WE ARE WITNESSING THE REDUX OF THE KEYSTONE COPS

The title of this blog is a takeoff on the comedic silent film shorts that portrayed a fictional group of policeman in the early 1900s. Given the fecklessness of the current administration it seems appropriate to revisit them today. One would think it would take years to produce the missteps, miscues, stupid decisions, and tomfoolery, achieved by the Biden administration. Yet they have done it in just 8 short months! We shouldn’t be surprised by their ineptitude. Their only well thought out, long term, political strategy was to merely reverse everything that President Trump did. The ineptitude of the Keystone Cops was humorous. Unfortunately, the ineptitude of the Biden administration is proving to be deadly! So let’s take a quick look at how a few of Biden’s anti Trump strategies have worked for America, and Americans, thus far.

Biden promised to create high paying jobs. To make good on that promise he immediately shut down the Keystone XL Pipeline, shut down new drilling on federal land, and shut down new drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). That put an end to thousands, probably tens of thousands, of very high paying jobs. But he promised those people there would be jobs for them in the solar panel industry, someday. Until those jobs appear however, food, shelter, and clothing, for the families of the displaced workers is their problem. It is not a problem for President Biden. His foolishness created another, perhaps farther reaching, problem. Trump’s policies had made America energy self-sufficient for the first time in many decades. Since Biden’s policies took effect the price of gasoline is up about $1 per gallon. That is very problematic for low income workers, and those in poverty. And surprise, surprise, (that’s a Gomer Pyle quote) that forced the president of the most powerful country in the world to go hat in hand to Russia and Saudi Arabia begging them to pump more oil to help lower the price of gasoline. Apparently oil produced in Russia and the Middle East doesn’t upset the Greenies as much as oil produced in the USA. Only a fool would fail to understand that by cutting energy production, and energy jobs, in his home country would require us to send billions of American dollars to two countries that would like to see us dead!

Our President promised that no American earning under $400,000 would see their taxes go up. “Read my lips, no new taxes.” (Sorry, that was a quote from a previous president who also lied about not raising taxes). One of Biden’s first announcements after taking office was to ask for a 33% increase in corporate income taxes. That would raise the tax rate from 21% to 28%. Cowardly politicians love corporate taxes. They can claim to be hitting the big guys while leaving citizens alone. As long as we citizens remain ignorant, or stupid, (I pray we are ignorant because you just can’t fix stupid) this tactic will continue to be used. Enlightened citizens, and every politician, understand there is no such thing as a corporate tax. If corporate taxes are raised 33% corporations will simply raise their prices. And who buys their products? We citizens! Corporations don’t pay taxes, they collect them for the Federal Government. A study just completed by the Tax Policy Center, a center-left think tank in D.C., reported 75% of households earning between $75,000 and $100,000 a year would face higher taxes under Biden’s budget. The average increase would be about $440 per year. Almost all of which would be the result of higher corporate taxes.

There is another hidden cost that hits the poor more heavily than everyone else. That is the cost of inflation. Inflation means rising prices. The Commerce Department just reported that in July consumer prices experienced the largest year-over-year increase in 30 years! A large part of that increase comes from the energy sector. The increasing price of gasoline affects every American either directly or indirectly. But there are too many Americans who are unaware of the petroleum based products we use every day. What follows is a representative, but not exhaustive, list. Ink, and ink pens, bicycle and car tires, roofing, water pipes, shampoo, antifreeze, luggage, toothbrushes and toothpaste, crayons, antiseptics and bandages, deodorant, aspirin, artificial limbs, soft contact lenses, insecticides and insect repellant, electricians tape, soap, shoes, paint, lipstick, eye glasses, detergents, telephones, cameras, and drinking cups, all require petroleum at one point or another for their production. If you are a sports fan you should know that football, bicycle, and motorcycle helmets, fishing rods, and golf balls, use petroleum in the manufacturing process. There may be as many as 6000 products many of us use every day that are derived from the petroleum industry. As the price of oil goes up so MUST the price of all of the above. The people who democrats promise to help, those at the lower end of the economic ladder, are the people who are harmed the most by inflation caused, in part, by the reduction of domestic energy.

In his first week Biden reversed all of the Trump policies that had nearly stopped the flow of illegal immigrants into our country. The rest, as they say, is history. We have lost all control of our southern border. Last month there were over 200,000 recorded “interactions” with illegals. That is the largest number seen for at least the last 20 years. And that doesn’t count those who are called “gotaways”, those who got away from law enforcement. How can we take Biden’s warnings about COVID seriously when he is packing up untested illegals by the thousands and sending them all over the country? U.S. citizens are told to mask up and get vaccinated. Illegals who almost certainly have not been vaccinated, some of whom are sure to have COVID, are being introduced into cities all across America. Too often city leaders are not even informed of their arrival. Along with the increase in people there is an increase in illicit drugs entering our country. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 93,000 people died of drug overdose in the U.S. in 2020. They say that is an increase of nearly 30% from 2019. If you weren’t aware of these statistics before reading them here you were ignorant, by the dictionary definition. If after learning these statistics you think they are a coincidence, and not related, to the increase in illegal crossings you are stupid, by any definition. The undeniable increase in sex trafficking since Biden took office should make all of us ill, and angry, as we ponder the fate of those exploited young children. Only the Keystone Cops, or the Biden administration, could take a solution that was working well at our southern border and make it chaotic and dangerous. Even nitwits understand the common sense in the old saying: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

The Biden administration has exhibited a perfect example of Keystone Cop-like behavior in the handling of its withdrawal from Afghanistan. In order to keep this blog of acceptable length I will cover that bloody fiasco in a later blog.

I hope you found this blog informative. If you did please tell your friends about it. Thank you. Bob