Bubble-Up Economics?

Designated President Biden talked to some people today, in Pennsylvania. He said something about the economy. Keep in mind that a majority of people in America, including Mr. Biden and most politicians, are economically illiterate.

Most people don’t understand money, business, or markets. In fact, it looks like a majority of people can’t distinguish between capitalism, communism, socialism, or fascism. But be that as it may, Mr. Biden had this to say (not an exact quote):

We know that trickle-down doesn’t work. When lower income people do well, everybody does well! Even the rich! (polite applause)

So how do lower income people do well? You’re 25 years old, maybe married, maybe with a kid, and you’re going along. You have a job, get a paycheck, cash it and pay for stuff. And then what? One day you just start doing well? What were you doing before that; doing poorly?

Well sure, you might say: I’m not making enough money! I can’t pay the bills, feed the family, and buy cool stuff! If only I had more money, life would be better!

People sit there, watching TV or playing on their phone, and they wait. They wait for something or someone to happen. They wait for better conditions. They wait to do better. They know they’re not doing all that well, so they wait until they do better. Wait, wait, wait, and complain.

There are only a few solutions to all this: You can go out and make things better; or you can demand that “they” do something; or you can demand that the government fix things. You might petition a religious figure to make things better, and I suppose you might wait for luck, like playing the lottery.

How do people just suddenly “do better?” And if they’re doing better, how does this benefit “the rich?”

Whichever way it happens, I would say this must be bubble-up economics. Out of nowhere, somehow the lower income people somehow make more money, or spend more money, or buy more stuff. Because they’re out spending more, somehow that makes rich people get more money, right?

If you’re a Business Owner, or A Rich Guy (are there Rich Girls?), then you spend your time sitting somewhere, collecting money. It just falls into your bank account from all those “regular people.” They just give you lots and lots of money, and you keep it all.

The solution to all that waiting around, is for the government to just give you more money. If you’re making $100, then if you get another $50, you’re “doing better.” Right? That’s the only measurement that matters, apparently, in today’s world.

After you get “better” and go out and blow the money on shoes, the second solution is to stop rich people from getting that money. I suppose we could tax “someone” somewhere between when you spend the money, and when the rich person sees it somehow arrive in their bank account.

Why not just leave lower income people right where they are. Wouldn’t that prevent rich (greedy) people from piling up all that money?

Rush Limbaugh, John Denver and God

The world got a little quieter today, as Rush Limbaugh signed off for the last time. As is often the case with an exceptional book or movie, many people are sitting in the theater, quietly watching the closing credits. We didn’t want it to end, yet all stories have an ending. But is it an ending? Will there be a sequel?

I recently watched the movie, “Oh God!” again, caught up in the wonderful metaphors being played out so well by John Denver and George Burns. For those who haven’t seen the movie, John Denver plays an assistant manager for a small grocery store. Suddenly, he starts hearing, seeing, and talking with God.

George Burns was a legendary comedian in the show-business world, and was so old, many people would joke that he was as old as God. Playing the part of God in the movie was an excellent choice.

The questions John Denver had, were why was God appearing to him, what did He want, and why Denver? God’s answers had to do with He only wanted to make an appearance to remind people that the world is a wonderful place. We should cherish each other, love life, enjoy the world and have fun. In fact, my own basic tenet is that life is supposed to be fun! All the trials and tribulations, problems and successes; all are part of the Great Adventure.

Sound familiar? I started listening to Rush back when my dad turned me on to the show. I was in my early 30s, and was captured by several aspects of the radio program. One of those aspects was Rush’s never-ending optimism, and his belief that no matter where we find ourselves in life, there’s always hope. With faith, ingenuity, imagination, and work we can attain success.

John Denver has, naturally, quite a problem getting the word out to the world that God has a message for everyone. Like another interesting movie, “Miracle on 34th Street,” we’re watching the story of a nonphysical being appearing as a living person in the current world. In 34th Street, it’s Santa Clause. In “Oh God!” it’s God Himself.

Nobody excepting Denver can hear or see God, excepting at the end, during a court appearance. However; after the court appearance, all physical evidence of God has mysteriously vanished. Despite everyone in the room having witnessed God, they’re ultimately left to decide for themselves whether or not what they saw and heard was real.

Rush Limbaugh had a simple message: America is unique in world history because the country was founded on the principle of individual liberty. The default system of societies is tyranny, but America, through the Constitution, codified the individual sovereignty of each citizen. A government was to govern only with the permission of We, The People. Liberalism, and all its forms, is the antithesis of that individuality, and must be defeated entirely. (Although he did suggest we keep a few liberals around in a museum, just to remind people of how destructive they are.)

Rush proposed that William F. Buckley Jr. was one of the original founders of the modern conservative movement. We can easily argue that Rush Limbaugh was the most outspoken “face” of that conservative movement. He reinvented AM talk radio, leading the way in programming, content, humor, and political conversation. Most, if not all the ensuing people who’ve become famous within the world of talk radio, learned or benefited from Rush Limbaugh.

So what comes next? Don’t we ask the same question of Donald J. Trump? Didn’t we ask the same question of Ronald Reagan? Don’t we ask the same question of Jesus Christ? Don’t we ask the same question, even of God?

In the movie, John Denver (and everyone else) is reminded that God doesn’t do everything for us. God doesn’t solve everyone’s problems. God doesn’t create everyone’s problems. God doesn’t know the future, only what “is.” Each of us is free to live, love, choose, discover, imagine, talk, create, wonder, and every other aspect of human life. God isn’t a dictator, telling us what we must or mustn’t do.

At the end of the movie, God points out that He’s always there. John Denver asks, somewhat plaintively, “Can I still talk with you?” He means in the way that he’s been doing during the story, with God appearing as another physical person. God’s answer is enduring and perfect: “How about you talk, and I’ll listen.”

Rush Limbaugh came here and created a fabulous story. We might call it the origin story of a series. There are numerous examples of similar stories, and the audience often is left asking, “But what will happen to us, now that he or she is gone?”

In his earlier years, Rush liked to call himself The Mayor of Realville. He spoke of reality, not fantasy. He always pointed out that being a Democrat (liberal, progressive, social Democrat, etc.) was an easy choice: One only had to live by feelings and emotions. To be a conservative is difficult. One has to think, analyze, empathize, and above all, accept that reality is an objective fact.

Then, in the later years, Rush began to say that he was the adult in the room. He was the one saying “no.” He was like good parents who try to instill in their children the virtues of human life: honor, truth, integrity, honesty, and all the others.

Okay: But isn’t it incumbent on a good teacher, good parents, or wise mentors to teach the student how to become individual, independent and strong? To teach them to go out into the world and live their own life?

Rush Limbaugh created a movement. He spent 33 years explaining how that movement works. He wrote books, did his radio show, presented live events, did a TV show, and created a total-spectrum Internet presence. All of that body of work was focused on his basic message: America has been an exceptional nation, founded on the principles of individual liberty and classic Judeo-Christian values. We need to get back to those principles and values, and defeat the never-ending attempt to demolish the country as it was founded.

And then he left, having finished his work, created the movement, and provided the roadmap.

We can sit here and bemoan the fact that now we don’t have “someone” to do everything for us. Ayn Rand was fond of saying, “When you hear the word ‘somehow,’ it always means ‘someone’.” Do we want someone else to tell us what to do, live our life for us, give us free stuff, and make rules? Or do we want to live as free men and women?

Likewise, we can sit here and complain that without Donald Trump, or Ronald Reagan, or Jesus Christ telling us what to do, we can’t do anything. Is that true? Have we learned nothing? Do we really want a God who runs everything, controls everything, and miraculously gets us out of trouble? If so, we already have that: It’s called The State.

Rush Limbaugh created a movement. The sequel will be the story of what happens to that movement. Will it be another Tea Party, co-opted by the so-called Deep State and rendered useless? Or, will Americans come together to say a resounding “No!” Rush showed us a way to view things, think about things, and examine the world around us. It’s up to each of us to take those ideas to heart, and carry forward with the difficult problem of taking back this country.

And I have to say, from my own view of life and existence, I think that in the afterlife, or whatever we’re calling the place you go when you die, there was a great “disturbance in the Force.” I think that with Rush’s arrival back home, there were standing ovations everywhere, and a tremendous, joyous noise! It was a fabulous story, and his soul will be welcomed back with admiration and honor. Good job!

Dear Republican Party

Dear Republican Party:

This is to inform you that I have officially terminated my affiliation with your political organization. I’d thought about unregistering entirely, since votes no longer matter, but instead I’ve become Unaffiliated. I’m now part of the global set of “registered voters,” and my hope is that when you run your polls and database reports, I’ll become a tiny part of your shrinking voter tally. In my small way, I might even add to your overall stress and anxiety levels. I doubt it, but I do what I can.

For most of my adult life I’ve voted Republican. I didn’t understand much about politics when I was young, but I learned more and more as I grew older. I’ve learned to vote strategically, the more conservative I’ve become. I’ve watched the country split into four groups: Republican, Democrat, Conservative and Progressive. I’ve lent my vote as a Conservative to the Republican party, in the hope it would slow the tide of Progressive corruption in the country.

I was part of the Tea Party, and had hoped that we might do what Rush Limbaugh suggests: Take over the Republican party. I’d seen how Ross Perot, as a third-party candidate, split the GOP vote and helped to elect Bill Clinton. So I worked to help take over an existing party. That failed, as you people simply co-opted the entire thing. No more.

Many people argue that a new, third party — perhaps a Patriot party — would split the vote and help the “Democrats” win. So what? Whether the Republicans or the Democrats win, nothing will change, as it hasn’t changed in the past. Republican and Democrat politicians are unified under the ideology of “Politician.” It’s the so-called Uni-party, also known as the Establishment, or as Mr. Trump would say, the Deep State.

I’ve wondered in frustration how you could make John McCain the Presidential nominee. Then wondered at Mitt Romney. I learned the acronym, RINO, meaning a Republican in Name Only, and came to understand the rank hypocrisy and utter lack of integrity of the Politician class.

Then came the 2020 election, with levels of fraud never before seen so blatantly in this country. I read the reports, examined the numbers, analyzed the available facts, and developed a whole line of questions. I saw that 75+ million people have similar questions. Then I watched as highly qualified people tried to bring legal actions to court, so as to re-examine and audit the election results.

I watched nearly 80 lawsuits that were never heard on merits. They were shut down on minor technicalities, or rejected as “not having standing.” I watched the state of Texas, joined by numerous other states bring a fundamental lawsuit before the Supreme Court of the United States. And I watched that court choose to not hear the case, saying there wasn’t any legal reason for the case. Really?

Excepting only a very few of your members, the overall Republicans did nothing: Not a word, not a peep, no interest, no questions, and no action. You couldn’t have cared less about what matters deeply to me and millions of people like me. I can’t say I’m disgusted: I’m beyond disgusted! I will say this, though, “Beware the anger of a patient man!” I learned that little aphorism not so long ago. I hope it keeps you up at night.

Then I waited to see what the individual state legislatures would do, since all these federal courts were saying the states alone were in charge of elections. I watched those state Senators and Congressional Representatives try to bring legal actions, or to call for investigations and try to change or overturn illegal voting rules.

All to no avail. I watched these same legislatures request, in writing, that Vice President Pence delay the final certification of the 2020 election. They wanted only a 10-day pause for the purpose of examining voting results in their own states. They only wanted a chance to verify their certification, or change that certification.

And I watched the Vice President, a fine, upstanding member of your party, ignore entirely the last request for fair and transparent investigation. Why? You won’t say. You ended all discussion, debate, questions, or other legal and Constitutional avenues by which people like myself might have any say in the matter.

I’m done. I’ve held my nose and voted for “my” Republican senators and House representatives, not to mention “my” governors and judges. They’ve done nothing whatsoever to advance the original American values, culture, ideals, and principles. Nothing! Why should I continue to vote for what amounts to nothing?

Why should I continue to vote at all, when you and your fellows have done nothing whatsoever to ensure that electronic voting is legitimate. Many people question unsolicited mail-in ballots, with many nations around the world making those ballots illegal. Have you tried to do so?…to question anything? Have you tried to find out whether or not, or how many of these mail-in ballots may have been fraudulent? No.

What about the Georgia election, filled with evidence of machine fraud, counting fraud, counterfeit ballots, illegal procedures, and illegal contracts. The Republican governor, and Republican Secretary of State stood by and did nothing. They tacitly encouraged the same potential fraud during a “critical” run-off election. Was the “Republican” election actually a landslide victory, meaning the run-off would have been unnecessary? Who knows? You people did nothing whatsoever to find out.

You’ve stood by and allowed the United States and the American people to be stripped bare of the Constitution of the United States. That document is (was) the core social contract that created America and the American society. Progressives, Socialists and Communists have vowed to remove that Constitution for as long as I’ve been alive. I’ve watched them become increasingly vocal in that agenda, and I’ve watched them take more and more power to do so.

And Republicans have done nothing to stand in the way of those Progressives. Republicans have squirted out needlepoint platitudes, stupid aphorisms, and unintelligible platforms. I have to go back to the Reagan presidency to find any kind of actual platform, with perhaps the Gingrich “Contract With America” as another rare example.

Before these examples, I have to go all the way back to the Whig party, prior to the American Civil War. That party had become as ineffectual, effete and arrogant as you people. I lived in Wisconsin, only a few minutes from the town of Ripon, where the Republican party was created. Your ancestors were so filled with principles, integrity, faith in Humanity and righteous indignation over the utter lack of action in Washington D.C., that they formed a new political party. Your party! The Republican party!

You have squandered your heritage, ruined your credibility, destroyed your reputation, repudiated your originators, and sold yourselves to whomever has a little bit of money to put in your pockets. What pitiful creatures you’ve become!

No more! Now we all will have to witness an America that no longer has an organizing Constitution; where political and financial corruption are the only rule system in place. You did this! You did it by doing nothing to prevent it. To you, it’s all a game: Like football, where no matter which team wins, everyone goes on about their business the next day. It’s not a game! It’s real life, and those of us who don’t live in your game world have to bear the brunt of your incompetence and utter lack of virtue.

I won’t be party to it. I do not give my consent. I will not support you and your partisan hacks. I’m no longer going to allow you to count on my vote, or claim that I’m “in this together” with you. History will judge you, and you will be forevermore found to be lacking.

Good-bye, and may you fail in all your future endeavors.
Punchinello