TheWiseOldFart

        In the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, our Founding Fathers laid the groundwork for what would be the Constitution of the United States of America. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.-“ The men who created the United States of America were in denial, ignoring their own failures to “put their money where their mouths were.” Most of them owned slaves, and obviously did not consider them equal to white men and women. When framing the Constitution between 1787 and 1789 during the Constitutional Convention, an agreement was made to protect the practice of owning slaves, primarily in the southern states. The Second Amendment was written for two reasons. First, to guarantee the availability of organizing an a...

America is 15 th out of the group of 15 developed nations. Our country is near the bottom in healthcare, and education, but in the most important category, quality of life, our nation is at the very bottom. Most American workers struggle to maintain an acceptable quality of life for themselves and their families. Hanging over their heads is fear: fear that a health emergency will destroy the lifestyle they have worked so hard and long for their family. After United Healthcare CEO, Brian Thompson was murdered, a poll taken of young voters, age 30 and under, described his killing as “acceptable” by a whopping 41 percent. If you’re surprised, you are old and out of touch with most of our country’s people. A large percentage of all Americans have been forced to battle with an insurance company which denied a claim, directly, or indirectly. Even a larger percentage experienced a lower level of care than expected, depending upon the insurance agency which represents them. A few facts: the U...

When you grow up in post WWII America, you are covered in patriotism. When the United States entered the war on December 7, 1941, the fate of the entire planet was reversed. I am not claiming that America was responsible for the defeat of fascism; that would be far from the truth. However the allies were united and the axis of evil would be defeated. The world was focused on one man and his perverse ambitions. His goals were twofold: eliminate all Jews, and world domination. Born in 1946, an original baby boomer, I understood the necessity of fighting a war thousands of miles from our shores. In elementary school, I admit to shedding a few tears as we recited the Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of every school day. I attended a parochial school. Of course we were taught about Jesus Christ, and had enormous respect for the nuns who taught us and our priests. We were also taught about our nation’s ideals and principles, and why it was mandatory that fascism was defeated. Over my 78...

To understand our nation’s up and down economy, we must look at the fiscal policies of every president since 1981. It was 43 years ago when Ronald Reagan became our country’s 40 th president. He revealed his fiscal policy which he called “supply side economics.” This misleading term led to a more accurate description known as “trickle-down economics.” Reagan originated the Republican Party’s current policy of focusing on the success of the super-rich. He claimed that if their huge corporations were profitable, in turn they would create jobs and the foundation of a capitalistic society, consumerism, would grow exponentially. Of course his policy failed miserably. Billionaires care about no one and nothing else other than increasing their already ludicrous personal wealth. When Reagan left office in 1989, unemployment was at 10 percent and rising, and the national debt reached an unfathomable one-trillion dollars. His successor, Republican George H.W. Bush continued Reagan’s policy of g...

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart If any of the old adages are true, one stands above all others: “Money is the root of all evil.” Therefore, I make a logical allegation: the United States is an evil country. It has morphed from a capitalistic nation to a plutocracy. The super-rich can have any physical possession their desire. However, most are without morals, social responsibility, and principles. This is the only reason why most of our nation’s 801 billionaires support another disastrous Trump presidency. Trump has openly promised these greedy men and women additional tax breaks if the world crumbles and he wins the Electoral College next week. Two of the most egregious are Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. When Trump gave permanent tax breaks to major corporations in 2018, Amazon, one of the most profitable corporations in the world, paid zero dollars in taxes the following year. The owner? Jeff Bezos. The staffs at both the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times expressed their intent to endorse...

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart When Congress allowed big businesses to incorporate in 1906, they literally offered both tax dodges, and the right to conduct business with few restrictions. The 14 th Amendment, as interpreted by the Supreme Court, gave corporations “personhood,” with the same “rights” as regular citizens. One of those decisions involved “citizens united,” when the rules regarding campaign contributions by corporations changed, and the super-rich were allowed to “buy” elections. I have learned over my 78 years that all corporations are evil: all of their CEO’s etc., are greedy and make outrageous profits while causing great harm to consumers. “Greedflation” is the practice of unnecessarily raising the costs of commodities for the sole purpose of increasing profits. The corporations who provide our food continue to overprice every item at your grocery store, and the only reason is pure greed. THE WORST OF THE WORST It is true that all corporations are disrespected, and should b...

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart Let me take you back to how America’s economy functioned in the 20th century. When I was a young man in the late 1950’s and 1960’s I learned about capitalism and how our country flourished throughout the early 20 th century. If a corporation declared a profit of 30 percent or more, it was considered to be one of the top corporations in America. These profits were shared with their employees, and reinvested into their companies to ensure continued growth. Of course some of the profits were awarded to a successful management team in the form of shares in the corporation or bonuses. PROFITS ARE NOW OFF THE CHARTS, AND EMPLOYEES NO LONGER SHARE IN THEIR SUCCESS Today’s large corporations declare profits of 300, 400, 500 percent or more. We have no way of knowing the real number thanks to the tax code. The tax code contains 6,871 pages. Most of those pages are what we call “loopholes,” ways for the super-rich to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. They...

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   From the time I could afford to purchase my first automobile, I began to understand why everyone complained about gas prices.   Now, at the mature age of 77, I can tell you why they piss of f just about everyone .   The oil and gas industry began the practice of “Greedflation” about 50 years ago. Whenever they had ac cidents , spills or were forced to make expensive repairs to their aging equipment, they would arbitrarily raise prices at the pump. If you live near a resort area, like me, you notice that the prices are much higher in that area than where you live. I live near Lake Tahoe, and not only is this a fact, the se companies raise prices down here in Reno and up in Lake Tahoe prior to every holiday. Tahoe no longer has a commercial airport.   LAST WEEK TRUMP OFFERED 20 OIL EXECUTIVES A BRIBE   It was revealed that last week Trump met with 20 gas and oil executives at Mar-a-Lago. He told them that if they would donate one-b...

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart The United States of America has become a Plutocracy thanks to the anti-American efforts of those who call themselves “conservatives,” the TEA Party and the Freedom Caucus. Our country is no longer a Democratic Republic, as designed by our Founding Fathers. It is now under the control of 765 billionaires. If you are angry about the 40 percent increase in your grocery bill, I understand. If your utility bill has risen by 30-50 percent, I feel your  anger. If you live on a fixed income, and your overall cost of living has increased by 30-70 percent, you should hate corporations and your government which are complicit with the wealthy to make your lives more difficult. The average Social Security COLA is less than four percent. Both the 2010 and the 2020 Decennial Census’ revealed a disturbing fact. Adjusting for inflation, the average working family has not received an increase in their income for nearly 40 years, while the number of billionaires and millionai...