on the following things. 

1.) Immigrants

2.) Unfair tax policies 

3.) Too much government regulation in business

4.) Too much government handouts

5.) Unfair trading policies that favor other countries and sell out American jobs

     In each and every campaign stop, Donald has placed blame on the job market, the economy, on one or all of these things, directly mostly, or indirectly a fraction of the time. According to him, the angry white voter problems exist ONLY because of these factors, and he’s successfully found a boogie man to pin the problems on. 

WHY IT’S WORKING 

    It works on this class of people for it’s an easy way out. No one wants to admit or look at their own actions as the cause of their problems. Is it easier to admit that you personally fell short of making enough money this year, or point to an outside source and pin the blame on that? The mere offering of the outside source stops most working class people from thinking relatively hard about the causes of their situations or how they got to where they are in life. It also absolves them on any blame of their part for the misfortunes. There’s very little accountability in society today, from politicians on down, and it’s much easier to fault others for our own actions. Either people don’t want to deal with their own failures or misfortunes, or paint themselves as a victim of circumstances around them.

Donald’s campaign has offered an alternative to taking the blame by establishing a narrative to supporters they are being held back from realizing their own earning potential. “It’s Government Regulations that’s killing business” “Our President has single handedly destroyed the free market.” “Corporate Taxes and income taxes are an all time high.” These are just some of the things he’s said while on the campaign trail, and to the downtrodden, they eat it up. He’s successfully scapegoated the reasons I’ve listed above as the reason people are struggling to make ends meet, and made it easy for believers to absolves themselves of any blame while pointing to those reasons I’ve listed as to why the working middle class struggles.

Donald’s campaign has routinely targeted and pandered to the “angry white voter” gripes knowing that income inequality is a “YUGE” issue for this demographic, even though it’s mostly an all inclusive problem but I digress. He’s successfully gotten people to believe, this group in particular, that these things are holding them back. He’s carefully talked about this issue, pandering to the outrage of this demographic, while promising that he knows the solution to these problems. His campaign has painted the narrative that the Donald is synonymous with the American dream, where he “struggled in life” and “overcame adversity”, and from that narrative of success, he’s anointed himself the overseer of what plagues others from achieving what he has. After you listen and hear what he says, some could think “How could he not know what the problems are? He overcame them!” That is another bullshit narrative he’s telling but more on that later on.

In short, if you don’t want to blame yourself for your problems, there are alternative outlets to place your outrage towards. Donald knows this and has successfully pandered to that outrage. The “Angry White Voter” indentifies with Donald for two reasons.

Either they admire the guy for basically being the “American Dream” personified, or they wish to have the lifestyle he has. I mean c’mon, who wouldn’t want to be filthy rich? If you were to poll one thousand people at random, and asked them “If you had one wish, what would it be?” I would be willing to bet that at least 900 of those people would respond “To be rich”. It’s not rocket science. Most people in their day to day lives would wish for more money, or to have their money problems eliminated permanently from their lives. Donald has pandered to this wish for people and has made promises to “Make America Great Again”. He’s alluded to that old conservative base line that America has made a turn for the worst, and that the American Dream is on life support. Donald would have you believe that a vote for him would help restore America, and help you achieve the American dream.  He promises to take care of those pesky immigrants swiping American jobs, to bring jobs back to America, to fix the “broken” government and economy. All of these promises sound excellent. In and of those promises themselves, those things sound great.  How could it not? I love it. However, what I don’t love is the how. It’s the How he plans to achieve these things that are scary, and it’s driven by the rage from the “Angry White Voter” population. The problem we are facing is the anger in and of itself. Anger doesn’t allow any straightforward thinking, or critical thinking for that matter. I don’t know anyone who hasn’t acted out in anger, and not regretted it later. Angry thinking is the same thing as emotional thinking, and it’s dangerous when it comes from a position of power. It’s dangerous not only to ourselves, but our future children, and the world.  

THE RACISM

      Donald’s campaign has indirectly pandered to the racism, by pushing the GOP subliminal narrative propagandized tenants, and leaving the hating of minorities as the only reasonable option. However, I can’t give Donald the full credit for this one. Even before Donald, the GOP has been pushing these narratives upon “Angry White Voters” as if these are the only things keeping them from obtaining the American Dream. It’s a bullshit narrative, and it’s been disproven so many times, but the outrage is still there and the fact checking isn’t getting through unfortunately.

     I’m not here stating that all white people are racists. However, I do believe that some have turned to racism as the only feasible option, which was severely helped those narratives force-fed to us by the GOP.  The GOP has for years pointed to things like “Government handouts”, “Affirmative Action”, and “Illegal Immigration” and has tried to link these things as being the sole contributors to the gripes of the “angry white voters” face. How it works is, they point the finger, and make the assumption that these things are usurping all government resources, and that’s why the government isn’t helping out the middle class, more specifically the “Angry White Voter”. They’ve made the assumption, with a broad stroke, that our government is more concerned with helping minorities through those handouts, (i.e. welfare, Medicaid, etc.) rather than helping white people struggling to make ends meet.

       Granted, it doesn’t help that there are very few recourses for middle class America to make ends meet, and the GOP exploits that to get you angry and outraged. President Obama has tried with a few of his policies, that I’m not really going to get into (Dodd-Frank, Expanded Pell Grants while eliminating private banks for student loans, Credit Card Reform, etc, sorry, I couldn’t help myself.) Many Americans have yet to feel the effects of Obama’s policies, and it’s that outrage that is currently driving them.

         The GOP focuses their arguments so that all you see is the government “handouts” being given. They point from their pulpits and say things like “They get relief”, “They get a handout.” “They don’t even work”, and condition you to resent those recipients. It would enrage anyone who works hard for a living to find out people get a check for doing nothing. Automatically, without investigating, the outrage boils over and automatically people wish to put a stop to the entire practice. From the “Angry White Voter”, the feelings of resentment come out of spite, and anger. Automatically, without thinking, you resent and hate these recipients, unfairly, without looking further as to what is really going in. Thoughts set in for this demographic, “How could this happen?” “I work hard everyday, and I don’t get a handout!”  “Maybe if I was black, I’d get more money.” These are just some of the statements I’ve heard in passing through social circles of mine. It’s saddening, and I wish more time was spent as to what the actual problem is without focusing so much on who’s getting what and where.

                     With this narrative, Donald has helped that growing divide between white Americans, and African Americans by turning on the Hate-O-Rade. He, and the rest of the GOP, have pandered to that feeling of being voiceless within the “Angry White Voter” and gave them an outlet to direct their rage. It isn’t hard to assume that for a demographic that feels like they have no say in their government affairs, while having very little recourse should they see harder times to turn around and hate on those that have resources built in for them. This same type of outrage also extends to Affrimative Action, for many all around feel that this is an unfair practice, but especially for the “Angry White Voter” This isn’t the only thing the Donald has pounced on to divide. He’s also drove a wedge between Americans and illegal immigrants with the same type of demonization. Below is a list of myths concocted by the GOP, and Donald about welfare recipients.

http://groundswell.org/7-lies-about-welfare-that-many-people-believe-are-fact/

Also for a good read, modern statistical studies on public housing conducted by CBPP.

http://www.cbpp.org/research/policy-basics-public-housing

Again, all of these narratives are complete bullshit; all welfare recipients are required to work to receive any benefits, and most of them do. Most of those on welfare, and use Medicaid really need it and actually have no recourse.  The ones that don’t are committing fraud and should be ashamed of themselves for taking resources away from others that truly need them.

Also I say to those who parrot what others say about welfare recipients, that they are just lazy and bilk the government while not working, it’s always better to ask these parrots if they know anyone personally that does that. If they do, (odds are they never set foot in the projects to begin with or know anyone that lives there), and don’t report it, they are personally allowing the “broken” system to continue. Survey says: If you see it and know someone personally that’s doing it, report it. Help the system! Otherwise, shut the fuck up!  

Back to welfare, and Medicaid recipients, most of these people, and I say most because I would not be so arrogant to make a blanket statement, but most of these people actually need that help. They are really struggling. Not that we all aren’t, but it helps to put things in a perspective for a second.

If you ever set foot in a lower income housing complex, or “projects”, the housing is truly terrible. Not just some of the environments that surround and occur in them, but also the living conditions. Hallways are not properly maintained. It takes forever for the government to come by to fix anything. They don’t have access to things like central air, and sometimes no air conditioning at all. They don’t have modern appliances, a lot of the time they are told to get second hand appliances, and space is extremely tight. Suffice to say, it’s not an ideal living situation for anyone to live in. Again, another story for later. Perhaps as a nightmare inducing story for the kiddies.

Sharon Jones, a successful singer, she says “In the last few years, my career has been climbing. NBC News wanted to come and film me in my apartment. I said, “Oh no you’re not!” Not so they could come up in there, in the elevator stepping over urine and feces. I’m not going to bring them up in there so they can see the plaster falling off in my mother’s room and the leaks from the rain. I didn’t want that.”  (http://narrative.ly/life-in-public-housing/)

Yvonne Shields, a sous-chef who works at Broadway Community Inc, had the following to say about Public Housing. “I’ve been there going on nine years now. As a kid, my mother was trying to get us into the projects. But we could never get in there. So years later I found myself homeless and finally got the opportunity. But just to get into the projects, you have to give up all this information about yourself. They want to know if you got a cat. They want to know everything about you. They’re asking what you make, who’s in the apartment, what they make, whether or not you have doctor bills. It’s just so confining to me that it feels like a compound. It feels like a prison. I guess this is how they regulate the poor.” (http://narrative.ly/life-in-public-housing/)

 ANOTHER PRESPECTIVE

               It’s pretty hard to think when that stress ball of a mortgage comes around each month, along with needs of kids, food, utility bills, car payments, etc. It’s tough to get a minute to breathe, any parent will tell you. It’s tough on any marriage, and also just as tough to raise children today as it was in earlier decades. I say this as a common accepted practice for many people I know will agree with this, also studies have been done to show just what I’m talking about. I won’t waste time listing them……Ok, I lied. Here

http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/03/14/modern-parenthood-roles-of-moms-and-dads-converge-as-they-balance-work-and-family/ (PEW RESEARCH CENTER STUDY ON PARENTHOOD IN AMERICA)  

https://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/p20-570.pdf (US CENSUS for 2012 results of Parenting)

               So many of us have our own problems, and so many of us pray and claw for a solution. Some of us don’t have kids, or are saving for a house, etc. We’ve all got our fair share of problems.

               Now most people I find that are falling for the Donald’s lies and bullshit have one similarity among them. They are stretched thin and don’t have a minute to think. In their defense, it’s hard to stop and smell the roses when you are in the trenches of parenthood. However, consider the following before you go off and think illegal immigrants and government handouts are keeping you back. I’ll use an example to demonstrate.

      Person A is married. They have two children, a Jeep, and a modest house in a decent neighborhood. The children are 8 and 6. Let’s say boy and a girl. Person A and his spouse work like dogs. One is a teacher, and the other is a policeman. (Teachers and Policemen don’t get paid enough in NYC, but again, another story.) Between the both of them, they generate $115,000 a year. Let’s say they took a 30 year fixed mortgage for a house that cost half of a million. Their payment would be roughly $2,364 a month, at 28G or so a year. The mortgage will wind up costing them total after the 30, and without a refinance, $850K. So let’s breakdown monthly expenses.

MORTGAGE for the Person A’s: $2,364/monthly

CAR PAYMENT: $350/monthly

UTILITIES: $250/monthly

FOOD: $2,000/monthly

MISCELLANEOUS BUDGET (Clothes, Home improvements, Activities) $1,200 monthly

TOTAL per month: $6,264

               Since both parents are on a fixed income and their salaries are about the same. Each month after taxes, they each pull in about $3,475.00. That’s only $6,950 to play with total, and a difference of $686 extra each month to use. That amount will probably go to annual property taxes for the house anyway. After seeing this number, it’s very easy to assume, that money is extremely tight for Person A. A disaster or an unforeseen fine will make it extremely tough for this family to make ends meet. Most of these types of parents have family to lean on for extra support, while some in fact, don’t.

Now, these problems you have. Let’s go back to that picture I painted of the projects earlier. Imagine working just as hard, and having to live in a place where the following is an everyday occurrence.

1.) Only a 4 room house for your family, a total of 400 sq feet.

2.) Unclean, Broken, and often Unkempt hallways and facilities

3.) No control over simple things as heat or leaks.

4.) Severely regulated, just for asking for help to the point of giving up what would be considered by anyone a violation of privacy, but are essential to being admitted to public housing.

Just to name a few. Now, I’m not an expert on what it’s like to live in Public Housing, but if you read enough up on it, you’ll see it’s not a paradise as the GOP would tell you.

Now, If you were Person A, Would you trade your problems for an opportunity to live in Public Housing?

               The point is, the way we can sometimes call our lives full of problems and headaches, and wish to throw it away, someone less fortunate would gladly rip those problems and headaches out of your hands before it even hits the trashcan. “The Angry White Voter” I feel sometimes doesn’t appreciate what they have, and are often too busy looking around at what others have, and feel slighted as to why they don’t have that item. If you don’t believe me, trade places with someone who lives in public housing, and live there for a month. Let me know if you still think they’re taking advantage of America. The problem is “The Angry White Voter” is just that, angry, and angry blinds us to really thinking about the problem comprehensively. If we stop the anger for a second to think, you’ll see that the GOP is full of it, and so is Donald. Appreciate what you have, and maybe one day we can all fix this and make a better America.

I’ll be following this up with more comments soon. Thanks for listening. 

�6_\�M

[bklynmadman]

This election is all about PANDERING

    You might be asking yourselves, who should I vote for this November for president? Which Candidate is the best person to fight for my issues? Many voters unfortunately are going to be stuck with two choices. Granted, neither of them the best choices to lead our nation, but nonetheless, the choices presented to us. In one corner, you have Hillary Clinton, the democratic front-runner for president, and in the other you have Donald Trump, the Republican front-runner for president. Only Trump’s ticket is actually secure at this point considering he has amassed the amount of delegates for the GOP ticket. Each candidate has said a multitude of things during this election cycle, and both candidates are very similar in their approaches for the white house. 

    Let’s start with Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Clinton has been a lifelong democrat since the age of 18. She has worked her way up through the ranks of the party. From the days of JFK’s election, she and her husband, ex-president, William Jefferson Clinton, have been on the ground for the Democratic Party since the 1960′s. They have worked their way up the ranks, where Bill first ran for a seat on the Arkansas House of Representatives, and losing that election in 1974, to being elected Attorney General of Arkansas in 1976. In between those years, Bill married Hillary Rodham, and the two became a tag team duo, with Hillary helping her husband run for Governorship of Arkansas in 1976. Bill won that election, rkansas. 

[bklynmadman]

Trump Man Tax Plan: In short, we WILL have a problem.

    In a nutshell, Trump’s tax plan while attractive and will be easier on the regular taxpayer, while also getting money back from the tax cuts, it will DEFUND Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid within the next ten years. While YOU may not feel that now, you will feel it, if your 30 when you turn 62, when your benefits that you’ve worked so hard for, are SEVERELY cut to the point of nothing, If that doesn’t get you, think about your children when it’s there turn to get what is theirs. 

Trump’s tax plan touts it’s simplicity, and easier filing process with savings to the tax payer. That is only half true. My sources on this are from the CBO, and also from the TPC (Tax Policy Center) among others. If you find that these two sources are not accurate, then you will not like the following statements. I don’t know why you are reading this far if you didn’t like my first part, but here we go.

            Trump has said time and time again on the campaign trail, and also on his website, this plan will provide relief for the middle class, simplify the tax code, and help grow the American economy without adding to the debt or deficit.  In my analysis, Trump’s tax plan is no different than ANY OTHER REPUPLICAN TAX PLAN THAT WE’VE SEEN BEFORE. You know what is going to follow. The plan, which he boasts it it’s a great plan, is only good in the short term with catastrophic results to the economy in the long term. Right away, the plan favors the very wealthy. The same class Trump touts hurts this country with lobbyists is now proposing a plan that favors them. In other words, no different than the plans we’ve seen from Mitt Romney, John McCain, and George W. Bush. It indirectly promotes tax-cuts across the board. As we’ve seen from previous plans of other republican candidates from the past, tax cuts do two things. One, it underwhelms the middle class as far as financial relief goes on what they would be getting back each year, and two, favors the wealthy. The lower class bracket, under Trump’s plan, get the privilege of keeping the money that they make are get the added bonus of paying nothing at the end of the year.  Middle class, brackets 10 and 20%’ers, would get back on average $2,700 or what the TPC predicts 4.3%. The super wealthy, upper 1%’ers, is more than compensated for these tax cuts, which anyone making over $3.7M a year getting back more than $1.3M  or 19% of after tax income on their tax returns. Not that there is anything wrong with enjoying what you earn, might I add. I don’t appreciate being told it’s a separate one thing when it’s disguised as the same ol’ story.

               Let’s start with a quote from the Tax Policy Center. Tax Policy Center or TPC, is a website that provides independent analyses of current and longer-term tax issues. They have top experts in their field give their two cents, while also lending their knowledge in expenditures, taxes, budgets, budget policy, and microsimulation.  These guys, basically with well informed experts, calculate anything and everything tax wise, and forecast tax policies by candidates and presidents. They are independent, and believe me, the math adds up. Remember this please before proceeding in an explanation on how this plan is not what it’s touted to be. Let’s let the numbers do the talking, shall we? If you find yourself against this, then you’re against numbers!

 They say and I quote “His plan would significantly reduce marginal tax rates on individuals and businesses, increase standard deduction amounts to nearly four times current levels, and curtail many tax expenditures. His proposal would cut taxes at all income levels, although the largest benefits, in dollar and percentage terms, would go to the highest-income households. The plan would reduce federal revenues by $9.5 trillion over its first decade before accounting for added interest costs or considering macroeconomic feedback effects. The plan would improve incentives to work, save, and invest. However, unless it is accompanied by very large spending cuts, it could increase the national debt by nearly 80 percent of gross domestic product by 2036, offsetting some or all of the incentive effects of the tax cuts.” (http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/publications/analysis-donald-trumps-tax-plan)

             Let’s break this down. That was a mouthful!

 Trump’s plan does have some truth in it. He does simplify the tax code, taking away the usual brackets of 10% to 39.6% and replacing them with what he calls “flat rates” of 10, 20, and 25%. 10% is for single filers that make $25,001-$50,000. 20% is for people making $50,001-$150,001. 25% is for people making $150,001 and higher.

  For the other married folks, you’re paying those rates on 10% on $50,001-$100-000, 20% on $100,001-$300,000, and 25% on $300,000 and up.  In each category, your standard deductions are already decided for you, and at a higher rate than they are now. Under the plan, they go from $6,500 to $25,000 for single filers, and from $12,600 to $50,000 for married filers. You also get to choose the standard deduction or itemized deductions for your taxes. The TPC and the CBO predicts, and I also agree that many taxpayers would choose the standard deduction over the itemized because the standard is more, and it’s less work to choose the standard rather than itemize each deduction. I mean you get an automatic write-off for $25,000 if you choose as a single filer. I would do it. However, let’s look at the bigger picture here.

 So yes, while that is much simpler to follow, and the rates are lower for most individuals, plus you get a lot more back under this plan. It doesn’t address the obvious problems and criticisms that the wealthy, and corporations don’t pay their fair share of taxes or establish how Trump plans to pay for his tax cuts across the board. Although The Donald insists that the plan is revenue neutral, it’s just not true given the new deductions, and repeals of the ACA tax, AMT tax, Capital Gains Tax, Death Tax, Estate Taxes, and lowering of the corporate tax; In a nutshell, the loss of revenue DOESN’T COVER the tax cuts at all. So far, no further explanation is given as to how the tax cuts will be paid for.

 This example that Robert Farley gives in his article published last year on October 15 for factcheck.org gives the best example around on how this just doesn’t add up.

 “Take this example, Williams said: If someone makes $1.5 million in income, they are taxed at 39.6 percent on that last million. Cutting the rate to 25 percent means about $150,000 less in revenue to the Treasury. That person would have to earn $600,000 more per year to make up that lost revenue.”

                                  http://www.factcheck.org/2015/10/is-trumps-tax-plan-revenue-neutral/

               It begs the question, exactly how are we going to pay for these tax cuts with LESS money going into the Treasury? Suppose you’re a business owner, Is it feasible to cut your prices by let’s say 30%, give out rebates on those same cuts to customers let’s say at 5% of the sale price, while doling out bonuses to employees at let’s say 20% of their yearly salaries at the same time? Without even plugging in numbers attached to those percentages, the math like this plan proves impossible! IMPOSSIBLE! Think about it logically for a second. How are you going to give refunds to people, (tax cuts), under this current plan with A LOT LESS MONEY going into the government in revenue? So, while it’s a good thing that you keep more money for your pockets across the board and possibly use it to invest, save, or spend more, it actually DIRECTLY effects the revenues of the government and therefore is not revenue neutral as Donald claims his plan is. We would be operating as a government with a lot less money. In order to not default on our prior financial commitments, including payments of interest on U.S. Treasury Securities, there would logically have to be a way to make up for that revenue right? Survey says: NO!  

 Well, How can this be? After the promises of a great plan, something better than what we currently have may you ask is actually not revenue neutral as promised? Look at the numbers on the TPC website, table 3 most specifically. That can be found here.

http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/publications/analysis-donald-trumps-tax-plan/full

                 The TPC predicts that after the first year of Trump’s plan, revenues take a complete dive in 2016. This was calculated given the tax cuts he’s proposing, with tax cuts attached along with the elimination of all of the taxes he’s pledged to get rid of. (ACA, AMT, Death Tax, Capital Gains Tax, Mortgage Tax, etc.) It would ring in at a total loss of $9.5 Trillion Dollars in revenue to the government over the span of the next decade. Each year it seems to get worse and worse. Also, not accounting for additional interest on the national debt, the $9.5 Trillion is really more like $11.2 Trillion to the national debt over the span of a decade. The experts are saying that in order to pay for these elaborate proposals and the so called “revenue-neutral” tax plan, there would have to be YUGE spending cuts across the board which as history says, it’s very unlikely that it could be done. The CBO corroborates this theory with it’s own prediction right down below.

It’s even hypocritical that the very same people Trump says he’s going after, are the people that benefit the most from this plan. From what the TPC and the CBO are saying, it can provide disastrous results on the future economy and add significantly to the debt and deficit that we currently have by year 2036.  

 So, while I didn’t get into Trump’s plan on Corporation Taxes/Business Taxes, already the math doesn’t add up. Trump also promises to LOWER the corporate tax rate to 15% instead of 39.5% that it currently is. Again, lower taxes, but LESS out of the government with no way to pay for it or make it up. 

Think of it this way. If you think the plan works, answer the following questions….

 1.) Can you give out bonuses to employees, while your company takes 30% less money than it used too?

2.) If your answer is yes to question one, if this continued for your company for a decade, what do you think the effects will be?

                If you answers “prosperity” you are absolutely mistaken. There is no viable way to take less money, give rebates, and at the same time give bonuses. Your business will not last long, and while this will hurt the government, it will significantly add to that $19 Trillion dollar National Debt that we already have.

                Some people already are saying, “Well, Trump’s smart, he’ll figure it out.” Men smarter than him have been unable to figure it out unless he does 2 things. Imposes new taxes, and cuts government spending 80% across the board. While the new taxes may be able to balance the tax cuts, it still wouldn’t matter unless he cuts government spending by a ton. That means a shit ton less Medicare services, less Medicaid services, less government services overall. Is this what we want?

Last example, think about this. 

The average salary today is $50,756 per year for a single young adult with no children. This is according to the US Census Bureau studies of 2014. So, under Trump’s plan, you would get to keep $25,000 as your automatic deductible. Then, you’d only claim $25,756 as your taxable income at a 10% rate. So you’d pay for the year $2,575.60 for the year. Keeping $23,180.40 is great, but anyone that has ever paid taxes before knows your not keeping all of that at once. 

According to Careertrends.com, The annual cost of living in America for a single adult with no children is $28,474. Figure the cost of rent, food, gas, other essentials, and it varies from state to state. At the end, you save $5,293.60. Now, trump expects you to use that to invest, save, or grow it. 

    He’ll tell you put that towards your Health Savings Account. Even at 10 years, if you keep making the same money, you’ll have $52,936 saved provided you don’t spend it on anything else. Healthcare rises each year, and procedures go up. A decade from now, your $52,000 will not be worth as much by then as it is today. Why do you think all the lottery winners take the lump sum? Because that money now can make a big difference now! 

   Suppose you go invest it? Make yourself big bucks like Trump? Try googling investments. You wont find one stock that’s steady. All of them dip and rise. Even trump will tell you that’s how it breaks when you invest. Would you be so inclined to put up money you’ve saved on a “not so sure” investment? The stock market today is still very much like the roulette wheel at the casino, are you willing to bet everything on black?If you’re willing to do that, god bless, if not, Rethink Trump.  That’s what he’s giving you to live on.

  He’s banking on “If the economy rebounds”, “If we have more to invest”, those are a lot of “ifs”, I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t entrust my future to anyone who is just throwing a lot of “ifs” out there. I was DEFINITES, I want a real plan. This one just looks like one and the “ifs” don’t cut it for me. 

             This plan is not much different than Mitt Romney’s five point plan that was released back in 2012. This plan is also not that much different than John McCain’s tax plan, or the tax plan that George W. Bush had while he was president. It’s more of the same, but on fucking steroids. As someone most experienced in business, I’m actually disappointed in the Donald for this. He could do a lot better. I also truly believe if someone had presented him his tax plan for one of his businesses for example, it would be rejected outright. If it’s not good enough for a business, it’s not good enough for a country. Do the math yourselves and figure it out if you’re still skeptical.

[bklynmadman]

Donald’s Healthcare Reform: What it does, and the effects it means for you

               We already know that the Donald aligns with the GOP as far as the creation of HSA’s (Health Savings Accounts) and restricting Medicaid aid to eliminate fraud and waste. Donald’s plan also lines up with the GOP stance on reducing the Federal Government’s hands in distributing Medicaid funds. His plan will leave that up to the individual states to distribute. His biggest tenant of his Healthcare plan is the complete repeal of the Affordable Care Act.  

Here is where he will stack up if his plan goes into effect. Most of these stats are predictions made by the Congressional Budget Office, and other sources that I name that are reputable websites. So, let’s not mince words that I’m using Liberal websites, or yadda yadda yadda. Let’s be honest, MATH IS MATH. 2+2=4 no matter how write it.  All of these predictions and calculations will be explained in detail as to how they came into existence, so that you’ll know that it’s not throwing numbers in the air or quoting rhetoric. If you distrust the CBO to begin with, you will not like my following fact checks. If your open minded, please continue.  

If he repeals Obamacare, it could cost us a lot. According to the Congressional Budget Office, they estimate the cost of repealing Obamacare to be $500 Billion dollars (under conventional scoring: If the economy stays the same under what the CBO already predicted) over the span of a decade or $270 Billion (under dynamic scoring if the economy changes over the next ten years.) They argue that if Trump repeals all of Obamacare, and all of  it, meaning it’s regulations, subsidies, Medicaid expansions and Medicare savings, along with it’s tax increases that we will be adding $500 billion to the current National Debt.

 Donald has touted savings of $1.1 Trillion dollars from the deficit if his plan goes into effect. On that part, yes, he is correct. He would be even more correct if he repeals JUST the coverage provisions from the Affordable Care Act. Just that alone will save the taxpayer $1.1 Trillion over the next decade. (Source: Congressional Budget Office) However, Trump says he wishes to repeal all of it, meaning THE ENTIRE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT. What does that mean exactly?  That means he’s repealing the tax increases that go with it. The 3.5% tax penalty if you still uninsured which will cost the government in losses of revenue to the tune of $660 Billion. Also, the Medicare Savings, and Medicaid expansions will be cut out, leaving the government without approximately $880 Billion. This will result in added cost of $1.5 Trillion over the next ten years. The added cost along with the savings will create an offset of about $400-$500 billion, which will be added onto the Federal Debt by the end of the decade. Let’s make sense of this for a minute. I can hear you saying, “Where do these numbers come from?”

 According to our current taxes, where our tax money goes when we pay the IRS and the United States Treasury every year, in 2015, the Treasury received $3.8 Trillion dollars in revenue. Of that $3.8 Trillion, it’s allocated into three categories. This is only for federal spending, not state, or city spending. Discretionary Spending, Mandatory Spending, and Interest on Debt already borrowed. This past year, about $986 Billion alone was spent on Medicare and Health. The CBO takes these numbers, and calculate for the next ten years how much revenue will be coming in, compounded with the rising cost of Medicare and Health Costs. Now, according to the CBO, they calculate that the government will take in $40.6 Trillion in tax revenues from 2015-2024. Granted, they admit that they usually predict higher than what is, but it gives us an idea of how their other calculations are made.

 (You can take a look at what they project over the next ten years here on this link.)

https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/113th-congress-2013-2014/reports/45010/45010-breakout-Chapter4.pdf

 What Trump’s plan doesn’t account for is the costs incurred by removing Obamacare completely. Part of his plan will allow anyone to write off their premiums they pay on their insurance plans not purchased from their employers. That part, which I actually thought would be a good idea, will cost us $110 Billion dollars over the next decade. What I mean by “cost us”, I mean less revenue to the government. Don’t be confused here. While it may be great to not pay taxes and save $110 Billion, the problem is that now the government will be operating $110 Billion dollars less over the next ten years. That’s a problem. To put this in another way, next year if Trump’s plan goes into effect and he gives all citizens the right to write off their premiums paid on their individual health plans, JUST ON THAT the government will be operating at $11 billion or so less than in 2015 and each year subsequently after, JUST ON THIS ONE PART.

 I’ll explain it in another way. Let’s say your 13. One day, your parents tell you that they have money saved in case you wish to go to college one day. They put aside money for you for college, and when your ready, the money will be available when you turn 18. Suddenly for your 15th Birthday, your parents give you a large check for you to use at your discretion. They tell you that you don’t need to pay it back and to enjoy it. You do what any 15 year old kid does if they ever have access to a large sum of money, put it into a Roth IRA account. Just kidding, let’s say for arguments sake you blow it. Now, your 18, you’re ready to start applying to colleges and find one. You get accepted and now you turn to your parents when you receive the first tuition bill, and think back to when they told you from when you were 13 that you have money for college put aside for you. It’s there they tell that it was already handed to you 3 years ago, and then berate you on your unwise spending habits. This is essentially what Trump is going to do to Medicare and Medicaid for our generation. 

The CBO is saying with the revenues coming in over the next decade, along with what is already projected with laws on the books, and federal government spending, debt, allocation; the Trump plan, will remove money out of the system without offering a way to put it back into the system to fund Medicare, and Medicaid spending over the next decade. A FUCKING PROBLEM IF I DO SAY SO MYSELF!  

 Now, Baby Boomers, this should concern you since most of you are eligible soon for Medicare payments to kick in, of your blood, sweat and tears that you’ve paid since you’ve started working (provided most of you worked on the books) could be in jeopardy if Trump Care goes into effect.  How can a system work efficiently without it’s promised funding?  Answer to that is simple: SPENDING CUTS!

 Take the savings, and add up the costs. The total is offset by 440 Billion dollars that we come up short in funding the government programs that Obamacare is already pledged to fund. This is also added in roughly with the savings of allowing insurance to be sold across state lines, the deduction that Trump wants to create for individual premium spending as a write off on taxes, and allowing the importation of prescription drugs. These will save us $10 Billion, cost us $110 billion, and save us $20 Billion over the next decade respectively. Add it up, these will cost us $80 Billion dollars. Math doesn’t lie.

 Now some of you out there say, “Well, what about the Health Savings Accounts?” That could offset the Medicare cuts. The people at FiscalFactCheck.org and the Congressional Budget Office actually have calculated that those HSA accounts Donald wishes to set up are a non factor since we can’t predict how much people will put into it. The fiscal fact check website says the following about HSA’s.

 “Mr. Trump also has proposed to promote price transparency to allow individuals to shop for the best price for each procedure and to promote health savings accounts (HSAs). With regards to price transparency, the Congressional Budget Office found that the effect on prices would be ambiguous, and in our view savings would likely be positive but small. In terms of HSAs, it is not clear how Mr. Trump’s policies would differ from current law. His website says that his plan would “allow individuals to use health savings accounts” and that contributions should be tax-free, allowed to accumulate, and available to family members without penalty. All of these items are already true under current law, and Mr. Trump’s additional proposal to allow HSAs to be passed to heirs will likely have a very small cost. If he intends to expand these accounts so that individuals without high-deductible plans could use them or to increase the limit on contributions, the proposal could have significant costs. However, we assume only a small cost based on the ideas specifically articulated in the press and scores of previous modest HSA proposals.”  www.fiscalfactcheck.crfb.org

                Pay attention to the prediction “positive, but small”, for that in a nutshell is what the problem is with Health Savings Accounts. While HSA’s are a good idea for all, and would take away some responsibility from the government in terms of Healthcare, it doesn’t change the fact that many people won’t be able to contribute to it from the current state of the economy now. You still have the Medicare funding problem, which most Americans will not forgo in favor of their own HSA account, especially the Baby Boomer generation who are too old to start over in saving for another account. I’ve said it before but most of them are now at an age where they can begin collecting Medicare benefits and currently what’s being proposed by the Donald should give cause for concern to all of them.

 The HSA’s would really be more geared toward the millennial generation, which currently is having a hard time navigating the current economy. According to the US chamber of Commerce Foundation association, “For some, this bed is in their parents’ homes, as 13% have “boomeranged” back because of the recession after living on their own. 36% (millenials) say they depend on financial support from their families.”  according to research conducted by the United States Chamber foundation’s research on Millenials (https://www.uschamberfoundation.org/reports/millennial-generation-research-review)

 Granted, this statistic could change within the next 4 years or so, but right now most of the millennials (myself included) found themselves fucked after graduating and are having a hard time.

                Another bullshit fact that the Donald has spewed on the campaign trail: Trump has also touted that he will aggressively negotiate costs for Medicare drugs. It doesn’t say this on his website, but he has said it during debates and some of his campaign stops. He has previous claimed that $300 billion a year can be saved through negotiation. However, that’s bullshit since according to the CBO website, and the current federal budgets released to the public, Medicare will only spend $111 billion a year on prescription drugs. So there is little to no effect here on the overall cost/savings part of the plan. Now, lets get into the coverage part. The following is cause for concern TO ALL WHO RECEIVE A SUBSIDY BECAUSE OF THE ACA or have coverage through the ACA forum. This will directly affect you!

 Obamacare vs. Trumpcare

                One of the central tenants of Obamacare is that because of this law, 16.4 million Americans who otherwise would have went without insurance now have some sort of coverage and the number of uninsured people have decreased each year since 2013. You can see that there is some sort of pattern, where more and more people sign up each year. Check it out here. http://obamacarefacts.com/sign-ups/obamacare-enrollment-numbers/

                The Congressional Budget Office has calculated that about 27 million Americans will still be uninsured by the year 2018. (Check on their website for this statistic. It’s there. I had to dig for it.)

With regards to Trump, An initial repeal of Obamacare would roughly add to that number, about 22 million Americans. This number came from the amount of people currently enrolled in the Obamacare program, and with the initial repeal, people would lose their coverage. So about 49 million people will be uninsured if Trump’s proposal goes into effect, and his plan would only cover about 1.5 Million of those who lost their coverage due to the repeal.

                Where the fuck did these numbers come from? From the CBO estimates, and also taken into account Trump’s proposal of allowing policies to be sold across state lines. The following is a quote from the Federalist website that I happen to agree with. (The Federalist is a conservative leaning website, might I add.)

 “Because states regulate health insurance, if an insurance carrier wants to do business in a state its plans must comply with state regulations. It’s not clear that Trump understands this, though, because his proposal states, “As long as the plan purchased complies with state requirements, any vendor ought to be able to offer insurance in any state.” That is already the case. Right now, any health insurance company (like UnitedHealth Group, the nation’s largest insurer) can offer insurance in any state—as long as the plans they offer in that state comply with state regulations.

What people mean when they say individuals should be allowed to “purchase insurance across state lines” is either, A) insurance companies should be able to sell plans in one state under the regulatory regime of another state, or B) the federal government should take over all health insurance regulation and create a single national market.  The former is a non-starter, since no state legislature would ever allow that. As for the latter, a federally regulated national health insurance market could in theory be a good thing, but as Mark Hemingway noted in The Weekly Standard, “An even more likely scenario is that Congress uniformly makes everything worse for everybody. One idea to allow for more insurance competition would be for the federal government to set up some sort of health insurance ‘exchange’ where consumers could buy insurance directly from competing providers… Sound familiar?” Of course it does, that’s Obamacare.” (5 Reasons Donald Trump’s Healthcare Plan is Worthless, by John Daniel Davidson on The Federalist.com)

               The 1.1 Million in coverage gained from Trumpcare comes from policies being allowed to be sold across state lines. The CBO estimates that this practice will only increase coverage to about 400,000 people, and the deduction Trump offers on his tax plan will allow 700,000 people coverage. The biggest reason, Trump’s plan does not include that coverage must be extended despite pre-existing conditions. Without that clause, many will lose insurance and that accounts for why the CBO’s numbers are so low. So 49 Million will be uninsured as a result of TrumpCare, and Trumpcare will only be granting coverage to 5% of that number.

                Now, it isn’t clear that the Donald will keep that stipulation that Health Insurance companies are forbidden to deny you insurance based on pre-existing conditions. He did say he would keep it during a debate on CNN on February 25 of this year. But, that could change at any time. It is not currently a part of his health care plan, and while he’s said it in the past that he’s for it, he’s backpedaled on Twitter, and other interviews on his stance on that.

 Also, Donald really is too late to the game. Insurance companies already state in their rules for policies that they will NOT cover Out of Network coverage. What that means, for the uninitiated, is an insurance company will build a relationship with doctors, hospitals, and clinics that are in their area of service. These doctors, hospitals, and clinics will have conformed to the Insurance companies standards for care and made deals with them when it comes to billing or paying out. For these insurance companies to start exploring markets that are out of state, will require more work, more employees, and add to the rising costs of premiums. They have already taken care of this with what’s called Out of Network costs.

 There are even cases where state laws favor their companies in their own states when it comes to providing care out of their network. Yes, they must disclose that they will allow it but that doesn’t mean they must pay for it.  Donald has said that he would allow policies to be sold across state lines as long as those policies complied with the regulations and laws of the state that you live in. Well, insurance companies prepared for this problem for years just in case some asshole came along and allowed people to shop across state lines.

 It started way back in the 70’s, and possibly earlier. Check out this report conducted by the Comptroller General of the United States at the time, Elmer B. Staats. In this report to Richard White, the chairman of the subcommittee on Retirement and Employee Benefits as part of the committee of Post Office and Civil Service in the House of Representatives.  The report was on conflict between State Health Insurance Requirements and Federal Employee Health Benefits as part of their contracts. The full report can be found online here on this link.

 http://www.gao.gov/assets/120/113046.pdf (Conflicts Between State Health Insurance Requirements and Contracts of the Federal Employees Health Benefits Carriers, by Elmer B. Statts, United States Comptroller General of 1975)

 In the report, what I found most interesting was found on page (ii), which states

“The Indemnity Benefit Plan pays for chiropractic services in Nevada, as required by State law, but does not pay for such services in any other State. Six employee organization plans pay for chiropractic services only in New York and Montana where State laws require coverage for such services. The Service Benefit Plan has been required to pay for these services only in Maryland and Oklahoma. Even in the States that have enforced conflicting requirements, few Federal enrollees are aware of the States' requirements, and, as a result, most enrollees do not attempt to obtain reimbursement for chiropractic services.”

                Granted, this was in reference to Federal Employees Health coverage to state laws back in the 1970’s, but the point is, with the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, it will revert back to the state laws, and such conflicts will arise again. For example, let’s take Florida and New York states for example. Both states offer comprehensive details on the laws governing Health Care Policies sold in their state.

According to Florida State laws, found here on this link,

 http://www.myfloridacfo.com/Division/Consumers/understandingCoverage/Guides/documents/HealthGuide.pdf

Now, let’s say I’m an individual, not married, who makes $50,000 a year living in New York. I will have a hard time purchasing any plan in Florida since most of the services the plans cover are only “In Network”. For “Out of Network”, which I will most assuredly be since I’ll be living in New York State, Florida laws have the following to say.  

 Florida laws for an HMO policy state the following “There are a few opportunities to utilize a nonnetwork provider – primarily when services are not available in the network. As a member of an HMO, members are usually required to choose a primary care physician (PCP). PCPs direct most of a subscriber’s health care needs. Some HMOs require a referral before a subscriber can visit a specialist. A Florida medical provider, whether contracted or not, is prohibited from balance billing an HMO subscriber if the service provided is covered by the health plan.” (Health Insurance and Health Maintenance Organizations Guide for Consumers, by Jeff Atwater, Chief Financial Officer for Florida State Department of Financial Services, 2013)  

 So if services are not available to me in New York, I’m going to be paying Out Of Network costs for most of my health care unless I’m able to travel frequently back and forth to Florida for care. That could potentially mean a shit ton of money on plane tickets, or a long time on the road. Basically, It’s not worth it to even purchase a policy out of state. Let’s even look at this situation in reverse, if I’m living in Florida and want to purchase a policy in New York State. According to New York State law, “If a health plan denies a referral to an out-of-network provider because the health plan has an in-network provider(s) with the appropriate training and experience to meet the particular health care needs of an insured and who is able to provide the requested service, the health plan should, in its initial denial letter:

--Provide  the name of the in-network provider(s) with the appropriate training and experience who is able to provide the requested service.

Include     language that provides "If you believe there is not an appropriate     in-network provider to provide this service, you may file a utilization     review appeal if you submit a written statement from your attending     physician that: (1) in-network providers do not have the appropriate     training and experience to meet your particular health care needs; and (2)     recommends an out-of-network provider with the appropriate training and     experience to meet the insured's particular health care needs who is able     to perform the requested service. For this purpose, your attending     physician must be a licensed, board certified or board eligible physician     qualified to practice in the specialty area appropriate to treat you for     the service."

(http://www.dfs.ny.gov/insurance/health/OON_guidance.htm)

                All of that straight from the New York State website. Basically the same problem will exist, and you’ll have a constant problem getting things approved considering you are Out-Of-Network. Insurance policies issue only policies for local hospitals, clinics, and such. Granted, there are National Insurance companies that are accepted State to State, but those premiums will defeat the purpose of shopping out of state in the first place. Companies like United Health Group, Anthem, Aetna, Cigna, Humana, Centene, Health Net, WellCare, Molina, and Megellan to name a few.

To see what I’m talking about, try getting a quote from an individual policy on one of the big ones. Even change your zip code to an out of state zip code and compare. You’ll see that there isn’t much of a difference in premium price for individual plans. Be careful of incessant spaming, and if you can, avoid providing a cell phone number. I went on Anthem’s subsidiary Empire “Blue Cross/Blue Shield”, put in my zip code, I typed that I make 50G a year, and I’m an individual, non-married, non-smoker. The website quoted $435.02 per month for the cheapest plan. In looking into it further, I saw that the plan does not include Out of Network coverage, except in cases for emergencies.

 Now, when I entered the same zip code in Miami, Florida, I got the following from the same website. I was redirected to Florida Blue. My cheapest quote was $252.91 per month, Almost half of the cost for the same type of plan in New York. While the plans offer the same types of services, the Out Of Network coverage provides nothing, meaning the policy WILL NOT cover anything not in Network except in an emergency.

Suppose I can’t afford any of these premiums. With the ACA, I’m able to either apply for coverage through their website or receive a subsidy back to help me get a plan. The ACA establishes a nationwide standard as to what Health Coverage should cover, and allows you to shop for a plan that suits you.

With Trump’s plan, and the repeal of the ACA, you shall hit massive roadblocks! Almost all of the insurance companies you’ll find WILL NOT PAY OUT OF NETWORK for simple procedures, or basically anything that isn’t a medical emergency. To put it bluntly, sliced your hand? We’ve got you. Got Strep Throat? You’re fucked! So, being able to shop out of state for a policy really is redundant considering many states have insurance companies that will not pay out of their own network of doctors, clinics, etc.

               So yeah, I could purchase a policy out of state, but I wouldn’t be able to use it unless I had to go to the emergency room. I’d be paying the premium each month, for only emergency room care. Why should I do this when Obamacare’s website can offer emergency room care only for much cheaper than what these guys are selling?

               This idea, while great in theory, is just redundant in reality since the insurance carriers have already thought of ways to prevent this type of practice from happening. Even if a law is passed that requires all insurance companies to cover Out Of Network, logically speaking, that would mean more employees, more vetting for hospitals and clinics, and an increase of premiums anyway. Did you really expect insurance companies to incur the cost of doing that to themselves? They’d pass it onto us for sure. This would mean for you, You’d either have to move, or just stay in your state. So, how is this idea a good one?

 MEDICAID

                Under Mr. Trump’s plan, he will turn Medicaid into a “block-grant” program. I’ve already stated above why he thinks this is a good idea. Now, here is the problem with it.

                Currently on the books, the Federal government pays for a portion of each state’s Medicaid costs. This means that the Federal government gives each state a fixed amount for Medicaid each year. With Trump’s plan, his proposal ENTIRELY depends on the SIZE of that allotment given to each state and how much it grows each year.  

                Example. Suppose Oregon requests $500 million in Medicaid spending over the next 10 years. A “Block Grant” could be designed to meet that cost at $50 million dollars per year. If states spend less, it could save, but if it spends more, it presents a problem.

 Trump’s idea is correct that block granting Medicaid could result in savings, however, since block granting can only be predicted on the SIZE of the grants, savings are really unable to be predicted. Each state has different costs, and the Donald’s website lacks in detail as to how exactly he plans to implement this type of system and produce the savings he’s talking about.  

 The people at fiscalfactcheck.org have ran a few possible scenarios to see what exactly Trump is talking about. Check out table 3. It’s headline is “10 year Estimates of Different Block Grants for Medicaid.” 

http://fiscalfactcheck.crfb.org/measuring-trumps-healthcare-plan/

So it’s great in theory, but details as to how, and how much each block grant would be generate in savings, there is no explanation as to how this will be accomplished. And also, the plan is nowhere to be found on his website.

 CONCLUSION ON HEALTH CARE

                While the Donald’s Health Care plan is ambitious, It doesn’t really add much to the Healthcare problem, either real or embellished. It lacks substance, and without retaining some of the ideas of the Affordable Care Act, most of it is just replacing what was with what currently is while adding new problems to the situation. Trump’s repeal of Obamacare and replacement of his own plan will add $500 Billion to the National Debt. It will also leave 49 Million people without coverage.

 With the exception of allowing foreign pharmaceuticals to be sold in American markets, and allowing Americans to deduct premiums on their current Health care plans, WHICH IS COSTLY. $110 BILLION AINT CHEAP. This plan really lacks sufficient details as to how it can play out, and gambles on free market being able to take care of this problem.

                Even the Congressional Budget Office admits that it’s calculations can’t really be concluded because there is a lack of details on the plans. They’ve run only the highlights of what is said either through the press or on the Donald’s website. Most of this plan has been said before in past GOP failed proposals on Health Care. While avoiding the highly touted GOP single payer system that has been routinely rejected for years, what is in is the HSA creations and the allotment of buying plans across state lines. Most of Trump’s plan offers things also what Obamacare already does, and opens the country up to the problems that the Affordable Care Act solves. The biggest problem that I haven’t touched upon yet is the elimination of the Individual Mandate, which Insurance companies have said in the past that they need that in order to keep premiums down. I agree with Trump on that at least, that it’s a bullshit requirement. However, to champion business as he does, he must surely know that people uninsured who head to the emergency room only contribute to the rising costs in premiums for the rest of us. If that individual mandate is repealed, who know what can of worms will be opened by the Insurance companies on us. They will make up that cost in some other way, and they tend to take it out on us. So, that is another question mark in the Trump HealthCare plan. Also, as I’ve discussed above, HAS accounts are really a non-factor as is the Block grant program idea for Medicaid.

                So Millenials and Baby Boomers alike, pay attention. This plan doesn’t really offer anything new, or revolutionary on Healthcare. It fails to deliver on the promise that it will save us money, and extend healthcare coverage to all. It’s not only NOT BETTER THAN WHAT WE HAVE, but will hurt us in the future with regards to Medicare and Medicaid programs future funding.

               There you have it. Now, let’s move on to his tax plan.

[bklynmadman]

The Donald’s Platform

       Before I can break down all of the Donald’s Plans, I think we should review exactly what Donald’s stands for. Below is most of his entire platform, and what he proposes to do if he is elected president. For Trump fans, please email me at frankbarranca1@gmail.com and let me know if the following post is accurate. I want to make sure I get this right. Without further ado, here is the platform for Donald J. Trump. 

                                                                                                                  DONALD TRUMP PLATFORM

               Multi-Billionaire Donald Trump has teased us for years with a run for president. He’s been in headlines since the 1970’s. A former Casino Mogul, real estate developer, and reality show host, The Donald has made his presence known throughout the world. He turned what was a multi-million dollar fortune made by his father, into a billion dollar empire. Most buildings he’s built bear his name, and now even his name is considered a “brand” synonymous with wealth. He used to be the quirky New Yorker who used to comment on happenings, and be a stable here in the city. One of the best salesmen I’ve ever seen at work. If you’ve ever watched him at a rally or a debate, Donald is quick witted, gritty, and thinks on his feet. He now finds himself on the national stage as the frontrunner for President of the United States. Let’s get into the issues on where the Donald Stands.

 The Issues

 HEALTHCARE- (Taken from DonaldJTrump.com)

            The Donald has made no secret that he thinks the Affordable Care Act, (otherwise known as Obamacare) is one of the things that are ruining this country today. He contends that the act has put this country in economic jeopardy, taken away choices of health care plans available to citizens, and contends the act will collapse on itself if swift action is not taken. Donald presents his own vision for Healthcare reform, which he says is only a start in the right direction. This plan has several major parts to it. You can read about them more on his official website DonaldJTrump.com. Here they are...

    1. Trump pledges to repeal Obamacare if elected. He also wishes to eliminate the Individual Mandate.

   2. Trump wants Congress to modify a law that allows insurers to sell policies across state lines.

   3. As part of his tax plan as president, Trump will allow individuals to deduct premiums from their tax   returns.

   4. Allow people to use and create (HSA) Health Savings Accounts for themselves. He says these accounts should be tax free, and part of the person’s estate if they die. Also, says any family member can use the HSA if they wish.

  5. Trump will require financial transparency from all doctors on medical procedures.

  6. He will block Medicaid grants to certain states.

  7. Remove trade barriers that will allow medication created overseas into the American Marketplace.

   Trumps’ explanations for his positions on Healthcare

 He says “Day one” he will repeal each and every word of the Affordable Care act.  He also says he will push for representatives to eliminate the individual mandate. On the Individual Mandate (IM), Trump said the argument that insurance companies use for the IM is basically bullshit. The insurance companies contend that in order to keep costs of premiums down for all, there needed to be a law requiring everyone to purchase a health insurance plan. Trump feels that this argument doesn’t hold water and no one should be forced to buy health insurance if they don’t want to.

 He will also push Congress to modify an existing law that forbids the sale of Health insurance across state lines. He feels that if the policies purchases across state lines meet the state’s requirements that the purchaser lives and resides in, that it will allow full competition in the Health care market. He feels that because of the new availability of plans in the market, this will make insurance costs go down, and satisfaction to go up.

 He also feels that people should be able to do what corporations do, and that be able to write off their insurance premiums on their tax returns. He feels this will allow people to keep more money in their pockets.  He also feels that the creation of HSA’s will take some of the responsibility away from the government and put it back into the hands of the people, so there will be less reliability on Medicare and Medicaid as they grow older in age.

 The Donald basically feels that the free market will solve a lot of the Healthcare problems in this country. He does it again with his proposed requirement of transparency with medical procedures. He feels that people should be able to price out all medical procedures and choose one that fits their costs.

 He plans to turn the Medicaid program into a block grant program, and plans on blocking some of these Medicaid grants to certain states. The reason for that is that he says this practice will clean up most of the waste and fraud of the program since people will know that there will be limited funds available to their needs through the program, thus less likely to allow it to go to waste. He also feels that many states offer beyond what is required in the current Medicaid structure. Trump fully believes that the state administrators know their constituents far more than the federal ones do. He would place the funding in the hands of the state administrators rather than the feds, so that they would better mitigate the funds for the people. He would also give incentives to eliminate waste and fraud in their states to receive more funding.

 His last one will allow foreign drugs to hit the American market. Trump believes that any pharmaceuticals that are proven to be good for the people, or useful should be allowed to be sold in the United States. His reasoning again is that this new availability in the market will create more competition for sales, and thus create a lower cost in the drugs that are available now.

 Trump’s reasons for proposing this plan is he feels that all of these parts of his plan will effectively lower the “spiraling costs” of Healthcare that is currently happening now under Obamacare. By opening everything up to the free market, he believes that the beefing up of competition will lower the costs of Healthcare. He also believes this is a start to lowering it, but will go further and call on Congress to tighten immigration laws, in which he cites that illegal immigrant healthcare costs the U.S. taxpayers $11 billion annually.

 ---A lot to think about. Basically, Donald is saying that if we allow more of a “free market” mentality to Healthcare, a lot of our problems will solve themselves. Let’s move on to his other famous sound bite. I’m sure you’ve heard it in the news, and you’ve heard it quoted many many times if you’ve been to a Trump rally or follow him on the news.

 Building a wall, and making them pay for it

    The Donald has said throughout his campaign that he will build a wall on the border of Mexico and the United States, and make Mexico pay for it. A lot of us skeptics wondered, Just how will you accomplish that? The Donald’s answer again comes straight from his website, DonaldJTrump.com

   The Donald will get the wall build by enforcing a little known clause from the Patriot Act, From Section 326, 31 CFR 130 120-121 which requires financial institutions to demand identity documents before opening bank accounts or conducting financial transactions. The Donald plans to extend this rule not just to banks and financial investment institutions, but also to money order places like Western Union and MoneyGram. He will redefine the definition of “account” to also include Wire Transfers, specifically targeting international ones.  

                According to the Donald, Illegal Mexican immigrants who work here in the States wire over their money to their families back in Mexico, at a combined rate of $22 billion dollars annually. The Donald proposes to require that all people looking to send money orders or wire transfers to Mexico provide documents that they are in this country legally or be refused service.

                The Donald offers a 3 day plan to get Mexico to pay for the wall. On day 1, he would follow through on his threat to enforce the law. After the second day’s protest of which he predicts will be very dramatic in display, On day 3 the Donald will make a deal with the government of Mexico. The deal is this: Give us the funds to build the wall, and the American government will not enforce the patriot act stipulation to include money orders or wire transfers.  (Seems simple, no?)

                He doesn’t stop there. The Donald also states that Mexico has enjoyed benefits of taking American jobs away. He proposes to enforce the trade laws currently on the books, which would include tariffs on goods sold from Mexico into the United States.  He also proposes increasing Visa fees, and limiting immigration from the country itself.

                In general, he believes Mexico has been taken advantage of us. He’s called them criminals, rapists, and abusers of our system. His stance on illegal immigration is that he wants to level the playing field, build a wall on the border to keep out the illegals, and make it harder for them to immigrate to America.

 TAXES

                Most important to know how we are going to be taxed when the new president gets in, Donald lays out his tax plan also on his website DonaldJTrump.com

                Donald proposed a flat tax across the board. Here is the plan straight from his website.

 https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions/tax-reform 

Under this plan, Trump eliminates the income tax for over 73 million households. Instead of filing complex forms, as 43 million Americans do each year for the IRS to determine that they don’t owe any income tax, now you can file a one page form to determine the same thing. He also says he’ll save the taxpayer an average $110 for preparation costs. He says that over 31 million households will get to keep an average $1000 a year because of this plan. He also raises the rates of standard deductions given. Instead of the current deductions each bracket gets on their taxes, he allows those that find themselves in the 10 and 20% bracket a standard reduction of $25,000 a year for single filers, and $50,000 for married filers. Those who still choose to itemize their deductions will be limited to how much they can deduct, with mortgage interest and charitable donations being the only exceptions to that rule. He believes that this plan will put more money in the pockets of the poor and middle class, and as a result grow the economy.

 Trump goes even further and says he wants to do away with the Marriage Tax penalty, and the AMT (Alternative Minimum Tax). He also wants to do away with the Death Tax. He also has a new plan to tax the corporations that are currently in America.

                Trump states that no fortune 500 or mom and pop store will pay more than 15% of their business income for taxes. He believes that this will effectively make America the lowest tax rate for corporations in the world, and possible inspire companies to come back to America to create jobs. He also touts that this plan is revenue neutral, meaning it will not affect or decrease the income that the government currently takes in.  

 Sounds dynamite. We’ll get into the effects later of this plan later.

 Second Amendment Rights  (Also directly from DonaldJTrump.com)

                Donald is clear on this one. There will be no infringement on the rights granted by the second amendment in the constitution. He guarantees that people will be able to get their hands on guns if they so desire, provided they follow the laws of their states and the current federal laws on the books. He plans to enforce the current gun legislation that is already in place.

                As far as the current worry that criminals still will get their hands on guns, Donald cites an experiment that was conducted in Richmond, Virginia called Project Exile. During this project, if a person committed a crime with a gun, that person was tried in the federal court, and given a five year sentence. No parole, and no plea bargaining. He cites that crimes committed by people with guns had decreased during this experiment by 60%, and over 350 criminals were taken off the street within the first two years of this experiment. Donald proposes to expand more programs like this so that violent offenders who commit crimes with guns will be taken off the streets, and not given slaps on the wrists as he claims happens in cities like Chicago and Baltimore.

                Donald also believes in empowering citizens to be able to get their hands on guns anywhere. He believes that arming citizens will decrease crime overall since the police can’t be everywhere at once. He’s open to allowing concealed carry permits nationwide, for he believes that will put a dent in gun crime across America.

                Another part of this, Donald proposes to fix what he calls the broken Mental Health System. He proposes to expand mental treatment programs. He believes that mentally ill people aren’t all violent, that they just need help, and those that are violent, to get them off the street before they can harm themselves or anyone else around them.

                Donald proposes to defend gun-rights nationwide, and to propose legislation that concealed carry permits be valid in each state. He argues that since drivers licenses are valid in all 50 states, that the concealed carry permits should be the same. He urges this people who wish to protect themselves from harm.

                Not a bad theory, but let’s see what else Donald plans to do as president. There’s a few more things he wishes to carry out. But these are the main things that Donald is running on. If you want to check these out, just head to his website at, once again, DonaldJTrump.com. I have not really tackled the Donald’s stances on Immigration, but I will look at the items mentioned above.

                DONALD’s PLATFORM- How he’s running

                 Donald is quite different in his approach to the presidency. He’s basically looking to defend the current laws on the books, while cutting up the red tape that prohibits the idea of a “free-market” in areas such as Healthcare, Immigration, and Gun Laws. Most of his ideas boil down to opening up the United States to allow the “free-market” to take care of most of our problems, or to allow each state to take care of it’s own. He’s for decreasing the power of the Federal Government, and increasing State’s rights. However, as a Republican, he’s mostly liberal leaning when it comes to things like Gay Rights, Transgender Rights, and closing loopholes for the upper 1% of the country. As we’ve learned from the past, that is a big “No-No” for the GOP. The conservative faction of the GOP has labeled Trump as a liberal masquerading as a conservative.

They are correct as far as some of Donald’s social stances go.

                Donald touts his experience as a businessman, and a successful one at that. He touts his fortune to his good decision making skills, and his foresight into making money. He also touts himself as a non-politician. As someone not a part of what he calls “The corrupt Washington Machine”, he’s asking for the opportunity to go to the white house and get America back on track from the policies of the Obama Administration. Policies he’s deemed set Americans back.

                He’s running on his business record and seems to strike a chord with Americans that anything he touches turns to gold. Granted, he has taken responsibility for his fuck ups in business, i.e. His casinos, his wine, his steaks, but not so much for his University. (That is still being argued in court as far as to see if fraud was committed on behalf of Trump or his organization.) He also has a penchant for paying his workers above and beyond what is required. Many who have worked for him will tell you that he gets paid well. I have from a confidential source that Trumps hotel workers get paid more than what the union dues require. That is saying something as far as character goes.

                As an outsider looking in, he tries to connect with voters, which majority of them feel the same as he does, that we are outsiders looking in, with no voice or representation in the current government that makes our laws and enforces them in our country. His appeal is to angry, disenfranchised voters who are fed up with the current system and want to see a change. His entire platform has been that he is a part of the upper 1%, and as a one percenter, he knows full well the loopholes they enjoy and the laws they exploit. He also knows about the “yuge” lobbying practice, and how politicians vote their way instead of the way of the people. He’s said at rallies that he has no need for lobbyists, or campaign money from corporations since he’s a self made man, and self-funding his campaign.

                Now for the bias on the Donald….let’s get into the facts. Stay tuned for Monday’s post where I will take an in-depth look at his Healthcare plan. 

[bklynmadman]

REVIEW OF PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES VISIONS FOR THE COUNTRY- if you care, read up!

  It’s been awhile since I’ve posted anything publicly about this upcoming election. I was currently waiting until I had all of the facts available. This upcoming election is more important than most, given the choices that are available. We’ve got the GOP side, and the Democrat side going at as per usual. The rhetoric and catch phrases are still alive and well, and hoping to not add to that, I dive in with some thought that maybe it can make sense to any reasonable person.

       Here on this blog, I will dissect ALL of the candidates arguments and stances while offering some insight into the election cycle. Each and every candidate will be placed under the microscope, dissected, and bashed with logical arguments. I will state for the record so don’t get this twisted, I tend to lean liberal democrat. That doesn’t mean in the slightest that I’m biased or looking at things through a scope. Just because a candidate says something I don’t agree with DOES NOT mean each side of the statement wont get represented. I look at both sides, and they will be presented for you to judge for yourselves. So don’t get too mad or upset if I do your candidate first or second, and don’t start assuming I’m for the GOP/ or I’m a democratic socialist or whatever. (You’ll actually be a bit shocked over who I throw my endorsement behind, if you give a flying you-know-what.)

     For the next course of this week, starting Monday and continuing every other day, I will present to you semi-short essays with pretty graphs, tons of quotes, and a layout of each candidates ideas and stances on their campaigns. Each candidate will get their fair shake, and it will be done logistically.

       I wanted to start with the most polarizing candidate for president this election cycle. The man who gets the most press, and has produced the most sound bytes this election cycle. A surprise candidate seemingly coming out of nowhere, and now he’s the front runner, (you know who he is, and if not, you’ve been living under a rock.) Donald J. Trump. Running on the Republican ticket, Donald Trump so far leads the other two candidates in securing the GOP nomination for president. The following are his stances, his ideas, and his reasons for implanting them.

 For those of you reading this, and are familiar with the Donald’s stances, you can skip next blog post. For those that wish to know what he stands for, you can read on the next post or just head to his website DonaldJTrump.com. It’s all there, and it’s following down below. I also took the liberty of breaking down what he stands for, with no prejudice or bias attached, so that you can make an informed opinion of the guy. Some of you on the left side of the fence automatically hate him, and listen to his sound bytes may also terrify you. Before you judge a book by it’s cover, you should educate yourself on his stances, and do the same for all of them. That’s what these posts are about, and that’s what I’m hoping you guys walk away from this with. A more informed opinion of the candidates. I will be tackling them all, and dissecting them in the same way, so that maybe, just maybe, you’ll walk away more informed. Let’s cut through the bullshit.

[bklynmadman]

The Ultimate Brooklyn Con Job

If your a Real Estate Investor or looking for property, you must have gotten wind of the auction frenzy that is taking place at the Brooklyn Mariott March 27th, 2015. There is a Pre-Foreclosure sale taking place on the following properties all around Brooklyn.

156 South 4th Street

84 Clinton Avenue

194 South 2nd Street

65 4th Avenue

1509 Pacific Street

1511 Pacific Street

259 4th Avenue

85 Luquer Street

300 Van Brunt Street

320 Court Street

589 Hicks Street

555 Union Street

557 Union Street

    The one thing that these properties is that they all have the same owner. South Brooklyn Pizzeria Owner Jim McGown. All titles and deeds can be traced back towards him, or his following entities. Brooklyn Renaissance LLC, East River Mortgage LLC, etc. Upon conducting the research of each property along with City records, all of which have been transferred under him or one of his many subsidiaries, or his wife Annabelle McGown. 

https://www.scribd.com/doc/257555248/East-River-Mortgage-Auction-Property-Descriptions

   All seems like a good deal. However, if you read the terms of the auction here, you’ll find that this good deal is not so much a good one at all. 

What is in that document is descriptions of each of the properties in question. It gives you the current rent roll, the taxes and expenses with each building. What it doesn’t say is the multiple NYC Department of Buildings violations that are on each of those properties. Each and every single building has multiple infractions for things such as illegal extensions, non-filing of permits, and other civil penalties due to the City of New York. 

Here is an example of one of them.

  http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/PropertyProfileOverviewServlet?boro=3&houseno=259&street=4th%20ave&requestid=0&s=A03C41B885B461E4F46BD08866A7430E

   What awaits the new owner (if any, and I’ll get to that.) are all 8 of these violations, of which monetary damages are owed. This is just one building. A lot of them have the same story.

   So not only is he “maybe” selling these buildings of which he gets 10% of each sale, but what awaits for any of these prospective landlords are all of these fines, the problems with transfer deeds which wont be allowed until the City of New York is satisfied with all of the fines.

   Not only is this waiting for any new buyers, but if you go back to the Scribl’d article reading the terms of sale for the auction, Pay attention to the following details.

  In Stipulation 2 of the Public Auction contract, it states

“Each bidder shall be required to provide the Seller with his or her name and address prior to commencement of the auction. In order to be permitted to bid, prior to commencement of the auction, each bidder must deliver a down-payment check, to the Sellers attorney, made payable to Jared Rich esq, as Attorney, in the amount of at least $300,000 for each parcel bidder intends to bid on. The Property known as 1511 Pacific Street shall require a down payment of $50,000. For 1031 buyers or others, Seller will agree to another escrow agent so long as the same is reviewed and approved prior to the auction date.”

  So just to show up, you must give a check to Jared Rich ESQ. who’s offices reside at 44 Court Street, Brooklyn, NY, STE 917, in the amount of $300,000. What bothers me most is that at no time in the contract does it state that if a purchaser’s bids weren’t successful or any prospective purchaser doesn’t walk away with a new building, the $300,000 is not returned. It only mentions the following with regards to this deposit.

   14. “Seller may cancel this agreement at any time, for any reason whatsoever, without further obligation on the part of the Seller. If the Seller cancels this contract, or is unable to deliver title, Sellers sole obligation is the return of the down-payment money. It is hereby stipulated and agreed that the return of said down-payment shall constitute a mutual release by both parties(and any other party) of any and all obligations regarding this transaction.” 

  So, basically, you may not ever get back the $300,000 down payment even if you make a successful bid on a building. Basically, the seller keeps 10% of all buyer’s premiums. For example, lets say 20 people (non-1031) show up to bid on these properties, that’s 6 Million dollars just in down payments that this BASTARD get to keep. The only other time the return of the deposit is mentioned is in Stipulation 17.

 “Notwithstanding any provision contained herein to the contrary, in the event that marketable title cannot be delivered for whatever reason, whatsoever, except for the default of the purchaser, the purchaser’s sole remedy shall be a return of the down payment. The sale is without recourse, to the Auctioneer, employees, Attorney for the Seller or any other party.”

  This means that you can’t sue the auctioneers, or anyone else working for the auction, or Jared Rich ESQ for anything pertaining to this auction. So if you want your money back, you only can see Jim McGown or in this case East River Mortgage Corp. who is Jim McGown.

   This is happening as a pre-foreclosure sale mind you. This means that Jim owes a lot of money and the mortgage lender hasn’t officially foreclosed yet on these properties. The move here is simple. Jim cherry picks his buyers, gets the money to pay off whatever he owes, and use the rest. So, not only does he get to escape his duties to pay the mortgage money he owes, he gets enough to start over again. However, this time, I highly doubt any mortgage lender will ever lend him another penny. His credit must be lower than shit right now considering what he owes out there. But after this, he wont need another mortgage broker. He’ll have enough to do it on his own.

  According to this contract, he can cancel the sales right up to the time of the auction and even after that, for no reason whatsoever, and keep the money, or 10% of whatever they get.

  If any of you prospective bidders are starting to think otherwise about this auction, then think about this as well.

Jim McGown, a former mortgage broker, has been papering this neighborhood of Downtown Brooklyn for years. He’s been a nuisance with his Brooklyn Bushenshank bar for the noise complaints, Fire Hazards, Heath Department fines, etc for years. He was the former owner of PJ Hanleys, the oldest bar in Brooklyn, which he had a lease with the Hanley family for $13,000 for both storefronts until 2020. No Rent increases or hikes during that time, and he couldn’t even bring himself to pay the Hanley family what was owed to them. 

They’ve been in court for years for failure to pay rent for a year, and McGown is still in contention with the Hanley family. McGown is still contesting Judge Mendez’s ruling which he was ordered to vacate the premises.

   Many lawsuits have been filed against him and on behalf of all for the same things, lease violations, failure to pay rent, etc. He’s conned the Hanley Family out of tons of money the entire time he’s had possession of the space, showing blatant disregard to his fellow neighbors for his business practices, and now this two-bit con man is setting his sights on would be wealthy investors to con them all out of money.

  What’s the most troubling about this auction is each property is sold in an “As is” condition. Also Stipulation number 6..

6.. “No Notice will be sent to the successful purchaser, and if the successful purchaser neglects to call at the time and place specified herein to receive his deed (date being before 10am on April 27th, 2015) Purchaser agrees that he will be held in default and the down payment will be forfeited to the Seller as liquidated damages.”

      But, This asshole can decide not to sell the property at any time. Also, if he refuses to return your money, you can line up and sue him in court. Which as we are well aware of will take months of time and aggravation, upon which this contract has many loopholes and stipulations for his defense lawyers to play with, he can keep your money for at least two years wrapped up in court. Costing you many thousands of dollars suing him. This is a theory that is possible, but does not necessarily mean it will. 

   Also, you try clearing a title that has multiple violations on it. That takes months sometimes,maybe more to clear. So, he’s proposing to fuck everyone and anyone involved in this. Not only is he holding on to the security deposits, but he’s sticking you with buildings that have multiple violations on them that you now have to clear.

  Considering his infamous track record, he is very capable of doing so. Do yourself a favor. Don’t bail Jim out. Fuck him! Let him pay off his own debts for once. Also, if you really like his properties, wait until he’s not dictating the terms of the auction. This is a sham, and the biggest running con job to date. STAY OUT OF THIS. 

He’s declared Bankruptcy for South Brooklyn Pizza.

He owes a considerable amount of money to a private mortgage broker named LZG Realty LLC. If it even exists. They’re listed on some of the deeds. 

He’s still in contention with the Hanley Family over PJ Hanleys.

Now, he’s looking towards you. Stay away everyone. You’ve been warned.

“

[bklynmadman]

Reinventing the restaurant? GTFO!

The landscape of the New York City restaurant has changed in the past few years. Going on the wayside are the large restaurants, and up and rising are the hole in the wall spots that actually put Brooklyn on the map as far as the foodie nation is concerned. I'm here to say here and now, that the hole in the wall places are now PLAYED OUT! They can now take their curtain call, and bow out gracefully.