How Much Better Off am I in 2022?

I tried to imagine how much better off I am now than in 2020, because Joe Biden says I am far better off than I was. So I took pencil to paper to see exactly how great has has made my life:

 1. I am paying over six dollars a gallon for gasoline now and back in 2020 I was paying less than four dollars. Of course the idiot Transportation Secretary in Washington says we should all buy an electric car while many cannot put sufficient food on the table or pay rent. Great solution by Mayor Pete!

2. My food bill has increased about 30% this past year while we eat no better than we did in 2020. In fact, most red meats like steak is off the menu unless it's for making stew or hamburger. Savings for many is just a dream, as there is nothing left at the end of a payday but bills. People living on credit cards with inflationary credit card rates rising. 

3. Products we used to use are no longer available due to the lack of production. Add to that the shipping situation, and now we have to do with whatever we can find on the shelves, or on line, and pay the increased pricing. Overpriced cat food is in short supply and even a simple product like cat litter has increased in price about 20%. Automobiles are way overpriced, of course becoming less affordable due to all the new regulations and chip requirements and of course, dealer price gouging. 

4. Product shrinkage due to the huge increase in raw materials pricing reduces the amount in packages and even affects toilet paper. Imagine, toilet paper narrower and less sheets on a roll while the price increases. 

5. Everything costs more. No matter where it is produced prices have been increasing out of reason. A house is so far out of reach for so many and apartment rents are pushing people onto the streets or out of the state. How can you sustain a $2000 per month roof over your head on a salary of $3200 per month. And that's at $20 per hour no less! The American dream of home ownership has hit the rocks.

 6. Electricity and natural gas rates have risen severely especially since the grid is strained and the quest to make everything in our lives depend on electricity. Electric has increased 40 percent in many areas with one kilowatt of power now costing up to 50 cents in some states on peak usage hours. Cities are banning natural gas in favor of electricity while they cannot support the fragile electric grid now.  In winter, imagine the cost of heating a home with electric, a typical electric furnace uses about 26 kilowatts a day and 182 kilowatts a week. That equates to between $75 and $90 per week for electric just to heat the home. Natural gas would be about $40 for the same time period, especially since there is no "time of use" penalty for using natural gas while there is for electric. 

7. Lack of people to work as a result of governmental handouts over the past 18 months means business has slowed and work doesn't get done in a timely manner. The "Great Resignation" further impacts the economy as people just quit with no future plans to be employed. This results in greater uncertainty in programs like Social Security and Medicare which was funded by those working and whose recipients put in a lifetime of work to receive benefits. 

8. Crime is rampant and has increased greatly over the past 18 months. The "no bail" policies along with restricting law enforcement in doing their jobs has emboldened criminals since there seems to be no consequence for their actions. People being let out of jail before the ink on booking forms is dry is sickening. Going after legally owned guns is a battle cry by the left while doing nothing about criminals with guns. It's more likely a criminal will walk out of jail after shooting someone than someone who steals a can of tuna at the market to feed themselves. 

9. Selective enforcement of laws on anyone who speaks negatively about the current administration smacks of straight communism and is reminiscent of Russia and China.  Rioters can take over the streets and it's called a "protest" with protected First Amendment speech while they damage property, statues, firebomb buildings and injure civilians and the police, with no consequences. But when an opposing group does anything it's called an insurrection or a riot, swiftly curtailed and participants charged, jailed or otherwise harangued. Protests are only acceptable for the leftists and not for those who believe otherwise. 

10. Schools used to be for learning the important elements of a future like reading, writing, math and the sciences. In 2022 they are now a bastion of far left ideology where there are no longer educational classes but indoctrination into depravity and forced learning about aberrational behaviors. Kindergartners are being brainwashed into a world of sex when they are not ready for such. Parents who disagree with this indoctrination are called "domestic terrorists" by school boards who then call on the FBI to investigate them. 

11. In 2022 we can no longer call people Mr. or Mrs. or he or she. It has now been deemed appropriate to have as many genders or non-genders as you wish and God forbid you call someone by the wrong pronoun as you will be called out. A person born a male who has a beard and wearing a dress will go postal about you addressing "him" as "sir" and a person born a woman may take offense at being noted as a "her." I have now begun to address everyone as "Hey asshole" and that seems to work without any gender identification. And i find those with the stupid gender preferences answer to it quickly as well. 

12.  And there is a huge increase in illegal immigration. Sure we have always had illegal immigration but instead of a few hundred now we have millions flooding over the border and the current administration sees that as just fine. Catch and release and they never show up for immigration hearings. They end up on our system, from free birthing to medical, food and subsistence benefits and education in our schools. We have so many "English as a second language" courses that take away the learning experience from American students. Criminals from other countries see the US as prime opportunities for gangs, drugs and outrageous criminal behavior. We have lost control of our borders and Washington turns a blind eye. In fact they want to give the illegal aliens an ID card so they can get more benefits while American senior citizens and those needing assistance fall by the wayside.

13. Taxes continue to rise regardless of the economy. When gasoline is at the highest point ever, the idiots in California government would not abate the gas tax increase of July 1, because "the oil companies would make more money." Where that logic came from is bewildering as the motorist pays the tax, not the gasoline company. Instead of stopping that increase the state decided to give money away regardless of whether you drive or not, simply so they can give money to illegal aliens along with Americans who live in California. If they used the DMV registry as the basis as proposed, I suppose many illegals wouldn't get money as they don't register their vehicles anyway, have no license nor insurance. Leave it to Governor Newsom and the idiots in Sacramento to work out a way to give taxpayer money to illegals.

14. This isn't Putin's war or Putin's price hikes as Biden postulates. It's the Democrats war on the American people that has created this. Prices were going astronomical before the Ukraine invasion. Wild spending in Washington that knows no bounds,Willingness to sacrifice America in the quest to go "green" has destroyed many energy sources. Those in control have no backup plans when this all fails. Even the village idiot has a Plan B, even if it means running away. And that's just what the village idiots in Washington must have as their backup plan...run and hide while America suffers. 

So, am I better off now than I was 2 years ago? Not only no, but HELL NO.

Going Green, Going Broke and Dying for the Cause...

As the country is forced into moving to green energy, the huge problem is those clamoring for everything to go green have no backup plans when it fails. I'm not saying if but when it fails as it is and will continue to do so.

Reading about the great droughts, super hot summers and extremely frigid winters back in 1936 and other years. The cycle repeats itself endlessly and even Alaska has 100+ degree temperatures in the past. The insane push to move everything to green energy will destroy the country because those pushing it have zero backup plans when it fails. Instead of slowly transitioning to other energy sources, their answer is to cut off every fossil fuel and energy source we depend on, and maybe some wizard will descend upon the earth to save those who will die due to their idiocy. It is laughable when the electric fails and trains and trolleys don't run, the mess cities and urbanites who rely on these transit systems find themselves in, then advising people to use cars, gasoline powered taxis and alternate transportation or stay home. That will surely help the economy.

We all need to help the earth stay clean and green but not at the expense of life itself. Imagine a world without fossil fuels...electric power outages and loss of heat and air conditioning would kill many, especially the most vulnerable, the very young and the old. Transit systems would sit idle. Hospitals would not be able to run, or even, refuel backup diesel generators and those on life saving equipment would die. Natural gas no longer available for heat, cooking or fuel for industrial equipment, so factories close. Fire protection systems in homes, commercial and industrial buildings would freeze in winter with burst pipes. Pumps required to supply water and fire fighting would stop and any major fire would be uncontrolled. Crops will rot in the fields and farmers will stop planting due to lack of fuel for tractors and harvesting equipment. Natural gas for dryers that preserve our grain crops will be unavailable so much food will become unavailable. Starvation will soon follow.

The anti-nuclear people helped destroy nuclear power in our country. Of course, now that the grid is over-strained, even Governor Newsom is trying to figure what can be done to increase the lifespan of the single remaining nuclear power plant in California. Diablo Canyon, that plant hated by environmentalists and doomsday sayers, and derided for being close to an earthquake fault is now saving our collective asses by provide 2256 megawatts of electricity (18 gigawatts annually) to homes that otherwise would be going dark. And that is 10% of the entire state's generation in one plant. I believe we need to figure out a way to re-use spent nuclear fuel and it seems people are now working feverishly on just that as they find it was a really clean source of energy if the waste could be utilized or otherwise disposed of.

If you think the way we are going about greening is somehow okay, look at countries that decided going green was the only way. Look at their before green and after economies. The survivability for them is based on the UN and World Bank infusing cash and help, which of course we would never see in the US. They too had no Plan B and after Plan A failed it was too late.

The insane rush to green will have catastrophic effects on everything we hold dear as Americans.

 

Why we are in dire straits in America

I found the exact reason the country is in such dire straits...two words that clearly are the backbone of what was America.

RESPONSIBILITY

and

ACCOUNTABILITY

The current clamor about abortions is based on no responsibility for actions. Thus failure results in an unwanted pregnancy and no accountability for the life that forms inside the womb. Of course in cases of rape or incest, the victim was not responsible and the current system doesn't hold the perpetrator accountable.

Parental abdication of responsibility has filled the streets with thugs and actors who might have well been saved from that life had parents actually taken upon themselves the role of parents. Not friends, or bystanders but parents. And when a child lies dead in the streets at the hands of another, the parents turn away from accepting any accountability for their failures, blaming someone else instead.

 People have become so comfortable blaming others for everything, making excuses for other's actions, feeding their zero accountability. Blaming inanimate objects for the actions of humans has become commonplace; guns, not criminals, are the cause of crime yet vehicles are not the cause of drunk drivers who maim and kill and eating implements like the fork is not the cause of obesity. Of course not...people choose to shoot others, drive drunk or overeat, but that seems to be out of the realm of comprehension for many.

Teachers abdicate the responsibility to teach based on the principles America was founded upon, rather spouting rhetoric and indoctrinating children into whatever their own warped sense of reality may be. And when they go too far and are caught, there is no accountability as the education system defends their actions while the children suffer the long term consequences.

The public screams for law enforcement to be help responsible and accountable for every action, even those actions taken to protect the public against the worst of mankind. While fighting for the public, they are vilified at every turn. Yet the public turns a blind eye, and ear, to the transgressions of crooked politicians and refuses to hold them responsible and accountable at election time, voting the same bastardizations of destruction back into office time after time.

Things need to change in America or we are a doomed nation. Two hundred and forty-six years as of Monday we built this country on the blood sweat and tears of our ancestors and us. Those of us with generations of family in law enforcement remember the stories of how policing was "back in the day" and lament how it is today. Respect by the public has severely diminished and our justice system is no longer just. Catch and release has become the norm of the land, where criminals are out, often committing more crime, before the ink on the paperwork is dry.

Have a safe and happy, healthy Fourth of July holiday and maybe hoist a cold one or a good aged Irish Whiskey or single malt Scotch to all the brothers and sisters, those who led us to the path, those who lost the good fight and those who continue the fight today and tomorrow!

Cheers and sláinte