During my formative years (now known as the young and dumb years!), I had an idealistic attitude toward our government and to the people that represented us in that government. I thought the job of these people was to do what is right for America. Now that I am old, somewhat mature, and somewhat knowledgeable (?), I am taking a rather dimmer view of the quality and motivation of the people representing us at the highest levels of government. It’s not my fault! 24/7 news channels, loaded up with ranting educated idiots have made me this way!

Did you know that at the time of the founding of our country, many men lost everything they had because they were representatives of the new federal government. Yup. They were patriots and they thought it was their duty, once selected, to represent their constituents in Congress. For some, this resulted in great financial loss. While they were in Congress, there wasn’t anyone representing their best interests with their businesses, their farms or at their plantations. Thus they suffered great financial and personal losses. My…how things have changed.

I have lived through thirteen different presidents. Without a doubt, I believe one of those thirteen was the most scrupulous of all. Want to take a guess? My choice would be Harry S. Truman. Why? Because once his second term in office was completed, Harry and his wife Bess moved back to Missouri and lived in the house that they had once shared with her mother. Once out of office, Truman quickly decided that he did not wish to be on any corporate payroll, believing that taking advantage of such financial opportunities would diminish the integrity of the nation’s highest office. He also turned down numerous offers for commercial endorsements. Since his earlier business ventures had proved unsuccessful, he had no personal savings. He faced financial challenges and only had an old army pension. Because of his financial condition, a pension was eventually granted to retiring presidents, and Harry was the first recipient. (Herbert Hoover also received it, as he was the only other surviving former president. Hoover was wealthy, but took it so as to not embarrass Truman!)

I think the ethical/patriotic component of being a politician, started by our founding fathers, may well have died with Harry Truman. I believe the new inspiration for most people seeking political office lies in my formula: P + P = M. Power + Prestige = Money. Yup. I think that too many of our politicians are running for office for the pursuit of the almighty dollar. I also think too many decisions made by our elected officials are being influenced by the almighty dollar. And…being the skeptic that I am…I am wondering from where this money is coming.

Campaign contributions

During the last presidential election, over $1.5 billion was raised by the two major party candidates, with Hillary Clinton raising about $1 billion herself. My question is, what happens to the unspent campaign contributions, especially for a losing candidate? Let me offer a theoretical situation. What if Hillary’s campaign spent only $750 million, what would happen to the other $250 million? Supposedly, there are strict rules governing this very situation. But, like all things coming out of Washington, D.C., there are loopholes and shady gray areas in the regulations. The candidates are forbidden from using those funds for personal use. (Yeah. Like I believe that!) And…the money is supposed to go to the political party or back to the contributors. (Really? Back to the contributors? Another fairy tale!) Once the political party has the money, they can do with it as they please. Does that mean they could give it back to the candidate? There are instances where candidates have purchased season athletic tickets, and paid extravagant salaries to friends and relatives. Yet….it has never been enforced. (Do you think all campaign contributions are reported?)

Could these campaign contributions be at least part of the reason we have almost fifteen people vying for the Democratic presidential nomination? Let’s be realistic. You and I both know that about a dozen of these people have a snowball’s chance in hell of winning the nomination. But here they are…stumping and posturing for the first caucuses. How much money are we talking about? When Beto O’Rourke announced his candidacy, his campaign raised $6.5 million in 24 hours! And when all the losers drop out of the race, do you think all of the campaign contributions will be returned?

Net Worth

Will someone please explain to me how Barrack Obama can enter the White House with a net worth of less than $500 thousand, and now have a purported net worth of up to $140 million? If I am not mistaken, his annual salary as POTUS, was $400 thousand per year. That equates to a little over $3 million for his eight year term. He would net, after taxes, about $2 million. How do you take a leap of $138 million in such a short period of time? There is nothing the Obama’s have done; book deals, speeches, consulting that would earn this type of money. My skeptical nature tells me that money had to come from somewhere else. Campaign contributions? Executive decisions such as the Uranium One deal? Other executive decisions that resulted in donations or contributions? I am not accusing. I am just wondering out loud! Real loud!

How could I possibly bring up net worth without mentioning Bill and Hillary Clinton. According to Bill himself, the Clinton’s left the White House $16 million in debt. Much of this was because of attorney fees and settlements paid out for sexual harassment law suits. But yet, today the Clinton’s have a purported net worth of $240 million! Now that is what I call a miraculous financial turnaround! How did all of that occur? Well, there was that wonderful organization called the Clinton Foundation. This was a foundation located in Canada to protect the donor list, that was never certified as a charitable foundation because less than 3% of its donations were used for charitable causes. It sounds to me like it was more like a personal Clinton piggy bank. And some of its donations were huge. One $145 million donation came from the Russian investors involved in the Uranium One deal. This deal took place while Hillary was Secretary of State and Obama was POTUS. Coincidence? Do you find it coincidental that the Clinton foundation donations ceased as soon as Hillary lost the election, thereby forcing the closing of the foundation?

How were these large net worth amounts attainable? P + P = M!

Influence Peddling

Who made this statement?

“People who enter the United States without our permission are illegal aliens, and illegal aliens should not be treated the same as people who entered the U.S. legally.”

Donald Trump? Mike Pence? Sarah Sanders? Mitch McConnell? Well, in 2009, that statement was said by none other than Chuck Schumer, the Senate Minority leader. My…how things have changed. But I digress.

Is the real reason that the Democrats are fighting the wall is to stop Trump from keeping a campaign promise, or is it something else. Something else…like money. I brought up in my last blog that it was not coincidental that the marijuana legal states are controlled by Democrats. Correspondingly, most of these states are fighting immigration reform and border security. As well as the influx of illegal aliens, there has been an influx of illegal drugs. How much money is generated between legalized marijuana and illegal drugs in those states? I don’t think anyone really knows because there have not been any drug lords in America that have religiously filed personal and corporate tax returns. I am willing to speculate that amount of money is enormous ( or gi-normous in modern vernacular) and would probably astound the average person if known. So…is that money finding its way into the campaign coffers of politicians from those states? Because once money is in campaign coffers, that money seems to find its way to parts unknown.

I know that one reason for resisting the wall is that the Democrats are speculating that illegal aliens will increase their political base. That is so they can maintain POWER+ PRESTIGE. If my formula is correct, the MONEY will follow.

The Mueller Investigation

The Mueller Investigation results were released this past weekend. With eighteen full time attorneys and forty full time FBI investigators, at an expense of over $25 million over two years, the Democrats are doubling down on their efforts to discredit the report. I predicted that the Democrats would rather investigate than legislate and it appears my crystal ball is still finely tuned.

Here’s another quote. Who said this:

” Carry the battle to them. Don’t let them bring it to you. Put them on the defensive and don’t apologize for anything.”

Chuck Schumer? Nancy Pelosi? Cory Booker? Hillary Clinton? Nope. This quote was made by Harry S. Truman. I believe he was referring to World War II, but does it sound like the battleground being fought today by the Democrats. Does that quote pretty much describe the political climate in Washington? I am convinced that the Democrats, even though losing the last presidential election, even though not getting the desired ‘goodies’ from the Mueller report to impeach Trump, will do anything to gain/retain POWER + PRESTIGE. After all, with it comes the MONEY.

One more prediction? I think that Trump is going to rip the scab and expose all the puss surrounding this whole affair. Watch for the cockroaches scurrying for the darkness.