Ban Classic Books and Climate-Change Deniers: How Progressives Argue Their Case


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Teacher Melissa Barnett takes to Twitter and praises the dumping of classic books — including works by Orwell, Steinbeck and Vonnegut — to replace them with “relevant and culturally-diverse literature.” Meanwhile, a website called The Conversation bans ideas from so-called “climate change deniers”. Is this how progressives argue their case, or merely the prelude to the death knell of western civilization? Bill Whittle, Stephen Green and Scott Ott bring passion, humor, cultural insight and historical perspective to the news of the day. This show lives and grows after more than 10 years thanks to the Members who fund it’s production, share it, and write their own blog on a Members-only site. If you’d like to join them, sign up now at https://BillWhittle.com/register/

 

Capitalism v Hybrid Capitalism


COMMENT: Every ISM has failed. Maybe we are seeing the twilight of Capitalism.
China is a hybrid. Maybe that is why it will be the next world power.

CM

REPLY: People confuse capitalism with corruption. Capitalism is your freedom to choose. Corruption is when republics are available for sale to the highest bidder.

Unfortunately, the founding fathers believed the propaganda of Cicero who painted Julius Caesar as a dictator when he was a populares. The people supported Caesar against the corrupt senate of Rome which sold itself to the highest bidder.

I believe the ONLY way to correct our political crisis is to impose TERM LIMITS in Congress — one term and you are out. Just look at the Democrats. All they are doing is trying to undermine Trump. This is what career politicians do. They are not fighting for the people. They are only trying to undermine the opposition for more power.

Congress spends 70% of its time selling favors and trying to raise money for the next election. Term limits will end that. It will end the lobbying motto: “Do as I ask and I will fund your next election.”

Our judicial system is collapsing entirely. Nobody can prevail against the bankers in New York City. The courts will bend the law and ignore the Supreme Court entirely to protect the bankers who are the leaders of corruption and the harbingers of our doom.

China is a hybrid. The positive side of China is that the unelected leadership need not promise stupid things to maintain power. They can focus on the long-term plan for China. We do not need to adopt that hybrid, but we can achieve what was originally intended with term limits. End the corruption and we will at least have a real, free climate of capitalism.

Bernie Doubles Warren’s Wealth Tax to Win Votes


The war on eradicating the rich is fully on. Bernie Sanders realizes that Elizabeth Warren is rising in the polls among liberal Democrats, and Bernie knows how politics works. “Vote for me and I will rob other people for you.” They are competing now on how high they could raise taxes for the rich. Warren’s proposed wealth tax would impose an annual 2% tax on all personal wealth above $50 million, so a family worth $100 million would owe 2% of $50 million or $1 million. The tax would rise to 3% for assets above $1 billion. Warren says her wealth tax would raise $275 billion per year, which she’d use to pay off student debt for millions, cover college costs for the majority of students, and finance universal child care. What she fails to explain is that this is NOT an income tax. This is on the portfolio value. So say you bought a stock for $100 and it soared to $1,000 and you find yourself in that class but you have no cash. You will then be forced to sell stock to pay the tax. But it does not end there. You must pay the same tax every year even it the portfolio was the same price. If you had that in government bonds, you would face the problem that with low interest rates, you cannot earn enough to even pay the tax.

Sanders has gone further, more than doubling Warren’s proposed tax rate on billionaires. The Sanders plan has a lower threshold for wealth, and higher tax rates. His plan has 8 different tax levels, starting with a 1% tax on wealth above $32 million. The rate would rise to 2% on wealth from $50 million to $250 million, with a top rate of 8% on wealth over $10 billion. Sanders says his plan would raise $435 billion per year, which he’d use to fund a single-payer health plan, more affordable housing, and universal child care.

How about we simply forgive student debt and call it a day? All of these proposals are about raising taxes and never looking at the subsidized problem in student loans and health care that was created in the first place. Once government subsidizes anything, the prices rise because they know government will pay the bill. They fund degrees that are worthless and universities are happy to take the money with no responsibility if the degree will ever land you a job. There is no free market competition whatsoever. Health care should simply be turned into a public utility. It will never be reformed in this manner by just paying whatever bills the government is handed.

Elizabeth Warren’s Hatred of Retired Folks


Elizabeth Warren demonizes the rich and never considers the real facts as she listens to the communistic ideas of Thomas Piketty. In truth, the vast wealth of America’s share market is owned by retired folks. Federal Reserve numbers show that households headed by people over the age of 55 own 73% of the value of domestically owned stocks. These are the people she hates so much?

If we look at the Fed’s numbers, households of ages 65 to 74 have an average of $1,066,000 in net worth. Those in the lower age group of 35 to 44 have only about $288,700.

All Warren sees is the injustice in that inequality of wealth. But what about working your whole life and saving? So the person at 35 should have the same wealth as someone at 75 who saved their whole life?

We keep the entry-level to Socrates to $15 a month so that this huge group has access to understand the major trends in their investments.