The Great Depression of 2006

401K Gold IRA Joke

noreply@blogger.com (Jim in San Marcos) — Sun, 24 Nov 2024 06:52:00 +0000

The newest investment strategy is the gold 401k rollovers. The first thing to remember about a 401k plan, is that the gold cannot be physically in your possession.

The first rule of buying gold, is that you take possession of it. If you can’t touch it, you do not own it. Gold is not a retirement plan; it is a hedge against a country ruining its currency.

If your currency is stable, you can buy gold with no problem. If it is unstable, gold will not be available for purchase at any reasonably price.

The big thing about retirement as you age, is that it creeps up on you slowly. Your concepts have to change as you age. Gold as a hedge against inflation at age 40 with a life expectancy of 80 is different than if you are 78 wondering if you’ll live to see 98.

If you are young, gold is probably a better investment than a 401k. The problem is, most people cannot save for retirement at a young age, they will spend it. The 401k keeps them from spending it; but that is what the government wants. They can borrow your hard dollars today for inflated dollars 40 years later. 50 years ago, cigarettes were 25 cents a pack, now they are $8.50. So, to save for retirement if you are young, with this systemic inflation, get ahead of the curve and buy gold.

I digress, a 401k gold IRA will have costs: the gold purchase commission, insurance and storage fees. On top of that, suppose you sell the gold at a higher price? Get ready, you have a 1099 for appreciation, coming your way at tax time.

Another thing not mentioned, is the integrity of the company offering the gold IRA. In Europe a while back the gold depository couldn’t pay the depositors in gold, they didn’t have it. They paid them in cash. Most of these investment firms can buy an amount of gold that covers withdrawals. The rest is invested for financial return.

The thing you need to realize about a 401k fund is that they don’t have to invest your funds as designate. They do have to pay on your investment as it would have performed. If you have one, how do they deliver the gold bullion to you? Think about that!

Figure that you have 400k in your 401k. In the last 5 years, its buying power has dropped to 200k. That is kind of upsetting. What I can buy cost twice as much and it is still locked into the 401K. Technically you still have 400k to retire on. If you had put it in gold 10 years ago, you’d still have the same amount of gold, but its price has doubled. You cannot walk out of a 401K you are stuck with it; you can’t sell it all at one time and get out of it, without horrendous tax consequences.

We are not talking about investment here; we are talking about government-initiated inflation. Inflation is a tax by government. The government cannot tax people who have no money, they can only tax people who have savings. They can directly tax your savings or indirectly print dollars that make your savings worth less. My 400K retirement now has the buying power of 200K today. Kind of sucks, doesn’t it?

To preserve your savings, you need to liquidate your 401k in reasonable increments, and buy gold or platinum.

Remember one thing when the government runs out of money, they have only one place to go to, the people that have saved money. If you have no money, the government doesn’t give a damn about you.

Gold, Silver and Platinum maintain value. Right now, everyone is interested in a gold IRA. Figure this though, an investment in platinum is just as good as gold and it is half its price, and four times rarer. Hmmm ---of course the obvious escapes most of us, go figure!

Supreme Court Trump Dilemma

noreply@blogger.com (Jim in San Marcos) — Thu, 13 Jun 2024 03:54:00 +0000

The Supreme Court is discussing the legal parameters of whether Trump has immunity from prosecution for acts in office. I think that the court has to also consider another issue.

Can a federal office holder be arraigned in a state court for violations of state law? From my point of view, it would appear that all state violations would have to be presented in Federal Court. This relieves the plaintiff from defending themselves in 50 individual state courts.

What we are discussing is not the fact of innocence, but rather the fact of the ability to finance a defense.

We need a supreme court ruling that allows for the defense on a federal level of all federally elected employees. The states would have no jurisdiction.

This somewhat prevents the states from ruining people with frivolous lawsuits. Just maybe there is someone listening. I hope so.

Why the Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intensions

noreply@blogger.com (Jim in San Marcos) — Sat, 04 May 2024 05:21:00 +0000

Recently we saw a four dollar rise in the minimum wage in California. The consensus among the legislators was that no one could live on $16 dollars and hour. The people in labor force rallied around that suggestion. The trouble is, the logic failed after it became law. The real assertion should have been, you need a roommate or two to live on $16 per hour. Thousands were laid off. The door, for the people just looking for that first job, to get into the labor market has slammed shut.

[The next paragraph is from my memory; the dollar amounts may be wrong]

A while back, maybe 15 years ago the California legislators realized that the utility companies were buying natural gas at about $3 a therm on a 5-year contract. They noticed at the same time that the spot price for Natural gas was about $1 per therm. The legislators decided to let the contracts expire and not to renew them. They were going to buy natural gas on the spot market at the lower price. Since there was no contract for the Utilities anymore, spot prices for natural gas shot up to $20 per therm. Heating bills went through the roof. I don’t think that this summary of the events has ever seen print, rather, the gas companies were accused of gouging the consumer. Another case of pure stupidity on the part of legislators.

Here in San Diego in 2018, we were requested to use less water and we did. Since we did such a great job, they had to raise our rates. The problem, the amount paid no longer covered the fixed rates of operating the utility. This is now happening all over again as I speak.

During the Great Depression of the 1930’s, many municipalities raised their property taxes because of the loss of income from foreclosures. They needed more money to fund their budgets. The net effect was less revenue generated and an increase in foreclosures. People barley holding on, threw in the towel and picked up and left. We are beginning to realize (for the first time- since everyone is dead that remembers the mistakes from before) that the legislatures’ have no concept of economics. Common sense suggests that if you double taxes you double revenue. What you really get, are unintended consequences.

Right now, the national debt is over 31 trillion dollars. I calculated it out a few years back, and if the interest rate hits 8 ½% we as a country cannot pay the interest on the national debt. The taxes collected will not cover the interest on the national debt. Congress (collectively) has no idea how previous spending is related to the money already borrowed. The mentality is, it has worked for the last 60 years, it can last forever.

You have to ask one question; was it obvious to the citizens in previous Banana Republics (Germany, Zimbabwe and Venezuela, that inflation would make the currency worthless? It happened very gradually. Many lost their life savings. Scrounging through a garbage can for food was not what they envisioned for retirement.

We need to look at gold as a store of value and as an instrument that the government cannot monitor or manipulate the price of. Our congressmen are not going to willingly ruin our savings, their utter collective group ineptness will doom us to financial ruin. Remember one thing about gold, if you cannot hold your gold, in your own hand, you don’t own it!

An interesting Solution

noreply@blogger.com (Jim in San Marcos) — Sat, 23 Dec 2023 04:30:00 +0000

Judges at various levels in the United States are making political rulings that show no show no bearing to the laws of the land. These judges can keep on making rulings and causing a lot of grief. Not everyone in court can afford to contest these judge’s ruling.

What would happen if a higher court or the Supreme Court ruled against a judge and stated that any other rulings by this judge in the future, would have no merit or judicial enforcement in the court system. This would be a way for the courts to clean their own house. The judge would be out of a job.

It's an interesting solution, could it work?

The Interest Rate Conundrum

noreply@blogger.com (Jim in San Marcos) — Thu, 02 Nov 2023 03:34:00 +0000

Everyone in the United States (I exaggerate) refinance their homes when interest rates hit 2.25% and of course, this was a new 30-year loan that made payments lower, but longer. And they probably refi-ed so they could take more money out and enjoy life. Now interest rates have jumped to 6 %---and for some, up to 8%. Many people now find it hard to afford a home.

The banks loaned money at 2.25% long term to homeowners for 30 years. Now, the banks’ depositors want higher interest rates. Depositors can withdraw their short-term savings and deposit them elsewhere at a higher rate. The problem is the banks cannot cover the spread. Essentially, they are bankrupt. They loaned hard money at 2.25% long term, for 30 years, and cannot afford to pay the depositors current rates. You cannot make a promise long term if the short term makes it impossible.

The government lowered the interest rates artificially to lower the payments on the national debt. This robbed retired savers of their retirement interest income. Everyone refinanced, and the new problem, inflation crept in. Raising interest rates only makes it worse. And that is where we are at.

This happened once before with the Savings and Loan collapse of the 1990’s. Of course, no one remembers back that far. Do they? That problem was a minnow, this one is a whale.

The New Bill of Rights for the US of A

noreply@blogger.com (Jim in San Marcos) — Sat, 07 Oct 2023 02:56:00 +0000

If you are broke and own nothing, you can do whatever you want within reason. You can shoplift up to $999 per day, every day. Use the streets as a public toilet. Camp wherever you want. And beat up and threaten any one of your choosing. And if you are an illegal alien, you can drive drunk or beat your wife with a coat hanger and get no jail time. To add injury to insult, since there is no bail, the perpetrator can return, to beat the crap out of the person who turned him/her in to the police. And if you are a witness, you get a free swimming lesson in the bathtub or some hot lead air ventilation.

But if you have a job and pay your taxes, God help you, if you don’t pay that your speeding ticket. Own a home, you are a sitting duck, the government can tax you to death. If you have some money, you can be sued for frivolous offenses. The police will not waste their time arresting a deadbeat or a drug addict. The offender gets released back on the street. But look like a regular citizen, they can milk you for any offense of the law.

These new ideas of bail reform (no bail) are destroying our system of law and order. If I can plunder $900 dollars a day and not go to jail, what is that in real wages? That is $328,500 a year. I could bore you with what it costs for a working stiff, paying taxes, to afford cocaine, but the point is, he doesn’t have the time to really get involved in drugs like a homeless person can.

So, remember, as a tax paying citizen, you have rights: the right to pay taxes and the right to obey the laws or be fined by the courts. Be silent and make no waves.

If you are a dead beat, the laws don’t apply to you. Do what you want. You have no money and are therefore of no interest to the government. A sad perspective on life, isn’t it?

Can we spend beyond our means forever?

noreply@blogger.com (Jim in San Marcos) — Sat, 24 Jun 2023 05:02:00 +0000

Can we spend beyond our means forever? Let's see, 31 trillion dollars times six percent is 1.86 trillion. That’s the interest on the nation debt. Add 5 trillion. Recalculate, now we are at 2.1 trillion in interest on the debt.

The real problem, taxes are not really covering what we are spending. The National debt is funded by banks that have money deposited in them. This money is from retirement funds.

You have to admit that retirees have saved for retirement for a lifetime and the money is there, they saved it. One problem, the banks have loaned the money to the Treasury. I’m not sure of the amount, but it must be between 31 trillion and 52 trillion.

It’s like Social Security, the money was collected and borrowed from the fund to finance the debts of the federal government. There is an IOU that’s declares, the money has been deposited to the SS fund. The trouble is, it has been borrowed by Congress and has been spent.

Basically, we have to ask one question, “How can our retirement and savings be there if it has already been spent?”

Technically it is there, because people only draw out small amounts and the government can cover the withdrawals. The Ponzi scheme is getting some sunlight. At what point does the house of cards collapse?

The retiree is not going to draw out their whole retirement amount, the tax rates would forbid it. But what if I told you, the money wasn’t there for everyone, It has been spent and you will not be able to recover it.

The Weimar Republic in 1923 ruined the monetary system of the German Republic. People’s savings were destroyed. History doesn’t remember much, but people well off, were left with nothing, their savings were gone.

Old people were reduced to scrounging trash cans for something to eat.

This could happen again only this time it will be in the USA. It kind of sucks, doesn’t it?

The Unseen Catastrophe

noreply@blogger.com (Jim in San Marcos) — Fri, 03 Feb 2023 04:17:00 +0000

Congress has been printing money at a spendthrift rate. Interest rates were low, and now they are rising.

The national debt is at 31 trillion. The big thing for Congress is, what is the interest payment for the next fiscal year? What are the implications.

As the interest rates rise, so does the interest on the national debt. The thing to remember is, most people in Congress have not had any education relating to economics. The other thing to remember is that most voters have no idea of what economics is all about. We have a lot of people that think everything is normal and today will be like yesterday. So, what this boils down to is the fact that we could have a meltdown.

It is kind of like Southwest Airlines. Everything worked until it didn't.

If /When the interest rates hit 8% the government cannot pay the interest. What happens at that point? Your 401K is dust. They have borrowed everything you have saved and spent it.

Can you spell Zimbabwe?

Remember eggs don't cost more, your currency buys less.

The idea that costs are rising is absurd. It just takes more dollars for the purchase. The government has pissed in the whisky. They have printed what they could not tax out of us.

At some point, when they can't pay the interest on the national debt, the real problem begins. Insolvency.

Precious metals could save your retirement.

I've seen cigarettes go from 25 cents a pack to $10--tell me I am wrong.

The claim "Democrats vote early"

noreply@blogger.com (Jim in San Marcos) — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 03:03:00 +0000

Every wonder why when it comes election time, you hear the phrase “Democrats vote early?” It’s treated as a known fact. There is no way statistically, that that statement can be substantiated. Most would agree that it would probably be about a 50-50 split.

Let’s look at the term “early voting.” This has to involve a paper absentee ballot. Early votes are those cast before election day. The regular votes are tallied and then the paper ballots are counted.

If one accepts the premise that Democrats vote early, it is no surprise to see Democrats rise past their Republican counterparts when the absentee ballots are counted. The conclusion “Democrats vote early” is valid.

What you could be looking at is election fraud. Why would more people vote Democrat than Republican in just the absentee ballots? Nobody raises that question, after all everyone knows Democrats vote early.

Any good statistician could, after looking at the polling numbers of the live voters, could project out the totals for the mail in ballots. From there, the election commission or whatever it is called can create the necessary winning ballots. Many ballots mailed out, are not returned and some of the voters are dead or moved. So, in an election where say there is about one million voters, there is about 5% to 20% not returned. Skimming one or two percent of the vote, could determine the winner. No one will know. Democrats always vote early.

Also with absentee ballots, you can sell your vote for cash. $200 dollars for groceries for your kid or vote, make the decision. Millions of dollars are spent on these elections, and it is not all going to advertising. $200 a vote buys 5,000 votes with just one million.

We need to get rid the idea that “Democrats vote early” and end absentee ballots.

Do things really cost more?

noreply@blogger.com (Jim in San Marcos) — Mon, 10 Oct 2022 04:45:00 +0000

The mentality of the population in the USA thinks that prices are rising. Things cost more. It is kind of laughable. The actual fact is, the dollar is worth less than it was yesterday.

Things are not more expensive; the dollar has lost value. $20 used to fill a gas tank in the 1960’s. Now in 2022 20 gallons of gas costs $120.

The fact to realize, is that things don’t cost more, your dollar buys less. Politicians’ blame this price rise on the gas refiners and the stores. How dare you gouge the consumer!

What we are really looking at is an erosion of value of the dollar---it doesn’t buy as much as it used to.

The concept to look at is: a rise in prices doesn’t mean the item is more expensive. The dollar doesn’t have the purchasing power it once had.

The Hidden Truth of the 2020 US Election.

noreply@blogger.com (Jim in San Marcos) — Sat, 09 Apr 2022 03:03:00 +0000

The US is splitting apart. On one side we have the Republicans, and on the other side we have the Democrats, News Media and Internet. Normally the Republicans and Democrats balance each other out and the independents decide the elections. Now we have CNN, MSN, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Facebook and Twitter solidly on the side of Democrats. These internet conglomerates censor the news by blocking users from distributing content that they deem misinformation or by omission, failing to report the news. Basically, this is censorship. The news medias, through their biases, are influencing the thoughts of the country. The funny thing is, these people probably only represent about 5 percent of the population.

Most voters begin to think about elections a week before the event. A majority of American voters don't follow politics, have no memory of the performance of their candidate over the last 4 years. The news media and social media will guide them in choosing a candidate.

Our last election had flagrant voter and media fraud. The Democrats, the news media and the internet giants like Facebook and Twitter censored all of it. They were against Trump. They censored the Biden laptop that exposed the corruption and graft in the Biden family before the election. It is now slowly coming to light. People don’t fully appreciate how powerful censorship by omission is. This helped swing the election to Biden. You can see the newspaper bias when you read “Trump falsely claims that he won the election.” The word “falsely” doesn’t belong in the sentence. That is for the reader to decide. Including the word, makes the sentence an opinion.

A lot has been discussed about the convenience of mail in voting. If you lived in a country like China or Russia, would you want mail in voting? Fill the ballot out wrong and you might end up in a gulag rehab camp.

Democrats and Republicans vote the party line most of the time. With mail in votes, you also have included people who would not make an effort to vote in person. These are the votes to focus on. 10 million dollars will buy a lot of advertising and it is always questionable how effective it is. Take the same 10 million and send out couriers to purchase those blank ballots. Figure they would pay up to $200 per ballot. Imagine a courier is given 2,000 dollars and told to show up with 10 ballots filled out with their parties’ candidates selected, that’s not hard to do. You knock on the voter’s door and offer to help them fill out the ballot, give the voter $100 and drop it off for free. Such a deal. If you are poor, $100 is something tangible that can be spent. It is only one vote, no big deal, take the money. If you are the courier, any part of the $200 not given to the voter for their ballot, is the couriers, free and clear. 10 million dollars could buy 50,000 votes. Zuckerberg spent 420 million on the 2020 election.

The Democrats want voters to be able to vote without having a voter ID. They also want them to vote absentee without any identification. In California, if you get mailed a ballot, you can vote. That mail in ballot is worth money, you can sell it. By forcing the voter to vote in person, the ability to buy votes disappears. If you have a city of 100,000 voters, figure 60 percent will vote. With mail in voting, many of the ballots of people who have moved or have died get returned to the election board. Those returned absentee ballots are blank checks. Who’s to say how many were returned to the election board? No one will know if those “votes” somehow get submitted and counted, especially if there is no voter id or signature required. This is what the Democrats want to do in every state, unrestricted no ID voting.

The Democrats in the past have been the party of repression. After the civil war, The Democrats took over the south. They passed laws to keep blacks from voting, referred to as “Jim Crow" laws. They also formed the Klu Klux Klan that went around terrorizing and killing blacks. They were for segregation in schools. Times have changed, the Democrats used to represent the working man, now they represent big money and labor unions.

The thing not fully comprehended by outsiders, is the fact that many election districts have ways of keeping the local people in power. A city that is run by Democrats for 50 years is kind of an indication that something is not right. It doesn’t matter how you vote; the same party gets reelected. In that case, people stop voting, they consider it a waste of time. Think about it, if a city doesn't update the voter rolls, a lot of ballots get returned by the Post Office. Who is to say that post office returned 100 or 10,000 ballots? Wink Wink, most voter fraud is at local levels.

The super-rich people in this country are now aligning with the Democratic party. They are trying to fragment the rest of the population, by tearing down our historical statues and rewrite our history with critical race theory. I don’t think we are ready for this. This isn’t what Democracy is all about. Live and be free, not live and fear the "woke" people.

Something is not right. And the further we go in time; more things seem to be falling apart. Biden is destroying the fabric of our democracy and everything else to boot. Obama’s quote about Joe Biden, “Don’t underestimate Joe's ability to F things up,” rings true.

To be continued

The Ukrainian Dilemma

noreply@blogger.com (Jim in San Marcos) — Thu, 10 Mar 2022 04:27:00 +0000

The Ukraine is a peaceful country and yet it has been attacked by Russia that has nuclear weapons.

It's definitely not a defensive move by Russia. If the world lets this go without stopping this horrible rape of an innocent country, the other adjacent countries are next. It has nothing to do with Nato. It has to do with human decency. We must stand up to atrocities not turn a blind eye to them.

Let's take a stand, support the Ukraine and strike anyone who wishes them harm. How can Russia say we risk world war? Putin is the one risking world war. He is threatening that because he is vulnerable. We can attack his forces in Ukraine with impunity; they shouldn't be there.

Poland, give them the planes now, the USA has no balls under Biden. Europe is next, if Putin is successful. Putin needs to be stopped in the Ukraine. A country will only go nuclear when the homeland is threatened. Putin is bluffing with a bad poker hand.

The Money In the Bank

noreply@blogger.com (Jim in San Marcos) — Wed, 22 Dec 2021 07:30:00 +0000

When one thinks of all of the money in banks all over the world, it has to be the savings of individuals. A lot of it is retirement savings. There are a lot of people borrowing these dollars, governments, investors, stockbrokers, etc. Banks, brokerages and investment firms are the conduit for these transactions. The whole thing almost collapsed in 2008. Congress came to the rescue and saved the banks. Ever wonder why? The United States government is the biggest borrower from the banks. If they go under, the whole system collapses. The government would be insolvent.

Back in the 1960’s, Congress was spending so much that the Social Security Trust Fund wasn’t generating enough cash for them to borrow from. Well, they figured a way to get access to more money by passing the IRA and 401k plan. It sounded like a retirement savings plan. It kind of was. The neat thing about it is that you could not withdraw the funds until you were 65 and then you paid taxes on it. So, if something went seriously wrong, the saver could not cash out without a severe tax penalty. This meant that there would be no panic selling on Wall Street. This restriction allowed the government to borrow hard dollars earned today and give back inflated dollars when people retired. This was a lag time of about 40 years.

The thing I look back to in history is the Weimar Republic of Germany in the 1920’s. People saved for retirement and then their monetary system collapsed. The old were hit the hardest. These were the people with savings in the bank. These were the people who were trashed. They lost everything. The real thing not realized is that when you get old, you become invisible. Governments know that old people are expendable when it comes to their savings, in 10 years, they are dead and soon forgotten. These people saved and played by the rules and then in retirement, they get shafted. No one will get voted out of office or go to jail for this crime. Nobody right now, comprehends how bad Congress has screwed up government financing. It has been going on for years. We are talking at least 60 years. This isn’t a Democrat or Republican thing; it involves all of Congress.

What you have to look at is this. All of your savings could end up as a big zero. Just like Zimbabwe, 4 billion dollars for a cup of coffee. The 401K has no investment advantage in today’s world. It offers a negative return on investment over a span of 40 years.

Precious metals on the other hand, were not that great when interest rates were high. Why buy metals when you other investment could return 10-20% interest? Parking savings into precious metals has no downside at this time. There is no interest lost from taking possession of precious metals, in today’s world. Inflation over time, is very cruel to people saving for retirement. Bear in mind that a person’s age defines their present perception of inflation. To a person entering retirement, inflation has stolen their savings. When they started saving, 50 years ago, interest rates were around 5 to 9%. A million-dollar nest egg would have provided $50,000 to $90,000 in interest every year. Not in today’s world, the interest is about $10,000 per year. This is not what was envisioned when they started their IRA. If you’re 25 years old, an IRA appears to be a fool’s dream. There is no reward for saving money, compound interest is no longer the “8^th Wonder of the World.”

Monetary survival of your assets is your goal. With interest rates so low, precious metals have command of the playing field. Governments over time cannot control the value of their currency. Real estate is often used as a good store of value that survive the curse of inflation. The trouble is, their high visibility to be taxed, not to mention rent control. It still has had a very good return over a timeline of 20 years. Gold, silver and platinum are my favorites. If you hold all three, you can play the metals market. You can trade from one market to the other. The nice thing about precious metals is that they are not visible to the banks or to government. That can be to your benefit if you end up in a rest home. I have my son and wife on our bank safety deposit boxes, only two keys. So, there is no probate problem in this case.

The reality of what we are looking at in the current financial markets is rather unusual. Probably the right word would be absurd. No one is going to save money in a bank paying 0.05 % interest. Are investors accepting a contradiction of economic principles? I think not. But the problem is this, the investor doesn’t know what to expect from this sort of convoluted banking, involving our government debt. This hot mess cannot be financed by zero interest rates without savings coming from somewhere. We could be facing the biggest banking collapse in history.

The only plausible source of funds that I can come up with is the 401K retirement plans along with other pension plans. The real question to ask, is who is holding on to all of these real estate loans at 2% when the interest rate jumps to say 4%? The rule of 72 states, divide the interest rate into 72 to get the time it takes to double your money. 72 divided by 2% interest, is 36 years. That’s a few years short of retirement. 72 divided by 4% interest, is 18 years, means your savings could quadruple by the time you hit retirement age. What is not sold to anyone at the present time is that at 1% interest, you wait 72 years for your funds to double. Nobody will accept those terms if it is pointed out to them. If everyone was to spend their paycheck now for immediate gratification; the banking system goes poof.

The economic rules are in place, and the system violates every one of them. I'm debating now, do I buy gold or platinum? I'm not trying to make money; I am trying to keep what I have already earned.

Merry Christmas everyone and have a Happy New Year

Jim in San Marcos

The New Green Idiocy

noreply@blogger.com (Jim in San Marcos) — Mon, 13 Dec 2021 05:00:00 +0000

The politicians in power want to get rid of gas burning cars and replace them with electric cars. Less emissions and they tout less of a carbon footprint. This doesn’t really ring true. We have about 287 million vehicles on the road. What happens when we go electric? The power plants will need to triple electricity production (this is a guess on my part). Presently we have about 540,00 electric cars on the road.

The biggest sales incentive for electric cars, is that they are environment friendly. They claim that you can charge a vehicle for about $13 dollars for a fill up and at a cost of 4 cents a mile. If the US went to electric cars, imagine the tax loss to the government on gasoline; 18 cents per gallon federal excise tax, 67 cents California tax, and 9% sales tax on the price, comes out to about $1.20 a gallon.

The environmentalists talk about green earth and they miss the point. The amount of electricity needed to supply trucks to transport goods for delivery is not even feasible using present power plant output. The funny thing is that it involves burning more coal and natural gas to produce the power needed.

If you look at the diagram below, coal and natural gas are 2/3's of our energy production. The people in charge want to go to wind and solar as a transition to a green earth plan. It is a little too far-fetched to believe. The current government wind energy program allows doctors or other high earners to get a half million-dollar tax credit for investing in a wind turbine.

Diagram courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Right now, if the Chinese wanted to attack us, they could shut down our entire communications network with one Electromagnetic Pulse Bomb. It would fry cell phones and destroy the electrical grid. A solar flare could do the same. Imagine the extra kick that would have, if all of our cars were electric. It reminds me of Texas, last winter, with all of the wind turbines shutting down from the snow and ice.

The car industry as a whole, cannot produce an electric car that is profitable. Elon Musk is not making millions on producing electric cars, but making millions on selling the government tax credits to other car companies.

Quoting Adam Schrader for the Dailymail.com Jan 31, 2021

The electric car maker recorded a net income of $721million in 2020, from a gross profit of $5.4billion.

But the company's revenues show Tesla would have noted a net loss for 2020 if it had not relied on its lucrative $1.6billion in sales of regulatory zero emission credits to other carmakers.

Regulatory credits are given by the state and federal government for contributing zero pollution to the environment. Carmakers must hold a certain number of credits or face hefty fines or have their business licenses revoked.

Tesla can bank and sell to other carmakers that need help complying with emissions regulations to avoid the heavy fines.

Tesla is selling for over $1,000 a share. Kind of reminds me of the South Sea bubble.

Energy independence makes gasoline and diesel vehicles a fail-safe form of reliable transportation in times of instability. Just waiting in line at Costco to get gas, makes you marvel at hundreds of cars filling up each hour. Imagine waiting 3 hours to charge your car at home (no line). Imagine what you could be charged at a charging station for electricity. Sixty dollars an hour might be a reasonable price; waiting in line wouldn’t be a viable option.

The real concept that needs to be advanced, is using hydrogen to power our vehicles. The trouble is, there is no cash incentive to bring it to fruition. There are billions at stake building electric cars that are unprofitable to produce and at the same time very limited in their range of travel. There is a gold rush among car producers right now, for electric car emission credits from the federal government.

Running out of electricity is not like running out of gas, but you do have to wonder why electric cars are considered better by the government. I've always said that whatever the government wants you to do, be against it; they don't have your best interest at heart. What do I know?

California Living The Good Life

noreply@blogger.com (Jim in San Marcos) — Mon, 29 Nov 2021 05:39:00 +0000

All of our interaction with the government seems very normal. A bill for property taxes, a bill for car registration, car insurance, and other items are all the norm. If you own a car, and want to keep it legal, you need to pay for plates and insurance. Go to a store and pay for your merchandise and walk out.

In California it is different. If you are homeless, there are no property taxes (kind of obvious). No license, no car insurance, no big deal; you won’t go to jail. When you get a ticket, forget about it. Steal under 900 dollars and you will not go to jail. If you shoot someone and there is a witness, they will release you until the trial. It’s not rocket science; if the witness can’t testify, you don’t go to prison.

What is different for responsible working people? If you have a job, a family and a home, you cannot behave like that; the government can screw you over. They can foreclose on you house for nonpayment of taxes. If you don’t pay your traffic ticket, the government will go after you. They know you have money. The threat of jail could mean you lose your job. From there, you can join the homeless.

Notice, the only ones that have to comply to the laws, are people with money, homes, a family, cars, and a job. If you are homeless and, on the streets, government doesn’t give a damn about you. You pay no taxes and if they have to lock you up, it costs the city real money. Jail is a service that returns no money back to the government. It is an expense.

So, what does it all mean? If you are here illegally, you get out of jail free. If you are broke, you don’t have to pay things like fines or report to court for physical offences. But God help you if you are a bonified taxpayer who has money and is a scofflaw. You will pay, because government can ruin your life; they know you have money and they can mess with you.

The bureaucracy is not stupid, the state government assumes the taxpayers are extremely stupid. And they are right. They legalized crime, so don’t act surprised by the results.

How do you fix this? The poor can live and exist outside of the rules for the middle class without punishment. The poor can ignore the system and there is no repercussion for doing so. There is no feedback from the state government stating that the deadbeats are not paying their assessed charges. Taxes go up and people move out. Is that the solution to the problem? The answer, sadly is yes. Most problems solve themselves. The California State government is broken and cannot be fixed. Don't tell them, there is nothing worse than political indignation. I might not get my 20 ballots for president in the next election.

Tax the Rich

noreply@blogger.com (Jim in San Marcos) — Fri, 12 Nov 2021 05:36:00 +0000

When it comes down to taxing the rich, you have to ask yourself one question, who are the rich? There are the lottery winners, or those whose fortunes come from novel ideas. The great majority of rich people overlooked, are those that saved $100 dollars a week for a lifetime. Its not uncommon for a married couple to amass a fortune of a million dollars. If the intertest rate was 8% these retirees would be getting $80, 000 a year in interest—not a bad retirement income. We know that is not the case, it is more like 0.5% interest and that is about $5,000 a year.

Here is where it gets interesting. Most of these funds are in IRA’s. It’s a taxable event if you want to take your money out of it and run. That is what has created stability in the financial markets. The average retiree will withdraw funds in a manner that minimizes their taxes each year.

Let’s take a retired couple with one million in a retirement fund. Assume 6% inflation. They will lose $60,000 to inflation the first year. And since they still have the million, they will lose the same 60K the next year if inflation is still at 6%. So over 10 years, they would lose $600,000 to inflation. I am assuming that they didn’t dip into the fund for the 10 years to simplify the math. $1,000,000 minus $600,000 equals $400,000. That is the buying power of the million-dollar portfolio over 10 years. Their savings have lost 60% of their buying power. So, if you retire at age 70, you will survive the next 10 years okay. Over the following 10 years, your million will turn into $100,000 in actual buying power. Drop a zero off of your wealth every 20 years to determine the forward buying power.

In the above example it is assumed that you don’t need to withdraw funds from the retirement fund. Life doesn’t quite work that way. With inflation, your funds will probably last 15 years or less. The US government is not going to raise the interest rate on Treasury’s to 8%, the interest on the national debt would bankrupt the country. Interest on 30 trillion at 8% is 2.4 trillion. That’s more than the government collects in taxes.

The neat thing about taxing the rich, or should I say elderly retired, is that no one is listening to them. Grandpa and Grandma just didn’t save enough for retirement. The kids today at age 20 have always paid $7.00 for cigarettes—they were 25¢ when I was 20. When I was young, I could never understand how my grandfather (who lived to be 98) got so angry over paying 35¢ for a loaf of bread, he would say it was only a nickel when he was a kid. He saw the theft by government and was frustrated because he could do nothing about it.

Precious metals appear to be the only lifeline for retirees. A lot of the trading on the precious metals market, is done on paper and there are no demands for delivery. The real market, is the precious metals shop down the street, take physical possession. Buy gold, silver and platinum for the second 10 years of your retirement. From my anecdotal sources, no one at the current time is selling metals, everyone is buying. The weird thing is that a zero will drop off of your total saving in 20 years (buying power), but a zero will be added to the precious metals value.

Old Age Tips

noreply@blogger.com (Jim in San Marcos) — Mon, 08 Nov 2021 05:30:00 +0000

I’m getting old and have learned a few things I would like to pass on to others my age. It doesn’t really pertain to the blog, but what the heck.

The skin on my legs and feet started itching at times and it's really bothersome. I used to use a prescription ointment to fix it, and it worked well. I found a better solution. Rub a teaspoon of water over the leg, getting it wet and rub the skin in a constant motion. You might have to add another one or two teaspoons of water. After about 30 seconds, you will notice that dead skin is rubbing off. You’ll find that the itching stops and you don’t need the expensive creams.

Taking a shower washing your hair (if you have any)

I take a shower every day and if you have ever closed your eyes you tend to lose orientation and get dizzy. In the shower, leave your eyes open and keep your face dry. Water will roll off of your eyelids if you keep them open. To wash your hair, wet the back half of your head and apply shampoo and pull the shampoo forward to the rest of your hair. If you do it right, you don’t have to close your eyes. When you rinse your head, use your hands to shield your eyes from the soap rinse. You can keep your eyes open.

The American Voter, a Real Disappointment

noreply@blogger.com (Jim in San Marcos) — Fri, 06 Aug 2021 05:51:00 +0000

The Republican party is looking towards the next election. Do you think that the voter is smart enough to understand all of the political rhetoric and vote responsibly in the next election? I Contend that the American voter is too stupid and the Democrats know it. Most people don’t even pay any attention to the elections until it is time to vote. Basically, the population will vote the same way they did 4 years ago. You have the 40 -40 split of the Democrats and Republicans. Then there is the 20 percent left over, that are the lunatic fringe voters, that will determine who gets elected. Save a tree, pro-abortion, green earth and ad infinitum.

Now you see why political endorsements by movie stars are so important. The Democrats have gotten into sports and movies. People in these fields influence young voters, that is all they watch. Youth tries to emulate their heroes and be just like them. What these movie stars or athletes say, has political impact.

Although not many people still subscribe to the newspapers, they are pretty much in the Democrat’s control. Instead of reporting “Trump believes the election was stolen.” The copy reads “Trump falsely believes the election was stolen.” The reader is not given the option to form an opinion, rather it is hard wired into the article.

If we look at the internet, everything is hidden from the unbiased voter. Material is censored from the internet. Views on the Corona virus, that do not spout the political correctness of the Democrat party, never make it to the internet. They are censored as “mis-information.” Many very prominent doctors have released papers on their successful treatment of the Corona virus only to be labeled “Mis-information.” Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine are not even mentioned as a prophylactic or as an initial treatment for symptoms. Your doctor cannot prescribe these medicines, they are on a list of “do not prescribe medications if you want to keep your license.” Good luck on trying to get a prescription. My two doctors refused to write a prescription for either drug.

The socialists have gotten into our education system and colored the thinking of our youth. The demand to destroy our rich historical heritage is not what we need to have. The Confederates lost the civil war, but the memory of that war is a testament to our heritage and a tribute to those who died in the fight. Tearing down monuments does not change history. It was a war of great sacrifice and many lives were lost on both sides. Remembering them all, is what counts.

The next election should be an overwhelming Republican victory, but maybe it won’t. Democracies don’t last long, probably because the voters love all of the free stuff promised by the politicians.

As a side note, one million illegal immigrants have been let into the country. Corona virus is running rampant with these people and no one appears to be dying from it; It kind of makes you wonder about how lethal the virus is. Just maybe we are being gaslighted by the Democrats in power and by the press.

The New State Voter Laws

noreply@blogger.com (Jim in San Marcos) — Mon, 19 Jul 2021 05:29:00 +0000

The Democrats are claiming the new voter laws restrict voting, and it is really hard to figure. It is almost as if they can look at a person and determine how they will vote. Peculiarly it seems to be the black voter they are most interested in protecting. If there is one vote to each franchised voter and it was done in person, the election would be determined by the vote. Common sense would suggest that if voter fraud was suspected, both Republicans and Democrats would be equally concerned, and that is just not the case.

The Democrats claim the need for mail in voting without identification, is rather absurd. Only 60 percent of the population votes in an election. So, if everyone eligible to vote is sent a ballot, 40 percent do not care who wins and probably won’t return their ballot. At this point the blank ballots could be sold for cash. Notice that, that option disappears if the voter has to show up in person to vote. If only 70 percent of the voters return a ballot, then there is the chance that 30 percent of the unreturned ballots could be “voted” by a third party, not the intended voter. If they don’t need to be signed by the voter, it makes it very easy to enter them as valid votes in an election.

In a two-party system, the voters are usually evenly split. 40 percent Republican and 40 percent Democrat. So, in order to steal an election, you need to estimate what party, the 20% swing voters are going to vote for. As a corrupt official, you are not interested in who votes for whom. Most of the votes cancel each other out. You’re interested in how many votes are needed to swing the election. At this point, you can either print the ballots or purchase the ballots from voters who would rather have the money. With a budget of 50 million dollars, 100,000 votes could be purchased at $500 apiece. All you have to do then, is mail them in or put them in a drop box and you are done.

Voter registration drives in certain areas, is a point to concentrate upon, when purchasing votes. Get prospective voters to register, then volunteer to come back and help them fill out the ballot and deliver it for them. The person picking up the votes would probably pay the “voter” $50 to $500 for each vote. He might pay a druggie $50 and keep $450 for himself. A woman with 4 kids might get $400 and so on. You give the vote collector $10,000 in cash and tell him to come back with 20 blank but signed ballots.

Another thing about mail in votes, is that the government can literally scan your ballot and tell how you voted. You might wake up after the election and find out that you have been signed up for retraining indoctrination. Your “white privilege” can be documented.

Mail in ballots compromise our voting system, giving people the right to sell their vote. And in today’s elections where hundreds of millions are spent on each candidate, this can be an abuse that can end democracy. A lot of people don’t vote because they think their vote doesn’t count. They could be right if they live in Detroit or New York City. Ever wonder why?

Precious Metals in The New Economy

noreply@blogger.com (Jim in San Marcos) — Sat, 19 Jun 2021 06:14:00 +0000

I haven’t been writing much. I’m kind of burned out on how the economy is going. When I started this blog in 2006, I saw the depression coming. It was hidden by the government and the news. We did have a depression in 2008 and it more or less went into a stagnant economy. But in 2008 the banks almost collapsed. Congress had to prop up the banks. Think about it, if the banks had failed, where would the government borrow from? The banks didn’t fail and we kept on putting straws on the camel’s back (the national debt).

Economics is the study of the economy and how it responds to certain stimulus. The trouble is, economic theory can’t predict the future; it can only explain what has already happened. Economics is not a science. So here we are increasing the national debt with many people retiring and the Covid stimulus packages being paid out. Something is wrong. Millions of workers are being paid to not work. This cannot continue. People need to produce product, if they don’t, the product desired becomes scarce.

This is where inflation comes in. If the product is scarce and you want it, you have to pay more for it. The fact not even realized is that it cost 23 cents for a pack of cigarettes in 1962 and now a pack cost $8.00. It’s been slow and progressive.

Lawmakers know what is happening, but it is drawn out over time. Most people will never notice until they retire; their saving doesn’t have the buying power it had 40 years ago. The real factor not realized, is that the dollar saved in 1965 has the purchasing power of 4 cents, in today’s world. Kind of mind boggling. What was saved in 1965 would pay the rent, now in 2021 it only buys groceries.

An ounce of silver used to be a guide on the hourly wage, and an ounce of gold was a paycheck for the week. It looks like that may still ring true. Bear in mind that precious metals are not rising in price, they are reflecting the drop in the value of the dollar. As the water level rises in a lake, the boat will still float.

Right now, there are four areas of investment; Bonds, real estate, stocks, and precious metals. The bond market interest rates are so low, you have to ask the question, who would be dumb enough to put their cash into savings. Real estate and stocks seem to be the markets of choice right now. The precious metals market is kind of an unknown. With inflation at 10% and the cost of money at one percent, it costs literally nothing to hold precious metals.

If you examine the precious metals; silver, gold and platinum, you’ll notice that they fluctuate in price, unrelated to each other. Gold is in the lead; Platinum is underpriced and silver is trending upward. Last week, I converted my silver to platinum. 50 pounds of silver converts into 10 ounces of platinum and doesn’t take up much space in a safety deposit box. Also converting Gold to platinum is rather attractive.

The thing you need to remember about precious metals, is that if this mess gets worse, you might have the cash to purchase precious metals but most suppliers may be out of product, and you won't know that until you go in to make a purchase. That has happened to me twice this year. The premium to purchase has gone up considerably especially on silver. I kind of choke on a premium of $3.50 per ounce for silver. The following 6 months could be an eye opener. The precious metals market for delivery is in a very unknown condition. Is the physical metal there for purchase?

Restaurant Menu Prices from 1938

noreply@blogger.com (Jim in San Marcos) — Sun, 14 Mar 2021 20:40:00 +0000

This is a reprint from August 20, 2013 that I thought might be worth another glance.

I was searching through some picture albums of my parents from way back and ran into some restaurant menus from the depression era of late 1930's.. The first 3 pictures are from the Manhattan Restaurant.

The Second menu (three pictures) is on the Union Pacific Railroad from 1937 somewhere in Wyoming.

This last menu is from the Hotel Windermere in Chicago 1937.

Double click on the images to see what the prices were back then. Did you notice that the Manhattan offered a broiled (Whole) lobster for 65 cents? In today's world, you'd be lucky to get half a lobster for $30. Bear in mind, the people that read these menus in real time are probably dead by now.

The pay raise that everyone gets each year because of inflation is just an allusion. Look around, the new hires are starting out a few pennies less than what the seasoned workers are making. The neat thing about inflation is that Congress doesn't have to raise the tax rates, you earn more, you pay more. That's the real difference between the Democrats and Republicans; print as you go verses pay as you go.

The real odd thing is that the average person does not connect the dots. The relationship between government spending and inflation does not exist. Rumor has it, we've always had inflation-- I guess we're supposed to get used to it. My wife bought a new battery and asked me to guess how much she paid for it, and I said $40. Her answer; "That's the price you would have paid 20 years ago, the battery was $100."

Let's see,(from top menu third picture, red part) I'll have the broiled lobster with coffee and a slice of cake--that's about 85 cents total, plus 15 cents for a tip. The trouble is, 83 years of inflation have raised the prices a tad.

Turmoil in Washington DC

noreply@blogger.com (Jim in San Marcos) — Sat, 06 Mar 2021 05:21:00 +0000

We have approximately 5 to 10 thousand National Guard troops in Washington DC, with barbwire on top of the barricades to protect us from an impending invasion of God knows what. If you were to tie one of those fence barricades to a truck and pull away, it would probably pull down about 200 feet of it in a couple of seconds.

The other thing not pointed out, is that 99.9 percent of the National Guard in place have not been issued ammunition. There is no reason for it. It only takes one bad apple to screw up things, so no ammunition.

This is a pathetic political play to make the voter feel threatened and to influence possible voters who are undecided.

Play soldier for the civilian spectators, because the people in charge are afraid of the "We the people." It has to look importantly significant for the news. Go figure.

Ask your congressman; "If it is such a severe crisis, why don't the soldiers have ammunition?"

The Doctor Visit

noreply@blogger.com (Jim in San Marcos) — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 04:36:00 +0000

I went for my yearly physical today and got an AOK. I mention to the doctor that I think I had Corona Virus a year ago. I had a pretty bad case of the flu, but it didn’t stop me from going to work. Two weeks after I recovered, I put a bagel in the toaster oven and went back to my paperwork. After a while, I noticed that the dog was barking a lot and my glasses looked awful dirty. Then the smoke alarm went off. My bagel was on fire in the toaster oven. I put the toaster fire out and noticed that the timer didn’t stop at zero it went past it, and kept on toasting. At this point I realized that I could not smell anything. That explained why food didn’t really taste very good lately. I had lost my sense of smell. My doctor said that he had many cases that started in January, a year ago, including his wife. He mentioned that he was at a loss as to why the media had not picked up on this.

Right now, the media has kept the death count from last year of 300, 000 and continued on this year adding to it. This is what I call yellow Journalism. Exaggeration for readership and political influence. The death count for this year should have started at zero and it didn’t. 79 percent of the people dying from the disease are over the age of 65. People do die from old age, don’t let the Corona Virus take all of the blame. 99.9 percent of the population will survive the disease, so why the panic?

The news media has panicked the nation. It makes good copy and sells advertising. People are frozen in place in terror because of the news media. “My god, I could kill someone by not wearing my mask” this projected suggestion to the public is blatantly wrong. The truth is most of us can go out and do business with no problem.

Remember the first restrictions were to lower the curve so hospitals could accommodate the patients. It was not pointed out to anyone that the area under the curve remained the same, the same number would die only over a longer period of time.

I think we will find out, that most people will get the Corona Virus and survive. It is a form of the cold virus and it has been around forever. I think we will also discover that the death counts for other diseases like heart disease, will drop considerably from previous years, from fear to consult a doctor. The total death rate for the nation will be above 2.7 million per year. But bear in mind the average reader has no visual concept of 2.7 million people dying each year normally. This has panicked the masses, the perspective of 80,000 drug deaths, 40,000 car deaths, 70,000 Influenzas deaths has left the people with no perspective of how to interpret the data.

The yellow press impresses upon us, that 300,000 died last year from Corona Virus. People do die of old age and it is usually after the age of 65. Funny how elderly people are not supposed to die from Corona Virus, but rather from old age. How many of the people that died had one foot on a banana peel?

Tripping over a torque Vector in a Laundromat

noreply@blogger.com (Jim in San Marcos) — Mon, 18 Jan 2021 21:44:00 +0000

Just for laughs type in the title of my previous post into G00gle or B1ng with or without the dash and see what you pull up. Abs0lutely n0thing.

Anything with the second or third word is subject to san1tation. There are no c0ntrary v1ews a11owed.

If you don’t have a link to my site, you cannot akcess that article. What the viewer can akcess is determined by the $earch eng1ne.

This is sens0rsh1p by 0m1ss1on. 0pposing views or c0ntrary information are not presented. Reminds me of a book title that's all numbers, the G00gle sp1ders might trigger on.

In the statement “_____ kil1s doctor that tried t0 spread the a1arm;” what is the real answer? (hint: a form of lead poisoning)

The comm0n man cann0t be left to th1nk for himself, it is to0 danger0us.

D1ssent is not to be t0lerated.

Take away my reader5 and you have 5ilenced me.

The Corona Virus Panic- a Chinese Fire Drill

noreply@blogger.com (Jim in San Marcos) — Sat, 26 Dec 2020 03:00:00 +0000

Divided the 300,000 COVID-19 deaths by 365 days in a year and then again by 50 states and it comes out to 16.5 people a day. Figure that 2.7 million people died in 2019 before COVID-19. Do the same process over again. That turns out to be 148 people dying per day, per state. This model is flawed because the 50 states are not evenly populated. I used the assumption all states are equal, to create a baseline for our perspective of the virus, normal deaths vs the virus. The normal death rate of 148 vs the perceived corona virus death rate of 16.5 a day.

When we count the COVID-19 deaths, did COVID-19 kill them or was the death from something else like old age? We really won’t know until the statistics are gathered over the next three months on deaths nationwide for 2020. I would suspect that we may have a drop in heart disease deaths by about 100,000. We may have about 60,000 less influenza deaths. I would expect an increase in opioid and alcohol related deaths. Deaths from pneumonia will be nonexistent.

When you look at all of the diseases a person could die of, it becomes apparent, that there is the propensity to distort the actual cause of death. Jumping to a conclusion happens all of the time. People can die of multiple causes. The chosen choice of death can alter the statistics. A hospital that gets a $40,000 government subsidy for each COVID-19 death, can turn a pneumonia victim into a COVID-19 statistic. I really can’t blame a hospital for trying to make a buck.

The political ploy in this mess is very insidious. It won the democrats an election, through fear generated upon the general populace. The news sources have created a panic and fear campaign throughout the country. People believe that many are dying like flies all over the place and that they are next. 79 percent of the people dying are over the age of 60 and old age is a natural form of death. This has gotten ridiculous. You might catch COVID-19, but it ain’t going to kill you. But we are told if we don’t wear a mask, we are responsible for killing others. All of the anti-mask research papers have been censored by Google. This mask mandate is a way the government can look like it is addressing the issue with a solution. It placates the masses; wear a mask and you are safe. The Guverment will save us!

Fascism wants you to be a part of the group. Hitler's second in command, Herman Goering said about war:

Naturally, the common people don't want war ... but after all it is the leaders of a country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country.”

So, with COVID-19, “you are killing people by not wearing your mask.” Sound familiar?

In essence, if the state governments were to tell everyone over the age of 60 to hide inside their homes, the rest of us could continue enjoying life. The number of people dying would not be a factor of notice for day-to-day commerce. And commerce is what drives the economy. Also note, the people under the age of 60 are not retired and need a source of livelihood, a job, to pay the bills. 331,000,000 people are in this country. Of the deaths this year, 1/10^th of 1 percent (300,000) have been dubbed COVID-19 related. When you compare the number of people affected by the lockdown and compare that to the number the virus has killed, the cure is worse than the disease.

“Wearing a mask is not going to keep the virus away” or “Wearing a mask will keep the virus at away.” Neither statement can be proven, it has to be taken on faith. However, “Clapping your hands keeps the elephants out of New York City” must be true, there are no elephants in New York City.

300,000 deaths additional to the 2.7 million from all other causes is not a large amount in comparison to the total population. By staying at home, people are not going to avoid getting the virus, it only delays it. In the normal propagation of the virus, the more virulent strains kill the host and it ends the virus's ability to propagate. Strains that don’t kill the host, tend to survive to infect again; that is the virus to catch. A hospital is the perfect medium for the virulent virus to survive long enough to infect others; that’s the virus you don’t want to catch.

I’m 74, if I want to go to a restaurant or fly on an airplane, I am going to enjoy my latter years of life, not sit in my home quivering in fear. This panic has been exaggerated by the news services and needs to stop. People are dying, but not in any amount that warrants panicking everyone. Or maybe I should qualify that, the number of people dying is insignificant when you consider the total population. We don’t need to ruin the lives of everyone to save those elderly who are already compromised and may catch the disease and die. We know how to protect them now.

Imagine if the newspaper printed the headline “40 million people without jobs are starving to death.” These are the “non-essential” people in our country (restaurants, barbershops, bars, fitness centers, etc.). Take this group, bankrupt them, deplete their savings from lack of work, and now you have a real disaster. Grandma’s son is unemployed and the extra bucks he mails her isn’t coming. 40 million people not paying taxes or contributing to Social Security. This could be a very sobering year for our government.

Another scary thing to comprehend, many readers question the validity of the writer who has no scientific credentials. “Follow the science,” is a good way to bury one’s head in the sand. Economics and business acumen can be a better guide to addressing the corona virus crisis, than science by itself. Then if you discredit common sense, you mise well follow the herd off of the cliff.

The overreaction of government using lockdowns has turned a nasty disease into an economic meltdown with very obvious consequences. The effects of which will play out in the coming year.