We are in the middle of the largest deception in my memory. Government at all levels, local, state, and federal, literally put millions of people out of work with an unnecessary “shelter in place” order, costing families in need thousands of dollars in lost income. The apologists for big government claimed it was for our health and protection. I don’t think so, but that is irrelevant at this point. Those who worked for the government did not lose one dime in income, but small businesses and their employees were pushed to the brink of bankruptcy.
Knowing that they tested the patience of the populace, the federal government stepped up with three “stimulus packages,” paid for with borrowed money, with (relatively) small portions of this money being paid out in payments to taxpayers. I say relatively small because the total of the payments to taxpayers was about $3,000.00 per taxpayer. That after losing nearly triple that in income from the shutdown, or, in some cases, losing all their income because their business closed down. Add to that the additional insult of continuing to have to pay the taxes, in many cases, in excess of the subsidy, to pay for “stimulus.”
Here is the bigger deception–well over half of the money for the stimulus went to governments.
Let’s analyze this. Government employees who lost not one nickel in income received the “stimulus” subsidies, in the exact same amount as those who faced eviction and bankruptcy from the lock down order, and, in many cases, those government employees got to stay home and binge watch their favorite Netflix show. Now, these state and local governments, who were facing huge deficits, get bailed out by the feds, to avoid the bad press that would come from the effects of the unnecessary, and in some cases illegal, lock down order. So our children’s future was mortgaged to pay for the bad decisions of Governors, Mayors, legislators and local officials to save the political future of these Governors, Mayors, legislators and local officials. These local officials sold their souls to government employee unions, and did irreparable damage to the life, liberties, and economic future of the non-government workers, and are now doing everything they can to avoid the political consequences of those bad decisions.
What occurred was a travesty. What is occurring now here in California is even worse. It is the grand deception designed to save the job of our own Arrogant Lazy Authoritarian in Chief (ALAIC), Gavin Newsom.
Let me explain.
California is looking at a $75 billion surplus, which Democrats claim is from the “remarkable” recovery now occurring since the “nadir of the pandemic.” (Please note that the lock down orders are staying in place despite the near collapse of reported cases, that is, the recovery is happening because people are ignoring the lock down). However, most of that surplus is coming from the most recent $42.6 billion bailout payment from the Feds and low budget estimates for revenue (the state also received large amounts of money in the previous two bailouts). Of this $42.6 billion bail out, ALAIC Newsom proposes paying $12 billion in rebates of $600/person, including illegals. The rest goes to government programs. Again, the lion’s share goes to government unions. Those hurt worst by the lock down are completely ignored.
The federal bail out legislation specifically prohibited the state from cutting tax rates (which would help those most harmed by the lock down), but doesn’t prohibit rebates. That same law prohibits the money being used for government employee pension payments (many of which are the source of deficits in state and local governments around the country), but it doesn’t contain “maintenance of effort” requirements for those state and local governments, which allows the government to pay the money for the pension from its general fund, and then back fill with the federal bail out money. Again, those hurt worst by the lock down, who in many cases had to use their pension money to feed their families, get the raw end of the deal, while government employees, who saw no suffering, get bailed out. The politicians who protected those government workers get no short term political backlash for their intrusion on the life, liberty, and economic future of the constituents.
So, ALAIC Newsom proposes taxing you with exorbitantly high tax rates (it’s nearly the tax filing deadline, figure out how much you are going to pay), then giving you back a small percentage of that payment in a check you will receive just before the recall vote. The government workers, who thus far have suffered no injury at all, and in many cases, got extended paid vacations, get that $600 as well, a payment which also goes to illegals and welfare recipients.
The goal? To make you think ALAIC Newsom cares about you and the damage he caused you with his lock down order. The press dutifully reports the ALAIC Newsom talking points and tells you you are supposed to be grateful for these crumbs, and the while laughing a little bit under their breaths about the political brilliance of this plan.
It is the Grand Deception of ALAIC Newsom. The question is: how many people will fall for it?