“Better to keep your mouth shut aad have people think you’re a fool, than open your mouth and prove it” – Biden stayed in his basement in 2020 and kept his mouth shut, Harris just opened hers
As you read this, keep in mind that Jarris does not have an original thought in her head. T only did she plagiarise Trump’s proposal to abolish taxes on tips, but her “policies” are designed by others – either “focus groups” of climate freaks and assorted whack jobs or the Democratic Party politburo.
Keep in mind also that these policies are in lockstep with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals which in turn are intended to usher in the global fascism of “public/private partnerships”.
I will throw in my view that “all taxation is theft” and the bigger the government the bigger the theft. For low information morons like Harris, “all property is theft” and only socialism can deliver a required “equality of outcome” (not opportunity) by controlling the means of production and distribution of all goods and services – including the latest target – food. Which is the next target beyond “net zero”, open borders and mass injections with lethal toxins.
Socialists have no concept of the utility ad function of money or capital, or the need to control debt and deficits, let alone the cost of servicing debt (approaching 1.4 trillion a year in the US).
Kamala “knee pad” Harris announced cornerstone policies for her POTUS campaign a few days ago. Food price gouging and first home buyers’ assistance for renters (but not the homeless or illegal immigrants?).
She also boasted about 1.5 billion dollars in savings in drug prices via out-of-pocket expenses for Medicare recipients.
It is difficult to comprehend the mentality that lies behind such “flagship” policies, though the UK government’s recently announced policies are far worse.
The pressing and solvable issues the US (and the UK) faces are clear – illegal immigration and the inflation caused by “net zero” policies. The support for the corrupt and unelected (Zelensky’s presidential term expired a month ago Ukraine government, the concealment of the corruption of Biden family (and nefarious State Department action over decades) is also a key issue but were not mentioned.
Before addressing the two flagship economic policies and the boast on reducing drug prices, here is a link to a clip from Russell Brand’s podcast that features Ricky Gervais sounding ff against all politicians and a “parade” in Afghanistan of billions of dollars of American military hardware left behind by Biden.
Skip to the 33-minute mark for Gervais, (language warning!!!) which runs into the images of the “parade” - images like this.
I thought the vehicles were immobilised. Maybe the Mujaheddin have mechanics.
The thoughts that sprung to my mind when I listened to the Harris policy speech were somewhat akin to those delivered to the Dauphin by the Duke of Exeter in Henry V, Act II, Scene 4. Set in France. The KING’S palace.
§ “Lewis the Dauphin. For the Dauphin,
I stand here for him: what to him from England?§ Duke of Exeter. Scorn and defiance; slight regard, contempt,
And any thing that may not misbecome
The mighty sender, doth he prize you at.
Thus says my king; an' if your father's highness
Do not, in grant of all demands at large,
Sweeten the bitter mock you sent his majesty,
He'll call you to so hot an answer of it,
That caves and womby vaultages of France
Shall chide your trespass and return your mock
In second accent of his ordnance.”
Ok. Let’s take the first “cornerstone” policy – bringing in measures to lower food prices by using the Federal government to eliminate “price gouging”.
First off, as Larry Kudlow of Fox News pointed out, the margin earned by supermarkets is small, because of competition – there are many different supermarkets with may discerning companies. The profit margin is within a per cent or two of 3%. Compare that to the profit margins enjoyed by Nvidia of over 50%, Apple of 25% and Microsoft of 35% (and Google’s 21%).
Also, the profit margins of pharma companies tare multipls higher than those f supermarkets. From here:
Negotiating for Lower Drug Prices Works, Saves Billions | HHS.gov
“In August 2023, HHS announced the first 10 drugs covered under Medicare Part D selected for the first cycle of negotiations.
The selected drugs accounted for $56.2 billion in total Medicare spending, or about 20 percent of total Part D gross spending in 2023. Overall, total Part D gross spending for the 10 selected drugs more than doubled from 2018 to 2022, from about $20 billion to about $46 billion, an increase of 134 percent. Medicare enrollees paid a total of $3.4 billion in out-of-pocket costs in 2022 for these drugs.”
So, the costs to the Federal budget of these ten drugs went up by 26 billion bucks in the four years to 2022 (no mention of 2023), to be met by all Americans but out-of-pocket expenses might be reduced from 3.4 billion to 1.9 billion bucks.
More generally, from here:
https://healthpolicy.usc.edu/research/flow-of-money-through-the-pharmaceutical-distribution-system/
“Gross (net) margins average 71% (26%) for manufacturers, 22% (3%) for insurers, 20% (4%) for pharmacies, 6% (2%) for pharmacy benefit managers and 4% (0.5%) for wholesalers.”
It really gets tedious dealing with basic facts that evade the morons, right? What about the price gouging of pharma manufacturers? R d they donate to much money to the political parties.
It can only be an attempt to distract, deflect and waste the time of opponents in pointing out the stupidity.
New for the second “flagship” policy announcement.
From here:
Harris to Unveil Proposal to Provide First-Time Homebuyers With $25K Down-Payment ‘Support’ – IJR
“The Biden-Harris administration proposed providing $25,000 in downpayment assistance for 400,000 first-generation home buyers — or homebuyers whose parents don’t own a home — and a $10,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers,” the statement continued. This plan will significantly simplify and expand the reach of down-payment assistance, allowing over 1 million first time-buyers per year – including first-generation home buyers – to get the funds they need to buy a house when they are ready to buy it.”
The plan does not mention income requirements – maybe it should be targeted at those with a FICO score of around 620 or below. For these people, the tax credit id worthless, since they are not paying any tax, NET of welfare benefits received.
Those whose parents own a house, even a slum, would not qualify. Which takes up a huge chunk of the homeless, which are not considered or mentioned. There are almost 700,000 homeless people in the US. Criminal immigrants do not have parents in the US who owned a home! There’s 10-12 million of those!
Even if a million Americans ad illegal immigrants qualify every year, 25,000 bucks, times a million = 25 billion bucks a year. (Leave aside the fact that many existing homeowners cannot save ay money, net of mortgage repayments already – maybe 20 million homeowners fall into this category).
The average national house price (varies by State) is around 412,000 bucks.
Average House Price by State in 2024 | The Motley Fool
24,000 bucks represents 6% of the US median house price. The California media house price is over 800,000 bucks but is a little over 200,000 in Arkansas. It. Is 650,000 in Massachusetts and 204,000 in Louisiana – will there be a quota per state by number or value?
This is how the “one size fits all” premise of all socialist plans falls flat o its face. By applying a general rule, it creates winners and losers that did not exist before, hence fomenting discrimination - - winners and losers from arbitrary measures.
There is a program already in place that provides subsidized housing assistance. It is called the Federal Home Lona Bank.
It has a balance sheet of 1.7 trillion dollars. See page 7 here:
https://www.fhlb-of.com/ofweb_userWeb/resources/2024Q2CFR.pdf
From Brave browser:
“In summary, the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) does not provide subsidized mortgages directly to low-income earners. However, its various programs and initiatives indirectly support affordable housing, increasing access and reducing costs for low- and moderate-income individuals and communities.”
The FHLB System offers several programs that support affordable housing, including:
1. Affordable Housing Program: Provides grants to member institutions to finance affordable housing projects, such as rental properties and homeownership initiatives.
2. Community Investment Program: Offers subsidized advances to member institutions to finance community development projects, including affordable housing.
3. Mortgage Partnership Finance Program: Allows member institutions to sell fixed-rate, conforming mortgage loans into the secondary market, providing liquidity and reducing costs for affordable housing initiatives.
4. Mortgage Purchase Program: Enables FHLBs to purchase mortgage-backed securities (MBS) issued by government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which helps maintain a stable and liquid mortgage market.
Indirect Support
While the FHLB does not directly provide subsidized mortgages, its programs and initiatives indirectly benefit low-income earners by:
1. Increasing access to affordable housing: By providing funding and support to member institutions, the FHLB helps expand the availability of affordable housing options, including mortgages with more favorable terms.
2. Reducing costs: The FHLB’s programs can help reduce the costs associated with affordable housing initiatives, making it more feasible for low-income earners to access homeownership opportunities.
I would put money n Harris not even being aware of the FHLB or how it works. I would also put money on this “new flagship” housing assistance scheme being targeted directly at illegal immigrants.
A final comment on that saving of 1.5 billion bucks in out-of-pocket expenses.
From here:
Medicare Statistics 2024 | Retirement Living
· “Medicare spending grew 5.9% to $944.3 billion in 2022 (the most recent data available), or 21% of the total national health expenditure.
Medicare households spend nearly twice as much on health-related expenses, on average, than non-Medicare households (13.6% of total household spending compared to 6.5%, respectively).
The percentage of those aged 65 and older has increased by 38% (15.2 million people) since 2010 The under-65 population has grown only 2% over the same time period.
Now why would these households not enrolled in Medicare spend half as much as those enrolled in Medicare? Surely Medicare health care is not twice as expensive? (/sac).
1.5 billion dollars savings in out-of-pocket expenses on ten drugs is important for those impacted. In terms of the price gouging and administrative costs of Medicare, it is a drop in a trillion-dollar bucket.
As for Trump? He gets it. The key component of costs for America families is food and energy. Within those (food and energy costs) oil prices are the biggest determinant. His policies will half the price of oil, making Americans better ff by reducing food prices AT TH SOURCE
We can pray that competition will emerge in the tech space and that the cross State and cross border drug delivery also feature I his plans, along with reducing the size f the swamp by at least 50% to produce the fiscal surpluses needed to repay the nation’s 35 trillion bucks a year, costing 1.4 trillion a yar I interest alone!
Onwards!!!
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It's listed for Medicare increased spending as a percent of income -- 13% vs 6%... which makes sense as people often have reduced income. Medicare is not cheap! The premiums are around $700 a month for a couple.
Nobody mentions that the premiums for the Medicare drug coverage have gone up. So unless you are on the certain drugs that they lowered the prices for, you are paying more.