For most of us, when we think of socialism we think of a political construct, like Communist Soviet Union, or Venezuela under Chavez. But, our loyal JAM Views readers now understand that all politics are about money, nothing else. Socialism is about controlling the money and, therefore, controlling the people. Socialism, and all of its euphemistic cousins, takes money from the producers and gives it to the looters under the guise of creating equality. It was a scam as a first thought thousands of years ago, and remains today the greatest detriment to the forward progress of mankind.
We are thankful for the President calling out this ridiculous socialist ideology during his recent State of the Union, as the socialist agenda has once again become trendy among the economically-unaware. The last person, or organization, you want to be in charge of your money is a government. Throughout history, these entities have a dismal track record for reducing expenses, increasing revenue, achieving objectives, or successfully allocating capital. Remember, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher famously quoted the problem with socialism is "eventually you run out of other people's money."
Let's review a few current socialism examples getting press in our county:
1. California's high-speed rail project, initially conceived to connect San Francisco and Sacramento with Los Angeles and San Diego, was approved by voters in 2008 to be funded with a $10 billion bond offering, $3.5 billion in federal government funds, and incentivised private partners. Construction began in 2015, and, now, New Governor Gavin Newsom has basically pulled the plug on the government project due to the recent estimate of $77 billion to complete! What a disaster and embarrassment.
2. California utility PG&E filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy this month as it expects $30 billion in liabilities from more than a dozen major wildfires in recent years caused by its equipment. This failure is due to the government overseers prioritizing the state's climate goals over safe and reliable service, in other words running a proper business. The politicians last year approved a $269 million rate hike to pay for "fast charging" stations for everyone's Teslas purchased with other government credits (my apologies for always picking on Teslas to my Academy roommate, the coolest guy on the planet, who has two in his California driveway!), and another $437 million to pay for employee retention programs while shutting down the nuclear plant which produced over 25% of their total power (Did we say "Soviet Union?"). Then, the legislature voted to mandate 100% of PG&E's energy be generated by solar and wind by 2045. While PG&E was spending a billion here and a billion there on these mandates, they forgot to invest their capital on insulating equipment, clearing overgrown vegetation, and taking other precautionary measures to reduce wildfire hazards. Now, California politicians are tweeting about the company's focus on profits over safety, even though the politicians are 100% responsible for the disaster. (I once heard a story of how the government shut down an extremely valuable investment company, the golden goose they called it, over a minor regulatory dispute, and then rallied the shareholders and community against the company, all to their own significant detriment. Unfortunately, this scenario plays out every day in our country).
3. Now, Bernie Sanders and 16 other Senators are campaigning diligently to replace ALL private health insurance in the U.S. with a government-run single health care plan (Did we already say "Soviet Union?").
4. Forty Congress members now propose The Green New Deal which includes "a job guarantee program to assure a living wage job to every person who wants one." (I foresee long bread lines).
5. Elizabeth Warren is demanding a new federal charter for business which would now make companies answer to not only shareholders (the owners), but also to politicians and government oversight groups. (Such as the Politburo?).
6. And, of course taxes. Elizabeth also wants to add a new, extra 2% tax not on income or consumption, but just for having accumulated savings and net worth. This 2% "wealth tax" is government confiscation which even France recently abolished! No more storming The Bastille!
Let's stop there this week, as it's probably all our stomachs can withstand. This week please do your best to help the economically-unaware begin to realize that the LAST "person" you want to run your business, manage your project, or to efficiently allocate your capital is the government. Take an aggressive stand today, like the President, and call out these ridiculous talking heads. See through politics and understand money. That's all there is. As Margaret foretold, soon they are going to run out of yours.
"The robbed that smiles steals something from the thief." - Shakespeare, Othello
* Thank you to Alejandro Lazo & the WSJ, Forbes, & Fortune for the above statistics and quotations.
* For more information on Jeff's Books, Blog, and Legal Challenge, please visit www.jeffmartinovich.com.
** To access JAM Views directly please visit jeffreyamartinovich.blogspot.com
Yes yes yes!!!! Love this
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