THE POLITICS OF FEAR.

 (A Getty Image.)

I have a tough time understanding why people, especially women, and African-Americans will vote for Trump.
People want to believe what they want to believe and it has been fear that moves that train along.

In the 1960's, The John Birch Society used a former black Communist Party member to convince the masses that Moscow intended to turn America's Southern states into a black colony of the Soviets.  Those were the cold war years of fearing Russian aggression.

Ronald Reagan coveted a Republican National Committee loyalist, Dr. Gloria Toote, who made the case for him that the Negro will be delivered to a "Federal plantation"  if the opposition wins.

Trump has  black Reverend Mark Burns who preaches,  "Our enemy is Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party." Then, at Trump's convention, was David Clarke Jr., a black version of Arizona's Joe Arpaio, making the case that Black Lives Matter is a "hate group."

In the case of women, when one of his supporters at a Trump rally, punched a woman in the face and knocked her down, he gave a thumbs up and said, "It's always more fun at a Trump rally."
The rape case of a 13-year-old girl filed against Trump and Jeffery Epstein, a convicted pedophile, was refiled in New York this week.  Trump says of Epstien, "Jeff is a fun guy to party with". Fun, indeed.

He made references to killing Hillary by pointing a gun at her head in a picture. On his website, the kill messages from his followers was frightening. He went overboard when his entourage rode into Indiana with an effigy of Clinton being hanged. People were horrified.

Now, he is suggesting that in Philadelphia and in other Pennsylvania districts, they should intimidate voters and do anything to challenge voters, as has been done in the past. Voter patrols wandering around in black neighborhoods with guns,  telling people they can be arrested if they don't have the proper identification.  Trump believes it is okay to do this kind of stuff; to do anything to win.

And, of course, the Republican Party has vilified Hillary for years. She has an irrefutable record of dedicated public service but if you call someone a liar long enough and often enough, people begin to believe it.
Calling Trump a bully is too kind. He harbors criminal intent in his campaign. He should be investigated for bribery, fraud and hate crimes, but there is a double standard for the rich and influential people of the world.
Billionaire Warren Buffet has often said, "My secretary pays more taxes than I do." He thinks it is unfair.  And, it is. And if you vote for Trump and he wins, you will be poorer.

And, America, the greatest country in the world, will also be poorer in the eyes of the world.

COMMON SENSE.

I received a letter from Alan Grayson, a missive that made such good sense, I thought I'd reprint it here. I'm a fan of his even though he is from Florida. They don't often make sense there, it seems to me, but Alan always does.

Dear Mary,

I think that LeBron James should pay the same percentage of his income in Social Security taxes as everyone else does.

He doesn’t. Not by a long shot. In fact, not by a 90-footer.

Most Americans pay 6.20% of their incomes to Social Security taxes. LeBron James pays 0.03% of his income toward Social Security taxes. In fact, he is finished paying his Social Security taxes in the second quarter of his first game of his season. Then he’s done for the rest of the game, and the rest of the season – including the playoffs. Even the offseason.

“Wow,” you say. Yes, “wow” indeed.

I want to make this clear – this is nothing personal. I love to watch LeBron James play basketball. I forgive him for taking his talents to South Beach, but then taking them right back to Cleveland. I look forward to his becoming the all-time NBA scoring champion, during the 2021-22 season.

But I think that he should have to pay the same percentage in Social Security taxes as others do.

The Social Security tax applies only to the first $118,500 of income (the “cap”). As soon as LeBron and anyone else reaches that limit, they’re done for the year.

Which is precisely why some people fret about the system going broke. The solution is obvious. No cap, no problem. In addition to making our tax system more fair, scrapping the cap would make Social Security solvent forever and ever. And ever. So I have introduced a bill to do that, and the Social Security Administration has confirmed that it solves the problem once and for all. Sure, some Republicans would be sad -- they’d have no excuse to push sadistic cuts in Social Security benefits. But the rest of us would be thrilled.

Q. When does a teacher stop paying Social Security taxes? A. Never.

Q. When does a nurse stop paying Social Security taxes? A. Never.

Q. Why do only the rich get this huge tax break, threatening the solvency of the program? A. I wish I knew.

Grayson is pushing a bill through congress called Scrap the Cap. I hope it passes.

TWO RICH GUYS TALK ABOUT TAXES.

In my news yesterday was the 55 tax breaks that are scheduled to expire, but, that congress will apparently fund them again, so the pundits say. It is also said that the reason they pull this uncertain crap is because they want to line up their lobbyists for future election donations. Whatta bunch a crap.


It would help if we had great National leadership instead of a pattern of paying for huge campaigns and having to buy votes through email support to leverage our elected officials to do the job we pay them to do. Well, it is a new year. Wonder what horrors they are up to this year?

We need change and listen to two of the richest men in the world and remember them when you vote:

http://www.aflcio.org/Blog/Political-Action-Legislation/Warren-Buffett-and-Bill-Gates-Find-This-Unfair-It-Might-Surprise-You