Late night TV hosts Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert disgraced themselves, and the far left they represent, by delivering hateful talk about the assassination of Charlie Kirk. The notion that people who align politically with some or all of what Charlie stood for are directly responsible for his dreadful assassination is unconceivably repugnant. That somehow this was planned and executed by those who stood by Charlie for some and possibly all of what he represented to his audiences is a ludicrous attempt to shift blame for this atrocity away from those who forcefully disagreed with Charlie’s beliefs. Those who believe his death was the only way to stop the truths he espoused.
Whether you agree with Charlie or not, freedom of speech is not something exclusively the right of the forces for the far-left agenda. In fact, it was fear, the fear that Charlie and his Turning Point organization were having a positive impact in changing the mindset of young people. That Turning Point was turning them toward more traditionally conservative views of government, economics as well as the true meaning of Judeo-Christian principals that guided our founding fathers in creating this great nation.
Some of the most controversial perspectives Charlie espoused to his audiences related to his truths about the LGBTQ movement. How his perspective is guided by the teachings of the Bible. This is one of the most divisive discussion topics of our time. Charlie’s views are based on very traditional values that are not completely shared by everyone who supports Turning Point. Similar to views on another controversial topic, abortion.
It would be truthful to say that many who support the Turning Point movement also hold slightly different views of the truths on these controversial topics. Some believe that anyone is welcome to describe themselves as a woman, or a man. But, if you are born a woman or a man, that is what you are until your death, regardless of what you call yourself. Many believe dress as you like, behave as you like, love who you like, marry who you like and be happy in those fantasies. Under the laws of the land and the laws of nature, you are as you are born, period.
To have men, regardless of how they dress or who they say they are, to legitimately participate in women’s organized sports is perpetrating a massive unfairness to women’s sports. Take the very best women’s sports teams, soccer, baseball, football, swimming, track, virtually any team sport, and have them compete with any man’s team and the physical advantages of being a man will lead to massive success for the men’s teams. So why would it be right to disadvantage women’s teams to allow their competitors to deploy men on their teams and call it fair competition? It is the discrimination perpetrated on the many by the few, period.
The abortion topic is also one that has varied views represented. Some believe that, until the fetus is viable outside the womb, the decision is truly one that is exclusively the domain of the pregnant woman. Prior to approximately 26 weeks of gestation, the contents of the womb do not represent human life, not yet, and therefore its disposition and future is the sole domain of the pregnant woman. Once the fetus is viable outside the womb, it is a human life and protected by the laws of the land. Depending on the laws in effect, ending the pregnancy could be murder.
These are all incredibly complex issues complicated by religion, emotion, political perspective and the law. Regardless of where you fall among these incredibly controversial topics, your opinion should be respected, protected, and heard. It is a virtual certainty that the notions presented here will be rejected by those who hold very different views. That, in itself, is the incredible beauty and near perfection of the American system based on the brilliance of our founding fathers. May your views be heard without fear and reacted to by the system’s design.
Maryland politicians see themselves as quite clever. Their thinly veiled ruse of raising taxes and fees in non-election years fools no one who pays taxes and pays attention. Governor Moore’s commitment to not raise taxes and fee in 2026 attempts to mislead the voters (most of whom do not pay enough attention). The 2025 massive tax and fee increases are yielding a considerable revenue benefit in 2026 at the expense of taxpayers/voters. Yet, a 2027 structural deficit, reportedly well in excess of a billion dollars, must be dealt with to meet his constitutional requirement to propose a balanced budget. In fact, as has been reported by The Sun (Will Md. Officials address billions in fiscal deficits?), cumulative projected structural deficits of nearly $10 billion lie ahead through fiscal year 2030 because spending forecasts exceed revenue projections. Because even raising taxes again next year will likely not be enough to address the projected deficit, cuts to the state’s most expensive programs, i.e. “the Blueprint” and Medicaid, must wait until after the election so the same serial government spending offenders are reelected.
The governor is in a race. Not just a race to keep his job and give propulsion to his political ambitions beyond Maryland. A race to keep this incredibly leaky ship afloat until his gamble on high tech industry and jobs potentially bears fruit. It is not a rational gamble. This is occurring as Maryland ranks among the top in states with the wealthiest residents and business owners fleeing for states with more friendly tax structures, energy costs and government regulation. It is a gamble where the odds are against him. Even if his offerings of incentives to entice entrepreneurs to the state is successful, it takes years for fledgling new tech enterprises to grow rapidly enough to bring a critical mass of professional level income taxes and corporate taxes to materially affect state tax revenues. All the while, as the state’s unfriendly tax structures on high income earners and high-tech businesses diminish those same revenues at a rate exceedingly difficult to overcome without massive further tax increases and or painful budget cuts. Maryland is far behind its neighbors like Virginia whose thoroughly robust, high-tech economy, despite COVID and federal job cuts, is generating state budget surpluses producing tax rebates to citizens and an equally robust jobs market.
It brings to mind the story of the ten friends that go to dinner nightly together and divvy up the bill by the tax rate of each diner. The diner with the highest tax rate begins by paying nearly 60% of the bill. When the restaurateur offers them a 20% discount for their loyalty, the question arises as to how to share the discount. They again agree to do it by tax rate. When the highest taxpayer receives most of the discount, the group gangs up on the high taxpayer because of his enviable income. The highest taxpayer, offended and abused, no longer joins the group for dinner. When the group dined the next evening, they were horrified to learn that they must come up with over 50% of the bill they had not yet had to pay.
Members of the Democrat party, consistently believe the most successful among us never pay their fair share of taxes and fees. Their recent tax increases were targeting Maryland’s most successful citizens. Before this direct assault on success, Maryland’s tax structure was already among the highest for a wide swath of taxpayers. The completely insulting increase in fees, lifting Maryland to absurdly high levels of counter-progressive “taxes” by another name, adversely affects virtually every citizen. Those fees are literally several times the rates in neighboring states. As the informed flee, the state is left with an increasing majority of voters who recklessly machine vote Democrats into office believing they are their best chance for a fair deal. At some point one would hope that this ongoing bludgeoning of the uninformed would foment descent.
Shame on the governor and the legislature. Shame on them for believing that, yet again, the Democrat majority in the state, many who just do not pay enough attention to the facts (as politicians count on) will blindly vote them back into office. Their fiscal offenses are just below the level necessary for even the most uninformed voter to revolt. Republicans do not have all the answers. But, at some point, the desire to spend and spend, in an attempt to make everyone happy, will crash into the fiscal wall. Meaningful spending cuts will have to be made short of a tax policy that craters an already weakening state economy leading to an increasingly violent downward spiral that is just beyond view, but looms ever present. Many who have benefited mighty from the flow of state funds must be told to seek alternatives. Many Democrats are incredulous but, the party is over.
Many intelligent observers and participants in the American healthcare system strongly propose a legislatively mandated, federal government run, single-payer healthcare system for this country. On the surface it has many positive attributes that would attract admirers and proponents.
Many are saying how effective and efficient Medicare is for the growing population of seniors. Seniors experience a system of healthcare that provides a robust set of services that, on the surface, seems cost effective and comprehensive. That system, on its own, provides a broad range of services and covers a substantial amount of the cost associated with those services. But, not all of the cost. Often, 20% is left for the Medicare beneficiary to fund personally.
For those who can afford it, especially if you have chosen a “PPO-like” secondary insurance plan, a system of secondary coverage through private insurers is required to make up the difference between what the complete medical services cost and what Medicare covers. For those who cannot afford secondary coverage, possibly they qualify for Medicaid. Medicaid is the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) safety net system designed to provide complete coverage for those whose personal financial situation enables qualification. Is intended to cover those considered to be at or below official poverty levels. Or those who do not qualify for Medicaid might select a Medicare HMO-like plan commonly known as Medicare-Advantage plans. Those in the gap are forced to forgo other quality of life expenses to pay for “medigap” insurance or risk bankruptcy.
The answer, according to many, is to legislate a transformation to a government-run, single payer system, often called “socialized medicine”, to ensure a completely equal system of healthcare for all citizens. A noble concept. Where it has been attempted, “first-world” countries like France and Great Britain, it has proven to have a fatal flaws.
First, those who have been “subjects” of those systems in France and Great Britian for example, understand that the lack of affordability, without bankrupting those countries, presents a quality of healthcare that is, frankly, substandard. For example, wait times for care is unacceptable. The pay to providers is squeezing the best and brightest out of the government run system fleeing to a system of “private insurance” that no-one wishes to talk about. Both France and Great Britain have a system of private insurers. Those insurers fund providers and facilities exclusively intended to service a class of patients whose employers are paying the premiums whose intent is to retain the best and brightest employees in their industries. The system has created an environment of even greater inequity.
Secondly, a single payer system would present an irresistible force that would deplete the pharmaceutical industry of the profit motive necessary to fund years and years of research necessary for the sort of medical advancements we have enjoyed for many decades. Investors would simply move on to a better alternative. On the surface that system appears to represent greater fairness but would eventually starve the entire population of advancements intended to extend and add quality of life to many, many more.
A simple example is the currently popular set of drugs providing weight loss. One could say the industry is just excusing an obese America’s glutenous behavior. In fact, it is potentially extending the lives of millions for several years while improving their quality of life and self-image. Would pharmaceutical companies have even invested in the years of research necessary to provide these options if the profit incentive was removed?
The system in America as it stands is a graceful balance of a government provided safety net in Medicaid and Medicare plus secondary insurers for the balance of us who can afford a system that provides both the highest quality healthcare in the world and an incentive to pharmaceutical firms to continue their quest for cures across the complete spectrum of health challenges. The governmental challenge is to create a means to discern and “insure” those who truly cannot afford a Medicare/private secondary scenario and grant a Medicaid-like solution without bankrupting a governmental fiscal situation that is already producing trillions in federal deficits each year. This is a true conundrum.
What one would prefer is a solution that combines equal amounts of spending cuts and revenue increase. The major issue that must be addressed (and is in the forefront of the current funding crisis in Congress) is Medicaid support for illegals. This is clearly a place to cut spending as the system was never intended to pay the entirety of the healthcare needs of non-citizens. It is completely illogical to expect American taxpayers to support the entirety of the healthcare costs of tens of millions of non-citizens, while taxpayers themselves struggle to pay for the ever-increasing healthcare costs for their own families, with federal dollars that do not exist except in the Alice-in-Wonderland world of deficit spending.
This leads to another discussion of when will the deficit spending madness end? I am certain the liberal, wokie version of reality is that the rich, billions and billions of billionaires, should just pay, not just a little more, but A LOT MORE, and, poof, the deficit is gone!
These same wokie economic “experts” I’ve personally encountered believe that “trickle down” is the source of the income disparity in this country. If these “experts” had actually taken some economic classes in college they would have learned that the entire American capitalistic economic system is based entirely on “trickle down”. The wealthy, in order to make income from their wealth, invest in businesses that, simply, pay EVERYONES salary, healthcare, life insurance, 401K contributions, on and on, out of the profits they earn from their investments in all the businesses in this country and around the world! They pay FOR ALL that, and then pay HALF A TRILLION IN FEDERALBUSINESS INCOME TAXES E-A-C-H YEAR! And guess what, all those salaries they pay, each of those employees pay a total of 2.4 TRILLION IN FEDERAL TAXES EACH YEAR! So, in reality, billionaires are already paying THREE TRILLION a year in just federal taxes before you add in their personal federal income tax burden. This does not include what they pay in billions and billions in state and local taxes through employee and business tax burden.
In 2022, the top 1% of earners in America paid approximately $854.5 billion in federal income taxes, accounting for 40% of all individual income tax revenue. Their average effective tax rate was 26.1%.
The total wealth held by billionaires is approximately 13 trillion. If a wealth tax collected the entirety of their wealth, it wouldn’t reduce the federal deficit BY HALF! Not to mention it would totally collapse the world economy.
So what’s the answer? Reasonable, AGAIN a reasonable plan, to significantly reduce spending and reasonably increases taxes so as to not significantly and negatively impact economic activity. This is critical because significant tax increases that drive the economy into recession would lower employment, reduce income tax receipts and offset any deficit reduction achieved through tax increases. Billionaires could pay more in tax. But only to the point where it does not negatively impacts business investment thus reducing employment, worker incomes and stock market returns for many millions of Americans whose retirement plans rely on wall street success.
By the way, moderate Democrats understand this dynamic. Its those who are ignorant of these critical facts, the wokie, “socialist democrats”, who believe significantly reducing economic success is a problem that big government can mitigate. They say just give government all the money and they will make the world okay for everyone. PA-LEESE, lets get real! Check in with governments who have experimented with socialism, France, Great Britain, and ask the average citizen if they are better off? Why their wealth taxes failed. Why the working class riot in the streets because the systems is crushing them economically.
Why are Americans not fleeing this country for France, Great Britain, Mexico, Syria, Iran, (the list is long)? Because, the United States of America, with all its warts, is still the place in the world with the highest standard of living and the most individual freedoms than any country in the world! But PLEASE, lets draw the line at funding healthcare for illegal immigrants, sign the clean CR and get back to the business of fiscally responsible governing.
For those among us who choose to ignore conspiracy theories, there is one that cannot defy known fact. The People’s Republic of China purposefully released COVID-19 upon the world to ensure President Trump would not be reelected in 2020.
During the 2016 campaign the Trump team (and during the Trump administration) declared China (The Peoples Republic of China) intends to “steal” millions of “blue collar” jobs from the American economy – CHECK.
COVID-19 came from China – Check.
COVID-19 “mysteriously escaped” from a supposedly secure lab IN CHINA – CHECK.
COVID-19 is released at the beginning of the 2020 presidential election year – how coincidental – CHECK.
US and world economies virtually shut down forcing millions of Americans, and many millions more worldwide, out of work – CHECK.
The PRC declares health emergency and miraculously produces “temporary” hospitals instantly while secretly planning for five to ten million Chinese nationals to die as the “price” necessary to prevent Trump from being reelected – CHECK.
Democratic Administrations have typically been soft on China with President Obama declaring those rust-belt jobs “are gone forever”. The Trump Administration stated policy will be to invest in finding the means to retain manufacturing/industrial jobs and return those previously forfeited to China back to America – CHECK.
The Trump Administration declaring the North American Trade Agreement must be renegotiated to bring manufacturing jobs back to America – CHECK.
NFTA renegotiated to the significant benefit of American workers – CHECK.
During the Trump Administration the American economy produced 3-4% positive GDP and 50 YEAR LOW UNEMPLOYMENT RATES. Until March 2020 when President Trump shuts down the country to reduce loss of life while ordering lifesaving equipment, like respirators, to be produced in the hundreds of thousands using war-powers acts and federal funding to speed their production. This while holding DAILY news conferences to detail actions being taken by the administration to save lives and protect industry – CHECK.
During this time, working with Congress, the Trump Administration jointly proposes a spending bill to prop up the American economy by providing billions to working families and to industry, no different than deficient spending during war time, to pay for medical remedies and put food on the table of Americans put out of work – CHECK.
This all coming from someone who did not vote for Trump in 2024.
The Willow 