What You May Have Missed
A roundup of the past seven days, plus recommended newsletters from across Substack
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Recommended Reading
Thom Hartmann also writes three additional separate Substack newsletters. Each has both a free and paid subscription option. Below, are links to one free newsletter from each Substack from the past week plus other Substack newsletters of note that I read and recommend:
I've spent a fair amount of time on Michelangelo's Substack dispensing data clearly showing Red States self achieved status as Chronically Failed Welfare States. I'm trying to expand things to Thom Hartmann's Substack. Red States have been subsidized year after year by the Successful Blue Donor States, states that have remained successful despite the billions of dollars they part with year in and year out to subsidize Red States. Data from the Tax Foundation, the Pew Trust and now the Rockefeller Institute. Just think of that for a minute. Successful Blue States have to 'give away' billions upon billions of their hard earned Federal Tax dollars each year, yet they are still Successful States! Imagine if they were allowed to keep all that money! They could lower their State Taxes, which are high in order to make up for all the money they have to give away. California, my state, initially had a proposed budget deficit of $68 billion dollars, which somehow was reduced to only $48 billion. I believe that's the current #. In 2022, according to Rockefeller Institute, California got $.83 back in Federal Spending on it's Federal Tax Dollar. What does that come out to? $118.5 billion dollars. So where do you think our deficits are coming from? The money we cough up to pay for Red States maybe?
J.D. Vance and Trump are now calling Kamala Harris, a woman all of us in the Bay Area have known is mixed race for fucking decades and didn't give a shit about, a 'Socialist' and even a 'Communist'. Hilarious, when you consider how much money has been given away to J.D. Vance's wonderful state of Ohio over the years. In 2019, $69.5 billion in free money, 2021, $73.4 billion in free money and in 2022, $64.0 billion! I can keep going. Hey J.D. and Don, in words you should both be familiar with, 'I got your 'Socialism' right here!' As I've said in other missives, 'If you don't like Socialism, stop being Socialist!'
Since Socialism and Communism have been brought up by both the Republican presidential and vice presidential (lower case intended) 'candidates', it's only fair that the Democrats start addressing Socialism, the great hidden component of the U.S. economy. Successful Blue States paying, year in and year out, for the Chronically Unsuccessful Failed Red States. And the House of Representatives that have both funded and perpetuated this situation for, as the data clearly shows, decades. Perpetuating the 'Culture of Dependency' that the Republicans have, for those same decades, told us was such a terrible thing. All along failing to recognize I guess that they were talking about themselves! It would be a big laugh, except for the fact that I'm one of the ones who gets to pay for all this.
As Michelangelo Signorelli has said on his show, he doesn't mind paying for some of these states. I didn't mind it all that much either until these same states started trying to turn the country into some form of themselves! Holy shit! What a disaster that would be! Now I'm pissed. If you are in a Successful Blue State, I would think you'd be kind of pissed as well. If Socialism is a bad thing, why are we indulging in Socialism? Perhaps a question for our U.S. Representatives. If you are in Red State, you might ask the same questions to your Representatives, while trying to turn your state around. How that would work, I have no clue, as Red States are last in all the important categories that might lead to economic success. Education, Health Care, Innovation, Creativity, Productivity, etc. Maybe replacement theory has some merit!
The Republican's have brought up Socialism, so lets start talking about Socialism! Oh, and while we're at it, let's discuss who the best 'Socialists' are. White Supremacists and Christian Nationalists! Wow, what a surprise!