TheWiseOldFart

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 millionaires

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart The judicial system of the United States is the most corrupt in the entire world. Every decision made over the last couple of years has been in favor of fascist leader Donald John Trump. This is irrefutable proof that our nation is over. The dream is dead, and a rigged 2024 election will allow Trump a return to the White House. Kiss Your Ass Good-bye If you are wealthy or powerful, and charged with a crime, you have no worries. Your money will buy the best attorneys and judges, and you will never be forced to pay for your crimes. However, if you are poor, and more importantly Black, or Hispanic, you are going to prison for a very long time: no one can save you. The average income of the men and women incarcerated in our nation’s prisons, prior to conviction, is less than 20,000 dollars per year. Want Proof? On June 24, 2022, a corrupted Supreme Court, stacked in favor of Donald Trump and his puppet, Moscow Mitch McConnell,, overturned a 49-year-old decision by a

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart Appearing on CNBC, Donald Trump displayed his lack of political acumen. It is once again clear that he possesses a low level of intelligence. He announced his support for cuts in Social Security and Medicare. This would obviously affect millions of Americans who continue their struggle for survival in what politicians call “the richest country in the world.” If you are a working man or woman, this was your laugh for the day. I’m sure President Biden will send him a “thank you” note. In an election year, this was a huge mistake. TRUMP HATES THE WORKING CLASS Mar-a-Lago is a perfect example of the people Trump supports. He has no interest in all Americans. Although the orange buffoon prefers billionaires, he will accept millionaires whose income records eight digits. His rallies include a number of “average Americans.” However, he panders to them for a single reason: he is desperate for their votes. He showed us who he was between 2017 and 2021. His only accomplis

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   When I was 10-12 years old, my favorite candy bar was the Milky Way. I would often buy one as I walked home from school. It cost me five cents. The last time I shopped at a store, a smaller version of that same candy bar cost $1.18. I can no longer be on my feet long enough to shop. However, my wife was shopping today and sent me a text with a picture of candy bars on a shelf. The cost was about $3.59 each, and they looked even smaller. Can you say “Greedflation?” And people wonder why I hate corporations.   Millions of Americans choose to deny the truth. In our grocery stores, consumers pay the same or a greater price for every item they purchase , although the content is less than it was one year ago. For example, a package of bacon which sold for $3.99 a pound, 16 oz ., is now just 12 oz ., costing an average of $5.99. The same is true for a half-gallon of ice cream, at about the same rate.   These examples prove that there are numerous cases of fraud pe

  Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   Grocery prices, up more than 30 percent: Energy bills raised by more than 50 percent: Tickets for movies increased by 100 percent or more: Tickets for sporting events and concerts higher by as much as 1,000 percent: Amusement Parks have increased they prices to a level completely unaffordable to the average family: and Restaurant prices have become too expensive, preventing anyone from enjoying the experience more than once or twice a year. The Social Security increase for 2024 was a meager 3.2 percent. All these facts are the result of corporate greed and their arrogance which allows them to believe that their bloated profits will continue to increase. Capitalism and its extension, a plutocracy, cannot exist if the nation’s citizens lack an income which allows them to purchase goods and services. Both the 2010 and 2020 Decennial Census exposed one fact which could end corporate dominance in America. Accounting for inflation, the average American worke

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   The answer to the question posed by the title of this article is simple if you know anything about your country in the 21 st century. The answer is “follow the money.” America is all about money and nothing else is of equal importance. Elections are the most costly and worthless expense you might imagine. Campaigns for seats in the House and Senate cost millions of dollars although the job’s basic salary is $174,000 per year. Why would anyone spend such an exorbitant amount of money to seek a basic income that would barely pay for necessary expenses? You know the answer, through acts of corruption and the lack of term limits, most men and women in government are millionaires. Years with a general election are the biggest waste of money in America next to an escalating military budget, and billions of dollars in gifts to foreign nations. The money spent on presidential campaigns, which last between 12-18 months on average, could be used to purchase homes, pay

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   If you are a working class American, the great majority, you know that the greatest President in history was undoubtedly Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His policies were focused on improving the lives of all Americans for 12 years. No other president has always placed people first. Over the last 78 years our government’s priorities have become corporate profits, and special interests who pay for the elections of our executive and legislative branches. You may not be aware of this fact, but there are less than a handful of lobbyists working for you and me in Washington. In the 21 st century, the super-rich have abandoned capitalism and now have complete control over our government. America has become a plutocracy. The quality of life for most Americans has declined thanks to “Greedflation,” growing racism, mass bigotry, proven by the enormous increase in hate crimes, misogyny, and a failure to care for our senior citizens. Most Americans have inadequate healthcare

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   There are irrefutable facts that Trump’s illegitimate victory on November 8, 2016 was aided by Vladimir Putin, James Comey, and the mainstream media. However, recent investigations into the 2016 campaign and the ensuing election reveal a much deeper responsibility supported by our nation’s major print and internet news sources. They failed their most important responsibilities, and why they are protected by the First Amendment: to expose corruption in our government and report the truth to the American people. This is exceptionally important during the years when our nation’s leader is elected. We learned in 2017 that throughout the 2016 campaign season the mainstream media gave Trump five times more coverage than all other candidates combined. However, he was seldom criticized for his many, many lies or the fact that he and his camp rarely discussed the issues facing our nation. Nor did they stress the fact that he was clearly a white supremacist, a bigot, a

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   Trump’s disgusting and destructive four years attempting to destroy democracy resulted in a record and historical voter turnout in 2020. It is an irrefutable fact that voters were more concerned with removing Trump from the White House than supporting Joe Biden. However, I am as surprised as anyone that Mr. Biden has been a very good leader, the opposite of his predecessor. The next presidential election is just over 11 months away. If the nominees are Trump and Biden, I predict another historical election. 2024 will have the lowest voter turnout in modern history, and because the number of voters will minimal, Trump will become our nation's first fascist dictator. Nobody should be forced to chose between two men who are 78 and 81 years old when the average age of our nation is 38.2 years. I will be 78 next July, and if forced to make a choice between these two old men, I would vote for the octogenarian, although I would not be happy. Physically, and menta

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   When Bill Clinton left office in 2001, our nation no longer had a deficit. He eliminated the national debt and left his successor with a surplus for the first time in many years. However, George W. Bush placed our nation in two costly and unwinnable wars. His fiscal policy, originated by Ronald Reagan in 1981, known as “trickledown economics,” failed miserably. These factors led to the Great Recession and the destruction of the housing market. However, the super-rich continued to receive huge tax breaks. Their numbers grew under the failure of another right-wing president. Trump reduced taxes once again on corporations and the wealthy. When he failed to lead our nation in the fight against the Covid-19 coronavirus in 2020, another recession neared and our economy crashed once again. He left the economy in shambles for President Biden to repair. He, too, chose a policy of trickledown economics. The lesson I give you is simple and proven by historical fact. The

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   “The best the Republican Party has to offer America in 2024 are, in order of their polling, a life-long criminal, a fascist governor, and a woman who worshipped Trump, but is now attempting to distance herself from the worst man in the world.” I am aware that most Americans continue to ignore the fact that there is a movement very similar to the efforts in 1939 to establish a fascist government in the United States. One entire political party has moved so far to the right it has become the leader in white supremacy and the entire Neo-Nazi movement in our country. Names like Trump, DeSantis, Jordan, Taylor-Greene, Boebert, Gaetz, Scalise, Gosar, and many others sitting on the right side of the aisle are proponents of the establishment of a fascist regime and the shredding of our Constitution. If you are not aware of these facts, you are one of many millions of uninformed Americans. Stop and think about it. The leading right-wing candidate is a former illegitima

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   Politicians believe that reelection and spinning the facts are more important than the truth. Their personal goals and ambitions take precedence over everything else. However, the most powerful man in the world is showing his courage and “telling it like it is,” regardless of retaliation from Fox News and other right-wing extremist broadcasts and publications. Kudos to President Biden. Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy sold his soul and his power to the fascist Freedom Caucus to win his position as the Speaker. They are now calling for a government shutdown. "Let's be clear: if the government shuts down, that means members of the Congress — members of the U.S. military are going to have to continue to work and not get paid," Mr. Biden said at a dinner hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus, or CBC, in Washington Saturday night. "A government shutdown can affect everything from food safety to cancer research to Head Start for children.&q

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   It began with Ron DeSantis in Florida, and is quickly spreading throughout every red state. The men and women who call themselves Republicans in the 21 st century understand that the truth is the enemy of autocrats and their efforts to end democracy. The accurate term is censorship and is being conducted by traitors to our way of life. The past is of greater importance than immediate concerns about the future. If we fail to learn from our mistakes, we will make them again and again. Nothing proves this fact more accurately than the four years between 2017 and 2021. During those dark years, Donald Trump and his fake Republican Party attempted to move our nation backwards into its vile and racist past. Freedoms, guaranteed by the Constitution, were gradually removed. The second Civil War had begun. Advances in human rights over the previous 60-70 years were under attack and the future of America remains in the balance. The path to fascism begins with the remova