Did you have favorite television programs while growing up? I sure did. In my time, I enjoyed Bonanza and Gunsmoke as westerns. I really enjoyed The Man from Uncle and I Spy for spy shows. And, I could not get enough of the Carol Burnett Shows for comedy. Luckily, practically all of these shows are now available on networks that specialize in reruns. But here is the problem. After watching the original shows and then watching each show as a rerun two or three times, I lose interest. After all, how many times can you watch the same show over and over and over again without losing interest?

Now I need to time travel from the past to the present and as to what is happening on the political scene. Other than the negative mass media coverage of Donald Trump’s tweets, the next most media consuming event is the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. To say that there are a plethora of candidates would be an understatement. To say that there are a platoon of candidates would be more accurate. There are so many candidates, that I have lost count! I thought there were 22 or 23, but I see the upcoming debates are only for 20 candidates. Did some candidates drop out or were they hired to join the Mueller investigation posse? No doubt with Mueller’s concern about Russian influence in our last presidential election, he will now want to focus on what the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton election team had going with the Russkies! (Okay, I am dreaming. That would never happen with the team of Clintonites he had on his staff.)

Here is where I segue my last paragraph with my opening paragraph about reruns of television programs. After watching a television show three times, I would lose interest and quit watching that program. After watching part of the Democratic debates, I lost interest and quit watching. Why? Because the Democrats have not come up with an original thought and it is a rerun of the garbage they have been spewing for way too many years.!

Free health care for everyone! And with a unanimous show of hands, the candidates all agreed that that would also include ‘illegal aliens.’ Or, in the parlance of the political correct, ‘undocumented immigrants.’ (If an illegal alien can be an undocumented immigrant, does that mean a dope pusher is an undocumented pharmacist? Does that make a bank robber just performing an undocumented withdrawal?) Free college education for everyone! Free this! Free that! Free! Free! Free!

Is there a word in the English language (or press two for Spanish) that could possibly be more liberal with other people’s money than the word socialist? Just how would all of these ‘free’ entitlements be paid. Well, that is an easy question for Bernie Sanders. Because for Bernie, there are words in America that are naughtier that the four letter words we heard as kids. The word profit, is a naughty word. If you follow Bernie’s logic, which is in line with the other candidates, a corporation or business should be ashamed, and punished for making a profit! That punishment would come in the form of higher and higher taxes. And, we will need more government regulation and intervention to control those greedy profit makers! Did you notice how many times the words ‘large corporations’ came up in the debate. Oh yeah, those large corporations are what is wrong with America. Have we heard this drivel in the past?

The other source of funding, and another place to punish is the talk about the ‘upper 1%.’ Of course, this refers to the top 1% of those with wealth in our country. Hereto, these people need to ‘pay their fair share.’ Bernie goes on to attack Trump by saying that he passed tax reform that unjustly helped the top 1% over all other taxpayers and wage earners.

I am becoming comatose listening to the same reheated, rehashed garbage coming from the liberal left, just as I have lost interest in multiple reruns, because their platform is a rerun on a continuous loop. And….don’t let reality cloud a faulty accusation.

The liberals have need to take a fact check into reality and, just as important, into economics. Firstly, only a small portion of the total federal government tax revenues come for businesses and corporations. That number has fluctuated over the years, but for 2018, corporate income taxes accounted for only 6% of the federal tax income! Personal income taxes accounted for 51% of the federal tax income. Payroll taxes accounted for 35% of the federal tax income, with miscellaneous taxes accounting for the last 8%. Bernie wants to do a WWF style smack-down on those corporations that only contribute 6% of the federal taxes to support all of his socialistic programs. What would be the result of that economic taxation maneuver? Hate Trump if you want, but his economic policies have stimulated the economy to the point of experiencing the lowest unemployment rate in 50+ years! Like Ronald Reagan said, “The best welfare program is a job.” And gosh darn it, by eliminating government regulations and intervention, and by lowering the corporate tax rate, that 6% (corporations and businesses) have created many more people contributing in the form of personal taxes. If the socialist left-wing dingbat democrats have their way, this trend would reverse. Corporations would again relocate manufacturing and corporate headquarters outside of the US. Higher unemployment would follow, just like during the 10+% unemployment during the Obama years.

Another democrat mantra….”the 1% need to pay their fair share of taxes.” Really? In 2016, The top 1% of the wealthiest people in America paid 37.3% of all federal income taxes. The bottom 90% of wage earners paid just 30.5% of all federal income taxes. Another statistic? The top 50% of all wage earners paid 97% of all the taxes. So you think the IRS codes are skewed unjustly to benefit the top 1%, as asserted by the liberal left? Well, in 2016, the top 5% paid an average of 23.5% in taxes. The top 1% paid 22.9%. (Better accountants?) But the bottom 80% paid a tax rate of 15.6%. So….what part of this is unfair? Wouldn’t fairness, in this age of political correctness and equality, mean that everyone pay the same tax rate? What would those rates be if all those socialistic programs were put into effect? 40%? (If we were lucky!) 50%? (Probably not enough!) 80%? (Probably!)

So, dear readers, here is a summation of my observations of the Democratic presidential candidates and of the democratic platform:

1. Like before, the democrats are fomenting the belief that in America, it is ‘us versus them.’ They foment this belief by unscrupulously advancing the belief that the 1% are entitled, and the rest of you are being screwed. Trump is responsible…so he needs to be impeached.
2. Corporations and businesses are your enemy, especially those that have the audacity to make a profit. Never mind that they provide jobs, expand the economy and raise the standard of living for their employees. If they make a profit…Trump is responsible…so he needs to to impeached.
3. Trump needs to be impeached. (Heard this before?) I have never heard one reason or charge that would warrant this….but Trump needs to be impeached.
4. Trump is guilty of treason. (See number 3 above.)
5. Have you ever heard one solution advanced by any of these candidates that would address some of the more serious problems facing America? Me neither. All I have heard so far is free this, free that…yada, yada, yada. Never mind China, illegal immigration, Iran, etc.
6. Speaking about illegal immigration. I find it interesting that practically every Democratic candidate is a lawyer and does not know the definition of the word, ‘illegal’, as in illegal alien. How do you uphold and defend the constitution of our great country, and not know the difference between legal and illegal. Just sayin’.
7. Another democratic mantra…’if at first you don’t succeed, begin labeling and name calling.’ Trump is a racist. Trump is a sexist. Trump is this, Trump is that, and anyone who votes for him is ‘deplorable and incorrigible.’ Enough name calling! Advance something that would be good for our country without putting our grandchildren in indebted servitude.
8. Speaking of servitude…have you picked up that the government (meaning you and me) should pay blacks for slavery reparations? Have you met any blacks lately, or within the last 150 years that were slaves? Trolling for votes. A desperate, stupid move that divides this country further, but yet they blame Trump for dividing the country.

In an odd way, I find the liberal platform sort of creepy. It reminds me of my parents lecturing me when I was young about not taking candy from strangers. These liberals are trolling for votes by offering candy in the form of all kinds of unaffordable freebies. The question becomes, ‘are you smart enough to not take the candy?’

So like too many reruns of the same episodes of the same show, I will probably tune out most of the Democratic presidential debates until they get down to less than a platoon of candidates. It’s boring and it is certainly repetitive. Like Yogi Berra said, “it’s deja vu all over again.” That is the political correct way of saying….same crap, different day.

PS. If you would like to learn why we have a platoon of Democratic candidates, please read my blog entitled: P + P = M The New Political Formula