Welcome to all of you who are new to this email list – the size almost
doubled yesterday, and kept me pretty busy. This email paradigm will likely
continue through the rest of 2020 as I evaluate what to do with my funky
website. If you know others who would like to be added to the distribution,
just have them email me at david.blackmon@reagan.com. Thanks.
Now, onto Today’s Campaign Update:
My daughter and granddaughters – ages 10 and 8 – came over to our house
last night to get a good view of the Jupiter/Saturn convergence. We’re
lucky to live on a hill in a semi-rural area, and it was a clear night, so
the opportunity could not have been better, despite the light pollution
from nearby Fort Worth.
It really isn’t a true “convergence” – more like a near-collision – but
it’s pretty cool anyway, especially when you have three generations of your
family taking a look at it together. The grandkids have a nice, real
telescope, but none of us were able to really get it focused in on the
action. However, we were able to get the 60x spotting scope my wonderful
wife got me for Christmas aligned on the two planets, and, using the little
attachment for my I-phone, were able to get this not-quite-perfectly
focused shot of it, complete with 3 of Jupiter’s moons:
Fun, huh?
Anyway, while we were all outside having some family fun, your U.S.
congress was working away at bankrupting the economy again, just as it did
in 2008-09. Because, with the insurgent Trump presumably about to be out of
the way, the Republicans and Democrats have gone right back to being
Democans and Republicrats, scheming joint plans to take your money and give
it to someone else, often someone else in other countries.
For those of you who think the twin bills totaling well north of $2.3
trillion are all about providing relief for the victims of the government’s
insane approach to dealing with COVID by shutting down all the small
businesses and putting millions of Americans out of work, well, boy are you
naive. Here are some of the goodies included in the bill that have
literally nothing to do with any of that:
That’s right: We’re sending $1.3 billion to Egypt, $700 million to the
Sudan and larding $154 million to the freaking National Art Gallery, but
all you average Joes out there are going to have to make do with 600 bucks.
But hey, who gives a damn about this “America first” crap now that Dominion
Systems has safely awarded the presidency to a senile reprobate who long
ago sold his soul to China?
Don’t forget the Climate pork! – Oh, hey, that’s not all of the secret bag
of goodies contained in the bailout bill. As the Washington Examiner
reports this morning [1], hidden within the bowels of the 5,600-page bill
(not a typo) that nobody read before voting is tons of climate pork schemed
up by Republicrat Lisa Murkowski and Democan Joe What’s-his-name from West
Virginia.
Here’s an excerpt from that report:
_The measure, the Energy Act of 2020, was included in the 5,593-page
pandemic relief and government spending bill expected to be passed this
week. It’s the product of years of work and difficult negotiations from
interest groups and members of both parties._
_“This package demonstrates the progress that is possible when
businesses, environmental groups, labor, and policymakers work together to
find solutions on difficult issues,” said Marty Durbin, senior vice
president of policy at the Chamber of Commerce, who hailed the package as
the first significant energy bill since 2007 and the “biggest action
Congress has ever taken to address climate change.”_
_The package is headlined by a measure to phase down hydrofluorocarbons, or
HFCs, a climate-warming refrigerant, by 85% by 2035, which would be one of
the most significant emissions-reducing measures ever passed. It is the
only major bill in recent memory that directly sets out reductions in a
specific greenhouse gas._
_[end]_
I’m old enough to remember when it was a positive thing for the economy and
consumers when the U.S. Chamber of Commerce was in favor of a particular
bill. Yeah, those days are long gone.
In the end, this “stimulus” legislation will cost every family in America
roughly $12,000, plus interest. And it’s a lot of interest, trust me. In
return, adults making $60,000 or less will receive $600, and the amount
quickly phases down from there. This is what the Democans and Republicrats
refer to as “fairness.”
And here’s what the legislation does not include: Any language about
Section 230, the part of our anti-trust laws that enable the big social
media monopolies to exist and engage in discriminatory behavior. I’m also
old enough to remember when President Donald Trump – who is still the
president for a few more weeks – promised to veto any budget-related bill
that does not include a repeal of Section 230.
So, I suppose we will find out today if the President plans to keep that
particular promise, or if he’s finally ready to just toss in the towel and
start winding his presidency down. If he signs this atrocity, we will know
for sure.
Bill Barr waddles off into the sunset with one final betrayal of the public
trust. – At his final press conference as Attorney General, William Barr
told the assembled reporters that he will refuse the President’s demand to
appoint special counsels to investigate either the massive election fraud
that took place this year or all of the Biden family’s influence peddling
around the world.
Responding to a question [2] about Hunter Biden’s blatant criminal
activities, Barr said “I have not seen a reason to appoint a special
counsel and I have no plan to do so before I leave,” he said, adding that
there was also no need for a special counsel to investigate the election.
Welp, there you go.
Thus, Barr’s 20-month term in the office ends exactly as it began, with a
two-tiered system of justice dominating DOJ’s culture: One tier for the
protected DC class, and another tier for everyone else.
When the history of the Trump presidency is written, honest historians will
record his biggest single failure as being the two men – Jeff Sessions and
Barr – he appointed to serve in the Attorney General’s job.
Tragic, really.
In an effort to try to cheer you up, I will leave you with this photo by
Allen Elder of Alpine, Texas, found on Twitter this morning:
God Bless Texas, y’all!
That is all.
David Blackmon
david.blackmon@dbenergyadvisors.com
Twitter: @GDBlackmon
Links:
——
[1] https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy/congress-pass-biggest-action-taken-address-climate-change
[2] https://apnews.com/article/william-barr-hunter-biden-election-047487650cd50f5a874c406aad214ce7