TheWiseOldFart

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   [Plutocrats: an elite or ruling class of people whose power derives from their wealth.] The entire right wing of our political spectrum is owned by billionaires. In 2017, a plan to move our capitalistic society into a plutocracy was completed by a wannabe billionaire who was pretending to be our president. The situation began in 1981 when another failed “Republican” was inaugurated. Ronald Reagan’s lies fooled many real Americans, including yours truly. I will tell you the truth no one else is willing to offer you. The TEA Party was created by the Koch brothers with the assistance of other billionaires. Its purpose remains gaining complete control or our nation’s government to secure their personal ambitions. This group of anti-Americans gave birth to an even more radical and destructive group calling themselves “the Freedom Caucus.” In 2016, billionaire Robert Mercer took control of Donald Trump’s campaign in August and the rest is part of America’s dark hist

  Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   [Plutocrats: an elite or ruling class of people whose power derives from their wealth.] The entire right wing of our political spectrum is owned by billionaires. In 2017, a plan to move our capitalistic society into a plutocracy was completed by a wannabe billionaire who was pretending to be our president. The situation began in 1981 when another failed “Republican” was inaugurated. Ronald Reagan’s lies fooled many real Americans, including yours truly. I will tell you the truth no one else is willing to offer you. The TEA Party was created by the Koch brothers with the assistance of other billionaires. Its purpose remains gaining complete control or our nation’s government. This group of anti-Americans gave birth to an even more radical and destructive group calling themselves “the Freedom Caucus.” In 2016, billionaire Robert Mercer took control of Donald Trump’s campaign in August and the rest is part of America’s dark history. Mercer is the fina

  Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   When I was much younger, I was an admirer of Edward R. Murrow, John Chancellor, Walter Cronkite, and other men who were respected and honest reporters. These men were legitimate journalists who offered the facts without inuendo, without personal opinion, or any intent related to financial gain. Today’s pretend journalists are paid millions of dollars and are required to report what television executives instruct them to tell their viewers. Like Fox News, all network broadcasts are more concerned about advertising revenue than the truth. I followed the 2016 campaign with a combination of fascination and fear. After the most disgusting and embarrassing primary season in history, our country was left with two options. Hillary Clinton was undeniably the most qualified presidential candidate in history. She remains a lifelong public servant who will be remembered by historians as a woman who worked to improve the lives of all Americans. Her opponent, Do

  Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   Fox began to back away from supporting Donald Trump after the January 6 insurrection and the indictments for his felonious actions. However, as ratings continue to drop, and fear and desperation replaced the fake news network’s arrogance, the right-wing propaganda machine is once again focusing their attention on the greatest traitor in American history. It is no secret that the extremists on the right side of the aisle seek repeal of the first amendment, unless it is beneficial for their obscene and anti-American agenda. Fox is claiming that Trump had a right to attempt the overthrow of our government, based on the first amendment in the Bill of Rights. Fox claims that Trump had a right to say “some bad things.” What the f**k is happening in this nation? We are devolving into the dark ages when a small group of very rich men controlled our government and the future of our country. If Franklin D. Roosevelt had not become our president, the end of the

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart     If you are like me and my wife, you are a member of one-half of our country’s population and fear many things which could place us heavily in debt and even homeless. At ages 77 and 73, we could face a medical emergency at any moment, not one of which we have sufficient income to pay for the exorbitant cost of caring for such a devastating situation .    Fact: medical care in the United States is the most costly and least effective in the free world. Only the wealthy can afford the best doctors and the best hospitals. The average cost of a single night’s stay in a hospital is ludicrous.   “ Recent statistics show the price of a one-night hospital stay is around: $13,600 with Medicare; $9,800 with Medicaid; $10,900 with private insurance; and $9,300 without insurance .”   Millions of Americans remain without any healthcare. My wife and I have Medicare part "A,” but are unable to afford Medicare part “B.” No other nation in the world forces their senio

  Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   In 1951 I was five years old. My family was living in Lewiston, Idaho, where I was born. My memories of family gatherings are clear. My mother’s family was large. My maternal grandparents had twelve children. The first two died when they were young, the other ten grew into adulthood. Attending these family gatherings were nine of the ten, my Uncle Leonard lost his life in WWII. Three of my uncles served and survived. I enjoyed listening to them. I’m sure my family was no different than any other, the conversation often turned to politics. Their opinions were seldom favorable. They believed that our government failed to do enough for our nation’s people. President Truman was about to enter his final year in office, and many of the men in both parties were scrambling for reelection. Move ahead to 1956. Former WWII General, Dwight D. Eisenhower had been elected as our President in 1952, one of last two legitimate Republican Presidents, and I decided t

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   Moscow Mitch McConnell is the Senate minority leader, serving his 7 th term. He is 81 years of age. Recently, he took a fall and later was led off a stage during a news conference as he was unable to speak. He is too old and unfit to serve the people of Kentucky or our nation. Fact: the average age of our nation’s people is 38.9 year of age. The average age of Congress is 64 years of age. 54 senators are over 65. In the House, there are 141 men and women who qualify for social security. The largest demographic belongs to millennials. Pure white Americans are declining to reproduce, while Black Americans and Hispanics continue to have children. Our nation is becoming younger, and the Senate, older. Our government does not represent our people. One other statistic which applies: women compose 51 percent of our population, but approximately 27 percent of our federal government is composed of women. Republicans have a total of 40, only 7.5 percent of the total. E

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   My wife and I did two things today. I purchased gas for our truck, and she went grocery shopping. We live in Northern Nevada, and we are both in our 70s. Gas is nearly four-and-one-half dollars a gallon, about 20 cents higher than the last time I went to the gas station. Our grocery bill was over 30 percent higher than last week. We noticed that several items, no luxuries, had risen by more than 50 cents each, To make it worse, many of the packaged goods were higher in price but the content was less. Last year our COLA increase for social security was 8.7 percent. However, the reality is that our personal cost of living has increased by 15-18 percent. I learned the increase for this year is expected to be about three percent. This is another form of “agism” by our uncaring government. What is continuing to happen is “Greedflation.” After we survived the Covid-19 pandemic, America’s corporations took advantage of the privilege given to them by those who were el

  Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart The first popular American Republican president since Dwight Eisenhower was elected in 1980. His name was Ronald Reagan. Those of us who voted for him were fooled by a movie star, not a great leader. He immediately began wars on the working class, minorities, women, and all other religions other than Christianity. His support for the wealthiest Americans soon became the policy of the entire Republican Party, and continues to this day. The truth is, that over the last 42 years, our nation is now controlled by plutocracy. The recent “Greedflation” was a clear example of this ongoing situation. There was no viable reason for corporations to raise prices on everything from gasoline to the price of eggs, but profits are the only concern of corporate America and the party who calls themselves “Republicans” today. Today, Walmart, Kroger, and other major stores have decided that billions of dollars in profit each year were not enough. Therefore, they decided to en