Rebane's Ruminations
September 2017
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[In his 22sep17 letter to The Union’s editor, my friend Norm Sauer shares the Left’s conundrum in a clear, concise, and complete format originally summarized by L. Poplack of Olympia (where they used to brew my favorite beer).  The only problem remaining – is the Left sharp enough to understand the situation?  From the local leftists the answer is an unambiguous NO.  gjr]

Norm Sauer

A "conundrum" is that which is puzzling or confusing. Consider the following, from Larry Poplack of Olympia, Washington:

  1. America is capitalist and greedy — yet half of the population is subsidized.
  2. Half of the population is subsidized — yet they think they are victims.
  3. They think they are victims — yet their representatives run the government.
  4. Their representatives run the government — yet the poor keep getting poorer.
  5. The poor keep getting poorer — yet they have things that people in other countries only dream about.
  6. They have things that people in other countries only dream about — yet they want America to be more like those other countries.

The sad reality is the Democrat Progressive Socialist Party needs people to fail, be without jobs, without health care, without insurance, and in economic pain for the party to succeed. With such misery, more people will be incapable of helping themselves and big government will (help them) at the immoral expense of taking from the producers.

The Progressive Socialists run from the Trump Administration's demonstrated job growth, reduced unemployment, surge in housing starts, the Dow's record highs, and decreased illegal border crossings.

The conundrum: they say Trump and Republicans are crazy!

Posted in , , ,

179 responses to “The Socialists’ Conundrum”

  1. Bill Tozer Avatar
    Bill Tozer

    The Socialists Conundrum is on display in full her full naked glory in the above comments. The ole principe that keeps a man in everlasting ignorance strikes again and again. That principle is once again contempt prior to investigation. The bar against all knowledge.
    https://www.wsj.com/articles/polly-want-a-xanax-neurotic-parrots-can-drive-their-owners-crazy-1504548232

    Like

  2. Barry Pruett Avatar
    Barry Pruett

    Paul: Does the government actually give money to the oil industry in direct cash payments? I am not sure they do.

    Like

  3. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    barry
    The actual amount of subsidies to big oil from American Taxpayers is around 5 billion a year. Don’t know the exact way they delive the money but that’s the end result. That money could sure be as good start in funding a national heath care system
    http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/04/oil-subsidies-renewable-energy-tax-breaks/

    Like

  4. fish Avatar
    fish

    Posted by: Paul Emery | 05 September 2017 at 08:26 AM
    That money could sure be as good start in funding a national heath care system.
    <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/04/oil-subsidies-renewable-energy-tax-breaks/
    “>http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/04/oil-subsidies-renewable-energy-tax-breaks/
    Yeah….like Uncle Stupid doesn’t shovel enough money already at healthcare companies in an attempt to keep 500lb inner city scooter commanders with nasty Cheeto and Grape soda addictions going for yet another day.
    Watching you bounce from topic to topic is the rhetorical equivalent of watching the fish beat itself senseless flopping against the bottom of the boat!

    Like

  5. Todd Juvinall Avatar
    Todd Juvinall

    Fish now that’s prescient! It is a useless endeavor to engage him. I resist as much as I can until he is too over the top. Anyway, DACA is noe rescinded and Trump is sending it to the Congress where it belongs. Going to be fun watching the legislators squirm. What a hoot!

    Like

  6. Gregory Avatar
    Gregory

    Yes, Paul thinks a kosher wealth draining of the folks at Big Oil can pay for single payer health care and it won’t be paid by the people putting gas in their car to get to work.

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  7. Barry Pruett Avatar
    Barry Pruett

    “Definition of subsidy: a sum of money granted by the government or a public body to assist an industry or business so that the price of a commodity or service may remain low or competitive.”
    How is allowing oil companies to deduct costs of doing business a subsidy under your definition of subsidy?
    Also, if oil companies are not allowed to deduct costs of doing business won’t gas prices in the USA go up thereby detrimentally hurting low income folks more than higher income folks who can afford the taxes? It seems taxing oil companies to fund healthcare puts single payer healthcare disproportionately on the backs of our lower income folks who need the money. Isn’t that a little counter intuitive?
    It seems that progressives need to think about the consequences of their proposed actions.

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  8. Todd Juvinall Avatar
    Todd Juvinall

    Trump only down 10 on Real Clear today. Go Trump!

    Like

  9. George Rebane Avatar

    Administrivia – The next ‘Scattershots’ includes subsidies as a topic; please transfer your subsidies debate to that comment stream. Thanks.

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  10. Bill Tozer Avatar
    Bill Tozer

    Mr. Pruette @ 9:28 AM
    “It seems that progressives need to think about the consequences of their proposed actions.”
    Thinking ahead about the consequences? What a silly notion.
    Minimum wage increases come to mind. U of Washington study funded by think tanks concluded that Seattle’s minimum wage increases result in a net loss of $150.00/ month of income per minimum wage worker. Various factors, including loss of hours worked per week, less OT. or OT eliminated, more part time workers than full time workers hired, etc.
    Studies show that low income people smoke cigarettes at a higher percentage than the general population. Taxing the crap out of tobacco products hurts the poor the most.
    Think it was Philly that recently initiated the soda pop tax. After it was revealed that the black community in impoverished areas consume more regular soda pop than diet sodas than that of the general population, the tax was altered to decrease the tax on regular soft drinks and increase the tax on diet sodas. Why? The tax was disappointingly affecting the poor in general and the poor black Community specifically.
    The outcry that Wal-Mart is not paying its employees nearly enough was very much in vogue not too long ago, not to mention the Walton heirs were making too much darn money. The agrument was the employees were paid so little they qualified for Food Stamps, thus the government was subsidizing Wal-Mart employees by providing food stamps and subsidized healthcare. What the studies revealed that an increase in wages at Wal-Mart would affect low income people with little disposable income the most if Wal-Mart raised its prices of goods to compensate for the higher operating costs. For those with little discretionary spending at the end of the month, the impact would be felt the most by not just low income folks with little disposal income, ithe demands by the liberals would negatively impact the most likely Wal-Mart shopper: the Wal-Mart employee. Not to mention the mega retailer losing its competitive edge to other companies, thus creating less hiring opportunities, less full time jobs, less expansion of new stores with its new employment opportunities.
    The biggest expense of most smaller grocery stores (2,000 different items offered) is electricity expenses to run the AC, lighting, and freezers. Mega Supermarkets offer up to 60,000 items, are remodeling to have one or two exterior walls made of glass to save every penny of lighting operating costs. They can afford to do expensive projects such as turning exterior walls into thick glass panels ground to roofline. Obama stated unequivocally that “your electric bill will go up” to push for solar and renewable energy expansion. A Mom and Pop local grocery store is hurt the hardest by designed increases in electricty rates and do not have the funds to keep up with the mega stores.
    No need to dwell on the impact of gas prices on the lower to middle class families, save to repeat oft cited sources that lower income as well as middle income workers have longer commutes to work because they cannot afford the housing available closer in to the citie where the better paying jobs are.
    If one has a few hundred bucks in his pocket after payday with all bills paid AND the gas tank is on empty Monday morning on the way to start the new workweek, a $20 dollar increase to fill ‘er up does not have a huge impact. But, a lower income worker who has 40 bucks left over come Monday morning with the gas tank of E feels the impact of fuel increases instantly.
    Its is the impact on one’s disposable income that creates the law of unintended consequences, something our central planners consistently fail to grasp.
    And just like that, everybody starting buying gas.
    https://www.facebook.com/RowdyConservatives/photos/a.217983685002343.55586.217926015008110/1161049720695730/?type=3&theater.

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  11. George Rebane Avatar

    BillT 1050am – Excellent dissertation Mr Tozer. Now we all will await with keen interest (but not with bated breath) how our socialist friends will attend to your points. In this enterprise, generous dollops of patience will no doubt go a long way, and in the end may be all we have to show for it.

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  12. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    Todd
    That was one poll Todd. Down 16.9 average. Lowest in history.

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  13. Todd Juvinall Avatar
    Todd Juvinall

    Paul Emery, I don’t care. You have your polls and I have mine.

    Like

  14. Robert Cross Avatar
    Robert Cross

    “It seems that progressives need to think about the consequences of their proposed actions.”
    I love that. Progressives are the ones who always seem to need to think about their actions. This seems to imply that conservatives either don’t need to think or can’t as Trump era policies apparently don’t seem to really need scrutiny beyond the tweets and campaign promises? For example:
    California agriculture, which consists mostly of large corporate entities, does and always has depended upon undocumented immigrant labor to harvest crops. What will all of the deportations, etc. do to the price of food? Is the plan to move all of the unemployed coal miners (whose jobs were replaced by machines not environmentalists) out to CA to pick lettuce?
    Is nuclear war with N. Korea beneficial in any way other than to bolster Trump’s deranged psyche?
    Would border wall money be better spent on other forms of infrastructure?
    Given the extreme weather events happening globally, coupled with global record high temperatures several years in a row, and the fact that human caused climate change is accepted science everywhere on the planet (RR readers/Trump supporters excepted), is it prudent for the future of everyone (and not just fossil fuel stockholders)to appoint climate deniers to key federal positions that are responsible for climate issues?
    Is it prudent for the above appointees to scrub climate change issues, not only from government websites but also from the national discussion? Will putting our country’s collective head in the sand and farting, as conservatives seem to advocate, prevent extreme weather events from happening?
    The list goes on and on.

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  15. Todd Juvinall Avatar
    Todd Juvinall

    You have proof that most of California ag is big corporatons? Show us.
    After the Norks nuke SF or Seattle will you ask the same quaestion?
    You global warming comments are ridiculous. Warming record? We are experiencing cooling. And we had no hurricaines for seven years so where were you spouting your ectreme comments then?
    You hoax of AGW is laughable. It is computer models inputed by grant whores across the planet. That is why it is being scubbed.

    Like

  16. Bill Tozer@ Avatar
    Bill Tozer@

    @ 12:09 PM
    “Will putting our country’s collective head in the sand and farting, as conservatives seem to advocate, prevent extreme weather events from happening?
    Farting is a a humongous contributor to Climate Change. Cow farts. Methane. Big no-no. Croackroach farts caused the extinction of the dinosaur, but I digress.
    Have you seen those researchers out in the diarylands getting their shoes muddy slogging around with those cow fart methane gas collectors? Bright green (some pretty blue) bubblepack Depends strapped on the cows’ back. Like watching Buck Rogers and the Space Cadets in Technicolor while blazing on a sunny afternoon…with man buns in lieu of brainbuckets. And those pointed fireplace place billows looking vac guns to get closer to source of CLIMATE CHANGE over the last 12 years in Texas. A two day storm will do wonders for The Cause.
    Point is, Mr. Cross, we are doing something other than just collectively sticking our heads in the sand and having one big group fart in a gun free zone.
    First, we pay for that research with our tax dollars which is then given, in various forms and names as research grants to fund and subsidiize the cow fart collector development and design. Hmm, wonder what they do with a warehouse packed full of cow farts? Like, how do you dispose of that? Bury it? Hmmm. The Matrix is not perfect.
    Secondly, while we are sticking our heads in the sand and farting, we are actually research subjects ourselves. Didn’t you notice the fart collector prototypes strapped to our backs as we assumed the position? Hard to miss. The vivid colors are absolutely to die for. Yes, we are going our part.

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  17. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    Little laugh Trump is only down 10 points in a conservative pole Actually down 24 from January That’s really impressive Todd. Call trump

    Like

  18. Todd Juvinall Avatar
    Todd Juvinall

    Only you care.

    Like

  19. Robert Cross Avatar
    Robert Cross

    show me CA agriculture is not dominated by corporations? Yes, most farms are family owned but In terms of number of acres the average family owned farm is 200 acres or less while the average corporate farm is 784 acres. The average value of a family farm in CA was $1.3M including land and equipment. For corporations the figure is $6.4M. Only 39% of family owned farms showed a profit compared to 59% of corporate farms. So yes, corporations dominate CA. agriculture.
    Of course, you failed to answer the question about whether or not immigration policies will affect food prices because you have no good answer.
    Cooling? You obviously have no idea what you are talking about. How does sand taste anyway? I hear there is a global sand shortage on the horizon.
    After the Norks nuke SF or Seattle will you ask the same question? — I heard that same bullshit argument about the soviets my whole life. it didn’t happen and NK will not fire first. It will mean their annihilation and they know it. Only a total fool with no connection to the rest of humanity, like Trump, would ever fire first.

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  20. fish Avatar
    fish

    Posted by: Robert Cross | 05 September 2017 at 12:09 PM
    …..yawn.

    Like

  21. Walt Avatar

    Hay Cross…. The coal miner stopped using the pick and shovel a LONG time ago.
    And what a surprise! They don’t manually push one ton coal cars up and down the tracks either.
    Been through any of the tomato fields lately? Picked by machine. Guess what!?? There are machines that can pick grapes too. Maybe Mexico should sue.
    The need for a million illegals is long gone. But take a look at the produce in any given market. Is sure isn’t grown in Ca. let alone America.
    Who needs illegal labor when there are plenty of homeless with no jobs wondering the streets? They too good to do that kind of work? I await the excuses why.

    Like

  22. Bill Tozer@ Avatar
    Bill Tozer@

    Mr. Cross
    Well, our atmosphere has generated its fair share of extreme weather events long before man first stomped grapes and long after. If you are looking for a way to prevent extreme weather events, OK, but….but….but……so has man since he first stomped grapes and his ancestors as well. No one is particularly fond of them. That’s universal and timeless.
    Sorry, Mr. Cross. If you are looking for a safe place to hide from extreme weather events, Mother Nature does not seem to want to cooperate. Better folks than us have tried to get her to adapt to us, but she won’t budge. She is adamant that we adapt to her, not her to us. Steel trap. Talk to the hand, she ain’t going to hear none of that ass backwards notion. .

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  23. Bill Tozer the Deplorable Me. Avatar
    Bill Tozer the Deplorable Me.

    Mr. Walt @ 1:22 PM
    Are you saying things have changed? You mean they raise chickens as far North as Scotland now? It’s like where did all these folks who popped stupid pills come from? Thick as bull flies. Haven’t seen nothing like it in my whole lifetime.
    https://www.facebook.com/lastamericapatriots/photos/a.235087906641439.1073741826.235086849974878/914382438711979/?type=3&theater

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  24. Don Bessee Avatar
    Don Bessee

    Nice update to the handle BT. 😉

    Like

  25. Todd Juvinall Avatar
    Todd Juvinall

    Robert Cross | 05 September 2017 at 01:03 PM
    Goodness, you are too easy. Here check out these graphs on cooling. Then spank yourself for being an idiot.
    https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=A0SO8xioDq9ZLPcAhUNXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEybWU2NWs5BGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDQjQ0ODNfMQRzZWMDc2M-?p=18+year+cooling+period+in+atmpshere&fr=tightropetb
    And thanks for confirming you did not have a clue in your first screed about corporate ownership of the farms in California. That was too easy to find eh? And with all the produce coming up from Cile and other countries in the winter, we may not need as many pickers. Hey, Cross, who picks the produce from Chile anyway? Mexicans? Or Chileans? As far as prices and immigration. There seems to b plenty of people from south of the border who want to come pick some food for everyone. But if you and Ceasr Chavez lovers want way more money then yes, the prices will rise. And you sald missing will not be too affodable if they get their way.
    Nukes hitting America. Hmmm. Seems the rooskies tried to park some in Cuba didn’t they? Only a firm backbone by Kennedy etal stopped that. And who knows if UN is a nihilist? Maybe he is a Nork Jihadi and hopes to get 72 vigins for his fat ass.

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  26. Walt Avatar

    Now don’t forget that LIBs are demanding the 15 buck minimum wage. Yet howl like their testes are in a meat grinder because employers may lose their cheap H1B visa labor. “They will have to hire AMERICANS at a higher hourly rate!” Uh,,, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!!!???
    You on the left sure screwed the pooch on that one.

    Like

  27. Bill Tozer the Deplorable Me. Avatar
    Bill Tozer the Deplorable Me.

    15 bucks an hour for picking tulips and strawberries? Why? The Del Oro pays $18.75/hr to start, sucking farts out of seat cushions. Closer to home and you can save on gas, helping the planet heal, which will protect us all from extreme weather events.
    For those with with a broader skillset, the government is hiring at $27.37/hr with bennies for those experienced in changing spark plugs on diesel engines. When Big Bro switches over to fleets of all electric vehicles, well, just call it job security.

    Like

  28. Bill Tozer the Deplorable Me. Avatar
    Bill Tozer the Deplorable Me.

    “The sad reality is the Democrat Progressive Socialist Party needs people to fail……….
    The conundrum: they say Trump and Republicans are crazy!”
    https://www.facebook.com/PatriotPost/photos/a.82108390913.80726.51560645913/10155030316305914/?type=3&theater
    https://www.facebook.com/lastamericapatriots/photos/a.235087906641439.1073741826.235086849974878/914090232074533/?type=3&theater
    Hell hath froze over twice in a week! This can’t be good for our progressives. Very bad news. Something is making the Dems see the light. They are not doing this for their health or the good of the nation. Must be those darn internal polls telling them there is a change in the air, a foul storm a’coming.
    You would have thunk Nov, 2016 would have been a big clue, but nooooo. The progressives with Trump hysteria been running counter to Americans’ sense of Justice, playground fair play, and honesty. Bearing false witness just ain’t right. “It’s not fair! That’s not who we are. Those are not our values. Or maybe their polling is showing the Progressives are being viewed as the anti-American party of flag burners and the Party that celebrates pissing into a drinking glass containing a small crucifix and calling it ‘Art’. Nah, everybody already views then that way, and I ain’t even Catholic. The Party of Identity Grievances and their needy flock. That’s not who we are as Americans.
    Never get tired of winning.
    http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/09/02/nancy-pelosi-the-voters-dont-want-to-hear-us-criticizing-the-president/
    Bonus:
    https://www.facebook.com/lastamericapatriots/

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